Menu Plan Monday~ January 28, 2008

Monday: Breakfast for dinner (eggs, toast, fruit)
Tuesday:meatloaf, baked potatoes, salad
Wednesday: Annie's Taquitos, spanish rice, salad
Thursday: Chicken Tetrazinni, salad, green beans
Friday: Natalie's Red Beans and Rice, sauteed squash (yellow and zucchini)
Saturday: Scrambled eggs, baked oatmeal
Sunday: Spaghetti, green beans, salad

Can you tell I have lots of salad stuff to use up this week? Hopefully we will eat it before it ruins in the fridge.

Do you want the good news or the bad news first?

Okay, here is the good news. The good news is that I love my kids and my husband, we have food, shelter, and clothing, we will be moving into our new home very soon, and my menu plan for this week is going very well!

The bad news is that my house is an absolute wreck. The dishes get done every day. The laundry gets washed every day. The beds get made every day. The toilets get cleaned, sinks cleaned, trash emptied every single day!!! But the house is still an absolute train wreck!!!!

Whew, I feel better after "screaming".

This is what I plan to do this weekend to sort of get back on track:

The Basics

Laundry- get completely caught up

Meals- continue following menu plan- No fast food!!!

Dishes- keep them caught up- no slacking on this

Floors- sweep/mop all the floors

A clean chair/clean couch for dh to sit on in the living room- this is a big deal to him

Clean master bathroom

Make myself a hair/wax appt.

I also plan to begin painting the new house this weekend. Dh wants to rent a paint sprayer, but my dad says those use way more paint (than using a roller) and don't do as good of a job. ??? It's dh's house so we will probably be doing it his way. : )

Add to this the fact that I just called the lumber yard to get my account balance and it was $4,000.00 more than I had budgeted. All of these things (chaotic house + $4000 issue) =STRESS. I feel sick. I really hate money issues. And I really hate a messy, filthy house.

I know we will be fine. But I still feel sick about it. $4,000.00 is a lot of money for us and money doesn't grow on trees, so there is a problem. I am waiting for the lumber yard people to email me a detailed list of my account. Hopefully they made a HUGE mistake.

Beauty in the common things: uninterrupted sleep (actually not very common around here, but it sounds very nice)
Listen in: Baby gurgling
Supper plans: Annie's Taquitos, spanish rice, salad
Today I plan to: get rx filled for ds9, work on laundry, clean up house, go out to new house and pay contractors (texturing the walls will be finished today at noon, we will paint this weekend!!)
View from the kitchen window: dreariness

I went a little crazy while planning this week's menu. I had so much fun planning and planning and planning!! Here is the result:

Monday:

Notes:

1. After lunch: make chicken mixture, chop veggies, and shred cheese for tacos tonight. Also, slice veggies for afternoon snack. Make cookie dough, shape into balls, and put in fridge.
2. After dinner, mix up ingredients for Baked Oatmeal and put in 9x13 casserole. Put in fridge.

Breakfast- oatmeal
Lunch- leftovers/ sandwiches
Snack- veggies with dip
Supper- Chicken Ranch Tacos
Dessert- chocolate chip cookies

Tuesday:

Notes:

1. When I wake up, put Baked Oatmeal in oven.
2. After breakfast, chop chicken and mix up ingredients for Chicken Pot Pie. Chop extra chicken, put in freezer bags, and put in freezer.
3. Mix up dough for Chicken Pot Pie crust.
4. After dinner, mix up pancake batter for tomorrow morning’s breakfast.
5. Put frozen meat (for tomorrow) in fridge.

Breakfast- Baked Oatmeal
Lunch- leftovers or sandwiches
Snack- peanut butter crackers
Supper- Chicken Pot Pie, corn on the cob

Wednesday:

Notes:

1. After breakfast, brown venison for taquitos. Mix up ingredients, put into tortillas, put in 9x13 casserole dish, and set in fridge.
2. Also in a.m., chop veggies for Spanish rice.
3. After dinner, put pinto beans in crock-pot to soak overnight.
4. Also after dinner, mix up ingredients for Baked Oatmeal, put in 9x13 casserole dish, and set in fridge.

Breakfast- pancakes
Lunch- grilled cheese and ham sandwiches
Snack- fruit and cheese
Supper- Annie’s Taquitos, Spanish rice

Thursday:

Notes:

1. When I wake up, put Baked Oatmeal in oven.
2. After breakfast, rinse pintos and put in crock-pot to cook all morning on high.
3. After lunch, add ingredients to crock-pot for Pinto Bean Soup.
4. Also after lunch, mix up ingredients for cornbread and put in fridge. Bake cake.
5. After dinner, make pancake batter for tomorrow morning. Set frozen meat in fridge.

Breakfast- Baked Oatmeal
Lunch- leftovers or sandwiches
Snack- veggies with dip
Supper- Pinto Bean Soup, cornbread
Dessert- cake

Friday:

Notes:

1. After breakfast, brown venison for lasagna. Put lasagna together and put in fridge.
2. After lunch, make rolls or bread for dinner. Set frozen meat in fridge.

Breakfast- pancakes
Lunch- tortilla wraps, baby carrots with ranch dressing
Snack- peanut butter crackers
Supper- Lasagna, bread or rolls, green beans

Saturday:

Notes:

1. After breakfast, brown venison for tacos. Chop veggies and shred cheese.
2. After dinner, put red beans in crock-pot to soak overnight.

Breakfast- peanut butter toast
Lunch- beans and cornbread
Snack- peanut butter crackers
Supper- Tacos- meat, taco shells, sour cream, lettuce, tomatoes, cheese

Sunday:

Notes:

1. After breakfast, rinse beans and put them back in crock-pot to cook all day.
2. 4 pm- bake cherry pie

Breakfast- cereal
Lunch- leftovers or tortilla sandwiches
Snack- fruit and yogurt
Supper- red beans and rice
Dessert- cherry pie, vanilla ice cream

I am a Snapdragon What Flower Are You?

Arise and be comforted
For the Lord, He is good to the weary
And even the young heart can tire and fall
But He knows them all
For the Lord, He will renew their strength
And they will soar on wings as eagles
And they will run and never grow weary
They will walk and not grow faint
For the Lord, He is good
Lift your eyes to the heavens
For the creator is living in you
Come surrender as you are

And know that you’ll never stray too far
Let His power within you heal your heart
Lift your eyes to spacious skies
Let Him chart your way to flight
Spread your wings and fly
For the Lord, He is good

Arise and Be Comforted
Watermark

Beauty in the common things: a clean home
Listen in: Baby Girl telling me that ds5 called her "lady", Watermark singing "Holy"
Supper Plans: black beans and rice w/ smoked sausage
Today I plan to: clean up the messes that I didn't' clean up last night before bed, take down the Christmas tree (yes, I know, this was on my list a few days ago. You will notice that I put things on my To Do list several times before they actually get done!), figure out who our dental insurance company is, find a new dentist, make appt. for myself at the dentist
View from the kitchen window: sunshine and a yard that needs to be tidied up a bit

More Children?

Okay, I have had a couple of people ask me about my comment about babies in the previous post ("We may have another baby or two by then..."). Let me clear this up for you guys. : )

God has worked in our lives concerning this issue for several years now. Back in 2000 we had the revelation that children are a blessing!

Sons are a heritage from the LORD,
children a reward from him.

Behold, children are a gift of the LORD,
The fruit of the womb is a reward.

We had read that before in the Bible many times, but it took on a new meaning for us. If children are blessings, true gifts from God, why say "No more!" to God in that area? What other blessings do we refuse to accept? Good health? Wealth? No. We gladly accept all other blessings from the Lord.

We decided to no longer try to prevent having children and let God bless us with children when He wanted to. We believe that God works in our lives, that He knits each child together in the mother's womb. So this was an easy decision for us.

For you created my inmost being;
you knit me together in my mother's womb.

After 2 years of no pregnancies, many tears, and many prayers, we adopted our twin boys. There is a wonderful story behind all of that, but I will save that for another time.

Well, a month after we adopted E and B, we found out I was finally pregnant! We believe that God rewarded us with a gift, a baby, because we took a leap of faith and adopted our twin sons.

Fast forward several years and here we are with 7 children. We have lost 2 babies to miscarriage also.

Since Baby Girl's birth in 2005, we have struggled more with the issue of trusting God with our fertility. Let's face it~ raising children is challenging and at times heartbreaking! It would be so much easier to say "Enough, we're finished." We thought God was telling us that our family was complete last summer after Baby W was born. But now, looking back, we realize it was just a combination of hormones and lack of sleep! : )

Will we have more children? Only God knows that. My husband and I are both open to receiving the children God has planned for our family.

If we decided to stop having children at this point, I think I would always wonder who God would have given me if only I would have let Him. I look at my children's faces and I know that God put them in this family. He chose me to mother them and my husband to father them. And oh, how glad I am that He did!

I think going for a couple of years with no pregnancies, and then losing two babies, made us realize that children truly are gifts. We are at peace with this decision for our family and we look forward to seeing who God gives us next, if He chooses to bless us with another child in the future.

The Lord has convicted us of this and we believe it would be wrong for us to shut out His voice and not trust Him in this area. Do not assume that I am judging you and that I think you are wrong if you have chosen to stop having children. I am not judging you at all. Not one tiny little bit.

I know there are lots and lots of arguments against "letting God plan your family size" because I have heard them all over the years. It's okay. You don't have to agree with me. Let's not get into arguments over this please. : )

Time Travel Tuesday~ 5 Years From Now

Five years from now my children will be 18,14,12,12,10,7, and 5 and I will be 36. I will probably have another baby or two by then, but we won’t go there just yet!

I will be living in my dream home, continuing to work on my gardens and enjoying our 11 acres. I plan to be riding our horses regularly and really enjoying being out “in the country.”

I will be almost finished homeschooling our oldest. There is a possibility that I will be homeschooling the others at that point.

At some time, I would love to teach women’s Bible studies in my home and have a Moms In Touch prayer group in my home. Hopefully I will be doing that in 5 years. I hope to be mentoring and teaching young wives and moms how to love their husbands and children and how to manage their homes and their time. Maybe by then I will have it figured out so I can teach someone else!

In 5 years, I will be consistent with exercising and running. My goal is to run half marathons and 5K’s with my husband.

I plan to be very involved in my children’s lives and in my church family. Those things will be going on in 5 years along with all the goodies of everyday life with a hubby and lots of kids!

Life will be just as busy and exciting (but hopefully not as stressful) as it is today!

Menu Plan Monday

Monday: Chicken fried steak, baked sweet potatoes, pinto beans
Tuesday: Taco Salad
Wednesday: Spaghetti, garlic bread, salad
Thursday: Black beans and rice with smoked sausage
Friday: Fried rice, salad
Saturday: hamburgers, mac and cheese, chips
Sunday: Chicken and Rice

The Lord's Day

Beauty in the Common Things: home
Listen In: cartoons (I am concerned that most of the time when I type my "listen in" section, the tv is what I hear in the background. Not a good thing, IMO)
Supper Plans: I don't know yet
Today I Plan To: I don't know that either.
View From the Kitchen Window: the beautiful pink streaks left over from dawn

Questions

While you have the time, take the time.

What things am I doing now that will not matter in 10 years?

What things am I doing now that will not matter in 100 years?

What things do I want to be doing in 1 year?

5 years?

10 years?

20 years?

30 years?

In 50 years, I will be 81 years old. What do I want to be doing at 81 years old? What kind of woman do I want to be?

When I die, how do I want my children and grandchildren to remember me? What kind of memories do I want my children to have of their childhood and of our life together?

What heritage, what legacy, am I leaving my children?

If I died in one year, what would my children remember about me? What would they think was my focus in life?

Beauty in the Common Things: the smell of smoke from a neighbor's chimney
Listen In: Baby and Baby Girl talking, Jonathan Park CD blaring from dd13's bedroom, Barney on in the living room
Supper Plans: Chicken and Rice Soup, cornbread sticks, simple salad
Today I Plan To: um...maybe I will take down my Christmas tree and decorations! (One year we just left it up and made it a Valentine's tree)
I am also going to get the basic house maintenance stuff done and have some fun cutting out and organizing coupons. Is it a sign of my age that I think it's fun to cut out and organize coupons?
View From the Kitchen Window: sunshine

A Fun Bloggy Award!

Annie gave my this fun award. Thanks, Annie!

Xandra, from Heart of Service has created this fun award. Here is what she says:
"it's for blogs that I must read every day without fail . . . They make you laugh, cry, think and feel connected every time you read a post. They give you a thrill as you see them loading into your browser and you get an equally satisfying thrill when you see that they have commented on your blog."

Let's see...each morning, after I check my email of course, I read Annie's blog...then I start at the bottom of my "a few of my favorites" list and start clicking. I even click on the ones I know will not be updated (Leslie and Mrs. Happy...I'm talking to you here).
I am giving this award to:
Annie
Natalie
Marybeth (Cheaper By The Half Dozen)
Elizabeth (Homeschool Mommy)
Michelle (Big Blueberry Eyes)
and
A Wise Woman (A Wise Woman Builds Her Home)

Have a wonderful Wednesday!!

A Fun Meme!

1. WERE YOU NAMED AFTER ANYONE? Yes, my aunt Maxine
2. WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU CRIED? Not sure. Within the last week probably.
3. DO YOU LIKE YOUR HANDWRITING? Pretty much
4. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE LUNCH MEAT? Smoked turkey
5. DO YOU HAVE KIDS? 7
6. IF YOU WERE ANOTHER PERSON WOULD YOU BE FRIENDS WITH YOU? Yes
7. DO YOU USE SARCASM? yes-- too much I will admit
8. DO YOU STILL HAVE YOUR TONSILS? Yes
9. WOULD YOU BUNGEE JUMP? No way!!
10. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE CEREAL? Life
11. DO YOU UNTIE YOUR SHOES WHEN YOU TAKE THEM OFF? Sometimes
12. DO YOU THINK YOU'RE STRONG? Yes, physically and emotionally
13. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE ICE CREAM? Chocolate
14. WHAT IS THE FIRST THING YOU NOTICE ABOUT PEOPLE? Their smile
15. RED OR PINK? Pink
16. WHAT IS YOUR LEAST FAVORITE THING ABOUT YOURSELF? Baby weight
17. WHO DO YOU MISS THE MOST? Megan
18. DO YOU WANT EVERYONE TO SEND THIS BACK TO YOU? N/A-- but I would love for them to post their answers on their blogs!
19. WHAT COLOR PANTS AND SHOES ARE YOU WEARING? Brown pants (athletic), brown shoes (athletic)
20. WHAT WAS THE LAST THING YOU ATE? A turkey sandwich for breakfast
21. WHAT ARE YOU LISTENING TO RIGHT NOW? Baby Girl asking for Wheat Thins
22. IF YOU WERE A CRAYON, WHAT COLOR WOULD YOU BE? Yellow
23. FAVORITE SMELLS? The smell of the air right before it rains, spring dirt, daffodils, baby lotion on a clean baby, my husband
24. WHO WAS THE LAST PERSON YOU TALKED TO ON THE PHONE? My husband
25. DO YOU LIKE THE PERSON WHO SENT THIS TO YOU? I don’t actually know her, but I think I would like her if I met her : )
26. FAVORITE SPORTS TO WATCH? Ice skating or gymnastics
27. HAIR COLOR? brown with some blonde highlights
28. Eye color? Blue
29. DO YOU WEAR CONTACTS? yes
30 FAVORITE FOOD? I love food so this answer is impossible! I have too many favorites!
31. SCARY MOVIES OR HAPPY ENDINGS? Happy Endings
32. LAST MOVIE YOU WATCHED? Miracle on 34^th Street
33. WHAT COLOR SHIRT ARE YOU WEARING? light green
34. SUMMER OR WINTER? winter
35. HUGS OR KISSES? kisses
36. FAVORITE DESSERT? Cherry or apple with vanilla ice cream
37. MOST LIKELY TO RESPOND? N/A but leave a comment if you put it on your blog
38. LEAST LIKELY TO RESPOND? N/A
39. WHAT BOOK ARE YOU READING NOW? Created To Be His Helpmeet by Debi Pearl
40. WHAT IS ON YOUR MOUSE PAD? No mouse pad
41. WHAT DID YOU WATCH ON TV.Late LAST NIGHT? I didn't watch tv last night
42. FAVORITE SOUND? the ocean, my babies laughing
43. ROLLING STONES OR BEATLES? Neither
44. WHAT IS THE FARTHEST YOU HAVE BEEN FROM HOME? Bahamas
45. DO YOU HAVE A SPECIAL TALENT? Not that I know of
46. WHERE WERE YOU BORN? Idabel, Oklahoma
47. WHOSE ANSWERS ARE YOU LOOKING FORWARD TO GETTING BACK? N/A
48. IF YOU COULD HAVE (OR HAVE HAD) ANY PROFESSION, WHAT WOULD IT BE? pediatrician

Listen to my cry for help, my King and my God, for to you I pray. In the morning, O Lord, you hear my voice; in the morning I lay my requests before you and wait in expectation.

But let all who take refuge in You be glad; let them ever sing for joy. Spread your protection over them, that those who love your name may rejoice in you. For surely, O Lord, you bless the righteous; you surround them with your favor as with a shield.

Psalm 5:2-3, 11-12

Do not forsake wisdom, and she will protect you; love her, and she will watch over you. Wisdom is supreme; therefore get wisdom. Though it cost all you have, get understanding. Esteem her, and she will exalt you; embrace her, and she will honor you. She will set a garland of grace on your head and present you with a crown of splendor.

Do not set foot on the path of the wicked or walk in the way of evil men.

Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life. Put away perversity from your mouth; keep corrupt talk far from your lips. Let your eyes look straight ahead, fix your gaze directly before you.

Do not swerve to the left or to the right.

Proverbs 4:6-9, 14, 23-25, 27

Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness?

For we are the temple of the living God. As God has said, “I will live with them and walk among them, and I will be their God and they will be my people.”

“Therefore come out from them and be separate,” says the Lord. “Touch no unclean thing, and I will receive you. I will be a Father to you, and you will be my sons and daughters.”Since we have these promises, dear friends, let us purify ourselves from everything that contaminates body and spirit, perfecting holiness out of reverence for God.

2 Corinthians 6:14, 16b-7:1

These are the verses I underlined in my Bible this morning as I read. I wanted to share them with you.