My New Adventure

I love to bake.

I mean I REALLY love to bake.

Specifically, I love to bake desserts. I love to cook other things too, but dessert, to me, is pure...indulgence. Breakfast, lunch and dinner are necessary for survival, but dessert is most definitely not fundamental for the continuation of our species. Dessert is not essential. Dessert is decadence. Dessert is excess. Dessert is extravagance. Dessert is bliss and I adore creating the things that cause people to close their eyes, lick their lips and emit guttural sounds of satisfaction. I'm of the opinion that if I'm going to indulge myself and blow a truck load of my calories on a dessert, I want it it be so ridiculously worth it that I don't regret the decision for one single nanosecond when it's gone. That is the experience I strive to give when I bake. I want to serve people a slice of "Frankly my dear, I don't give a d**n" in regards to the guilt factor when their plate has been scraped clean. THAT'S the way to have dessert people! :-)

So, a couple months back when Bre started Kindergarten and I was really struggling with the question of "What the heck am I supposed to DO when both the kids are in school all day?", I started flirting with the idea of taking my love of baking and bringing in some money with it. I know myself well enough to recognize that once the kiddos are in school full time I am going to feel useless unless I am adding to the amount in the checkbook ledger. I don't have a career or a degree to fall back on when the time comes. So, I was doing some dreaming about my possibilities and began to toy with the idea of a baking business, specifically cupcakes. They are very trendy, cute, super customizable, have become more and more popular on the wedding scene and don't appear to be a food fad that is going to die out anytime soon.

I have a couple of friends who are involved in the wedding industry in the area. So, I asked them both if there were any bakers in the area who specialize in cupcakes. No need to re-invent the wheel right? Both ladies informed me that there was no one in the immediate area and that Rochester is in need of a really good baker. Hmm, thought I. Interesting. :-)

After those conversations I decided that I would stick my toe in the proverbial water of my daydream and begin testing out, developing and compiling a collection of cupcake recipes. I figured that I would test for a year or so and then maybe have a solid enough offering to do something more serious with. I was in no big hurry cause Wes won't even be in pre school for another year. Then, about a week or two after that, one of the gals I had posed the cupcake query to asked me if I would be willing to make 50 custom cupcakes for her marketing business' open house that was a couple months away. I was...ecstatic and honored and terrified all at the same time, but I of course said yes and we began talking flavors right away. She decided on a chocolate cupcake with a raspberry filling and her business logo on top.



I got busy testing out a recipe and ended up making about 6 different batches to get it all just how I wanted it. I wanted them to be visually pleasing as well of off the charts delicious and it took several tweaks to get them there. My friend was happy with the first test batch and I could have stopped there, but I wasn't satisfied with them yet. So, my hubby's co-workers got to eat a lot of chocolate raspberry cupcakes along the way. :-)

In the end she decided to do a layer cake with her logo on it and just enough color matching cupcakes to frame the edge of the cake because I was worried about getting her logo perfectly on all 50 cupcakes. I am learning decorating techniques and such as I go along here. Plus I was not happy at all with the taste of the frosting I would've needed to use in order to go with the original plan. So, we changed the plan. :-)





D-day finally arrived and last Tues @ noon she stopped buy to pick up her order and squealed with delight when she saw them for the first time. That is NEVER a bad thing. :-) I had gotten everything finished and packed up 30 minutes before she came and the kitchen didn't even really look that bad. I didn't really make any money on this batch because of all the test batches I did but this one was never really about the money anyway. It was about the experience and the exposure and I gotta tell you I was on such a high for the rest of the day and no it was not a sugar high. I had SO much fun doing this and would really like to do it again and again and again and again. I think for this kind of thing to be legal in MN I need to be cooking in an industrial kitchen in order to sell my wares. So, I'm looking into that further and hopefully it won't prevent me from pursuing my dream. Maybe I can rent some hourly space from a caterer in the area or something like that. *crossing fingers* Here's to the future and all it's delicious possibilities!

Operation Christmas Child

Children are selfish.

My children are selfish.

My children are innately selfish.

My children are innately selfish and I have to teach then not to be.

Quite the daunting task when the world they are growing up in revolves around instantly available, drive through, double espresso charged, "get more to be happier than you think you aren't" consumerism that is practically intebated into their little core persons.

In my opinion and upbringing the best cure for a chronic case of the gimmes is a healthy dose of the givems, generosity or charity. Fortunately, for parents, the holiday season is FULL of opportunities to get our children personally involved in practicing the art of giving. This year our kiddos got the chance to help out with Operation Christmas Child.

If you are not familiar with this charity it is an annual event sponsored by Samaritan's Purse. People are invited to fill a shoe box or 2 or 10 with various and sundry gift and essential items for a little boy or little girl in 3 different age brackets, 2-4, 5-9 or 10-14. Once you turn in your completed shoe boxes at a designated drop off spot they are shipped around the world to children in need. You even have the option of tracking your shoe boxes to see exactly where they ended up (hello geography lesson!). :-)

I was SO excited to have my kids participate in such a wonderful giving experience this year, I could barely contain my glee. The first thing I did was sit down and watch a video with them, on the OCC web site, so they could see the joy their shoe box items would bring to the little boy and girl we were sending them to. Here is the one we watched. This really helped them to make the connection and also removed the "but I want to buy it for me" when we went to the store to purchase our shoe box items.

They were allowed to spend $13 at the dollar store (hello math lesson!) so that we would still have $7 to pay for the shipping of each box. They had so much fun picking out things they thought "the little girl would like" or "the little boy would like". It almost made my heart burst with joy as they chose each item with care. I did have to veto a few things because it wouldn't have fit in the shoe box or the little girl probably would enjoy crayons more than a kitchen timer. :-) Our special shopping trip only took us about 20 minutes total and we headed home with 2 grocery bags full of generosity.

We spread everything out on the table

The kids filled the boxes, even adding a few pieces of their Halloween candy

Then they each wrote a little note to the boy and girl

And drew them a picture

I paid for the shipping costs online so that we could track where our shoe boxes ended up, taped the labels on them, Girl 5-9 and Boy 2-4. Then the very next Sunday we took them to church and added then to the enormous pile of shoe boxes on either side of the stage (I wish I had a picture of that. it was impressive). The kids were a little disappointed that they couldn't give the boxes to the children themselves, but there is a chance that the children might write a note back to them and how awesome would that be!?! Once the boxes are delivered I will get an e-mail telling us where they ended up and then maybe I will print off a map of the area and put it up somewhere the kids can see it and remember how good it felt to not be selfish. :-) This is definitely a holiday tradition we will be repeating in years to come.

October Traditions

I think this year is the most I have ever enjoyed Halloween with the kiddos. I guess it's because both the kids are big enough now to really enjoy all the activities so it has made it super enjoyable for me as well. Here is a recap of our festivities.

Carving pumkins. Bre wanted a cat and Wes really just wanted to use the apple corer to make a bunch of holes, but then when I suggested that we trace and cut out his hands as well, he thought that was a good idea too.


Wes and I have been going to a couple of 2-gether Mommy & Me community education classes while Bre is in school and this weeks theme was Fall. I forgot that we was supposed to go in costume, but they had some dress up clothes there and he chose spider-man. They got to paint spider webs and play with pumpkin spice scented play dough and go trick or treating in the gym with the preschoolers and make silly monster faces with construction paper and play with seed corn and a bunch of other fun things too. He never wants to leave when it's done and always asks when he gets to come back to "his" class. :-)



One of my Mom's groups in Rochester does a Trunk or Treat every year and this is the second year we have taken the kids to that. I gotta say it is NEVER that cold when you go trick or treating in TN. I had on bunny ears and a painted nose and whiskers (the kids thought it was a hoot that a grown up had a costume too) and by the time all the kids walked through the line up of vehicles and got their candy I could no longer feel my little pink bunny nose.



We also took them to a Hallelujah Party that our old church does every year. We had hot dogs and chili for supper then the kids got to play a bunch of games and be in the costume contest, Bre participated in the pie eating contest, and then they both came home with brown lunch bags 3/4 FULL of candy loot! Wes also won a GIANT chocolate bar for his firefighter/firetruck costume and his eyes got as big as the chocolate bar when they handed it to him. Here is their combined stash from both events. Dear Lord help me!!!

I am trying to decide if I want to ration it out over time, let them have a free for all for 1 day and one day only, let them choose a given number of items and donate the rest to a women's shelter or Operation Hometown Gratitude (sending boxes of goodies to military men/women who are overseas) or let them take some of it to a dentist friend in the area who does candy buy backs ($1/lb I believe). So many learning opportunities to choose from, patience, indulgence, giving, gratitude, bartering, not sure which way to go with this one. My heart and my head can't seem to agree. I'm really liking the Operation Hometown Gratitude thing though, maybe we'll go with that option. It's NEVER a bad thing to show our appreciation to our service men and women and you are never to young to start being thankful for your freedom.

Fall Celelbations!!!

Fall Celelbations!!!

Bird up!!!

Hunting season has begun here in MN and my hubby and his hunting dog are in 7th heaven. Pheasant opener was yesterday but due to a family wedding Matt wasn't able to participate, even though I knew he would much rather be wearing camo than khakis. What a guy!

Matt got up with the kids this morning and took care of breakfast, allowing me to sleep in (again...what a guy!), but as soon as I came down stairs he donned his neon orange duds, loaded his guns in the car and took Hooch out for some quality guy time. And much to their delight and satisfaction they came home a couple hours later triumphant in their quest. Hooch had gotten up a beautiful hen, Matt sent her spiraling back down to earth and Hooch retrieved her just like a good 4 legged hunting companion should do.

We had just sat down to have lunch when the conquerors came home to rest and replenish and the kids were beside themselves with excitement. They LOVE seeing Daddy's spoils of the hunt and we always take pictures of them checking things out. So, after we all finished eating we headed outside for our investigating and documenting.

Bre has no fear and just grabs with bare hands whatever Daddy pulls out of his hunting bag. She even asked to watch the butchering process today which is definitely NOT something I want to see but she thought it was fascinating so good for her. Wes tends to be a little more cautious and handles things with a bit more reservation and sometimes needs some encouragement from Matt to feel safe handling these dead animals Daddy brings home. We never force him to hold something he doesn't want to of course, but when he does he is SO very proud of himself afterward and will talk about it for days to come.

Pintrested?

So, I have recently become a member of a web site called www.pintrest.com It is an inescapable, swirling vortex of craft ideas, recipes, home decor, gardening ideas, quotes, funny pictures, fashion...basically any image you can find on the internet you can post it to pintrest....and I am LOVING it! It serves as a cyber cork board where you can "pin" images that you like and others can see what you place on your "board" and you can see what they have placed on theirs as well. You can also repin images you see on someone else's board to your own and visa versa, adding to your collections. I really didn't need one more reason to be on the computer even more than I already am, but I am absolutely adoring this awesome site and am gathering all kinds of creative ideas from it. Here is the result of a pintrest image I saw a few days ago:

This is a paper collage box I made for my fridge to hold the recipes I use during my weekly meal planning. Isn't it gorgeous!?! I have very little counter space so I LOVED the idea of using some of the prime fridge real estate to hold my full page, laminated recipes, and it is beautiful to boot!

I started with a frozen waffle box, cut the top flaps off and then cut the dip out of the front to give it a little more shape and interest. Then I raided my scrapbooking scraps file and started gluing. I used good ol' elmers (because that is all I had), laid a few pieces down till it looked pleasing, went to town with the sticky stuff and kept layering till the box was covered and my eyes were happy. Then I glued several rectangular magnets to the back of the box so that it would hold nice and strong to the fridge. I am THRILLED beyond measure with the result and can't help but smile with satisfaction every time I walk past the fridge. Thanks to pintrest for the inspiration, the recycle bin for the box and my scrapbooking habit for the supplies I now have a beautiful, one of a kind and highly functional piece of art in my kitchen. I do believe this could be the beginning of a long and beautiful pinship.

"Be who you are and say what you feel because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind." - Dr. Seuss

"Learn how to be happy with what you have while you pursue all that you want." ~ Jim Rohn

Winds of change

The only thing that never changes is the fact that everything changes.

Have you ever experienced the truth in that statement? Have you ever felt like the very earth beneath your feet is elementally shape-shifting where you stand? I have been almost drowning in the sensation recently and I gotta say, for the most part it has not been a pleasant companion to keep. I enjoy change in the context of keeping life interesting and exciting; trying a new restaurant, experimenting with new recipes, testing out a new sport or exercise, vacationing somewhere different, etc. However, other kinds of change are not always so fun and enjoyable for me, especially when they involve my children growing up. Talk about earth shifting! I have been "shifted" 3 times recently in this arena and after the initial jolt and aftershocks wore off, I am doing well, thriving even, despite the fact that I felt quite sure I was not going to make it through to the other side of any of these shifts in less than 1 million irreparable pieces. This is my story.

Breannah starting Kindergarten

On the 7th of September @ exactly 8:15 am Central Standard time, my firstborn went off to all day, every day kindergarten. To say that this was hard for me would in all honesty be the most underwhelming understatement of the above, middle and underworld combined. lol I have a friend who also sent her firstborn to kindergarten this year and here is what she had to say about it,

"Sending your child off to school for the whole day is the antithesis of mothering for me. I worked so hard for six and a half years to protect him and never let him out of my sight and now I'm supposed to happily put him on the bus and let him go."

Breannah is not riding the bus to school, but I TOTALLY related to that statement. If felt like I was rubbing a cats fur in the wrong direction and it made me feel just as discombobulated and pissed off as that same poor cat. Going.....against....the grain.....is H.A.R.D with a capital duh!

But, despite what my mommy emotions were telling me, "Don't let her go! It's dangerous! They'll ruin her!", my head knew that she was SO ready for this next milestone and I needed to let her take that step. One of my more rational fears was that I would loose my composure in front of her on the big day and I so very badly didn't want to taint her excitement and boy was she ever excited, let me tall ya. But, I am proud to announce that I was able to get my crying done a couple days before the big day and when lift off finally did occur there wasn't a wet eye to be found, at least not between Bre and I, some of the other Moms @ drop off time were a different story.

She of course had a fabulous day and her teacher said she didn't once ask for me or when I was coming to get her. lol I was actually very relieved by this announcement because I would much rather her be having the time of her life without me than be miserable the whole time we are separated. Wes and I had a lovely afternoon together as well on our first day of this new adventure together. We went out for a special Mommy & Wesley lunch date which was so very nice, for both of us. We shared a booth, chicken fingers & fries, my lemon water, chocolate cake and lots of giggles and sweet moments. It was precious and ministered to my aching heart just where I needed it most on that difficult morning and I knew that I was going to be ok.

The only thing that never changes is the fact that everything changes.

Shift happens and sometimes it really sucks, but sometimes the new view can be quite nice once you get over the initial shock.

Using a paper chain to count down the days left till school starts.

First day breakfast!

KINDERGARTEN!!!

Sharing left over lunch and a snuggle on the playground after school.

"When you come to the edge of all the light you know, and are about to step off into the darkness of the unknown, faith is knowing one of two things will happen: There will be something solid to stand on or you will be taught how to fly." --Barbara J. Winter

The difference between try and triumph is a little umph. - Unknown

A...B...C...D...Ice Cream

We were playing a phonics matching game after supper last night. Wesley drew a card with a certain picture on it and decided to tell us how to spell it. :-)

"No other woman on earth can do what you alone are called to do, can give to the world what you alone were sent to give through your authentic gifts."
Sarah Ban Breathnach
Simple Abundance A Daybook of Comfort and Joy

A Future In Public Speaking?

DISCLAIMER: This was NOT scripted, rehearsed or directed. I asked her if I could video her reading a book so we could show Meemaw (my Mother) and she was MORE than willing to oblige. :-)

A Cure For What Ails Me

Purge

1. to rid, clear, or free
2. to rid of whatever is impure or undesirable; cleanse; purify.

Therapy

1. a curative power or quality.

2. any act, hobby, task, program, etc., that relieves tension.

I love our home. Our home is very quaint. It is a cape cod that sports a red brick front, 2 adorable dormers on the front, a wood burning fire place, hardwood floors, a 3 season porch and arched doorways to name a few of it's more fetching qualities. The first time we looked at this house, 10 years ago, I walked in the front door and I knew I was home. Our house has loads of personality points and just as many "quirks". You know the annoying things that just don't work quite right. One of the biggest "quirks" of our little charmer that drives Matt especially crazy is that most of the house has been wired into 1 breaker. SO, for instance, you can't run the microwave and a space heater upstairs at the same time because you will loose power to 3/4 of the house including the basement where the breaker box is located. However, despite it's many drawbacks I still adore our home and I have loved working on improving it whether that means reflooring the kitchen, tearing off wallpaper in the dining room, refinishing the wood work or organizing the closets, cabinets and crannies. That's right, I consider de-cluttering to be a home improvement project.

Purge Therapy is what I have affectionately started calling it when I get the urge to improve our living quarters, but our budget does not allow for the cost of demolishing any non-load bearing walls. I want to make our home better, I want us to be able to relax in it even more than we already do, to live in it easier and for our living space to reflect who we are as a family more and more accurately. So, when the purse strings are cinched to tightly for any major or even minor remodeling I have found that my urge for home improvement can be satisfied with a good ol' purge. I grab a box or a couple garbage bags, head for a closet or dresser or cabinet and let the cleansing commence.

This is the book that really got me going on the power of purging. The book is divided into room by room chapters on how to go through the things in each area and how to eliminate a) the things that are not used by your family on a regular basis and b) things that you do not absolutely love. I decided to read a chapter, and then work completely through that section of my house before I would allow myself to read the next chapter. And believe me it IS work, mental (keep give or throw?), emotional (but so and so gave this to us as a wedding present) and physical (when I am "done" I still have to haul all this stuff all the way out to the truck or garbage or put the keep stuff back where it belongs) I approached this ginormous task in this piecemeal manner because I knew I couldn't bite it all off at once or I would choke on my own aspirations of clutter-less-ness. It has been slow going for sure and I am still not done yet. I stalled out when I got to the garage/storage area chapter because that feels like a monumentally enormous job that I don't feel I can do on my own. I not even sure what half the stuff in those areas are for let alone if they are useful or not and none of it looks particularly beautiful to my eyes. I could enlist the assistance of my dear hubby but I have learned that he is of the "let's not get rid of it because we might have a need for it ten years down the road" persuasion. So, in matters of purging where his opinion is requested...slim to none ever goes. Maybe those areas will never get a good cleansing but that's ok, because I have tackled our main living areas where we spend most of our time and I know for my part the reduction of mental noise caused by useless clutter all around me has been reduced dramatically. I no longer have a Tupperware hell in my kitchen and I can, for the most part, reach in and find what I need right away. What I find to be truly interesting, and what actually inspired this post was the no matter how many times I purge an area, no matter how many bags or boxes of "another person's treasure" take a one way trip out our front door, there always seems to be more to purge.

Now granted, it takes us a lot longer to fill all those boxes and bags than it did in the beginning, but we are still filling them none the less. Point in case, I have purged almost every room in our house at least once sometimes more than that in the last year, but I still keep a bag in the bottom of my closet where all the "give" items throughout the house that inevitably come up are deposited until the bag is full enough to warrant a trip down the stairs and out the door to the back of the truck. Here is was I hauled out to the truck this morning:
3 big bags full, 3 boxes, an old jewelery chest and a couple unused hunting coats. Whew! I feel much better all ready! That is what is so great about Purge Therapy! When I am feeling home improvement-ish and without the funds to re-tile the shower or even when I am feeling stressed out and not in control of anything in my life, I can get myself some FREE therapy for what ails me and I get instant gratification, instant results and instant control over something that was out of hand...clutter!

So, my advice to you? Take 2 Purge Therapy pills and call me in the morning. You'll be glad you did!

Purge Therapy has been know to cause unusual feeling of euphoria, ecstasy and uncontrollable grinning. Use Purge Therapy only as often as you experience symptoms of clutter overload or just for the sheer hell of it. If you experience feelings of addiction to Purge Therapy, know that you are not alone. Over 126.38% of people using Purge Therapy become dependent on it for the maintenance of their sanity. If you run out of places to use Purge Therapy in your own home do not hesitate to call your sister, mother-in-law or neighbor's hair dresser to locate a new supply immediately. This statement has not been approved by the FDA, the FCC, or the FBI. Use Purge Therapy at your own risk as no lifeguard is on duty.

Monday's Meal Plan

Happy Monday! Here is my meal plan for the week. Apparently I was having one of those weeks where I am sick of all our good ol' stand by recipes and needed to try something new because I ended up with 3 that I have never done before! The new ones are marked with an * and the ones in the Crock Pot are marked with a cp.

Monday - Crock Pot Pheasant (cp)

Tuesday - Mexican Tortilla Pizza

Wednesday - Garden Veggie Linguine with Cilantro Pesto (*)

Thursday - Navy Bean Bacon Chowder (*,cp)

Friday - Easy Broiled Chicken Fajitas (*)

Saturday - Matt's Chili

All In The Family

It wasn't anyone's real birthday on this particular morning, but in our house we LOVE all forms of music and we will hum, whistle or sing anything that happens to strike our fancy at the moment whether it matches the occasion or not. On this day the occasion was breakfast, and the song that fit his momentary fancy was "Happy Birthday". :-)

Routines, schedules and school lunches, OH MY!

Bre starts kindergarten on the 7th of September, just 18 short days away! *insert barely contained sobs*

Aside from trying to figure out how she got old enough to go to school in the first place, I have been thinking about getting her (and me) back into the routine of morning and bedtime schedules. Once summer time (FINALLY) hits MN I just can't bring myself to stick to any kind of a regular schedule, sleeping, waking or otherwise. It feels like cheating on the spontaneity of the season somehow. I LOVE to have last minute picnics or trips to the pool or BBQs at a friend's house or Dairy Queen treats and these types of things just don't seem to hold the same joy if they are planned out to far in advance. :-) However, this carefree, fly by the seat of my pants, lovable quality I posses does not lend itself very well to the need for my children to be fully rested and mentally capable at a much to early time (in my night owl opinion) of the am hours. So, as the far to short summer months of the north regretfully begin to come to a close, I realize once again that I must surrender a large portion of my party loving personality to the cold, hard, task master of set bedtime and morning routines for the sake of my daughter's academic success and physical well being.

Now, even though I do so love an impromptu get together (I think I must get this from my mother, people would always say "Sonja will throw a party at the drop of a hat...and she'll even drop the hat! lol) I also LOVE check lists and charts. I think I have come to love these organizational tools so dearly because they allow me to keep a lot of clutter out of my brain so I have more room for the creativity and productivity to come through. I can easily see (I am a super visual learner) what needs to be done next and when I get it done, I get the instant gratification of checking it off (I am also a very tactile learner). So, when I began thinking about how to help Bre and I get and stay on track with our much needed am & pm routines I decided that what we needed were some charts. :-)

I poked around online for already made charts that I could just print off, laminate and reuse, but I was not very happy with what I found. So, I decided to make my own. I had already made a list (I told you I love lists) of the things she would need to do for each of these separate routines. I let her sit with me at the computer and look at a free clip art website and choose which pictures she wanted for each of the individual tasks. For the most part, if the picture had purple on it, that was the one that she wanted. :-) Anyway, here is what I came up with:

Before School Chart

She hasn't seem them yet and I know she will love them because all afternoon while she and Wes were playing in the backyard I heard her talking to him about "the chart for school that Mommy made for me and I got to pick out the pictures!" We will print them off, laminate them and be able to use them all year long. Maybe this won't be so bad. :-)

I "heart" Meal Plans

A couple years ago I became a regular meal planner and it has exponentially made my kitchen life simpler and I never ever want to go back to standing at the refrigerator @ 4 pm every day sweating over what to make for dinner and feeling guilty because we will probably end up going out to eat...again. Now don't get me wrong, I love going out to eat but I would rather do it when it is actually in the budget and because we want to, not because we have no other option other than gnawing on raw, frozen meat and uncooked potatoes.

So, here is what I do to save my conscience, our budget, and our waistlines.

1st tip - I try and do my planning while my kiddos are napping/resting because it is easier if I don't keep getting interrupted.

2nd tip - I usually do it on Friday afternoons because we go grocery shopping on Saturday mornings and I need to have my list ready to go by then.

I plan my meals from Sunday-Saturday and I start by sitting down with my calendar for the next week. Before I choose any meals I need to figure out what our schedule is going to look like. If we are really super busy throughout a particular day I know I need to stick with super quick and easy-to-throw-together stuff, or crock pot meals. I also take into consideration how long I will be home right before supper and whether I could be using the oven or if I need to make something earlier in the day that will just be ready to heat up on the stove-top when we walk in the door.

As an example, on Mondays I teach a Zumba class from 5:30-6:30 pm in the evenings. The kids and I have to leave the house by 4:50 pm to get there on time and we don't get back to the house till about 7:15 pm, and we are all famished by that time. My hubby gets home @ 6:00 pm and likes to eat right away. By knowing our schedule for the day I know that I need to make something for supper that can be heated up quickly, or served hot out of the crock pot because my hubby doesn't want to wait 20-30 minutes for the oven to heat up his food and neither do the kids and I. It needs to be quick, which means I am cooking soups and stews and stir fry's, stove top stuff. I should also add that even though we own a microwave we really prefer NOT to use it. I honestly only ever use it to quickly melt butter when I am baking cause I mean...it's butter. I don't think a microwave can really make butter any less nutritious than it already is.

Now on the days that we are not so busy, I get to choose meals that take a little more right-before-you-sit-down-to-eat-it babysitting, like meatloaf's or lasagna or cooking on the grill, or even trying a new recipe. I love new recipes! When our schedule permits me to, I try a new one about once a week, but I HATE feeling rushed with a recipe that I am not familiar with. A new recipe always takes me much longer the first time than it ever will again because I don't know what's coming next like I do with my tried and trues. So, I like to give myself plenty of time to work with those newbies.

Once I have our schedule in front of me then comes the fun part, I grab my recipe file and start choosing. I keep a file of recipes that are in our permanent rotation, a file of ones that I would like to try and also a file of recipes I would like to try again before deciding for sure if they deserve a permanent spot in my box. I laminate the ones we love because I hate nothing more than accidentally setting my recipe paper in a wet spot on the counter. Ugh! When I am choosing which recipes to use I also take into consideration the ingredients that I already have on hand that need to get used up. For instance, this week I had a whole head of cabbage that needed some attention so I chose 2 recipes that use cabbage and will probably make Cole Slaw as one of our side dishes as well.

Here is what I ended up choosing for this week:

Monday - Dirty Rice With Smoked Sausage

Tuesday - Spicy Cabbage-Beef Soup (This was my new recipe to try this week)

Wednesday - Zuppa Toscana

Thursday - Crockpot Pheasant with cole slaw & fresh corn

Friday - Mexican Tortilla Pizza (I add seasoned ground beef to this recipe because my hubby is extremely anti-meatless lol)

Saturday - Lunch - Out / Dinner - Ham & Potato Soup (hubby's recipe)

Sunday - Lunch - Leftovers / Supper - Out/Pizza or Sandwiches

B is for...

A couple of days ago I went to tell Bre that she could come out of her room because nap/quiet time was done for the day and this is what I saw.

Now, apparently my imagination works a little to efficiently on the negative side of things because my first thought was "Did the dolls misbehave and they are now being punished on some mid-evil dungeon device?" (picture those things they would strap prisoners to and then stretch them in opposite directions from the ankles and wrists).

So, needing to have my curiosity satiated I asked her what was going on with her dolls and without hardly blinking her big beautiful eyelashes at me she said, quite matter of factly, "They're pretending to be bats Mom." "In the context of a 5 year old's playful imagination THAT make so much more sense Stephanie" I thought to myself, laughing out loud as I swept her up in my arms for a hug.

Moral of today's blog? Clearly, when dealing with my young children's world of play, I need to think less in terms of Braveheart and more in terms of Barney. Bats! Ok, I get it now. :-)

I am lovely?

I am going to follow the Fly Lady's advice this morning and start where I am at and not worry about trying to catch up. :-)

So, here we go, both feet ready and JUMP!

I came across something while I was having my quiet time this morning that impacted my heart so intensely that it brought me to tears. It is really not all that uncommon for me to cry over something I read, I have a very tender heart, but I immediately wanted to share it with someone, ANYONE because surely to Pete I am not the only one who would be so strongly impacted by this statement.

You know how you can read something a million times and think you understand what it's saying and then one day you read it again and it kind of feels like you've been reading in the dark and someone turns the light switch on for you and all of a sudden your entire body goes , "Oh! Wow, how did I not see that before?"? Oprah refers to this as an "Ah Ha!" moment. I like these because they tend to be very focus altering for me, in a good way, like finally taking the time to clean your glasses, or windows. It can make a BIG difference. Well, that is exactly what happened to me this morning.

I have been reading Beth Moore's book "So Long Insecurity" . It is a wonderful study and I highly recommend it to anyone who has ever had their a** kicked by their own insecurities, which I am pretty sure would be the population of the entire planet at one time or another. Here is what I read:

How lovely is your dwelling place, O Lord Almighty!

This is a verse from the bible that comes from Psalm 84:1 and yes I have probably read or heard this verse at least a million times over the course of my 31 years. I have always imagined this verse to be descriptive of a church, or a temple or heaven. Most certainly anywhere God would choose to be would be lovely indeed, I mean...he's God! We wouldn't expect the president of the United States to live in a Motel 6, so of course God, the creator of the earth and skies, wouldn't live anywhere that wasn't infinitely more exquisite than the white house, right? BUT what if I view this verse in the understanding of God living or dwelling in me??? *crickets chirping* Then.....that would mean....I....am lovely? How lovely I am, O Lord Almighty! I am lovely!?! *cue steady stream of tears*

According to 1st Corinthians 3:16 that is an entirely accurate way to read that scripture (if you believe that the bible confirms itself, which I do).

You realize, don't you, that YOU are the temple of God, and God himself is present in YOU? (The Message paraphrase bible, emphasis mine)

I have always believed that God lives in me and loves me and finds worth in me even when I can't seem to find it in myself, but I had never read THIS verse (Psalm 84:1) through the lens of THAT (1st Corinthians 3:16) understanding before and as soon as I did, the light switch was flipped on in my heart and I don't think I will ever be the same again. What a powerful weapon against the negative tapes that seem to play in my head, against my will and out of the blue.

I wish my hair was like "hers" - No, I am lovely!
My thighs are to big - No, I am lovely!
My chest is to small - No, I am lovely!
I have to be THE best in order to matter - No, I am lovely!
I have no original thoughts, so why bother trying to write anything - No, I am lovely!
I will probably fail so why even try - No, I am lovely!
I am forgettable, no one will remember me - No, I am lovely!
I am not enough of what I think people want me to be - No, I am lovely!

I am to much of what I think people don't want me to be - No, I am lovely!

I am lovely!

Wow, that is some powerful stuff.

I have not bore my soul through the details of this post in hopes of receiving affirming words of my worth from anyone (although words of encouragement ARE my primary love language and speak VERY strongly to my heart). My purpose in sharing was out of the hope and desire to pass along this new lens for self-viewing to someone else, anyone else, who might need it as desperately as I did/do. I guess I should also add that I don't take this mew mantra as license for pride or resistance against bettering the things in me that truly need to be changed for the better, but when a heart and soul are wounded and dying a slow miserable death, the realization and regular repetition of the fact that "I AM LOVELY!" is a cool sip of water to my parched psyche, a soothing ointment to my crippled self-worth and a warm & gentle embrace to my frightened inner child. I am lovely...and you are too.

Hugs & Hope,
Stephanie