Deep Breath.

It's back to "normal life" around here today. If there is such a thing!!!! We had a wonderful week last week. Secluded in the country with time to rest, relax, visit with family and cuddle with my babies. It was wonderful!! Now today it's school books, laundry, and cleaning. But I'm focused and ready to get at it again.

I have a question for you mommas though. I need some help.

I need some new breakfast ideas. I need to get back to having healthy breakfasts. Hot. Cold. I don't care. Just something better than cereal and something more organized than everyone having something different. We've fallen into that bad habit and it is making mornings stressful! I need some fun and yummy ideas! Fix ahead would be awesome! But either way, would you tell me your family's favorite breakfast. Please and thank you!

Oh by the way, I have a super yummy pizza recipe that I will post later today. With pictures! My family LOVED it!! And it was super easy!!

Excuse me.

Please excuse my lack of posting this week. I am spending the week in the country with my parents. The internet out there is slow and cumbersome so I'm not sure how much posting I will be doing.

Have a great week and I will "see" you soon!

A Prayer.

No words needed.

Beautiful.
True.
Heart felt.
Needed.

Please worship today with me. God is good and His love endures forever!

My lunch.

This was my lunch a couple day ago.

It was what I had in the fridge. So I threw it together.

And it was so very delicious I will be making it again.

What is it you may ask?

It is -

a bed of cilantro rice (rice cooked according to the package with chicken bouillon cube and cilantro sprinkled in the water while it cooked)

a layer of taco meat

topped with lettuce

tomato

black beans

cheddar cheese

and sour cream

Oh my!! It is my new favorite way to eat tacos!! I loved it and you really must try it!



Overwhelmed.

I love my job.

I love my kids.

I love my LIFE!!!

But some days, weeks, seasons I feel overwhelmed.

Ever feel that way?

I'm pretty sure I'm not the only one.

I have so many projects, ministry ideas, school ideas, and organization ideas for my home on my mind.

But I can't find the time to do ANY of them.

I'm in "survival" mode. I do what it takes to make it through the day. Nothing is ever done all the way. If I do one thing well, other things suffer. I can't seem to get ahead.

This is not a post to complain or make you feel sorry for me. It is a post to help me remember how I feel right now. And to help other mothers who now, or at another time will, feel overwhelmed. You (We) are not alone. We all suffer from it from time to time. It doesn't make us bad mothers or wives or people. It makes us human. Needing Christ and His strength and salvation. Clinging to Him and Him only to get us through. As we wait on Him to change the season in our lives.

Lord, teach me, grow me, change me, in this season and prepare me for the next. I resolve with every fiber of my being to serve You in every season, in every way. And that is my first and only priority. All of this other "earthly" stuff isn't really important.

Psalm 73:25-26

25 Whom have I in heaven but you?

And earth has nothing I desire besides you.

26 My flesh and my heart may fail,

but God is the strength of my heart

and my portion forever.

So this is love.....

The way that love looks changes with the years. I have found this to be true. So, this year, with Valentine's Day just around the corner my "valentine" and I spent Friday night at the bowling alley. And while this would have been a fun "date" night years ago, this year we went on a group "date". With our 5 children.

We all bowled and laughed and ate ourselves silly.

We worked hard.



We loved it! Every minute!

We practiced our game.

Had our lows.

Help was needed.

(see the worker rescuing a ball?)

We ate pizza!!

And had our highs!!

We snuggled and cuddled.

And took a nap.

It was a family affair and so so much fun. My husband and I have talked about it all weekend!

Happy Valentine's day!!!!

What are you doing to celebrate Valentine's Day this year?

3 months

Oh my how time flies. Jeremiah is already months old. So many of you prayed for him, and for us, during his first days I thought you might like to see how those prayers have helped and what our little (who is not so little anymore) man is up to.

He weighs in now at 17lbs!! And yes, he is our biggest, chunckiest baby yet. And I am sure it is because he LOVES to nurse!

He is holding his head up better and better everyday. He is sleeping about 10-12hrs straight through most nights. Yes, he is every mother's dream!!

He has the cutest little belly laugh and giggle. He will coo and "talk" to almost anyone that speaks to him. He is very social and loves people!

He will smile at his momma from across the room when someone else is holding him. Melts my heart!

His favorite things right now are riding in the Moby and his bouncy seat and jungle gym that have toys. He is reaching out and grabbing at them now. So much fun!

Everyday I am in awe of how far he has come and I am reminded how blessed I am. Not all babies bounce back from pulmanary hypertension. It can be scary long lasting stuff, requiring oxygen and feeding tubes to help the babies gain weight and grow. But he here is growing like a weed free from all things medical and the picture of health with not so much as a sniffle yet. And I praise God for all of it. For I know it is the blessings of my Heavenly Father that have gotten us this far and will see us through what is to come.

I love you Jeremiah! You are a testimony to the power of prayer and to the love of God's people!

Pleasure.

Your veiwing pleasure that is.

Lots and lots of people think Jeremiah looks just like Samantha.

And then I show a different picture!

The weather outside is frightful.

We had more snow today. We had to stay home instead of go out as planned. I needed a project to keep me busy. So, I stocked my freezer as much as possible with what I had on hand.  Here is what I accomplished (in the kitchen) today.

Beef stock

Big stock pot of beef broth. It's chilling over night and tomorrow I will skim and strain it and freeze the stock for beef stroganoff, beef and barley soup, and vegetable beef soup.

Popcorn chicken

I cut up a bag of boneless skinless chicken breasts into chunks. And breaded it in

1 cup white flour

1 cup wheat flour

seasoning salt

pepper

garlic salt

I then baked them in the oven at 350 degrees for about 30min. stirring halfway through. Then I turned on my broiler to low and cooked them until they were browned.

Here are the finished nuggets. We ate some of them for lunch and there are still enough in the freezer for another lunch. So I got two meals out of that bag of chicken for only $3.99 as the store here in town had them on sale last week.  

Pizza Pockets

I made up some pizza dough and used some leftover meatloaf as some meatballs to make some pizza pockets.

I used a large cup to cut the circles and filled each with cheese, sauce, and the meatballs.

Chicken

The last thing that I did was to boil some chicken breast. Tomorrow I plan to make some more pizza dough and make some "hot pockets" type things with this chicken, some chopped broccoli and cheddar cheese. I have some ham as well so maybe I will try some ham and cheese ones too. I am not sure though about what to put in them to make them stay moist. The pizza pockets have the pizza sauce but I'm not sure what to use in these. Any ideas?



So, there is my day in the kitchen and I will finish it up tomorrow with the hot pockets. What did you accomplish this week so far?

Ahhhhh!

Snow again!!

We had speech and shopping and a playdate for today. And now it is another day snowed in at home. We are all a little disappointed to say the least. We were all looking forward to getting out. We have only been out for a couple of hours since the ice hit last Monday night. We were just able to yesterday, for the first time in over a week, get the van out of the hill. We went and had dinner at my in-laws. It was a nice visit and the kids were glad to see Nana and Pop again. Although I'm not sure who was more excited to see who!! Grandparents crack me up!!

So, today I need a project to work on after school. Most of the laundry is caught up, and the house is pretty clean. So, I'm trying to find something to do today that is productive. Then I had a great idea. I think I will freezer cook. My stock is gone right now. All used up while Jeremiah was first home from the hospital. So, I think I will start on that today. It will be nice come spring to have a freezer full of fast and easy meals when we decide to head out to into the warmer weather.

As an additional blessing it will help to heat up the house today. It must be cold out there! Our woodstove is blowing and still its chilly in here this morning.

I will take lots of pictures and let you know this evening how it all went. I will be cooking in between teaching school, for its not a snow day here!

Time.

I have to offer a post of praise for my day yesterday. I woke yesterday feeling empty lonely and needing "me time. I was self focused and throwing one major pity party. Well, after my time with my Father, He spoke to me, loved on me, and showed me how blessed I was. Then prompted me to live in the moment and use my day wisely.

So, I turned on some scripture set to music, baked some banana bread, mopped the living room, taught tons and tons of school, and got all the laundry caught up. I entered the evening feeling very accomplished and blessed that dinner had been ready when my husband got home and without a lot of stress, the table was cleared and dishes done with the help of my oldest daughter, and then we had a great evening of family time.

I am not saying this to brag or boast about myself, only to boast about the power of my Savior. He is so faithful and when we listen to His leading He blesses. He has changed my heart again and turned it towards my home and family. Oh how I love Him! He is so good to me even though I fail time after time.

Listen to Him, let Him plan your day, and watch Him bless you! With His power attitudes can be changed, chores can be blessings, and life can be sweeter!

Psalm 89:14-16

 Righteousness and justice are the foundation of your throne; love and faithfulness go before you.  Blessed are those who have learned to acclaim you, who walk in the light of your presence, LORD.  They rejoice in your name all day long; they celebrate your righteousness.

I will.

Today I WILLenjoy teaching my children.
Today I WILL complete some laundry.
Today I WILL start our new chore system.
Today I WILL bake some banana bread.
Today I WILL enjoy serving my family in these ways.

You see, I should consider myself richly blessed. Beyond still being snowed in, beyond craving some woman conversation, and beyond the fact that the work is never really done, I am blessed. I have so much.

My eyes have been opened to this even more as my parents are in Haiti now serving at an orphanage (this is my Dad's second time). When he returned the first time the stories he told took my breath away. Sure, you read about them, you hear them on tv, and might even hear a missionary speak of them. But he put names and faces with these facts.

He told the story of a young mother that could only feed one of her children, so she had to choose which one to feed. The other? She had to watch as she slowly starved day after day getting weaker and weaker. All the while feeding her other child. How could you choose? Thank you Father that I don't have to choose!

He told of a young girl, now in the orphanage that lost her arm and her entire family in the earthquake. Such pain, such loss, such a little girl.

(I just want to scoop up these little ones to come live with me, truth be told. They have stolen my heart!) 

And yet these children have such joy. Though they have so little, they have such joy. Man, talk about conviction!

Here I am feeling sorry for myself at the start of the second week of being snowed in. Fighting within myself because I don't want to teach school, do laundry, cook, or clean, because those things are so ordinary and I am tired of the same old same old.

At least I have a home, healthy children, clothing and food.

While these people and children have stolen my heart and I think about and pray for them often, they have taught me so much, from their so little.

For now I feel so guilty having a pity party when I can't get out of the house, or when I have to cook and clean. For there are other mother's who are watching their children die right before their eyes and they are having to choose which child it will be. It takes my breath away and leaves me speechless.

It changes my focus and burdens my heart. I will serve my family with joy and gladness. Because I am richly blessed.

James 1:27 Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.

Extreme Couponing - My Journey Begins

So last night after we battled the cold and ice to get Jeremiah his next RSV shot my husband helped me get to a couple stores to snag their weekly deals. I still need to get to Walgreens but we'll see if I can make that happen this week. My van still won't make it out of our hill.

Anyway, I am very proud of how it turned out this week. I saved more than I spent on most items. So, here is a break down of what I paid for each item.

Schnucks -

Frozen Appetizer - $1.49
100% real Apple Juice - $.50
French's Spicy Mustard - $1.00
French's Spicy Mustard - $1.00
Frank's Red Hot Sauce - $1.00
2 bags Malt-O-Meal cearal - $.50 each
Johnson and Johnson dental floss - free
Heluva sour cream dips (2) - $.25 each

With tax I paid $6.80 for all of these items. My origanl bill (with sale prices) would have been $14.80. But my receipt shows that with sales and coupons combined I saved $16.43!! I saved more than my bill was!!

Here is Wal-Mart's break down -
Cinnamon Burst Cheerios (new product) - $.50
Kashi Organic cereal - $.28
Snickers' Peanut Butter (new product) - $.25 (got four with bogo coupon)
Dove deodorant - $.47

So, I spent about $2.25 for all these products which is less than the deodorant alone!

And it's here....

This "historic" winter "blizzard" is finally here. The first wave that we are now seeing is ice, sleet and freezing rain. The snow is supposed to start later today.

I am so glad that my husband is home and we are all safe and warm. They are saying that around these parts where you are at midday is where you will be staying for awhile. So, we are HOME!!! All together with water stored and blankets ready as they are predicting major power outages around here!

Here the ice hitting? It is amazing! You can hear it in the house, hitting the windows!