Menu Monday!

I have looked at a couple of blogs I keep up with and Menu Monday seems like a recurring theme!! So here's my rendition of Menu Monday!

Sunday evening is always the best time for me to plan my menu for the following week. I plan meals for the first half of the week based on what I have on hand. I try to grocery shop on Wednesday mornings while Jonah is at therapy so I plan the remainder of my meals around what I have plus what I plan to buy. That seems to work well for me. Preparing that way helps me to plan meals from my freezer and pantry, using what's on hand as much as possible. And if I have most everything I need for the week, well yay me! My grocery list is short on Wednesday. That helps me save money. I know others that grocery shop first and fix what they find on sale. I wish that worked for me. It sounds like a great way to save money but I seem like I'm always wishy-washy when I do that. And invariably I'll not purchase some key ingredient to being able to use that sale item for a meal that week.

I used to want someone to just tell me exactly how to do things. Menu plan, house clean, get organized, make a schedule, etc. But as I'm growing older (and, God willing, wiser) I'm seeing that there is just not a cookie cutter that fits every household. You have to find what works for you and be like Nike - just do it. It takes some work to find out what works best for you. But once you do you can run like gangbusters with it.

Anyway, my menu has been updated in the side bar under the photos of my babies. Hope it's a help or inspiration to someone. Maybe someone can look at it and say, "If SHE can do it, I know I can!" LOL!

Many Blessings,
Lori

Two Days of Chicken Killing

Well, this is actually not what it sounds like. I haven't been in the chicken yard wringing necks, but if I'd thrown the challa bread I made at any of my chickens, it would have killed them for sure. And the first batch was such a consistency that I couldn't feed it to the chickens for fear of choking them! Yes, it was hard enough to choke a chicken. It's OK... go on and laugh. It really is funny. But I refuse to be defeated!! I'm coming home from church today and trying another recipe and I WILL make some good challa bread before next week's observance of Shabbat. Yes, I know we were going to celebrate that this past Friday/Saturday, but as my sweet friend Rina said, "Your Shabbat went to pot!" And it REALLY did. Plus, tomatos wait for no Shabbat, and the canning had to be done when the harvest was ready. So I canned all day yesterday. Spaghetti sauce and wonderful vegetable soup. Mmmmm.... I can just imagine that warm soup on a cold, rainy, winter day.... So, that, at least, was successful.

I'll get this challa bread right yet. I'll keep u updated on my progress. And when I get a pretty loaf I take a photo. I may take a photo of this second batch just for comparison. It doesn't look too bad, but I don't know that you could love me enough to get that down! LOL! Not with a straight face anyway!

Have a Blessed Lord's Day all my friends!
Love in Him,
Lori

A Three Year Old Request

Thursday was Noah's 13th birthday. I'll just stop right there. That's enough for a squall session. As a matter of fact, I cried quite a bit on Thursday. But that's another post... So the big birthday was Thursday and we asked Noah what he wanted. Well for 3 years he has asked us for one thing.

A lathe.

So we decided to get him one and you'd have thought we had given him gold. He has spent every available second on that thing. He's taken tree limbs and made spindles. He's taken chunks of kindling and made candle holders. He's taken several different woods and experimented to see which ones make the prettiest dowels. It's a hoot.

But I'm also proud for him because he is looking to the future, planning on making things to sell. He and my mother came up with a plan tonight. He's going to make old fashioned cedar rolling pins. He wants to sell them in the antique store. My sister has a booth there, so maybe he can work out a deal with her to sell some from there.

Tonight we went to my parents house for Rebekah's sewing lesson. The boys went to help Daddy pick up hay and then it was off to the woods in search of good wood for rolling pins. Of course, we ended up with several things that could be "really neat pencil holders!" (LOL! I love the enthusiasm of youth!) But they brought home some wood that is sure to become a lovely something... And they have a stack of more wood to get home from my parents house.

It was tough having Noah turn 13. It's nuts, I know, but fear and anxiety is most often not rational. It's hard for me knowing that I still have so much to teach him - so much that I know he doesn't know yet. So much he needs to learn before he can be the head of his own household. And the sand is running out of the hourglass! Time is growing short for me to teach him these things!! But I am much comforted today writing this post. Seeing these photos of him working so intently and thinking on his excitement over something to work with reminds me that it's not all up to me to teach him everything he needs to know. And my sweet friends at church reminded me Sunday that all I need to teach him is to love the Lord and seek His face. If I can teach Noah that, my God is able to redeem the time - in an instant! - and He can fill in the gaps. Am I going to teach him to read? Yes. Am I going to teach him to write? Yes. Am I going to teach him math? No. (I'm going to send him to Amy Blassingame's house!!! LOLOLOLOL!) But I know that if I trust the Lord with my child's heart, show him the way to the Father, thru the Son, guided by the Holy Spirit, then there is a promise in Phil 4:19 that is for him: "But my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus." Praise Him! Praise Him! I am not able to take care of my child's every need, but my God is.

I'll agree with Paul...

"Now unto God and our Father be glory for ever and ever. A-men."

(Phil. 4:20)

Blessed evening, restful night.

Lori

Ooops! I forgot to post my menu!

I said I would. I knew I should. I thought I could... but I never did. Sorry! Is it too bad to post the weekly menu when half the week is gone? Maybe not! I'd like to add this as some type of side bar, but I haven't figured that out yet! So here it is, menu time.

And by the way, tonight's smoked turkey was divine! I remembered that I had some squash dressing in the freezer and I got that out to have with dinner... Mmmm! Tommy asked me to pack a plate for his lunch tomorrow. I don't usually get any kind of accolades for my meals, but that's pretty darned close!

Ta, ta!

Oh wait! I figured out how to add it to my side bar! Yay!! So now it's posted after the pics of my hoodlums - I mean, my sweet children!

My Little Seamstress!

Rebekah has been taking sewing lessons from my mother this year.

She's only had 3 lessons, but Mom says she's progressing so fast that she's going to run out of things to teach her soon!

Oh, Rebekah's sooo proud of herself! She's already made potholders, learned how to cut out a pattern, and she'll be starting on making her first apron this week. Mom said that this was how she learned when she first started so that's how she's teaching Rebekah.

Anyway, I had bought some material a long time ago to make Rebekah some cute little cool sundresses for this summer. Well, u see I got that done. But I'm proud I didn't because my little girl has taken those pieces of material and has made her own dress! Of course this material comes already smocked at the top, but still she had to cut off the bottom, make straps, sew the side seam, and add the straps to finish the dress. As far as I'm concerned, that's not too shabby for her 3rd lesson! (Can u tell I'm proud of her?) And she did all of that by her-self! My mother only finished the hem at the bottom for her. She was able to wear her dress to our CHENM night of encouragement Friday night and to church Sunday. She's probably shown that dress to 75 people! Now she's planning on taking some of the other dress fabric and making matching skirts for her and I. I'm proud of her for being iterested in something that's going to be so beneficial to her for her whole life. What a blessing watching your daughter already beginning to emulate the Proverbs 31 woman. "She is not afraid of the snow for her household: for all her household are clothed with scarlet. She maketh herself coverings of tapestry; her clothing is silk and purple." (Proverbs 31:21-22) I pray the Lord that this will only be the beginning of that virtuous journey for her.

"Many daughters have done virtuously, but thou excellest them all."

Funny Buddies...

A couple of weeks ago Jonah's friend, Austin, came over. As usual, they had a great time, after we got home! It was one of those days where I had 13 places to go - u know pop in and out. Those days wear you out. And the kids had to go with me. They were troopers. Very good - very little complaining... So when I made my last stop at the little grocery in Sherman, there was a quarter prize machine right at the check-out. (Whoever puts those things there should be tarred and feathered) And in the machine was these peel and stick mustaches. Well of course, I just had to get the kids one for being so good for me that day. They were so funny! I had forgotten that I had taken this photo until I started downloading my camera tonight. What a pair! International spies got nothing on these two! Ha! Well what was really funny was the "grandpa grey" mustache that Rebekah had on, but she gracefully declined to be in the photo!

O, to be a kid again! Where the only troubles I see are the agonizing decisions over which kind of ice cream I'd rather have... But wait. Maybe being grown up is better. Then I can just choose to have one bite of each kind! HA!

If all the problems of life were that easy to solve!

Hahahahahahaha.... Wipe Out!

Come on... I know you're hearing the song in your head right now. But that's not the kind of wipe out I mean. I mean the WIPED OUT that I have been today. I have felt like I've been walking through chest deep water all day long. And it just occurred to me this evening that I have been going wide open every day for over a week. I have rushed from one thing to another trying to knock out that never ending "to do" list and I am worn out. So, Lord willing and the creek don't rise, I'm taking a break tomorrow. I'm actually going to sleep in. (gasp!!!) Yes, I will be sleeping IN tomorrow morning. I won't be getting up until 6:30!! Woo hoo, I feel just decadent!! Of course, 6:30 is also when my kids get up so I will probably be wishing all day long that I would have just gotten up at my normal time so I would have 5 minutes of quiet during my day. I may just need to go down to Anita's and borrow her tub! Oh, I mean, her "research library". Oh... my kingdom for a tub...



I digress.



So we'll do our normal school routine, I'm just not going running in the morning. We'll see if that makes much of a difference. I think we're supposed to be taking it easy tomorrow anyway - from a training perspective. I know one thing, though. For somebody who has such a great schedule going, I have done a LOUSY job of lesson planning. My kids have done almost EVERYTHING I had planned to this point and I haven't had enough time to sit down and gather up anything else. Add that to the fact that I had to wait so long to order curriculum that a lot of it isn't in yet and, well... I may just be bad and take the ENTIRE day off tomorrow. And it's only the first week of school.



Naaa...



We'll come up with something to do. There was something about painting a sailing scene with watercolors that I didn't do with them today. I'll send them outside with paint shirts, paints, and a huge peice of butcher paper and see what my little Picassos come up with. That ought to keep 'em busy for at least an hour. Then we may have a "cushion day" and read, read, read! That ought to be slothful enough! Hope all you racers out there are planning to rest up tomorrow. Don't know that it will actually help one that's hindered with corpulence and torpidity like me. Nonetheless, I will strive... (we've been playing with the thesaurus today)



I've been reading several things lately, but one thing I've read is about blessings. I have read that long ago it was common for blessings to be pronounced upon people for which you cared and wished good things to. And I would like to bless you. I know that there are a few of you ladies that keep up with me and read my ramblings with grins of indulgence on your faces. And I do love you my dear friends. So this is my blessing for you.



As you turn your heart to our Lord in the morning, may your day be filled with peace. May the grace and mercy of our Heavenly Father surround you and comfort you. May He wrap His arms of love around you tomorrow. And even though there will be moments of chaos, in the midst of it may you hear His Voice and be at peace. The blessings of our Lord Jesus Christ be upon you and all in your household, my friends.



In His Love,
Lori

Oxygen, PLEASE!

Oh, my, oh, my, oh, my.... One of the Johnson girls has a shirt that says, "Running's a mental sport... and we're all insane!" To that I say.... YEP!! I ran the Bodock 5K route this morning with my sister - well, in truth, I ran the "downs" and walked the "ups" of the 15 ups and downs along the route! The first half of the course wasn't so bad and I was feeling pretty good about myself... Until we turned around. The gradual incline starts just about at Becky Brock's old house and goes all the way to the hospital. Let me just say this: Anybody that can actually RUN that monster is a better woman, man, athlete, EVERYTHING than I am! That hill is not for the faint of heart. I asked Lynn today at cross country how long she thought that incline was and she answered "A MILE!" Well, I know it's not that long, but it sure feels that way! My sister told me that her daughter always said she knew she had it made once she got to the hospital. Well, I was looking for that hospital and by the time I got there I was thinking "maybe I have just enough steam to make it into the ER!!!" And then there's the funeral home. If you pass up the ER, you can always land at the door of the funeral home. They'll take REAL good care of you! My sister swore that was where she was headed after today! I was INCLINED to agree with her! (get it? the killer incline on the way back? Yeah, I know, that was bad. But give me a break - I'm tired!) But, anyway, I suppose you can see that I didn't die as I'm blogging the experience. So tomorrow I do it again with my boys. Yes, I know. I'm brain dead. Like the shirt says, "we're all insane".

Groan... where's my Tylenol?
L

That's Greek to me...

Who knew that Greek with my kids would be fun??? We started our first "official" day of school today and one of our new subjects is Greek. We're using "Hey, Andrew! Teach Me Some Greek!" and it's fun! The kids liked learning the phrase "The Lord is my helper" and being able to actually speak a Greek phrase after one 30 minute lesson. And they like the ABC song (or, well, the alpha, beta, gamma song.. it's cute). I googled "Greek alphabet cards" and found a banner of the Greek alphabet that I printed to hang up in our school room. We're learning 5 per day until we can get the whole thing and sing the whole song. Then we'll be making some progress. I'm really looking forward to this.

U know, it actually makes me feel a bit more erudite to be learning a foreign language. See, I can even use some of those $2 words from time to time!

Well, keeping with the schedule... it's lunch time now. Gotta run!

Oh, hey!! I did run this morning. I met my sister at 6 this morning and ran. Tomorrow we're doing the Bodock 5K route. I feel like singing the Dora "We Did It!" song! Woo, hoo... we did it!!

Seeking His will,
Lori

Comments, please?

All you sweet friends that comment on my blog, I don't know how to comment BACK! Please don't think I'm ignoring you! I'm not ignorING, I'm ignorANT! How's that for today's spelling lesson!

L

Life's Little Lessons

What's UP with the socks???

Okay, I know we all have to deal with the sock issue. There are feet and feet need socks. But what's up with socks under the bed, socks IN the bed, socks under the couch, socks in the corner, SOCKS IN THE PANTRY IN MY KITCHEN!!!!!! (Yeah, somebody's goin' down for that one, trust me...) I mean the sock thing should not be such an issue. I have finally trained my DH to pull his socks together when he takes them off. That's GREAT! But my children, however, seem to be bringing new meaning to the term "resistance training". Ok, ok... let me go back so you can understand where I'm going with this thing...

See, I have this sock monster that lives in my washer and dryer. One day he's in the washer, the next in the dryer. Who knows where he's going to pop up next! So I got smart one day and decided that I was going to put a stop to the tyrannical rule of the sock monster. I started pinning my socks together before washing. It's GREAT! (You have to use the good safety pins that you get from the sewing dept. or from a fabric store. But once you have your pins, they will last you for years! I've been using mine for nearly 4 years now.) Pin them together, throw them in the wash, dry, unpin to pull together and you're done! No more searching the clothes basket for hours searching for that "other sock". It's right there, attached to its mate. (See, I'm smarter than I look...) But here's the catch: first you have to have BOTH socks to be able to pin them together. I have been just automatically pinning mine together before hitting the hamper with them. DH pulls his together for me so I don't have to search for them. But my kids... Arrrrrgggggghhhhh!!

Now flash forward to today. Here I am, having a hamper full (and on the floor and behind the hamper, etc.) of these socks to go thru and try to pin together - if I find the match- or just wash them and try to match them later. But if I match them AFTER they're washed, I have to fight the sock monster. See, he doesn't get the ones that are pinned together. (I guess he only likes one at a time...) So I decided to make the KIDS go thru those socks! Heh, heh, heh, heh.... (that's my evil laugh) It took an HOUR to go thru all those socks, match them, pin them, and get them ready for washing. That was one of the best hours I've had in ages. I could hear the kids fussing with one another... "You need to learn to put your socks together NOAH! Your socks STINK!" "Well, if you'd quit hiding all your socks under the couch, we wouldn't have 75 pairs to be going thru, JONAH!" "Both of your feet stink and I only have one pair of socks in this whole pile and I'm having to do this too so HUSH!" (that one was Rebekah) I was just SMILING as I folded the other clothes. Laughing a bit to myself, thinking 'Thank you Lord for life's little lessons... and humor.'

Hee, hee, hee... (that's my silly little "I did something funny and mean" laugh... he, he, he!!)

L

Anybody Remember Hee Haw?

Surely you can remember the old song, "Gloom, despair, and agony on me... OH!! Deep dark depression, excessive misery.... OH! If it weren't for bad luck I'd have no luck at all.... OH!! Gloom, despair, and agony on me!" Yes, the words to the song are depressingly pitiful, it's true, but the whole thing was IMMENSELY funny as the different characters told outlandish tales to out-do the other one's bad luck.

So I'll let you know in the morning who wins the "Pitiful" contest... Tommy ran with us this afternoon. I was a SAD sight trying to run (it was some HOT out there!) and my husband (who hasn't run in 15 years) decided he was going to lay into running most of that mile without stopping and left me in the dust. So since my shoes have been killing my feet, I've been hobbling around the house all evening looking like I have had some form of torture done to them and my DH has been reminding me of Hee Haw every time he gets up... OH! Sad, gloomy, and depressingly pitiful... But immensely funny!! Hee, hee, he haw, haw, haw! Hee Haw!

Good night Lulu, Grandpaw, Minnie Pearl, and BR549!
L

Scheduling Woes!!

Ohhhh!!! I'm so flustered! The kids and I worked so hard on our schedule and we have hit a snag already! I'm beginning to think that the devil doesn't want me to have a schedule and he sure doesn't want me to have one that WORKS!! We had things going great until I found out that Cross Country practice was in the afternoons now instead of the mornings. Sigh...

Here's what we started with:

Monday (our ONLY day at home)
6:30 - rise and shine! (Morning routine)
7:30 - reclaim our home from the weekend
10:00 - Begin our school day...
10 - Bible
10:30 - Greek
11:00 - 3r's
12:30 - Lunch
1:00 - read alouds
1:30 - KONOS
3:00 - Individual Reading Work
4:00 - School's OUT!
4:00 - Life Application Science (in other words, Noah will be woodworking, Jonah will be gardening, and Rebekah will be sewing... We're all learning different things this year to benefit them for LIFE! I'm as excited about this as I am ANYTHING!)

5:30 - Evening Chores

8:00 - Reading and Bedtime Routine

9:30 - Lights Out

Now the rest of our week looks much the same... Factor in cross country on Tuesdays and Thursdays at 4pm, therapy for Jonah on Wednesday and Friday at 8 am, and sewing lessons for Rebekah at 4:30 on Wednesday evenings and WHEW!!! We are packed! Does anybody else have a schedule like this? But here's the blessed thing about this schedule... Our Lord is not a god of chaos, but He is The God of Order and as long as He's ordering our steps it's all going to be alright!

Don't have a schedule mapped out yet? Let me encourage you to do so. It will make you feel better to just have a plan. I'm SOOOO not good with schedules (I AM Ms. Perpetual E. Late!) But having this schedule gives me a standard. A starting point. A map that I can return to when those days happen (and they WILL) that throw everything for a loop. I can go back to my map and start again thanking God for the order that He shows me every day in His creation. My failures remind me that I CANNOT... But He CAN.

Have a blessed day my friends,
L

Not Dead.... Yet

Hi-de-ho! No, I haven't fallen off the planet. Although I'll admit to falling off the deep end from time to time.... I have come to find that blogging is harder than I thought it was going to be, so I'll try again. Many things going on in the world of Corbin, but we have.... wait for it.........A SCHEDULE!! I'm so proud!

I'm headed off to Curves & I promise to post all about our family schedule when I return. Seriously! I even have time on my schedule for it!! HA!

Blessings,
Lori