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Monday, April 13, 2009

Menu Plan Monday

We're eating "easy" this week.  I cooked two big meals yesterday and need a small break. (Plus, nobody cares anyway!!)  I'm scrapbooking this weekend, so definitely wanted some easy meals.

Monday ~ Chicken quesadillas

Tuesday ~ Goulash

Wednesday ~ Fend for Yourself

Thursday ~ Homemade pizza

Friday ~ Chicken sandwiches and chips

Saturday ~ Spaghettios and tomato soup

Sunday ~ Thick french toast (we had pancakes instead this past Saturday, so didn't get to this).

For more great menu ideas, go here.

Sunday, April 12, 2009

Easter Sunday

What a great day, despite the rain!

I got up super early this morning to make breakfast for my family.  Rick got up shortly after I did to hide eggs before the kids got up.  We had such a nice time, talking in the kitchen before all of the busyness began!  It was an excellent way to start the day!

The kids trickled out of bed and went to their Easter baskets.

Kyndal got a scarf and a Missouri Tigers poster.




Dawson got "Scout", a male green anole to mate with his female "Camo", and some darts for his nerf gun.




Eli got a radio controlled car and a Garfield shovel.




Brynne got the "Barbie and the Diamond Castle" dvd and a Garfield shovel.



Dawson, Eli and Brynne got a chocolate bunny and Kyndal got some Peeps.  And all the kids got an Easter container full of Hershey kisses.

After we were done with breakfast and baskets we got dressed up to go to church to worship the Lord and thank Him for His sacrifice!  "He is not here, he has risen ... !!!"




We came home after church and I made lunch.  While it was cooking the kids hunted Easter eggs.  Because of the rain, there were eggs hidden on the front and back porches for Eli and Brynne and in the garage for Kyndal and Dawson.






When they were done with eggs, Dawson took them out for his yearly smash-a-thon!!  Smelly!




I took a smidgen of a nap and then Rick took all of the kids to the movies, except for Eli.  Eli is not a movie-goer.  He was excited just to stay home with me.  Rick and Dawson went to see "The Knowing" and Kyndal and Brynne went to see "The Hannah Montana Movie".  I'm making dessert right now and Eli's playing his xbox.

I had the amazing opportunity to be reminded of the real meaning of our Lord's resurrection, so I am feeling so blessed this Easter!

Hope yours was meaningful as well!




Christ the Lord is risen today ... Hallelujah !! 

Saturday, April 11, 2009

Easter Activity Extravaganza!

Today was a crazy, busy day!  But, it was so fun!

We got up this morning and went into Lowe's to do a Build and Grow Clinic.  My little two are really wanting to have birdhouses and a birdbath this year, so we just had to go to the clinic today since they were building birdhouses.  We made four, then brought them home to paint them. They turned out really cute and we plan to mount them all four to a post and put them in our backyard for birds to enjoy.  Eli didn't want to paint, of course, so I painted his.  The older kids had a great time, but Miss Brynne was so into it!  She is a perfectionist, and I hadn't noticed that before today.


Brynne, "Eli", Dawson, Kyndal

After making the birdhouses, and before coming home to paint them, we went to Centennial Park for the Lifepoint Baptist Church sponsored "egg drop".  They had fields filled with eggs, then a helicopter hovered in and dropped more. The kids were really excited about it!  There were thousands of people there .. or at least it seemed like that many!  Before the egg hunt the kids and I sat and had picnic lunch.



Then we were off to the hunt.  When they blew the whistle, Brynne and Kyndal took off.  I lost them within seconds in the sea of kids and didn't get any pictures of Brynne getting eggs.  I grabbed Eli and we ran!  Dawson tried to help us out the best he could.









Dawson had an armband to hunt eggs in the oldest category, but he decided to take Eli to the inflatables instead.  So, Kyndal "cheated" and used his band.  She scored some extra eggs.  It was hilarious to see her out there running for eggs!



After we came home and painted our birdhouses, we colored our eggs.  Each of the kids had 6 eggs to color.  Dawson did his 6, Kyndal only wanted to do 3.  Eli was in his room playing his xbox.  Again, Miss Brynne was way into it!  She finished her eggs, did Kyndal's last 3, and when I looked up she had colored 3 of Eli's.  I was, like, "Stop .. we have to let Eli color some!"  He came in, colored 2, and gave her the last one to finish.  So, in total she colored 13 of the 24 eggs.








Rick and I snuck away for an early date night with dinner at Red Robin (thanks, Ila!) and a last-minute trip to Walmart for Easter things.  He had been playing golf all day.  We actually had to go get Dawson's Easter basket things (stay tuned for what those were) and get Brynne a new cd boom box.  This girl can't do without her tunes, and her cd player stopped working yesterday. She used her Easter money from grandma and papa (thank you, from Brynne!), and I pitched in the extra.  

You should see that girl make up songs!  Last night she stood on the kitchen step stool and sang Rick and I 12 tracks to a cd she made up.  The songs had titles like ... "office", "golf", "computer", "Dora cup", "plates and bowls" and there were others but I can't remember their titles.  She sang a song with that word in it, totally made up, and did dance moves.  It was quite a deal!  Then she went into her room and started dancing to a Chipmunks song.  She jumped in the air and landed on the floor on her knees.  Rick said, "Nice move!" She said, "You didn't see that coming?"

Anyway, Kyndal had a "date" at the bowling alley with a bunch of kids from her school (and her new love interest!) and Dawson went to dinner with his little gal pal and her dad.  Rick said, "Are we really here?"  (You know, that place where our kids have real social lives with persons of the opposite sex????)  This is the place we were not prepared for! After they were delivered where they needed to be, we got the little guys ready for bed and got Easter baskets filled.

Everybody got to bed about 11 p.m. and I'm trying to update this blog because I'll have more tomorrow and I don't want to get behind.

Whew!  Are you as tired as I am?  

It was such a crazy day!  But we had a blast, and all ended up with sunburns.  I'm looking forward to tomorrow, to spending time with my family and basking in the glow of Jesus' resurrection.

Update on My Friend

Girls ... my friend, whose husband has been having an affair, e-mailed me this morning and said that she doesn't know if she'll be blogging anymore because her husband found out about the blog.  Well, you can imagine what I told her ... Actually I told her to tell her husband what I tell my husband and kids about my blog .. "If you don't want it on the blog, don't do it !!"

I did seriously tell her that, but I also told her that this blog is her place of healing and she should not let him deny her that. I also told her that he is apparently not hearing her when she talks to him, so maybe he'll hear her when she pours out her devastation in words.  Reading someone's pain can sometimes be the most powerful way to receive true understanding.

Until then, here is her specific prayer today.  Please be praying specifically for her.  

I am in desperate need of your prayers.

I need prayers for his heart to change, for him to have wisdom, to listen to God.  I need prayers of strength and peace and wisdom for myself.

I'm scared.  I want my family to work and I believe God wants it to as well.

Please pray for my Daddy.  He is away in Mexico sharing Christ with people but the news has crushed him.  I want him to continue his work for God and not be distracted by us.  Please pray also for his health and safety.


"And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise him up ... The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective."  James 5:15-16.

Thank you, friends, for committing yourselves to praying for her.  As you can imagine, every prayer you offer up is coveted.

Friday, April 10, 2009

Friday ~ Four Pounds

For the two of you who have been following my quest to lose 5 lbs., I have an update for you today.  Some of you reading this may be irritated that I am actually wasting time blogging about losing weight.  I know a few of you who are trying to lose some pounds, more than just 5, and are struggling.  I apologize if I irritate you.  I am genetically thin (thank you mom and dad), but am approaching 40!  Two years ago I lost 13 pounds doing Weight Watchers (unofficially) and working out at the Y.  I have never been in better shape or felt better than at that time. Because of our move, I don't go to the Y anymore, but I do work out at home most mornings. Anyway, in the last 6 months or so I've gained a few pounds, that haven't naturally come off, and then gained a few more when I spent the week at my parents' over Spring Break.  All of my weight gain goes to my stomach!  Thus .. muffin top .. YUCK!  I can't deal with that, or when I look in the mirror and look "fleshy".  This is especially heinous on my ultra white non-tanned skin.

The first of February I set a goal to lose 5 pounds by the end of May.  As of Spring Break I had actually gained 2 lbs.  But, for whatever reason, I have lost 4 lbs. the past couple of weeks!  Now I only have 3 lbs. to go to reach my goal weight for summer.

One great motivation is looking back at the pictures of our trip to Bermuda.  I was tanned, and toned and thin.  Oh, how I want to look like that again!  Rick and I have decided to plan a cruise to Hawaii next summer (oh yeah mom, can you keep the kids that week?)  Kyndal and Dawson are planning to go on a vacation to DC with their other grandmother, so we thought we might do a couple-only big vacation, then just take the kids on a weekend somewhere later in the summer. (We ALWAYS do something for at least a weekend as a family in the summer.)  

Rick and I LOVE to cruise!  I've been on a total of 7 in my lifetime, and Rick and I have been on 3 together.  We are hooked!  And, you will be too if you ever go on one.  I think he really wanted to head back to Bermuda, but I hate to burn our vacations doing something we've already done.  I plan to visit as many places in my lifetime as possible!  A cruise through the Hawaiian islands would allow us to visit 4 of the islands for the price of one, and we'd save tons of money on food, etc., by having the ship docked there.  I've researched the few things we want to do there ... Rick golf, going to swim in some waterfalls, the beach to watch surfers, a luau ... and a cruise would allow us the opportunity to do all of those things for a fraction of the cost.  I LOVE to plan vacations, so I am feeling giddy right now!!!

This particular vacation will cost us more than we are used to paying, because of the airfare we'll have to pay.  But, after spending about 50 hours in the car with our 4 children, covering 2500 miles, on our trip to Yellowstone this summer, I think we are going to deserve it!!!

Back to weight loss.  I now have only about 3 lbs. to lose to get to my summer goal weight.  I am finally encouraged.

Thursday, April 9, 2009

Thoughts on Thursday ~ Brynne's Easter Party

Today was Brynne's Easter party at preschool.  Days like this are so busy!  I had Bible study, so got us all up and out the door and into town by 9 a.m.  That's a feat in and of itself! Thankfully, Brynne's preschool is at the church where I attend Bible study.  I dropped Eli off at child care, took her to preschool and headed to another amazing study on the book of Esther.  It has been a life-changing, bondage-freeing study and I highly recommend it to every woman!  It's tough being a woman ... and this study helps you weather that storm!

I had to leave right at the beginning of the video portion to go to her Easter party.  Eli was invited to come along, so I dropped by and picked him up.  The kids had pizza, and cookies and cupcakes, and then went out to do their egg hunt.  They are so cute at that age, running around snatching up eggs, taking a quick detour on the play gym and down the slide!  They all got their eggs and headed back inside for a piece of candy and a nap.



Oh, and here is a picture of Ms. Shelbi (I told you I would have it on here by tonight!!).  Ms. Shelbi has been Brynne's Bible teacher this year, and has taken the place of one of her teachers who was not able to finish the year.  Ms. Shelbi reads my blog, so I just had to put a pic of her on it!!!  :)


I went ahead and took Brynne home with me after the egg hunt, and dropped Eli off at school. Then my friend, Loren, came over for a catch-up visit.  We had such a nice long talk about "things".  Her friendship has become so very important to me!  She's prompting me to dig deep into some issues that continue to plague me, to seek God and have him reveal to me what He is trying to teach me.  Her support is invaluable to me in my continual spiritual journey.

Right now it's quiet in the house.  Eli is playing his xbox, Dawson and Brynne are outside playing with nerf guns (playing 007), and Rick and Kyndal ran into town to get Rick a haircut. My kitchen is a disaster and I need to get it cleaned up and start the nighttime routine ... *sigh*.

Wednesday, April 8, 2009

10,000

Wow .. I just noticed that I have topped 10,000 hits on my blog since I started it in June 2008! And to think I started this for an audience of one .. my mom.

"What I Got For the Money" Wednesday

This is one of those months.  There are five shopping Tuesdays in April, so my money has to stretch over another week.  With JBF last week, let's just say I didn't do so well on my grocery shopping.  This week I decided to shop for two weeks, instead of one, and I plan to do the same thing in two weeks when I head to the store again.  Of course I'll have to go get bread and milk and any other emergencies (maybe some household), but meals and snacks are accounted for. That all being said, I didn't do too bad for two weeks.



WONDER/HOSTESS STORE
(5) Loaves bread  $6.52
Total  $7.08

ALDI
Chicken nuggets  $ 3.99
Pork chops  4.81
Flour tortillas  1.79
85% lean ground beef  2.49
Cheese puffs  .99
(2) Chips  2.58
(2) French green beans  .98
Cream of chicken  .49
(2) Refried beans  1.30
Cream of mushroom .49
Spaghettios with meatballs  .79
Cinnamon rolls (for Easter breakfast)  1.49
(4) Swiss cake rolls (2 for next week)  3.96
Bran flakes  1.49
White bread  .79
Bananas  1.40
Cheese pizza kit  2.49
(2) Dozen eggs  1.98
3 lbs. Granny smith apples  1.99
Poptarts  1.69
5 lb. Sugar  2.16
Flour tortillas  .99
3 c. Shredded cheddar  2.49
3 c. Shredded italian blend  2.49
Biscuits  1.19
Tomatoes  1.49
Lettuce  .99
Total  $54.02

WALMART

Groceries
Zero WW point tortillas  3.16
Cereal  4.86
Frozen blueberries  3.08
(2) Frozen pizzas  2.50
Small shells pasta  1.16
Rotini pasta  1.16
Poptarts  2.88
Spaghetti sauce  1.08
Apple juice  1.97
Syrup  2.86
Fruit snacks  1.44
Wheat Ritz crackers  2.50
Crispix cereal (for daddy)  2.92
Bulk goldfish  6.46
(2) Mac and cheese  1.58
Tomato soup  .68
Mandarin oranges  1.77
Velveeta  4.42
Vanilla pudding  1.00
Koolaid  1.76
Butter tub  .96
Frozen burritos  2.98
Chicken patties  4.98
Ham  2.96
Junior lunchable  1.94
Unknown item  1.22
Raisins  1.13
Total Groceries  $70.97

Household
Vinegar  $1.22
Cat litter  6.38
(2) 2-pk reusable tupperware  1.00
Total Household $ 9.33

Total Groceries $ 132.07
Total Household $ 9.33

If you divide that total of groceries out over two weeks and add the milk I still need to buy, that has me spending right at $78.00 for each week.  Maybe I should go back to shopping every two weeks???  We'll see how the next trip goes before I decide.

To see other great shoppers, go here.

Tuesday, April 7, 2009

Simple Woman's Daybook



For Today  ~  April 7, 2009

Outside my window... it's sunny and no wind finally!  It's supposed to be 61 degrees today and steadily warmer through the weekend. We might actually get to wear our Easter outfits on Easter this year!

I am thinking... about the marriages Satan is successfully destroying right now, and our willingness to just let Satan have his way with us.  (Lord, let this be an eye-opener for me and every married person to TAKE CARE of our spouse's needs in the ways they need them taken care of!)

I am thankful for... a husband who works like a dog so I don't have to.

From the learning rooms... we're just working on letters.  Eli was tested on his letter sounds and only missed 4!!!  I am so proud of him!  Brynne got a little "computer" at JBF that has you pick what letter/number comes before/after another one and they have been playing that constantly!  Kyndal and Dawson just need to hang in there for the next 7 weeks!!

From the kitchen... I have piles left over from last week's disorganization that I need to get reorganized.

I am wearing... jeans, a gray shirt and gray short-sleeved hoodie jacket, silver tennis shoes and my fake Chanel earrings to make me feel special!!

I am creating... Easter baskets and an "All About Me" poster for Eli for school.

I am going... to get back into my workout schedule tomorrow if it kills me!!!

I am reading... my friends' blogs and magazines.  I still haven't finished my book.

I am hoping... I can get all of our summer activities paid for, and still have a little left over for summer clothes for Kyndal and Dawson.  

I am hearing... Eli playing his car game on Xbox.  (I think I say that every week.  We take Brynne to preschool on Tuesdays, come home and he goes straight to his Xbox for some alone time.  I work on my blog and do housework.  It's so nice!!)

Around the house... I finally don't have JBF piles!!

One of my favorite things... is being a wife and mommy and I'm back to doing that full time this week.

A few plans for the rest of the week...  Today I get to go grocery shopping.  I am excited to do that!  I like the normalcy of my life.  Thursday is Brynne's egg hunt at school that I'm going to go watch.  On Friday Kyndal has a small group party to go to and I have been invited to a Pampered Chef party, but I don't think I'm going to go.  I just want to stay home and rest up for the busy weekend.  On Saturday we are getting up bright and early to go to the Zoobilee celebration at the Tulsa Zoo.  They're having a Penguin egg hunt, inflatables, pictures with the Easter Bunny and other things.  It will be fun.  Then on Sunday we are going to get up for a special breakfast, go to church, come home and hunt Easter eggs while lunch is cooking, eat lunch, then just play outside the rest of the day.  I love Easter weekend, and it's a bonus that the weather is going to be so nice!!!

Here is a picture thought I am sharing...


Isn't this necklace cute???  I bought it, a glass locket, off of etsy.com for $14.00.  You can put anything in it you want!  For St. Patrick's Day I put in a picture of a shamrock.  I made this "Just Between Friends" necklace by cutting up a promotional postcard.  I got TONS of compliments on it all week (free advertising around my neck!!)  For Easter I have printed out a black cross on red cardstock.  Our family is wearing black, white and red for Easter (I always like to color coordinate us on Easter .. I don't know why.  Rick thought these were kindof "racy" colors for Easter, but what the heck.)

For true simple women, visit The Simple Woman's Daybook.