Thursday's menu..

Ok...so the only meals I can control today are breakfast and lunch.

Breakfast-
Everyone had cereal...I had multigrain with 1 % milk.

Lunch-
Will probably be more cous cous confetti salad. with maybe veggie burgers.

Snack-
If we have time for snacks before leaving, it will be yogurt and a piece of fruit for all.

Dinner's and other meals from here on out till Monday will be what Mrs. Susan makes..Hoping to get back on track when I'm back and will keep you posted. :)

Wednesday Menu..

Today was crazy busy, so our scheduled menu got thrown off a bit.

Breakfast-
Oatmeal(everyone ate it..it was supposed to be cereal but we were out of milk...ugh)

Lunch-
I was supposed to make and eat hummus with whole wheat pitas..but my pita's had mold on them as of last night(what I get for buying bread with no preservatives and not freezing it till needed.) However we weren't even here for lunch, so we ended up doing Subways cause its cheap for "healthy fast food"..I had a turkey(which I know is meat, but I'm not doing this to shun meat so much as to get used to eating heathier..) on wheat(no cheese!).

Snack-
We were gone till 6:15 out..so no one got a snack today..:(

Dinner-
Curried lentil soup was on the menu with more of the cous cous confetti salad..but we ran out of my first batch of cous cous, so I knew I'd have to make more of both and I'm also packing, homeschooling(cause it didn't get done earlier today) and cleaning because someone is staying at our house while we are away)..so we opted for what was planned tomorrow night which is tomato soup with grilled cheeses.

Tomorrow we will be eating what is made for us by my MIL, so we will be thrown off of our regularly planned meals till we get back on Monday.

Not food related, I managed to get tons of clothes today at Once Upon A Child for just over $50...I was soo happy. Neither of the girls had ANY fall clothes..so it was a much needed trip with the temps starting to change.

Tuesday's Menu-

On the menu today-

Breakfast-
Oatmeal for me(with a juice sized glass of orange juice), the kids ate waffles.

Lunch-
A Amy's veggie burger with a side of the hoppin johns salad I made yesterday.


Snack-
Either some carrots and grapes or another piece of toast with apple butter(which was AMAZING.)

Dinner-
Southern Beans and Greens(Kale) with a side of the cous cous salad from yesterday.

Late night-
Chai tea latte...

Today's menu..

Today we have or are eating:

Breakfast-
Multi-grain cereal with 1% milk and a banana. (The kids ate Quaker instant oatmeal)

Lunch-
Cous Cous Confetti Salad with a side of Carrot and Red(I'm subbing it with Yellow) pepper soup.

Snack-
Kids will have yogurt and some baby carrots. I will have a piece of whole wheat toast with apple butter and a banana.

Dinner-
Hoppin' John Salad(has black eyed peas, brown rice, green onion, tomato, parsley and dressed with Lemon juice, olive oil, garlic and salt).
Side of Kale for me and kids..and probably some other type of veggie for Luke since I can't for some reason convince Luke he should eat Kale.

Nightly snack- Chai tea latte(decaf tea and with unsweetened almond milk) and baby carrots if I get munchy.

(Ok, so I'm updating to add that the soup was a no go. I made it and though it tasted fine I could NOT get past the texture. It was frothy and weird...However, both the cous cous salad and hoppin' john salad were SOO good..and the kale would have been great but I accidentily added too much seasoning so they were inedible because they were too salty. Lesson learned for when I make them again later this week. I went and saw my sister, brother in law and niece at the hospital today so I missed snack time, so I'm eating my toast snack with my latte tonight as we watch t.v...)

Coming up with titles is annoying.

Specially when you post pretty often.

Tonight we/I am having our last meat hoorah. I got a new york strip from the farmer's market(grass-fed organic of course), and some chicken breasts. I paired them with squash, onions,and yellow peppers. I also marinated the meat all day, so it should be tasty! We are going out of town on Thursday night up to Lake Burton for a Dave Fletcher family reunion. All of Luke's siblings and their spouses and children will be there. I'm really looking forward to it! However it does throw a wrench in the no meat thing..I'll be eating what's made for me(though not complaining AT ALL) by my MIL but I know all of them contain meat..so I guess I'll have to start back up when I get back on the veggie bit.

Thursday night my friend Carol George threw a Mary Kay party. I just happened to need some and it was so much fun. She had a friend who is in massage school come and practice on everyone and it was WONDERFUL. I've never had a massage before but it was soo awesome and now I'd love to have more in the future. Carol also did a make up makeover on me and then another friend(Talitha) said it would be fun if I let her cut my hair..so I figured, what the heck, why not? :) So she snipped and gave me a super cute do, to which all the ladies said made me look like an adult...though I'm thinking this may have been them telling me I looked like a 12 year old before. ;) Anyways..I stayed out way too late but had a blast and thankful for time with sweet friends.

If you guys wouldn't mind praying for a friend who's having some issues. She's had some unexplained chest pains despite having been in the hospital for the issue several times...please pray for healing, or for answers(or both!)

Love ya!

Me? A Vegetarian?!

Ok..so I'm not an actual vegetarian. I really don't like pork(outside of the occasional bacon on special occasions, and I can take beef or leave it, but I honestly love Chicken and turkey..and have worked my way over into using mostly ground turkey instead of beef...though I know we still eat fairly unhealthy in terms of meals. So we as a family are embarking on a 21 day run as vegetarians(though I have a feeling meat will get thrown in there at some point for my littles and Luke who love meat). I don't plan on becoming a vegetarian but I would love to train my body to appreciate healthier foods and foods that I might not think to eat/enjoy. So today I am off to the Farmer's market where I will be buying like 99% of the menu...which is crazy to me since I'm used to buying way more processed foods then I care to admit. Starting on Monday-

On this menu this week:
Carrot and Red Pepper soup
Cous Cous(whole wheat) confetti salad
Hoppin John Salad
Veggie burgers
Southern Beans and Greens(Kale)
Hummus with pitas and veggies
Curried lentil soup.

(Some of these dishes get served with each other.)

I know this will be harder for me because honestly I'm kind of a lazy cook. I don't mind baking from scratch, but there is something about cooking from scratch I don't like. Takes too much forethought and energy. So this will be interesting to see how I do having to make EVERYTHING from scratch. I'll probably still buy my little ones some waffles and lunchables so I don't have to worry about their breakfasts and lunches, but I will be expecting them to eat the same dinner as us.

Taking care of ourselves.

The last week and a half Olivia's had a cough, Kate had a runny nose(though she was cutting 5! teeth at the same time), then Olivia started having her nose run then Luke said his throat hurt and mine did too, and today I can tell that a full blown cold is trying to make its way into my body. Pretty much since I've had kids I rarely take anything for colds(I've been either pregnant or nursing for a lot of them!) and unless we have high fevers we don't usually blink an eye at most stuff..but I know we are just coming upon the edge of fall/winter and sickness seems to run rampant through the streets when its cold outside. (There are MANY reasons why this is so, but that would be another post.)...so today I finally decided to use the Elderberries that have been sitting in my pantry for all summer. Using this recipe-
http://www.youtube.com/user/mountainroseherbs#p/u/15/XOYzWyFGkqM

I made up a batch of Elderberry Syrup and hopefully will get my little family back up and at 'em shortly. Its time to up the anty in boosting our immune systems. Elderberry has anti-viral properties and lots of flavonoids(antioxidants) that help boost the immune system.
(Taken from Wikipedia)-
In a placebo-controlled, double-blind study, black elderberry (Sambucus nigra) was shown to be effective for treating Influenza B.[6] People using the elderberry extract recovered much faster than those only on a placebo. The study was published in the Journal of Alternative Complementary Medicine.

A small study published in 2004 showed that 93% of flu patients given extract were completely symptom-free within two days; those taking a placebo recovered in about six days. This current study shows that, indeed, it works for type A flu, reports lead researcher Erling Thom, with the University of Oslo in Norway.[7]

You can also buy it already made and ready to go from people like Nature's Way-Sambucal or Vitamin Shoppe has their own brand(there are probably LOTS more places and brands..these are just to name a few). Kids also love it cause its sweet and tastes good. :)

Beautiful for Me..

This is a newer(like released last week) Nichole Nordeman song...she's already one of my faves, but this song is so pretty and the lyrics are great.

Every girl young and old has to face her own reflection
Twirl around, stare it down
What’s the mirror gonna say
With some luck, you’ll measure up
But you might not hold a candle to the rest
“Is that your best?” says the mirror to the mess

But there’s a whisper in the noise
Can you hear a little voice
and He says


Has anybody told you you’re beautiful?
You might agree if you could see what I see
Oh
‘Cuz everything about you is incredible
You should have seen Me smile the day that I made you beautiful for Me

If it’s true that beauty lies in the eye of the beholder
Want my life and what’s inside to give Him something to behold
I want a heart that’s captivating
I wanna hear my Father say


Has anybody told you you’re beautiful?
You might agree if you could see what I see
Oh
‘Cuz everything about you is incredible
You should have seen Me smile the day that I made you beautiful for Me

Close your eyes
Look inside
Let Me see the you that you’ve been trying to hide
Long ago, I made you so very beautiful
So I ought to know you’re beautiful


Has anybody told you you’re beautiful?
You might agree if you could see what I see
Yeah
‘Cuz everything about you is incredible
You should have seen Me smile the day that I made you beautiful
You’re so beautiful
Beautiful for Me
So beautiful for Me
Has anybody told you?

Also, Angie's post over at Bring The Rain that she posted yesterday really blessed and touched me. Thought you might enjoy it as well. (Link is in the name of her blog).

Hi ya'll...

I think this is the first year that I'm not ready for winter. I love the feel of the sun on my skin. I love that my children WANT to be outside, I love how "carefree" and wonderful and long the days are. I hate being hot, but I'd rather be warm then freezing cold as I'm already colder by nature. I've noticed recently though that our house is almost the same temperature as outside, and I can tell that Fall and Winter are creeping in. I let my kids stay outside and play in the last little bit of light there was tonight...to quote a fellow blogger to "suck the marrow of life"...

Its been an interesting week so far. Some sad moments, some very stretching as far as provision goes, some very happy and good times, and some moments that make you think..."really life? Us again?"..

My heart is on the precipice of something big. I can feel this with the actual changing of seasons, but also within my own heart. Its hard to look back at all the comfortable and good moments in your life and then not know what tomorrow brings and because giving up control has been so hard for me, this is a trying season...and how I would love for God to change that soon. My heart has long been unsatisfied and I can tell God's awakening it even further to more of Him and what He longs for me to experience in Him.

(My camera got dunked in water on accident this week and it killed it.. I'm pretty bummed as the finances just won't allow us another one right now and you know how it is with small children and how quickly they change. If you guys would please pray that God would provide another one so we don't miss out on catching some of life's wonderous moments.)

This week has been busy busy!

Monday was of course Labor day. I don't recall really at all what we did that day. Sorry..it happens. :)

Tuesday Luke's brother and his wife came up to visit. I had a dentist appointment(filled 3 cavities, and I'm officially DONE with dental work unless we choose to put on 2 crowns at some point..which we will when money allows). Did school with Olivia, cleaned the house and welcomed our guests. We just hung out and grilled that night.

Wednesday we went to the Zoo. They'd never been to Zoo Atlanta and loved it and its always nice going with people who have never seen it. Plus we went during the week, which is something I don't think I've done when school has been in, so it was nice and calm and we got to see lots of animals that normally we would have passed up due to crowds. We went to California pizza that night and it was super yummo.

Thursday they headed home, and then Luke's parents came in to spend the evening with us. We really enjoyed getting to see so much of Luke's family this week. Luke's Dad had gotten some really good Braves tickets to the game that night and my Dad watched the kids so we could go sans kiddo's. It was great! I'd never sat that close in all the games we've been to, and we had valet parking in the lot RIGHT next to the field...I felt like a rich person for the night. :)




Friday they left and Luke worked, then that evening Luke went to another Braves game with Wesley(brother in law), Olivia, and another friend of the fellas. Noah, Kate and I went to Old Navy and clearenced shopped(not for long though, as it was closing and only got 2 shirts), then to Starbucks where I was hoping that with enough drink and snack they would eat quietly. Noah did...but Kate didn't want anything to do with sitting down after about 3 minutes...and Starbucks just isn't the place to let your kid cry while you ignore them..(hmm..IS there a place where this is OK?). So I ended up having to head back home, but at least with a pumpkin frappacino and a pumpkin cream cheese muffin in tow. Got back, loaded my kids into their beds and read my book(Pagan Christianity) for a little bit...Luke and Olivia got back and showed me all the pictures they'd taken. She was so cute with her little backpack and showing me that they'd handed out Silly Banz type bracelets in Braves symbols.



Today, Luke is working. It sucks..I won't lie...but they had to due to this was when they could get a piece of equipment they needed for the job they are working on. Hoping our evening will be nice and calm. Tomorrow we're having a big dinner with our Church body and I'm looking forward to it! :)

I've been awarded! :)

Here are a few things that I need to do in order to accept this award:


1. Answer this question: If you had the chance to go back and change one thing in your life, would you and what would it be?: I'd like to think I would go back and change something, but honestly, I'm thankful for the experiences I've had. They may have been painful or hard but God's used them to shape me..and I'm thankful for that.

2. The 2nd thing you have to do is, pick 4 people and give them this award. You then have to inform the people that they have received this award. (May I add, it was extremely hard to narrow down my super long list of favorite bloggers to just 4 people!)

Stephanie C.
Missi B.
Erin F.
Patti N.

3. The 3rd thing you MUST do, is thank the lovely individual who gave you the award.
Wendy gave this to me, and I'm ever so thankful. I've really enjoyed reading her blog. Wendy you are so great at showing life but with such a positive spin on it all. Its nice to know your not the only person in the mothering trenches so to speak and yet you still make it look effortless! :)

4. You need to share 7 things about yourself.(Most of ya'll probably know these!)
1. Luke and I got married when I was 17(almost 3 months shy of being 18.)..and I love all 7years of being married to him.

2. I LOVE baking. I could make a baked good every day if I knew I wouldn't balloon to 700 lbs. if I did. However, I am not a big fan of cooking meals unless in the mood.

3. This is contradictory to my above statement in the fact that I love feeding people. I love knowing people have left my house(or when I've taken things to people) that they are full and happy, and it probably blessed me WAY more then it blesses them.

4. I don't like phones. Like almost have panic attacks about using them. Didn't used to be this way..so not sure what happened.

5. I would really love to live out of the U.S.A at some point in my life. Even if only for a short time.

6. I have 2 Justin Beiber songs on my ipod. Don't hate me. :)

7. I bought the Duggars book yesterday. I may not plan on having 19 kids, but the principles of raising them well and just running a home well rings true even if you only have 3 like me. :)

Set me as a seal.

Place me like a seal over your heart, like a seal on your arm.
For love is as strong as death, its jealousy as enduring as the grave.
Love flashes like fire, the brightest kind of flame.
Song of Sol. 8:6


So I finally did it. I've been talking about getting a tattoo for quite a while and just never had the courage to go through with it...the pain involved I meant.

I'm going to be honest with you guys here. For a very long time I felt very unloved by the Lord. I KNEW He loved me, but I always felt like it was a forced love because He HAD to, not cause He wanted to. Or that He loved me because I was Luke's wife and because Luke is always pursuing Him. There have been moments in my life where I believed and trusted that He loved me for me...but never anything consistent. The past couple of months He's been reshaping my feelings on the matter. Something I read very recently really helped solidify my confidence in His love for me.

I would like for you to pause and think of the most horrible day you ever lived. The day when you did something you deeply regret. You can take great comfort in this one fact: Your heavenly Father saw that day when He chose you in His Son before time. He saw you and He saw me live our most regrettable moment on that non-day before time he He chose us in Christ to be part of His much-loved bride. What a wonderful Lord. If that's not good news, I don't know what is.
(And paraphrased 1st John 1:1-3 and 4:16-19...This is the apostle John talking.)

I have seen, touched, and experienced the love of God in Jesus Christ. I loved with Him for almost 4 years. My knowledge of this glorious One was born out of first hand experience. I tasted the love that He had for me. It was unflinching. I was flooded and consumed by it. As a result, I found no power to resist the loveliness of this glorious Person. So I cannot but love Him. He has captured my heart and possessed my being. His love is all-consuming, and it has ruined me. As far as I can tell, I'm the Lord's favorite. He loves me more then anyone else.

And getting back to the matter I started off with...this scripture reminds me that His love for His bride(me, and the rest of the body of Christ) is ALL consuming. Its so devastating that its stronger then death. It goes on to say further down in the verses that running waters cannot quench it. I have set my seal upon my arm. For I know His love for me....and I cannot help but love him back because of it.

We love Him because He first loved us.
John 4:19

Enjoy the pictures. It wasn't nearly as painful as I thought it would be, though it wasn't fun or enjoyable at all...haha..

19 things to say to your kids.

A friend sent me this list of things that are good to say to your kids. It really helped me. You'd think you wouldn't need a list to say some of these things, but I'm amazed at how often I just plain forget. Its a good reminder for me...Thought it might help or encourage some of you.

NINETEEN SOMETHINGS TO SAY TO CHILDREN
Author Unknown

1. I love you! There is nothing that will make me stop loving you.
Nothing you could do or say or think will ever change that.

2. You are amazing! I look at you with wonder! Not just at what you
can do, but who you are. There is no one like you. No one!

3. It's all right to cry. People cry for all kinds of reasons: when
they are hurt, sad, glad, or worried; when they are angry, afraid, or
lonely. Big people cry too. I do.

4. You've made a mistake. That was wrong. People make mistakes. I do.
Is it something we can fix? What can we do? It's all over. You can
start fresh. I know you are sorry. I forgive you.

5. You did the right thing. That was scary or hard. Even though it
wasn't easy, you did it. I am proud of you; you should be too.

6. I'm sorry. Forgive me. I made a mistake.

7. You can change your mind. It's good to decide, but it is also fine
to change.

8. What a great idea! You were really thinking! How did you come up
with that? Tell me more. Your mind is clever!

9. That was kind. You did something helpful and thoughtful for that
person. That must make you feel good inside. Thank you!

10. I have a surprise for you. It's not your birthday. It's for no
reason at all. Just a surprise, a little one, but a surprise.

11. I can wait. We have time. You don't have to hurry this time.

12. What would you like to do? It's your turn to pick. You have great
ideas. It's important to follow your special interests.

13. Tell me about it. I'd like to hear more. And then what happened?
I'll listen.

14. I'm right here. I won't leave without saying good-bye. I am
watching you. I am listening to you.

15. Please and Thank You. These are important words. If I forget to
use them, will you remind me?

16. I missed you. I think about you when we are not together!

17. Just try. A little bit. One taste, one step. You might like it.
Let's see. I'll help you if you need it. I think you can do it.

18. I'll help you. I heard you call me, here I am. How can I help you?
If we both work together, we can get this done. I know you can do it
by yourself, but I'm glad to help since you asked.

19. What do you wish for? Even if it's not yet time for birthday
candles and we don't have a wishbone, it's still fun to hear about
what you wish for, hope for, and dream about