10 years later...

... and I love this man more than ever!!!

I'm Menu Planning!!!

Can you believe it??!!??

And I am even looking up new healthy recipes to try.

If you read my previous post you will see why this new Meme is kinda perfect for me. I really hope this will help in forcing me to plan and in accountability purposes... yes I give YOU permission to confront me if you have not seen me Meal Planning every week!! :)

I am excited - I have a feeling my first week is kinda going to be overkill - like I will have a lot of leftovers, but HEY those are good as well, I just need to make sure my family uses them!!!

Here we go - I plan to plan and shop on Mondays and start the weekly menu on Tuesdays. I also have more flexible plans for breakfast and dinner that I will shop for, but I don't struggle with making those meals, so I will not share the plans :).

These are the dinner plans only.....

Tuesday:

• Tacos with ground turkey, lettuce, tomato, cheese and sour cream
• side - refried beans

Wednesday:

• Chicken Stir fry over white rice.

Thursday:

• Rosemary Turkey Meat Loaf
• side - garden salad

Good Friday :):

• Leftover Day

Saturday:

• Chicken Taquitos
• side - spanish rice

Easter Sunday: (Got moved to next Tuesday)

• Ranch Turkey Burgers - my hubby had a burger when we were out to lunch
• side - roasted potatoes - so we all had different variations of eggs instead :)

Monday:

• Chicken Enchiladas
• side - garden salad

Here's some proof of this one :)

:) I'll cross things out as they get done, and let know how it goes next week when I share my weekly menu plan! :)

My Walk Monday

I have still been so very blessed by my loving friends this week...

I have really been trying to focus on my actions, notice the problems and change as I go. Even instead of saying "oh there's something I need to work on", or "I'll get to that problem later now that I see it" :).

One of the main things I am convicted with is that some of my close friends as well as my best friend (my husband) are challenging themselves to loose weight together... and me (the pregnant one) eating whatever I want and having terrible cravings... I cause them to stumble and I am putting temptations in front of them that they do NOT need!

"Therefore, if food causes my brother to stumble, I will never eat meat again, so that I will not cause my brother to stumble." 1 Corinthians 8:13

Not just for my brother, but MORE importantly for my hubby! I have it VERY heavy on my heart to help HIM with this new endeavor!

"Older women likewise are to be reverent in their behavior, not malicious gossips nor enslaved to much wine, teaching what is good, so that they may encourage the young women to love their husbands, to love their children, to be sensible, pure, workers at home, kind, being subject to their own husbands, so that the word of God will not be dishonored." Titus 2 : 3-5

You see I am an example in my church's youth group. I am an example to younger married couples, or even older married couples with less children then me, either way, you get my drift.

I am planning on officially homeschooling my daughter and son come fall... "teaching" at home and I want my kids to pick up "what is good" from my behavior more than just what I am teaching them out of books. I mean I have always been in a position as the "teacher" as their mommy, but now I am officially going to call myself their Teacher as well, and I want to be a good example in all things!

I want them to see me "love my husband" and "loving on them" as a "sensible, pure worker at home"... making sure daddy is eating well will in turn make sure we are all eating well, even pregnant mommy with little baby in her belly... "so that the word of God will not be dishonored"... so that I am not stumbling my brother... so that I am loving how I should... love is a VERB!

What I'm doing Today...

On this beautiful Spring Saturday I am sitting at home and having a great time doing it! :)

I hung out with one of my friends last night and FINALLY got inspired to pick sizes for the pictures my sister took for my living room wall! But we were also talking about how easy it is to change blog designs if you know how to use Photoshop... and she DOES! Look what she made last night! It's not quite how she wants it yet, but I think it's a GREAT first try!...

Oh and this is how I am choosing picture sizes :)

I am putting up papers on my wall to see what would be good and what would be bad - you can vote if you'd like :)...

These are 12x12's - I didn't like them, they were too small and lonely...

12x18's - too close to an 11x17 for me, it looks like I have papers on the wall, lol...

16x20's - these were my favorite, though when I get the real photos up I might spread them out more :)...

20x20's - to big and kinda overwhelming...

This is what the 16x20's look like with "photos" - I photoshopped the pics up there...

This is what the 20x20's looked like with the "photos" up - this is how I could tell I liked the 16x20's better because you could see the cropping on the photos themselves from here...

I am going to get these printed on some kinda cool foam material as opposed to canvas to save some money. I like the no frame canvas look, but I need it on a budget! :) I am so excited!!!

(Pay no attention to the mess. It's a work in progress. I still need to unpack some boxes. I will scoot over my lamp table to the left and the green chair - that I hope to get reupholstered - and then my kid's new homeschooling table/area will be to the right of that! ;)

SO FUN!

I love my Friends!

My Walk Monday

He is always faithful to prepare us.

We just need to be faithful to seek Him, and then be willing to listen in learn.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Let me tell you why I say this :).

I have a sweet friend that was faithful enough to tell me some things in our relationship that could use some work. But she didn't approach me in anger, and I didn't feel attacked like times in the past were other friends have "told me how it is" :). She wrote me an e-mail, but called me first to warn me and pray with me.

I was blessed to have my husband praying as well, because he knows I have felt mishandled in the past and again it was nice to be warned.

But it was even NICER to be able to seek the Lord and have HIM prepare my heart.

I felt He wanted me to read John chapter 3 when I was praying about what was to come. And though the message I received from this chapter was not in the correct context of being born again, it was kinda perfect for me to start in the right heart. ("For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart." Hebrews 4:12)

Here are the chunks God used from His living word that pierced straight to the thoughts in my heart.

• v.2 - I was reassured that this is a friend that "came from God" and "God is with her"
• v.6 - He showed me she was not coming from a place of "flesh" as friends have in the past, but she was really trying to put her self aside and be "of the Spirit".
• v.11 - "We speak what We know and testify what We have seen" - He says We to my heart because it is her AND HIM speaking what they know and testifying to me what they have seen in our relationship as friends.
• v.12 - "If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you heavenly things?" - This shows me personally that He wants me to believe what was written in my friend's email and that He wants me to grow to be able to handle Him telling me heavenly things in the future.
• v.17 - God did not send this email to condemn me but to set me free.
• v.18 - if I believe the words sent to me I am not condemned, but if I do not believe I am condemned already by the situation at hand.
• v.19 - and this is the condemnation, that my friend is shining some light, and I would love the darkness rather than the light.
• v.20 - will I refuse the light and hate it? Or am I willing to expose my deeds??
• v.27 - "A man can receive nothing unless it has been given to him from heaven." - this was given to me from "heaven" as best as possible and I will be able to receive it unlike how I "received" similar things in the past :).
• v.30 - "He must increase, but I must decrease." - God wants to use this to grow me in Him. And my flesh will have to decrease (which may hurt) when this is to be done.
• v.34 - God sent my friend to speak the words of God and God gave her His Spirit.
• v.35 - My Father in Heaven loves me.

"He who believes in the Son has everlasting life; and he who does not believe the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him." John 3:36

Again I say...

He is always faithful to prepare us.

We just need to be faithful to seek Him, and then be willing to listen in learn.

And again - I know this is not what the scripture means in context what-so-ever, but it is just what God has spoken to my heart for this situation and love Him for it :).

Mmm! Musical Mom Meme

Here's another game I as tagged with back in February of '09... thank you Linda.

This one was really quite fun! And I am actually glad it took me so long to play along, because now I have more music than I would have a year ago :).

Instructions:

1. Put your iPod (MP3 player or iTunes) on shuffle.
2. For each question, press the next button to get your answer.
3. YOU MUST WRITE THAT SONG NAME DOWN NO MATTER HOW SILLY IT SOUNDS!
4. Tag some Moms you admire who could use a laugh and a song.

If you wanna play consider yourself tagged. Then let me know so I can come peek at the way your music writes your story as a mom! :)

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

1. HOW DID YOU BECOME A MOM?
   Marathons (lol - they do compare childbirth to running a marathon :)



2. WHAT DID YOU THINK THE FIRST TIME YOU SAW YOUR BABY?
   I Give you my Heart (Totally and completely perfect!)



3. WHAT DID YOU DO THE FIRST MORNING AFTER A SLEEPLESS NIGHT?
   Comatose (Meaning inactive, lethargic, sluggish - another perfect one - lol)



4. WHAT DO YOU SAY WHEN SOMEONE COLORS ON THE WALL?
   King of Glory (Not sure how that one would work for me, because I certainly wouldn't take His name vain.)



5. HOW DO YOU DEAL WITH A TODDLER’S BODILY FLUID ISSUES?
   I'm Never Alone (This one made me smile - He is always here with me to help me handle the difficult things in life... and every mom has to deal with very sam thing :)



6. IF SOMEONE SAYS “Can I have a snack?” YOU SAY?
   Famous One (How do YOU think this applies??? - like "no, nice try kid!"?)



7. IF SOMEONE LEAVES THEIR STUFF ON THE FLOOR, YOU SAY?
   A Whole New World (Is what it could be if we could see the floor and not trip on toys.)
   



8. IF SOMEONE ISN’T SICK TODAY, YOU SAY?
   Everyday (I don't "say" it, I pray it! Lord please could they not be sick EVERYDAY?)
   



9. HOW DO YOUR KIDS ENJOY YOUR COOKING?
   Things of This World (They pass away like the song says, we need to be thankful for what we have no matter what quality it is.)
   



10. HOW DID YOUR KIDS DO IN SCHOOL TODAY?
    Contact (That's a good start :)
    



11. WHAT DO YOU THINK OF WHILE SITTING IN CARPOOL LINE?
    Satisfied in You (So true, the car is where it is always so easy to remind myself that God's overwhelming good overcomes my puny bad.)
    



12. HOMESCHOOLERS, WHAT IS THE FIRST SUBJECT TAUGHT OF THE DAY?
    Don't Stop Dancing (A-men!)
    



13. WHAT DO YOUR KIDS WANT TO BE WHEN THEY GROW UP?
    Low Rider (LOL)
    



14. WHAT DO YOU WANT YOUR KIDS TO BE WHEN THEY GROW UP?
    Love is a Verb (A-men again!)
    



15. WHAT WOULD BEST DESCRIBE YOUR PERSONALITY AS A MOM?
    Love Song for a Savior (I am blessed to think God let this song come up to encourage me that He is blessed by me as a mother :)
    



16. WHAT IS YOUR LIFE’S PURPOSE AS A MOM?
    Breathe (Just breathe :)
    



17. WHAT IS YOUR MOTTO AS A MOM?
    With Arms Wide Open (A-men again again, WOW!)
    



18. HOW DID YOU KNOW YOU WERE REALLY A MOM?
    Burn for You (I am nothing without Christ who strengthens me and I know it is all real when I feel that strength burning through me.)
    



19. WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT MOST OFTEN AS A MOM?
    Go Your Own Way (If I went my own way it would be a bunch of lonely days.)
    



20. WHAT IS YOUR LIFE STORY AS A MOM?
    Gone (Hopefully I am not absent as a mom... but more true to the song that I would live each day if it were my last, Carpe Diem, "you never know what you got till it's gone".)
    



21. WHAT IS THE ONE THING YOU REGRET AS A MOM?
    Baby be Mine ("and girl I'll give you all I got to give" - I regret my laziness and not giving it my all.)
    



22. WHAT IS THE BEST THING YOU’VE EVER DONE AS A MOM?
    He Works (I let God work on me and through me.)
    



23. WHAT DO YOUR KIDS DO THAT MAKES YOU LAUGH?
    First Love (My daughter's first crush is one of our old youth boys and it always makes us laugh when she says she's going to marry him and that she loves him - in our opinion she couldn't pick anyone better!)
    



24. WHAT DO YOUR KIDS DO THAT MAKES YOU CRY?
    Here I Go Again (Sometimes I get frustrated and cry when they don't listen and I have to tell them a million times.)
    



25. WHAT DO YOUR KIDS DO THAT SCARES YOU THE MOST?
    Since I Met You (When they get older I am scared that they will have nothing to show unless they turn to the Lord.)
    



26. HOW DO YOUR KIDS DESCRIBE YOU AS THEIR MOM?
    L-O-V-E (This is a very sweet answer if you know this song... and I only hope they see me as very loving, sometimes I feel it is the only thing I get right.)
    



27. IF YOU COULD GO BACK IN TIME, WHAT WOULD YOU CHANGE?
    I Dreamt of Edward (Oh dear - I gotta get those Twilight songs off my computer - or at least make up my own name for them :)
    



28. WHAT WILL YOUR MOM OF THE YEAR CERTIFICATE SAY?
    I Wanna be Just like You (A-men - I wanna be like Jesus.)

*I tried to get a clip of as many of my songs as possible so you could hear them if you wanted to see what song I am talking about. Some of them are not the same artist I own, but you get the point. Others like 18, 23 and 28 aren't even available. 18 was a song my friend Bethany wrote (beautiful), 23 is a (GREAT) song by a band that is no longer around called Footstool and 28 is by another old group called Go Fish.

Just a Thought

"People often say that motivation doesn't last.

Well, neither does bathing, that's why we recommend it daily."

- Zig Ziglar

Date Night

:) Hubby and I had a great date last Friday - best we've had in a long time.

We went to PF Changs for dinner and saw Alice in Wonderland 3-D, both new things for me :)

So much fun, thank you Muffin!

Fun at my Sister's

We took a trip to my sister's house last Thursday so she could take pictures of my kids for my front room.

They love playing in her backyard...



But we also went to a couple different parks so she could get some good professional shots. They LOVED the awesome see-saw...





And JJ loved being able to play in the fairy costume Charleen put her in...


I love spending time with my sissy...

Making my House my Home

I haven't 'tackled" in forever - it's been over a year.

But I have some God-given plans now that I would like to share. It's really been on my heart to live in my home and not just exist in it. To really make my house a home. The kids and I are here very often and I really think it effects us when we do not really make our rental homes our own.

I've always had excuses to be LAZY in the homes we rent. Like, not knowing how long we will lease, or not wanting to put money into something that's not ours, but then really, THAT is the problem. We FEEL like we are just existing in a home that is only temporary, that we cannot really LIVE in - no good.

So I am decorating. I started by painting an accent wall and buying a large mirror for my small space. This wall used to be white and bare...

Also in that picture you see my new round table. Before that all I had was a covered folding table with folding chairs. I wouldn't buy a real table because I was always coming up with excuses like them only working here for a year till we move again or something. This feels so much more lived in and permanent, it's nice!!!!

Here are the colors I have planned for my family room to tie it to this small dinning area that it is open to...
The blue Trout Stream is the accent wall I just showed you. The Old Mill is a close color to my large couch. India Ink is the color of my table, my mirror, my lamp stands and some picture frames. Then Brownie and Huckleberry are colors I would like to bring in for more accents.
I bought clothes close to these colors for my three children and had my sister / Charleen Fotografie take pics of them that I plan to hang in my family room as well. Here are some of the shots I will choose from...



I LOVE your work sissy - thank you!!!

My Walk

My Monday without my walk - My hubby stayed home from work today. All three of my kids are sick. We took them to the doctor and now they are on antibiotics for mild bronchitis. I had a doctors appointment to check up on the new baby. I wasn't feeling well. I took a nap. I went out with some good friends for dinner. I came home ... kinda sad.

With my walk - I came home ... and read Isaiah 43 and 44...

And the Lord who created me, He who formed me, He told me...

Fear not, for He has redeemed me; He has called me by my name; He says "you are mine". He promises when I pass through the waters, He will be with me; and through the rivers, they will not overflow me. When I walk through the fire, I will not be burned, and neither will the flame scorch me.

For He is the Lord my God, The Holy One of Israel, my Savior.

I am precious in His sight and He loves me.

I am His witness and His servant whom He has chosen. Before Him there was no God formed, and there is non after Him. He is the Lord and besides Him there is no savior. There is no one who can deliver out of His hand. When He works, no one can reverse it.

He is my King.

He makes a way in the sea and a path through the mighty waters.

He does not want me to remember the former things or even consider the things of old. Because He will do a new thing. He will make a road in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.

He is the one who blots out my transgressions and will not remember my sins.

He will pour water on me when I am thirsty and flood the dry ground. He will pour His Spirit on my children and His blessings on my offspring (my sick children :).

We will not be forgotten by Him.

Don't you just love Him for loving us SO much?!

Share your walk...

What does your purse look like?

This was a post I saw on my friend Alicia's blog and I thought it would be a fun one to play along with. If you want to play as well, go ahead, because I won't tag anyone this time :).

Here are the rules!

1. Post a picture of whatever bag you are carrying as of late. No, you cannot go up to your closet and pull out that cute little purse you used back before you had kids. I want to know what you carried today.
2. I want to know how much it cost :) And this is not to judge, because I’m honestly telling you I was ready to put down some cash; I just got lucky. This is for entertainment purposes only. So spill it. And if there is a story to go along with how you obtained it, I’d love to hear it.
3. Tag some chicks. And link back to this post so people know why the heck you’re showing everyone your diaper bag/non-diaper bag.

This is the bag I was carrying a year ago, back when I bookmarked this post to play along with.
It was probably under $20. It's from Target and I bought it because I wanted something bigger that I could use as both "purse" and "diaper bag"...

This is the smaller one I would use when I wasn't out with the babies. It was a hand-me-down from my sister-in-law which is how I got most of my bags...

...Till I bought this one! I love my current purse! It's my POP of color and it even fits a couple extra things for the kiddos in there when needed! I bought it shopping in San Francisco with my close, good friend. It's from H&M and it was probably under $30...
The other thing I like about it is when the kids spill something on it - which has happened many times - I can just wipes it off with a baby wipe and wha-la! :)

I chopped my Hair off!

I am determined to attacked my laziness, because I really feel it is the root of A LOT of my problems. So one of the ways to get me to take care of myself is... I chopped my Hair off and died it!!!
If it is short and crazy, I HAVE to style it, I really have no choice.
And if it's black I HAVE to wear at least a little make-up or I won't even look like I have eyebrows! :)
Also the poor preggers (me) was not sleeping well because my hair was getting stuck either under my own back at night, or my husband's! lol - not worth it!!!

Here is the before shot at the Salon...
Here is the back - after shot at the Salon...

Here is the front shot at home... sadly it really wasn't what I was going for... I was looking for more of a layered bang and a choppy crazy look on both sides, I also wanted it shorter in the back...

So I went back, and they "fixed" it... this is what I got... I had trouble styling it correctly ALL weekend at Jr High Camp, another thing to drive the emotional pregger crazyish!...

But then my good friend - who isn't a hairdresser at all - fixed it at my home on Monday...

I say she had MAD skills from the Lord and NEEDS to go to beauty collage!!!...

She totally gave me all the choppy crazies I was looking for...

And she got the back dead on to what I wanted... I didn't want bulk, I wanted to chop it off! well, here it is...

Thanks! my friend! :) you know who you are!!!

Jr High Winter Camp

I went to Jr High Winter Camp over the weekend as a counselor. It was wonderful. My three babies went to stay at their Auntie and Grandparent's house while me and my hubby took off Friday, Saturday and Sunday. It was nice to be able to give our undivided attention to the youth kids.

This is a view of the Chapel building from the other side of the lake God spoke to me through (I will explain below :) But pictures first...

This is me and my cupcake getting out of the last service...

This is Evan Wickham - who lead worship for us all weekend - amazing!!!...

This is all 6 of our kids together...

This is the 2 girl counselors with our 1 girl :)...

... and this is our shoes ...

... and this is someone's lost (for a long time) shoes ...

... and this is how dirty our shoes got after our walk around the lake at free time ...

This is our wanna-be son! He WAS our youth boy, but now he is a Jr High leader at our old church :)! We love this kid to pieces!!!...

Now onto the lake that God used to speak to me... I was sitting by it doing my devotions on Saturday and He was showing me how half of it was complete unchanging, still and placid. But the other half was reacting to just the slightest breeze, showing the smallest ripples, but they were all other the second half of the lake.

In just a moment I had the desire in my heart at the same time as God showing me He wanted me to respond to His Holy Spirit just as the water responded to the tiniest breeze.

The speaker (Gail Erwin) was saying later on, that God the Father's name is Yahweh, God the Son's name Yeshua, but God the Holy Spirit is just the sound of the wind! Well, God wants me to respond to His Holy Spirit sounding to me :) BEAUTIFUL!!!

PRAISE YOU - MY HELPER - AND MY GOD!!!