Menu Plan Monday

Today I made a menu plan. WooHoo!!! I haven't done that for a while, so hopefully our family will have better meals this week, instead of scrambling at the last minute. All of these dishes will be made, Lord willing. But, things change all the time, so we'll see!

• Monday: Main Dish Tuna Salad
  
• Tuesday: Reuben Casserole (using leftover beef brisket)
• Wednesday: Picadillo (easy Cuban dish, using leftover spaghetti sauce)
• Thursday: Portabello Burgers, coleslaw and chips
  
• Friday: Sausage with peppers, coleslaw and chips
• Saturday: Chicken drumsticks (with Tabitha's help from her cookbook), coleslaw (when I make it there's a lot and I don't want it to go bad!) and biscuits
• Sunday evening: Greek chicken stir fry (my adventure of the week)
• Sunday afternoon: Chicken quesadillas

For more menu plans check out Organizing Junkie. Maybe you'll find some inspiration there.

Verse for thought: "I have esteemed the words of His mouth more than my necessary food." Job 23:12

Winter Time Fun

Today we got to spend some time together as a family. Yippee! We went to the ice skating rink. Enoch and I took turns sitting out with Patricia and one or two of the other cuties.

Tabitha was crying the first round, not wanting to try it, afraid of falling, etc. But, as you can see from this picture, her attitude changed by the end:

Enoch didn't complain at all even though he spent most of the time on the bench holding Patty cakes. Next time we'd really like to make a point for the two of us to get on the rink together.
Seth had a hard time standing up. He liked it when I held him from behind and skated. It was fun to glide:

We were happy to have Carol and Lily join us. It was Lily's first time, but she did great. By the end she was able to skate by herself.
Patricia was tired out from watching all the action. It's a hard job, ya know?

Verse for thought: "Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you." James 4:7

Frugal Friday

Improvise-that's one of my favorite words. I really think it's one of the best ways of saving money. The other day when it snowed I didn't yet buy the kids' winter boots, so I had to cover their feet in plastic bags.  Yesterday I mentioned how our dryer needs to be serviced, so in the meantime I'm drying the clothes in our bedroom, which also gives us the much needed moisture. When Seth cut his forehead, I wasn't able to get to the Pharmacy to buy SteriStrips, so I doctored up a regular bandAid so that it would have the same effect. 

Today I was thinking about our gloves and hats. They are all shoved on to this tiny shelf, as you can see below. I thought maybe one day I'll get a Longaberger basket to put them all in. That got my dials turning. 

I thought about the different baskets we have in the house. None of them were suitable, but then I remembered a lovely EMPTY hat box we had laying around. It's perfect and it still fits on the shelf. Problem solved without going to the store!

Now in our case, it's not that we can't afford the above mentioned things, but its a whole lot easier than packing three kids in the car and going to a store. Not to mention that it feels good to know you saved yourself money at the same time. Next time you feel like you HAVE to get a new item in order to fulfill a present need, rethink. Is there anything in your house that could serve the same purpose? 

For more Frugal Friday tips, please visit Biblical Womanhood.

Verse for thought: "Who then is a faithful and wise steward...?" Luke 12:42

Our day today

This morning when I went to get a load out of the dryer they were all still wet. I ran the dryer again, but quickly stopped it, because it was smelling like burning plastic. I am well aware of fires that have started, so I decided not to take any chances. The service guy is able to come on Monday. That seems like forever away to me! Every day I do at least one load, but sometimes two or even three. Yet, Enoch always manages to run out of undershirts and I am always scrambling for kids clothes. I'm not a clothes line drying kind of person, so I came up with a different solution. I'm drying the clothes in our bedroom. It's been kind of dry in there at night and I think I can dry a load a day up there. That will put the much needed moisture into the air!

This afternoon Tabitha finally got a chance to use her cookbook. She made apple crisp (with a little help, of course). It was so yummy! The kids and I just gobbled it up. We halved the recipe and omitted the walnuts, so Patricia could also enjoy it (besides, we didn't have any in the house). Here's the recipe (it's super easy, thus kid friendly):

• 4 medium peeled, cooking apples sliced (about 4 cups)
• 3/4 cup all purpose flour
• 3/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup quick cooking oats
• 1/3 cup chopped walnuts
• 1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 cup butter, softened

1. Heat the oven to 375 degrees.

2. Spread the apple slices in an ungreased 8"square pan.

3. Mix remaining ingredients with a fork; sprinkle over apples.

4. Bake uncovered until the topping is golden brown and apples are tender, about 30 minutes.
Makes 6 servings.

Last but not least, Patricia turned 10 months old today!!!

Verse for thought: "Happy are the people whose God is the Lord!" Psalm 144:15

Our First Snow

I took Tabitha and Seth out for ten minutes today to play in the snow. 

Every time I turned around, Seth was eating a handful.

Tabitha must've heard about snow angels somewhere along the way, because every 2 minutes or so she'd say, "LET'S MAKE SNOW ANGELS!!!" and plop she'd go.

Here is the reason we came in after only ten minutes. Seth tripped over one of the tree roots and hit his face on the tree. He had a small gash on his forehead that had dark blood dripping out. I got a lot of it on that towel you see him with. His mouth was also bleeding. Poor little guy!

Verse for thought: "Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow." Isaiah 1:18

Chocolate is yummy!

She was crying, but then I lured her with and M&M




Seth had to have a picture. That's chalk on his pants (an everyday look)

Here comes miss chocolate face herself.





Verse for thought: "Blessed is the man that walks not in the counsel of the ungodly...but his delight is in the law of the Lord and in His law he does meditate day and night." Psalm 1:1,2

I'm back!

Tabitha is sitting on our first packed box. On January 21st Enoch will be starting his new job in Oklahoma City. He'll work on site for a week or two (or three) then come back to Maryland and work from the DC location for up to six months until we can sell our current house. He will try to tell you that we don't know for sure yet and it might not happen, etc., etc. But I'm pretty sure that's the way the Lord is leading. If I waited for a firm "yes" from Enoch, I wouldn't be packing until two weeks before!

In other news, Patricia started walking. She's almost ten months old, but can toddle across the room. I have laryngitis or something else that has robbed my voice. Enoch was kind to me and took the day off, so I could give my voice rest. Seth is at the learning stage of things. He can count to ten, name his colors and shapes and recognizes many numbers and letters. Tabitha spent over 2 hours the other day working on a 100 piece puzzle. She shooed me away when I tried to help. She finished it! The next day it only took her one hour.

Verse for thought: "By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed; and he went out, not knowing whither he went." Hebrews 11:8