Wordless Wednesday

Natalie loves being Baby Girl's big cousin.

For more Wordless Wednesday, check out 5 Minutes for Mom.

Menu Plan 1/5-1/11

http://orgjunkie.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/11/holidaympm-1.jpg

Yeah! It's good to be home. We've had a busy past couple of weeks, traveling to visit family and having a great time catching up with everyone. It's been a joy to see my children's faces light up, not only as they open presents, but also as they spend time with family. It's truly been a time of reconnecting and reuniting.

But it's good to be home. It's good to settle back into routine and be back in my kitchen. Here's what we're cooking up this week:

Monday:
Breakfast: Chai Muffins
Lunch: Pumpkin Soup
Dinner: Breakfast for Dinner

Tuesday:
Breakfast: Yogurt and Fruit
Lunch: Egg Salad Sandwiches, Carrot sticks, fruit
Dinner: Salmon Patties, Green Salad

Wednesday:
Breakfast: Oatmeal
Lunch: Leftovers or sandwiches, canned peaches
Dinner: Crockpot Black Bean Soup

Thursday:
Breakfast: Cheesy Scrambled Eggs
Lunch: Baked Potatoes
Dinner: Lentil Stew, Green Salad

Friday:
Breakfast: Orange Smoothies
Lunch: Leftovers or sandwiches
Dinner: Grilled Cheese Sandwiches, Tomato soup

Saturday:
Breakfast: Gingerbread Waffles
Lunch: Asian Noodle Salad
Dinner: White Chili

Sunday:
Breakfast: Leftover Waffles
Lunch: Leftovers
Dinner: Impossible Cheeseburger Pie

Extras:
Peppermint Hot Chocolate

Super Easy Bean Dip

Simple Living: Part Nine

Simple Living seemed to go by the wayside a bit during the holidays. I'm a self-professed Super Mom during the holidays. Or at least a wanna-be. Still our holidays were simplier this year with all the traveling we did and our focus on Advent Conspiracy. We tried to search out toys that would encourage our relationships as a family and remind us of the reason for Christmas. My kids got a great Little People Nativity Set with all the characters. I can see this being a great tool in the years to come as they learn more about the reason for the holidays. But now I'm rambling...

As the New Year begins, I find myself once again desiring Simple Living. And I find myself refocusing on what Simple Living is. I'd like to clear up a misunderstanding. Simple Living does not mean a lack of committments or an abundance of time. Rather it's a focus of time. As I commented a few months ago, my priorities have fallen in line with stregthening and building relationships with others. Still those relationships require time. Time with my husband, time with my kids, time with my disciples, and time with my Lord.

Simple Living means being open and hospitable and vulnerable. It's by no means an easy life, but rather one that's deeply rewarding.

There! I'm off my soap box!

New Year's Resolutions???

So yesterday I posted a note about making New Year's Resolutions for Moms. Still my mind churns constantly of things I'd like to do and areas I'd like to grow in. So I'm dashing off a quick note of just a few of the things I'd like to do in the next year.

1. Complete 2-3 sewing projects
2. Complete Baby Girl's first year album
3. Read three books off my list
4. Hike Mt. Lassen
5. Enter the cooking contest at the fair

These are just a few of the smaller goals I have for the year. Just a few of the things I'd love to be able to do with my kids and family.

Are you making New Year's Resolutions?

Real Resolutions for Moms

I found this posted somewhere last spring and have loved it ever since. I'll often times find myself coming back to it, remembering what really matters in life. Refocusing my priorities. Re-remembering why it is that I do what I do.

Still I find that I don't read it often enough. There still so much more that I can glean from it. So I'd like to start us on a journey of real change, making real choices that will really change our families.

These "Real Resolutions" will become the basis for a series of devotional that I plan to break down and develop over the next couple of months. But for now, here they are in their entirety. Enjoy! And today, as you make your resolutions as so many of us do (including myself), keep these in mind and ask the Lord to speak to you through them.




Real Resolutions for Moms
By Karen Ehman

"... But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus." Philippians 4:13b-14 (ESV)

Devotion:

It's that time when many of us are making New Year's resolutions, so how about some resolutions for mothers? Here are mine:

I will put my Bible before the television, the radio, the telephone, and even before good Christian books, for my children will know my priorities by the way they see me spend my free time.

I will make my prayer requests known before God and my children, enlisting their help in the process and informing them of the outcome, for by letting them help when I petition our Lord will they learn of a living God who still answers prayer.

When times of crisis, conflict or confusion arise, I will hit my knees before I hit the phone knowing that by my example my children will discover that although friends are important, God alone is the one who holds the solution to life's every problem.

I will erase the words "luck" and "lucky" from my vocabulary and will instead by my speech point my children toward the One who orchestrates every detail of our lives and brings all good things to pass, for by this my children will learn of an omniscient God.

When bad things happen, I'll neither grumble nor complain, but will instead help my children see that in the scope of our lives even the bad times are allowed for a reason, for by this my children will learn quiet trust in their Maker.

When normal childhood mishaps occur, I will remember that although difficult, it is still easier to remove grape juice from off-white carpet than to erase harsh and unloving words hurled at a child whose chubby little fingers have failed her, for by this my children will see a God who understands when our best efforts fall short.

When my children have witnessed something ugly in me - unkind words, an angry temper, "harmless" gossip, biting sarcasm or even my infamous "mommy pout" when things don't go my way - I will confess it as sin before them seeking their forgiveness, for by this my children will develop the much needed habit of wiping their spiritual slate clean before God and man.

I will teach my children the importance of cleanliness and order while at the same time remain sensitive to the fact that a skinned knee or hurt feeling is more crucial than a spotless floor or uncluttered counter, for by this my children will learn to value people above things.

I will make time for the lonely, the sick, the elderly, the difficult to love, and will bring my children along, for with each afternoon visit, each ride to the doctor, each raked lawn or washed window they will have opportunity to serve Jesus by serving the "least of these."

I will make our home a haven of rest and retreat from the outside world and a welcomed place for my children's friends, for with each impromptu backyard soccer game, each video viewed on a rainy day, each cup of hot cocoa or chocolate chip cookie, my children will have opportunity to practice the art of Christian hospitality thereby learning to share all God has given them.

I will by my actions and my speech let my children see a mom love their dad, for by this will my children sense family stability at a time when marriages all around them are crumbling.

I will not require of my children obedience, honesty, patience or kindness without first being willing to submit to the same rules whether in speed limit, in miscounted change from the grocery store or when answering a toddler for the fourteenth time, for by this my children will see a mother who is also learning and not a perfect parent to whom they'll never measure up.

In all things will I remember that more is caught than is taught.

There are little eyes upon you, mom. You are the first Bible your children will ever read.