Random Question #2

Laura, over at heavenlyhomemakers.com, has been having lots of fun asking random questions. Some of the responses are so funny! Well, I've got lots of questions to ask people! :) Although, I'm counting my poll about your favorite candy as question #1. Here's my question for today:

What is the background on your desktop/laptop? You know, the wallpaper which adorns your computer when you turn it on.

I've been looking around trying to find new ones and wondered what other people had. Mine is a very lovely little picture of pink tulips basking in the sun. It makes me smile! Hope everyone is doing well! I've got some exciting news I'm going to be sharing in the next couple days. Stay tuned!

Running the race,
~A

Preview

What do you think?

This is the sight that meets me in my van after about 15 minutes of travel, on occasion. I'm so nervous to leave town anymore for fear that the thing will overheat. As of two days ago, the dome light will not go off no matter what we do. So we have to jump it off to start it. Did I also mention that it doesn't have air conditioning...and that is was 99* today?

I'm not mentioning these things to complain. Honestly, I'm not! But simply to ask your opinion. John and I try very hard not to get caught up in an American mind frame. We want to see the van as a blessing because we know there are lots of people out there who share a car or don't even own one. But, I stuggle. The van is our main vehicle. Without it all of us, as a family, can't go anywhere. And here in America, especially living in the country, we just have to have a vehicle to get around. We would also have to go back into debt to buy a new (and by "new" I mean new to us) one, and we REALLY don't want to do that. It's so nice to be debt free!

So, here's my question- What do you think? Forget that you were raised in America. Keep a global, godly view in mind as you ponder. Should I just be content with what the Lord has given us? Or is it okay to want a reliable van?

Help!
~A

Another week. Another menu plan.

As I look over my menu plan it seems a bit ambitious for me. But, I'm hoping to get caught up with all my housework, after the great flu bug of '09, before our company arrives this weekend. So, maybe I'll actually have the time to make some REAL meals.

John's brother, sister, dad, and their families are all coming to spend the weekend with us. We always enjoy spending time with them. It's a real treat for us! The children get so excited! Johns's brother is bringing a kiddie pool and we bought a kite last week that the children love. They are arriving Friday around lunchtime and staying till Sunday. Yippee!

Here's the plan for the week:

Breakfast
-pancakes
-egg in a nest
-smoothies
-waffles
-baked oatmeal
-muffins
-giant breakfast cookies (drool...)

Lunch
-Cucumber sandwiches
-P.B. & J. roll ups
-meat sandwiches
-taco rice/ corn/salad
-sloppy joes/ potato fries
-leftovers

Dinner
-Tomato melts/carrots
-meatballs/broccoli/bread
-stuffed shells/salad/garlic bread
-hamburgers/hot dogs/coleslaw/squash casserole/watermelon/avocado pie/pumpkin pie (father's day celebration!)
-leftovers
-egg salad/popcorn/brownies
-zucchini cakes/potato fries

Granted, all of this is subject to change depending on what I get in my CSA stuff this week. I still have squash and zucchini that i need to use up. Hence, squash casserole and zucchini cakes this week. I noticed this week's plan involves a lot of meat! We've haven't this much meat in one week in a LONG time but I'm craving it. And, no. I'm not pregnant. :) Although, on a random note, I did have a dream last night that John went out to buy a new van and came back with an adopted baby....prophesy?? Perhaps. :)

One more bit of randomness. My dear sweet husband, as an anniversary present, got me a new lap top! My other one was hurtin' after someone accidentally dropped it.

Isn't it cute? He even got it in pink for me. It's an inspiron mini 9 and let me tell you, it is mini. But it's so convienent. It's light-weight and compact. I even carried it in my diaper bad the other day when we went to the big city just to see how portable it was. It's great!

Thanks for checking in!
~A

Here I am

Just wanted to write a note to let everyone know we're still here! We are still dealing with this flu bug that has decided to stick around but I'm optimistic that it's on its' way out. Thank you, God! It's been a pretty rough week for me emotionally, physically, and even spiritually. Lack of sleep, caring for sick children, and no breaks have all played a major roll in that. I feel as though Satan has really tried to get me discouraged this week. I've had this feeling of hopelessness and apathy all week long. Which is not normal for me! But I have so much to be thankful for! I thought it would be a good exercise for me to list some.

~my children. They are a lot of work but SOOOO worth it!
~the fact that even when I'm grumpy and discouraged the Lord loves me and if I allow him He will always help me.
~I'm very thankful that not everyone was sick at the same time. Have you ever had the lovely experience of children and parents sick with the flu at the same time?? I have and it's not fun.
~I had lots of extra bread on hand to make toast, which is all anyone wanted to eat. I did not want to have to bake bread in the middle of all this!
~no one started getting sick until Tuesday night. We had plans to have company over Tuesday and we were really excited. We would have cancelled if the children had gotten sick earlier. But, they started getting sick after everyone left.
~There was a 2 day period where I thought everyone was better and I got to go to a garage sale where I bought some much needed clothing for Kate.
~I'm also VERY thankful that my children hardly ever get sick. This is the first time they've thrown up in about 2 years. None of them have ever had an ear infection or serious illness that required medical attention.

So, we are starting a new week. Everyone seems to be feeling well today and we are having company this weekend (SO excited!). Now I just need to get the house back in order!

Running the race,
~A

CSA~week 2

No fun pictures this week. Sorry. We've a major flu bug running through the house right now and even if I had the time to take pictures...it wouldn't be a pretty sight. I haven't been able to leave the house in 3 days and so I had John pick up my goods on the way home from work. Here's what we got:

~cucumbers
~kale
~cabbage
~squash (still haven't used mine from last week!)
~strawberries
~beans
~beets
~eggplant
~carrots
~basil
~mystery herb (maybe sage?)

I also made an important discovery last week. I don't like beets. I made two different things with mine from last week. I made some roasted veggies with them and then I also made a chocolate beet cake. The cake was okay. Very moist, but not the best chocolate cake I've ever had. I did get to sneak some beets into their diet. :) To me, beets taste very...earthy. (that's my nice way of saying they tasted like dirt!) But we'll try some new recipes, thanks to your wonderful suggestions, and see if we can't find a better recipe.

Thanks for checking in. Now, I need to get back to cleaning up...well, I'll just leave it at that!

Running the race,
~A

Family Fellowship

Our church is a little different than other churches. I know, I know. Most of you are saying "Duh!". But I don't just mean in dress and appearance. The general structure is different too. We have 5 ministers.Not a minister of music, a minster of education, etc. We actually have 5 ministers that take turns preaching. Also, our ministers are not paid. That's right! They don't want money (or the worry of it) to get in the way of their preaching. They want to be able to preach whatever the Lord lays on their heart and not have to worry about if that will effect their paycheck. (Not saying all paid ministers do worry about that kind of thing!)

But, what I am thankful for today is that our church is what is called a family integrated church. A what? A family integrated church is a church where the children stay right with you the whole service. There is no children's church or baby daycare. This was a little hard to adjust to at first but I have seen the MAJOR blessing of this type of model. I appreciate the way our ministers handle it as well. The other Sunday in a service there were several babies fussing (more than normal) and he stopped, smiled and said "We normally don't have this many babies crying at the same time. Children, we are SO thankful you are here!" another example is when they are preaching they will explain things to the children. "Now, children, famine means...." ect. The children learn at an early age to sit through a service, oh, and by the way, our services are 3 hours long! I am so thankful to have my children sit with me and learn with me. Sometimes I don't think the children are paying attention but then when we get home Lilly will ask, "Mommy? What did he mean when he said...?"and it gives us a wonderful opportunity to discuss God's Word.

I also think it develops a sense of family worship. Everyone doesn't go their separate ways when we get to the church steps. We sit as a family, and worship, learn, praise, and pray together! It is a blessing for which I am very thankful!

Thanks for reading!
~A

check out heavenly homemakers for more of Gradituesday!

CSA~week 1

I was SO excited to go pick up my goodies today. And boy, oh boy did we get a bunch!Here's what was in the box:
-Kale
-Red Potatoes
-Carrots
-Beets
-Strawberries
-Peaches
-Beans (of the green variety)
-Onions
-Squash (3 kinds, one of which I'm not sure what it is)
-Banana Peppers
-Rosemary
-Basil
-A dozen free range eggs

I can't believe how much I got for 1 week! We'll be feasting on lots of veggies. The children were all giddy, I think because they saw how excited I was. I let each one pick out their favorite thing and then they get to help me decide how to cook it.

Lilly was totally fascinated by the carrots long green plant part. She obviously didn't know they came like that. We planted some carrots last year in our garden but we must have planted them at the wrong time because they never came up.

I was surprised Luke picked this summer squash but then again he's always like squash. Last winter he begged me to buy an acorn squash at the supermarket. I'm not complaining!

Hello you beautiful peach! I've been waiting all year for you and in a couple more weeks I'll be buying you by the bushels and sticking you in my freezer. Yum! We got a whole bag full but I have a feeling they will be gone in a few days. If there are any left I might make some peach shortcake. (He was equally excited by the banana peppers. My children LOVE banana peppers.)Kate was just happy to get a car ride. :)That's it for this week. I hope I can use all this stuff before next weeks batch! If you have any good recipes or suggestions for any of this, PLEASE let me know. I love trying new things!

Running the race,
~A

Beets Me??

Get it? BEETS me! (ha ha! Snort, snort, sigh... moving on....) So, my CSA starts on Wednesday and since the farmer is, well, my neighbor she already told me what I'm getting. One of the listed items is beets. I don't know about you but I have NO idea what to do with beets. I did find a recipe for dark chocolate muffins made with beets (how good does that sound!) but John has requested that I not make those. Can you believe it? He says that kind of defeats the point of eating your beets. SO...no dark chocolate muffins. Does anyone out there know what to do with these little beauties? I'd love to hear your ideas!

Running the race,
~A