Small joys

Life around here is starting to feel less like living on planet Mars and more like normal life. We've been enjoying this lovely weather, doing some park playing, Jude's started school, we visited library story time (and loved it), I'm getting lost a lot less while driving, we're slowly meeting people, and I even baked bread this week for the first time since we moved here. 

I even forgot how much I missed taking pictures. I brought out my trusty ole Canon and took some pics this week.

(Do you know how hard it is to take pics in the midday sun? Yowza. And I even dialed down the brightness quite a bit when I edited these.)

I thought this one could use a vintage touch. My little boy is getting so big!

I have forgotten how in the every day, joy can be found, even in the little things. You just have to pay attention and look for it. This little guy flew up right as I was photographing those plants, it was such a sweet moment. An ordinary moment turned extraordinary by a simple thing. 

And these dandelions were just so pretty.

I'm still not 100% okay with this move, far from it. But, I'm getting better...life is getting better. I'm learning more about who I am and who God is, some steps go forward, some go back. It's all a process of growing, even though growing is hard.

I'm grateful for it.

Tomorrow's the day!

Life has been a bit hectic at the Fergus house. Later today, we are going to load up our truck and drive away from our little house on James. The very first house we bought, the house we started our family in, the house we've spent the last (almost) 6 years of our life in.

We will miss our friends and family who have helped shape us along the way, so much. We'll miss gathering with our church family on Sunday mornings. We'll miss Slim Chickens, the ASU farmer's market, and the Craighead library. We will miss our life here.

Can you tell I'm a little sad?

While I'm sad, I also choose to look forward to what is to come. A future unknown, a new life in a new city, a new adventure with my 3 guys, Ross's new job. It's exciting!

Here's what's been going on around here, lately:

Lots and lots of boxes

Boys watching tv together

A bathroom redo!

Tomorrow morning we're pulling out of Memphis with all of our livelihood, and my parents, who have so graciously offered to go to Richmond with us to help us move. We'll get to our new place on Saturday and start moving in, and Ross starts work on Monday. It's going to be a crazy weekend!

Please keep praying for our house to sell, it feels so strange leaving it behind as we go on to Richmond. I know we can trust God to take care of it, but it's still a little unsettling.

Thanks, friends. I am ready to do this!

Update on the move

Life is funny sometimes. We waited and waited for Ross to get a job. It seemed as though we were at a stand still for so long, it was agonizing. Not to be able to plan or even anticipate your future, it was a hard season, I'm not gonna lie, and it felt as though it would never end. Just a few shorts weeks ago, it felt like someone had hit the slow-mo button on the remote and we were moving in still shots, like on a tv screen.

Now, it seems as though we've hit the fast forward button. Things are moving so fast, I can barely keep up! At the end of each day, I am collapsing into bed, barely able to keep my eyes open. Most of you know, we had our Richmond trip (which was AWESOME, by the way and successful since we found a place to live), but I have to admit, that drive was brutal. And it will be even more brutal with 2 little kids, a dog, 2 cats and all of our lives put into a truck.

What was sweet about the trip though, was not us getting lost, which we did several times, not the tour we got of the city, because we had to drive ALL over since we didn't plan our routes very well, and not even the amazing local restaurants that we found and loved, but the sweetest part was leaving.

As we were driving away, I told Ross, it felt like we were leaving home. He agreed. I know we were only there for 2 days, but we loved the city. We felt like that was where we belonged. It's hard to explain, but that little trip made me want to move back there, and quickly. I am so glad for that little piece of grace so that I am not dreading the move. I am still sad to be leaving family and friends, but looking forward to calling Virginia home.

I mentioned on Facebook that we are moving on August 4th (or the 3rd, to make it a two day trip), and now that we've actually put our house on the market, we are just continuing to do things to the house to make it more sellable, and packing up our stuff. It's hard to imagine that in 2 short weeks, we will be Virginians, Ross will be starting a new job, and we will have to adjust to a new life in a new city, in which we will not know anyone. It was like that when we moved here, but looking back, it didn't seem like that big of a deal, just a 1 hour move. This move is much bigger.

We will survive it as many have done before, and hopefully we will settle into a new norm in the new place. The next 2 weeks will be crazy, though, I'm sure of it! 

If you think of us, please be praying about the upcoming move and selling of our house. There is a lot to be done! Thanks, friends!

Trusting God through relocation - Update

So, by now you all know that Ross got the job in Richmond. His official start date is August 6th. We are beyond overjoyed at this, of course. His offer was way better than we had anticipated or hoped for and our prayers were answered in ways we couldn't imagine. 

*throw my hands up and do a little dance*

Ok, now that we have that part figured out, now we have moved onto our next big hurdle.

Getting there.

Sounds easy, right? Not so much. We have 5 weeks to get there and moving is not very easy when you own a house. We have gone through every option out there (that we know of), from selling, to renting, and for reasons I won't really go into, none of the conventional methods of selling or renting are going to work for us. Not to mention we have to find a place to live there and move all of our stuff. The future is still so unpredictable and overwhelming to me right now that I can only take one day at a time. I know that sounds cliche-ish, but that's all I can handle at the moment, and truthfully, I think that's all we were meant to handle.

So, here are the things we do know and are doing:

• We've scheduled a trip to Richmond in a week to try to find a place to live. I'm looking online and have already picked a few places. I hope to pick a few more before we go.
• Ross's start date for his job, so we know he at least needs to be there by Aug. 6th.
• We have packed up a lot of stuff and are packing more every day.
• We are downsizing the amount of furniture/things we have by selling or giving away.
• We are fixing what we can on our house and giving it a good clean. 

Things we don't know yet:

• When exactly we will be moving.
• Where we will be living in Richmond. 
• What we are going to do with our house. 
• Just about everything at this point.

One good thing about all of this is it's distracting me from the fact that I'm turning 30 on Wednesday, which I'm not very excited about. I'm not quite sure why 30 is so unsettling to me, but my 20s were good, so hopefully my 30s will be even better. 

Please pray for us if you think of us! Still so much is unknown at this point, so, we're having to trust God every step of the way. It's hard, and at times frustrating, but we know He's got the whole thing figured out and the peace we get from knowing that is what keeps us moving forward.

WAHM? (and a menu post snuck in)

I have added a new title to my lost list of qualifications. I am a wife, mom, referee, cook, keeper of the house, dog fosterer, hobbyist photographer, blogger, singer, baker, knitter, booger wiper, along with a billion other titles, but now I've added one more...working from home (part time, that is). That is why I've suspiciously been more quiet on the blog lately, there's just not enough free time in my days anymore. While I am so grateful for the opportunity to work from home and help contribute financially to my family, it hasn't come without a little kicking and screaming on my part...internally, that is.

I have mourned my "me" time, but I have also realized that there are more important things than just having "me" time. Yes, some "me" time is needed, but as much as I had before? I loved all the "me" time I had, but at what cost? Is that where love shines through, in the time I spend on myself?

Motherhood is all about sacrifice, and sacrificing some of my "me" time has been hard, but is ultimately what is best for my family. And it's been a blessing. I've thought over and over to myself other moms do it, I can too! 

I prayed for this. I have desired so much to be able to help out my family financially without having to work outside the home. So, while it's been hard, I've had to do some rearranging of my schedule. I even had to make a list of all the things I wanted to get done in a day because I'm not gonna lie, I was overwhelmed for awhile. It seemed like nothing was getting done. But, I am getting used to the new schedule and cherishing the "me" times I get even more now. And I feel that me and my family are better for it. :)

Even though this post has nothing to do with our menu, I'm gonna sneak our menu in for this week:


Thursday
Homemade pizza


Friday
Beef stew (bumped from last week)


Saturday
We will be birthday partying with friends that day, and Ross's sweet parents are taking us out for a belated anniversary dinner


Sunday
Baked salmon & roasted veggies


Monday
We will not be eating at home


Tuesday
We will be getting home late, so we may not eat at home this night as well. If so, it'll just be turkey sandwiches with chips


Wednesday
Not sure if we're having group this night. If not, then I'll fix up some chicken and rice. 

New toys!

Men love their toys, right? We've heard this over and over, and for any woman who's been married longer than five minutes, we've seen this in action. They love gadgets, electronics, and if they're able, sometimes that includes even big toys (boats, RVs, whatever does it for them). But girls, let's not fool ourselves. Men are not the only ones who have this problem. We love our toys too. 

Right? It may look a little different than what the men love, but we have our little things that make us giddy too. Maybe it's a kitchen gadget, a new tool to straighten or curl your hair, something to make your life easier?  I have a long wish list of "toys" that I would like to have someday, but for today, I wanted to share a few of my favorite toys that I've gotten recently that I love.

First, this knife:

My sweet husband knows how I've been desperately needing a new slicer, and because he loves me, he got me a super slicer by Wusthof. And let me tell you, the term "super slicer" doesn't do this thing justice. It is definitely super, and slices so clean...I am in love. (I will also *cough* mention that it slices so well, even through skin, and I have a cut already to prove this, ouch!)

And my second relatively new toy:

The Shark Navigator Professional...best.vacuum.ever. I've had several months to use this and I still love it. It has kept me from hating vacuuming, in fact, I've even started to like it a little. That alone deserves recognition right there. 

And I thought I would give this a try:

I like it okay, but honestly I don't know if I really like it any better than the other normal dishwasher detergent. I do like that it doesn't have a scent, and it does clean my dishes really well.

While I'm on the subject of house things, I am on the lookout for a decent mopping system, with natural products (like vinegar) that don't cost a ton and doesn't use the spongey type mops. Any suggestions? 

A bunch of stuff

Some people think that healthier is always harder. I used to be one of them. I’m not sure why that has been taught to us, or why we have preconceived ideas that healthier is better, but it’s not near as fun, good or easy as unhealthy things. Why do we think this? Marketing? The invention of the tv dinner? Somewhere along the way, we were told a lie and that lie has stuck with us.

Now, in some cases, healthier is a little harder. It does take a little more research, sometimes more time, but not in all cases. Through trial and error, I’ve learned a few things that have worked for our family and made me a really happy mama.


These things I cook/do on a regular basis:

Pancake/waffle mix: This is super duper easy. I’m not sure why premade mixes were ever invented. They cost extra and have weird ingredients and preservatives. If you have flour, eggs, milk, baking powder and soda, and any kind of extras you want in your cupboards, throwing a pancake batter together is just as easy as using a mix.

Homemade granola: Please don’t ever buy already made granola again. For way cheaper than granola bars or cereal, you can make your own and it’s so much better.


Muffins: I'm not really a baker, but my kids love these. Cooking bacon in the oven: SO much simpler and cleaner than frying it in the frying pan...and pretty tasty too!


Smoothies: I'm sure you all know by now how easy it is to make a smoothie, but I had to add it anyway!


Homemade cornbread: This is so much easier than I thought it would be. And pretty delish too!

Things I've mentioned before, like Homemade laundry detergent: This takes a little more time, but not much...and my laundry has never been cleaner. I’m so in love with my laundry regimen I could cry. Easier cleaning methods: With baking soda, vinegar, Borax. Easy, cheap and efficient. Facial cleansing: I've posted about this before. So easy and great for my face!


Things that are a little harder, but totally worth the effort:

Homemade bread: One word - Y.U.M.


Local honey, local beef, farm fresh eggs: These things take a little time to go and get (you can’t just get them at the local Wal-Mart), but I love local beef so much that I would miss it if it weren’t a part of my life (and it’s not right now, which makes me very sad).

Farmer’s Market shopping: Even though this is a little harder than running to your local grocery store, the fresh produce and other yummy things you can find are worth it...and you’re supporting local farmer’s too, which I think is pretty fabulous.


Homemade Jam: Okay, I can't really say I've ever done this right. Every time I've done it, it's turned out way too runny. But, if you can do it right, its so good and way healthier than store-bought (even if there's a ton of sugar in it).


Reducing paper waste: Not using paper towels is a bit of a transition, but I'm glad we are done with them.


Using resuable bags at the grocery: I have to remember to take them in and put them back in the car, but I feel better about reducing the amount of plastic we bring in.


Things that I thought I would like doing, but have been a big fat FAIL. 


Popping our own popcorn: Actually, Ross tried this and the popcorn was gross. I know it's supposed to be healthier than popcorn in the bag, but I couldn't make the trade. 


Hair washing: Trying to give up shampoo fared horribly for me. Enough said.


Things I would like to do someday:


Own my own chickens: I want my own eggs, people. But, it costs a little more than we can spare at the moment. And for now, I have a sweet friend who gives me eggs from her chickens sometimes.


Have a garden: Oh, how I have dreams about growing my own veggies and gardening with my children...someday people...someday!

A long overdue DtD Challenge

Back in December (wow, has it really been that long???), I made a duties to delights challenge to myself to clean my laundry room. My laundry room is kind of the catch-all-throw-all-our-junk-there room. The junk just kept piling up and piling up and it got to the point where I was just literally throwing stuff in there. 

I don't recommend you do this. Ever. 

It became so overwhelming that I just gave up on trying to ever get it clean. I had my sister always encouraging me to get it organized, but I just never had the energy. 

Until one day I just did. I saw some tubs on sale at Walmart and I snagged about 6 or 7 of them. I finally got motivated and got to work. 

It took me a few weeks, but I'm happy to report that I can now walk through my laundry room, and you can even see the floor! It looks like this:

You have no idea how happy this makes me. While it's not spic and span, and I don't think it will ever be, just to be able to walk around in this room is a huge improvement. And it only took me 4 months, y'all. That's not a long time or anything, right? ;)

Please let this encourage you to get started on any house projects you've been putting off, because take it from me, putting things only makes it harder and more overwhelming. And it's just the right time for spring cleaning!

Off-brands vs. name brands

Trying to figure out where to spend money and where to save it is difficult sometimes. I feel like a lot of times, we get tricked into thinking that the name brand thing is the best and everything else is crap. And while that is true in some cases, it’s not true in all. Marketing is deceitful, and mostly I’ve just done this by trial and error. Figuring out what brands work best for us, which ones to spend the money for the name-brand and where to save money with the off-brand. It’s a journey I’m still on, so I thought I’d share what products we’ve used off brand that we like, and the items to go name brand on. 


This could potentially be a very long list, so I'll probably need to do this in several posts.


I'll start with the off-brand first. Most of the time, we don't feel as secure about off-brands as we do about name brands. I am guilty of this myself. But when you're on a tight budget, you learn to cut corners where you can, and sometimes that means going with a less than popular brand.


Off-brand products to try:
Feminine Products: Those name brands are costly, people, and to be honest, the off-brands are just as good.


Contact solution: I've used the off-brand for so long. Ross and I tried the name brand Renu stuff recently (that is crazy expensive), and while I like it, I'm not sure I can even tell much of a difference. So, back to the off-brand we go!


Medicines: We use the off-brand for the kids' medicines and for ours. The only type of medicine we stay away from is medicine from the Dollar Tree, because I read that most of their stuff isn't FDA approved, which freaks me out a little.


Certain foods, like milk, oats, cheese, coffee creamer, yogurt, (*this list is noncomprehensive)


Baby formula: Some people can't do this due to their sensitive little one's tummies, or for many other reasons, but we were able to use the Target brand formula with Ezra and he was just fine.


Things to buy name brand:


Cereal: Have you ever tried off-brand Cheerios? Or Cinnamon Toast Crunch? So gross. No matter what, Great Value nor Kroger brand can get it right.


Deodarant: I've tried off-brand deodorant and it just doesn't work as well. Enough said.


Camera equipment: I'm a Canon girl, and nothing else will do. Love my Canon camera and lenses!


Razors: I personally use the off-brand, and while they are fine, they really don't work as well. Those name brand razors cost a pretty penny though!


Peanut butter: I am utterly in love with Jif Natural Peanut Butter and nothing else will even compare. I've even tried other "better" brands and the off-brands too. Nothing beats Jif Natural!


More later! What about you? What off-brands do you use?

A natural coughing remedy

There are so many things to love about Springtime. The sun, things blooming, nice weather, but one thing I don’t like that is synonymous with Spring? Allergy and sinus season. Runny noses and nights of coughing seem to be the norm around here these days. As I type this, I too, and fighting sinusy sickness. Thankfully I’ve been blessed with relatively healthy children, but they are no strangers to sore throats and mounds of chest congestion.

When my boys get sick, they cough all night long. It’s hard for a mama to listen to her little ones cough and cough and not being able to do anything about it, not to mention, it’s impossible for them (or us) to get any rest! While I am not anti-medicine by any means, in fact, I am pro-medicine on lots of cases. However, I do try to limit the amount of meds that I give to myself and my boys. With the all night coughing going on, I had to figure out an alternative.

I stumbled upon a natural remedy site that had some helpful suggestions and I came up with this remedy:

honey  lemon juice water

Now, you know me. I don’t measure anything. But if I had to guess, I’d say to put 1 cup of honey, 3 tbsp lemon juice, and ¼ cup water. (Or you could do less, which is usually what I do).

Let me clarify a few things:

Honey: I buy local honey. It’s the only honey I use with this recipe (and with other things too). Local honey is supposedly helpful in fighting allergy/sinus problems, and it tastes way better than store-made honey. I suppose you could use raw honey also, but it is more pricey.

Lemon juice: I bet juice squeezed right from the lemon is best. As you saw from the picture, I use the lemon juice concentrate, mainly because it’s easier and I already had some on hand. I think either would work just fine.

I typically put all three ingredients in a small saucepan and heat over the stove until very warm and well blended. Then I just can it and put it in the fridge. When I am ready to give the boys a dose, I pour out a tablespoon, nuke in the microwave for 10ish seconds (just to a pretty warm state), stir and give it to them.

I usually also couple this with vicks on the chest and it does the trick every time. No coughing through the night! It also helps with breaking up all that yuckiness in their chests and noses.

Yay for natural remedies!

Cleaning! and Seventh Generation soap

This photo that I’ve seen on Pinterest always make me shake my head a little:

That is a ton of cleaning products!! I give kudos to the person who actually thought up this idea though. It’s super organized and a real space saver. And I have to admit, my cleaning cabinet used to look just like that. Well, not JUST like that. I am not near that organized. But in trying to reduce the amount of chemical I bring into my house, I stumbled upon some facts that made my life simpler, and cost me less money, which always makes me a happy woman!

I think I’ve mentioned these before, but they can always stand to be mentioned again. :)

Fact number one: Baking soda can clean just about anything. From toilets (I use it to clean my toilets every week), to glass oven tops (I use it to get all the cooked on nastiness from my stovetop), to cleaning out all that burnt food from inside the oven, to carpets (I haven’t used it in this aspect yet, but I plan to), to attacking the soap scum in the bathtub, in litter boxes or refrigerators (to help take the stank out), on clothes and stains, and even on my face (I use it with honey once a week to exfoliate and to clean all makeup off my face). It’s a handy little product to have. I always keep a large box of it in the cupboard in my house. Here are a ton of other uses for baking soda also.

Fact number two: Vinegar is fabulous. It smells really grody, but it sure can clean the crap out of my laminate floors, my toilet seats, and my counter tops. Don’t forget your windows too! (and I use apple cider vinegar as a toner on my face!)

Fact number three: Borax is pretty fabulous also. It (along with Fels Naptha and washing soda) makes my clothes squeaky clean!

No longer are the days of stinking up my house and clouding up my lungs with bleach. I hate the stuff. I’m glad to be done with it. And I’m done with buying tons of cleaners with toxic chemicals in them (including bleach). Woot for simplicity AND health!

Since I’m talking about cleaning, I wanted to give a shout out to my new Seventh Generation dish liquid soap. 

I just bought some (since it costs only .20 more than what my other dish soap costs) and I hope I will be satisfied!

Kids and chores

One of my strongest desires as a mama of boys (who will one day be men) is to instill a really good, strong work ethic into my children. I want them to work hard when they are out on their own, rather than just doing enough to get by. I want them to be helpers, to serve others, to be the ones to step up and say “I’ll do it!” when there is a need for men workers. Men were made to be the workers, the providers, and I want them to be ambitious to do just that. Translation = I don’t want them to be lazy. I have come to the conclusion that teaching them about this is something that is learned over time, not something they can learn in just a few short years. And, like everything else, takes intentional training on my part, and my husband’s too, of course.

Now my 2 year old will help you do anything. His name (Ezra) actually means “helper”, and he lives up to that name, for sure. But Jude on the other hand, who just turned 4 in February, doesn’t like to work. It’s a chore just to get him to do anything. And it’s a battle that usually goes like this:
Me: “Jude, please pick up all the toys in your room and put them in the bins.”
Jude: “I don’t WANT to clean my room!!” (in that high, whiny voice that makes me want to plug my ears and run for the hills)
Thus begins a long, drawn out battle, which usually ends with a somewhat clean room, but one very exhausted Mama.

This sound familiar? Now, I’ve since learned that he gets overwhelmed by tasks that seem too big, like, picking up all the toys in his room. If I break it down, he will (sometimes) do it without fighting me every step of the way. But, other times, he simply doesn’t want to. And here enters the training part of this deal. I have to be intentional about this if I want my kids to be hard workers.

I have to admit, a lot of times I am tempted to just do the easy thing, and either not make them clean at all, or make it easier on them so they don’t have to do so much. Neither of these things are good, and even though I give in to this temptation from time to time, I have to remind myself of the goal here. Do I want to just do what’s easiest for me (and them), or do I want to do my part by putting in the work to try to develop strong character as best I can?

That’s a no-brainer, huh?

The man who married Ross and I (check him out HERE, he’s pretty awesome) has called it 7000 days of intentional parenting, from crib to college. I love this thought, this way of viewing it. I want to do just that. Have 7000ish days of intentional parenting with each of my children. Goh, that sounds like a lot of days, doesn’t it? It really isn’t, though. It goes by so quickly and we, as parents, don’t have that much time with them. Let’s make the time we have with them count!

Oh, right, I was talking about chores. In our house, the only chore I am consistent with is having Jude make his bed every day. That’s it, folks. They will help me pick up the living room when I ask them (which isn’t every day, I confess). But this tells me I need to be better about this. I really need to make them a chore chart. Anyone know where I can get a good one? Since my kiddos don’t read yet, that makes doing the chart thing a little more difficult. Maybe make chore cards with pictures on them? I don’t know, but I am thinking it through and getting a plan in place.

On my own chore issue, I did finally get my laundry room mostly clean and organized, yippee!! Stay tuned to hear about it on Friday!

Clothes and Spring!

It's that time of year again. The time where seasonal wardrobes must be evaluated and either put up or taken out, depending on the season. And just like every year, its the time where the weather can't make up its mind. It's warm enough to wear short sleeves, but some days are too cool to wear shorts, some days are too warm to wear jeans. The drawers are overflowing and the laundry seems never ending.

I don't mean to complain, I am so grateful that my kids have clothes. But sometimes it gets really overwhelming. I feel like I don't have enough storage space or a good switch-out system. I do feel like I'm making progress since I bought a few new bins to store my boys' clothes. What about you other mamas out there? Do you have a good switch-out/storage system for your kiddos clothes? I am willing to take any suggestions here. I need help!

Anyway, on another note, I didn't do a menu post this week because our weekend is going to be an unconventional one, since we'll be with family all weekend. I'm running my second ever half marathon on Sunday, and I'm a little nervous about it. So, because of that, I'm only cooking two nights in the next week.  We'll be back on with a regular menu post for next week, though.

And I have some future plans for a few crafty projects, so I will definitely be blogging about those if I can get them done. There's something about this warm weather that brings out the craftiness in me. I've also been feeling oddly motivated to clean my laundry room since I bought those new bins. Yippee, here's to Spring!!

Crazy, messy life

As I visited with a sweet friend today, our kids were running around crazy, toys were everywhere and we were talking about how our lives are messy. I think life is messy in general, but especially this time in our lives, with little ones to chase after all the time. I think us mamas always want to seem like we have it all together (I know I do at times), and people always tell me, I don't know how you have time to do all you do! But transparency is good, so I want to be honest and transparent about the ways life is messy around here for us.

• My countertops are rarely ever clean. Sometimes they get wiped down, most times they don't. Unless I'm baking bread, I usually clean off a spot to do that. But there's always stuff on them, which is sad because I don't have a lot of counter space.

• I don't sweep my kitchen floor or vacuum near as often as I should. My kids drag cheerios all over the place every day. But I just don't have it in me to sweep 45 times a day. I just don't, folks. 

• Sometimes it takes me a few days to get the laundry folded and put up. I used to be notoriously bad about leaving them clean in the hamper and having to pick through them to find clean socks or whatever, but I've gotten better....sort of.

• I don't make my kids clean up their rooms every day. I know this is terrible mothering and I should do this, but I don't. I do want to start doing this, so that counts for something, right?

And there are so many other ways in which my life is far from perfect. It's a crazy life, but its one that I love and enjoy very much.

"If you seek some special life outside of daily activities, that is like brushing aside waves to look for water."

                                                                                                                                                Wu-Chun

Goals update!

Today I've spent the majority of the day running errands, doing lots of baking and getting ready for the boys' birthday party tomorrow.

Since I don't have a lot of time, I will get right down to it.

Here is how I did with my goals this week:

1) Our daily schedule - I honestly forgot about this until last night. But, I did work on it a bit last night and I have a rough draft of how I would like for our day to flow. Hopefully I'll finish it up this weekend and be able to start on Monday.

2) Read our Bible story every day. Sadly, I did not do this. I think we may have read it once or twice, which is ok, but the goal is to read it every day. So, hopefully having a flexible daily schedule will help keep me accountable in this.

3) Plan some activities for us to do during our learning/play time. I sort of did this. I looked at the book I mentioned in my original post and got some ideas, but I need to go one step further and plan them out, then actually prepare for them. 

4) I cooked the meatloaf! And it went well, yessss!

5) Do some planning for future blogs/duties to delights posts. I planned out a week's worth of posts, but haven't gone any further. So, I got a good start. Obviously I need to give this a little more attention because I don't have a DtD challenge for next week. Maybe I'll just post some inexpensive food ideas for parties, since I did a lot of research on this this week.

6) I am not going to say anything to jinx myself about us being well, but we're ok for now. :) 

7) Less tv time this week. We did this, actually. Jude still watched a few shows he likes and had a few movie nights, but we scaled back the amount of time significantly. I am happy about this!

8) Finish the marriage book I'm reading. Nope, still not done. Hopefully this week!

It felt good to write out my goals and forced me to work on some things I've been putting off. I think I might start doing this weekly. Now I must finish making yummies for tomorrow. Hope you all have a lovely weekend! 

Goals. Yes, goals are good.

Every once in awhile I find that it's good to reevaluate the things in my life. In order to keep my home things and family things running smoothly, I have to take some time to see what's working and what's not, restructure some things, try some new things out and let some things go. It keeps me sane.

Now is one of those times.

It's time to set some new goals. I like goals, they're good for me. If I don't have something to work toward, then there's no focus or organization in my life, things don't get done, it's utter chaos, I tell you. Ok, not chaos really, but I don't like it. That's one of the reasons I didn't do a duties to delights challenge this week. I didn't plan one, therefore it didn't get done.

Boo.

So, in order to bring some order to things, I thought about it and prayed and these are the things I've come up with that need my attention in the next week:

• Our daily schedule. This needs some serious attention. I'm definitely not a super structured person (and am not militant in any way about sticking to a strict schedule), but I desperately need some sort of order to my day. We haven't been doing our learning time, focused play time, reading our Bible, or doing much of anything other than watching a lot of Dora and doing a lot of sibling bickering. NOT working for us (or for me. Refereeing is exhausting).
• Read our Bible story every day. I know I should be doing this already, but I've been super lax about it.
• Plan some activities for us to do during our learning/play time. I have this really great book that a friend gave me for Christmas that I want to get some fun things from. I'll share the book and the activities in another post. 
• Cook my husband a meatloaf (or at least attempt to) for Valentine's day. I have no idea how this is going to turn out. I'm a little nervous, to be honest!
• Do some planning for future blog/duties to delights challenge posts. I need to be more intentional about this. Most of the time I just sit down and write whatever is on my mind. Which works sometimes and other times it doesn't. 
• Get well and try not to get sick again for a whole week. Ok, I know I don't really have much control over this, but I hope we can accomplish it anyway!
• Less tv time this week. My kids don't watch a ton of tv anyway, but if I'm not intentional (and mindful) about turning it off, more will get watched than I'd like. So, we're unplugging more this week and plan on playing, reading, singing, and snuggling more.
• Finish the marriage book I am reading. More on that later. 

I think that is enough for one week. Hopefully this will keep me accountable and you know I will report back next week (as my DtD Challenge post) to let you know how things went! 

Good cook?

Lately, I've been making a lot of these:

(smoothies are my life)

And I even made some of these:

(muffins, not cupcakes, I wish they were cupcakes!)

The more I cook and try new recipes, the more I realize this: I'm not really that good of a cook. I'm not just being modest here. With the exception of bread, which I even mess up from time to time, most everything I cook is just ok. Some people have the gift, sadly, I do not. I have come to accept that cooking is just not my thing, which is unfortunate, seeing as how I have to do it every.single.night. 

As discouraging as this revelation is, since realizing this, I have also come to these 2 conclusions:

1) I don't have to be a perfect cook to cook good meals for my family. 

2) I...will...not...give...up. 

Sure, I could just give up trying all together and go back to boxed hamburger helper and frozen chicken nuggets every night, or I could choose to stay frustrated about it forever.

But I am determined. I have resolved to keep trying. I want to be a good cook and still have a strong desire to continue to cook healthy/yummy meals for my family. I guess it will have to come with practice? After all, I've only really been cooking for (almost) 6 years. Here's hoping, anyway.

And I will commit to learning more about the art of cooking itself, what spices/seasons go well together, what the best ways are to cook certain meats, and whatever else I can learn. I really, really want to be good at this, y'all! 

I will say that I'm so grateful for my husband who will eat just about anything I cook. He's a naturally picky eater, so the fact that he eats (or at least tries) everything I cook makes this gal feel like a million bucks. Thanks, babe. You're a gem. 

As I type this, my son is standing beside me with his football in his hand and his helmet on, so I must go where I'm called. Football time! 

Joy at home?

Ross and I are movie people. We watch a lot of movies. Movies that look good and movies that look not so good. We like to make our own opinions. We watch movies in just about every genre, except we try to stay away from movies with nudity and/or lots of sex in them. It's safe to say that movies are one of our favorite things to do together, we love 'em.

So recently, we got Secretariat from the library and on a night I wasn't feeling well, I popped it in. It's a really neat movie about a racing horse and how that horse broke every racing record up to that time, and even up to the present, while facing all sorts of odds. There was something majestic about this ordinary horse, I loved that part of the story a lot. Especially since it was a true story. I really love true stories movies. I have to admit, that at the end, I got a bit teary eyed, as the main character (Penny Chenery Tweedy) tells the jockey to just let him (Secretariat) run, and he runs so hard and fast that he beats his competition by 30something lengths. That's crazy! That horse loved to run. It was amazing to watch, especially knowing it really happened.

Although I loved the overall story, there was one part of the story that bothered me. The main character in the movie is a stay-at-home-mom who decides to take over her sick father's farm (that is in a different state than where she lives) and the horse business within that farm. While I loved her perseverance, her determination and her drive to save her parents' farm and livelihood, she made it seem like she gave up her career to stay at home, and she wasn't happy about it. She was constantly away from her family, missing her children's plays and other important things, and her husband was not happy about any of it. The writers of the movie made it seem as though she felt she needed to go outside the home to be happy, to find fulfillment and to show her daughters about true womanhood. And even though her husband never tells her to stop the horse breeding and racing, he is clearly unhappy about her doing it and discourages her from it quite frequently. In fact, at the end, the husband comes around and says something like, "you taught our daughters about true womanhood." Really? By investing all of herself into something that took her away from her family and life? And the whole time she was doing horse business, all of her business associates knew her and called her by her maiden name, not even her married name, which seemed weird to me. Like, who she was as a married woman/mama was not near as important to her as her life as a horse-breeder/trainer/racer. I could be overthinking it on this last point, but it still was a part of the story that bothered me.

Let me make it clear that I'm not judging Peggy Tweedy. She wanted to save her father's farm, which was important to her, and I can appreciate that. I am, however, a little frustrated at the movie-makers and writers of this movie. I feel like this film furthers the worldly view that there is no value, joy or fulfillment in being at home with your children, raising them and taking care of your home. I have to disagree with the movie-makers and writers here. While I think it's great, maybe even essential, for a woman to have interests outside the home, we women feel a stir in our hearts and we think we have to go look for happiness elsewhere. So, we use our precious little bits of energy to fill our schedules with things that take our focus off of our families. I am guilty of this as well, and I just don't believe that it is good. I truly believe we can have joy and be fulfilled while raising our babies, and taking care of our homes, and I think this can even be achieved if you do work and have a full-time job. It just might be a little harder. Before I get accused of living in the 50s, I'm all about women having lives outside their homes. Being a homebody is not what I'm suggesting, nor am I saying it is all  that we are. Girls' nights, knitting groups, shopping dates, Bible studies, Zumba classes, guitar lessons, photography groups, (and let's not forget date nights with our men!) whatever you like to do, DO IT. Mamas need some time away from their kids and homes. But, if it becomes a complete focus of your energy, I don't think that's good. There always needs to be a balance.

Now, I know this is just a film, but I also think it's a view a lot of people have. And this is just my opinion, so take it for what it's worth. I love my family and want others to be encouraged that we can have joy IN our lives and homes right now. We don't have to run around trying to find it in other things. It's all a matter of where your joy comes from. Ourselves, our circumstances or Jesus?

I'll get off the soapbox now. :)

Pinterest...loves!

I have mentioned before how awesome Pinterest is. But, I just don't think you really know. Let me show you why. 

From sweet pictures like this:

To inspirational things like this:

To yummy things like this:

To great outfit compilations like this:

There's just so much great stuff compiled from a bunch of different sites to one site. One place for you to look for recipes, outifts, school things, crafty projects, just about anything you can think of! So, since there is so much awesomeness in one place, I wanted to share the most awesome things I've found on there. 

How to make the perfect bacon. I never know how to do this properly until now. 

Tips for cleaning microfiber furniture. This seems weird, putting rubbing alcohol all over your cushion, but it works!

Great random household tips. 

I do this every time I clean my microwave. Works like a charm!

Do you frequently eat pancakes? Try this way of storing/pouring the batter!

Here is a great homeschooling website.

I LOVE this 100 days of real food blog.

And things that are on the list to try:

Best idea for organizing your measuring cups and spoons.

DIY fabric bedskirt. So cute!

Really awesome toy storage here!

And I'm trying these roasted cabbage wedges this week. 

I love Pinterest. That is all.

"All natural"......right

You've seen the label "all natural" on foods, right? Nowadays it seems to be on everything. All natural chicken, all natural peanut butter, all natural cheese, all natural ice cream (really???), the list goes on. We think that's good when we see that on a product, don't we? It makes us feel better about what we're buying, no matter what it is. I know I do. We think we're getting something real, something healthier than all the processed stuff out there. Well, I've been reading differently. 

Here's a few things I've learned from doing a little reading about "all-natural" foods:

The term "all-natural" can mean anything, the term has no nutritional value, and isn't even regulated by the FDA.

"A "natural" product can be virtually anything -- genetically modified, full of pesticides, made with corn syrup, additives, preservatives and artificial ingredients"

Most all-natural products are heavily processed. 

All natural doesn't mean that all the ingredients are all natural. In fact, usually it's quite the opposite. 

And many, many more facts that are sort of shocking. I'm not here to get on a soap box, but I am here to tell you to please be aware of what you are buying. Look at the ingredients lists and read up on which ones to stay away from. Educate yourself on food products. But don't feel guilty if you buy a pack of hot dogs or lunchables, or even a frozen pizza every now and then. 

With that being said, its time for my weekly menu. This week it's a little different because there are a few extra days in this week's menu (and we have a lot of chicken to use up):

Sunday

Easy dinner night 

Monday

Tilapia with rice in pesto sauce

Tuesday

Spaghetti with local beef and homemade breadsticks

Wednesday

Homemade pizza

Thursday

Chicken Noodle soup

Friday

Pork stir fry

Saturday

We're having some friends over, so I'm cooking chili

Sunday

Fish sandwiches

Monday

Chicken tacos

Tuesday

Cheese & bean quesadillas