Weekly Meal Plan

Howdy folks!

I think I'm going to start randomly posting our meal plans in hopes that it might help some of you who meal plan and get stuck.
We could all use a little inspiration right?

Monday:
Main Dish: Lemon Basil Pasta with Grilled Chicken
Side: steamed broccoli
this is a super delicious and very easy to make meal. Word to the wise though, if you put all the called for lemons it gets REALLY lemony. If you like that then awesome (which I do), but the people I cook for don't want that much, so instead of doing 3 lemons, I do one. Also make sure that you really do melt the butter in the 1 cup of water left over from the pasta. Melting the butter into the water makes all the difference in my opinion.


Tuesday:
Main Dish: Carbonnades Flamandes
Sides: Twice baked potato casserole
          Green beans
* This is a yummy Belgian beef beer stew. It's delicious, but you need to start in the morning and let it cook ALL day long. I start it in a pot on the stove and then transfer it to a croq pot to simmer all day long. I haven't tried the casserole yet, but it looks delish!

Wednesday:
Main Dish: Quiche
Side: Caprese Salad
*We're doing 4 different types of Quiche: Broccoli and Cheese; Cheese; Cheese and Ham; Peppers, Onions and Cheese. I'm not a big fan of Caprese salads, but people here are, so hopefully they enjoy it.

Thursday:
Main Dish: Chicken Tacos
Side: homemade salsa
         Corn
*Because we cook for so many people here, we will not be frying our taco shells ourselves, but instead using soft and crunchy taco shells. Yes, not as delicious, but that's what you have to do when cooking for 15 people.


Friday:
Main Dish: Baked Potato Soup
Sides: Challah
          Apple, Feta and Pecan Salad
Dessert: Apple Cake
* This baked potato soup is delicious and is really chunky and thick so it fills you up. We're going to serve it with a delicious salad with homemade balsamic dressing. The apple cake is delicious as well! it's going to be a yummy shabbat.

Saturday:
Kitchen Closed
*Saturday nights half the team is gone to different youth events and so it's normally just my sister and I and the kids. A lot of Saturdays we just order pizza because Domino's has carry out specials on Saturday or we make grilled cheese or order Chinese or eat leftovers. It's basically just a fend for yourself night. 

Sunday:
Main Dish: Croq Pot Chicken Caesar Sandwiches
*I'm looking forward to trying these out! I'll let you know how they turn out.

TeuxDeux, Why Yes I Would

So I'm a big list person.

I normally carry around a notebook with me at all times so that I can jot down things to remember them, but as much as I'm a list person I am also a computer person. I've gone back and forth and back and forth with digital to do lists or paper.

I've had a few to do list programs that I haven't been a big fan of, which has kept me on the paper track.

That was until Ree told me about TeuxDeux. I like that it's not just an iPhone app because if you know me, you know that I can go days without knowing where my phone is. Also my phone looks like this right now due to an unfortunate incident at McDonalds.

So you can access the to do list on the web or your cell phone. Jon says he doesn't like it because of that fact, because it's browser based, but I think he's off his rocker. Sorry hon, but you need to TeuxDeux yourself out of that mindset :)

ANYWAYS,

Here is what it looks like:

My favorite aspect is that when you don't complete something the day before, it automatically is moved to the next day without you doing anything.

They also have a "someday" category for things that don't have any specific time deadline, but you just need to do it.

I also like that in the iPhone app you can add different accounts. So I signed Jonathan up for one and added him to my app so now I can add things on his to do list as well!

Like this:

The web based application is free, but the iPhone app is $2.99.

All in all, I totally enjoy TeuxDeux and definitely recommend it!

My Children's Bedtime Routine

I've never been a huge bedtime routine person until lately.
Normally it's one of those, look at the clock and say, "Okay, time for bed kiddos!" and with much hee'ing and haw'ing (yes I'm Texan) I get them in bed and asleep. I would read them a story a few times a week and of course we would say our prayers, but that was the extent of it.
I'm not sure exactly when I realized it, but I noticed that my kids went to bed SO much easier when I would sort of wind them down for the evening.
This coupled with the fact that I LOVE reading kid's books to them, turned into a nightly ritual the last few months.

So here's what I do for Lyric and Shiloh:

We eat dinner around 6:30pm and then I send them upstairs around 7:15p or 7:30p (on school nights that is).
They change into pajamas by themselves and brush their teeth (with my supervision of course). Then they pee and go in their room.
Most of the time I let them pick out the book, but when I'm tired I will do it and of course pick one of the shorter books compared to the super long books they choose.

I read in voices and with hand motions, so it's quite spectacular most nights :)

Then after the book is over, we sing the goodnight song:

Most of the time I try to get them to just name off the people in our little family because when we start adding the Watkins, my parents, their aunts and uncles and cousins and friends... well we could be singing all night!

When the song is over they get in bed and I pray over each of them, normally something like this: "Lord bless Lyric/Shiloh and give her/him dreams and visions of you. Let him/her have a good night sleep and I thank you so much for making her/him my son/daughter. Amen." Last week Lyric asked me why I always pray the same prayer and I told her because what I say is important. :) Then they pray. Lyric always prays that we get a new house and a new dog and prays that Jesus will heal whoever is not feeling well in the house (with this many people pretty much someone is always sick). Shiloh always prays over what item he happens to have in his hand that he is going to fall asleep with, whether that be his Transformer or a dinosaur. It's really cute, though I remind him to pray over his family as well.

I then turn on the night light and turn out their big light and most of the time don't hear a peep out of them till morning.

Then it's Valor's turn. Normally by the time I'm done with the older kids, it is around 8p.
I take him into his room, change his diaper and then turn out the light. I then hold him in the dark while I give him a few ounces of a bottle (since he eats dinner with us at 6:30, he's not hungry enough for a full bottle at 7:45/8:00p). When he's done I hold him for a few minutes longer and then whisper a short prayer over him, give him a little kiss and put him to bed. Inevitabily he wakes up around midnight and so I give him another bottle then and he falls immediately back to sleep and wakes up around 8a.

It works for us. Although it's definitely a commitment, especially when you know someone is waiting on you to put the kids to bed so y'all can watch a movie or something, but it's something I really love doing. I love giving my kids that extra time right before they go to bed. I think it's feeding something in their spirit and hopefully will shape them to be confidant men and a confidant woman; to know they were loved.
Because you know what they say, love gives you wings! or was that Red Bull?

"What a child doesn't receive, he can seldom later give."

P.D. James

So do you have a specific bedtime routine?

The Hope

Hope.
It's what separates us from all the other creatures in the world. Hope that even during the drought that there once again will be rain.
Hope.
It can be an anthem to bring the rain. A song held so deep within you that it's silent repetition draws to the surface hidden springs that were long since forgotten.
Hope.
It can lead you to drop the umbrella you never knew you were holding and step into the refreshing rain that ignites faith in the impossible.

"Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. * This I recall to my mind, therefore I have hope. Through the Lord's mercies we are not consumed, because  His compassions fail not. It is good that one should hope and wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord. * For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope. * Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit. *This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast.*
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ.* Looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ. * If we hope for what we do not see, we eagerly wait for it with perseverance. * Christ in you, the hope of glory.
taken from Daily Light *Rom 12:12; Rom 15:13; Lam. 3:21-22, 26; Jer. 29:11; Rom 5:5; Heb. 6:19; 1 Peter 1:3; Titus 2:13; Rom 8:25; Col. 1:27

On the Subject of Vomit Waste Disposal

Since I have cleaned up about a eight or so vomit incidents today, it got me thinking. How do people clean up vomit?

In my life there are a few methods.

1. Toilet: Obviously this is the most desirable option due to the fact that you can wipey the seat with a disinfectant wipe then flush that stuff down. Chances of it getting on you is minimal. The downside is the fact that you don't always make it to the toilet when the urge to upchuck hits. Also, with little kids, it's not always practical. The "I don't want to throw up all over myself" switch hasn't been entirely switched on in their brains and they just want to get it out in hopes that they feel better or they just panic. So because of this if you have a sick little one you almost always need either a.) a bucket or b.) a towel

a.) The bucket: A large bowl, bucket, large pot, really anything will do as long as it's large enough for them to stick their head in it. The benefits is that it's like a toilet right next to you. Catch all that throw up and just toss it down the toilet. The downside (which is why I don't use the bucket method) is the clean up of the bucket! GAG! When you pour vomit down the toilet, you aren't going to get all the little bits and particles, so it inevitably gets washed out either in the sink or the back porch. Ick! But it gets the job done and hopefully illuminates the carpet vomit clean up.

b.) The towel: this is my preferred method. As long as the vomit isn't too chunky, all you have to do is pick  up the towels and run them through the washing machine. Minimal clean up. PLUS you just have the towel under their heads and so when they are really sick and don't want to move (like Lyric is now), they just have to basically vomit into the towel with only limited head movement.

Now no method is clean up free, but as parents you have to figure out how to not have to clean up the same vomit episodes multiple times (off the child, the toilet, the floor, the carpet, etc).

Vomit is really gross, but it's a part of life.

So what is your method of vomit waste disposal?

To Shiloh on His Third Birthday

Dear Shiloh,

My little boy, you're not so little any more.
Can I even still call you a toddler?
You are so big and I'm not just talking physically with the fact that at 2 1/2 you were starting to wear 4T clothes, but also, you're just getting bigger! Bigger and more fun and more fun! You are the life of our party that's for sure.

This year you became the middle child in our family, but that doesn't mean by any way that you are over looked. In exact opposite, I spend a whole lot of time with you. Particularly in the bathroom since we're going on six months of potty training. This will be the year, right Shiloh? No more poop in your pants? I must admit that I do love when you make a certain face when I ask you, "Did you poop in your pants?" and you tilt your head and scrunch up one side of your face like you're thinking really hard and say, "Um, yes I do."

You've come leaps and bounds this year as far as pronunciation goes. You still need an interpreter for people who aren't around you a lot, but you've really come a long way the last year. I for one can understand basically everything you say because I'm awesome (remember that). I love how you squish together French and English words and how you talk to EVERYONE who walks in the door. The fact that they might not understand everything you say doesn't frustrate you at all. The last year you've gotten way more easy going. You've discovered your boundaries and you enjoy hanging out on this side of the line (thank you Jesus!).

The last few months I've discovered that one of your love languages is affirmation. When I point out something you did, tell you how good it was and tell you how proud I am of you for doing it, you beam from the inside out. You literally can't hold back the joy and normally just give me a big kiss right there. Affirmation means more to you than affection or getting presents or pretty much any other thing. When I started noticing it, I realized that I need to be extremely verbal with you and praise even the little things that you do. I now am more aware than ever how much mine and your daddy's words have an affect on you and I am determined to speak life over you so that you grow into a confidant and self assured man who in turns speaks life over those in his life.

You started preschool this year and it did NOT start off well. You thought we were abandoning you forever and you would scream and throw a massive fit every morning for a week when we would drop you off. But then something switched and you absolutely LOVE school. When I drop you off in the morning I can't keep the smile off my face because you go right over to your hook and hang up your jacket, put your backpack in the box, say hi to your teacher and wave bye to me as you immediately start playing with your friends. You are so stinking adorable Shiloh!

This year you grew up a lot. You moved into a big boy bed, you stopped having a paci at night, you started potty training (by the way, you have the pee thing down perfectly!), you became a big brother and you started preschool. So many new things and you've just rolled with the punches. You're this crazy mix of super charged energy, yet you're laid back somehow.

This year we had a Real Steel birthday party for you. You LOVED it since it combined two of your favorite things: robots and fighting. We set up a boxing ring in the living room and you boys put on transformer robot masks and hit each other with balloons. It was so much fun and I think you're going to remember this party. I loved watching you play and try so hard to win all your matches. :)

I could never put into words how much I love being your mother. You challenge me and push me to think outside the box. Nothing is "business as usual" when it comes to you and I love that. I love that you're my little giant and how I'm the only person you'll cuddle with (well besides your daddy every now and then). You are my little man and I wouldn't have it any other way.

So you're three years old little man! I love you so much and I can't wait to see how amazing this next year will be for you!

Love you,
Momma

YOU:

January 21, 2009

January 21, 2010

January 21, 2011

January 21, 2012

Kids Make Me Laugh

My kids make me laugh, well mainly the two older ones. Valor makes me smile from ear to ear and want to eat his face off yes I realize that sounds psychotic, but see what I mean?

Lyric and Shiloh are just hilarious.

First off, Lyric thinks she's 15.

Last night we were at my MIL's house and all the kids books were in French, so instead of stumbling through I decided to just make up a story.
My story consisted of 2 dragons named Lyric and Shiloh who set out to vanquish an evil bear that eats children.

In hindsight I might see how this subject matter might be a bit mature for a bedtime story, but it was the first thing that came to my mind and well, the dragons killed the bear so what's to be scared about?

Well I get done with the story and Lyric looks at me irritated and says, "Mom, don't you know that we are kids and you can't tell kids scary stories about bears that eat children? Now we're going to have bad dreams!"

She then made me re-tell her a story that was more "happy".

But that's her new thing. "Don't you know kids like to eat suckers for lunch?" "Don't you know that kids don't like to be cold?" "Don't you know...?"
It's like her new purpose in life is to train me in the ways of the force.

Shiloh still isn't doing great on the whole "talking" thing. I mean he talks a lot, he's just really hard to understand. I am his number one interpreter, but even when Abby was here this last week she would look at him and say, "What language are you speaking?" It was really funny, but the best part of Shiloh is his facial expressions. If you ask him a question, he answers with the funniest expressions that it doesn't matter that you had no idea what he just said, you just laugh.
Also he will never answer "Yes" to a question. It is always "Yes I do" or "Yes I will" or "No I will not".

Speaking of Shiloh, he turns THREE tomorrow!
It feels like just yesterday that we were celebrating his 1st birthday, and here we are.

We are having a "Real Steel" themed birthday party and setting up a "robot boxing ring" where the fighters wear transformer robot masks and box each other with balloons. We hope no one gets a bloody nose :)

It should be a lot of fun though.

So yes, I love my kids. They are my rays of sunshine. oh and the hubby isn't too bad either ;)

Endurance Develops Strength

There is a lot of stress in my life right now.
I feel it in the twitch of my right eye and the way a sob always seems to be swelling in my chest.

It's funny because last night Jon and I were talking and I was confessing that I feel overcome and over run with stresses that are outside of my control.

"I know I need to "Let go and Let God", I said, "but it's so hard when options are so limited and circumstances seem bleak."

But then he challenged me and said, "You're stronger than that." and I was like, "You're right."

I've never been one to look at problems and be defeated, so why should I begin now?
Instead I am the one that fights till my last breath.

Maybe you are facing some situations that are pretty big mountains.
Maybe you're like me and many of those problems aren't even yours personally to carry, yet you feel the weight of it because of love and loyalty.
Maybe you're just tired of fighting. Tired of believing for the impossible. Tired of being hopeful that today is the day that your circumstances will change because each day seems to end with no change.

Those are the times that test your strength. Those are the times that test your stamina; test your faith; test your beliefs.
But this will not be a time in my life where I look back and see defeat and neither should it be for you.

As you lay your head on your pillow tonight, fight the despair and with faith that can only come from the True Source say, "Tomorrow will be the day my circumstances will change." and continue saying that each night till the day it does.

"Endurance develops strength of character and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation. And this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us because He has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with His love." 

Romans 5:4-5

Waiting and Wondering

So we still haven't heard anything on the house. The real estate agent was sure we'd hear back yesterday, but our offer contract expires at the end of today and still nothing.
If we don't hear back today, then it's the rude way of saying "No, I don't want you to rent my house." wtbb


Coming to this realization (although we still have a few more hours), I'm realizing a few things about myself:
1. I'm impatient and I don't like waiting.
2. I think I know what's best
3. I think I know how things need to turn out
4. I get very irritated and introspective when they don't proceed as planned
5. I shut down when I am disappointed

None of the above things is a good thing, but at this moment, it's my reality.

But the house situation, plus some other things that are outside of my control, but are nonetheless rocking my world have just been a bit... much.

Recognizing my tendencies to shut down, I try to do some "tricks" I learned this Fall and in general they help, but the gnawing disappointment in my stomach doesn't go away, no matter how I distract myself.

Hopefully I'm just being pessimistic and the house comes through or if it doesn't, tomorrow I find another one that I love. Decisions will be made and the other things that are weighing me down will get resolved one way or the other. Circumstances can change in the blink of an eye. It's true.

So here I am, waiting and wondering, but with a feeling in the pit of my stomach that all this waiting and wondering won't have the outcome that I wanted.

To be continued...

Updated at 6:10pm
Update on the house: We heard from the owner today and he wants some more financial info from us and also to clarify a few things. We got it all into him today so hopefully we hear something tomorrow.

2012 Forecast

2012.
A new year and endless possibilities, right?

Yeah, I don't buy it either.

When I kissed my dashing husband at midnight on January 1st, the slate of life was not suddenly wiped clean and the world did not magically open up to me like a fresh water oyster (are there such things? It just sounded good in my head).

I wish it did, but the problems of 2011 are still here a few days into 2012, but you know what's changed? Well nothing exactly, but the possibility for change is still there, just like it always was. Waiting for good old fashioned hard work, faith and motivation to thrust us out of this cycle and into the next. There is no magic season of ease up ahead, but there is a promise of love.

So on that note, here are a few of my goals for 2012.

1. Enroll in 4 intensive language classes and be tutored during my off-times. I will freakin' be conversational in French by the end of this year! Having a baby (mainly how sick I was) took me out of school in 2010, then I was having him in the middle of the 2011 semester so I couldn't start back up. Then I had a rough summer and Fall and did not have a smudge of desire to start language school again, so I here I am, 2012 and FINALLY back in the physical and mental state to start my language learning. I've been being tutored a few hours a week the last few months, but I definitely need more than that. So here is to enrolling back in school!

2. WRITE! I've already started one project called Prayers from the Heart where I am doing creative writing during every prayer session we have at the CPR. I plan on making it into a short book at the end of the year. But also, I finally have a fiction story worth writing! I always tend to come up with great stories, but really struggle on the arch or the full plot. But I've been working on it since my NaNoWriMo failure of a month and feel that I finally have it all together. I wrote out the complete summary and am now working on outlining. I'm excited to COMPLETE my first major work this year.

3. Shiloh will be potty trained. He will be right? Yeah, I don't sound very confidant in this, but here I am, starting on my sixth month and the kid still won't poop in the toilet. I am completely and totally out of ideas so we are just going to go with the the flow till he gets it, but he WILL this year! right?

4. Lose my mum-tum: I'm not big on weight loss resolutions because let's face it, I'm the world's WORST dieter and exercise person on the planet. But I have this lovely flabby skin and my baby is coming up on a year old, so I should probably do something to tighten that up. Hopefully by this time next year my muffin top of a stomach will fit back inside my jeans.

5. Wear makeup, fix my hair and wear high heels more: Sounds silly when I write it, but I am just not that much of a girly person. Not to say I don't love to dress up once and awhile, but day to day I'm what we shall call "relaxed". I am totally and completely fine wearing yoga pants and a zip up hoodie all day long, only to pull on jeans (same hoodie) if I have to get out of the house. My hair is rarely officially fixed and I see my makeup bag about once a week. And high heels? You mean flat boots right? But now that I've lost all my baby weight, I don't have the excuse of being frumpy to justify my frumpy looks. SO here is to trying to glam it up a bit more during the week.

6. Get our own house: we've been searching for four months and so I'm really ready to end our house hunting days and settle into our own place.

7. Learn how to work my camera in a mode other than "automatic": I still haven't gone to any classes or watched any YouTube videos on how to work my camera other than in automatic. Jonathan has given me a few pointers, but I honestly just don't really get it. This last year we got another great lens and so I want to take better pictures.

8. Travel to a country I've never been before: I want to go somewhere new this year! Hopefully that will happen.

9. Pursue one of my business ideas: I have a few that I am interested in doing and so I want to pursue at least one of them this year!

10. Learn to release problems that aren't my own: when someone I love is going through a hard time, it is really easy for me to take on their problems as my own. As I learned more about setting boundaries in 2011, I am hoping to learn how to still empathize, stay loyal to the upmost and be there for loved ones during their dark hours, yet not let it effect myself or my family.

These are definitely just a few things, but hopefully I can seriously pursue them this year. If not, there is always next year... or is there? just kidding. sort of. no seriously kidding....


One thing I do feel is worth mentioning is something that Bill Johnson (a pastor I deeply respect) said. He  felt from the Lord that those with limited options would begin to see breakthrough this year. I totally receive that word for me and my Ninth Hour peeps who are facing some big hurdles in the next month or so where we need to see God's provision. Limited options is definitely where we are, but we also serve a limitless God.

Also a verse that I keep meditating on is this one in Philippians 3: 13:

"I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet, but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reach forward to what lies ahead..."

*emphasis my own

I refuse to focus on what happened and did not happen in 2011, and instead am committing to reach FORWARD to what lies ahead.