Clappy Shoes

Dear Blog

2011-05-22T16:06:00.000-06:00

Dear Clappy Shoes Blog,

I miss you. Do you miss me? We have not had much time together this year. Why do you think that it is so difficult to make time for each other? I know, I know. Don't give me that guilt trip. I am sure that we will spend more time together soon. I have a few things to do to get things back in order and we will have an afternoon together. How about that? Would you like that? You, me and a cup of coffee. No work, none of those rascally kids running around, and some time together. Pinky promise. :)

Did I Really Say Yes to That?

2011-03-25T14:07:00.000-06:00

I am sitting on the beach kind of caught up in all of the scenery around me. There are lots of cliche things that I could make my subject line. My heading could be, something like "The Waves of Life" or possibly even "The Sands of Time" from a popular soap opera that I don't even know if it exists or not anymore. But my predominant thought right now is, "did I really say yes to that?". No, I'm not talking about my marriage! That was very naughty of you to think ;)

I guess I have been feeling a little guilty about us leaving Hansel and Gretel out on this vacation. We have felt overwhelmed by life as a married couple so we really needed to get away. However, they did get to go to their grandparents which is not exactly solitary confinement unless you count hiking, watching the Lord of the Rings Trilogy and getting paid big bucks for doing minimal work solitary confinement. It still feels a little off balance since I am having so much fun.

So when Hansel called me from Pet Smart to ask if he could have a mouse, I said "yes." You have to know we have six cats so I imagine it will not last long. Is that bad to say? The last time I saw a mouse near our home it was in the mouth of my cat that was about the size of our cat! I was cheering the cat on!

I do have a bad feeling that this was not my smartest move. Why do I think that this mouse is going to make the Guiness Book of World Records for longest living rodent?

Have you ever made a rash, guilt-based decision? Such are the waves of life, right? ;)

-- Clappy Shoes

Location:Santa Rosa Blvd,Fort Walton Beach,United States

My Concern

2011-03-24T13:52:00.001-06:00

This is the email that I sent to McGuires earlier today. It is the follow-up from my last year's visit.

Last year my family and I went to the beach in Perdido Key. I was so excited to find a McGuires in Pensacola as I frequently visited the one in Destin when we traveled to the beach in years past. My husband, mom, dad, and two kids (10 year old son and 8 year old daughter) all visited your restaurant, ordered some of our favorites and were having a great time.

My son needed to use the restroom and we felt like it was ok for him to go on his own since he was ten. He came back to the table and reported that there were pictures of naked women in the restroom. We were kind of surprised at his report so my dad went to go see what he was talking about. Sure enough, the pictures were not necessarily artwork, but more what you might see in a copy of "Easy Rider."

Honestly, knowing that I had taken my son to a restaurant that exposes children to these images ruined not only my appetite, but any interest in dining at any of your restaurants ever again. In my opinion, you have great food, but pretty lousy taste in decorating your restrooms. I understand that it is a pub/bar, but you have a children's menu.

I am sitting in Destin on the beach thinking where I would like to eat on one of my last days here and honestly I would love to come to your restaurant, even if there are no pictures like the one in Pensacola, but I cannot. It's not about the food anymore, it's about the principle of it and standing up for what I feel is right for my kids. Thank you for allowing me to comment.

Sincerely,

P.S. I promise to update this post if I get a response from them.

Break My Heart for What Breaks Yours, but . . .

2011-02-27T14:58:00.001-06:00

Check out me latest post, "Break My Heart for What Breaks Yours, but . . ." on 5 Minutes for Faith. I hope that it encourages your heart today.

-- Clappy Shoes

Don't Be An Ostrich, Be a Stork

2011-02-02T07:18:00.002-06:00

I wrote this devotional for 5 Minutes for Faith. I hope that it encourages your heart today!

The Importance of Winter

2010-12-28T13:15:00.002-06:00

The Importance of Winter is something that I wrote for 5 Minutes for Faith. I hope that it encourages your heart today.

Prayers Caught in the Trees

2010-12-14T08:39:00.010-06:00

Have you ever felt like your prayers were not being heard? You cry out every day the same prayer and it seems like there is no response. Not even a "no, I am not answering your prayer."

The other day, my eleven year old son walked in and had a scroll tied to some helium-filled balloons that he had received the day before. Quite curious, I asked, "What in the world are you doing?" He said, "I am sending a note to God." If you have read much about my son, you know this is a little odd because he usually just prays. He asked Christ into His life at a very young age and I sincerely thought that he knew all he had to do was to just speak to God. There are literally no strings attached, just open your heart and pray.

Being the science whiz that he is, he realized quickly that the note was too heavy to allow the balloons to get very far with the note. He decided to reduce the letter to about a sticky note size. It honestly looked like a scene out of the movie, "Up." The balloons were large and very colorful. He just had to get the right weight balance between the balloons and the note. Finally, the work was finished and the balloons were about to be sent to God so that he could get his very important note to Him.

I did not really ask what the note was about, but I thought it might be pretty important since eleven year old's very rarely take time for important things (aka baths, homework, piano practice).

A few minutes after he had stepped out of the door, a very disappointed eleven year old came back in from the cold. His balloons had gotten caught in a tree and his message was intercepted by the dead limbs on the tree. I was so sad for him to say the least.

I was sad for him for several reasons. For one, that just stinks to have a goal of getting something to someone and it not happening for whatever the reason. Another reason is that it is just somehow wrong for such a beautiful experience as sending a letter to God via balloons to get interrupted. And lastly, I know how he felt.

I have felt that my prayers were hanging in dead branches on trees many times in my life. Did I not pray hard enough or loud enough? Have I sinned so greatly that He has fingers in His ears blocking out the sound of my voice? What is going on? Where are you? Where is your hand of protection or Your voice that is supposed to be leading me?

David felt the same way in Psalm 4: 1 and 3

"1Answer me when I call to you, O my righteous God. Give me relief from my distress; be merciful to me and hear my prayer. 3 Know the the Lord set apart the godly for himself; the Lord will hear when I call to him."

We can be assured that He does hear us when we call out to Him. It says in my all time favorite Psalm, Psalm 34 "The righteous cry out, and the Lord hears them; he delivers them from all their troubles."

Obviously, the Lord knew my son's prayer, without the balloons making it all the way to Him. In fact, God is in my son's hear. Just sometimes it does indeed feel like the Lord is far away. When you feel like your prayers are being intercepted by a bunch of dead limbs, know that the Lord heard you. He will deliver you out of all of your troubles because He is so good and His love endures forever.

As a side note: I went to Wal Mart the next day and looked for some kind of helium balloon that was big enough to take up a big prayer on big paper. The only one I could find was a birthday balloon and I figured since it was almost Jesus's birthday that a birthday balloon might work. I left it in Hansel's room and when he found it he said, "Oh, that is perfect, that is all I really wanted to tell Him anyway."

I found the larger note that he wrote in my office today confirming the fact that Hansel just wanted to say Happy Birthday to Jesus and asked God if He could possibly heal him from this cold or fever that he has.

By the way, Caleb is at school today with no fever and really not much of a sniffle. God is good and hears you when you pray even if it feels like your prayers are caught in the dead branches of a tree in your front yard.

My Thankfulness Runs Deeply

2010-11-27T19:27:00.002-06:00

I have a new post up at 5 Minutes for Faith. I hope you will check it out. I am sorry that I have not posted much here, but I have lots of hope that one day I will be back to regular blogging. :)

This is My Town!!

2010-10-19T17:38:00.002-06:00

A major football rival and our town go up against each other. There is one minute left in the game and the other team is winning by three. The opponent has the ball on the five yard line and they are about to score. The announcers are casually stating the facts and then go ballistic when there is an unexpected scoop at the end. Check it out!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mh-d3CEkl-4

Putting Aside My Prison Clothes Devotional

2010-10-06T11:34:00.002-06:00

I have a devotional up at 5 Minutes for Faith today. I am sorry, but this is the only writing that I can get to lately. I hope that it encourages you in your pursuit to look more like Christ each and every day.

Sin in My Shoe

2010-09-21T06:43:00.002-06:00

I have a post up today titled, "Sin in My Shoe" at 5 Minutes for Faith. I hope that it encourages your heart.

The Real Facts of Life

2010-09-11T07:57:00.003-06:00

A couple of weeks ago, Lisa Whelchel, aka Blair Warner from the "Facts of Life", came to a town really close to us. My friend, Shanna and I (pictured on the left), had both read Creative Correction, loved the book, and had to go hear her speak. Another new couple of friends from church went as well. It was really fun. We could only go that evening, even though she was speaking the next day too.

On the night that we went, she spoke mainly about her real life and time playing Blair on "The Facts of Life" and many of the obstacles she faced. She is a really neat Christian lady. I want to share the link to her website for any resources that you might need. Her older books are mainly about homeschooling and creatively correcting young children. Her later books are about raising teenagers, taking care of yourself as a mom, and the friendships of women.

I encourage you, that if you are struggling with finding good, creative Biblical ways to correct your little ones then this is the website and book for you. She will give you the real scoop on "The Facts of Life" as a mom. Enjoy!

The Kind of Flower That I Am

2010-09-02T13:14:00.004-06:00

Isaiah 40:8 The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God stands forever.

This morning I had an opportunity to do a little jogging, listening to music and thinking. I went by one of the houses in my neighborhood and I almost gasped. Not because I was gasping for air (which could have possibly been happening too), but because I saw the most beautiful flowers.

One of my neighbors decorated their mailbox by planting Morning Glory's right beside it. It takes awhile for these flowers to shoot up to the top of the mailbox, but they were definitely there this morning in full presentation. They had such amazingly beautiful bright bluish purple petals. They were alive in all of their morning glory! I started thinking about those flowers. I think I am a lot like those Morning Glory's.

I wake up in the morning all bright and chipper (after a cup of coffee). I am ready to face the world. I feel beautiful, even if I don't look it quite yet, and I am bursting to show the world just how beautiful I am. I am full of life and energy; just asking the world to bring it on. Now the problem with all of that is it wears off by around 3:00 when I pick up my kids from school. Then my flower changes.

The flower I change to is called an Impatient! :) It is so sad how my once lovely flower petals change into a foreboding Impatient who wants to seek shade and comfort in her bathtub. :) I try so hard to be such a good little flower, but unfortunately I am parched by 3:00. I need the gardener to come along and give me some fertilizer and maybe some root stimulator (I think we call this caffeine). :)

I thought you might like to tell me that you identify with the way that I am or maybe we can make it goal to try to be Evening Glory's together. Have a glorious day! I'm going to pick up my kids from school now. :)

5 Minutes for Faith Post - My Daily Choices

2010-08-24T08:37:00.002-06:00

I have a post up today at 5 Minutes for Faith titled My Daily Choices . I hope that you are encouraged by it. Many blessings!

A MAZE

2010-08-21T09:46:00.005-06:00

The last few months, I have felt like I was in a corn maze. I would go one way and it was a dead end. I went another way and yet another dead end. Finally I feel like I am going in the right direction. All of this began last year when my daughter, my precious Gretel, decided she was ready for public school. I have given in reluctantly feeling that the battle was not worth it.

Last year, I worked full time and home schooled her and let me tell you that is no easy task. Since my Prince Charming and I still feel that I need to continue the full time work I knew that Gretel was going to get the shaft again. I enrolled her in school early this summer and it took all summer to realize what I really was doing. I was relinquishing control of every detail of her day. What she eats, what she hears, what she does with her friends, what she learns. . . .everything until 3:00 pm. Man, that is hard! When you go from knowing every minute detail. . . .even if they are using the bathroom enough, to not being in the know about anything.

While my heart aches, I know it is just part of the growing up process and entering a new season of the maze! The other part of the confusing journey was knowing which job to go with. Should I go back to teaching in brick and mortar, set out on a new career all together, or stick with my virtual world of teaching. The Lord provided clarity to that just this month. When I was fretting about finances earlier in the summer, my friend asked me when my last paycheck was for this year. I am on a 12 month contract and so I said August 15th. She said the Lord will show you around that time. She was right, I just found out yesterday the last piece of my full time job August 20th. The Lord was a few days late in my book! :) Right on time in his I suppose. :)

This year I am working with the Virtual School again teaching Special Education part time and another part time role that I am not sure that I can discuss just yet. Both pieces are with the Virtual School working with 1st -8th grade. Wow! What a maze of obstacles, dead ends, and waiting. The Lord was faithful once again though. He showed us the way and provided for our needs and the desires of our hearts once again.

Now to figure out how to teach Special Education and the other piece of my job while keeping my head on straight and my family from being neglected. I am sure that the Lord will be faithful to A MAZE me once again when I call out to Him.

2010-08-14T20:52:00.001-06:00

5 Minutes for Faith

2010-08-10T13:30:00.002-06:00

I have a devotional up on Faith Lifts today. I hope it is an encouragement to your heart.

http://www.5minutesforfaith.com/1197/when-god-says-no/

Back Porch Writing and Waiting

2010-07-28T18:13:00.004-06:00

This has to be the dreamiest part of my whole day. I have a glass of iced tea, my Bible, my computer and I am on the back porch/deck that my hubby built. It is the late afternoon and the cicadas are really loud. I love it!

I have had a couple of weeks off of work. It has been so good for me! I have transferred all of my work energy into my house and I have just about all of the spaces just about where I want them. The exception being my office where I really need to channel a tornado full of energy!

My job situation is in limbo this year. There is potential, but its really hard to say exactly what I will be doing in 3 months. I know that the Lord has a plan, but I don't like this lighting my path one step at a time thing! It is really hard for me. Hmmm, maybe that was part of the plan! :)

Anyway, I don't like being in limbo because I am a planner and I like to know what I am doing at all times so I can check things off of my list. Right now, my list looks something like this. . .

Wait
Wait
Wait
Wait
Repent, because I am frustrated and disgusted with waiting!
Wait

and on it goes! The Lord is good and He always keeps me on my toes.

Meanwhile, I will sit back, have a glass of tea on my back porch and listen to the cicadas. and oh yeah, I will wait. :)

Crazy Painting Day!

2010-07-26T20:55:00.002-06:00

Honestly, I cannot think of another time I have taken a picture of my fingernails. On Friday, I had a French manicure, but today it looks more like a Circus Manicure.

The last few days I have painted my son's room orange and off white, repainted the bathroom blue, and refinished a piece of furniture for my bathroom.

I am smoked! I think I am in need of a bath in mineral spirits!

His Voice . . . How do you know it's God?

2010-07-13T07:32:00.003-06:00

Last year, I became a contributing writer to an awesome website, "5 Minutes for Faith." I have a post up there today. Please check out their sister sites as well. I think you will find them really encouraging!

His Voice . . .How do you know it's God?

Many Blessings!

Our Trip To Florida in Pictures

2010-07-05T12:01:00.013-06:00

Rainy with a Chance of Tarballs!

2010-07-01T07:52:00.001-06:00

This is our fifth day at Perdido Key. It has been fun to be with my family and have few obligations to fulfill. But it is definitely not the beach vacation of my dreams. We only have one more day for the weather to act right! Did you hear that clouds, go away!? I have a tan to work on. :)

No fun!

2010-06-29T09:33:00.002-06:00

GeoTagged, [N30.31834, E87.42475]

We are in Perdido Key, Florida on vacation. Thus far, we have had one nice sunny day out of three because of the tropical storm brewing in the Caribbean. The oil spill debris is steadily getting worse. It makes me so sad. I am hoping for some divine creativity for my kid's sake.

On a sunny note, it is good to be with my mom and dad. I love that it is stress free. The only real chores are pertaining to the dishwasher and washer/dryer. We have made dinner a couple of nights and gone out to eat at McGuires (which is another post). :(

I have had time to make three bracelets and a necklace. I have a feeling I will be making a whole line of jewelry this week! :) Lots of pics to come.

5 Minutes for Faith . . . . Summertime Challenge

2010-06-25T21:45:00.010-06:00

I have a post up at 5 Minutes for Faith today. It's titled "Summertime Challenge." I hope that you will check it out! I hope you are having a great summer!

A Little God and A Little Strength

2010-06-17T09:51:00.003-06:00

I have a million things to do not to mention work, but I have to write. I just got back from getting Hansel from camp. Now mind you I did not know if he would call me a day in and say he wanted to come home or if they would call and say he was hurt. But nope, no call. . . .for three days!!!! I was so excited to go and get him I could hardly stand it. My eight year old daughter said I needed to calm down. I got there and he could not talk. He had lost his voice from all of the screaming and singing they had been doing. He was hot and sweaty. He looked tired and worn out, but I saw a difference in him. It was not that he accepted the Lord into his heart because he did that several years back. He was different, still that same sweet spirit, but I think even sweeter!

They were singing really fun songs and he asked me to come up and sing and dance one with him. He is 10! He is still at the age where I am somewhat cool, maybe not for long and definitely not coordinated. I went. They gave all the t-shirts out and lots of applause for all of the help to pull the camp week off. We got in the car to get his belongings from the dorm and when he gets in the car he says in his very raspy voice, "Mom, I got a little God this week and a little strength." He pulls up his shirt sleeve to reveal his sweet ten year old bulging muscle. He goes on to tell me that he needs to read from Matthew 4. He reads in his hoarse voice how Jesus was tempted and then he attempts to exegete the passage. He said one of the boys in his dorm wants to be a pastor and preached this to them.

He read the Bible a lot on the way home and had a glow about him. He was on the mountaintop this week. I remember that feeling. What an awesome feeling. He told me he was going to have to borrow my Bible for church from now on because he needed to follow along at church. I realized before he left that he did not have his own Bible (other than a picture Bible and a Precious Moments one). When he got home I had a present on his bed waiting for him. It was an Adventure Bible with his name on it. He opened it up and looked at it like it was better than a ginormous pack of Pokemon cards. He thanked me and said he was even going to keep the box it came in.

Now he is in his freshly made bed, reading his Adventure Bible, sipping hot mint tea and honey to get his voice back, and getting ready to drift into a very deep after-camp sleep. Praise our Holy and Precious God for moments and days like these. Thank you Jesus for allowing my son to have "a little God and a little strength" this week. You are Incredible.

On Your Mark. . .Get Set. . .Grow Up

2010-06-13T20:22:00.003-06:00

There is nothing like sending your child to camp for three days to make you realize that they are growing up. Hansel is going to church camp tomorrow for the first time. And catch this. . .on the list of toiletries it said "deodorant." Yikes! Hansel refused to take it. Honestly, he wouldn't remember to use it even if I forced it on him!
He really is the most "good-natured" kid you could have. He loves his family, especially his sister. He would do anything for anybody. He is a great helper around the house as you can see in this picture.
I am going to miss him this week, but I am just thankful that he is not going off to college or getting married. I have a few years on that one! I am trying to savor the time that I have with him right now. It is good.
Jeremiah 29:11

¹¹ For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

Saving the World One Step at a Time

2010-06-10T08:22:00.002-06:00

Since the summer started I have made a new commandment in our home. Thou shalt only use paper plates for breakfast and lunch meals. I know this is bad for the landfills, but I do not want to spend my entire summer cleaning up behind my two compulsive snackers! Really, this is very unlike me. I am all about saving the environment. We typically do not buy paper towels and use reusable towels that I can throw into the laundry. We have a compost bin where we put all of our vegetable waste. We even go so far as to all use the same toothbrush to conserve water. Just kidding! I just had to throw that in there to make sure you were awake.

Using paper plates is quite contrary to what I have instilled into my children. My son, who I think is kind of pre-adolescent (10) because he has become quite argumentative about such topics has really taken offense to this new commandment in our home. He said that I am destroying the earth one paper plate at a time. Can you believe anyone in my home could be so opinionated!

I have decided to fight back, not by giving up the paper plate rule because I do not want to clean up behind them all summer. I have decided to, as often as possible, walk him to swimming instead of drive. I did not make it to the gym this morning, but I needed some cardio. It is only a little over a mile away and it is a great way to start the day. Hansel loves the idea of walking because we are being mindful of the earth and it is a great warm up/talking time. So Hansel and the Princess are saving the world one step at a time. . . at least until the summer is over. Then onto new adventures.

What I Could Do With My Extra $45 A Month

2010-05-25T08:00:00.001-06:00

I was thinking about this post where I was able to save our family $45 a month. I got really excited about saving all of that money and I told my eight year old daughter about it. We had been discussing the fact that we only had $50 in our eating out budget left for the month and we had to be careful not to get ourselves in a bind where we had to eat out. She immediately said, "We can eat out with that extra $45!" While I was excited about that prospect too (which is one of my favorite things), I realized that was probably not the right thing to do with the money. After all, I already spend $69/month in gym membership. It seems that we have some kind of dyslexia in our world where we run ourselves crazy at the gym and then go eat 1,000 calories in Mexican food right after that. Believe me, I am guilty as charged, but there is still something a little off with that. Don't you think?

That brings me to, what should I do with the extra $45 a month. Gretel talked about it a little more and we thought we might should give it to Shirley, our church's Compassion International little girl. I thought, "Mr. Savings" is always crying for more. But what could I do that would give me "the Biggest Bang for my Buck" so to speak. Perhaps, paying more on my car loan? Perhaps investing eternally in missions. Perhaps contributing more to the incredibly huge building project for our church? There are so many things, people and events that need my monetary help. Where do I start?

I am going to ask the Lord for guidance. I hope that I can invest my money wisely instead of squandering it only to feed my flesh just a little more.

So what would you do with an extra $45 a month? Inquiring minds want to know.

Want to Save $45 a month? I Do!!

2010-05-24T08:00:00.001-06:00

I am always looking for money saving, time saving, calorie saving in my life. I imagine most of us are. My Prince Charming and I had been seeing I Phone commercials that said the unlimited calling plan is $69.99. Hmmmm. . .I have an I phone, my I phone plan is $99.99 just for the unlimited phone calling each month. Apparently, they changed their rates and were just going to allow me to pay an extra $30.00 a month until I died or went broke. Either way is not cool.

So, I got on their website and can you believe that there it was plain as day, $69.99 unlimited local and nationwide calling. The other amazing thing is that I saw a button that said, "Change your plan." What?? I don't have to haggle with anyone to spend $30.00 less a month? I was really amazed at the AT & T website.

Then, while I was feeling really lucky, I started to look at how much I was texting a month. My highest month was 180 texts. I had unlimited texting. I know, you probably think, "what was she thinking signing up for all of that?" I had no idea how much or how little I would talk or text so I asked for the "Platinum package." :) I've had it since September and had too busy to really think or look at it. Guess what! I could go down to the cheapest texting package with my measly 180 texts a month.

All in all, I was able to save $45 a month on my I phone bill. Let's face it, I phones are expensive, but fun! If I can have fun at a lower price every month, I will take it.

The moral of the story is, start looking at your bills each month to see if you think you can save a dime here or there. I think it will be worth every dime you save!

I Thought I Could Trust You

2010-05-21T05:50:00.003-06:00

Dear Olive Garden,

Yesterday, I talked my whole family into eating at your establishment because I thought I could trust you. I just knew you had a salad that I could eat on my diet. I was careful on your breadsticks because they are 150 calories a piece. I ate 1 1/2. Yes, that is a record for me! I ate your Zuppa Toscana soup. Even though it was unlimited I ate only 1 bowl because that is another 170 calories.

Your salad, though, was something that I thought I could trust to fill me up and make my trip and self discipline worth it. I had 2 bowls and swiped a couple of other little pieces of lettuce from the bowl too when everyone was finished. I topped this lovely meal off with 1/2 a mint. Perfect, I thought, I am not hungry. I probably got away with maybe around 500 calories.

Little did I know that your salad would betray me. What I thought was the safe dish, so much so that I did not check the calories beforehand, was an evil calorie breaker. As you know, I have a food diary where I log in my calories. When I opened my book on calories, I saw that one serving of your lovely disguised salad was a whopping 350 calories per serving. Olive Garden, I had two bowls + of your salad and I because of you making your salads so caloric I had to eat a salmon burger for dinner. Blah! I went over my carefully regulated calories for the day and now I have to exercise more to lose the weight. I ate at least 700 of my 1400 calories a day on salad.

Could you please tell me what you put into that salad dressing that makes it so caloric? Is it heavy whipping cream? :) Is it a pound of chocolate? Although it is good, it was not worth wasting 1/2 of my calories for the day on. :) If I could make a suggestion. . . .could you put a warning label on the side of your salad that tells us calorie counting dieters to beware? I know this would mean a lot to many others besides me.

Thank you for letting me tell my story and get this off my chest.

Frustrated Calorie Counter

Declaration of Freedom

2010-05-12T14:31:00.006-06:00

For the past six months I have been going through Beth Moore's, Breaking Free Revised Edition. I had some "revised bondage" so I thought I would venture through the Bible Study for the second time.

You know the Bible Study is actually only 10 weeks (2.5 months) and it took me since November (six long months) to make it to the last line. I was joking with my friend who led the study and told her that I think that it took us longer to go through it than it did for Beth Moore to write it. It took so long to finish the Bible Study my friend thought Beth might have another revised version coming out again. :)

I am glad that I "savored" it. I really felt like it impacted me more. We had some incredible discussions in our group. The whole experience really bonded us as sister's in Christ or siestas as Beth would call her groupies.

This afternoon, as I was working on History with my daughter and my friend's daughter, who we co-teach, I realized a very important part of my "Breaking Free" journey. We were talking about the American Revolution. I am not a history buff, although I really love learning about it the third time around. (Sleeping in history in high school, sitting by the love of my life in college did not help the history to stick very well the first and second time.)

This afternoon we discussed the fact that they signed the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776. Then I realized that they were not actually free on that day. This is probably where you say, "duh, where have you been?" (Sleeping?) That was near the beginning of the American Revolution. They were not actually free until 1783; seven years after they had declared their independence.

I realized that although I am declaring my freedom this day upon completion of my Bible Study, the war has really just started for me. I have worked through a lot of my past again, but I will still have to continue to fight each and every day to not to continue the negative patterns of my lineage. I have to walk in faith that I am free. Just like our forefathers, I am writing my own Declaration of Independence in faith that someday I will be completely free.

My Declaration of Dependence and Freedom

We hold these truths to be self evident that she, created in God's likeness, is given certain unalienable rights, that among these are abundant life, liberty in Christ and the pursuit of an eternal joy. She is beautifully made, a hand-crafted work of art. Being His workmanship and in His likeness she is free to worship her Creator in any way that she chooses, whether by raised hands, clanging cymbals or dancing in an undignified way. She is free to make different decisions than the ones who have gone before her. Given wholeness and security in Christ she has been given eternal blessings that far outweigh anything here on earth.

Whenever any form of bondage appears, it is her right to abolish it. She will aggressively pray for her children, grandchildren, and even her greats to be men and women of God who are free from any form of bondage; free from drugs, alcohol, depression, manipulation and any other form of chains chemically, physically, mentally or spiritually.

She refuses to allow Satan to have even a toehold in her life. She will defend her family, her life in Christ and her Christ to the grave if need be. A rich walk with Christ is not easily established or should be changed for light and transient causes. She will stay close to her sister's in Christ, and the bride to which Christ died for so that she may be rich in knowledge and faith in Him.

She, therefore, a representative of Christ, appeals to her Almighty God to help her each and every day to fight the good fight. A fight not against flesh and blood, but from all rulers and principalities of evil. And for the support of this declaration she pledges to her Lord: her life, her fortunes (how great or how small it may be :) ) and her pride.

---- Clappy Shoes

Weekend Project

2010-05-01T12:41:00.002-06:00

This is a picture of my weekend project! It was really fun. I used my cricut that my mom gave me for Christmas to put this in my laundry room.

It is kind of crooked, but it is quite symbolic if our wacky family. :).

Grocery IQ App

2010-04-27T06:32:00.003-06:00

Both my husband and I have I-phones. We were sitting around the other day thinking about how we needed an iphone app that would sync between our phones that could keep up with our grocery list. We always have a running list that we struggle with communicating when the other ones go to the store. Usually he will call and say what do you need at the store and I will text or email him my list.

Eureka! We struck gold with this app. It is called Grocery IQ. It not only has a list that syncs between our phones, but we scan our favorite (name brand items only) items and it tells us exactly which ones to pick up at the store. So when my hubs goes to the store and cannot remember which coffee creamer I like, he can just look at his app and it stores my favorite. It really is amazing. You can scan, just like a grocery scanner, any item even including books and it will store it in your phone.

There are other cool features like storing items by the aisle, ability to mark off items as you go, possibly coupons for your items and the ability to clear your list once you are finished shopping. It really is amazing.

So, the moral of the story is, if you have an iphone, get this app!!!

Lots of App Love,

A Normal Day and other Musings

2010-04-24T12:38:00.005-06:00

Today seems like a "normal day." I usually say, "whatever that is" but today I think normal is appropriate. We woke up at a reasonable 7:00ish. We had a nice pancake breakfast that dad cooked on the griddle. We ate the ferociously amazing hotcakes while watching Star Wars, the Clone Wars. I have decided that while I had a "princessish" themed wedding that Gretel will probably have a Star Wars themed wedding featuring her as Queen Amidala. Somehow that seems right.

Anyway, after breakfast we worked on the house a little, cleaning our rooms (except I did not take the lead there, which I need to desperately). I did laundry, which was much better than the 498 loads I did last week. I think I might have been a week or so behind last week which made this week's so much better.

Also, we watched my favorite house flipping show called "Property Ladder" where I decided that is my next venture. . .flipping houses. Actually, it is Prince Charming's next venture, but he does not know that yet. Also, don't tell him, but I am going to be his boss and he will work for me and I am going to be a very rich woman. :) Just kidding, honey. It does look fascinating though.

There are many many other things going on in the recesses of my mind about my future, but lets just keep those in my mind for now.

What is your normal Saturday morning look like?

Saturday Blessings,

Strange Talk at my House

2010-04-15T16:53:00.002-06:00

I need a translator. Can you figure out what my kids are talking about? I typed up a 3-5 minute conversation of my kids this afternoon. Please help, I think I am being taken over by Pokemon.

This guy is a manake

Those little guys who are sting rays

I am on level 38 and I just killed it

It is a lot for a level 1

I have oxcelery, I got the evolution of evelray

Ah, the evolsion of manake

Oh wait, walterpulse, stinkers

Down to the ground on top of the hound

How much did you get

1,412 almost level 50

Monster raptor wants to learn bravebird

Whirlwind isn’t that good

One time whirlwind saved my live. . .

Have you experienced any of this strangeness in your home? Please tell me that I am not the only one.

Shaking the Eight Ball

2010-03-27T17:24:00.005-06:00

Have you ever wished that your scale was like an eight ball and you could just shake it again for a different number? Well, I feel that way this week. I went on vacation for three nights with my honey bunches and guess what, I gained three pounds! That is a pound a day people. That is just crazy. It was all worth it though, right???

The place where we went to get away was in Eureka Springs, AR. It was a bed and breakfast called Mt. Victoria. It is known for it's awesome breakfasts and even being featured in Southern Living. The one that was featured was Chris' signature smoked turkey breakfast pastry. I am here to tell you that it was reallllllyyyyy good. I'm not kidding. I have thought about it several times since I got home and I think that I am gaining weight thinking about it.

Eureka Springs was a really neat place to visit. Prince Charming and I had been talking about going there for several years and until now had not been able to go for whatever reason. I am really thankful for the time away. Now I need to figure out how to not expect breakfast being made for me every morning at 9:00 am and oh the not having anything to do aspect was something I could get used to as well. OK, back to trying to shake the eight ball and get a new number. Wish me luck.

Yummy Granola

2010-03-26T08:57:00.003-06:00

Last week, my family went to Little Rock to visit my sister-in-law and niece who came in to visit from Pennsylvania. It was so fun to see my little niece and experience the harsh realities of hearing her tell me in her cute little voice, "no" that I could not hold her. She is two and I have not gotten to see her very much because they live so far away. It was definitely a fun time minus the rejection. :)

Upon our arrival, my mother-in-law displayed a yummy concoction that we fell victim to the whole time we were there. It was "Ultimate Irresistible Granola" from All Recipes submitted by Veronica S.. Thanks, Veronica S, for the 20 pounds! :)

When we got home, I made it for our family and it really was not around for very long. The only thing that I would add to this recipe would be a dash of vanilla in the canola and honey. The only other direction I would give would be to make sure you have two large baking sheets where the granola is not piled on top of each other in a thick layer. It is hard to get it to be crunchy otherwise. Mine turned out different from my mother-in-laws because of that, but I was assured by my many family members that it was still good. It was more granola bar texture rather than granola.

Ultimate Irresistible Granola

Prep Time:
15 Min

Cook Time:
20 Min

Ready In:
35 Min

Servings (Help)

US Metric Calculate

Original Recipe Yield 20 servings

Ingredients

5 cups rolled oats
1 cup blanched slivered almonds
1 cup chopped walnuts (I just bought a can of nuts that had walnuts, pecans, etc)
1 cup chopped pecans
1 cup sesame seeds ( I did not have so I just put lots of sunflower seeds)
1 cup wheat germ ( I did not have this either, but I am going to get some next time)
2 cups shredded coconut
1 cup unsalted sunflower seeds
1 cup canola oil
1 1/2 cups honey
1 cup raisins
1 cup dried cranberries (I substituted craisins)

Directions

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C).
In a large bowl, stir together the oats, almonds, walnuts, pecans, sesame seeds, wheat germ, coconut and sunflower seeds. In a small pan over medium heat, stir together the oil and honey. Cook and stir until blended. You could also do this in a large measuring cup in the microwave, heating for about 2 minutes and 30 seconds. Pour over the oat mixture, and stir to coat evenly. Spread out in an even layer on two cookie sheets.
Bake for 20 minutes in the preheated oven, until the oats and nuts are toasted. Immediately after it comes out of the oven, stir in the raisins and dried cranberries. Let stand until cooled, and stir again to break up any large clusters. Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to two weeks, but I guarantee it won't be around that long!

Seriously good family memories with good family food!

Don't Think I'm Weird!

2010-03-23T20:06:00.003-06:00

Don't think I'm weird if you see me driving with my fingers crossed!

My son has been reading a series called "Diary of a Wimpy Kid.". In the book they give each other the "cheese touch" if their fingers are not crossed.

I don't know about you, but the "cheese touch" sounds pretty icky! You wouldn't want it, would you?

Cheese touch, you're it! :)

Technologically Saavy Culture

2010-03-10T06:59:00.002-06:00

My kids have been playing on computers all of their lives. We have always had one. We have gone from playing Nemo and Clifford the Big Red Dog to Wizards 101 and Webkinz. Yikes.

As you probably know, I home school my eight year old daughter. I was administering her weekly spelling test and we were on contractions. She looked at me after having to spell I'm and she said, "oops, I forgot to caps lock!" I could not believe that our once forgetting to capitalize or making a letter bigger was now "caps lock." Wow!

The day is getting started around here so I better ~~control alt delete~~ shut down for now! :)

Snow Wonder I am Relaxed!

2010-01-31T17:35:00.010-06:00

Did you get my catchy title??? :) I tell Prince Charming I need to be in marketing! :)

We have had a great couple of days. I think Gretel still has her pajamas on from Friday! Today is Sunday. Yikes, maybe time to "unrelax" a little. We have been snuggling under covers, watching the tube, making jewelry, eating pancakes, and rocking out on Lego Rockband. We got to spend some time outside in the 9 inches of snow that we got. I am pretty sure that is a personal record for me in the time I have lived in Arkansas. What fun!

The fun has to come to an end though. Hansel still does not have to go back to school tomorrow because Arkansas does not know what salt is. You know, the stuff you put on your watermelon in the summers and the stuff you put on your roads in the winter. Anyway, I think I am getting a little house sick. I am starting to feel the urge to go to Wal Mart and that is not right in any way.

Ok, I know this is a random post, but have you seen that show, Food, Inc.? Boy, that was pretty eye opening. I saw a reference to it being on Oprah the other day and I found it on my Netflix Instant Watch. Did you know that there is a large corporation that has a patent on seeds. How can you own someones seeds? If you want to be even more paranoid about where all of our food comes from and you want to be responsible for that kind of information then you should watch it.

On another note, I am reading a good book that I put a link to on my blog. It is called, "You Can Still Wear Cute Shoes" and other great advice from an unlikely preacher's wife. I have been a member of Lisa McKay's blog for a long time and she ended up writing a book about what it is like to pastor's wife. It is kind of like Myth Buster's. . .Pastor's Wife Style. Good stuff.

I hope that you are doing well. Please forgive my ramblings and incomplete thoughts. That is about all I have the capacity for right now.

Much Love,

Gym Adventures

2010-01-20T10:26:00.004-06:00

I know that you are going to really love this post. This is my latest and greatest Exercise and The Princess posting ever. It started out as a normal day. . . not!!! I woke up yesterday at 5:43 am, half an hour after my alarm clock sounded (that I don't remember turning off). My coffee was patiently waiting for me to grab a cup and head out the door. I slept in my gym clothes, which yeah I know is very ingenious of me so I had very little to do to actually get to the gym. The less, the more realistic it is that I arrive and on time.

I get to the gym after pondering the possibility to get a little more shut eye at each stop sign I come to. I decided that might be a little unsafe so I should just keep moving. Anyway, I had had enough bad dreams about the gym all night. Dreams that included me being so uncoordinated that I could not work out. Normally, I do not have this much anxiety about going to the gym, but this morning was different.

I had a personal trainer waiting for me at the gym waiting to give me a little "Exercise Love." My partner-in-crime was also awaiting my arrival. You see, I had missed the last two weeks because I had been sick one week and overslept the next. She told me that she had a little trouble walking after her workouts with the personal trainer in the last two weeks that I had missed.

I was determined to make it though. "I am no exercise coward" I said to myself. So, we begin the workout. We start with a few push-ups. We go on to some pull downs, bicep curls, tricep extensions, and then onto leg work. By the time that we get to the 10 pound ball above our head and lunges up and down the center of the gym, I was beginning to "feel it" and I mean really "feel it." The feeling was mostly coming from my stomach and the sweat I broke out in. My stomach kind of felt like a well of coffee wanting to be pulled up by the rope if you know what I mean. I casually mentioned I was not feeling so "well" and exited quickly to the restroom where I welcomed the coffee back that I had guzzled earlier. :(

Feeling like I needed to go back to my bed and forget this happened or had been part of my day, I came out to some wide-eyed exercise friends. My personal trainer did what any man who was exercise minded would do. He encouraged me to stay and promised me a mint. I could have either variety cinnamon or peppermint. Now that's what I like, options. :)

So I stayed until after the planks sent me running back to the bathroom, where I barely escaped more of the porcelain god. I forgot to pay the poor guy and excused myself quietly and quickly. Hmmm, next Tuesday is looking really fun. I can't wait.

Tales from the Crib

2010-01-08T17:19:00.004-06:00

Or from the baby carriage I should say. Yes, that is her baby, Lime the live cat. He is quite temperate.

I wonder if I am going to be on BlogHer probation soon for how many times I have let my blog lapse. I should just stop apologizing. Unless I become instantly rich and never have to work again, this blog will just keep lapsing. I keep thinking my job will get so easy that I do not have to actually work to do it. Hmmm. I think there is something wrong with my work ethic. :)

That's ok. I will just have to persevere. In a nutshell this is what is going on at our crib as we speak:

My cat, Lime, is running through the house like a horse trying to find his Christmas toys and my cat, Lexy, has her legs splayed and is trying to clean her aging fur.

Gretel is finishing up her school work for the day (5:30 pm), :( but she is excited to be done because she has her 1st semester of her 3rd grade year finished in Literature. She got to receive a brand-spanking-new school book and she is delighted beyond words. I had to tell her not to read it all at once. This, my dear, is a good problem.

Now she is stomping off to see what the cats have knocked over in the kitchen.

Hansel is taking a nice long soak in the tub. He had his dreaded basketball practice today. He is going to be sooo tall, but he hates basketball. I just keep thinking he will magically start liking it. Maybe Michael Jordon used to tell his mom that he didn't want to go to basketball practice. :(.

Prince Charming is on his way home from Little Rock. He had some people to visit with, as well as, lunch with his parents. He also had to stop at Sams and make use of the $30 membership card. :)

I am trying to decide what to do. I am either going to get back to work for the evening or go do something totally irresponsible. . . like eat a bunch of ice cream with candy bars crushed on top and put my pajamas on and sit too close to the TV watching all of the Home Improvement Shows that I can find until midnight.

Hmmm. Which would you do??? Have a great weekend. Back to the blog time lapse.

And We're Still Here

2009-12-21T19:49:00.001-06:00

We are so exhausted, but we want to stay to see The Illuminations here at Epcot. We got here at around 8:00 this morning. Just so you know our family does not do anything half way. :)

Tomorrow may come too early.:). Enough whining for me though. Gretel was doing that when we were visiting "Germany" today and we called her our little "whineyschnitzel.".

Last of the Disney updates coming tomorrow. I promise and then I will not be standing in line blogging anymore. I will be cleaning out closets and doing laundry. That's not blog worthy! :)

Fun with a capital F!

2009-12-21T19:40:00.001-06:00

Prince Charming and I are enjoying watching all of our hard earned money being spent at Disney. It has definitely been a great family bonding experience.

You can absolutely have fun doing many other inexpensive things, but now I feel like I know what people are talking about when they talk about Disney.

We looked at a lot of options before we decided, but the Big Kahoona (Prince Charming) made the final call.

We have one more day. Tomorrow we are visiting Hollywood Studios. I am excited about going home though because I have one more week off. Now if I can only hire Cinderella or even Goofy to come back and clean the house for me. I AM in a fairyland!

Epcot

2009-12-21T07:16:00.001-06:00

Ready or not here we come!

I Phone Recovery Miracle

2009-12-20T14:52:00.001-06:00

A guy answered Prince Charming's phone this morning. When he answered he said it was his phone. I talked with him all day and until he showed up at our hotel this afternoon I was not sure he was coming. Isn't that amazing that this guy went out of his way to get it back to us. Thank you Lord for the I Phone Miracle!

I phone tragedy

2009-12-20T07:53:00.001-06:00

Prince Charming after he realized he lost his phone :(

Buzz lightyear

2009-12-19T15:47:00.001-06:00

We're having a really good time. We went back to the room for a rest. Now we are headed back to magic kingdom after naps and Olive Garden lunch.

Space mountain!

2009-12-19T08:14:00.001-06:00

Yay!

2009-12-19T07:23:00.001-06:00

GeoTagged, [N28.35401, E81.56096]

We had a short sleeping session and we are here!

Disney World so close I could scream

2009-12-18T19:01:00.001-06:00

GeoTagged, [N28.65823, E81.81995]

Yes, we are on the road to Disney, but much to our dismay we are stuck in crawling traffic outside of Orlando. Ok, let's think about this, almost 8:00 at night and we are stuck in traffic. We left at 2:00 am this morning.

My kids have been awesome through it all. Me, not so good. I stink and my hair has so much oil in it we could fry some chicken. I hope that my next blog post is with Mickey Mouse and me smiling. Until then, who wants some chicken?

New friends

2009-11-19T11:01:00.001-06:00

GeoTagged, [N36.16058, E86.77862]

This is a picture of my new friends that I am working with in ARVA. We are at a math conference in Nashville, TN. Yes, it is a new season. This is a place I never thought I would be. Isn't that just like the Lord? Exciting times.

Danger!

2009-11-09T08:42:00.001-06:00

I think his spelling might be more dangerous than him! He is precious!

2009-11-09T08:34:00.001-06:00

Fall fun

2009-11-08T16:35:00.001-06:00

My kids have been dreaming of doing this for weeks. They raked the leaves themself for the sole purpose of jumping in them. I love it and they are growing up too fast!

The Friendships of Women

2009-11-03T09:48:00.001-06:00

This weekend our church is having a Retreat on "The Friendships of Women". Our speakers are speaking on the saying "Friends are for a Reason, a Season, or a Lifetime!" I would love your input on your own friendships. Please fill out this 6 question survey (link below) for your friend, Desiree'

Survey on Lifelong Friendships

Dust Angels

2009-10-22T17:52:00.001-06:00

My kids said, "Hey look mom, we are making dust angels!" Nice! :)

Menu Planning for the Week

2009-10-17T18:42:00.003-06:00

pic from google images supergrocer.ca

This menu planning is for the sole purpose of my own sanity. I do not think I would have made it through these last few weeks without eating out every night had I not learned how to plan ahead with my menu. At least I know what I haven't made when everyone is starving!

Monday - Small Group - taking meatballs in some kind of sauce - not sure what kind-maybe ketchup :)
Tuesday - Realistic expectation - Subway footlongs (2 for $10) - have an away soccer game
Wednesday - Roast in the crockpot, potatoes and carrots, French Bread
Thursday - Pancakes, Sausage or Turkey Bacon, Fruit (Soak beans)
Friday - Beans and cornbread
Saturday - we have a big Harvest Festival Party for the kids at church (Hotdogs and smores) - very fun!
Sunday - leftovers

The Story of a Young Girl in Iraq

2009-10-17T07:57:00.002-06:00

http://livesstrong.blogspot.com/

I was searching for a blog that I used to read to get craft ideas and I ran across this much more important blog. I have wondered a lot about what is going on in Iraq from an Iraqi's point of view, but I really did not seek it out. This is it! I emailed my mom and husband and said, this blog should be a must read for every American high school kid. It is appalling what our kids complain about after reading her blog, isn't it?

Let me know your thoughts on her blog.

Hansel practicing with his teacher

2009-10-16T15:06:00.001-06:00

Piano Lessons

2009-10-16T13:58:00.001-06:00

How long will my kids be excited about piano lessons? They started two weeks ago and they will not stay off of the piano.

Prince Charming and I decided that we would let them play during dinner and pretend that we are in a fancy restaurant. That's one way to get a date in!

Creating Fresh Blog Posts

2009-10-14T18:11:00.003-06:00

I wanted to let you know that I am working on new material for my blog. That is why I have not been blogging. I am collecting exciting family events, crazy work stories and many many soap boxes that are soon to be written about.

These are a few of the titles that will be featured some day when I get finished experiencing them first hand! :)

Exciting Family Events

Son Turns a Decade Old
Daughter's Picture of the Tooth Fairy Destroyed Forever
Clappy Shoes Goes to Memphis With The Gals and Her Momma
The Light at the End of the Building Project

Crazy Work Stories

Losing Sleep
A Blessing and A Curse
Is the Money Really Worth It?
I Need to Defragment in the New Whirlpool Tub
Exercise or Sleep, I Choose Sleep

Soap Boxes

Treat Others the Way You Want To Be Treated, Including Your Husband
What the World Thinks of Us

I really do have hope that I will be able to come back to my blog, a part of my life that I love. Beading would be nice too, but let's be reasonable.

Menu Planning for the Week

2009-09-27T19:51:00.003-06:00

Ok, so last week definitely was better than the week before. I am not sure if it was the lighter load or the advance attack menu planning. I thought I might give it a whirl again to see if we can stay on menu task. :)

Monday - small group, hoping I can make some monkey bread! YUMMO! Oh, we're not supposed to have just that for dinner? Well, hopefully our small group will bring something healthy.

lunch: leftover french onion soup - very yummy

Tuesday - Chicken marinated in teriyaki on the grill, broccoli marinated with soy sauce on the grill, and brown rice (steaming that right now so I do not have to think ahead).

lunch: grilled cheese and chicken noodle for lunch for the girls,

Wednesday - Chicken Pot Pie - going to Little Rock for my job

lunch: leftovers or grilled cheese again

Thursday - Soft Tacos with salad fixins (forgot tomatoes need to pick up), vegetarian refried beans ( I know that is an oxy-moron) but I can't stand the thought of lard in refried beans! :),

lunch: hopefully leftovers or cheese pizzas on the sandwich thins

Friday - I am realizing that I really have a full time job. My friends are taking their kids to the pumpkin patch and it will probably will not happen for me. I can't stand the thought of not taking her or her going without me. What to do? Ok, sorry I got sidetracked thinking about Friday and lunch and all that.

Dinner - I know this is lame, but I think we will have spaghetti with whole wheat pasta, salad and french bread. It is definitely a simple kind of week for cooking. No new recipes for me, I need old stand-bys.

Saturday - I still have not made beans and I had good intentions. Hopefully I will remember to soak them overnight and then I can let them simmer on the stove for awhile. I think we are in luck this week for some good fall weather. A pot of beans and cornbread on the side sounds really good right now.

Sunday - taco salad or taco soup or leftovers - whatever suits my fancy that afternoon; they are all about the same to warm up or to make!

It Feels Like Monday

2009-09-23T11:41:00.001-06:00

Menu Planning for the Week

2009-09-19T09:25:00.003-06:00

Ok, so last week was a disaster in my meal planning. It was my first week working full time and juggling most of my life (minus Gretel who had to be shipped to grandma's). I think we either ate out or Prince Charming cooked every night. So I determined to make improvements this week, maybe not perfect, but improve!

Monday - Small Group, making brownies and dip/veggies if they are lucky! :) Desiree or John Mark to put on beans for the next day to let them soak overnight.
Tuesday - beans with ham, jiffy corn muffins
Wednesday - Prince Charming has elder's meeting; breakfast for dinner; pancakes, turkey bacon and fruit
Thursday - Turkey Burgers on New Thin Sandwich Bread that I love (100 calories and healthy) and Sweet Potatoes
Friday - Mushroom and Chicken Bake - yummy, I bought boneless skinless chicken thighs and they are really good; salad
Saturday - Ladies' Night Out at Church. . .mi familia you are on your own! :) Mini-Pizza's with the Thin Sandwich Bread perhaps?
Sunday - Chicken Pot Pie or Leftovers

I think having a game plan will help my week when I blankly stare into the fridge with not a clue what to make. Plus, I know that I have all of the ingredients to make these things so no excuses not to eat at home this week!

Here's to a better week!

Intervention and an Interception

2009-09-16T05:26:00.007-06:00

www.bible-history.com/resource/mount-vesuvius

Last night, my mom came to rescue me. I was buried under the ash from what seemed like Mount Vesuvius. My desk had erupted, my patience had spewed and I just needed a break from my new job.

She was taking Gretel back with her and so my Prince Charming decided it would be fun to go to dinner about an hour away to a restaurant we had never tried, but had heard was yummy. It would get my mom an hour closer to home and me away from the computer.

www.nppa6.org/clips/2007/august/Aug07.html

We got seated and Hansel quickly asked the waitress if they had a trash can. I thought this was odd because usually you only need a trash can at take-out restaurants to dump your uneaten food. As soon as I could turn around the waitress stuck out her hand and said, "this is the trash." Before I could bat an eyelash, my son pulled his gum out of his mouth and was about to put his chewing gum in her hand. I squealed and quickly pushed his hand back and yelled, "Nooooooo!" The waitress jerked her hand back before the patty of gum could stick to her thumb. My husband and my mom just rolled laughing. I think it was probably the last time that this waitress volunteered her hand for "the trash."

We had a great time coming out of the dust of the volcanic eruption (at least for me). Now back to climbing out of the ash. Have a great day!

Job Change

2009-09-11T06:19:00.004-06:00

For the last four years I have been working for a non-profit organization called Apartment Life. My husband and I joined them as a CARES Team six years ago when he started seminary in Dallas. In the last year that we were there, I started working on their staff as well as being a CARES Team. After that last year at seminary, we moved to take a job in Arkansas. I was fortunate enough and thoroughly blessed that the Apartment Life staff allowed me to continue to work for them part time, just remotely doing more admin type stuff. I have loved it! I have been able to stay at home with my kids, school them from home and be a pastor's wife.

I have sensed God leading me elsewhere though. I have my BS in Elementary and Special Education. My son started going to school at a local public school this year, while my daughter is still at home; schooling with the Arkansas Virtual Academy. I have felt for awhile that my giftings were only being partly utilized through Apartment Life and I basically live in a bubble. I am around Christians through work, church and friends. I really needed to get out of the bubble and start utilizing some of my other gifts and abilities that the Lord has given me.

I joined the Arkansas Virtual Academy at the beginning of the month as a Virtual Math Coach. I am "coaching" the 3rd and 4th grade. Basically, our nation, as well as, the Arkansas Virtual Academy's scores have fallen in math. They are bringing me on as well as other teachers through the eighth grade to get those kids math skills up to par . . . hopefully better than par.

It is so cool to see how the Lord has brought me to this point. Basically, I could not have done my Apartment Life job had I not had my own home business selling jewelry for Premier Designs. My Premier job helped me to be self-motivated, help my work ethic and to stay scheduled at home. My Apartment Life job was at home as well. With that job I was exposed to a lot of technology. Telecommuting made it where I had conference calls regularly. I spent a lot of time on excel, outlook, and working in Apartment Life's data banks. Now, with my ARVA job I need all of that to stay motivated as well as be familiar with the technology. We have been with ARVA going on my third year and that helped me to be familiar with the systems that they use. ARVA is a high technology job as well. We "virtually" teach children.

It has been like a stair step. I could not have skipped from Premier to ARVA because I would not have been equipped. I am always amazed at our God who has the big picture. He knows our future . . . He has it all figured out. Wow, this is the God we serve.

If you think of me, pray for me. I am working with Apartment Life and ARVA until the end of September. Until then I have a full time and a part time job, as well as, teaching Gretel at home. I hate to neglect my church this month, but something's gotta give. Isn't that a movie?

Anyway, I hope you are not giving up on me. It is a season called busyness, right now, but I promise to keep you as up to date as possible. I hope that you are doing well. I know that this is a busy time for everyone. I am so thankful that I can draw upon the Lord's strength. Blessings!

Home Depot

2009-09-06T07:58:00.003-06:00

We are at home depot to celebrate my birthday! Yay! My daughter just requested to go to see the lighting. She is eight. What eight year old do you know that cares about lighting?

By the way, I was excited about going to Home Depot and it was actually my idea.

FYI: I am learning to blog from my phone and so if you have been seeing weird posts on my blog, it is because I have been experimenting and messing up a lot! Sorry about that! I think I am getting it though.

Serving an Unchanging God

2009-08-29T06:50:00.002-06:00

I have a post up on 5 Minutes for Faith. I hope you enjoy! It is called Serving an Unchanging God. Have a great weekend.

Notification of Offense

2009-08-27T15:23:00.004-06:00

When the kids started school, I gave them the list of things to do before school each morning. It included: eating breakfast, getting dressed (including shoes), brushing teeth and making bed . . . if they got all of that done they could watch cartoons.

Today, I walked into their room after they left for school (one child to my friend's who we trade days homeschooling on Thursdays and the other child off to public school). As I ~~partied~~ mourned their leaving, I realized they had committed the first morning offense of the year. Both of their beds were left unmade. I thought for a second and realized that they need a consequence to remind them other than nagging. Nagging only works for awhile. :) They needed a semi-natural consequence. I pondered putting fake bugs and snakes in their bed like they like to do to me, but I decided it needed to hurt their "pocketbook."

I decided to "fine" them. We use a penny jar system that we invented over a year ago to help implement some desired behaviors and ward off negative behaviors. It has really worked! It works as allowance as well as positive reinforcement. We love it. Anyway, they came home from school and I told them that I fined them today and the notice was on both of their doors. They were confused at first when observing the notice on Hansel's door, but I could tell after they realized what happened they were disturbed. Hansel, got a slight smile on his face and I like to think it is because he thinks I am pretty witty. :) Gretel, was quite perturbed and stomped off to her room to locate her fine on her door.

I have great hope that this is going to work to help them remember the details of our morning. What do you think? Have you done something similar that has worked for warding off bad habits in your home? I would love to hear.

Small Update

2009-08-22T07:03:00.002-06:00

This week has been a long week. I have felt that God is allowing me to use that thing called, "patience" in a lot of areas of my life. I know that He has the best plans in mind for me though. It is just when we get our earthly minds made up about something, He has to show us who's the boss!

I'm excited about today though. Gretel is having her 8th birthday party with her friends this morning. She has planned pretty much all of it. I have just given her my credit card and my servant spirit! :) It will be fun though. We are having a luau. Her birthday isn't until the 31st, but this was a good weekend to do a friend party since school is just now kicking off.

I will make sure to update you with pictures in the next day or so. Have a great weekend!

Mom's Head Explodes

2009-08-12T17:31:00.006-06:00

Well, that is pretty descriptive, huh? That is what I would put as the headline at our house this week and last. I just feel this immense pressure! I think it has to do with the post I am putting up at 5 Minutes for Faith tomorrow. By the way, my computer is on the blink so I am on a borrowed one so no little cute button to follow to my post. :)

I can't imagine what all of the moms in America are doing right now. Possibly, putting these "brown nosing teacher pails" together? Why do we do this to ourselves? Why do our husbands not stay up late wondering what we are going to give the teacher the first day of school or what our kids will wear? I imagine because they have bigger fish to fry, like where will the money come from to fund all of the sporting events our kids are a part of this year.

So what are you doing at your home? Are you calm, cool and collected in the before the school rush or are our head's exploding together? I sure hope that you are the calm one!

Many blessings!

Who Let the Dog Out?

2009-08-04T08:41:00.001-06:00

Last night, I woke up with the image of this dog that I had to chase out of the yard on Sunday stuck in my mind. I saw the dog as I was returning from the grocery store with a ton of groceries. The dog was in the middle of the road and he looked a little bit like a pit bull. I am not a dog person so I haven’t really studied different kinds. I pulled into my driveway and gathered all of the groceries that I could possibly carry (for fewer trips to the car, can you identify?). I was walking up to the door when I realized that that dog was after one of my cats. I had three of the four cats in the yard at the time and the dog had cornered two of them. If you know me at all, I am as protective of my cats as I am of my kids. Some would say that is sad! It’s ok. J

My older Persian cat was a ball of fur sticking straight up in the air. The dog was on her tail and I did not even drop my groceries, but immediately started chasing the dog. He was not giving up. I was swinging my twenty grocery bags at his face. I chased him around the tree several times while the cat could climb up it. Then the dog went after my other cat. That cat, not being so bright, just hid behind a bush. I finally threw down my groceries (oops on the eggs) and picked up a rock and chugged it at the dog. I started swatting at it with my hands and screaming at it. My husband heard the entire ruckus and came rushing out of the house to see what I was up to now. He helped me get the dog out of the yard and let me tell you . . . . that dog was persistent. Prince Charming had to pepper the dog with rocks to get him to get away. At first, the dog thought he was playing a game and he started going after the rocks until he got nailed a couple of times.

The dog came back one other time to scare my youngest cat up a tree. The whole thing was pretty crazy. The other thing is there were several people walking down the street watching the whole scene. I am sure that they thought I was one crazy woman. And they would be right. J

As my family struggles with the flu right now I started wondering if it was an attack on my family. We were supposed to go to a family reunion in Missouri the day that our family started getting sick. Whether or not it is it reminded me that we have a very real enemy. He is much like that dog . . . persistent, focused and knows what he wants.

The Bible says that the thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy (John 10:10), but Jesus came to give us life and life abundantly. I am reminded by the realness of the enemy today. We need to be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour as it says in 1 Peter 5:8.

Not to leave you on a devastated and defeated note. Here are some verses that show who is victorious at the end of the day.

Psalm 60:12
With God we will gain the victory, and he will trample down our enemies.

Hebrews 2:14

Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might destroy him who holds the power of death—that is, the devil—

In our relationship with Christ, we will have victory over that “dog” who is determined to kill, steal and destroy. He will be locked up for a thousand years and eventually he will be overcome. We are more than conquerors in Christ Jesus. (Romans 8:37)

Much Love and Victory in Christ!

2 Cor 5:17

Menu Plan Monday - Calorie Counting Ready!

2009-08-03T07:52:00.005-06:00

A little update on my family. We are fighting the flu. So far I am the only survivor. I am stating that this nice menu just might change. :)

The other thing about this menu is that I am trying to lose weight. So far, in two weeks I have lost seven pounds. I have been counting my calories. I have a hard time with "portion distortion" so counting my calories has helped a lot.

Some of my resources have been my "Lose It" App on my iphone, and a Calorie, Fat and Carbohydrate Counter book that I bought from Wal Mart. All of these recipes should please everyone. . .hopefully! :) Also, Sparkpeople has been a source of encouragement to me in giving me lots of information on watching what you eat.

Monday - Whole Chicken cooked in the crockpot all day/brown rice
Tuesday - Turkey Burgers, black beans with lime juice and cilantro
Wednesday - Prince Charming's Birthday - hmmm. still pondering
Thursday - Bratwurst and Sweet Italian Turkey Sausage for me
Friday - Apricot Glazed Chicken, fresh broccoli, brown rice

1 cup Smucker's sugar free apricot preserves
1/3 cup orange juice
1/4 cup Smart Start
4 skinless boneless chicken breasts
1/4 tsp black pepper
Combine preserves, oj and Smart Start. Rub chicken breasts with marinade combination. Sprinkle pepper on top. Place chicken in a roasting pan. Cook for 20 minutes, basting the chicken with excess glaze every 5 minutes.

I have been reading Jillian Michaels (Biggest Loser coach), Master the Metabolism and Making the Cut. This was one of the many recipes in Making the Cut.

Saturday - Leftovers
Sunday - taco salad (Turkey taco salad for me)

comparison of calories that I have recently discovered:
80/20 ground beef 290 calories per 4 ounce servings
85% lean ground turkey 170 calories per 4 ounce servings (3 ounce cooked weight)

When you are on a 1174 calorie diet, every calorie counts! :) Sorry for all of the extra information, but I have had to brainwash myself to count my calories.

Have a great and blessed day!

2009-07-30T09:50:00.001-06:00

I have a post up on 5 Minutes for Faith today. Check it out. I hope you are blessed!

Menu Plan Monday

2009-07-27T08:04:00.005-06:00

I am on a diet and my menu reflects that, minus the cream cheese I will need to lick off the beaters today when I make the pumpkin roll. :) I am watching my calories and using my iphone to track my calories. The app is called Lose It and it is really helpful.

Monday - Small Group - making a pumpkin roll to take; eat a salad before I go!
Tuesday - Frozen Chicken Teriyaki Stir Fry with Brown Rice
Wednesday - Caribbean Baked Chicken with Mango
Thursday - Breakfast for Supper - my pancakes

Banana Bread Pancakes

Higher in Protein & Fiber and lower in Fat and Carbs than regular pancakes!

INGREDIENTS
2 pouches - Quaker Instant Oatmeal, Weight Control, Banana Bread (or any type/flavor you like)
1/2 cup - Egg Beaters (or 2 eggs)
2/3 cup - Breakstone's Fat Free Cottage Cheese

DIRECTIONS
Blend in blender and then cook in a non-stick skillet sprayed with Pam over medium-medium high heat. Makes 8 medium pancakes (about 6") Turn carefully because these pancakes are very tender. May need to cook longer than 'regular' pancakes.

If not using flavored oatmeal you may wish to add a little cinnamon, sweetner and vanilla extract or other flavorings to taste. The nutritional information is based on using Egg Beaters, any substitutions will change the nutritional content.

*This recipe was originally posted by another SparkMember on the message boards.

Number of Servings: 4

Recipe submitted by SparkPeople user ELAINEHN.

and kids pancakes and turkey sausage

Friday - Sandwiches - Bacon, Lettuce and Tomato
Saturday - Leftovers or spaghetti
Sunday - In Missouri

An Obsession With Paint

2009-07-24T16:46:00.005-06:00

I told you a week or so ago about this new obsession I have. I have a friend who owns an antique store named Judith Lee's in the little town in which I live. It is ridiculously amazing to go to. If you come to these parts, I will take you!!! They even have an adorable restaurant that is decorated in a way that makes you want to eat the tablecloth. Pretty bad, huh?

Anyway, she is awesome and I was ~~salivating~~ leisurely walking around in her garage where she was working on several projects for her store. I ~~begged~~ happened to mention that I was interested in learning how to scuff things up to make them look antiqued. She whipped out her magic sander and invested in my life! :) Did I mention that I love that gal???

Basically, this is the scoop. You can sand anything. . . even laminate. . .although I have not tried, but I am chomping at the bit to start. You get a palm sander. Carefully tear strips of sandpaper (around 220 grit). I say carefully because I got put in the naughty corner by my prince charming because I wasted sandpaper. Also, note to not let the bottom of the sander be exposed to the table with sandpaper not between them. Let's just say I have stayed in the naughty corner a lot lately.

Ok, so you got your sander and sandpaper. Basically you need a non-shiny, roughed up surface. After you have sanded every nook and cranny you need to go to the store for a diet coke and a can of paint. Again, my amazing antiquey friend told me to go to Sherwin Williams and buy their samples paint. It is a small can, but it will cover most regular sized furniture with lots leftover. The cool thing about the samples cans is that they are just under $5.00! Amazing. Use a combination of a roller for the tops of your furniture and a paint brush for all the nooks and crannies. The roller does not leave paint streaks on the top, but sometimes that is a cool look. I have a piece that my friend painted and it has paint brush strokes on it and it looks very cool.

After you drink your diet coke or choice drink then admire your painting. You are pretty amazing, you know. Crank that sander up for the last time and start going around all of the edges. You can give this any look you want if you want it roughed up. My friend told me to give the corners a rounded edge. It's pretty easy. I also took some of the paint off the top of my dresser to expose the wood. Another hint is around where your knees might normally hit make it roughed up around in that area. It will look a lot more natural.

Isn't that cool. Now that you know how easy it is you can start experimenting like me. Prince Charming says that he is scared that he is going to come home sometime soon and every bit of furniture we own is going to be painted! Hmm. . . there's a thought! Gotta run to Sherwin Williams, see you later.

When's the Baby Due?

2009-07-23T06:00:00.001-06:00

No, I am not having a baby! But I feel like I am! Not because I have gained weight either. Which I have! :) Working on that. . .that update is for another blog post!

The baby is the addition that we have been adding on since last May. A "simple" addition of a two car garage, a laundry room, a guest bedroom, another living space and last, but definitely not least, a master bath! Basically, we built a house this year.

I feel like I am about 42 months pregnant(normal gestation for a baby is 40 weeks) and everyone is asking when my baby is due. In my mind, I am screaming. . .stop asking me that, the baby will come when the baby comes! On the other side, I have already decorated the baby's room, packed my bags and cannot wait for the baby to come. In fact, I am getting a bit impatient. I am ready for that baby to sleep in it's bed (not that they really do, but it is dreamy to think of).

I feel a little past due. I am starting to get irritable. Ok, I am irritable. I will admit. Really, we are only about 35 weeks pregnant in house terms. We are finishing the tile in the bathroom around the shower and tub. None of the floors are finished. We have two out of four rooms left to paint. We are having trouble with the air conditioning of the addition. It sounds like we may need to buy a whole new unit for that side. Also, we discovered the duct work underneath the house is not the best. Go figure! :)

We also have to move the door that used to go outside that attaches the old house to the new part. We need to do all the trim work. I really should not say we on that though. I am inept on trim work. I am very good at "buttering" tile though . . . when I show up to work. :(

Really, it's not that much more, but the thought of starting another school year in a construction zone is making me crazy(er). Hansel is going to be in 4th grade public school this year and Gretel will be homeschooling for her 3rd grade year. Don't ask me why we do the things we do. I just go by what I feel is the best option for them each year. I guess I could say, I go with my gut.

Ok, so now I feel better getting all of my ranting out. The "baby" will be born soon. My gut says so.

Tooting My Own Horn!

2009-07-22T13:26:00.005-06:00

If I don't toot it, who's going to toot it for me?

Just kidding, but I did want to tell you that I just started writing for 5 Minutes for Faith as a guest contributor. It was sort of a dare I gave myself back in May to have some pressure to write. Last week I wrote on "The Lost Art of Letter Writing." It was Writing Wednesday at my house and that was what was sitting on my brain at the time. Check out the blog sometime, I think you will be encouraged not just by me, but the other writers as well.

Have a great day and thanks for visiting Clappy Shoes!

Pajama 5K and the Girls

2009-07-18T06:12:00.008-06:00

Yesterday, I was talking with one of my friends and she reminded me that there was a 5K at 8:30 that night. The 5 K was to help a group of runners raise $25,000 for Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Awareness. I had been running again some, but was not 100% I could do very well. I'm pretty sure I had mentioned on my blog that I have had problems with shin splints since late last year. I was training for a half marathon and my shin splints got so bad that I had to take the time to stop and rest. I even took the time to go to a physical therapist.
So we met up at 7:45 last night for a group picture and a "little before my bedtime run" and it was super fun. It was not what I would have naturally chosen to spend my time doing on a Friday night. I told them when we started running that my body was screaming, "What are you doing. Don't you know that it is Friday night and you are supposed to be on the couch watching a movie with a bag of Cheetos." Obviously, I would not have done it without my friends encouraging me to go though. Also, I probably would have walked half of it if I did not have a little positive peer pressure as I was running. They basically said, "We're not leaving you so you better run." It's great to have mean friends! :)

Seriously, I cannot imagine doing life without a group of friends like this. As a pastor's wife, it is sometimes a lonely business. You feel like you have the weight of the world on your shoulders and that there are very few people you can trust. I have a very unique and wonderful situation in which the Lord has brought a lot of people into my life who are trustworthy and are very special to me. God has orchestrated this time and He is definitely worthy to be praised.

I pray that you too have a group of special friends who are positively encouraging you to try things you would have never done otherwise.

Ecclesiastes 4:10 (New International Version)

¹⁰ If one falls down,
his friend can help him up.
But pity the man who falls
and has no one to help him up!

Incredible Bible Study

2009-07-08T08:05:00.007-06:00

For sixteen years I have been a Christian. In that time, I have done probably done maybe 30 Bible studies. I think this current Bible Study is topping them all. Don't get me wrong, I loved Beth Moore's "Breaking Free". I loved every part of Henry Blackaby's "Experiencing God". But, "For Women Only" by Shaunti Feldhahn has put some tools in my tool belt that I have needed for a long time.

This should be a must read for anyone who is thinking of getting married or has even been married for 1 minute - 50 years. There are a few things that are generalizations, but most everything has given me a fresh perspective on my marriage with Prince Charming. If you are looking for a good Women's Study, this is a great one to invest in. Our church bought the video series and we have given out over 50 books to women in our church and a few in the community to do. To put this into perspective, there are only about 150 people who go to our church (counting kids). So about a 1/3 of the people in our church were interested in doing this study!

It is very well rounded as far as being a good book, good video series as well as providing great discussion and fellowship. Honestly, I can't recommend it enough. If you don't have a group to do it with, do it on your own or with one other person. It is so worth the time. (and it does not take very much time either. . . maybe 30 minutes 5 days a week).

There is also a young women's version. Too bad Gretel is only 7 or she would have to do the study with me. I think 13 or 14 would be a more appropriate age to start her on the study.

Point being, buy it, you won't regret it! It will make your marriage and your man make sense! :)

You Shold Be Concerned!

2009-07-07T18:47:00.007-06:00

Yes, you should be concerned about world peace and yes about our economy, but I am helping both of those crises with my new obsession. Check it out.

Helping slave labor. :) She is a cute slave. :)
The unveiling begins.
Who is the "woman in the mirror?" I think it's obsessagirl! :)Don't you love it? You should be concerned though, because today I bought yellow paint. I think it is only the beginning of a whole new world.

Works for Me Wednesday - Yummy Dips

2009-07-01T08:28:00.006-06:00

It has been FOREVER since I posted on Works for Me Wednesday, but I am trying to get back into the swing of that. At our small group the other night we had this really yummy dip. The hostess with the mostess, Danielle, made this yummy pizza dip. Here goes the recipe:

Yummy Pizza Dip for a lot of people
4 pkg cream cheese
2 jars pizza sauce 14 oz jars
2/3 chopped scallions
3-4 cups of mozzarella cheese (depending on how much you eat before it gets in the dish ;0)
2 T Italian Seasoning
1/2 tsp garlic salt
Pkg of pepperoni

Mix the cream cheese, italian seasoning, garlic salt and scallions. Spread on the bottom of 11 X 13 (she had a really pretty red dish that really made a difference in taste :)). Spread pizza sauce on top of the mozzarella cheese and complete by placing pepperoni on top! Bake at 350 until bubbly and melted through . . . probably about 20 minutes.

Another Dip - Black Bean aka Texas Trash
The both healthy and tasty ingredients are as follows (from Southern Living Ultimate Cookbook- a few ingredients we always add ourselves)

1 can rotel (tomatoes and green chilis)
1 avocado (chopped)
1 1/2 tsp. cumin seeds (toasted)
2 cans black beans (drained and rinsed)
1 can whole kernel corn (drained)
1 red onion (minced, 1 c)
1/2 cup fresh cilantro
1/2 cup parsley (optional, really)
1/3 cup lime juice (have substituted with lemon or without)
1/4 lime juice
3 cloves garlic, crushed
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. dried crushed red pepper
1/2 tsp black pepper

Combine all ingredients. Cover and store tight in fridge for up to 1 week.

Now this dip is the best with chips or on chicken quesadillas or even egg burritos! Yummo!

Google 411

2009-06-25T06:00:00.000-06:00

Have you been out and about in town and realized that you did not have the phone number for the doctor's office that you needed to call? Especially, when you live in Dallas you really don't want to carry the yellow pages with you!

Recently, I discovered and love GOOG 411. Basically, you can call any business in any town (even my little one) and find the phone number to where you are calling. You just say the business name and the city and state. The only thing that is weird about it is that sometimes it does not pick up my Arkansas accent. It says funny stuff back to me. Could that be how I sound? Nah! :) There have only been a couple of times that it could not find the place for me.

It also connects you automatically and the best thing about it is free. I made it one of my favorites on my phone so I don't even have to dial the number. The phone number is 1-800-466-4411.

Enjoy and never call information for a business again! Yay!

Gretel

2009-06-24T06:00:00.000-06:00

She is hilarious. It seems that this year Hansel has really gotten gregarious. She makes us laugh all of the time.

We were driving home from our friend's house the other night when she screeched,"Agh!" We were really concerned and said, "What's the matter." She said and I quote, "I forgot my imaginary cat at Mrs. Shanna's house! Oh, well I am so glad that we are coming back tomorrow so I can get her!"

We laughed so hard. Only in the mind of a seven year old is this appropriate.

Summer Reading

2009-06-23T15:07:00.004-06:00

My husband and I finally figured out how to get our kids to read without too much whining or nagging by me during the summer. We bribe them with electronic time. That goes for the tv, the Wii, and the computer. . . basically anything that plugs in. There is a "15 minute increment only" rule. That means they cannot read for 1 minute, run in the living room and play on the Wii for 1 minute and then start the process over again. Believe me, we made the rule for a reason! :)

It has been great. Every morning they have a cutely decorated clip board of chores and it reminds them to read for electronic time. They have to do chores and then they can read for the electronic time. Wow! So far, this is the fourth week in the month of June and it is going well. I think we have found a winning idea. We were at the doctor's office yesterday (for Hansel's ear infection) and an older lady commented to me that she was so glad to see boys reading like mine.

The added bonus, they usually read at the same time and the house is quiet during those fifteen minute intervals. Rare, I tell you, rare! It is definitely worth a try if you haven't bribed your kids recently!

Living Life

2009-06-16T17:13:00.003-06:00

Do you want to live in authentic community with your neighbors? How does that play out? We live in a culture that does not naturally make us able to live in community with people. We don't hang out on our front porches sipping lemonade together. In fact, our culture pulls us away by keeping us slaves to our work, our media and even our hobbies.

God used a book called, “Making Room For Life” by Randy Frazee (now pastor at Max Lucado's church in San Antonio, TX) to change my mindset and help me to see how I could practically make community a priority. I realized that the reason community was not happening in my life was because I did not leave room for it in my schedule. My schedule was dictated in the evenings by my children’s sporting events, the need for a little brain defragmenting in front of the tv, as well as, chores that got put off until the last minute.

What is driving you away from true community spent hanging out in each others yards and homes with your neighbors? Check out, “Making Room For Life” and make living life in community a priority today.

The Eleven Year Itch

2009-06-05T11:11:00.000-06:00

You may have heard of the seven year itch. Well, I have the eleven year itch. I know this is quite a confession on a blog that all the world can see. You know, the seven year itch is where you become quite discontent with everything to do with your spouse. You don't find him attractive anymore, you start daydreaming about other more hunky guys and all that they could do for you. You begin to think that you have made a mistake and the only thing that could remedy that is the big D. And I am not talking about a trip to Dallas.

This itch that I have is a tad bit different though. It is an itch to make this marriage stuff better than ever before. I search the web and the Word (two of the world's best resources :) ) each day trying to find answers to all of our tough questions. I listen to Christian podcasts on how to get on the same page in our finances and how to improve our love life. These are two of the most critical areas to be on the same team.

We are so far from perfect, but I refuse to paint a perfect Mona Lisa picture in my mind for us to live up to. While all the world and it's crazy statistics about pastor's and their weekend lives surround us, I will not allow Satan in this marriage only to destroy it. I am closing the gates of our home to the evil one and even if I stray for awhile (which is undoubtedly going to happen in this imperfect body) I will not give into the world's answers . . . to give up and pay the money to the courts to get out.

I will seek each day to be a wife that is pleasing in Christ's sight. I will lean on the only one who can completely make me content. He is the only one who can fill the areas in my heart where my husband has not learned to touch. Christ will be my center. May angels guard the doors of our home so that we can never leave angry at one another with intent to never come back. May Christ tenderize our hearts with meat mallets if He has to to get our attention when we are losing sight of His plan for our marriage and family.

John Mark Rutter, I pledge my love to you all over again. You are precious to me. When your heart is broken over something, my heart aches to remedy it. Believe me, I know my shortcomings. God will not let me stop learning and growing. Every time I am wanchy to you, He prods me with His disapproval. I know that I am not easy to love. In the earliest years of our marriage, when most were on the mountaintop, we were in the trenches. We basically had to grow up together. We had to figure out how to not blow a gasket when the other was a complete moron. We figured out how to build a budget, a house and a family together. I guess you can say we are still figuring those out, especially building the house! :) In the last year, we have spent time together on the rooftop shingling the house, in Morrilton, AR at a retreat center and in church praising our Lord together.

I have seen you grow in the Lord and your faith more this year than any other year of our marriage. I am in awe of the way you pull those sermons together. I have learned so much from you not only as my husband, but as a my pastor. You have shepherded my heart to a good place. I long for you not only to touch me as my husband, but to touch me with a Word from the Lord our God. Thank you for all of the times you have prayed for me over the phone, in person and even the times that you have rained on my parade. You keep me sensible! I love you. You mean the world to me. You are God's gift to me. You have treated me like a princess . . . especially in those early days when I still did not feel like a princess or child of the King. You are my Prince until the King's return. I love you, John Mark, and I have loved cruisin' with you.

2009-06-05T10:47:00.002-06:00

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Finger Food Friday

2009-06-04T12:23:00.003-06:00

As soon as I told my kids, Hansel 9 and Gretel 7, that Fridays were going to be the day that they got to try their hand at cooking, they begged me to let them cook today. I bought a cook book last year for the kids that are 2 or 3 ingredient recipes. I told the kids that they had to do it all by themselves. I went into the other room to work on a really important project . . . beading. I knew the recipe they chose had to do with kool-aid and it did not seem to difficult. They were going to make slushies and that sounded great to me.

I knew that this might not be working when Gretel came in to tell me that Hansel was using a very sharp knife to break up the contents of the Kool - Aid. It came in a big plastic jug and had solidified. I asked him, calmly, to get a spoon. The next thing I heard, not 2 minutes later was "Help mom! Oh no, come quick!" Of course my mind began racing and beat my legs down the hall! I envisioned smoke, fire and blood.

Well, it looked a lot like blood when I got there. It was red Kool Aid, permanently staining my laminate countertops. They forgot to put the blade component in the blender and when they poured the water, Kool Aid, large amount of sugar, as well as the ice, it all dripped down the blender, down the counter and onto the floors. I am sitting here with red stained hands, lips and tongue with a big smile permanently stained on my face at the fun times I am having with my kids. God love em!

P.S. I would have provided pictures, but they blocked my picture when I went to take it saying they were too embarassed to see it on the blog! :) They know me well.

Funny Stuff

2009-06-03T12:44:00.005-06:00

Last Sunday, we were sitting around the kitchen table discussing what we learned that morning at church . My husband is a pastor and I told my kids that daddy talked about spiritual gifts in his sermon. The kids were excited to learn that because they had talked about spiritual gifts in their class too.

Hansel, very matter of factually stated that he knew what his spiritual gift was. I was so excited that he finally knew because I have always really wanted my kids to discover who they are in Christ and how God made them. I was sad though when he stated that his spiritual gift was "eating." Being given that tidbit of information does give me a whole lot more perspective on where all the food has been going! :)

This joke makes a lot of sense too given that his spiritual gift is eating.

Hansel came outside the other day when I was working in the garden and told me this joke. I thought he had been eating and reading Laffy Taffy's, but he swears he made it up.

Q: What happens when a lightning bug grows too quickly?
A: It has glowing pains!!!

That's pretty good, huh! :)

My Favorite I Phone Apps

2009-05-28T16:01:00.003-06:00

I am fortunate enough to work for a company that values technology. That is why I have an I Phone. I did not know much about it when I got it. . .all of its capabilities and I still probably don't. What I knew is that I could get my email on my phone and I really liked that. It freed me up to be away from home and still hammer away at the emails that I receive at work.

In all of its little 2 X 4 body, I have the capability to talk on the phone, check my email, listen to my ipod or a podcast, map where I am on GPS and to top if off take a picture with it's camera. Ok, I am beginning to sound like a commercial, so I will stop!

Here are the FREE Apps that I have on my phone:

Pandora - listen to music
K Love - listen to a Christian radio station
Whitenoise Lite - listen to background noise while you are going to sleep or while you are laying out, pretending to be on the beach with waves crashing in the background ( who me. . .do I sound like I have ever done that! :))
Pac Man - yeah, it's for the kids, right? :)
Galaga - again for the kids
Shazam - this has to be my favorite right now! You can hold your phone up to any radio and it will tell you what is playing, what album it is on and to top it off you can buy the song from that page. I am thinking it will let you do movie quotes too, but I am not sure.
Amazon.com - you can compare prices when you are out shopping
Reqall - you record your voice and it helps you remember things you need to remember such as hamburger buns which I am out of right now for our hamburgers tonight because I forgot to use ReQall! :)
Quicken - keeps up with all of the preformulated categories in your budget to tell you how much you have in each area; such as groceries, dining out, etc.
Lose It! - Keeps track of all of your food for the day, including how many calories you have eaten. I hesitated to include this one since I am not doing so hot in that area of my life right now. Maybe I should set up my ReQall app to remind me to keep track of my Lose It App! :)

I have a lot of other apps that I will update you on later. Right now, you just need to know that the I Phone is cool. Let me know if you have other apps that you have enjoyed.

Am I Paranoid or Are We Not Getting Our Mail?

2009-05-27T10:19:00.006-06:00

My greatest fear has happened. The mail man blocked our postal services. The reason you ask? Because our mailbox is too low.

A month ago our flooding street was "remedied" by the Independence County Road Department. Well, sort of. Ever since we have lived in this neighborhood our streets flood when we have heavy rain. Honestly, our house and our yard is not affected by this. Our house is a little higher than the rest of the neighborhood's houses and so basically the flooding stops right in our drainage ditch and yard.

This is the second time the County Road Department has "remedied" the problem of flooding in our neighborhood. The first time our mailbox became too low for our mailman to reach from his truck, we were left with the task of raising it. My husband had to build a new post that was longer for our mailman to reach the box. It not only costs us money, it costs us time.

Well, I am done with fixing the county's problems. If they are going to make my mailbox too low, they are going to have to raise it. I called the county judge and he was out to lunch. HMMM! Maybe he could stop by on his way to Sonic and build us a new mailbox.

My bills and packages are now in our mailman's truck. Maybe the mailman would like to pay our bills when they are late?

I will let you know how this turns out. As of now, I am not hopeful.

Update: Not even five minutes later, my husband comes to the rescue of our mail. He is digging a post hole. Sorry, county you missed out on serving your residents. :(

County Update: I called to let them know my awesome hubs took care of it. The lady said that she would make sure to let the judge know that this is a problem when the road department is altering the roads and they need to do something about it. I think it helped that I was nice both times when I spoke to her.

I guess I should also add that I think it is important to let the county know your needs. That is what we pay taxes for right? :)

3,000 Bottles of Excel Rows on the Wall

2009-05-26T11:54:00.003-06:00

I love work! I love my boss! But not today! I have a spreadsheet of over 3,000 rows of information that I have to press delete, cut and paste over and over again to get the right information on there. It is 50 sheets of printed out information. I am sitting here listening to Pandora Radio - Love Songs, drinking Coke Zero and working on my office chair posture. All the while singing 3,000 Bottles of Excel Spreadsheet Rows on the Wall. I am truly losing my mind! Help! Can anyone identify?

I really should not complain. I am sure someone who lost their job recently would appreciate my 3,000 rows on an excel spreadsheet. Truly, I am thankful for my job. I work for an awesome ministry that really tries hard to please God and to follow His plan. My work/ministry is not perfect, but individually each of my co-workers has a personal relationship with Christ and they want to do what the Lord has for them. You cannot ask for much better than that. Now, back to the rows and rows and rows!

Did I Just Say That?

2009-05-22T19:10:00.002-06:00

Mom talking to Seven Year Old Gretel: After you finish all of your chores then I will let you clean the toilet.

Gretel: Yay!

There's No Place Like Home

2009-05-20T07:32:00.007-06:00

I am officially back from my vacation and already feel the effects of being away from the beach. . . and the TV. We do not have extended cable at our home in Arkansas for various reasons. When I want to watch extended cable, mainly HGTV, I go to the gym to get my fix. Yes, that helps two issues in one. :)

When I was not at the beach, I was on the couch eating a bowl of ice cream and watching HGTV. I redecorated my house in my mind at least 30 times, as well as gained 30 pounds. I had major "Curb Appeal" as well as "Decorating Cents." Also, at the beach we had four TV's . . . one in each room so my kids could watch cartoons, my aunt could watch the news and I could watch HGTV. Now wasn't that convenient? Who thought of that? A very smart condo realtor.

Now I am home, Clifford is on the TV and my walls are unpainted the optimal color to make the room appear larger and cheery! Wow, I am all messed up. What will I do with all my spare time? Work? Do dishes? Sweep the floor? Work in the garden? Paint the already primed walls of our addition?

There's no place like home and I am actually glad to be home. I was beginning to feel purposeless.

Loving my Time in Flo-Rida

2009-05-17T19:50:00.002-06:00

Flo-rida!

2009-05-17T08:04:00.005-06:00

Each and every year in January I start getting antsy. I start thinking about warmth, bathing suits and sand. My mom inevitably emails me and says, "are you ready to book the place for this year?" She always says, "should we go somewhere different or go back to the same place?" My response is always I really don't care as long as there is warmth, bathing suits and sand.

Every year is always different depending on who decides to come. My aunts, kids and granny are regular attenders. My cousin's wives even came one year with their kids. This year, I am sitting here with my regular burn, pajamas and coffee anticipating the time that the pool opens and my kids tackle me and lure me out the door to the waves. Gretel was wee little when we first started this wild tradition. Each year we travel the 12 plus hours depending on how many potty stops we make. There is always a promised adventure when we get here.

Last year we decided to go on the Dolphin Cruise. The biggest excitement was the birds that flew behind the boat and we fed them Cheetos. Yeah! Big bucks paid for that! It was fun though. Gretel got to steer the ship and we saw a crab catch.

It is so fun to get dressed up at night after being in our sandy suits all day. We pick a favorite restaurant and dine in with great anticipation of what seafood we will devour. We top off our seafood with HOT Krispy Kreme donuts. A rare treat for us that live in a town where the donut shop is only open in the mornings.

I mean to tell you these are good times. I cannot wait until I get the email next year that says, "Are you ready to book the condo?"

New Thang I'm Tryin!

2009-05-04T14:43:00.005-06:00

I was lamenting a few weeks ago about my grocery budget to a close friend who is extremely practical and a money saver on top of that. These are definitely the people you should consult when struggling with budget issues.

What budget you ask? I have a set amount that I budget each month and we are not even coming close to what I need to spend, I mean we are going over by hundreds of dollars in the grocery category. Now believe me when I say, I do not cook gourmet meals. We eat spaghetti and beans quite often. Now when I say grocery bill I should clarify by saying, "Wal Mart and Kroger." Those are my two options for this grand metropolis that I live in. So, also to clarify when I say groceries I mean copy paper, gifts sometimes and ink cartridges in addition to my groceries.

My friend, Senor Elefante, is a Dave Ramsey junkie and she was telling me about a link on his site that he recommends called emealz.com. It has seven nights of dinners, all of the ingredients, the recipes and several different places to shop from. They even have low fat options and low carb options. The big time bonus is that it even makes your grocery list by sections such as dairy and bread, etc. Wowzers! I cannot say that it has lowered my grocery bill substatially yet, but it has made my hair not stand on end as bad when I am looking at what to cook during the week. Typically, I spend hours each week planning my menu, shopping for my groceries as well as trying to think of something exciting and new to cook. My husband happens to like new and exciting whereas I would probably be fine with tacos and spaghetti most nights. He calls them ruts. . .I call them simple and cheap no brainers. :)

So if you are up to trying something new, logon to emealz.com and check out the options for your area. Like I said, my only option is really Wal Mart because they do not have a Kroger option for my area. If you live in a larger town, your options are probably more diverse and exciting. It does cost $15 for every three months, but my time that I spend doing the work that is already done for me with the emealz list is well worth $15.

Hope it helps you have a little bit less hairy week. Let me know if you already use emealz or think you are going to try it.

By the way, I do not get any kickbacks from emealz, I just like to help moms and dads make their life more simple. Enjoy!

Family Time

2009-04-25T16:05:00.003-06:00

I thought I would update the blog even though everyone has possibly given up on me! :) We went to Blanchard Springs in Mountain View, AR. This is about an hour drive from our house. It takes marking the calendar months in advance to actually make it happen. We camped, caught fish and ate smores! We had a great time as a family. We definitely need more times like this.

Clappy Shoes

Dear Blog

Did I Really Say Yes to That?

My Concern

Break My Heart for What Breaks Yours, but . . .

Don't Be An Ostrich, Be a Stork

The Importance of Winter

Prayers Caught in the Trees

My Thankfulness Runs Deeply

This is My Town!!

Putting Aside My Prison Clothes Devotional

Sin in My Shoe

The Real Facts of Life

The Kind of Flower That I Am

5 Minutes for Faith Post - My Daily Choices

A MAZE

5 Minutes for Faith

Back Porch Writing and Waiting

Crazy Painting Day!

His Voice . . . How do you know it's God?

Our Trip To Florida in Pictures

Rainy with a Chance of Tarballs!

No fun!

5 Minutes for Faith . . . . Summertime Challenge

A Little God and A Little Strength

On Your Mark. . .Get Set. . .Grow Up

Saving the World One Step at a Time

What I Could Do With My Extra $45 A Month

Want to Save $45 a month? I Do!!

I Thought I Could Trust You

Declaration of Freedom

Weekend Project

Grocery IQ App

A Normal Day and other Musings

Strange Talk at my House

Shaking the Eight Ball

Yummy Granola

Prep Time: 15 Min

Cook Time: 20 Min

Ready In: 35 Min

Servings (Help)

Ingredients

Directions

Don't Think I'm Weird!

Technologically Saavy Culture

Snow Wonder I am Relaxed!

Gym Adventures

Tales from the Crib

And We're Still Here

Fun with a capital F!

Epcot

I Phone Recovery Miracle

I phone tragedy

Buzz lightyear

Space mountain!

Yay!

Disney World so close I could scream

New friends

Danger!

Fall fun

The Friendships of Women

Dust Angels

Menu Planning for the Week

The Story of a Young Girl in Iraq

Hansel practicing with his teacher

Piano Lessons

Creating Fresh Blog Posts

Menu Planning for the Week

It Feels Like Monday

Menu Planning for the Week

Intervention and an Interception

Job Change

Home Depot

Serving an Unchanging God

Notification of Offense

Small Update

Mom's Head Explodes

Who Let the Dog Out?

Menu Plan Monday - Calorie Counting Ready!

Menu Plan Monday

Prep Time:
15 Min

Cook Time:
20 Min

Ready In:
35 Min