Menu Plan Monday {6.7.10}

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The last month or two haven’t been super organized around these parts in the meal category department. For the most part it’s worked out fine…but frankly it’s driving me nuts. With swim team practices starting up again last week, I sat down last month and actually planned out two MONTHS of meal plans.

Ahhhh…the bliss.

Here’s the plan for this week and I know it’s fairly laid back ~ but Rick and I will be out of town for a few nights meaning the pressure is off me a little bit. I’ve linked to any recipes that I’ve already posted.

Monday ~ Chicken Pot Pie {make one, freeze one}

Tuesday ~ Lasagna, homemade wheat bread and salad

Wednesday ~ Leftovers

Thursday ~ kids eat @ mom & dad’s / we eat out

Friday ~ kids pizza / we eat out

Saturday ~ Hamburgers on grill with raw veggies

Sunday ~ Monkey bread {breakfast} / Popcorn & smoothies {dinner}

Additional: Make double batch of homemade granola bars for kids and to take on trip.

That’s it for the week ~ what on your menu?

Led by the Spirit…

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There’s a great post over at {In}courage today called Choosing to be Led that talks about the struggle between our sin nature and being led by the Spirit…

Go check it out! :) It was a great way to start my morning. 

Let Them Eat Cake...and Then Return It

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Generally I’m not afraid to return an item to the store if I’m having some problems with it ~ it won’t work, it shrinks horribly, etc… but I do have a line of when I won’t return something.

At least I think I do…

I was contemplating making a return of something I’d bought at Costco {agave nectar} after reading a study that showed how absolutely wretched the stuff was ~ essentially the equivalent to ingesting corn syrup. Yummy, no?

I didn’t have the receipt and the bottles were unused and unopened. A friend of mine who works at Costco told me to return them and then told me about a customer who had returned a sheet cake one day ~ HALF EATEN!!

Since my bottles were unopened, I felt much better about making my return, but then I got to wondering…

Where do you draw the line on making a return? Leave a comment today and let me know ~ how far is too far?

{And here’s hoping you weren’t the one who returned the cake!}

 

 

It’s been awhile since I’ve participated in Company Girl Coffee. I still read along…I’ve just been slacking in linking up.

Book Giveaway ~ Sixteen Brides

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With high hopes and promises of a better future, sixteen widows boarded a train in 1872, heading west in hopes of establishing their own homesteads. The women trusted the head of the Ladies Emigration Society ~ not for one moment suspecting that he had promised men in the community the opportunity for brides.

Sparks fly when the women discover the real reason they were escorted West, but many of them take a step of faith and determine to stay in Plum Grove instead of returning home. They pool their resources and build a homestead together ~ while at the same time building hope and relationships with each other.

My Thoughts

The cover alone on Sixteen Brides made me want to read it immediately. :) I did and absolutely loved it. While some of the plot/relationships might be a bit predictable, the overall storyline is incredibly sweet and one that I enjoyed. Trying to imagine what it would have been like in that time era without all of the modern conveniences that we have today just boggles my mind. It was truly hard work all around for anyone, women included. The fact that these women were headed West on their own to build their own homestead is just amazing ~ and while this story is not a true story, there were many women who did just what these women set out to do.

~ Visit Stephanie’s website

~ Buy Stephanie’s book at Amazon or CBD.

The Giveaway

Would you like to win a copy of Sixteen Brides? I have one copy to mail to one of my readers! Leave a comment on this post ~ be sure there is a way for me to contact you. The giveaway will be open until Wednesday, June 9th at 8pm.

This book was provided for review by Bethany House. All opinions expressed in this review are solely my own.

Not Even a Sparrow Falls…

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Last week I nearly stepped on a newly hatched baby bird that had somehow ended up in our garden.

Abandoned and alone.

The poor little thing was so absolutely helpless. There wasn’t anything I could do to help it. I moved the kids inside, hoping that somehow something miraculous would happen and the momma bird would come back and rescue her lost baby.

But she didn’t.

Since that day the image of that baby bird has been at the front of my mind, constantly reminding me of Matthew 10:29.

“But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear ye not therefore, ye are of more value than many sparrows.” ~ Matthew 10:30-31

I am overwhelmed knowing that I have a Father in Heaven who saw and knew about this part of His creation…and that He watches over me and cares about the tiniest details in my life too.

A Place of Respite

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We have a great deck off our kitchen that has really had little use since we’ve lived at this house. While we have an amazing table and chair set, it is so huge and bulky that there is little room to move, let alone rest, on the porch.

This year we started a little rearranging of sorts ~ moving the table and chairs off the porch and into the backyard and making room for some patio furniture. And flowers. Many more flowers.

The furniture arrived this last week and I quickly worked to get it all assembled and ready to use ~ because I’m too impatient to wait for my husband to do it. Those three hours might kill me, you know?

Nuts and bolts in place. Check…and double check.

Chair cushions in place. Check.

Pillows fluffed and placed. Check.

Windowboxes planted and ready to grow and grow. Check.

  

Silly children in place to amuse me? Check and double check.

 

An amazingly wonderful place to sit and relax with a cup of coffee in the morning?

Ahhhhh…..