Wow...Is it Monday??

I can't believe it's been almost a *month* since I've posted in Monday Meanderings...the intervening weeks have been a blur. Between more outside activities than usual, health-related issues, a long-awaited out-of-town trip, and Billy being on vacation for a week...I haven't gotten very far on the things I meant to do in the past few weeks! On the other hand, we've accomplished much I hadn't planned to. So I guess it all evens out. :) We got *really* used to having Billy home last week, so it will be a real adjustment this week with him back to work, but I'm also ready to get back into our usual routine...and looking forward to getting lots done now that our calendar is not so full of outside activities. :)

Here's the plan for this week:

Bible Study

I haven't done much with my Bible Study on Suffering in the past few weeks. I definitely want to get back to that this week. I am also starting today on a list of "31 Days of Praying for Your Children". I plan to post it in another post, but the message board post in which I found it had no credit...so I'm looking for a credit before I post. :)

Must Do

I'm almost scared to even think about this part of my list this week...there is *much* that *must* be done around here! Fortunately, the list isn't as bad as it looks, because much of it is stuff that is just part of our normal schedule, like school, or *planning* stuff, which is fun for me and doesn't require a lot of physical stamina. :) But there is plenty of other stuff to keep us out of trouble, too! ;-)

1. Back into the school routine. We need to dot every *i* and cross every *t* in school this week, as we took some time off last week for dad's vacation, and we've had a few other unplanned interruptions in the past few weeks. I also need to do some assessment and planning for the next few months of school this week...I had hoped to do that last week during vacation, but didn't get that far. *Sigh*

2. *Finish* fall clothes swap-out. This has been a real chore this year, mostly because I have really let our clothes storage situation get out of hand. I have gotten rid of a *lot* of stuff over the past week and have a big bag of stuff ready to photograph and list online to sell (I hope!) I just have to finish cleaning out the bottom of the playroom closet and that chore will be *done*...FINALLY.

3. Holiday Planning. We're making some changes in our family's holiday traditions this year, and I want to get a *plan* down on paper *now*. I have lots of ideas swirling around in my head, but I am afraid I'm going to *lose* them if I don't get them down in black and white (or colored Sharpie ;-)) soon. We also have birthdays to celebrate during the holidays, and we want to do something special as a family for Reformation Day this year...so I need to get my creative gears turning!

4. *SEWING MACHINE* This has been on my running to do list *forever* and this week is the week it must be *crossed off* the list! Something is wrong with my sewing machine and I have *got* to sit down and see what the problem is and get it running again or decide what to do otherwise. I have a list of sewing projects a mile high, from mending to holiday projects to home ec activities with Bay, that I have *got* to start whittling away at!

5. Plan Armor. (Jodie, if you're reading this, don't you dare laugh!) A project my son and I are working on as a possibility for the kids' DT class at church. More on this later, I'm sure. :-D

6. Homeschool group planning. We need to get the November field trips set by the 19th, and start looking at plans for early 2008. I'm also trying to get some academic fair ideas together for our board mtg. next week.

7. Watch 2 movies. I know...doesn't sound like a "must do", but for once, it is. One we have had from Netflix for a couple of weeks and haven't made time to watch...my family is going to revolt if I don't make time to watch it so that we can send it back and get to the next movie on the list! The other is an Answers in Genesis movie on loan from a friend, which we need to watch *tonight* so I can get it back to her.

8. Catch up on blog posting!! Right...that doesn't sound like a *must do*, either...but I'm stressing over the fact that I have birthday party pictures, vacation pictures, field trip pictures, and who knows what other pictures I'm forgetting that *really* need to be posted...plus a list of "Blog about..." ideas a foot long. I will feel much better once I get that at least *somewhat* caught up. Hopefully now that we are *semi-back-on-schedule*, I'll be able to start catching up.

Home Blessing

I already mentioned the playroom...when I get finished sorting the closet in there, the kids and I need to do a massive *toy purge and sort* and then we should be ready to do the *Great Furniture Swap* as we move Peter to the playroom and swap out some other furniture from one room to another.

I keep putting the dining room/school room on this list, but it keeps getting pushed to the bottom and then falling off. :-( We seem to be in a declutter/pile up stuff cycle in here that is making me crazy. I need to make some real *appreciable* progress in here this week before I lose my sanity completely. (No comments from the IRL folks there, please :-D)

This is the fun part this week...I have to decide on a final plan for refinishing the wood pieces in the living room that need to be refinished. I hadn't planned to tackle that until we had some other major projects finished (i.e. the dining room walls!!) , but our trip to the used book sale in HSV last weekend necessitated moving a *very* ugly bookcase into the living room from the playroom at bit earlier than planned...so I've got to decide on paint and process so that I can at least do that *one* piece sooner rather than later. The living room has become my *peaceful place* lately, and the jarring ugliness of that old, faded-light-blue bookcase is *really* disturbing at the moment.

Train Them Up

In addition to just getting back on track with schedule and school (I should really leave out that *just*...that will be quite a feat in itself, although I must say, they've done pretty well this morning and I think they are as ready to get back into the routine as I am!), we are starting some intensive work on the character quality of gratefulness this week. Not only does that seem an appropriate quality to be working on heading into the holiday season, but there have been recent indicators that we need to focus here for a while.

We're also going to start a Bible Study this week based on the book "Making Brothers and Sisters Best Friends" by the Mally siblings. Sibling squabbles used to be pretty rare around here, but somehow over the past year or so they have invaded our home, and Mom has decided it is time to run them *out* of town completely!

We're still struggling about potty training. *Sigh* The busy-ness lately hasn't helped any. We've *really* worked at it this week. But we are nowhere near there. I vascillate between thinking that perhaps this is the *one* area (other than her size) in which her prematurity is affecting her development, and I just need to be thankful that this is the only struggle of that sort we have had and wait it out...and thinking that she is simply (as we already know) the MOST stubborn child EVER born and it is going to take every ounce of strength, patience, and brains (what little are left at this point) I have to win this battle with her. ;-) The only real hope I have in this area is that this weekend *Dad* said, "Gracie, we're done with diapers. You are a big girl and you are going to start going to the potty like a big girl. We're not buying you any more powder (she loves to be powdered when she gets her diaper changed) and you are going to be finished with diapers by the time this bag is gone." He's really gotten serious with her about it, and I'm hoping that will be what will spur her on to *get on with it*! I can't imagine the first week without buying diapers. I've bought them continuously for 9 years and 10.5 months now, with a few months here and there of buying for *two* in diapers. We are going to feel like Billy got a raise!

Menu Plan Monday

I've really been working on this area lately...our menu planning, food budget, new recipes, etc. I'll be posting more on that as I have time. I have lots of new recipes to post *sometime*. :-) In the meantime, here's the plan for this week's menu:

Dinners:
*Gnocchi with Sauce, salad, green beans, breadsticks
*Potato Soup, Salad, Cheese Bread
*Taco Salad
*Marlboro Man's Second Favorite Sandwich (found this this week and decided it had to go on the menu, as it sounds like something Billy would *love*!), pasta salad
*Breaded Chicken, macaroni and cheese, Asian carrots

Weekend:
*13x9 Hashbrown Breakfast Bars
*Overnight Dutch Puff
*Chimichangas and Mexi-Rice
*Taco Soup, corn muffins

Breakfasts:
*Pancakes
*Toast, Oatmeal, Eggs
*Raisin Toast
*English Muffins

Lunches:
*Cheesy Rice, Fruit
*Potato Soup (leftover)
*Loaded Tater Tots, Fruit
*Grilled Cheese and Tomato Soup
*Ham, Cheese, and Carrot Stick dippers

Snacks/Desserts:
*Applesauce and Cinnamon Crisps
*Muffins
*Pumpkin Bars
*No-Bakes
*Crispy Cheese Crisps

Whew! Lots going on this week! To see what others are doing and cooking this week, visit Orgjunkie's Menu Plan Monday and Tiany's Monday Meanderings.