What a Day!

Whew! It's nice to sit down. I told Billy earlier that I have barely sat down all day other than when I have been driving...and my feet are letting me know! We hit the ground running early this morning, taking Billy to work at 7:30 and then heading to the Supercenter to do our big every two week grocery shopping trip. Today's was even bigger than usual due to our bulk cooking plan for next week (which I will actually start tomorrow:)). There were a couple of things I had planned to get at the SC that we weren't able to get there...so then we ran into the Neighborhood Market to pick up those things. From there we made stop at the chicken outlet, and then finally headed home. Not for long, though....just long enough to put most of the groceries away and do a few morning chores we didn't get to before we left. Then we were off to our field trip at the police station. We expected it to last about an hour, but it ended up being about twice that long! When we left there we ran back by the house for about 5 minutes, and then raced to Sam's. We had some serious shopping to do there, and less than an hour to get it done before we had to pick up Billy at work. Needless to say, we were a few minutes late getting him. *blush*

Highlights of our day:

This morning while we were at Wal-Mart, I decided to stop and get everyone a small drink at the in-store McDonalds. As we were waiting, a lady at a nearby table said, "I just love to see people having large families!" I smiled and said thank you, and we chatted with her for a minute. It was hard not to grin at the thought of us being a *large family*....while I know that to the rest of the world we have more than the average number of children, in some homeschooling circles our family of four children would be considered *medium-sized* at best. But it was certainly encouraging and delightful to encounter that type of reaction.The police department trip was *great*. Billy and I have known Det. Deason since before we knew each other, and she was one of the true friends from Fort Smith who made the trip to Conway for our wedding. We met her back when we were both working for child protective services and she was, as she is now, the juvenile detective. It's always good to see her, and she always seems to enjoy seeing how much the kids have grown. :)
I never got an exact count, but we had somewhere around 48 people there for the tour. We've been before, but this one seemed to focus on different areas than the last one. We all crowded into the outer evidence room as Kris explained that only one officer works the inner room, and only 2 others in the entire department are cross-trained. Those officers are the only ones with access to the inner room, to limit any possibility of contaminating evidence. Then we went to the SWAT Team room. The SWAT Team coordinator spent a *long* time answering questions, and I think that we could have stayed in there all day! He did a great job of explaining what the SWAT Team does, showing the weapons, and allowing the kids to touch the body armor and handle a bunch of spent ammo that had come out of a recent practice session with the body armor. (I have to add, here, that my son, about whom Kris kept saying, "He is his daddy all over again!", was right on the front row for this part. ;-))
I was really impressed with the SWAT Team coordinator. His father and younger brother both work for FSPD as well, and his grandfather is retired from the department. His dedication and love for his work was evident. When he was telling the kids about the body armor, he explained that the vest alone weighs 40 lbs. Someone asked it it was hard to run with all that extra weight, and his reply was, "yes, it is...and that's why, when a lot of people are eating burgers and fries for lunch, I'm in the workout room working out." What a great example of discipline and commitment to excellence. The most interesting part of his presentation to me was when he was explaining what happens when the SWAT team arrives at a house in a dangerous situation. One of the kids asked how long it takes to secure a house once the SWAT team arrives on the scene. His reply? "From the time we stop the truck at the scene, it takes us about 10 seconds, and that house is mine." 10 seconds?! Wow. For most houses, it takes the team 10 seconds to "take down all the bad guys" and secure the house. If it is an especially large house, he said it might take 15 seconds. That's impressive!
The Communications Center was also really neat. At one point one of the dispatchers was showing us the computer map where they track the approximate location of 911 calls from cell phones. After she showed us the address it had located on the most recent call, Peter asked if she could find his house with it. She put in our address and we watched as it zeroed in on our house (seen as a blue square around a pink dot.) Peter was quite impressed. :-D

It's been a great day, but I am really glad to be home in my PJs!! Btw...speaking of highlights of the day...I discovered a new chocolate treat today. Have you tried the new New York Cheesecake Hershey's Kisses?? Yummmm.

Grace Alone {Thankful Thursday...Barely!}

No...not barely thankful, but barely still Thursday!

I've been reflecting since last night about the blessing of God's grace. This time three years ago, God was in the process of beginning some intense lessons with me in the area of grace. I vividly remember, during the last few months of 2004, experiencing and understanding the concept of grace in ways I never had before. Since that time, God has continued to show me in new ways how amazing His Grace really is.

Last night during choir rehearsal, we were working on the song "Grace Alone". It's a beautiful song, in words and music, but last night as we sang, it took on new meaning to me. Obviously, it applies to all of us...God's grace provided to all Christians. But I began to see the words as they specifically spoke to *me* right now...a Christian homeschooling wife and mother. The second verse seemed especially applicable to us as wives and moms. And the chorus is exactly the answer to the stress, the frustration, the insecurity, the weariness that we sometimes find in those roles. As I was sitting there singing and thinking about all of this, Lyndel stopped and did one of his mini-devotionals about God providing both the *desire* to do God's will *and* the *ability* to do God's will through His grace. (Probably a bad paraphrase...maybe someone who was there will see this and comment more accurately. :)) But what a wonderful thought...and what a challenge.

As long as I am trying to do it *myself*, as Lyndel reminded us...it is "as filthy rags". I started thinking about "filthy rags"....and ended up with a rather unappetizing example. I thought about what would happen (*not* that this would *ever* happen at our house, you understand...strictly hypothetical ;-)) if one of my children were to break a *major* rule at our house and take a cup of milk into their bedroom. And then if that (hypothetical, remember) cup of milk were to be spilled by their (also hypothetical) younger sibling. And then if the two of them (again, hypothetically) were to try to clean up the resulting milk mess with a (hypothetical) towel. And then if, since the milk wasn't supposed to be in the bedroom to begin with, they decided to shove the towel under someone's bed (definitely hypothetical, since no one in this family would *ever* shove anything under a bed...another rule, you know. ;-)). *Hypothetically* that towel could stay hidden under the bed until it began to smell, and someone began to search for the smell of the odor. And by then, *smell* and *odor* would be polite words for it. It would *stink*. BAD. Not that I would *recognize* that smell, I assure you, as this would never happen at my house. But I can imagine. It would *really* stink. Yuck.

And that's what all the good stuff I try to do is to God, without grace. Not to mention that it just doesn't work.

I was standing at the kitchen sink doing dishes today thinking..."What sane person could possibly think that one person can be a helpmeet to her husband, a keeper of her home, a mother to her children, *and* homeschool three grades at once (plus a preschooler)??? It is completely impossible and there is no way it can all be done." And this song popped into my head again... and I realized...."That's true...it can't." And that is where grace comes in. He gives us the grace and the strength to do what He has planned for us to do. He provides for every need. Abundantly.

I am thankful for God's incredible, amazing, unbelievable Grace.

"Grace Alone"

Every promise we can make, every prayer and step of faith,
Every difference we will make is only by His grace.
Every mountain we will climb, every ray of hope we shine,
Every blessing left behind is only by His grace.

Grace alone which God supplies,
Strength unknown He will provide.
Christ in us, our cornerstone,
We will go forth in grace alone.

Every soul we long to reach, every heart we hope to teach,
Everywhere we share His peace is only by His grace.
Every loving word we say, every tear we wipe away,
Every sorrow turned to praise is only by His grace.

Grace alone which God supplies,
Strength unknown He will provide.
Christ in us, our cornerstone,
We will go forth in grace alone.
~Scott Wesley Brown and Jeff Nelson

To see what others are thankful for, visit Crystal, at "God is in Control".

Vision Forum Giveaway

KimC at Life In a Shoe is hosting a Vision Forum Giveaway for $150.00 in Vision Forum published products. So I spent a little bit of *unscheduled catalog shopping time* this evening pouring over my new Vision Forum catalog...which handily arrived *just in the nick of time* in today's mail! ;-) My first list....totalled $313.00, and I hadn't even gotten to the dolls or the *boy stuff*!! But I managed to trim it to $149.00. Here are the giveaway rules, followed by my abbreviated wish list. :-)

Rules as posted at Life In a Shoe:

1. Get your new catalog - if you’re not on the mailing list, get on it now. No time to get it? Download the new 2008 Vision Forum catalog as a PDF here.
2. Flip through the pages, oohing and aahing over all the wonderful items, new and old. Note which ones are published by Vision Forum - you’ll see a VF logo near the title of the item. Try not to drool on it; you’ll be needing your catalog for the next step.
3. Now the fun part: Put together your own dream order of $150 or less of VF published items and post it to your blog with a link to Vision Forum and a link to this post.
4. Leave me a comment so I’ll know you entered. One entry per household, please.

My list:

"League of Grateful Sons" dvd $20
10 Peas in a Pod book 20
The Adventure of Missionary Heroism book 24
Teach Them to Your Children book 17
Thoughts for Young Men book 8
"Rebuilding a Culture of Virtuous Boyhood" cd 10
"Jonathan Park: The Adventure Begins" audio series 25
Elsie Dinsmore book 15
"The Role of Children in the Meeting of the Church" cd 10
----
Total $149

For more details, visit Life in a Shoe and Vision Forum .

Another Busy Monday...

Monday already. How did that happen?? It seems like I was just typing last Monday's MPM and MM post. And here we are again. Here's the plan for this week (subject, as usual, to all manner of modification as life happens...;-))

Bible
As part of my on-going Bible study on suffering, I'm going to start working through the book of Job this week. God seems to be hitting me from all directions with things from this book, so I've decided it is time to dig a little deeper in it. I will also continue with "31 Days of Prayer for Your Children".

Must Do
***Finish Fall Clothes Swap Out. Didn't quite get finished with this last week, but this week it appears summer weather is *finally* gone, so maybe we can actually put *away* the summer clothes. I especially need to inventory who has what for this fall/winter.

***Annual Insurance/Benefits Enrollment. This is one of those chores I *dread* every year....but the time has come, and I'm trying to keep reminding myself how thankful I am that Billy *has* good insurance and benefits at the hospital, and do this with a smile! (I'm not promising anything on that smile part, but I'm trying....)

***Continue Holiday Planning. This will be ongoing until Christmas. :-) I'll try to post on my progress so far later this week.

***Bulk Cooking Plan. I posted earlier about plans for our Bulk Cooking Week next week. I need to continue working on those plans and then the kids and I will *shop* on Friday.

***Armor Planning. Still working on this. *Rolling eyes* :-D

Home Blessing
One word here...DECLUTTER!!! I had an experience this weekend that has *really* motivated me (even more than I already was) in this area. I told a friend I was coming home to throw away everything in the house that we weren't eating, wearing, or sleeping on, at that very second. Okay...so I'll keep a *bit* more than that, but I've been *drastically* motivated to take extreme measures. We are on MISSION: SORT AND TOSS this week at the Harris House. I hope our garbage collectors have eaten their Wheaties!

Train Them Up
Continuing to work on gratefulness and sibling relationships. It took me a little longer to prep what I want to do with the kids from the Mally's book (Making Brothers and Sisters Best Friends) than I had intended, so I will actually start that with them this week. This is a great book, btw, and I hope to review it for the Fall Reading Challenge soon.

Menu Plan Monday
Because of our Bulk Cooking Week next week, we are working to eat from the pantry/fridge/freezer this week and not buy *any* groceries other than milk, water, and toilet paper. :-D Here's the plan (with a few carryovers from last week that we didn't get to):

*Marlboro Man's Second Favorite Sandwich/Pasta Salad
*Chimichangas and Cheesy Rice
*Cheese Tortellini, Salad, Peas, Bread Machine Bread
*Little Cheddar Meatloaves, Rice, Sesame Green Beans and Carrots
*Breakfast for Dinner

Don't forget to visit Laura for more Menu Plan Monday posts, and Tiany for Monday Meanderings !

Bulk Cooking Week Plans

Frugal cooking. I've tried to practice it ever since Billy and I got married, but sometimes I've done better than others. Recently I had really hit a spell where I was letting our grocery budget get out of hand...busy schedules, stress, health issues, and just plain old not planning had really gotten us off track. The last few weeks, I've been on a mission to *rein it back in*.

So far I've been doing these things:

***Making menus. I've always tried to do this, but had gone through a real slump on this one. Menu Plan Monday has been a big help to get me back on track with this (and a great source of new ideas!)

***Price Comparisons. Years ago I used a price book (an old standby frugal shopping idea), but I haven't really needed one in years. I know the prices of items we use at our normal store, so if I'm looking at an ad or a sale in another store, it's easy to tell if it's a good deal. Quite often, my usual store price is *lower* than the ad or sale price from another store. *But*...earlier this year we decided to get a Sam's Club membership, for the first time in years. The larger sizes at Sam's suddenly made price comparisons more difficult. Sometimes the bulk products at Sam's offer great savings...but sometimes (especially for products we ordinarily buy in generics), they are *more* expensive. Standing in the aisle at Sam's, it's hard to tell the difference. So I hop online as I'm making my list, and look up items on Sam's website (you can enter your local store and then look up any item...it will give you the price and size so that you can compare). Before I leave the house, I know where the best deal is and I can divide my list into a "Wal-Mart" list and a "Sam's" list.

***Pantry Inventory. Another thing I used to do years ago that fell by the wayside. I'm working to keep a running inventory of what is in my pantry, fridge, and freezer. We've really had a problem here with letting food go bad before it was eaten...not just bread and produce (milk never has a chance to go bad here!)....but things like bags of flour and cornmeal. *Not* a good frugal habit. I'm trying to do a better job of knowing what needs to be used soon, what I need to stock up on, and what there is to use for upcoming meals. Knowing exactly what is there especially helps during weeks like this one....I'm trying to buy as little as possible this week to save money for our bulk cooking buying next week. Also...I know what I have plenty of for bulk cooking day, and what I'll need to stock up on.

Now I'm pulling out the big guns. Next week is going to be "Bulk Cooking Week" at the Harris House. I've been working on my plan for the past week, and will fine-tune it between now and Friday (which is the Big. Shopping. Trip.) Here's the rough draft of our plan so far:

My main needs are not complete frozen meals. What works best for us right now is cooking/freezing meats to pull out for quick-fix dinners. I also need prepared-ahead lunches for Billy to take to work (I don't always do well with fixing lunches early in the morning) and for the rest of us (as fixing lunch is a *huge* interruption in the flow of our school day.) I'm planning to do enchiladas and chimichangas that I can freeze and bag and people can pull out individually to warm up for lunch (or take to work). I'm also planning to make ahead quick breads and muffins that can be used for lunches or snacks. I'm still looking for ideas for make-ahead lunches.

Our other major needs right now are to have snacks and desserts made ahead, and quick breakfasts for my slow mornings. I need snacks ready during school that I don't have to think about or stop and fix...another big interruption in the *flow* of things. And if I have some sort of "bite of something sweet to eat" (as my daughter says :)) for desserts, then people aren't as tempted to go buy expensive junk. ;-) But I tend to run out of time before I get that far. The snack/dessert part of my list is subject to change...I'm still working on it.

Flexibility is the word here...I had planned to cook 10 lbs. of taco meat...the kids and I love it and I was looking forward to having it made ahead seasoning and all, instead of making it out of my precooked ground beef every time. And then all of the sudden (after I started working on this plan this week), we discovered it was hurting DH's stomach and making him sick. So...out *that* plan went!

Ground Beef (30 lbs.)
***Big Batch Beef Sauce (10 lbs.)--will make tacos, spaghetti, chili, etc. (@ 7 meals) (I'll post this in the recipe thread soon.)
***Seasoned Browned Beef (10 lbs.)--for other recipes (@ 8 meals)
***Hamburger patties (5 lbs.) (@ 3 meals)
***Frozen Enchiladas/chimichangas (5 lbs.)--freeze individually and bag for lunches

Chicken (15 lbs.)
***Marinated, uncooked chests (9 lbs.)--to cook later on HealthSmart grill or saute, for chicken pasta alfredo, chicken sandwiches on buns, etc.
***Cooked and shredded (6 lbs.)--for chicken salad, enchiladas, etc.

Breakfasts
***Pancakes. We're going to make up 10 doz. pancakes and freeze a dozen in a bag...that will be ten days worth of breakfasts. we'll intersperse that with *overnight* breakfasts (13x9 breakfasts, etc.) and eggs, oatmeal, and toast.

Snacks/Desserts
***Peanut Butter/Chocolate Bars (jelly roll pan)
***Muffins--Cheese, Blueberry, Strawberry (2 dozen apiece)
***Banana Bread (2 loaves)
***Pumpkin Bread (2 loaves)
***Cookie Dough (Choc. chip)--18 dozen (I'll freeze this in rolls to make a dozen at a time.)
***No-Bake Cookies---3 dozen
***Pumpkin Bars (jelly roll pan)

I still need to work out the exact preparation and cooking schedule. Peter is going to be gone today, so the girls and I are going to go ahead and bake some things we already have ingredients for (probably muffins, pumpkin bread, and no-bakes). Then I'll figure the schedule for the rest. I'll post the schedule and any changes to the cooking list later this week (and maybe some pictures of our baking adventure today :-)).

Worth Reading

I have had a running list of links I've wanted to share for a *while*...and of course now that I have actually opened this post...I can't remember what all of them were. *rolling eyes* (I really need smileys!) *Anyway*....these are definitely *worth reading*:

1. "Are We Raising Daniels?" HsKubes' Haven at Home blog is a favorite of mine, and this article is excellent. It was quite convicting to me, and I think I need to read it once a week. Such a great reminder to us as homeschool moms, and as parents, that we need to constantly check our focus and direction. It is so easy to get bogged down in just trying to *get it all done* that we lose sight of the goals toward which we are headed!

2. "31 Days of Praying for Our Children" I was so glad to find this posted on a message board I frequent. What a great list of ways to pray scripturally for our children!

3. "Cheerful Frugality and the Grocery Budget" I've said before, I love Meredith's blog. She makes frugal *pretty*. She makes frugal *fun*. She takes frugal from mere penny pinching, to creative abundance. I love that. "Cheerful frugality" puts a whole new spin on things. So often, it seems that if you've been reading about frugal cooking for long...it all begins to look the same. This one goes beyond the *same old same old*. It really hit me between the eyes. "Don’t replace processed snacks with good intentions. Devote the day after grocery shopping to kitchen prep. Spin raw ingredients into family gold with a new cookie recipe, fresh bread, homemade dip with ice cold crudite." ACK. Has she been in my kitchen?? When I come home so proud that I have done *so* well at sticking to my list and staying within my budget...and there is nothing to *eat*?? Well, there *would* be, except that I haven't gotten around to *cooking* any of it yet. *blush* Okay...I'll stop raving now and just let you read the article. :-D Excellent stuff.

Okay, I know there were more, but my faulty memory strikes again. When (if??) I remember more, I'll come back and post. :)

Thankful Thursday

I just read Iris's Thankful Thursday post, and am a little sad right now to hear that she is taking an extended blogging break...which reminded me of something else I am thankful for...Iris! I'm thankful for the *push* of Thankful Thursday to remind me to stop and focus on my blessings in the midst of whatever else is going on...even when I don't feel like it (which is when I need to the most)...and I'm thankful for Iris's sweet spirit of encouragement. On more than one occasion, she has left a comment or sent an email with just the right words at just the right time...and, she has been one of the people who has made me feel most welcome in the blogging world. What a neat thing that God can use people who we have never met IRL to bless us and minister to us online in very personal ways! Iris...I'll miss you and be praying for you during your break!

I've been sitting here this morning trying to think "what am I *especially* thankful for this week?" It's one of those mornings that I didn't wake up *feeling* especially thankful, so I'm having to work a little harder at it. ;-) But...with a little bit of self-prodding, I've realized I'm actually thankful for quite a bit this morning...

1. I'm thankful to be missing my husband this week. :-) Last week he was on vacation and home all week, and since he has gone back to work this week, the children and I have really missed his being here all the time. I'm thankful that he's the kind of wonderful guy that we *do* enjoy having him home all the time, and that we *do* miss him when he goes back to work!

2. I'm thankful that we have a *normal* week this week. I got up Monday morning and realized that we didn't have a *single* outside commitment this week other than our normal church activities. I love those weeks! We've been so off-schedule the past few weeks, it has been *really* nice to get back on schedule (mostly ;-)) this week and just be able to putter through getting the things done that we need to do at home. We have a lot to pack into these last two days of the week, but I'm looking forward to attacking the *to do* list and getting it done.

3. I'm thankful to be getting excited about Christmas. Those who don't know me *really* well won't understand how amazing that statement is. My Christmas spirit has been in hiding for several years now, and this year has been like the freeze thawing in Narnia after all those years. I grew up with huge storybook Christmases...lots of extended family, two colossal dinners (usually within hours of each other), presents everywhere...lots of love and tradition and family togetherness. Our Christmases have been shrinking for years....as our extended family has shrunk...and that has been hard for me to get used to. Then 3 years ago, my dad died just a couple of weeks before Christmas, and ever since, we have been dealing with some sort of extended family crisis during the holidays. By last year, not only was my Christmas spirit *gone*, but I didn't really even miss it. I would have been perfectly happy to skip Christmas altogether (not an option, of course, with four young children).

But this year, as we began to discuss Christmas music for the two choirs I'm involved with, somehow that long-missing Christmas spirit began to creep back in. God has really convicted me this year that I need to "forget what is behind" and "press on toward the goal of the high calling of Jesus Christ"...and that part of that means letting go of my *what Christmas used to be* thoughts, and making Christmas a special time of celebrating God's gift to us for *our* family. I was suddenly struck the other day with the thought that someday we may very well *have* the big extended family Christmases again...but I'll be the grandmother then! In the meantime, it's time for us to make some new traditions and make it special the way things are *now*. I am thankful that God has given me excitement about this and is beginning to give me ideas about creative ways to celebrate and begin new traditions.

4. I think I've mentioned this before, but I am thankful to have a piano at home again after many years without one. Playing the piano was always a major stress-reliever for me...my family could tell by how hard I was hitting the keys what kind of mood I was in! It's been really nice recently to be able to just sit down and play, and I've even enjoyed getting into a practice routine as I work on pieces for the Children's Christmas musical. After over 10 years without a piano, it's taken me several months to feel like I am *getting my piano fingers back*, but I'm finally beginning to get there. And the kids and I are really enjoying singing around the piano as part of our school day!

To see what others are thankful for this week, or to share your own blessings, visit Iris at Sting My Heart.