Daybook Tuesday

FOR TODAY...February 22, 2010

Outside my window...  Sunny, cold, birds twittering in the trees.   I've been enjoying our birds (or, for a friend, "pretty birdies" :-D) the past few days especially.  We've had a beautiful dove, a huge robin, and our usual clan of gorgeous cardinals.  God's artwork amazes me!

I am remembering... the days when I could actually remember things!  It amazes me that only a few years ago, I considered my memory one of my strengths. :)   Not only can I no longer remember anything without a list...I have a hard time remembering things long enough to put them *on* a list, or to go back and *read* the list once I have written it!  I was laughing not long ago about the fact that many years ago, I had adopted my dad's "3 item limit" for going to the store without a grocery list.  He always said that he did fine if Mother sent him to the store for three items, but if the list increased to four, it *had* to be written down.   Out of habit, more than anything, I typically did the same...a quick run for 3 items or less didn't require a list, more than that and I wrote it down.  Now I can't go into the store for *ONE* item and guarantee I'll remember it. *rolling eyes* :)

I am thinking... that it is really time for a major book sort, and that I need to do a better job of cataloging our books.  I have looked high and low for a book that I am almost *sure* I picked up at a used book sale several years ago, but I can't find *anywhere*.  I am sure that just as soon as I order another (cheap, used :)) copy from Amazon, I will find this one.   Not sure exactly what happened to the days when I could tell you *exactly* what books I had and put my fingers on any one of them within minutes.  Apparently they went the way of my being able to remember "3 items" at the grocery store without a list. :)

I am thankful for...  God's continued protection over the past few weeks since our death threat came.  Things have been calm, although we are still vigilant and cautious.   I'm also thankful for those who are helping keep an eye on our house in case of any suspicious activity.  

Noticing that...  I'm enjoying the music of Jj Heller lately.  I don't know much about her...I suppose I should read up...but several of her songs I've heard lately have really resonated with me.   (Your Hands and The Choice You Made, in particular.) 

I am praying for... the right van to come along *soon*!  We are finally ready to buy as soon as we find the right used van in our price range.  Also for energy and a clear mind to begin making major progress on the house.  

From the learning rooms...   Hopefully just a good, solid, normal school week.  We need one of those every once in a while. :)

On my mind...  The relationship between the heart and behavior as we train our children...

"Behaviorism trains the heart wrongly.  The heart and behavior are so intertwined that whatever you use to constrain behavior trains the heart.  Manipulate behavior with guilt and you train your children to be guilt-based children.  Use shame and they become shame-based.  Use the fear of man and they learn to worry about what others will think.  Whatever constrains behavior trains behavior trains the heart.

"Behaviorism misses your child's real need.  His profound need is not correcting behavior that is bad; it is a heart that has strayed.  His behavior simply mirrors the ways he is loving himself more than God or others....if your focus is the heart and the heart's need for change, the only hope you can bring to your children is Christ's capacity to change us internally and empower us to live in ways that please and honor Him."  ~ Tedd Tripp

Pondering these words... "The question is not how much does the youth know when he has finished his education, but how much does he care?"  ~ Charlotte Mason

From the kitchen...  Thinking I need to make these cinnamon roll sugar cookies today.   Not only do they look absolutely delicious, but I feel almost obligated to make them after a friend printed it and mailed it to me. :)   There was something that made me laugh (on one of *those* Monday afternoons...) yesterday when the kids brought in the mail and it consisted of one plain envelope with just a printed recipe inside.  :D 

I am creating...  a new look for the blog.  The next few weeks will include some experimental, "in-between" changes as I try to get up to speed in learning how to use some "new-to-me" graphics programs.   Some of it will be *very* rough until I (hopefully!) get the hang of it. :)

I am reading...  Finally finishing Mary DeMuth's Thin Places.  I don't know when it has taken me so long to read a book I was so excited about reading.  It is every bit as wonderful as I anticipated it being, but I'm finding I need to spread out the reading a bit.  God's timing in sending this book along at just this time was, as always, perfect. 

I am hearing...  "Our God is In Control", by Steven Curtis Chapman, on my current WMP playlist.   Powerful words, especially knowing that it was written in the aftermath of the Chapmans losing their little Maria in a tragic accident.  Love the juxtaposition of "Our God is in Control" with "Holy, Holy, Holy" at the end.  That has been one of the great lessons God has taught me in the past year or two...that our response to situations that we don't understand or don't know how to handle should be to worship Him and focus on His holiness.  

Around the house...  Got registered yesterday for the Spring Growing Kids sale...which means it's time to be thinking toward the great spring clothing purge!   I really need to be making more progress in sorting and purging in general than I have managed in the past few weeks.  Must. Get. Busy! 

One of my favorite things...  hearing one of my children sincerely asking for forgiveness without prompting...what a blessing to see them responding to the Holy Spirit's conviction from their hearts.  

A few plans for the rest of the week:  A good solid week of work on school and the house, church/choirs Wednesday night, hopefully a play date with friends on Thursday (yay!!)

For more Daybook entries, visit Peggy at The Simple Woman's Daybook. 

Sew Darlin' Giveaway

Stacy is an online friend who also happens to be a fellow Arkansan and Razorback fan.  Last fall she posted photos of an outfit she had made with an embroidered Razorback.  I immediately began thinking Christmas for my 10 year old Hog fanatic. :)  I ended up ordering a denim tote bag with a pink Razorback, and it was a definite hit. 

Stacy is hosting a giveaway on her business blog, Sew Darlin', for $20.00 worth of free merchandise.  Her stuff is truly darling...be sure to check it out.  But hurry...the deadline for the drawing is tonight!

Blog Tour~The Pastor's Wife

This week, the

Christian Fiction Blog Alliance

is introducing

The Pastor's Wife Abingdon Press (February 2010)by

Jennifer AlLee

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Jennifer AlLee was born in Hollywood, California and for the first 10 years of her life lived over a mortuary one block from Hollywood and Vine. An avid reader and writer, she completed her first novel in high school. That manuscript is now safely tucked away, never again to see the light of day. Her first inspirational romance, The Love of His Brother, was released in November 2007 by Five Star Publisher.



Besides being a writer, she is a wife and mom. Living in Las Vegas, Nevada, her husband and teenage son have learned how to enjoy the fabulous buffets there without severely impacting their waistlines. God is good!





ABOUT THE BOOK

Maura Sullivan never intended to set foot in Granger, Ohio, again. But when circumstances force her to return, she must face all the disappointments she tried so hard to leave behind: a husband who ignored her, a congregation she couldn't please, and a God who took away everything she ever loved.



Nick Shepherd thought he had put the past behind him, until the day his estranged wife walked back into town. Intending only to help Maura through her crisis of faith, Nick finds his feelings for her never died. Now, he must admit the mistakes he made, how he hurt his wife, and find a way to give and receive forgiveness.



As God works in both of their lives, Nick and Maura start to believe they can repair their broken relationship and reunite as man and wife. But Maura has one more secret to tell Nick before they can move forward. It's what ultimately drove her to leave him three years earlier, and the one thing that can destroy the fragile trust they've built.



If you would like to read the first Chapter of The Pastor's Wife , go HERE

Ministering Music...

I love the music of Stuart Townend and Keith and Kristyn Getty.  Their Biblically solid lyrics and the melodies and harmonies that go along with them are fresh, beautiful, and generally amazing.  Today I have needed to soak in good, Godly music, and I've been so blessed by these two songs in particular.  Be sure to listen carefully to the lyrics.   I'm so thankful for the gift of music...and what a blessing to have it so readily available today.

Blog Tour~Hunter's Moon

This week, the


Christian Fiction Blog Alliance


is introducing


Hunter's Moon


Bethany House (February 1, 2010)


by


Don Hoesel



ABOUT THE AUTHOR:



Don Hoesel was born and raised in Buffalo, NY but calls Spring Hill, TN home. He works as a Communications Department supervisor for a Medicare carrier in Nashville, TN. He has a BA in Mass Communication from Taylor University and has published short fiction in Relief Journal.

Don and hopes to one day sell enough books to just say that he's a writer. You can help with that by buying whatever his newest novel happens to be.

He lives in Spring Hill with his wife and two children.



ABOUT THE BOOK

Every family has secrets. Few will go as far as the Baxters to keep them. Bestselling novelist CJ Baxter has made a career out of writing hard-hitting stories ripped from his own life. Still there's one story from his past he's never told. One secret that's remained buried for decades. Now, seventeen years after swearing he'd never return, CJ is headed back to Adelia, NY. His life in Tennessee has fallen to pieces, his grandfather is dying, and CJ can no longer run from the past. With Graham Baxter, CJ's brother, running for Senate, a black sheep digging up old family secrets is the last thing the family and campaign can afford. CJ soon discovers that blood may be thicker than water, but it's no match for power and money. There are wounds even time cannot heal.


If you would like to read the first chapter of Hunter's Moon, go HERE

And the lessons continue...

As I shared  here and here , God has been giving me some "2 x 4" lessons lately.   But they aren't all quite that way...some are more of the "still small voice" variety in the goings-on of everyday life.

Sunday night, I was up a bit late, working on the blog and checking Facebook periodically, when I realized it was snowing.  Now, you have to understand that living in Arkansas, snow is a BIG DEAL.  We don't see it often (this year notwithstanding), we aren't especially well prepared for it (as a whole), and (again, as a general whole) we don't particularly know how to drive in it.  When flurries are forecast, grocery store checkout lines wrap around the store, and if you don't get there quick, there will be no milk and bread to be found.

Between the fact that Billy has to go to work regardless of the weather (and once there, the hospital can declare inclement weather policy and he *can* be required to stay overnight), the inadequate heating in our old, drafty house that makes going out to play in the snow much less fun than it would be otherwise (because once one gets thoroughly chilled, it's difficult to get warmed up again), and our ever-present roof issues, snow is not my friend these days.

I realized something Sunday night, though.  I realized that I wasn't nearly as bothered by the chilly house or the roof concerns as usual.  Then I thought a bit more and realized that I hadn't had my usual bout of frustration when doing laundry earlier.  (Our washer is in our kitchen and our dryer is on our back porch, and often I find myself getting a bit annoyed at the inconvenience of having to unlock the back door, carry the wet laundry across the kitchen, maneuver the obstacle course that is the back porch, and get said laundry into the dryer without mishap.)  The more I thought, the more I realized that many of my "old house irritations" hadn't affected me in the typical ways over the weekend.

And then I realized why.

We are in the very, very early stages of planning a move.  I've been saying an "earlier than planned" move, but that is technically inaccurate.  When we bought my grandparents' house almost 13 years ago, we had planned to have it completely renovated in the eight years it would take us to pay it off, and then be able to sell at a profit and move to our "forever house".  What is that saying about the best-laid plans??  We've hit a number of unexpected turns in the road in those years, and we are nowhere *near* having the work done that we had planned to have done four years ago.  In fact, it needs more work now than we were aware it needed then!

So the revised plan was to continue working on the needed repairs and such, and somewhere *way* down the road, sell and move.  Recent events, however, have caused us to re-evaluate, and it appears that we *may* be moving much earlier than the *revised* plan called for.

This past weekend, we did some very initial scouting and pre-pre-pre-planning.  And despite the fact that this move is still a ways out (6-8 months best case scenario, most likely), and not even a sure thing yet, I realized that my irritation with all my "this old house" annoyances had almost completely evaporated (for the time being, at least! :)), because I have been so focused on what is to come.  The fact that there is, for the first time in a long time, a "light at the end of the tunnel" in the form of hope of being *out* of this house and *into* something *without* all those annoyances has completely changed my attitude.  "Only a while left to deal with this!" has been my constant thought.

Then these verses came to mind...

Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.

~2 Corinthians 4:16-18

And I realized...this is exactly how it should be with our "earthly troubles".

I can't "see" our future home.  I don't know where it will be, what it will look like, or when it will become reality.  I don't even know *for sure* that it WILL become reality.  Probably, but who knows?  We *could* still be in this house when Ammah Grace graduates from high school!  (Perish the thought!!)

And yet, the hope of that home is enough to cause the irritations of this current house to fade into the background...I'm too busy thinking about what is (hopefully) to come!

I don't know when that "eternal glory" is to come either, nor do I understand exactly what it will look like.  Like looking at floor plans, I can see it on paper (in God's Word), but can't really see it accurately in my mind's eye.  But ~ I *do KNOW* for certain that it will happen.  And as the verses in 2 Corinthians say, my eyes should be fixed not on what is seen, what is now, what is temporary, but on what is unseen, what is to come, what is eternal.  And the thought of that eternal glory should make the current "irritations" and "annoyances" and "sufferings" all fade into the "light and momentary" category.

If I have my eyes fixed on the eternal, then like my old house woes, worries about the "storms of life" will fade as hope for the future...a sure and certain hope...replaces them.

But those who wait for the Lord [who expect, look for, and hope in Him] shall change and renew their strength and power; they shall lift their wings and mount up [close to God] as eagles [mount up to the sun]; they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint or become tired.

Isaiah 40:31 (AMP)

Timely Reminder...

Sometimes God speaks in a still, small voice.

Other times, though, it sure seems like he whacks us over the head with a 2 x 4. 

I've struggled at times over the past few years with the whole topic of prayer.  It's not a subject I ever expected to struggle with.  From the time I knew what prayer was, I believed in it, I practiced it, and I watched and waited for God to answer.   Until 3 1/2 years ago.  And suddenly, my prayer life hit the rocks. 

The timing actually would appear odd on the surface.  We had just been through two of the most amazing prayer journeys of my life...the first being Ammah Grace's birth 10 weeks early and subsequent six weeks in NICU, and the second being my dad's last cancer battle and death.  We had the most amazing prayer support ever, and saw God work miracle after miracle and answer prayer after prayer.  We watched Him work in amazing ways even when our prayers for Daddy's healing weren't answered the way we would have chosen.  

We'd been through the fire twice, and survived.  God had been in the fire with us throughout, and had taught us amazing things and shown us awesome things about Himself and His Word.  There had been struggles, to be sure, but overall, we felt stronger than ever. 

Then came July 2006, and the bottom fell out.  And my prayer life was the greatest casualty.

Don't get me wrong...I didn't completely stop praying.  There have been too many loved ones and friends with too many major needs to do that.  There have been times during these years that I have felt a strong burden to pray for certain people and certain needs...and I have.  But my prayer life hasn't been the same, in any respect, as it was before.  

Recently God has been stirring in that area in my life.  There have been improvements, and failures, a few small victories, and mostly ever more struggles.  

And then this morning, the 2 x 4.

The message wasn't anything new or earthshattering.  We had a guest preacher, one familiar and loved in our church.  He is known as much for his brevity as our pastor is for his...well, *not* brevity. :)  But he is solid in the Word, and the message this morning, while probably one of the shortest I've *ever* experienced, hit me squarely between the eyes...with a resounding "THWACK!"

The Scripture was Genesis 18:23ff...the story of Abraham pleading for the people of Sodom and Gomorrah.  Very familiar stuff, since we had covered that very chapter in this week's Bible time in school  (I love it when that happens! :))  It was neat to see the realization dawn in the children's eyes..."Hey, that was our Bible lesson the other day!"  

The topic was intercessory prayer.  Here are a few snippets from my notes:

*Abraham was a friend of God...it should be our heart cry to be the friend of God and to see and be in on what God is doing.

*Abraham was an intercessor, praying for judgement to be kept from those around Him.  

*We are encouraged and admonished in Scripture to be intercessors, to intercede on behalf of others.  

*Intercession involves being consistent.

*God did deliver the righteous before the destruction of the wicked.  God's people are a restraining force against evil.  

*Sometimes selfishness gets in the way of our intercession.  Like Jonah, we don't *want* the wicked to be delivered.  

*Intercessory prayer is hard work, but God calls us to be intercessors...to pray for our country, to pray for each other, to pray for our families.  

*Jesus is interceding for us.  (Heb. 7:25)

A great message with familiar content that many of us need to be reminded of often.

The 2 x 4, though, was in the timing.  

Today was our Ammah Grace's 6th birthday.  Birthdays always bring memories, but Gracie's always brings LOTS of them.  Memories of the midnight ambulance ride to Little Rock in a snowstorm after my water broke at 30 weeks.  Memories of waking up 3 days later to the realization that I was not going to make it another 4 weeks, as they had hoped, before delivery.  Memories of the doctors' grim prognoses...wondering if we would ever get to even take her home, and if so, what kind of health problems and disabilities she would face.  Memories of wanting more than anything to hold and cuddle our baby...to rock her and feed her and do all the things we had done with our older three...and having to be content with watching her through the isolette, and occasionally being able to reach through the portholes and touch her.  Memories of missing my 2, 4, and 6 year olds *so* much as I spent 3 weeks in Little Rock with Ammah Grace before she came home.  Memories, memories, and more memories.  

But as I sat listening to the message this morning, I was overwhelmed by memories of the people who had prayed for Ammah Grace and for our family during those weeks and months.  Overwhelmed also by the memories of the prayers that God had answered in such amazing ways during those days.  Remembering the Christian ambulance crew who took me to Little Rock that night, praying all the way and assuring me they would continue to pray for our family.  Remembering the many trips we made back and forth to Little Rock that year in the snow...and God's provision of safety each and every time.  Remembering being hours away from a neurosurgery consult for her brain bleed after being told that our tiny daughter would need brain surgery, and then a last-minute scan came back showing that the bleed was clearing up on its own, and surgery wouldn't be needed.  Remembering my delight when one of the top neonatogists in the country uttered an amazed "WHAT a miracle!" when he was told that Gracie's had not had to have surgery after all, and that her last scan had come back completely clear.  

There were many people praying for Ammah Grace and for our family during that time whose names I will never know and whose faces I have never seen.  There were many who prayed who encouraged us personally during that time in many ways:

*A lady who called our church office one day and said, "How is that little baby on the sign doing?  I've prayed for her every day..."  (Our church is on a heavily trafficked corner, and our church marquee asked for prayer for Ammah Grace and posted updates for weeks.)  

*Another lady who "ran into" someone from our church and upon finding out what church they attended, asked about Ammah Grace, saying, "I drive by that sign every day, and every time I go by, I pray for her..."

*Our pastor, who called every day, sometimes multiple times, and who never hung up before praying aloud with me over the phone.

*Our homeschool group, who prayed and sent so many encouraging notes in response to my updates to our homeschool email loop. 

*A friend of my dad's who is a true prayer warrior...the first time we went to the grocery store after being released from NICU, we "ran into" him in the grocery store.  He looked at Ammah Grace, and through tears, said, "Let's pray, right now."  So we did.  Right there in the aisle at the Neighborhood Market, we bowed our heads over my grocery cart and he thanked God for the many prayers he had answered in bringing Ammah Grace home safely, and then prayed for her continued good health.  I never will forget the look on the face of the checker who walked by in the middle of our prayer meeting, and stopped to wait until we were finished.  We got to share with her about God's work in Gracie's life, and the many answered prayers we had experienced.  

*Out of town friends, who not only prayed, but visited us in the hospital, and who were such bright spots in those days.

*My parents, who prayed so hard for their tiny granddaughter, and for all of us during those hard days.  I teared up today watching Ammah Grace run up the sidewalk at my mom's house, thinking about how much I wish my dad could see how abundantly his prayers for her were answered.  

*Our other children, who prayed so hard for "Gracie in the hospital" and for Mommy while she was gone.  

*My close friends, who not only prayed, but talked and listened and encouraged and helped in a million ways...especially our friends who had walked a very similar path just a few years before, and who helped us navigate in very unfamiliar territory.  

There are many, many others.  I remember being so excited to find that "Ammah" (which was my great-grandmother's name) means "God's People".  What an incredible reminder of the ways God used His people to pray, and to be the hands and feet of Jesus to us during those days.  As I listened to the sermon this morning, I thought about the many people who prayed for Ammah Grace and for our family in those days, and reflected on the many ways God answered those prayers, and I felt not just stirred, but shaken.  The 2 x 4 brought with it a renewed desire to pray, and a renewed commitment to faithfulness in prayer.  

"This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us - whatever we ask - we know that we have what we asked of Him" 

(1 John 5:14-15)

"Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus" 

(Philippians 4:6-7)

"…The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective" 

(James 5:16)

"And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints" 

(Ephesians 6:18)

For more of Ammah Grace's story...

Reflecting on a Miracle

Five Years Ago...

Preemie Awareness Month (from Ammah Grace's scrapbook)

Still Amazed

Incredible Love

Daybook Monday..."Wee Morning Hours" Edition

FOR TODAY... February 1, 2010

Outside my window...

Very dark and foggy. 

  Still a good bit of snow lingering from Arkansas's version of a blizzard Friday. :)

I am thinking...

about encouragement from friends  online by chat and inbox so many times this week.  What a blessing for God to send just the right words at just the right time during a rough week...

I am thankful... 

that we didn't lose power this weekend, and that we are still safe after last week's excitement...

I am wearing...

Warm fleece Razorback sweats and cozy slippers.

I am remembering...

Six years ago this week.  Six years ago Wednesday, I uttered the infamous (and theologically incorrect, btw...) words to a friend: 

"I know God won't give us more than we can handle, but I have told Him this week that I am there."

The next evening I was in the back of an ambulance being rushed to Little Rock in a snowstorm because my water had broken at 30 weeks.  Three days later, Ammah Grace was born. 

These first weeks of February always bring many memories. 

I can't believe our teeny, tiny girl is going to be SIX on Sunday!!  What a blessing to again reflect on all the miracles in our happy, healthy Gracie's life.  

 

I am going...

to run a quick errand or two (including overdue library books we tried to take back Friday, but were thwarted by the snow...ugh!) this afternoon,

to make every effort to get us back on schedule this week, after last week's interruptions,

and to try to figure out some way to work an afternoon nap into said schedule, as Billy and I are still getting very erratic sleep after last week's threats. 

I am hearing... 

The whirr of the electric heater beside me, and the abnormally loud clicking of the keyboard keys as I type in the silence of the wee morning hours...

I am currently reading...

The Jesus You Can't Ignore, by John McArthur.   This was not a "review book", but I plan to review it as soon as I finish it anyway.   It is one of the few books that I would say every person *needs* to read.   

Thin Places, by Mary DeMuth.  This is a review book, and I can't WAIT to review it.  I have been so excited about this book for so long, and it has in no way disappointed.  

Hunter's Moon, by Don Hoesel.  Another review book by an author with whom I was unfamiliar.   Very good so far, but I'm frankly not reading anything very fast right now.  The sleep situation here has me crashing every time I settle down to try to read. :)  *Really* ready to remedy that!

Along those lines...much of what I *have* read this week has been research in the direction of  a possible move on the horizon.   Not sure exactly what God is doing there, but we are praying and researching and seeking direction and HOPING that perhaps we will be able to speed up (quite a bit!) the move that was planned to be at least several years out.  

I am hoping... 

that we have had the last of the serious "winter weather" for this year.   

On my mind... 

This disturbing clip about the "Church of Oprah", which goes right along with my Misunderstood Peace post from last week:  

I have more thoughts on this which I hope to post soon.  Oprah has come a long way from her Baptist roots.  Her open disdain for doctrine, her total denial of Jesus as the only way,  and her complete dependence on "feelings" are so sad, and very sobering, considering her huge audience.  

Noticing that...

"signs of the times" are truly everywhere. 

Pondering these words... 

"So the LORD said to him, "What is that in your hand?" He said, "A rod." And He said, "Cast it on the ground." So he cast it on the ground, and it became a serpent; and Moses fled from it. Then the LORD said to Moses, "Reach out your hand and take it by the tail" (and he reached out his hand and caught it, and it became a rod in his hand), that they may believe that the LORD God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has appeared to you."  (Ex. 4:2-5)  

MOSES by KEN MEDEMA @ Yahoo! Video

"The rod of Moses became the rod of God.

With the rod of God, touch the rock and the water will come.
With the rod of God, part the waters of the sea.
With the rod of God, you can strike old Pharoah dead.
With the rod of God, you can set my people free."

What do you hold in your hand today?
To what, or to Whom are you bound?
Are you willing to give it to God right now?
Give it up, let it go, throw it down."

(Ken Medema~"Moses") 

From the kitchen... 

Hoping to do some bulk cooking today...ground beef, shredded chicken, and twice baked potatoes for the freezer, snacks for the week, and trying out my friend Annette's Teriyaki Sauce recipe.  I've been trying to do this all weekend, so I hope today it actually happens!  

Around the house... 

Major decluttering this week...we are suddenly in the super-early stages of a possible move, so I am highly motivated to seriously pare down.

One of my favorite things~

3 Day Weekends!  

From my picture journal...

for some reason I can't get Blogger to let me upload pictures today...ugh!

Visit Peggy at the Simple Woman's Daybook for more entries...