BIBLE TIME

I've made three recent changes to my personal Bible study time that I wanted to share with you in case you'd like to try any of them yourself.

First, I started a one year Bible reading plan from Joanna Weaver's site. I've tried various ones in the past, but never make it more than a few weeks before I end up missing a day or two. The box-checker in me doesn't want to skip chapters if my goal is to read the whole Bible and it's just too much reading to get caught up, so I quit. However, today I completed my fourth month on this plan. Fourth! It follows a pattern of six days on and one day off, with a total of twenty-eight days scheduled each month. With only twenty-five reading days, I have plenty of time to catch up if I miss a day. Although I stay pretty close to the assigned schedule and start the plan month on the first of the calendar month, I frequently tweak things and choose which days to have as my off days.

Another thing that's great about this plan is that the reader can choose their start date (most studies assume you'll start January 1st) and starting book (maybe Genesis isn't where you want to begin). The plan alternates between old and new testament books, which I think helps people stay motivated through some portions of the old testament, and also includes something from Psalm or Proverbs each day. I printed out the plan, keep it folded inside my Bible, and check off the chapters as I finish them. It's been so helpful in keeping me accountable to read consistently, something I want to do, but often struggle with.

Second, I switched Bibles. Last Christmas it was twenty years ago that my dad gave me an NIV Life Application Study Bible. I've loved it and it's all marked up with notes and underlining, but the back cover had fallen off, pages were separating, and I finally admitted the need for a new Bible. I took some unspent birthday money from last summer and went shopping. I finally found one that I liked enough to buy, an NIV Study Bible, but Teebs, who had come along with me, said we already had one just like it at home. I sent Tim a text to confirm. Sure enough, we had one from some books we'd been given a few years back that was stashed on a shelf. I claimed it as my own and kept my money.

Third, I used some of that saved birthday money to buy a parallel Bible. I chose Zondervan's NIV/KJV/NASB/AMP version and I'm enjoying it. I know I can get the same info online, and I've done that for years, but I always prefer paper over electronics when it comes to books (and calendars, but that's beside the point). It's been nice to just flip open my parallel Bible right next to my regular one and read multiple versions of the same verse or chapter without needing a screen in front of my face.

Have you used any of these Bibles or the reading plan? If so, do you like them? What Bible(s) do you use?

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THANKFUL THURSDAY

I'm thankful for applesauce rhubarb muffins a friend brought over yesterday that are being eaten as part of breakfast this morning.

What's one thing that you're thankful for?

PICTURE SHENANIGANS

Only half the Ws were home for Family Fun Friday on 4/7 and I asked the kids to take a picture with me between Walk Like a Chicken and Uno. Here's how it went.

Take one.

Teebs, can you please look at the camera?

Thanks for looking, but how about if you don't look constipated?

Well, I guess you don't look constipated.

Seriously. Can you just do one normal smile while facing the camera? Just one? This was supposed to be a quick picture to document the fun we're having, but now Naomi and I are getting irritated.

Where's your card?

Fake smile. I give up. Let's do what's tried and true.

Silly faces. It's what we do best.

Come here, you stinker. Think you're funny, huh? You're going down!

Even when I have you pinned? Ok, fine.

Naomi knows how to play that game.

And so do I.

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KIDS & CRITTERS

The Woodburn Public Library hosted Steve's Creature Feature, a one hour reptile presentation, two Saturdays ago. Silas was working on a project with Tim, but the other three kids wanted to go. I took them over and watched the first three or four reptiles, but Naomi and Teebs were getting increasingly stressed out. The little Ws love animals and aren't fearful by nature, so their response was unexpected. 

We're about two years past Naomi and I being attacked by a dog while on a run, which was six months after she got bit by a dog in someone's home, and she's doing so much better about her anxiety around dogs. However, having a cobra with it's hood fanned out, a monitor lizard loose a few feet away, and other creatures staring her in the eye at close range while sitting front and center was just too much for her. She moved from in front of me to behind me, from totally separated to right next to me. Teebs was also bothered, moving from in front to on my lap, then putting my arms tightly around him.

I firmly believe that it's important to have your kids learn courage, which our family defines as "doing the thing that scares you", which is why we stuck it out for a while. However, I also believe it's important to factor in a person's personal experiences, like being attacked by animals twice in a short period of time at a young age, and not push their comfort level so much that they're traumatized. The physical tension was increasing and eyes were welling up with tears, so I gave those two the option to quietly exit the presentation. They took me up on my offer and we went downstairs to play games and read books

Devon, however, was happy as a clam and took over 150 pictures. That boy of mine loves animals and is a big fan of random facts and trivia, so he was totally in his element as he watched the animals he was learning about. There's a chance to touch and hold some of the animals at the end of the presentation, so he made sure to get his hands on all the ones he could and asked a lady who was there with her kids to use our camera to get pictures of him with the python. 

Most of his pictures were blurry (bad lighting and animals on the move), but here are a few. 

MENU MONDAY - 4/24/17

We tried a new pancake recipe that was fine, but not good enough to make again. There's another new breakfast recipe on tap for this week and I'm hoping it will be a hit.

I keep slacking off on delegating more cooking to the little Ws, so that's something I'm going to be better about this week. I don't plan on spending much time in the kitchen myself. We'll see how it goes!


NEW RECIPES FROM LAST WEEK
* simple roasted pork tenderloin - This was delicious! Simple, yes, but moist and flavorful.

COOKING IN ADVANCE (These are often spontaneous projects, so they'll include things we did at the last minute the previous week and/or plan on doing in the upcoming one.)
* peanut butter in the food processor and a seasoned mix black and pinto beans in the crockpot, just like we do once or twice every week
* dry roasted almonds

BREAKFAST
* oatmeal with a rotation of the following toppings - brown sugar, cinnamon, milk, homemade peanut butter, maple almond butter, raisins, dried cranberries, fresh or frozen fruit, huh-koe-pee milk, and/or energy mix x4
* doughnuts at church
* egg & veggie scramble
* new recipe / plain Greek yogurt

DINNER
* leftovers (every Sunday so that we can have a day off from cooking, plus one other day this week because only two people will be home for dinner)
* Silas' enchiladas / lemon garlic cucumbers
* lentils & rice
* new recipe / balsamic roasted brussels sprouts
* creamy butternut pasta / frozen peas & corn
* orange cashew chicken & rice / bok choy with garlic & ginger

SNACKS & DESSERTS
* fruits and vegetables
* peanuts and dry roasted almonds
* popcorn with nutritional yeast, regular salt, or seasoned salt (kernels from the WinCo bulk department that get popped in my Lodge Dutch oven, but you can see my thoughts on both the wonderful Dutch oven and the fantastic West Bend Stir Crazy in this post.)
* banana bread (I have pictures of the other two banana bread recipes - whole wheat and cream cheese - and will finally get a picture up for this one) 

Note: Any chicken breasts, 93/7 ground beef, applewood smoked ham, or pork tenderloins in our menus are from Zaycon Fresh. We've been making bulk purchases from them for a while and have been pleased with their products.

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WHAT IS HAPPENING TO ME?!

Do you know what's shocking?

And amusing?

Some of you did as soon as you looked at the pictures. But in case you're one who doesn't have a clue, I'll tell you.

I wore shirts with patterns, even though I always wear solid shirts.

I wore a shirt with 3/4 length sleeves, even though I only like short or long sleeve shirts.

I wore a purple shirt, even though I never, never, never wear purple.

And I wore both shirts in public. Multiple times. Two days in a row.

(Sidenote: The purple shirt is a couple inches longer and way less pleated than it looks. I think my bag just pulled it all wonky.)

The shirts were freebies from the spring clothing exchange, so I won't feel guilty if I don't end up keeping them, but I'm making a point to stretch myself in various ways. I decided to bring these two shirts home. And I wore them both within the first week of acquiring them. And I lived to tell about it.

I ditched structure for a day and sketched a painting. I led a group craft. Then I busted out of the clothing routine I'm quite happy with. All in a ten day period. I must be having a mid-life crisis.

THANKFUL THURSDAY

I'm thankful that after five weeks of working in the ones at Wednesday night Bible study (meaning I'm in class way before church starts), one week home with a sick kid, and one week arriving just in the nick of time because I had to be at a meeting beforehand, I was at church at our normal early time last night and got to visit with so many people. Pre-church visiting is one of my favorite things and I've missed it the last seven Wednesdays!

What is one thing you're thankful for?

4/19/17 - WORTH REPEATING

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You see, what thanksgiving does is it puts hope in the mind. 

~ Tony Evans in Overcoming Anxiety Strongholds, part 2 at OnePlace

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In the middle of the night / When worry finds me / In the middle of the fight / When strength is gone / In the middle of a fire / When fear is closing in / You are, you are my song / You're my hope when hope is gone / So, I will cast my cares on you, the almighty / I will cast my cares on you cause you're good / I will cast my cares on you cause you love me / You love me / Oh, oh, because you love me

~ Tim Timmons in Cast My Cares on Cast My Cares


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I have learned that when you are walking with Jesus, the Holy Spirit is always up to something. And when it comes to conviction, I have found the Spirit to be gentle but relentless. 

Change and transformation is an ongoing process. I am always grateful how the Spirit isn't harsh or overwhelming but rather how at the right time and in the right moment, we know it's time to change. 

~ Sarah Bessey in So I Quit Drinking at Sarah Bessey


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So number your days, dear friends. Ask yourself, how can I worship God with my life today? How can I worship Him today with my relationships, activities, and attitude? Then ask Him to help you do that, because He will.

~ Tauna in Number Your Days ... and worship with them at Proverbial Homemaker


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Give, and give some more. We're never happy when we are hoarding. Taking our minds off of ourselves and caring for others will go far in keeping us motivated and on track in all areas of life. 

And being generous doesn't mean you have to give money, although it can. You can give of your time as well! The rewards here go way beyond anything you can earn financially. 

~ Tiffiny Sheyda in Turn $10 into $24,000 Without Ever Leaving Home at Money Saving Mom


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INDOOR ART & OUTDOOR ACTIVITY

Last Tuesday I woke the kids up and told them we were leaving in an hour. They made breakfast while I slapped together some sandwiches and gathered produce for lunch, then we all took off after we were done with chores and eating.

Our first stop was the Hallie Ford Museum of Art. I'd been wanting to go ever since a friend told us about it a couple years ago, but I always remember at inopportune times. We each brought a notebook and sketched one of our favorite pieces as we wandered through the different galleries. 

I failed to get a picture of Devon sketching, but I did catch him checking out this really cool tower of blankets.

 
And then he made me laugh. Such an obedient rule follower, right?

We enjoyed the museum and will definitely return as they change exhibits. For those who live in the area, admission is always free for minors and free for everyone on Tuesdays. The city has metered parking, both coin and card options, and it costs $1.50 an hour.

Our next stop was Bush's Pasture Park, a place Naomi and I discovered and fell in love with a couple summers ago. I figured we'd stay for an hour or so, eating our picnic lunch and getting some wiggles out before heading home, so I made sure to get a picture of all of us early on.

We ended up staying almost four hours! It was an overcast day during normal school and business hours, so most of the people there were just walkers and runners doing laps. A few kids hung out in the playground for a while, but we pretty much had the place to ourselves.

The kids played as a group, spent time on their own, and did stuff in ever-changing sibling combinations. They goofed off on the playground, hiked down to the creek, tossed a frisbee in a field, kicked a ball through wooded areas, walked someone's dog, and tried new stunts. I played with them part of the time and spent the rest taking pictures, reading a brochure from the museum, and staring into space. I would have brought a book if I'd known we were staying so long, but it was nice to just do nothing.

We finally left because we didn't want to get caught in rush hour traffic and it ended up raining as we pulled out of the parking lot. Perfect timing!

I'd made plans earlier to go to the museum and park that day, although I hadn't told anyone, but I was awake until the early morning hours with stuff on my mind. I almost ditched the plan out of exhaustion, but I'm so glad I didn't! Staying home would have resulted in one crabby mom and four energetic kids being cooped up in their own four walls all day, probably battling over school and household responsibilities. Instead, we enjoyed several hours of neat art, fresh air, rest, exercise, chatting, and laughter. Such a fun day!

MENU MONDAY - 4/17/17

NEW RECIPES FROM LAST WEEK
* roasted zukes - This isn't new, but I'd never typed it up before.
* garlic ginger green beans - We experimented with roasted green beans and liked how they turned out.

COOKING IN ADVANCE (These are often spontaneous projects, so they'll include things we did at the last minute the previous week and/or plan on doing in the upcoming one.)
* peanut butter and a seasoned mix black and pinto beans in the crockpot, just like we do once or twice every week
* dry roasted almonds
* navy beans (crockpot, for freezer)

BREAKFAST
* oatmeal with a rotation of the following toppings - brown sugar, cinnamon, milk, homemade peanut butter, maple almond butter, raisins, dried cranberries, fresh or frozen fruit, huh-koe-pee milk, and/or energy mix x4
* doughnuts at church
* egg & veggie scramble
* new recipe

DINNER
* leftovers (every Sunday so that we can have a day off from cooking)
* beef chowder (crockpot) / toast (got skipped last week)
* Seattle cream cheese dogs with sauerkraut hot dog topping / apples / carrots
* Silas' chicken (crockpot) / brown rice / simple roasted broccoli  
* new recipe / brown rice / roasted asparagus
* everyone out & about in different places for dinner
* Mexican baked eggs with black beans, tomatoes, and chiles / tortilla chips / mandarin green salad

SNACKS & DESSERTS
* fruits and vegetables
* peanuts and dry roasted almonds
* popcorn with nutritional yeast, regular salt, or seasoned salt (kernels from the WinCo bulk department that get popped in my Lodge Dutch oven, but you can see my thoughts on both the wonderful Dutch oven and the fantastic West Bend Stir Crazy in this post.)
* Outshine popsicles

Note: Any chicken breasts, 93/7 ground beef, applewood smoked ham, or pork tenderloins in our menus are from Zaycon Fresh. We've been making bulk purchases from them for a while and have been pleased with their products.

** This post contains affiliate links and we're grateful when people use them. ** 

CRAFT LEADER

Our homeschool group's spring festival was this morning. I usually run one of the stations and always choose some sort of game or activity. This time I chose a craft. A simple craft, but a craft nonetheless. Let me repeat that. I chose a craft. Pinwheels, to be exact.

I found simple directions last week, went to the store yesterday to buy supplies, then came home to make one to use as an example ... and to make sure I was competent enough to teach people how to make their own.

Proof that I made a pinwheel.

Proof that it actually worked.

Proof that I helped twenty kids go home with pinwheels of their own.

Now I need to find a creative use for the rest of the scrap paper I bought!

THANKFUL THURSDAY

I'm thankful for opportunities our family has to serve the communities we're part of of and give of our resources.

What's one thing that you're thankful for?

A TALE OF TWO BETHANY WEATHERSBYS

A while back, probably two or three years ago, although I don't remember exactly, I received a Facebook message and friend request from someone asking if I was Lucy's mom. I told them I wasn't and moved on with my day. Another day someone else asked me the same question. Then later, another person.

Time to do some sleuthing!

If you search "Bethany Weathersby" online, what you'll usually find, other than all the public record pages, is a great cornbread recipe and the story of Lucy. The recipe is mine, one Granny shared with me and I shared with the world. Lucy belonged to another Bethany Weathersby, my name twin. The cornbread recipe is delicious and makes people happy. Lucy's story is one of loss and grief that might make you cry. But, that's not all her story is.

Have you ever heard of anti-kell antibodies? I hadn't either until I discovered who the other Bethany Weathersby is. She gives a thorough explanation here, but the nutshell is that if an unborn child's blood is kell positive and the mom has developed anti-kell antibodies, then her body will try to kill her child's in an attempt to protect itself.

So, back to Lucy's story. The tragedy is that Lucy was stillborn. Bethany had unknowingly developed anti-kell antibodies at the birth of her second child and Lucy was kell positive. Between the fact that Bethany wasn't aware of the problem going into her third pregnancy and the lack of appropriate medical care, Lucy's life ended before she was born. But, like I said earlier, that's not all there is to Lucy's story. Or Bethany's.

Bethany started a blog, Losing Lucy and Finding Hope, chronicling her journey through the aftermath of Lucy's death and looking for the good she trusted God would bring out of such a heart-breaking loss. What's happened is that parents facing pregnancies with anti-kell complications are hopping online to learn more about their new reality, a medical situation that very few professionals have any experience treating, and discovering both information and hope in Bethany's story of Lucy. And their babies are living. Why? Because one precious little baby died and her mom chose to research, find experts, and share those resources, along with her own experience, to empower others to help save the lives of their unborn babies.

So, back to those Facebook messages and friend requests I was still getting on a regular basis. I kept responding by saying I wasn't the person they were looking for, but one day I did a little sleuthing and quickly found the Bethany they wanted. Then, a little over a year ago, I gave someone a link to the right Bethany's Facebook page. I immediately felt awkward about doing that without her permission. It's not a huge problem, given that I found her page myself in about 30 seconds and her story is public, but it still felt a little odd to pass along a stranger's info to another stranger.

I wrote to Bethany, explaining who I was, who I'd been hearing from, and asking how she wanted me to handle future messages from people. We exchanged a few messages and then moved on. But I started reading her blog. And I kept hearing from people who were looking for her. And about a month ago I sent her a Facebook friend request. I could count on one hand the number of those requests I've sent out, so that's a bigger deal than it seems.

This woman, my name twin, a person I barely know and who knows even less of me than I do of her, has taught me about a subject I previously knew nothing about, been one of those people we need in our lives who shift our perspective from time to time, and given me opportunities to pray for and encourage the parents who cross my path in their search for her. I'm thankful that our worlds collided.

UPDATE - Since this post, Bethany formed Allo Hope Foundation. It's a fantastic resource for women in her situation who find themselves dealing with Alloimmnuizaion and Hemolytic Disease of the Fetus and Newborn. 

MOVIES I WATCHED: 1/22/17 - 4/11/17

Doubletime
This documentary shows the strength, agility, coordination, and teamwork of two rope jumping teams as they prepare for a big competition. Super impressive!

Fences
Maybe it was the picture on the case, but I expected something happier than this was. The story of a black man facing the realities of his life in the 1950s, I expected there to be some hard stuff. The actors did well, but this was just a downer of a story for me with the negatives far outweighing the positives.

The Great Gilly Hopkins
A foster child who's convinced her birth mom wants her makes choices that cause her to risk losing everything good in her life. Totally predictable, but still a decent movie.

Loving
Based on the civil rights case of Loving v. Virgina in 1967, this movie is about an interracial couple whose marriage was illegal because of their skin color and the court battle to overturn laws preventing restrictions on marriage related to race.

Me Before You
I loved the book by the same title, which I read in February, and the movie didn't disappoint. It's about a happy small town girl and a bitter paralyzed man who used to live the high life. I think it's difficult and beautiful at the same time, regardless of how one feels about the issues at stake.

Mr. Church
This was a fabulous movie about the relationship between a woman, her daughter, and the man who cooks for them. Originally intended to be a six month arrangement, it ended up lasting fifteen years and they all became family to each other. I loved this movie.

Pete's Dragon - 1977 and 2016 versions
Other than an orphaned boy and a dragon, the two movies don't have a much in common, but they're both enjoyable stories about fighting against evil and finding a place to belong.

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MENU MONDAY - 4/10/17

The zucchini & tomato skillet we'd planned last week ended up being roasted zukes, another meal got bumped to this week because I went to dinner with my cousin while everyone else had Papa Murphy's, and sweet green muffins got moved to this week because Naomi asked to make Barbara's pancakes instead. Such is life. Having a menu in place is so helpful, but it's easy to tweak things as needed.

NEW RECIPES
* tuna casserole - This is an old recipe, but one I'd never posted before.
* beef & mushroom spaghetti sauce - I came up with this to use up some bargain mushrooms.
* coconut oatmeal cookies - Perfectly chewy with just enough crispness to the outside to make them perfect. They're also dairy-free, for those who care about that.

COOKING IN ADVANCE (These are often spontaneous projects, so they'll include things we did at the last minute the previous week and/or plan on doing in the upcoming one.)
* peanut butter and a seasoned mix black and pinto beans in the crockpot, just like we do once or twice every week
* dry roasted almonds

BREAKFAST
* oatmeal with a rotation of the following toppings - brown sugar, cinnamon, milk, homemade peanut butter, maple almond butter, raisins, dried cranberries, fresh or frozen fruit, huh-koe-pee milk, and/or energy mix x4
* doughnuts at church
* egg & veggie scramble
* sweet green muffins 

DINNER
* leftovers (every Sunday so that we can have a day off from cooking)
* beef chowder (crockpot) / toast
* Cuban black beans & coconut rice
* teriyaki chicken salad 
* do-it-all chicken (crockpot) / brown rice / apple & cranberry green salad 
* beans & greens
* chicken veggie stir-fry / brown rice

SNACKS & DESSERTS
* fruits and vegetables
* peanuts and dry roasted almonds
* popcorn with nutritional yeast, regular salt, or seasoned salt (kernels from the WinCo bulk department that get popped in my Lodge Dutch oven, but you can see my thoughts on both the wonderful Dutch oven and the fantastic West Bend Stir Crazy in this post.)
* Nantucket cranberry pie

I love the texture combination in teriyaki chicken salad, versatility of beans & greens, and delicious almond flavor in Nantucket cranberry pie. What is one of your favorite hearty salads? 

Note: Any chicken breasts, 93/7 ground beef, applewood smoked ham, or pork tenderloins in our menus are from Zaycon Fresh. We've been making bulk purchases from them for a while and have been pleased with their products.

** This post contains affiliate links and we're grateful when people use them. ** 

GIRLS' NIGHT OUT

Several weeks ago Naomi and I were invited to a concert. I accepted the invitation, marked the calendar, and gave Tim a heads up ... but I didn't tell Naomi.

This afternoon Silas asked me what "3:30 Kit" meant on the calendar and I told him I was just hanging out with my friend for a while. When Naomi asked me a little later what we were going to be doing I said it was just girl time. She, of course, pointed out that's she's a girl and asked if it was just for adults or if she could come along this time. I agreed to think about letting her come, eventually agreed to grant her request, then snapped a quick picture of ourselves while we waited for Kit to swing by for some allegedly unstructured girl time.

Kit and her friend, Diane, picked us up and Kit asked Naomi how her day had been. Naomi said good. Kit said it was about to get better. Naomi looked at me with a funny expression, then heard Kit tell her we were all going to a Newsboys' Love Riot concert together. The look on Naomi's face was priceless! She was surprised and excited, wondering if I knew and then how long I'd known.

We drove to the venue, had a picnic in the car while it rained and hailed outside, stood in line once the skies cleared, and then found a place to sit. Here we all are before the show.

Naomi took this picture as proof of what concert she was at.

Tim and the boys weren't home when we left and she didn't want her brothers to know where she was yet, but she was excited and wanted to tell someone. So she briefly interrupted Papa's visit with Aunt Judy and Uncle Dean to tell him her big news over the phone.

Then she was given a CD of her own to take home. She's so excited about that! She suggested the CD could be in the picture I'd wanted to get of her and I. But, of course!

Finally, it was Newsboys time. She watched.

She sang.

She clapped. She bounced.

And then we went home ... with a plan in place for how to tell the boys, who were already konked out when we arrived, about our fun evening. Her new CD is waiting in the CD player of our van and we'll turn it on when we head to church in the morning. The boys will probably think the first song is the radio, but at some point will realize they're listening to a CD and ask where it came from. That's when she'll do a little gloating - first that she got to go to the concert, then that she got to stay up later than her two older brothers. Honestly, I think those two things were equally exciting to her tonight.

WHEN GAMES INTERSECT REALITY

I recently mentioned how we've been spending some time on Friday evenings having simple fun at home as a family. Last week we played Apples to Apples Junior and I wound up with this card.

Tim and I just looked at each other and laughed. The kids asked what was so funny. One was convinced it was because green apples, as seen on every card, actually taste a little bitter. They were wrong. The truth, which isn't funny at all, is that I'm bitter. Really bitter. And I have been for a long time.

I'm currently going in for counseling every few weeks because I hit a point where I just couldn't live with myself anymore. Not in suicidal sense, but life was just so miserable for me ... and therefore miserable for everyone I live with. I can't control all of life's circumstances, none of which have changed, but I do have the freedom and responsibility to choose my attitude. I just couldn't figure out how to do that on my own. So I asked for help.

I'm so thankful for people who call out our poor behavior and validate our feelings, speak the truth in such a way that we want to change instead of getting defensive, flip through the Bible on their lap as they share verses to encourage and challenge us, give practical suggestions that prove to be very effective, and clearly care about us as individuals (and our families, if we have them), not just a problem to fix.

It's an understatement to say I'm still a work in progress, but I feel hopeful for the first time in ages. Maybe one day we'll be playing this game and chuckle because I get the "bitter" card, one that obviously doesn't describe me anymore. One day.

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THANKFUL THURSDAY

I'm thankful for hand-me-downs moving through our family - our kids sharing clothes they've outgrown or won't need with other families we know, people taking clothes we put on the freebie corner in our yard, the kids having fun "shopping" as we periodically go through the bins we keep for upcoming sizes that friends have given us, and bi-annual clothing exchanges for me.

What's something that you're thankful for?

THOUGHTFUL FRIEND, TASTY COOKIES

A couple weeks ago a friend asked for my mailing address. Two days later I came home from church to find a package at my doorstep. I assumed it was from her, but had absolutely no idea what it was.

Opening it up confirmed that she's just as generous as always and still pays attention to details. Inside the box was a 2-pack of silicone baking mats. She'd read my most recent recipe where I mentioned that I don't use parchment paper or silicone mats and spraying cookie sheets works just fine. Then she sent me silicone mats because, in her words, cookie lovers need them.

Not only that, but she knows I don't like to have stuff for the sake of having stuff, prefer things with multiple uses over single use items, and expect everything to earn the space it takes up in our home. So she told me to give them to someone else if I didn't love them enough to keep them.

It took ten days, but I finally got to use them for tonight's dessert. This picture was taken in lousy lighting, but you can see one being put to use.

I'd still be perfectly content spraying cookie sheets, and may still do it sometimes because I can get more cookies on the sheet that way and cleanup isn't hard, but these are super handy! I love that I didn't have to scrub the cookie sheets between batches, since there's still some cookie remnants left behind when I spray the cookie sheets.

Today we used them for a new recipe, coconut oatmeal cookies, pictured above. I love the silicone sheets and the new cookies!

SERMON NOTES

Devon was sitting next to me at church on Sunday and this is what I saw when I looked over at his notebook.

His notes were written in a code that he knows. So funny!

MENU MONDAY - 4/3/17

We ended up having two leftover nights on the last menu and liked both of the new recipes we tried. I call that a successful week.

NEW RECIPES
* pumpkin soup - With a totally different flavor than the pumpkin soup with lentils (yellow bell peppers, ginger, cumin, etc.) we've made before, this soup has the flavor of coconut, maple, cinnamon, and nutmeg and an optional sesame kale garnish. It sounds like an odd combo, but it's delicious!
* apple dijon kale salad - I loved this mix of textures and flavors - chewy and crunchy, sweet and spicy. The only bummer is we harvested the end of last year's kale to make it. Guess it's time to plant more!

COOKING IN ADVANCE (These are often spontaneous projects, so they'll include things we did at the last minute the previous week and/or plan on doing in the upcoming one.)
* a seasoned mix black and pinto beans in the crockpot and peanut butter, just like we do once or twice every week
* seasoned salt

BREAKFAST
* oatmeal with a rotation of the following toppings - brown sugar, cinnamon, milk, homemade peanut butter, maple almond butter, raisins, dried cranberries, fresh or frozen fruit, huh-koe-pee milk, and/or energy mix x4
* doughnuts at church
* egg & veggie scramble
* sweet green muffins

DINNER
* leftovers (every Sunday so that we can have a day off from cooking)
* cumin lime black bean quinoa salad on a bed of spinach
* new recipe / zucchini & tomato skillet
* spiced lentil soup / toast
* do-it-all chicken (crockpot) / brown rice / apple & cranberry green salad
* buffalo slaw / brown rice
* honey baked lentils / brown rice (skipped last week in favor of a second night of leftovers)

SNACKS & DESSERTS
* fruits and vegetables
* peanuts and dry roasted almonds
* popcorn with nutritional yeast, regular salt, or seasoned salt (kernels from the WinCo bulk department that get popped in my Lodge Dutch oven, but you can see my thoughts on both the wonderful Dutch oven and the fantastic West Bend Stir Crazy in this post.)
* new recipe

Let's see, what am I most excited to eat? Homemade seasoned salt is tasty and inexpensive. Buffalo slaw is a family favorite that we now have lots of other people hooked on. Balsamic roasted brussels sprouts are delicious. And I'm pretty sure I'll like the new dessert recipe. 

Which of these recipes appeals to you? Any you've made before?


Note: Any chicken breasts, 93/7 ground beef, applewood smoked ham, or pork tenderloins in our menus are from Zaycon Fresh. We've been making bulk purchases from them for a while and have been pleased with their products.

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