Works For Me Wednesday - The Classic Edition

The other Shannon over at Rocks in My Dryer hosts this great event so go check out all the fabulous ideas. Everyone is re-running their favorite tip today so there should be some oldies-but-goodies! Here's mine!


I haven't had time to read all the entries today, so I hope this isn't a repeat.I make fajita kits for nights when we're really busy. Frozen peppers and onions in one ziploc bag, frozen (fully cooked, seasoned and sliced) chicken in another bag, tortillas in another bag, and shredded cheese and taco sauce in smaller ziploc bags. Then I put all of that in a BIG bag and stick it in the freezer. I can grab one out, heat everything up and have dinner ready in less than 20 minutes

Monday - Health goals check in

It's been a few weeks since I checked in and that's because...(big surprise) I fell off the wagon. Being sick and having sick kids and a few other stresses were just perfect excuses to soothe myself with food (and, if you've eaten a bag of pizza rolls and drank a couple of cokes, why bother exercising, right?). But I have renewed my committment and the fight goes on:) I have spent a lot of time praying about this especially over the last few days and it's finally sunk in to me that I'm addicted to eating. Not to food - to eating.
See I was thinking about why I don't drink alcohol. It's not because I think it's a sin - I don't. If Christ drank wine, that's good enough for me. I do believe drunkeness is a sin, but that's a whole other topic. Anyway. The reason I just don't drink is that I have a family history of alcoholism and I've always wanted to avoid even the possibility of being addicted to alcohol. And, by His grace alone, I have. But I seem to have replaced drinking alcohol with eating. When I've had a stressful day, I literally can't wait to sit down and "snack." If I'm out of something I want to eat, I'll make a special trip. That's right, for a coke and chips I will load up three kids and face the grocery store. Now if that's not addiction, I don't know what is!
So once again I'll have to call on my Father. I just. can't. do. this. by. myself. I need the strength to turn away from the temptation. I need the peace only He gives when my day has been long. I need to rest in Him, not at the dinner table.

My Word Cloud - funny, huh?

 

Next Week's Discussion

We're still talking about No Ordinary Home right here, so feel free to continue commenting. I just wanted to remind everyone to check with Dawn here for the location of next week's discussion on Chapter 5. We're going to talk about the Sabbath and it is an awesome chapter!

No Ordinary Home discussion

Welcome everybody! It's time to discuss Chapter Four of No Ordinary Home. I hope y'all are enjoying this as much as I am. Thanks, Dawn, for getting us all together - this is great!

The Dailies
I could've written this chapter. Casey and started our home together with vastly - vastly! - different attitudes about housekeeping. He was fanatically neat - I recognized this when we were dating and he paused a movie we were watching to take the popcorn bowl into the kitchen, wash it!, and put it away before finishing the movie - and I was, well, less fanatical. I had no problem vacuuming once a month instead of once a week, for example (this was before we had rugrats, by the way). When Levi came along I was thrown for a total loop - not only was I dealing with some health issues, a brand new baby, a lot of (I hate to admit) anger and guilt about having a c-section, a total reordering of my life plan and a (perceived) big power shift between me and Casey, but now I was supposed to KEEP THE HOUSE CLEAN, TOO!!!
For a long time I thought that having a clean house was surely a sign that I wasn't using my brain - it was a pride thing. Surely I was too...whatever...to be scrubbing toilets, right? But when I finally (listened to my Father and) changed my attitude to reflect Colossians 3:23-24 - And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men; knowing that from the Lord you shall receive the reward of the inheritance. For you serve the Lord Christ - I started to see that life is in these details. The toilet has to be cleaned, so clean it well, clean it with style! About that time I was reminded of an illustration that I read in one of Mary Pride's books (I think All The Way Home) about Cinderella. In the old Disney movie, Cinderella is singing and swishing and swabbing the floor with class and beauty. Because she is faithful in her work, she is fit to go before the prince (along the lines of Proverbs 22:29 Do you see a man diligent in his business? He shall stand before kings; he shall not stand before unknown men.) Well, my Prince is coming to sweep me away one day, too. How do I want Him to find me? Diligently doing my work with grace and a thankful heart or whining about how hard my lot is and how no one helps me?
But how do we go from knowing so little about running a home to doing it with grace and style and love? I really liked what she said about having a committee. I think we often feel like we need A Titus 2 woman to show us how to do everything, but that doesn't work. We aren't supposed to be carbon copies of one another. And no single older woman is going to know everything we need to know. We have to be *picky* - picking a little from this woman about scheduling, a little from this woman about cleaning, a little from this woman about cooking and a little from this woman about doing it all with joy:)
Carol (the author - I feel like we're friends now so I'm going to call her Carol:) ) left us with some great practical questions to ponder so that we can make some changes in the areas where we see a need.

List the areas of your life that feel disorganized, cluttered, chaotic.
Who can help you organize or learn the tricks of homemaking in those areas?
What areas of your life feel sacred to you?
How can you enhance them? Make them more regular? Share them with others?
What areas of your life feel ordinary, mundane, and definitely not sacred?
I think I'll think and pray about these tonight and share about them tomorrow in the comments. Please, everyone, feel free to make yourselves at home here. Share about your thoughts on the chapter, how you felt as you started making a home, your answers to the above questions-just anything:)

Grocery Shopping - the whole story

Today was Jack's first time sitting in the front of the grocery buggy. Stop yawning - this is a big deal in our family! Brenna was promoted to sitting in the back and helping stack the groceries and Levi, as always, was walking beside me (or running or hopping but at least staying out of the way). Things were going well. Jack loves his grocery seat cover. It kept him occupied the whole time and I only paid $4 for it! Brenna was sitting comfortably on a pack of Kroger brand pullups (which have velcro sides like the expensive ones) and stacking the boxes. I kept having to remind Levi though to watch where he was going. He'd turn around to talk to me and bump into one thing after another. Just as I was saying "Levi, please, for the hundredth time, be careful. If you bump into that tower of cans it will fall," well, what do you think happened? That's right. I ram the buggy right into a big old center aisle display of @L Sprites. Four cases (that's 24 bottles, folks) come crashing to the ground. It was such a cartoons-come-to-life kind of moment. But my precious son was very chivilrous about it. "That's alright, mom, it was just an accident. You can't help you weren't watching where you were going." :( He helped me pick up all the bottles (boy, I hope whoever buys those has a long ride home). He's a good kid.

My 9-11 Story

The other Shannon over at Rocks in My Dryer is encouraging others to share the story of where they were on September 11, 2001. Her's is here. If you'd like to share your's or read others you can leave a link or find a link at the bottom of her post.

I was at work on the morning of September 11, 2001. Almost six months pregnant, I was actually having a pretty good morning (which meant I'd been able to hold down some breakfast). I was at my desk snacking on vanilla wafers and peanut butter, listening to the radio - oh, and working - when my sister-in-law called to tell me a plane a hit the World Trade Center. I pictured a little plane - I thought maybe some little commuter type plane had been flying in the city for some reason and gotten of course. I couldn't understand why my sister-in-law, who was at home watching the news, sounded so upset.
I remember talking casually about it to Casey and with my co-workers. And turning on the radio to see what they were saying. I especially remember not being very upset just yet.
I went into the lobby and turned on the old black and white tv just in time to see the second plane hit. My boss was standing beside me as I sat down hard on the couch. It was suddenly very obvious to me what was going on and my first concern was my brother. He was in the navy then (the Army now) and stationed at Norfolk in Virginia. Just the year before he had been on a ship in the Middle East when the USS Cole was bombed - they had passed through Yemen only days before and after the attack his ship had turned around to go back to Yemen and assist the Cole. Knowing that these planes may well send us to war, knowing that he was just down the coast from where all this was happening and might be called to go there - it just chilled me to the bone.
By then everyone of my co-workers was standing around this tiny black and white screen. We all watched together for a little while before my boss sent me to Walmart to buy a new big screen tv for the lobby. When I got to Walmart, I wasn't the only one buying a tv. It seemed like everyone had to know what was going on. How many of us were glued to our televisions that day and in the days to come? Walmart - that's where I was when I heard about the plane hitting the Pentagon. So many times we walk through the store without noticing the people around us, but that day I was so concious of the other people. There was just a sense of really being one nation that day and in the days that followed.
I cried on the way back to work thinking of the world I was bringing my baby into. I called my husband and my parents. I called friends to make sure they were safe. I prayed. And now, five years later, the world is still spinning and The One on the Throne is still in control. And I am still praying...for the safety of our nation and for the souls of our nation. None of us who lived through that day will ever forget that day. I didn't know anyone who lost their life in New York or Washington or Pennsylvania that day, but it still changed my life. Never again will any of us be able to say "it can't happen here."

Works For Me Wednesday

This is a pretty simple idea, but it really works for me when I'm cooking supper. This toy is supposed to hang on the side of the crib, but it never saw much use that way around here because my babies don't spend much time in their crib. It's perfect to hang on the back of a kitchen chair, though. Once they can sit up pretty well, I hang it up and they only get to sit there while I'm cooking - they're close to me, but occupied and out of harm's way.
Now head on over to the other Shannon's and check out all the fabulous ideas!
BTW, that's eczema on his little cheeks and it looks much worse in the picture than in real life, but if anyone has any ideas about how to get rid of it - I'll try anything at this point! It comes and goes, but I have tried cuting everything out of my diet and if it's an allergy I sure can't figure it out. He's still pretty cute though, huh?

Moms and Dads for Modesty

Everyday Mommy has come up with a brilliant plan for parents to band together in supporting companies that provide modest, but still cute, clothing for little girls. Go here to read her mission statement and add your name to her comments section.

Free Chocolate

Go here and signup (it's fast, I promise) and we'll both get free chocolate! Good free chocolate!