Weekly Menu and Other Happenings

We are all enjoying a couple weeks off school since Grandma S and Uncle Mark will be arriving on Wednesday. The first few days this week we are working on a little house cleaning and laundry. The bad news is today it has taken five hours for my washing machine to wash one load and it still never spun. I am very scared. My washing machine is one thing I don't know how I will live without. I have about three more loads sitting in the laundry room waiting to be washed and tomorrow is my big laundry day when I wash all the kids clothes. It will be something like 6-7 loads. I hope my hubby is able to figure it out tonight and do something about it. The kids will seriously not have anything to wear. They are already down to their jeans with holes in them and are sleeping in there swimming shorts.

On the school side of things, the kids have been talking about sharks lately and we decided to do a shark lapbook. So, I guess you can say we are doing school this week, just don't tell the kids.

Well, mom is looking forward to dinner out with girlfriends tonight. It has been a long time overdue. We are heading to Coco's a Mexican restaurant we recently found in town. Yum! This is what the rest will be eating and what we will be eating for the rest of the week.

Monday - Baked potato bar (with bacon, broccoli, cheese, sour cream, ranch) and bread
Tuesday - Chicken with cream sauce in the crockpot, noodles, and bread
Wednesday - Lasagna, caesar salad, garlic bread
Thursday - Chicken Fajhitas, mexican rice
Friday - Pizza (either homemade or delivery)
Saturday - Grilling something out if we are home
Sunday - Father's day, not sure yet?

Weekly Menu

I am still trying to get back into the swing of life at home after my daughter's surgery and stay at the hospital last week. If I can think of enough meals, I may even post next weeks menu just to make my life easier. Next week, we also have Grandma S. and uncle Mark coming to visit. We are all looking forward to company and some special time with family.

Monday - Taco Soup, corn bread
Tuesday - Chicken BBQ's, salad, potato wedges
Wednesday - Spaghetti with homemade sauce, caesar salad, garlic bread
Thursday - Chicken strips, mashed potatoes and salad
Friday - Baked Potato Bar
Saturday - Small Group BBQ here, lots of hamburgers, hotdogs and chicken legs
Sunday - Tuna Melts and chips

Next weeks menu will have to come in a few days.

Being Intentional

These words are coming out of my mouth lately. I feel something inside me whispering, "live life intentionally." My advice to others has been that we need to be intentional. As I think about my life, I see how often times I can be lazy. I let one day pass into the next without even thinking about it. My goal is to not let life slip by without me even noticing, growing or changing. Following are areas where I am going to work on being intentional and goals for myself.

1. In my relationship with God
I will get up ten minutes earlier to get ready and then have time to pray and ready my Bible. I know by doing this, it will put my focus in the right place for the day. Another idea just popped into my head. I will write down one meaningful verse I read that day on a note card and meditate on it through the day. I struggle so much with doing this in the morning and often times, when I do take that time to spend with God, I have a horrible day. I have to remember that Satan is trying to distract me and make me think I don't need this time with God. I do know that spending time with the Lord is more important than how I feel that day. It is about spending time with the ONE I love most and building a relationship with him. Building relationships take time and sacrifice and I need to be intentional to make it happen.


2. In my relationship with my children
The other day I was out walking with my kids. We were headed to the post office and then back home again. I had my goal of getting there and back again in the front of my mind. As we were walking along, Anna stopped and was smelling some flowers off the side of the sidewalk. After a second, I was about to call her to come, but I stopped. I don't want my children rush through life just to get the next task accomplished and I don't want that for myself either. Sometimes, I need to just intentionally stop and smell the flowers with my kids and agree that they do smell, "nummy."

3. In my relationship with my friends
I have a big family and it takes quite a bit of work to keep our household running and that's a fact. I do have time, though, to keep in touch with my friends. I so often get caught up in our routine that I neglect getting together with friends or even calling them. My life has been blessed with some great friends who have greatly enriched my life. The same as with my relationship with God, my relationship with my friends won't grow if I'm not intentional about spending time with them. I need to be intentional about setting dates for play dates, girls night outs, family dinners, BBQ's, etc.

Life passes too quickly for me to just live my life to do my own thing each day. I want my life to be pleasing to God. By being intentional in these three areas, I am living out Christ's greatest commandment...Loving God and loving others.

Colossians 3: 23
"Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, since you know that you will recieve an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord you are serving."

Meals for the Week

This week, I have come up with a menu for the first part of the week, but I plan on winging it the end of the week due to Anna's surgery to take her tonsils out on Wednesday. After we get home from the hospital on Thursday, we probably won't feel like doing much, other than lying around. We will probably order pizza or something.

Monday - Taco salad and applesauce
Tuesday - Homemade chicken strips, mashed potatoes, veg and salad
Wednesday - Made ahead Poppy Seed Chicken for Glenda and the kids
Thursday - Take out (and Jello for Anna and the kids)
Friday - ?
Saturday - something grilled
Sunday - Nachos