Thankful Thursdays

It’s that time of week again! Time to list what you are thankful for. This week we are doing things that start with the letter “E.”

• Everyday -- it's such a gift and I tend to take them for granted and not try to make the best of them.
• Envoy XL -- It's my car and it's paid for and I love it so much!
• Ed -- my father in law...he's the patriarch of the family and is just such a Godsend to have in my life
• Elvis -- "Thank you, thankyouverymuch." Need I say more?
• Electric blankets -- I am in LOVE with my electric blanket! I love having my room FREEZING cold at night but having a warm, snuggly blanket to make everything wonderful and cozy in the bed.
• Elmo -- because it was SO MUCH FUN watching my son be enamored of him when he was younger! Who doesn't love a friendly, furry, red monster that sings and has a gold fish?
• ET -- I had so much fun when I was a kid watching this movie and making the ceramic figurines that had his finger, chest and eyes glowing in the dark. It was so cool.
• Enchiladas -- I don't make them nearly enough but they're one of my favorite Tex-Mex dishes! Sour cream chicken enchiladas smothered in a mushroom/sour cream sauce or the cheese and onion enchiladas covered in a beef/chili sauce.
• E-mail -- um... HELLO? I'm THE e-mail queen! :)
• Elephants -- they're huge, they're cute, they're grey, they're ferociously protective of their young.
• Environmentalists -- not the extremists but the ones that give a hoot and don't pollute! I'm a tree hugger and definitely not afraid to admit it! :) I love Mother Earth and hope that we keep it clean so that my children's children can enjoy it for years to come!

So, what's your Thankful Thursday for "E" going to include?

I'm linked to: http://www.themommy-files.com/2010/02/thankful-thursday-32/

Daily digs

Well, all but one of my books have come in and I've been looking for spare moments to devour them but I haven't been able to completely sit and linger over the pages of time-saving information... yet. I will say that the recipes I've spied within the two that I've peeked at are simply mouth-watering and I'm foresee a Post-It Note shortage in my stash of office supplies.

I feel like I definitely should have taken into account that whole "Eat From The Pantry" challenge so that I could clear out my freezer and pantry in anticipation of filling it full of tasty goodness.

So, my plan at this point is for the next two weeks I'm going to take inventory of my pantry and freezer and basically challenge myself to do that on my own just so that I can clear it out. While I'm doing that I will plan menus and meals for the upcoming time that I plan to do my batch cooking. I'm going to prepare two weeks worth on one day... skip a week and then prepare another two weeks worth. I then intend to skip another two weeks and do yet ANOTHER two weeks worth so that I have a total of six weeks worth of prepared meals in the freezer just waiting until our little one arrives and that will make live SO MUCH EASIER ON ME!

So, while I'm making my lists of menu items I want to prepare, I will be watching the sales ads for the local grocery stores which will enable me to stock up on the "loss leaders" at the grocery stores.

And when you're short on time but want something big on flavor -- I have a simple go to meal -- chicken quesadillas! You need NOTHING to make these and they're so filling.
The recipe is SO simple, all you need is:

• a can of chunk white meat chicken in water
• a can of black beans, drained
• a can of diced/chopped green chilies
• a can of Mexicorn, drained
• flour tortillas (you choose the size, I buy the huge ones)
• grated Mexican blend cheese (cheddar/jack is one of our favorite combos)
• dipping sauces -- guacamole, salsa and/or sour cream

One of my little treats I bought for myself was a GIGANTIC electric griddle. I can make lots of pancakes with it at one time. However, last night I was making quesadillas with them. Heat it to about 350 degrees and put on one tortilla, top that with cheese, and then sprinkle the ingredients you want atop that... top with more cheese and then with the other tortilla. Flip once (I have a gigantic silicone spatula for pancakes that works fantastically with these). And I use my handy dandy pizza cutter to just slice them into wedges. DELICIOUS and SO quick and filling! (That is, unless you have a 5 year old that hates cheese and refuses to eat them... at which time my new rotisserie/convection/toaster oven comes in very handy to warm up chicken nuggets in a jiffy!) Ha!

Tonight we're under a "winter weather advisory" -- which means that they think we'll get something and we probably won't. I love the snow but almost hope it doesn't ruin tomorrow -- it's Drew's Valentine's party at school! I'd hate for him to miss it.

Saturday I'm going shopping for my big Valentine's dinner at the house. I'll post more about that later. I've got to get some snapshots of the boys to put in the picture frames. That will be fun. And you'll love to see what Josh made for the grandmothers! Duct tape isn't just for fixing leaks anymore! It's for Valentine's gifts now too! Ha ha! You'll see!

A delay.... and a question I've posed before

I was all gung ho to make a great entry this evening, but alas, I'm being kicked in the ribs so I'm going to go recline and read not one...but TWO OF MY BOOKS THAT CAME IN TODAY! Dream Dinners and Don't Panic -- Dinner's in the Freezer! I'm sure they'll be read cover to cover by the morning! (ha)

However, I will have a plan in place for tomorrow and I do look forward to sharing that with you guys tomorrow! And for those that have YET to embark upon the wonders of OAMC (once a month cooking) you simply don't know the freedom and time you're missing. The present is a GIFT and utilizing a OAMC approach, you give yourself SO MUCH MORE! It's priceless -- truly priceless!

And, now for my question. I'm now in the world of the Blackberry which I love because I can sync it up with my Microsoft Outlook. My calendar is thus, always up to date and at my fingertips. I think I'm just having a hard time totally embracing the age of technology and I miss writing down my stuff. Isn't that WEIRD? Does anyone else still utilize an actual day planner that is paper? Many of the blogs I surf, follow, subscribe to, etc. are doing reviews of all these different mom planners and they just look great. I just don't want to buy yet another one only to have nothing to do with it because it's ONE MORE THING for me to do?!

The one thing I do currently, for written calendaring, is print out our weekly schedule on the computer and highlight who does what (certain colors for each person) and so then we can see at a moment's notice what is going on for a particular day. But for my menu plan, I have that on a separate sheet hanging on the fridge. My "to do list" is just a list of stuff in my blackberry that are on my "task list" in Outlook. My projects that require more than electronic notes are in a purple binder near my computer... what does everyone else do to stay organized and on top of your life? I'd love to hear how everyone else keeps track of their to do's, their grocery lists, their meal plans, their schedules....

Wow, waiting really sucks!

Well, I've tried. I've tried and I've tried to be patient and put off going to the grocery store in hopes to have my books in hand this weekend in order to start my meal planning but OH NO... nothing is here yet! WAAAH!! I'm wondering if my postal worker is a secret blog follower and knows what goodies I have coming and has been spying on my mail!!! ha ha!

Today was a dreary day. Cold and rainy. Not a lot of fun. Both of the boys woke up late. I had a headache. Drew's speech therapy evaluation was canceled due to the insurance company not confirming that the therapist is covered under their policy. I could complain BUT it just meant that we all stayed in, stayed dry and stayed warm. I let the boys play instead of going right to school after lunch. Since Josh didn't get up early, we didn't start school today until about 3:00 p.m. It's not a super busy day anyway and since it's so ugly, he won't be playing outside so no harm / no foul.

Drew wanted to do some "work" too so he was spelling short sentences on notebook paper. I really need to start Handwriting Without Tears with him so that he learns proper letter formation before it's too late. I wonder how homeschooling him would be? He's a little more active than Josh. The only "fear" I have is that they teach the D'Nealian alphabet at Fort Worth Christian (which I despise!). SO... I may send him next year and then pull him and homeschool him until they're out of the "handwriting phase" and then put him back in!

I did let Josh know today that it was his choice for what he wanted to do with school next year. He can homeschool and stay in Creative Arts in Action (acting / sculpture) or he can attend FWC with Drew.

Speaking of the boys... here's their photo of the day. :) Don't let the innocent smiles fool you... they are best friends and mortal enemies at times. LOL. Today has just been one of those days where I thought... you know... I'm about to get all their hair cut off... I need a "now" photo. :)

The other thing I was planning to do today was post my Menu Plan Monday but since we don't have my MENU PLANNED (how that became a "we" statement, I haven't a clue).... I am not posting it.

I do know tonight is spaghetti... tomorrow is probably going to be chicken quesadilias... Wednesday and on is undecided. :)

More later...

Gateway -- how refreshing!

I set aside all of my premeditated ideas of what the whole experience was goign to be and made a promise to myself to make the most out of this visit to Gateway. We arrived and there was parking (being a Guest has its benefit!) My friend Brad and his wife Melissa were there. He pre-registered my kids for me as guests so that we had an easy entrance. We got Drew checked in.... we went upstairs and the area for kids where Josh was... was... AMAZING! They had a live worship for them as well. I know he enjoyed that. I wish he had a friend there but I know that he will make some! :) We did a small tour, took our seats and the service began.

The worship was ... AMAZING! I LOVED IT! It was so refreshing...it didn't feel overdone. It was brilliantly done. I loved it. LOVED IT!

Then they had the pastor up on the screen (it was filmed earlier in the day)... and honestly, it wasn't weird at all. It was warm and meaningful and I really liked it. He did a brief interview with Vernon Wells.... some baseball player... about his testimony. It was really nice. He gave a message to take away ... and then it was over. It felt like it lasted about 10 minutes. I could have sat there and listened to that man for hours! HOW REFRESHING!

Both of the boys had a great time...

AND.... on my way out, a woman was like "OH MY GOSH you look great" and told me you cant even tell I'm pregnant from the back... it's all just in the belly. How cute!

I know it's really early to say this but... I think we may have found a new church home! For that, I thank God for giving me a chance to open my eyes and my heart to the possibility that he wants us to find a place to plug into. :) Thank you Jesus for giving me the friendship of the Conlons and for them to have the heart to make us feel welcome...

Weekend recap

My father came over Friday night to spend some time with the boys. That was nice. I picked Josh up from sculpture class and we made it home and within about 20 minutes, Dad was here. He got to watch Drew master the Legos Star Wars game... share some pizza with us...snuggle in and have a good night's sleep.

I will say that I almost didn't recognize him. He has his hair VERY, VERY long (like... circa 1970's kind of cut for grown up men) and he has grown a somewhat of a handlebar moustache. It's all very weird. LOL. I love him but prefer the short "do" to the present. I find peace in knowing that he never leaves it any which way for too long.

We woke up Saturday morning. I made a hearty breakfast for the crew and then off to grass drills for Josh to do his best for his placement in the tackle football draft. This will be his first year to play tackle. We shall see how it goes. It was in the 30s this morning. I sat in my car with Drew. Andy and Dad went with Josh to do the sign up/registration and watch him. Dad got a little cold and since it was mostly waiting at each of the stations, he went ahead and went home.

I could tell Drew was a little stir crazy so I texted Greg and had him come over with Evan. He hung out for a while... then left and came back a little later. Drew and Evan play SO WELL together! When Greg got here it was just after hide-and-seek time and in the middle of "superheroes" skits. I love how much fun they have together and how they are great at working out compromises when they both want to do different things. Good, good friendship. I hope they're lifelong friends.

I sat in bed last night and started piecing together my plan for my once a month cooking session -- even though NONE OF MY BOOKS MADE IT IN THE MAIL! WAAHH freakin WAAAHHH. Once I have my books, I know it'll be much less painful but when I have that plan ... I will post it for all to see!

Today, we're going to try out a new church called Gateway. I want a church that is like Irving Bible Church but that is closer to home. I LOVE Irving Bible Church. It makes me whole, fills me up and since I was plugged in there from the beginning, it was really easy for me to feel that it wasn't as big as it really was. So trying to now plug into a church that is big...and I'm a newbie coming into it... I really am intimidated. Plus, when you compare everything TO Irving Bible Church (or IBC), its hard to be impressed with anything -- the ministry, people, music, children's programs because IBC is just a perfect fit for me. Then why not stay? Yeah, I keep asking myself that but if I want my boys to have any sort of involvement with the church during the week, I will HAVE to find a church closer to home because if we do anything at IBC during the week, we have to be in traffic for about an hour to go less than 20 minutes away. It's really pathetic and very much a deterrent. I'm not 100% sure that we're going to leave IBC but we are at least going to a new church today to just see what it's all about.

My thing is that ... and I know this is VERY presumptious of me... it's a Southlake church in Southlake. Southlake is VERY "uppity"... not that uppity people aren't Christ followers...and who am I to judge them... but they tend to look down on people that aren't uppity like them ... and I'm not sure there's an uppity bone in my body. I'm just me... I'm real... there's nothing fake about me. I don't tan. I don't have plastic surgery. I don't wax my brows. I don't have my teeth whitened. I don't have gobs of jewelry. I don't wear trendy clothes. I don't drive a Lexus, Benz or Lincoln Navigator. I don't get my hair done every 4 weeks. I don't shop for fun. I don't keep an immaculate house that has been done over by an interior decorator. My children don't wear $75 shoes, brand labels or care if their hair is gelled and spiked up. So, it almost feels as if I'm headed into the "lion's den" -- which means that I'm entering THEIR church with preconceived notions about who they are and what they represent -- wrong, yes...but it's been my experience with all things Southlake that ... that's just how it is.

I hope I'm proven wrong...and I don't think that this is a glass-half-empty view of the situation... I'm just trying to be a realist who will (hopefully) be pleasantly surprised. :)

Oh yeah, and there's this little thing called the Superbowl today. Still on the fence if I want to watch it. LOL...

Friday Fill-Ins

1. I know that during this time in my children's lives, it doesn't matter that I keep a spotless house or that we have gourmet meals -- but that we spent lots of quality time together is what really matters.
2. The ninth month of pregnancy is the longest month.
3. You can't help but wonder where our country will be after Obama has his way with ruining it and putting us so far deep into debt that our children's children's children won't even be done paying off the debt.
4. Superbowl Sunday; bring it on!
5. Where have you looked to find your piece of sunshine today?
6. Mommy has showered, eaten breakfast, used the bathroom in peace and is now available.
7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to working on my once a month cooking menu plan, tomorrow my plans include taking Josh to grass drills in the morning for his first year of tackle football and then perhaps a trip to the grocery store and Sunday, I want to experience a new church -- yes, we are trying out a NEW CHURCH that is closer to home!

I'm linked to: Friday Fill-Ins #162