Beauty - a new morning

Haiti2010

As I lay in bed this morning, I am tired, poor sleep, sick husband, "woe is me"ing.  I stopped and prayed and thought over yesterday.  A self reflection act we learned last night at church.  I really fell short in many ways yesterday.
Thankful for a forgiving God and family, today is a new day.
"The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases.

His mercies never come to an end.

They are new every morning, new every morning,

Great is Thy faithfulness, O Lord. Great is Thy faithfulness."



Lamentations 3:22-24 says "Because of the LORD's great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. I say to myself, "The LORD is my portion; therefore I will wait for him."

Beauty- kids laughter

There is a "3 Stooges" marathon on tv today. 

Personally, I am not a big fan of these stooges.

Aaron, Ann, and Andrew have been giggling and all out laughing at the tv  on and off all day.

I truly love hearing them laugh!

It is a thing of beauty.

Beauty day 32- menus

I obviously can't count, since I did 25 twice, so now I am a day ahead.

I don't usually do resolutions, but I do try and have goals.

As a family, we sat down and made some goals for this next year.  They involve some trips, so we decided we are going to have to cut some money from other areas of our budget.  Food is one area that I am going to try and cut some money from.  I have been working on this for the past year and have decreased it, but I think I can do more.

Saving money this way involves less convenience foods and more cooking from scratch.  This will take planning on my part, since I work part time and run kids all over full time.:)

Here is  next months menus: 
I am just listing all of the meals that are available, not which night for which meal.

Beef stew in crock pot/ bread or rolls
Spaghetti and homemade meatballs/ garlic bread
Tacos
Beef enchiladas
Beef tips with noodles
Breakfast casserole
Chicken/turkey pot pie
Lasagna
Quiche- ham and cheese
Baked ziti with sausage
Potato soup
Beef and noodles with mashed potatoes
Kielbasa with black beans
Chicken penne pasta
Poppyseed chicken

I am trying a new recipe book out called "The Great American supper swap" by Trish Berg. I found it at half price books and it has some good, easy and kid friendly recipes. The whole supper swap is a great idea, and I have done it with other groups in the past.  My kids were not always fans of other peoples food though.  I would like to try it again.  The idea is that you find 4-5 other families(similar sized families) and swap a meal with them.  You make 4-5 of one kind of meal and bring it to the swap location.  You go home with 4-5 different meals for your freezer.  It is always nice to have food ready made in the freezer.

Saving money and having healthy food for your family on hand is a beautiful thing!

Beauty day 25-30

25. Ornaments.  I have been putting Christmas stuff away this week.  I love looking at all our ornaments.  Special memories attached to these little ornaments.
We buy an ornament on every trip we take, it is easier than you would think.  Here are a few.

26. Change of plans.  We had planned to be in Florida this week.  Issues with Joe's work kept us here.  I have been able to get a lot done and we have spent a lot of uninterrupted time together. 

27.Purging.  With the extra time at home, I have been cleaning out rooms and the basement.  A trip to Goodwill is in store for today!  I love purging.

28.  Sound sleep.  I slept through another earthquake.  Amy was the only one who felt it here at our house.  4.1, she said the house shook.  I never woke.

29.  Dishwasher.  With us all home this week, the dishwasher has been getting a work out.  Our first house didn't have a dishwasher, so I am always thankful to not have to wash so many dishes!

30.A healthy extended family.  2 Christmas's and everyone is healthy, no major health crisis this year.  Let's hope the same thing for 2011.

Beauty day 25 babysitting

Amy is babysitting for 2 little ones at our house tonight.  It is fun to see her in charge, and being a good 'mom' figure.  They are one of her teachers kids, so it is really funny to hear them talk.  Especially when they asked why our bsement was so messy! haha(in my defense, I am putting the Christmas stuff away)

Watching your kids grow and mature is a thing of beauty.

Beauty day 24-one on one

We put in the movie "Letters to God" last night about 8.  It was a good movie, bring tissues if you watch it though, it is a tearjerker.

Aaron was at a sleepover, Ann was up in bed reading, and Amy went to bed early due to swim practice.

It was just Joe, Andrew and I.

This doesn't happen often enough.

We had fun snuggling, all 3 of us on our couch, talking about the movie, cancer, and anything else that popped into my 8 year olds head.

It was a thing of beauty.

Day of Beauty-day 23 A day at home

Christmas day this year was a quiet laid back day at home.

We didn't open gifts until 9am, after birthday cake and the Christmas story being read.  We have never really been a rushed early morning Christmas family.

The kids each get 3gifts and  their stockings.  Joe and I just did stockings for each other.  It didn't take long to open all of our gifts, and the rest of the day was spent enjoying them.

Watching movies, playing games, playing indoor basketball, and eating.  We had no where to go.  I didn't even get out of my PJs all day. 
It was wonderful.

We spent today at home too.  I really think our family needed this time to reconnect and just decompress.