Okay moms...

...Give me your answers HERE. =)

Creative substitution.

So I was making sweet tea in preparation for Saturday's birthday party, and I was just going to pour it into an empty tea gallon jug, but my funnel had disappeared. Soo... what to use? Had some empty 2-liter pop bottles from a previous party, so I cut the bottom off, flipped it over, and voila! Perfect!

What a ripoff!!

Our county fair is yesterday and today, and I always knew these things were expensive but I didn't really THINK about it until last night, and it's so disgusting it kind of makes me want to throw up. Except not really. But look at the math here...

1 token = $1
30-second ride = 4 tokens ($4) x 2 kids = $8!!!! for a ride that's equally exciting as a quarter machine ride! ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!!!

And yes, you can get 25 tokens for $20 but that's still 80 cents per token and more than $6 for one measly ride. RIDICULOUS!

And then the generator went out and there were NO rides. And we left with a 4-yr old having a COMPLETE MELTDOWN {too tired}. Awesome fair.

Because of the extreme heat today, our MOPS group is not walking in the parade again tonight, but we will be heading to town again to try the rides one more time. After all, I can't bear to just throw those tokens away! Sheesh!

Monday Meanderings - INFO

For those of you who are new to Monday Meanderings, thank so much for joining me! I'm a planner and organizer and I've found it such a blessing to my family and home to plan more than just my menu. Not everything goes exactly according to MY plans, but at least it gives me a start and a focus for the week! So here's the run-down...

Bible Study... What are you going to try to read this week? I know I'm not the only one who has trouble actually sitting down to read the Bible in the midst of busy days. But if we have a plan, we're more likely to do it!

Memory Verse... This doesn't have to actually be a MEMORY verse, though that would be good. Most of the time now it's mostly just a "focus verse" for the week.

Husband Encouragement... What can you specifically do to love and encourage your husband this week?

Train Them Up... What are you going to focus on in your parenting or do for your children this week??

Personal Goals... Don't forget you! This cannot be house or parenting-related. Something just for YOU. (ie exercise, working on a hobby, reading a book, etc)

New Habit of the Month... What new habit do you want to start this month? (ie wipe down counters nightly, clean off couches at the end of the day, etc)

MUST Do... Of course we all have a million to-do's every day, but what has to absolutely ABSOLUTELY get done!! (ie Are you completely out of clean underwear? Do you have a bill that's due? Do you need to schedule an appointment? etc)

Zone... What area of the house do you really need to focus on this week?

Menu - Monday thru Sunday, what are your meals for the week?

FUN THINGS! Don't get hung up on all the to-do's and lists, what FUN things do you have going on this week??

3 things I'm thankful for today... In the midst of it all, we can ALWAYS choose to be thankful!


Okay, so that's the basic list, but feel free to modify it how you want. Don't have kids? Then leave out the "Train Them Up" section. Have a job? Include your work goals. Have fun with it, personalize it to YOUR life!

Rules:
1. Link directly to your specific post in the Mr. Linky list.
2. Make sure you link to ME in your post.
3. Feel free to save the MM image to your computer so you can use it in your own post.

Monday Meanderings - July 26

Whew, I am SO RELIEVED to have made it through last week! With hosting two birthday parties, cramming to get the bathroom "done", all the while having guests (who were actually a big help!), it was a tiring week for us, and I'm so glad we can finally relax a little bit with the house projects. I've been posting a lot of pictures over at our family blog, so go check 'em out! It's another somewhat busy week again but mostly fun stuff! =)

Bible Study - Our church women are starting a new one right now. I actually completely forgot to go to the first meeting last week, but when I think back I guess we had a friend and their little boy at our house helping with our bathroom tiling. So anyway, we're reading Living Like You Belong to God

Memory Verse Hebrews 4:16
"Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need."

Husband Encouragement

* no house projects this week, just relax
* plan a DATE for Saturday afternoon! =)

Train Them Up
* do a memory verse, it's been a long time!
* remember to do their daily devotion--don't know why I've been forgetting so much lately!
* figure out a plan for Eli's afternoon "quiet time". rules and whatnot
* After 3 terrible nights in a row of them continuously coming out of the rooms at bedtime, they've lost their TV privilege this week. we've never done that before so I need to remember to stick to my guns on it.

Personal Goals

* make a dessert for a friend I borrowed a pan from
* go to Bible Study Wednesday

New Habit of the Month - JULY!
* completely clean off the couches every evening >> need to get back to this. We've been so stressed and EXHAUSTED lately I haven't cared about anything one bit. but now it's time to get back into routine.
* June habit: Clorox-wipe down bathroom counter nightly

MUST Do
* thank-you notes!!

Zone - master bedroom

Menu - EASY week! we sooo need to relax. I'm exhausted and feel like I could sleep for a WEEK!

M - fair food
T - something quick since we're walking in the fair parade again that night
W - steaks, baked potato, salad (maybe having neighbors over??)
Th - Holly's chicken and corn casserole, fruit
F - TBD
S - TBD
Su - TBD

FUN THINGS!
* our county fair is Monday and Tuesday. walking in the parade both days but probably just DOING the fair rides n such on Monday since Kevin has the day off then.
* maybe have neighbors over Wednesday
* a date on Saturday!!

3 things I'm thankful for today:
1. we can FINALLY take a little break on the house projects. nothing's DONE but done enough!
2. my amazing, handyman husband!! he's been working so hard on ALL his time off and he's done a GREAT job especially considering this was his first time drywalling, doing electrical and everything!
3. medicine!! I've had crippling eczema on my hands for more than months now and it hurt to do EVERYTHING. It stung to put my hands in water to wash them, it stung to use baby wipes, I had to tell my kids not to hold my hand, my hands were so peely and scratchy it made it hard to put on makeup, and putting lotion on felt like the death of me it stung so bad. Every day for more than 2 months. But when I was at Carter's 6-month checkup I asked the doctor as a side-note if I could PLEASE get some medicine for my eczema and she gave me a prescription that has worked WONDERS in just a few days!! I can actually make my fingers straight again and do things without wincing in pain, it's amazing, and I'm SO THANKFUL!

New to Monday Meanderings? Read here to find out what it's all about! Please join me and leave your link below! Have a great week!

Answer Me This: Blog comments

So today I'm wondering how you read blog comment replies. I've set my profile so that after I leave a comment on your blog my email address shows up when you get a comment notification. (under "edit profile" checkmark "show my email address") Then you're able to just reply to me directly in your email instead of back in the blog comments section. I know I rarely remember/have time to go back to blog posts to check for more comments, unless it's something I really wanted to read more answers on. So if you comment on my blog I love being to reply to you personally directly in my email although if it's something I think other readers might want to know too then I'll post it on the blog comments too. If you're leary (sp?) of putting your email address out there, you could create a new email account just for blog things. Since you're my readers, I'm asking, how do you prefer to read replies to the comments you leave??

Me and my babes.

Eli just turned 4 yesterday, Carter turned 6 months last week, and Hannah's almost 2.5, so I thought now's such a great time to get some family shots. And yesterday morning being overcast was a PERFECT time to do pictures (cuz then you don't have to worry about too MUCH sun or shadows) I plopped the kids down for some sibling shots and then at the end hopped in for a few pictures too. Love the tripod and camera remote! Then after Kevin woke up we managed to get just a couple family pics. But for now here's the kids and me!

A goodie!

Just popping on share this blog link for you that my friend Kathy shared on Facebook! Go read this post about these tough seasons of life! Be encouraged! =)

Monday Meanderings - July 19

Hey guys! I won't be meandering this week. It's crazy busy for us this week! Eli's 4th birthday today--party with our local friends tonight, family party on Saturday. Kevin's sister and her husband are coming on Wednesday. And in the midst of all that we're still pushing hard to get the bathroom "done" {at least usable} before next weekend. The drywall is done, we've primed and painted 2 coats. The contractor is spraying the ceiling and plumbing and then Kevin will do the lights and start the tile process so we can set the toilet and sink. Life is pretty insane right now. But we just gotta push through a little bit more and then we can relax a little.

Feel free to link up anyway with your plans, so if I have time I can pop by your blog! Have a great week!



~ Sarah ~

Answer Me This: Laundry

What's the best way you get stains out of your laundry??

1. Baby poop.
2. Spaghetti sauce.

For baby poop blowouts I usually soak the clothes in a bucket of Oxyclean for a few days hours and then include them with the regular laundry. But lately that hasn't exactly been working as great. Probably because I've been forgetting about them soaking them too long, the clothes come out a little nappy. or something. Or the stain is still not out completely. Probably because I let them sit for way too long before doing anything with them in the first place! But still, there's gotta be something that works.

For spaghetti sauce I usually throw it in with the regular clothes and just hope it will actually come out clean, but it never usually does.

So help me! What are your tricks?? I always feel disgusted when another perfectly good outfit gets "ruined" because of stains! But I don't exactly have time to manually treat every piece of clothing that gets anything on it! Is there a magic potion I could use??

Any guesses?? (update)

Update:

Well, you guys are awesome and/or I'm better at Lego-building than I thought because every single one of you guessed correctly as to the what our creation was! A car wash! =) So now I encourage you, take a break from your chores, and go create something with your kids!

Original post:

It was my goal this week to get down and play with the kids more. And I really have been doing just that. Yesterday Eli and I made this. Any guesses on what we made??

A happy mom is when...

in the same week...

... your baby (6 mo) starts sleeping through the night! It's been 2 nights in a row so I kinda think it might be the real thing!

... your 2yr old decides to start potty training herself! Several times throughout the day she just takes off her diaper or pull-up, goes upstairs to the big potty, gets herself up there all by herself with no stool or anything, pees at least a little trickle, wipes herself, flushes and everything all on her own!

... your oldest child completes AND PASSES his first class of swim lessons, even when I really thought he might he have to retake the class!

AND last week my grandparents gifted me with a pottery-made sugar bowl with a slot lid! They had no idea I've been looking for one of those for 2 years now!

This momma is happy! What's made you happy lately??

Answer Me This: Ikea

Okay guys, fill me in, what's so great about Ikea?? I've never been there and never even lived near one, but based on friends' comment I read here and there, I must be missing out on something. So tell me, what is this store like and why is it so great??

Monday Meanderings - July 12

Bible Study - Mission of Motherhood

Memory Verse Ephesians 4:2

"Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love."

Husband Encouragement

* help with the bathroom as much as I can - I can tell he likes when we work together.
* find some time during these next days off for our family to RELAX. With all these renovations, it's been BUSY.

Train Them Up

* got some fun activity ideas this week
* talk to them in a calm voice
* keep them structured, especially with our house a little bit out of sorts and more cramped (the playroom is in the living room right now while we close up the wall to the bathroom)
* get on the floor and PLAY with them. Train tracks, Legos, whatever. And READ to them more! I find myself groaning when they ask me to read a book to them. Why do I do that?? I remember when I couldn't wait for this stage!

Personal Goals

* Photo shoot of the kids. It's been a long time since I've tried to get all three of them together. And sometime this month I REALLY want to do our family photo. HELLO, Carter's going to be 6 MONTHS and he's still not in the header of our family blog!! Now's a perfect time though with Eli turning 4, Hannah 2.5, and Carter 6 mo!

New Habit of the Month - JULY!

* completely clean off the couches every evening.

MUST Do

* schedule Carter's 6-month checkup (still)

* send out bills
* laundry
* make plans for Eli's birthday parties next week
* write thank-you note to Grandma

Zone - master bedroom

Menu - lots of new recipes(*) this week!

M - chili dogs, *homemade potato chips (cooked in the microwave!), apple slices
T - *grilled chicken, corn, grapes
W - out of town?
Th - *turkey-tomato panini, cucumber slices, peaches
F - taco soup
S - kids nite - *mac n cheese, steamed broccoli, applesauce
Su - TBD

FUN THINGS!

* another/last week of swim lessons, IF the weather cooperates
* MOPS playdate Tuesday if I can figure it out with swim lessons
* Carter turns 6 months - photo shoot time! =)
* sometime this week, while Kevin's off, we need to go to Lincoln to get all our bathroom things - toilet, sink, tile, paint! Can't wait!
* thinking about going to family night at the pool Tuesday. What does that mean anyway??

3 things I'm thankful for today:

1. great progress on the bathroom after being at a standstill for WEEKS!

2. Kevin's days off this week!

3. family. It doesn't get any better than that!

Please do join me! Leave your link below and link back to me in your post! Have a great week!

Sunday Psalm

Psalm 25:1-10

To you, O Lord, I lift up my soul;
in you I trust, O my God.
Do not let me be put to shame,
nor let my enemies triumph over me.
No one whose hope is in you
will ever be put to shame,
but they will be put to shame
who are treacherous without excuse.

Show me your ways, O Lord,
teach me your paths;
guide me in your truth and teach me,
for you are God my Savior,
and my hope is in you all day long.
Remember, O Lord, your great mercy
and love,
for they are from of old.
Remember not the sins of my youth
and my rebellious ways;
according to your love remember me,
for you are good, O Lord.

Good and upright is the Lord;
therefore he instructs sinners in his ways.
He guides the humble in what is right
and teaches them his ways.
All the ways of the Lord are loving and faithful,
for those who keep the demands of the covenant.

My little secret

To help my kids leave wherever we're at without crying, get in the van and in their seats quickly (Eli's requirement is to be buckled too), without playing around, without climbing into each other's seats, without grabbing books and toys first, I keep a ziplock bag of jelly beans in one of the seat pockets in the van. Whenever they do all of the above, they get a jelly bean. Doesn't matter if it's 8 in the morning or 10 at night, they still get their reward. Speed is something that you can't really discipline for, it's just annoying and you don't always have time to go toddler's pace. But a nice little incentive keeps them moving! And so far, it's been working about 98% of the time! So that's my little secret that I thought I'd share! =)

Perfect summer treat!

I was just remembering these the other day and thinking how it's a perfect time to make them! Yumm...



Frozen Fruit Cups

3 bananas
1 sm can frozen orange juice
1 sm can frozen lemonade
8 oz sliced strawberries
16 oz crushed pineapple and juice
8 oz maraschino cherries
1/2 c sugar

Heat 2 1/2 c water and add sugar. Let cool. Mix all the fruit with the cooled sugar water. Put in small plastic cups and freeze. Set out 20 minutes before serving, so they can soften up just a bit. (makes about 10 cups)

Enjoy!

Monday Meanderings - July 5

Sorry guys, because of the holiday this past weekend and then being completely EXHAUSTED yesterday I didn't get this up, even though I had started writing it last week already.   By the way, I changed the setting on my blog so that only part of my posts shows up on Google Readers/RSS feeds, whateveryoucallit.  Then you have to actually go to my blog to read the rest and then maybe you're more likely to leave a comment!  Muahahaha, I'm sneaky like that!  LOL  No, seriously though, I love hearing from you, otherwise I kinda think I have no readers! Okay, so on with the week...

Bible Study - Created to Be His Help Meet

Memory Verse 2 Timothy 4:2

"Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction."

Husband Encouragement

*compliment him more

* stop doing Carter's 10:00pm feed so that I can hopefully get to bed the same time as Kevin

* help more with some of these house projects.  I'm a little more capable than I think I am.

* change out his towel every other day.  he likes that.

* stop being a NAG!  I'm a perfectionist and organizer, he's not--that makes it hard.

Train Them Up

* get offline.  I can be SO DISTRACTED some days.  If there's something I'm focused on throughout the day, it's usually a rotten day with the kids.

* get Eli outside more, I think that would solve a lot of problems. 

* quit Eli's afternoon nap.  And if he does fall asleep, make sure he's up fairly early, otherwise he's ALWAYS awake 'til 10:30/11 at night!

Personal Goals

* re-paint my nails

* order a new swimsuit top (still haven't done this!)

New Habit of the Month - JULY!

* completely clean off the couches every evening. some things (ie books, mail, toys, clothes, etc) just lay there for days on end.  hopefully this new nightly routine will help the living room get cleaned up every day.

MUST Do

* schedule Carter's 6-month checkup (seriously?!)

* bills out

* clean off the computer desktop

Zone - master bedroom

Menu

M - 4th of July leftovers

T - taco bowl salad thingys, fruit salad

W - ham steaks

Th - smokies, cheesy potatoes

F & S - I'll be out of town.

Su - frozen dinner

FUN THINGS!

* Eli's starting swimming lessons for the first time this week (M-Th for 2 weeks).  I'm nervous/excited.  It's his first organized anything! 

* Get to find out the baby gender of my SIL AND my friend Jaesi!

* Getting out town with just Carter this weekend!  Going to my SIL's to help paint three rooms in their house.  I'm looking forward to the little getaway!

3 things I'm thankful for today:

1. watching Eli at swim lessons and chatting with other moms there

2. sunshine today!

3. picnic table that Kevin made for us!

Please do join me!  Leave your link below and link back to me in your post!  Have a great week!