Monday Meanderings - Nov. 29

I'm so excited about so many things this week I can hardly focus to write a complete sentence!!  

1. My sister-in-law is having her baby this week, one way or another, making me a first-time auntie!!  Holly will be induced Wednesday if baby doesn't come on her own before then, which we are praying she does!

2. With Claire's birth comes me doing newborn pics soon after!  I'm super nervous!   I usually do pictures paparazzi style but this time I'll be directing the show--yikes!

3. The winners of my giveaway will be announced on Friday!  If you haven't checked it out already, go participate!

4.  It's officially Christmas season!  I can hardly wait to get out all the decorations, Christmas books, music, etc!!

So I've basically just spilled all the beans for my "FUN Things" section already, but whatever, doesn't matter!  Here's the week...

Bible Study... Proverbs 31 Daily Devotions

Memory Verse... Romans 13:14

"Clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the sinful nature."

Husband Encouragement... 

♥ Be his helper.

♥ Bake something yummy.

♥ Keep the house in order (going to be hard, we kind of have a lot of things going on right now)

♥ Be careful not to nag on him.

Train Them Up... 

* Love on Eli.  Spend some one on one time with him.

* Work on potty training with Hannah.

* Schedule shifting with Carter??

* Say Yes more.  Work on being a fun mom this week.

* Create Jesse Tree Christmas Countdown.  I've got a new idea brewing  for this year but I've got to get it going NOW already, seeing as it was supposed to start yesterday!

Personal Goals... 

* Look through a bunch of newborn photography for pose ideas.

New Habit of the Month... {DECEMBER}

Off the computer during kids' awake times.

MUST Do...

* Get family picture or something for Christmas cards ready, maybe after we get the tree up?

* Start thinking about MOPS lesson plans for our December meeting.

* Help Kevin any way I can so we can get our heat on, some of our doors sealed up, the AC units out, and any outdoor stuff put away.  True winter could strike at any moment now!

* Second-coat the upstairs bathroom.

* Mail out.

Zone... all over.  especially if we're getting Christmas decs out, the house will get flipped upside down temporarily.

Menu - TBD

FUN Things

* Christmas decorations up today and tomorrow.

* Holly's having her baby this week!!!

* Play date Thursday morning.  =)

3 things I'm thankful for today... 

1. A really great weekend with the family and some extra time to spend with Carri and Lucas (Kevin's sister and her husband) on Saturday night.

2. The house didn't burn down while we were gone.  Kevin hooked up a new propane heater in the basement, and then we left, so I was a little worried about how the thing works.  So relieved it appears to be A-ok!

3.  Kevin's days off until Thursday!

Alrighty, there we have it!  Want to join in with your weekly plans??  Read the guidelines (aka, copy and paste the format) then come back and link up below!  Blessings on your week!

Yummy Fresh Taco Salad

  

Black Bean Taco Salad with Lime Vinaigrette

This was good! Took me all afternoon it seems to cut up all the produce, grate the lime peel, rinse the beans, etc but ohhh I liked it!  Made for a fresh kind of salad and definitely one to add to the recipe book!  For the kids I saved a separate bowl of salad and left off the dressing, using Ranch for them instead.  Worked great!  AND I bet you could use some of that leftover turkey in replace of the chicken... just an idea!

My very first giveaway!

My friend Katie and her family are beginning to raise money in order to adopt a child from Ethiopia.  Katie and her mom are sewing beautiful, super cute bibs, burp cloths, changing mats, nursing covers, and aprons and selling them on Etsy.  Really, they look fantastic!  And 100% of the proceeds go directly to their adoption fund.  

So... here are the instructions for this giveaway...

1. Check out Katie's Etsy shop Already Love You--Katie's children make adorable models-- THEN come back and tell me what your favorite item is. Personally, the nursing covers are my favorite but I already have one and I'm almost done with that gig.  But the aprons are super cute too! 

2. To get another entry make a blog post about this giveaway.

Then on Friday, Dec. 3 I will randomly select TWO winners for the item of your choice!  Happy browsing!!

Note: Even if you don't need baby gear, perhaps you know of someone with little ones or soon to have little ones you could gift with something like this for FREE.  Remember it's all about helping a good cause!

Heads Up! A GIVEAWAY!!

My very first giveaway is coming TOMORROW!!  Consider it part of Black Friday, even though it's really not!  =)

Happy Thanksgiving!

To be honest, I've been in a little bit of a funk lately.  I didn't want to post daily thankfuls this month, because I think last year I did that and then it abruptly stops, and I hate that.  It's something we should do ALL the time.  Anyone want to challenge yourself to 365 days Thankful??  Anyway, the kids have been driving me nuts--just one of those weeks-- so I'm crabby with a capital C when Kevin gets home from work and then he gets crabby too.  I hate that too.  How I alone affect everyone's mood.  Who's there to help me and just hold me when I'm having an off day??  Kevin's working today, so today is just another day for us, except the stores are all closed and everyone else has stuff going on.  But it's been good too.  I bathed the big kids for once, independently this time, while Carter was napping.  One child did room time while I did bath with the other and folded laundry.  That alone makes me feel very accomplished.  LOL  Then we all had hot chocolate and watched The Velveteen Rabbit on Netflix while eating Ranch seasoned oyster crackers.  {Trying to get rid of all the stuff in our cupboards.}  Twas a good movie--made me cry.  And soon it'll be naptime.  So today is just a day, but tomorrow... tomorrow the excitement starts.  We're headed to Paul and Holly's for Thanksgiving meal and festivities (games n such), then on to my parents house after that so we can celebrate Thanksgiving with Kevin's family on Saturday.  We'll stay around for Sunday too and head back to Nebraska Sunday night. And then next week we can put up the Christmas tree-- JOY.

But anyway, while I'm here, I'm going to post 25 random things I'm thankful for....

{in no particular order}

1. space heaters.  we're without heat for the time being so space heaters have been saving us from completely freezing!
2. hot chocolate.  same reason as #1
3. family.
4. lazy movie kind of days.
5. freshly bathed babies.
6. snuggly soft, fuzzy blankets.
7. delicious food.
8. 1:30-3:30 in the afternoon.
9. sweet text messages.
10. emails from my hubby.
11. evenings with hubby.
12. evenings alone.
13. random acts of kindness and the joy it brings to do them.
14. Kevin's good job.
15. security.
16. dishwasher.
17. you.
18. forgiveness.
19. music.
20. church family.
21. baby smiles.
22. reading with children.
23. kisses.
24. friends.
25. togetherness.

"Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom 
that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful"  
Hebrews 12:28-29

Monday Meanderings - Nov. 22

Thanksgiving week!  Busy, busy, busy!

Bible Study... Read daily devotions at Proverbs 31 Ministries.

Memory Verse... Hebrews 12:28-29

"Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, for our 'God is a consuming fire.'"

Husband Encouragement... 

* Do laundry and get all his work shirts ready.

* Clean up house.
* Stop nagging about him playing his ipod games all the time, and instead invite him to  doing something specific.

Train Them Up... 

* Get off the computer and stop being so distracted.

* Stop yelling at Eli.

* Consistent potty training with Hannah.

* Settle into a new feeding routine with Carter.

* Think of creative ways to get the kids to do toy clean-up??

Personal Goals... 

Read a chapter in my book.

New Habit of the Month...
Sweep after meals.

MUST Do...
* Start working on Christmas letter.
* Take a family picture for Christmas cards.
* Go to the store for all our Thanksgiving food stuff.

Zone... Laundry.

Menu -

M -  ham, green beans, fruit
T - taco
W - baked ziti
Th - (Kevin works) clean out fridge before being gone for the weekend
F - Thanksgiving at Paul and Holly's
S - Thanksgiving with the in-laws
Su - Iowa

FUN THINGS!
* Watching Jaesi's kiddos for the afternoon today.
* MOPS potluck and playdate Tuesday.
* Thanksgiving with my family on Friday
* Thanksgiving with Kevin's family on Saturday
* Will be at my parents still on Sunday, driving back Sunday night

3 things I'm thankful for today... Today I'm not feeling very thankful at all.  I've been yelling at my kids all morning, and so far it's just not a good start to the week.  I'm cold, the house is a mess, and I'm just grumpy.  But here we go...
1. I am thankful for a house.  A place to be during these cold months.
2. I am thankful for computers and such an easy way to connect with other friends and moms.
3. I am thankful for Kevin's job and all that it provides for our family.

Join in with your weekly plans!  Read the guidelines, then come back and leave your link below!  Have a great week and a happy Thanksgiving!!

The Shoe Verdict

Thank you so much for your input on the shoe decision!  You were fun to "shop" with--I love you, ladies!

My favorites were the sporty Mary Janes (Keen 'Midori MJ' Mary Jane Flats), but I could not find them in my color in my size online.  Plus they were a tad more expensive than what I really wanted to pay and I couldn't have tried them on first.





BUT this weekend I looked briefly while I was running errands in Omaha and I found these Sketcher Step Up Mary Janes at Kohls.  I had seen them online, after my shoe post, but wasn't sure about them.  Once I tried them on, though, I thought yeah, these could work.  I got some new socks to go with them, since all I usually have is white and white would not do for these, and so far I'm very pleased.  They're comfortable, they're flat, and I've already worn them a few times in just the last two days.

And as for these adorable flats we all thought were super cute... I might keep them in mind for spring! I did see them at Target but not in the beautiful purple color--I suppose I could've tried them on just for size but didn't really have the time.



So thanks again for your help!  Just might do this again sometime, cuz it was fun!

What's the rush??

It seems the world is encouraging people/kids to learn the ABC's earlier, read sooner, learn to ride a bike earlier.  But I can't help but wonder, what's the rush? Is there a huge benefit of learning ABCs at 2 instead of 3, or riding a bike without training wheels at 4 instead of 6?  Am I missing something? Or can I just let my kids be kids for just a little while longer?

On a high

Well, lately I've been feeling good. Especially compared to when I wrote this.  God has {for now} taken away a lot of the bitterness I was carrying around.  It's one of those "nothing's changed yet everything's changed" type of things.  Meaning nothing's different really, but my attitude has been better, and that has made everything else better by the millions.  For now.  So while it lasts I'm enjoying this good feeling.  

Good night.

Answer Me This: Wordpress

I know most of you use Blogger, but does anyone know how to Log In to Wordpress?? I used to have a blog there when I first started but shortly after switched over to Blogger.  When I leave comments on certain people's blogs, it has a really old profile pic (Eli was 4 months old or something) and I'm wondering if that's linked to my Wordpress account and would like to change it or something but can't find where to log in anymore.  Anyone know??