Celebrating?

Okay, so I'm going to go for it...I've been writing this blog in my head for a few years...
(yes, I know I've been blogging less than a year, but I have lots and lots of things that I 'write' up in my head)

We are Celebrating Halloween!
Wow!  I did it!
I went there!
I'm a Christian...
was raised in a Christian home
went to VBS
summer church camp
off to Christian College
my husband is a pastor
making me...gasp!
a 'pastor's wife'!!!

2006-Wilson the baseball, The Balloon Fairy, the Kitty Fairy and Beau-es-Moses' long lost brother

and we Celebrate Halloween!

YEP, I said the word Celebrate!
lots of 'Christians' might say,
"we go trick-or-treating"
"yes, we dress up"
"Of course we hand out candy"...
but I went and used the word "Celebrate"...

hmmm
does that me we burn small animals and worship the undead on this night of Satan's?

2007, SuperMom, Place-Beau (Placebo...a sugar pill, still my all time favorite costume even if no one got it!) the A's player that insisted he wear Mickey Ears and carry around a fishing rod! and Gabrielle from HSM

um...
NO
BUT
we LOVE Halloween!
I have always dressed up
my parents always took us -every year- trick-or-treating and to the school carnival...
....well every year except when I got chicken pox in kindergarten and my lovely older sister pointed out the spots on my face AFTER we were all dressed up and ready to walk out the door...so she got to go with dad and I got to stay home a take a bath (NOT COOL!)...talk about scaring...don't remember anything about chicken pox except that it stole Halloween from me!!!
tangent...sorry...

all that to say...
we "Celebrate" Halloween...'All Hallow's Eve'....

What?
Christians can celebrate Halloween?
Why would we as Christians take one of the coolest holidays known to children away from them?

Why would letting kids (and adults) dress up...
and get candy
and meet their neighbors
and bake wonderful goodies with their parents
and learn about some of God's creepy creations (spiders and bats and other nasty stuff)...
why is this EVIL again....?

2008-Luke Skywalker, Larry-Beau, Flapper, Storm/Clone Trooper

Okay, go ahead and tell me that it's because lots of bad stuff happens on Halloween...
that it was/is the holiday that followers of Satan use to worship him
(pretty sure they celebrate all year long just like us Christians celebrate Christ)
...that people celebrate the un-dead on this night-of-evil!
(my theology is probably way convoluted here...but didn't Jesus raise Lazarus from the dead...making him un-dead...and didn't Jesus conquer death...making him un-dead?!?  So I guess we do celebrate the un-dead in our house!)

Christmas and Easter are the holidays for Christians
really, because NOTHING bad has happened at Christmas?
EVERYONE keeps Christmas as a Holy day, and celebrates it as the birth of Christ...
No one gets drunk and has 'inappropriate' parties at Christmas...NEVER...
No one overspends and makes Christmas into a nasty orgy of gifts and money!

Holidays must only be 'celebrated' by Christians to make them okay...
if this is the case than we might as well roll over and give all the sinners (um...which we all are by the way!) all the fun holidays!

No, God created us to enjoy life, to love life, to show his love to others by enjoying his creation....
we are created to Celebrate God...and we celebrate God when we live a life celebrating him and showing others that love...
does turning your porch light off so the trick-or-treaters (those evil children) don't knock on your door show love?

does handing unreadable Bible Tracts out to kids that want candy (and can't read) show God's Love?

does NOT letting your kids dress up and enjoy their creative side that God CREATED show God's Love?

I'm not sure we all have the right answer...
but I know the answer that is right for our family is

2009-Littlest Pet Shop Bobble Head Pig, and Storm/Clone Trooper...he was a robot dog, but hated the costume after I forced him to wear it to Neewollah! so I let him go trick-or-treating in last years costume!

carving pumpkins is Celebrating God...
eating roasted pumpkin seeds is Celebrating God...
getting grossed out and a good case of the heebbie-geebee's by some of the nasty stuff God has created is Celebrating God...
dressing up and having fun with our children is Celebrating God...
walking around the neighborhood and taking candy from strangers with our children is Celebrating God...

2010-Dr. Chambers, Mom with butterflies in her hair, Raphael the Ninja Turtle!

so for us Celebrating Halloween is right!

blog edit
my friend Diana also pointed out...
"To add to what you said, October 31st is the day Martin Luther nailed his 95 thesis' on the door of the Catholic churrch. We have lot to celebrate. He started a reformation that gave us the freedom to worship Christ the way the Bible says, and not only that, but gave us men who were willing to sacrifice their lives to print the Bible so we could read it ourselves! Let's celebrate that!"
and she also pointed me to this article to help enlighten us all on the origins of All Hallow's Eve aka Halloween...!
http://onthebema.com/2010/10/28/7-reasons-why-christians-should-celebrate-halloween/
thanks Diana!



I also respect those that choose to not 'celebrate'.  
what it boils down to is a choice and if the choice is the right one for your family then so-be-it.
if your family has chosen to not celebrate it then please do not think less of my family for having a safe, healthy, fun, creative, enjoyable day while we celebrate Halloween...
and yes, make ourselves sick on candy, cupcakes, carmel apples and popcorn balls!

a marriage of taste

there is almost no better marriage than that of chocolate and peanut butter...
and to combine that in the form of brownies...
well, pure heaven...

I made these and took them to a dinner last week...I did over bake them (very common thing for my oven), so my husband decided to make them again yesterday...
the timer was going off when I walked in the door from picking the kids up from school...what a wonderful way to come home from school...

so we had no company yesterday,
just the 4 of us in our house all day...
and these were taken out of the oven at 2 pm...
this picture was taken at 8pm...

hmmm...I think the twilight family walk/run we all took last night was HIGHLY needed!
and the kids both only had 2 brownies...one when they got home from school and one right after dinner...seems like Beau and I ate 1/2 a pan of these by ourselves....

this is a slightly tweaked version out of  "The Cake Mix Doctor Returns"....

Peanut Butter Brownies
1 package (20 oz) brownie mix
1 cup crunchy peanut butter
8 tbl (1 stick) butter, melted
2 large eggs
2 cups dark chocolate chips
1 can (14 oz) sweetened condensed milk
3 tsp vanilla

1.  preheat over to 350, set aside an ungreased 9x13 metal baking pan (I used metal when I made them, Beau did not, mine were overdone, his were not!)

2.  mix brownie mis, peanut butter, melted butter, and eggs in large mixing bowl and beat on low speed for 1 minute.  Set aside 1 1/2 cups of the dough for topping.  Place the remaining brownie dough into pan, pressing it over the bottom using your hand/fingers so that it reaches the side.  Set pan aside.

3.  In microwave safe bowl place chocolate chips and condensed milk and microwave on high for 1 minute, remove and stir until the chips are all mixed into the milk, stir in vanilla and continue to stir.  Pour over the brownie dough in pan, spreading it evenly with a rubber spatula so it reaches the sides.

4.  crumble the reserved brownie dough over the top of chocolate.

5.  Bake the brownies until the edges have set and the top crust springs back when lightly pressed...25-30 minutes.  Cool for 20 minutes before serving....

NOTE...you may eat all of these by yourself, I highly recommend only making these if you are taking them somewhere or you have company coming, or you have way more will power than Beau and I!

Pumpkin Time

we had our first family pumpkin carving tonight...

we did it once when Madison was young...

pre Wilson...

and then it was too much with the baby...

and then Beau and I went to a few pumpkin carving parties (no kids) and came home with the pumpkins carved so no need to carve with the kids...

but we put it off long enough, it was time...

anyways...we had fun...

or maybe I should say the kids and I had fun...

and now I remember why we haven't done this as a family...

saying that carving pumpkins is not Beau's thing, well, that's an understatement!

my pumpkin...any guesses what I'm going to carve?

she is having a blast with pumpkin guts

and yes pumpkin carving is a pants optional event in our household!

both kids drew their creations onto the pumpkin with washable markers...
and then Beau and I had the task of 'translating' the image from kid art to carve-able pumpkin image...

Wilson guiding Beau on how to carve the face of the bat...he kept saying, 

"well, that looks alright dad"...

maybe one of the reason's Beau doesn't like this family activity!

  

Beau trying to figure out what I'm carving!

the kids with their creations...

all three of them... "Fright" the bat, "Squeaks" the mouse, and "Sleepy" the Owl

all a-glow!

my babies daddy

lots of things in life come down to choices...
this is a soapbox of mine,
but I'm not actually going to get on that soapbox right now...lucky you!

I'm just going to talk about a choice I made at an incredibly young age that was one of the best choice I have made!

my babies daddy!

girls...
ladies...
women of the world...you have one of the most amazing choices in life...
you get to choose the father of your children....

you get to choose the one that will share half of your dna to create a 100% new human being!

this is a HUGE choice that so many take way too lightly...
that they don't even see as a choice...
they take a choice and turn it into a lustful action!
forgetting about the choice
not caring about the choice
not realizing that it IS a choice!

women...
ladies...
girls...
anytime you lay down next to a man (or boy) and share your body with him,
you are choosing...you are saying,
"he's the one!"
"this is the man that I choose to be a father!"
"this is the one that will love them"
"this is the one that will teach them what love is"
"he is the one that will die for them"
"He will provide for them"
"He will work for them"
"He will guide them"
"He will hold them"
"He will read to them"
"He will laugh with them"
"He will discipline them"
"He will color with them"
"He will teach them to ride a bike"
"He will cuddle with them"
"He will tuck them in at night"
"He will play video games with them"
"He will teach them their multiplication tables"
"He will teach them about respect"
"He will teach them how to follow God"
"He will teach them about money"
"He will love me as their mommy"

make sure that man is a man...
that he is the right choice...
this isn't JUST about love
this isn't JUST about lust
this is about children that have no choice...they can't choose their father,
you are the ONLY one that gets to make that choice!
Wow, what power we as women hold...
that is the ultimate in Women's Rights!

We are Women
We are Wives
We are daughters
We are girlfriends
We are Mothers
and We choose the Daddy!

I love my babies daddy...

yesterday...
just getting over a nasty head cold
he took our son on his first field trip of the year...
his first trip on a bus...
to the Pumpkin Patch...aka Hay Fever Central!...
my babies daddy was miserable...
he was NOT enjoying himself...
but he never once told the boy child...
the boy child had a blast because his Daddy was with him at school...
his daddy choose to spend the day with him...

today on my babies daddy's day off...
he is working in the girl child's classroom as Science Dad!
he is showing he loves her by spending his day off in a class room of 34 kids...

Betsey Walton Photography

I may have been young when I married my babies daddy...

but this was one of the best choices I have ever made!

menu for Oct 20th-Nov 5th

wow...that's a LONG time to make a menu for...
hope I can do it...but I need to just pound this one out, hop in the shower and hit the store...otherwise I will be forced to grocery shop after school with the kids which is a form of torture for both me and the children and the workers and the other shoppers!

Wed, Oct 20th-Chicken Chow Mein and fried rice
Thur, Oct 21st-dinner at a friends (taco soup-I need to bring chips, sour cream and chocolate dessert)
Fri, Oct 22nd-kielbasa, potatoes and sauerkraut
Sat, Oct 23rd-chili and cornbread
Sun, Oct 24th-potluck at church need to make something can't remember what
Mon, Oct 25th-baked potatoes
Tues, Oct 26th-nachos
Wed, Oct 27th-Orange chicken with steamed rice
Thurs, Oct 28th-cheddar roast
Fri, Oct 29th-tacos with leftover roast
Sat, Oct 30th-Neewollah; turning Halloween around the carnival at church-so some sort of junk food from there
Sun, Oct 31st-Cheesy Potato Broccoli Soup
Mon, Nov 1st-Pecan Crusted chicken Breast-need to post this recipe it was so easy and SO yummy!
Tues, Nov 2nd-Pesto Raviolis
Wed, Nov 3rd-something Chinese-studying China at Church on Wed so I'm trying to make Chinese for these 3 weeks!
Thu, Nov 4th-leftover buffet
Fri, Nov 5th-Breakfast for dinner-pancakes, scrambled eggs, bacon, etc

okay now off to my shower and shopping...

Mourning a Loss

okay...
so just some randomness

I broke my favorite dish...
well I didn't break it...I found it broken
I make let my kids put the dishes away
and in letting them do this I have tried to let go of the
"everything has a place and MUST return to that place" mentality...
I will nicely remind them where things go
try to guide them, if you will
but if they unload the dishwasher without asking where something goes I will not come into the kitchen and criticize their work...
with that being said...
my pots/pan/casserole dish cupboard is beginning to look like children have organized it...
so last week I went into the dark hole
to get out my beautiful buttery yellow dish
the one that was a favorite gift last year at Christmas...and it was broken...
I can still use it, but one of the handles was broken off...so very sad...

does anyone have any suggestions on glues I could use that would hold this and I'd still be able to bake with it?!

I feel the only thing to help me feel better would be some amazing baked mac-n-cheese...only this was the dish I baked it in!

I am so sad that I'm not sure I can return to my kitchen to cook...wait...maybe I was in pre-mourning because I can't remember if I cooked my family a meal all last week!!!

Trick or Treat!

wonder when my kids will figure out that I've tricked them...

okay, so I am NOT a house keeper...
my house isn't filthy,
but it's far from clean...
and there is
always
usually
occasionally a pile of something on my counter...
love seat (aka-Mt Laundry)...
time-out chair...
kitchen table...
dryer...okay so the ENTIRE laundry room is falling into the kitchen!

okay...so I might need to blog myself a cleaning/de-cluttering schedule...
maybe not...we'll see

but one things for sure...my kids so rarely see me mopping the kitchen/bathroom floors and cleaning the toilets that they think it's a privilege to do so...and I've let them believe this!

so this is how it went...
on the short drive home from school the boy child is "STARVING!" and finished the snack in his lunch...
he then proceeds to dump the crumbs out of the bag onto the back seat of my car....
...
ARGH...so how will I punish this horrible behavior?

my thinking...
he made a mess and since I don't have a vacuum that I can take out to the car and make him clean up the crumbs, I'll make him clean something else that needs to be cleaned!
"Wilson, when you get home you have to clean the toilets"...

the reaction from the back seat, 
"That's totally not fair!!!"
...
from the girl child
NOT the one that I just handed the 'punishment' down to...
"Why does he GET to do the fun stuff?"...
and evil giggling from the boy child who thinks he just got handed the
BEST 'punishment' EVER 
since he loves cleaning the toilet!

hmmm..my thinking...
what is wrong with my children...
and
shhesh...didn't think thru that one...

"Okay then Madison, would you like to mop when we get home?"
"oh yes, can I please mop during my free time?"

she really is ecstatic about mopping...

and he is giggling an evil little giggle because he still can't understand how this is punishment...

just wait until I trick them into let them clean the shower and then the basement...

A Beautiful Dance

I simply love traffic circles...
there are two traffic circles on the way home from the kids school...and I absolutely love driving thru them...

(...is 'thru' a word?  my spell check always marks it as wrong, but I feel like it is a word, but I'm not confident enough that I would hit the 'add to dictionary' option under spell check so it would stop telling me that thru was spelled wrong...)

back to the traffic circle...
I'm a West Coast girl,
born in Southern California (obviously not raised there because I still can't bring myself to refer to it as So Cal),
raised in Southern Oregon (and no, we don't call it So Oreg)...
traffic circles just aren't very common out here in the west...

I remember seeing/experiencing my first traffic circle when I was in high school visiting my mom's family in Ohio,
I was in love...this is it...this is the solution to those ugly 4 way stops...
is there any other traffic design more artistically appealing than the traffic circle?

what a beautiful thing,
no harsh corners,
nice flowing design
people even decorate them, if there's a small traffic circle in a neighborhood people might plant some flowers or bulbs there, they may decorate it for the holidays...
well, that's just plan fun, no ones out decorating and planting bulbs in the middle of your regular ol' 4 way stop!

even the signs are fun...it's like showing you how to dance rather than demanding that you must stop

problem with traffic circles...
as previously stated...I'm a West Coast girl, so I live on the western side of the US ...
...where you don't run into these crazy traffic circles very often...
so others might not cherish the wonder and beauty of the traffic circle
they may have failed to learn the proper driving rules of them...
some of these people may including my husband...and I do not enjoy a traffic circle nearly as much if he is the one driving thru it...I feel like he takes a beautiful dance and steps all over my feet!

okay, so I get that some traffic circles, or roundabouts if you will, might be a tad overwhelming
and cause any normal functioning human to crawl into the fetal position...
but I'm talking about the normal, run-of-the-mill, small town traffic circle...

I enjoy traffic circles, my heart is happy when all the players/dancers preform their parts correctly...
lately my joy of the traffic circle has been stomped on by idiots uneducated drivers
and NO I am not referring to my husband...I just witnessed a horrifyingly ugly traffic circle encounter on the way home from school today,

some nincompoop uneducated driver went the WRONG direction, too fast, and well, he turned a waltz into some sort of scary dance from a high school prom!

so with that in mind, I felt that I must use my blog to help educate...
*you may enter the traffic circle at the same time as another driver
*traffic circles are not a STOP and then Go, they are a slow and then merge, you may need to stop, but if you can gracefully merge and keep the dance going that is the goal
*it is a slow dance, no speeding thru the dance
*you move in a counter clockwise direction (in the US, if you are outside the US then ignore my babbling)
and most importantly
*enjoy the dance, don't become overwhelmed, put a smile on your face, slow down and just role with it!

I know how to party-Tag

Yesterday was my birthday...
I turned 33...
I spent the day trying to sell my wares at the Green Baby Expo...
sold $18 worth of stuff...but the booth space was $60
(that was $180 split 3 ways...and total the three of us didn't break $100)
...so I lost $42...(we lost over a $100 as a group...good times..I think next time ladies we should 'spend' that money on a spa day or at least lunch at a nice restaurant!)
then out to dinner with the family where the girl child ends up sick and almost vomiting in Outback...
happy birthday to me!


I actually did have a good day, hanging out with two good friends at Green Baby...
(trying to crank text and learning that I am too old to remember any crank phone calls)


...dinner was nice and sweet with the family (up until the girl got sick)...
and then by the time we got home the boy child was also sick, so off to bed early for both kids...
both in bed and sound asleep by 7 pm...
so a nice relaxing evening with my Beau 
(have I mentioned how much he LOVES when I call him "my Beau")
yeah, he just gagged a little...
we read a little and then the two of us watched a little MSW (murder she wrote) 
and I fell asleep (with drool) before the end...
and YES folks that is how I party!


a friend, Krystal over at These are but the Fringes, tagged me in a blog tag with a few questions...here are my answers...a little get to know me for my belated birthday
  
1) What is your favorite book and why? I'm talking the book you can read cover to cover more than once a year! 
not sure I have a book I can read more than once a year...I love to read and a few classics that I have read multiple times are "To Kill a Mockingbird" (read it in jr. high and have loved it ever since, I think I've read it maybe 6 times) "Puddin' Head Wilson" (read it in my book club, picked because the name was great and LOVED it, have only read it twice, but I really enjoy it)
  
2) How did you meet your spouse? 
at college (Simpson College), both stayed on campus over the summer (him for classes, me to work)...we had both 'noticed' each other before that, but hadn't really talked or hung out or anything.
  
3) What is your favorite family vacation from when you were a kid? 
can't say...remember a LOT of camping, and a trip to Disneyland and a trip to Ohio...remember them but can't say they were "favorite vacations"...
  
4) What is your favorite comfort food?
love winter with all the cozy comfort foods, I think either Chicken Pot Pie or mashed potatoes and gravy!

5) If money were no object, where would you pack up and fly off to today?
Disneyland or Disney World... and then a long relaxing road trip of the east coast.

6) What's one word you would use to describe yourself?
casual

7) 3 People who are dead now you'd want to go out to coffee with? NOT including Jesus, because after all, He's NOT dead and you can actually have coffee with Him someday :)
Joan of Arc-just would like to talk to her...for someone so young to die for their beliefs...amazing
Mary (mother of Jesus)-also for someone so young to make such a decision about her life
my grandpa's (okay that's 2 people), but I never met either one of them and I'd love to sit and talk to either one...both seem like some amazing, gentle, funny, men...


going to tag a few friends with these questions
1.  If you're a everyday coffee drinker do you set the auto brew the night before or make it every morning?  If you'r not a coffee drinker...well, I got nothing for you...
2.  If you could have an orchard with only one type of fruit tree what would it be?
3.  Choose 2 people, living or dead, that you'd love to invite to  Thanksgiving dinner...two people you've never met...and do you think the 2 would get along...(not Jesus...yes, he is alive, but I'm hoping you've all met him!)
4.  Where do you see yourself in 5 years...and Are you where you wanted to be now 5 years ago?
5.  what is your "throw down" meal...the meal that you usually have the ingredients on hand to make and you can make it fast without the recipe...
6. choose one 
Day at the Spa with your best friend...Day in a cozy cabin with your husband...Day at an amusement park with your family...
7.  do you have a life verse or saying?


to all of my 49 readers...feel free to answer any of the above questions (the ones that I answered or asked) and reply in the comments...these are the ladies/blogs that I'm tagging with these questions
Lee @ Creative 2Xmom
Becky @ Rookie to Rockstar
Kristen @ Kristen Parr
Laura @ Lil' Daisies 
Krystal @ These are but the Fringes 
     (Krystal I know you've already been tagged, just wanted you to see my answers...)
Mrs. Smith...aka Jody @ TheSmithHotel 
     ...which isn't a hotel...it's not on a map...but it IS a destination!
Kelsy @ We Weren't Crazy

would you rather

have you ever played the game "would you rather"?

i think it's an ACTUAL game, but we play it all the time as a family...great road trip game...

a blog that i love, Lola B's one girl talks, did her own version of "would you rather" today and so i am posting my answers here...it's a fun way to get to know someone!


*would you rather spend a week on the beach or a week on the slopes?
     beach

*how old are you?
     32...for 4 more days...Sat, Oct 16th is my birthday...
     you can send all gifts to me at 
     2123 Sacramento St, Redding, CA 96001
*are you single…married..or divorced?
     married
*would you rather watch ‘hoarders’ or ‘i didn’t know i was pregnant’?
     'I didn't know I was pregnant'-'hoarders' hits a little too close to home!
*would you rather wear ballet flats … boots …or  flip flops?
     flip flops
*would you rather live on a farm …in the city….or be content in suburbia?
     farm...really close to a city...might need to rethink the flip flops...
     but wait...am i content in suburbia???  i think maybe i am...
     or do i live in suburbia?...not sure Redding counts as suburbia or a city...
 *would you rather have dinner with Whoopi Goldberg or Regis Philbin?
     Regis
*would you rather have roasted tomato soup or chicken noodle?
     chicken noodle
*if you could travel for two weeks anywhere in the world…where would you go?
     Europe
*would you take your husband or travel with a friend?
     my husband
*would you take your kids or leave them behind?
     depends on their age...right now leave them in 10 years take them
 *would you rather drive a mini van or mini cooper?
     mini van...i dream of a mini van...someday!
*would you rather  go to a movie or a musical/play?
     musical/play
*would you rather have a cupcake or a bag of chips?
     chocolate cupcake
*would you rather sit and read or watch a favorite show?
     read...if i'm reading a good book...
     or then i might opt for good ol' MSW
     (murder she wrote for those too young to know how hip MSW is!)
 *when was the last time you slow danced?
     at a wedding...probably Robert and Rayna's so 6 years ago!
     or do you count the dance parties that we have as a family...
     but then i'm slow dancing with the boy child...
*would you rather sit and dream or live your dream?
     live my dream...although i'm not sure i've figured out what that is yet
*would you rather eat kraft mac n cheese or ramen noodles?
     kraft mac n cheese
*would you rather your child ate their buggers or collected them on their shirt?
     nasty!....but i'd say collect them on their shirt...
     since this is what the boy child is currently doing!
*would you rather exercise or watch Oprah?
     exercise...wow, that is NOT what i would have answered a year ago!

*would you rather wear sweats or get dressed for the day? 
     get dressed for the day
*would you rather be caught wearing your sweats at walmart or chuck e cheese?
     WalMart...because i actually go to WalMart...i can't stand the Chuck e Cheese...gives me hives just thinking about it!...not that i love WalMart, but WalMart is a necessary evil in my life...Chuck e Cheese is NOT!

I've Been Living a Lie

I need to confess...
I haven't told you the truth.  I haven't actually lied to you....
it's been a lie of omission...I've been hiding something...
something that I haven't been ready to talk about yet...
something that I'm not sure that I've accepted yet as a truth...

so, is it a lie of omission if you're still processing it in your own head?

okay...here it goes....

my husband has quit dairy...
no cow's milk
no yogurt
no sour cream
....
and the hardest one...
no cheese...

yes you read that correctly...NO CHEESE!
these are the questions I'm asking myself...
*why?
*how?
*did he stop loving me when he stopped loving cheese?
*how can you just quit cheese?
*if our family's motto is "Everything's Better With Cheddar" what happens when the husband/father of the family just quits cheese?
*is our family now a lie?
*is quiting cheese part of the "for worse" that I agreed to in my marriage vows?

AND
*how do I rearrange my menu/grocery shopping for the one CRAZY member of the family that just up and randomly quits cheese?
*should I rearrange my menu/grocery shopping for the ONE crazy member?
*and I just keep asking HOW?

Menu for Oct 8th-when the food runs out

I know that my life is easier with a menu,
I know my families life is easier with a menu...
but some times it's just so hard to sit down and make one...
this is how it happened yesterday...
girl child and I leave to run errands...
she had checked the mail right before we left and had some junk mail envelopes sitting on her lap in the car...
I handed her a pencil and said, "what should we have for dinner this week?"
and together we brainstormed dinner ideas/options...
she and I tried to figure out what we'd need for groceries off that menu
...always a little harder when you can't remember what's in the fridge/pantry...
and then we hit the store...

can I tell you how much fun it is to grocery shop with just one child...and one that is so helpful.
Madison is a very sweet little girl and I love hanging out with her.  She made grocery shopping at 5 pm on a Friday a pleasant experience!...and she WROTE the entire menu and the grocery list...and a few words were in cursive!  so sweet!

Friday, October 8th-Ravioli's with Marinara sauce, Spinach Salad and French Bread
Saturday, Oct 9th-Pecan Crusted Chicken Breast and Parmesan Orzo
Sunday, Oct 10th-Breakfast Burritos
Monday, Oct 11th-BBQ Chicken Pizza
Tuesday, Oct 12th-Chili with corn bread and honey butter
Wednesday, Oct 13th-Baked Potato Bar
     (with leftover chili, steamed broccoli, sour cream, cheese, bacon, etc)
Thursday, Oct 14th-Meatloaf with mashed potatoes and steamed broccoli
Friday, Oct 15th-Taco Salad
Saturday, Oct 16th-dinner out...my birthday....
Sunday, Oct 17th-Egg McMuffins
Monday, Oct 18th-Ravioli's with Pesto
Tuesday, Oct 19th-Chicken Chow Mein and fried rice
Wednesday Oct 20th...pay day...and a new menu!

so the menu's not bad...just hoping I bought everything I need to make it to the next payday without a trip to the grocery store!

just some projects here and there

okay so I realized that I've been really bad about posting projects that I've worked on...
here are some ChambersMade projects from the past few months!

some sewing projects 

I never made the boy child a baby blanket...

I had 5 other friends that had babies that year and after I was done making blankets for all of them...

and was 9 months pregnant in July...

I figured that I had enough blankets for him and didn't need to make him one...

but I always felt a little bad so finally I made him a bedspread for his bed...

5 years later!

...it's not actually done, and this picture is before I even started sewing it, the front is all sewn together, I just haven't found what I want for the back, so it's just the front...but it's on his bed and he likes it!

here is a monster blanket I made for a new baby in our church...the kids drew monsters and I tried to duplicate them as best as I could in fabric form...it was a fun project...I want to make more monsters!

a dress I made for the girl child for some family pictures...family pictures that I have yet to order..yikes!

some painting projects
these signs were all ones that were ordered from a lady at a local boutique, she's selling them in her shop...let me know if you'd like a custom sign, I'll let you know my prices...

 Lulafaye is the name of her shop

 the backdrop that my friend Kim-o-Lee and I painted for VBS (Vacation Bible School)

misc other things

 a camo cake for a friend's son...

a necklace that Mrs. Smith and I made for a Sunday School teacher that stepped down after teaching for 6 years...we miss Ms. Rachel!

lots of fun projects this summer...I know I have other stuff, but just didn't take pictures...now off to paint and sew for next weekend's "Green Baby Expo"...lots of fun!