Menu Board

When it comes to fixing dinner I have to have a plan before 4:00 in the afternoon. Otherwise, it's find what you can because unfortunately I don't have everything I need or the chicken is still in the freezer. Unfortunately there have been many days like that in our house. I decided to make a change. I started by making a list of meals the whole family would eat without complaining - didn't get very many on that list. Eventually I came up with a full two weeks of dinner time meals all typed out and printed neatly. So twice a month we have the same thing. Now I know exactly what I need when I head to the store and know ahead of time to thaw out chicken. Still have days that the chicken doesn't get moved out of the freezer, but hey, I'm tryin.

We still had a blank space in our kitchen that needed something, but I wasn't sure what....so I decided to add a picture frame, but a functional frame. We now have our weekly menu hanging in our kitchen for all to see. Maybe that will stop the repetitive question I get daily, "mom, what's for dinner?"

It's just a collage frame and I added scrapbook paper behind the glass. Then I use a dry erase marker to change out the menu.

I am also constantly thinking of things I need to get next time I'm at the store. Plus it never fails that when I head to the store with a list in hand and I still forget something. So to the left of the menu sits this. It's an old paint/dry erase board that we used to use for school. Great for holding my lists as well as my Costco coupons at the top and the tray at the bottom for all the others.

It's not a perfect system and sometimes we have to change things mid-week, but it's working for us now. Now to work on the healthier meal plan. :)

Dogwood

I don't do the twitter thing and send out "tweets" I only blog, but today I thought....that would be a good tweet. So here's my tweet post.

Carter gave me a dogwood flower from neighbors yard but said I didn't have to tell him the Jesus story because dad already did #gotabeapreacherskid


If your wondering what the "Jesus story" he was referring to is -

The Legend
The legend surrounding the symbolic meaning of a dogwood tree is intrinsically linked to Christianity. It is said that the wood of the dogwood tree is the hardest and that it was chosen to be used in the cross on which Jesus Christ was crucified. Although there are no direct
accounts that this is so, it is known that dogwood grew in the areas surrounding Jerusalem during this time period, and it is entirely likely that this wood was used.

Dogwood Flowers
The legend of the dogwood tree also extends to its flowers. Typically, the blossoms are four petaled with two long petals and two short petals, forming the shape of the sign of the cross. The flowers are typically white or pink with dark edging at the tips meant to signify the nails of the cross. The center of the blossom can be described as a crown of thorns and is also typically of a darker color than the rest of the blossom.

Not Me Monday

I did NOT let my oldest fix my youngest hair.

Date Night

Last night Ben took Isabel on their first official date.

She got to pick dinner (she picked Mexican - her absolute favorite) and then Ben got to pick dessert which lead to her first Johnny Rocket's Milkshake.

They ended up with a trip to Toys R Us. Knowing he couldn't say no when she asked him to buy her this.

While daddy was on his date with his daughter, I got to spend time with my three boys. We didn't go anywhere special, but they had a blast trying to teach mom the tricks to playing Mario Kart Wii.

Not Me Monday

At the end of a crazy day when all the dirty green shirts were in the floor after bath time and everyone was headed to the bed, I did NOT make my sister and kids stop and put on some St. Patty's Day attire for a quick picture that I forgot to get earlier in the day.

Not Me Monday

I do NOT wash my bathroom garbage cans (that sit beside the toilet) in the dishwasher weekly. If you have to ask why - then you don't live with little boys.

House Church

Many of you know that Ben & I don't go to a building on Sunday to worship. We worship "as" the church, not "in" a church. Because people are the church not the building. The church worships together. Not sure how or why the phrase "going to church" got started.

There are many reasons why we started meeting as a church in homes and I really hope to write more blog post about that, but today I'm sharing with you what a Sunday looks like for us. I know it's different and I know it sounds weird. Trust me, I thought the same thing when we started. It was different than anything I had ever known. Oh how my thoughts and feelings have changed.

There are 13 families and 13 singles that are part of our church here in East Lake. There are actually two house churches, but both under The Church At South East Lake. Ours meets on Sunday mornings and the other one meets on Sunday night. For those of us who meet on Sunday mornings we have three houses that host so we can take turns.

Now that you know just a little here we go....

Everyone arrives between 9:30 a.m. and 10:00 a.m.
Some don't get far before shoes come off - insert very comfortable setting.

Since 9 a.m. is normal nap time for little man he usually finds someone to rock him to sleep.

When it's time to begin, the choir starts singing.....

No projectors hanging from the ceiling or song books behind the pew, just a sheet of paper with lyrics. We're working on memorizing a couple of dozen songs together so we don't have to print out song sheets every week - just not there yet.

One of the things we have started during our worship time is a global prayer focus. We have 3 guys that take turns and each week they bring to our attention a specific place / people group around the world and how we can pray for them. We divide the room into groups and spend focused time in prayer specifically for them.

We make sure the kids participate in this as well.

I guess I can say that Ben is the main teacher for our church. We have two elders for each house church, but there are also what we call elders in training - men who are not yet ready to be elders, but are being mentored by the elders. Most weeks Ben will be the one teaching, but some weeks Mike Landrum or one of the elders in training will teach. Most weeks, depending on the teacher, we even have notes with blanks to fill in.

Something we have just started doing after we sing and pray together, is teaching the kids separately. Someone (we rotate) will take the kids out and have a lesson for them in a different room. That lesson is always the same as the one being taught to the adults but on a different level and it usually involves a craft.

We always end our time with more fellowship and food. Did I mention we're a baptist house church? :) Every week an email goes out from Perfect Potluck. Even though it says potluck in the title we usually have a theme. The first one to sign up sets that theme for the week. This particular week was BBQ.

We end with communion every week. And yes, that's only one cup you see. Totally freaked me out the first few times we did it and I'm not ashamed to say that I made sure I was at the front of the line so I could drink out of it first. I didn't really know these people and I didn't want their germs. Totally different view now. We are a community of believers, we are a family, we are one in Christ and I am more than happy to share only one cup. Just so you know we do have a napkin that is passed with the cup and everyone wipes it down after they drink. Mike makes the bread each week - it's unleavened and made fresh.

We don't pass it around, but it has a certain spot that it sits. Tithes and offering are taken up each week. We have our own checking account and deposits are made weekly.

I do want to share with you our first baptism. Just a few weeks ago we had the privilege to baptize someone that is now a part of our church. We pondered on just how that would be done. Our answer was this....

Yup, a swimming pool. Don't worry, the water wasn't cold - thankfully the hot water heater had a place to attach a water hose so it was filled with nice warm water.

After the celebration of the baptism was over it wasn't long before the kids were asking or shall I say begging - can you guess for what?

How many of you can say you swam in the baptistry?

9 Months

Big boy is 9 months old today and look what he can do now....pull himself up from sitting all by himself!

Thinks he is so big playing Wii with big brother, Caden. What Cannon doesn't know is that Caden took the batteries out of his remote so it wouldn't mess up the game.

To make things easier on mommy's back, since we have not remodeled our small 1950's bathroom, Cannon's bathtub is the farm house sink in the kitchen. Haven't figured out if Isabel really likes to help give him a bath or if she just likes playing in the water with him. Either way helps me.

We're still not really mobile. Pretty much every time you put him in a sitting position on the floor he goes immediately to his tummy and tries to crawl, but just doesn't have it down yet.
He is finally cutting his first tooth, we'll first two, both bottom middle are making their way in.

It's getting harder and harder to get pictures with his "month" sign. All he wants to do is play with it.

And when you try to take it away, you get this look :)

Not Me Monday

I do NOT keep a container of orange Tic Tac's in the kids medicine cabinet to give them when they think they need medicine.