Everything I Once Hoped For

“Do not spoil what you have by desiring what you have not; remember that what you now have was once among the things you only hoped for.” Epicurus

Here is everything I once hoped to have. I do get caught up in wanting my little hobby farm, a 15 passenger van, more kids and the list goes on. I remind myself that God is sovereign and has a plan for me. I look at all He has given me and know that really, He has truly granted the desires of my heart. I think it's ok to dream and plan for the things above, but it's not ok to loose sight of what I already have. It's ok if the things above are just dreams in the sky that never come true. God has my life planned out. He only wants good things for me. They may not be the things I think are good or perfect, but see, my life is only God's and nothing more. My wants, needs and desires are the wants, needs, and desires that He wants for me.

Thank you, God.

Reading around the house

It's Homemaking Link Up Day at Raising Homemakers. Come and join the fun! Also be sure to check out the book The Family Daughter by 16yo Sarah Bryant listed in the blog post for the day at Raising Homemakers. I am looking forward to getting a copy for my girls.

I love to see my kids getting along, a bonus is the reading. :) When we go to the library we come home with two to three milk crates full of books. Each of the kids get the amount of books respectable to their ages. We start in the picture book section/fiction section and then move over to the non fiction section. Two books from the picture book section and the rest from the other section. I love seeing what they come up with especially in the non fiction section. I do take time to scan through books before they make it to the house. I believe that we as women are gatekeepers of our homes and one of our jobs is to keep up with what is coming in the gates.
I also make sure to check out board books for little lady. She actually does well with paper books, though she tore one the other day just trying to turn the page. She loves books and will ask you to read by signing book and saying, "buh."

Roy and I check out lots of books and let the kids see us reading all the time. They sit and read during in between times of the day. For example, after their rooms are tidied in the morning and they are waiting for breakfast to be ready they read. During our group school time if we are waiting for someone to finish something up they read. Sometimes if there is time right before dinner after our predinner clean up is done they read. During our 1-2 hour rest time every day they read.

The girls and I have talked about wanting to set up little reading nooks around the house, but right now that's not possible so everyone just finds a little corner to read in. My oldest likes to grab pillows and make herself a nest by our sliding glass back door. Jonathan loves the basket above or behind my recliner. The two other girls perch on the couch. Adrian lands wherever he sees an opening.

It's wonderful to see my kids reading to themselves and each other. It's one of my favorite parts of the day.

Betwixt and Between

Raising Homemakers is at it again with a great post and a give away.

They are advertising a mentoring program for moms of girls ages 9-13, the "betwixt and between" stage. They'll be going through the Beautiful Girlhood book starting September 12. I'm very excited about this as I have two girl who fall into this age group. My oldest could probably benefit from it as well. We are going to spend the month of August working through Raising Maidens of Virtue so in September we'll just pick up the Beautiful Girlhood book as our next selection!

So click on over and see what's up.

What We Ate This Week

Thai Chicken Stirfry Salad from Pampered Chef. Here is the recipe I found online.It is a lot different from the recipe in my actual PC cookbook which is more like this:
Thai Chicken Stir-Fry Salad
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Ingredients:

Dressing
1 1-inch piece peeled fresh gingerroot (I just used dried)

3/4 cup creamy poppy seed salad dressing

2 garlic cloves, pressed


Salad
1 medium cucumber

1 small red bell pepper

1 package (6 ounces) fresh baby spinach leaves

1 package (12 ounces) broccoli slaw mix


Chicken Mixture
1/4 cup snipped fresh basil

1/4 cup peanuts

1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts


Directions:
1. For dressing, finely chop gingerroot using Food Chopper. In Classic Batter Bowl, combine gingerroot, salad dressing and garlic pressed with Garlic Press; whisk until well blended and set aside.

2. For salad, score cucumber lengthwise using Zester/Scorer; remove seeds using The Corer(TM). Thinly slice cucumber and bell pepper; cut cucumber slices in half. Place spinach, slaw mix, cucumber and bell pepper into Simple Additions(R) Large Bowl; refrigerate until ready to serve.

3. For chicken mixture, snip basil using Kitchen Shears and chop peanuts with Food Chopper. Flatten chicken to 1/2-inch thickness using flat side of Meat Tenderizer; cut into 1/2-inch cubes. Lightly spray Skillet with oil using Kitchen Spritzer; heat over medium-high heat 1-3 minutes or until hot. Add chicken to Skillet in a single layer. Cook without stirring 2 minutes or until chicken begins to brown. Stir-fry 2-3 minutes or until chicken is no longer pink; remove Skillet from heat. Add basil, peanuts and 1/4 cup of the dressing to Skillet; toss to coat.

4. To serve, toss salad with remaining dressing; top with chicken mixture and serve immediately.

Yield: 8 servings

Nutrients per serving: Calories 210, Total Fat 10 g, Saturated Fat 1.5 g, Cholesterol 35 mg, Carbohydrate 13 g, Protein 16 g, Sodium 300 mg, Fiber 3 g

Variation: Thai Chicken Stir-Fry with Rice: Omit salad ingredients. Prepare dressing as directed in Step 1. Double the chicken mixture; prepare as directed in Step 3, stir-frying chicken in two batches. Toss chicken with all of the dressing. Serve chicken mixture over hot cooked rice prepared with Rice Cooker Plus.

So, so good. My husband declared it to be restaurant quality.




Steak, potatoes, and brocolli. The steak was bought on sale marked down almost 75%. About the only time we eat steak. :)
Chicken Marsala over rice, green peas, and watermelon. The recipe in Light and Tasty called for turkey tenderloin, but chicken breasts were cheaper so that's what we had.

We had this yummy Fruit Pizza from Light and Tasty recipes on steak night. It was pretty quick to throw together and used my leftover strawberries and some old blue berries I had.

Family Sized Burrito from Pampered Chef was very easy to make and the kids loved it! I served it with a shredded lettuce, sour cream, and salsa.

I have loved getting back in the kitchen. It was just one of those things I could not conquer this last year. My favorite part is plating the food. I like to make it look attractive for my family. I'm not good at photographing food so I know it does not look that great in the photos, but it really did look nice. As my friend says, "Pretty makes it taste better!"

Take the time

Blogger is still acting zany, so I will let you know I am still here with a picture of my beautiful baby! I had more to share but blogger won't let me upload anymore today! :)
Oh, and here is a wonderful quote:
If you haven't time to respond to a tug at your pants leg, your schedule is too crowded. ~Robert Brault

Can you hear me now?

Blogger has been acting crazy on me this week. I have had issues logging in, uploading pictures, and uploading posts. Just wanted to let you know I'm still here. :)