A Great Escape with my family.

Over this past weekend our family finally had a chance to hang out together for a whole day. This summer has been so busy for all of us and It's such a rare occasion that we all can stop our individual routines and meet in one place. We spent the whole day at Six Flags. Then after we went out to eat on the way home. These kind of things require two things. Time and money. We never seem to have both at the same time.  During our time together I couldn't help but think about how my children are growing up so fast. They would run from  ride to ride and measure themselves at each one to see if they could get on . My youngest just made it this year by the hair on his head. I don't know if it's because he's our last baby or what, but he seems to have retained is "babyness" the longest. He still loves to cuddle, which as any mommy knows... is so important when it's your last baby. One of the other things I was reminded of was how different they each are when they are without the other siblings. It's like I have a totally different child when they are alone. I feel like my eyes are being opened to this child that I don't even know. It's kinda sad to me that I get so busy  raising my kids that I don't even really know them. So I have decided that this year I am scheduling time for each one my children, just the two of us. I might let Doug tag along too. I don't want to miss out on knowing what's important to them. I want to really get to know each of my kids, because before I know it they'll be all grown up with their own families. I feel the need to just slow down and enjoy my kids now. There will be plenty of time to work on other things later. After all, they're only little once and we only get one shot at getting it right.

The next 12 months of my life down on paper.

Finally, I have reached the 90 % done point with my curriculum planning. I feel like I can start my school year on a good note. I'm starting my 3 year old son's schooling this year and I'm hoping that if he has his own school work to do, he'll be less distracting to the other kids. I know, it's wishful thinking. A girl can dream... can't she? I'm looking forward to more hands on lessons with the kids this year and I'm focusing on our character training. I'm using this great set of lessons that Focus on the Family puts out. It's called Kids of Integrity. The lessons provide you with hands on learning lessons, Bible story references, helpful suggestions if your child is having trouble with that particular character trait and even prayer suggestions. This is the link if your interested. http://kidsofintegrity.com/ . I'm also planning on more outside the home activities this winter to keep mommy from going crazy  to keep the kids from getting bored.
  I've made a few adjustments with my own schedule and responsibilities in hopes of having a smoother school year. I had too make some hard choices this year in the ministries department. I think sometimes we need to let go of certain things in our lives to make room for the things that our more important. I find if I spread myself too thin, in too many areas..... then I don't do well in any thing that I'm doing. Kinda like a garden with too many plants planted in it. The flowers may bloom but not as much as it would with less plants sucking up the nutrients in the soil. Get it? I know you do. So bring it on 2012 because I will probably be ready to throw in the towel by January I'm totally prepared. How about you?

Banana Chocolate Chip Cookies

I found this great recipe yesterday. They're easy to make and taste great. The kids inhaled them. I used chopped up chunks of chocolate that I had in my pantry because I didn't have chocolate chips. Oh ya and they're only 99 calories a cookie.

Banana Chocolate Chip cookies

1/3 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup sugar
1 egg
1/2 cup mashed ripe banana
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup (6 ounces) semisweet chocolate chips 


Directions:
In a small bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the egg, banana and vanilla. Combine the flour, baking powder, salt and baking soda; gradually add to creamed mixture and mix well. Stir in chocolate chips.
Drop by tablespoonfuls 2 in. apart onto baking sheets coated with cooking spray..

Bake at 350° for 9-11 minutes or until edges are lightly browned. Remove to wire racks to cool. Yield: 2 dozen.

Clean up, clean up, everybody, everywhere....

That's the tune playing through my head today. I'm going through all my closets and cupboards. Tossing the garbage and passing on the usable stuff. Even the kids are in on it. I gave them each a bag and and told them to fill it with the things they didn't want or play with anymore. What a great feeling it is to be organized and have things all neat and clean. So in the spirit of cleaning up I thought I'd offer up some organizing tips for some of the rooms of the house that tend to get cluttered.

The Bedroom - Start with the closet. Go through and get rid of anything that doesn't fit or you haven't worn in the last 18 months. If it's ripped or stained throw it away. If it's still wearable give it to your local mission. Now girls, when I say this... I know how hard it is to get rid of clothes. You got the clothes that you set aside for "fat days" and the "when I loose weight clothes". Get rid of them. If they're too big it will only give you the option to gain a few pounds. When your clothes start getting tight that means it's time too buckle down on some exercise and getting rid of bad eating habits. And for the clothes that are too small, well just think of how much incentive you'll have to loose weight if you get to go shopping when you loose the weight. After you've done that pack away your seasonal clothes that your not going to use for the next 4-6 months in a tote. You can store the tote in your closet or in an attic. Then switch them out at the start of the new season. Place some crates on the floor for shoes. Or better yet get a shoe rack or the closet. You can also store things under the bed in baskets too. Things like extra sheets and blankets or gift bags.

The Kitchen- Start with the cupboards and try to use to same rule of thumb that you used for your clothes. If you haven't used it in the last 18 months chances are you don't need it. Wipe down the cupboards as your going through things. Save old shoe boxes for things like plastic lids and cookie cutters. 
  My kitchen counters always get mail and papers piled on them. Then when I get sick of looking at the pile and pushing things out of my way, Ill go through it and I waste a half of time. After I got tired of this pattern I tried using one of those 3 tier letter organizers that you would put on your office desk. When you come in the house with your mail, toss the junk mail immediately and put bills in one tier, things that need to be filed in another and the things that need immediate attention in the top tier. Then it's all up off the counter and already sorted.

  The pantry is another place that always needs attention in my house. Go through your food items and get rid of out of date items and wipe down the shelves. I keep a big glass cookie jar in there that I pour boxes of individually wrapped snacks in. That saves me room on the shelves for other things. You can keep plastic baskets or a plastic storage container that you lost the lid too in there for small items like kool aid and salad dressing packets.

I hope that this post got some of you motivated. Happy cleaning!!!!
  

Scope and Sequence for my life

We're coming to the end of summer and I'm all about lesson plans and curriculum's right now. So in the process of planning my school year, I decided to make a Scope and Sequence for my life. It looks a little like this so far.

Relationships
Pick out the healthy relationships at this time in my life and dispose of the toxic ones
Visit my mother more often
Have dinner with dad at least once a month
Spend more time with my husband and kids

Spiritual training
Make reading my Bible a part of my daily routine
Make Bible and Character training part of my kids curriculum this year
Make praying before bed with the kids part of our bedtime routine
Start another small group

Homeschooling
Stay focused, more goal oriented
Be more consistent
Organize
PLAN
PLAN
PLAN

Church
Pick a ministry that best suits me and stick to just that one or two so that I can be more fruitful in it.
Make more of an effort to talk to people that I don't know on Sunday morning


House
Organize my kitchen cabinets
Update the kids chore lists
Get rid of the things that our cluttering my house
Reorganize my sewing materials and sewing area

Teresa's pantry
Get more items in my shop
Prepare for next years vendor fairs
Make myself a bag to advertise for myself  :)

Phew!! I already feel better. Now to just get started.

Depression

de·pres·sion/diˈpreSHən/Noun

1. Severe despondency and dejection, accompanied by feelings of hopelessness and inadequacy.

2. A condition of mental disturbance, typically with lack of energy and difficulty in maintaining concentration or interest in life I had not thought of.

   Can you guess what this post is about? So lately I've been very busy with church a family and summer things. I finally got to start a garden this year. Something I've been wanting to do for many years but every year I'm either pregnant or my children were too little for me to put time into it. My youngest is now 3 and I finally have my chance. I had no idea how much time and energy getting it started would require. I did it though. It's small, but It'll increase in size a little each year. I try to keep myself busy, it's the way that I cope with things.When ever I'm upset about something I clean my house. I dive into my ministries at church and find new things to take on. One week it might be organizing the kids toys the next may be bringing home a kitten....His name is Taylor in case your wondering. Coming up on this August, I have this dark cloud moving over my head. Many of you already know that August is when I lost my baby brother. You see one of my worst fears is falling victim to depression. I've seen so many people in my life suffer from it and it runs in my family. Both my Grandmother and my mother suffered from it and I'm so afraid that one day I will be next. My mother's battle with depression started when she was a teenager and she still suffers from it today. I don't remember hardly anything of my childhood up until the age of maybe of 12. I'm not sure why... maybe I just have a bad memory. Anyway, what I do remember is my mother sitting on the couch with her blanket watching TV all of the time. sometimes she would just be siting there in the quiet just sobbing. Then I didn't realize what was happening and maybe I was just being a selfish teenager. When I was about 13 my mother tried to kill her self by taking a bottle of prescription drugs and had to be rushed to the hospital to have her stomach pumped. After that she was in and out of psychiatric hospitals all the time. She abused her medication often and drank alcohol on top of that. We suddenly switched roles and I became the mother and her the child. I moved out when I was 15 because I couldn't take it anymore. I don't want to paint the wrong picture of my mother. She's a good woman and she's had her share of hardships in life, just like the rest of us Soul Sista's. My father was a truck driver and wasn't home very often and my older brother clung to his friends and my younger brother just kinda was left to himself. With no parental guidance he started his addiction to alcohol at the age of 13 and it finally took his life almost two years ago this August at the age of 28. My mother about 4 years ago had a stroke that the doctors claimed was probably brought on by her abuse of medication for so many years. She now lives in a nursing home and is wheelchair bound. She is completely dependent on other people to care for her. She's able to carry on conversations and feed her self and her memory is sketchy. But she'll tell you that she wishes that she just died. She has some good days though. The nurses treat her well and I try to visit her as often as I can. 

After a conversation with a friend of mine I realized that the reason that depression is so scary to me is because it could mean leaving my children at a young age without a mother or leaving them with the burden of caring for me. So with all this being said, I am not depressed and I'm not having any kind of mental breakdown. I'm just very aware of it and when I start feeling down I make sure that I pick myself right back up. I refuse to let it get to me. I realize that it's just another one of my fears. Some are not so lucky they can't just "snap out of it". I used to think that medications were bad because of the struggle that I had with my mom but know that I see so many other woman in my life using medication and seeing the good that it does for them. Some people need it and It's not something that they can just get over. I'm talking about good Christian woman here. They prayed about it and still do. I believe that God doesn't want us to struggle. I believe that God had a hand in developing this medication to help people who need it. I'm sorry if I'm offending anyone when it comes this topic of taking medication. This is just my opinion and it's my blog.

Na na na na naaa!!

Grilled Sweet Potatoes

 

                                                         Yummy!!!!!!

 

 

Ingredients:

• 4 medium sweet potatoes
• 1/4 cup melted butter
• 3 tablespoons brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Preparation:

Cup sweet potatoes into 3/4 inch slices. Bring 3 quarts of water to a boil and add potatoes. Boil until potatoes are just starting to soften. Cool and peal. Combine butter, brown sugar and cinnamon, brush over potatoes. Place Potato slices on preheated grill over a medium low heat and cook for about 10 to 15 minutes, turning once. When the sweet potatoes as soft through the middle and browned on the surface they are ready.