Easy Breakfast

If you want a prep ahead breakfast, this is a great option!  I used mixed berries as you can see my picture looks different than the link I attached.  I also substitute coconut milk as well.  I like to do a lot of food prep on Mondays for the week ahead.  I simply made this Monday morning and stuck in the fridge unbaked.  Jeff stuck it in the oven when he first woke up Tuesday and it was ready by the time he needed to eat before leaving.  This will give us something to eat all week.  Please share any links of your favorite prep ahead easy breakfast favorites.  

Baked Oatmeal - click on this link to get the recipe.

Great plan, but reality sets in....

The great plan was here.  I had good intentions, but here's the reality of what I actually did....

Our goals...

*Get rid of 120 items (the boys will find 20 items each and Jeff and I will each choose 40 items) Update:  I didn't actually count the items but my Grandma's neighborhood had a garage sale so we purged a ton of items.  I'm sure we got close to this amount.  

*Complete 54 items off our to do list between us all by doing 5-6 items each week for 4 weeks.  The goal is to start in September but while talking about this the boys got excited to start and actually started doing one of their projects before church this morning so we will probably get a head start this week since we are thinking about it.  These are varied from 5 min to possibly 5 hours!   

Our lists in no particular order...

Leslie

Clean out purse

Clean out fridge 

Clean out freezer 

Clean ceiling fans and light fixtures

Clean out silverware drawer

Deep clean microwave, stove and oven - I recently had food spill over so my oven desperately needs to be self cleaned but I am afraid it will smoke up the house terrible in the process.  This has happened way too many times!  

Clean top of fridge & put conditioner on cabinets

Clean out utensil drawer

Clean out & organize pantry & all food related cabinets

Clean out & organize all cabinets holding dishes & misc items

Sweep & organize closet floors

Clean windows & wash curtains

Clean out medicine cabinet

Go through my closet & boys' closet & update for the season

Sort & organize through entertainment/TV areas

Clean & organize linen closet

File

Bathroom drawers

Book shelf upstairs

Spare bedroom storage (Jeff's help)

Have carpets shampoo'd 

Update decor for the fall season (towards the end of the month)

Jeff

Sweep out basement

Fix fence

Paint birdhouses with boys

Spray round-up

Gutters

Till garden

Sweep car

Furring strips on barn

Paint Bathroom

Sweep under beds and couch

Sweep windowsills (to be done after harvest)

Clean vents

Go through closet

Spray for spiders

Paint door jam on barn

Frame overhead door on barn

Put door knob in garage door

Dispose of old tax records from 7 years ago

Wash filters

Wash windows outside (to be done after harvest)

Clean garage

Spare bedroom storage

Boys

Sweep Cushions & furniture

Clean out car

Wipe down baseboards

Wipe down door handles

Clean light switch plates

Go through toy boxes

Organize toy closet Unfortunately this doesn't last for too long, something I have to remind them to do often!  

Go through books

Clean out school desks

Organize video games & movies

Help Mom with her projects

I hope to capture some pics and give weekly updates!  Nothing exciting enough to document with pictures.

I'm actually encouraged that I did more than I thought!  The good news is that this list is still here and I will work on it as I can.  We'll just move the projects into October and see how many more we can work on.  

Fall Bucket List

I saw this post on pinterest and it inspired me to create my own!  

So, here's our 2012 Fall Bucket List....

*Visit a pumpkin patch

*Drink apple cider

*Eat caramel apples

*Fly kites

*Roast hot dogs and s'mores on the fire

*Donate food to our local foodbank

*Go on a hike

*Go through a corn maze

*Put together a fall puzzle (500 pieces or more)

*Make a new pumpkin recipe

*Decorate for the season

*Play in the leaves

*Try a new hot drink for the season

*Make apple dumplings

Many of these things I always say I want to do but never plan to do them.  Now we have a cute checklist on our fridge so we see it every day.  Plus the boys won't let us forget to do their favorites!!  

What would you put on your fall bucket list?  I may just add your idea to our list!  

Late Summer Update

Fun times in the last 4-6 weeks in pictures and videos!  

A few seconds of worship from the Bluffton Street Fair.  I love this group of people I get to serve with!

On this date Jeff surprised me by calling me up late afternoon to tell me he had a sitter lined up and wanted to take me out.  What a great surprise!

Date Night with the Markleys to DeBrands for dessert. So in love with this man!  

 Family Date night to http://800degrees.net/800pizza/ located on Illinois Rd. in Fort Wayne.  Love this place!

Girlfriends from highschool!  We've walked through so many life stages together.  Love these women!   

There's something about getting together that brings out the silliness in all of us!

Mom Date to Spoonz.  Love it!

Isaac makes us scrambled eggs

Fun picture that represents a party I attended for a new ministry opportunity to encourage and support other moms and wives as we strive to follow what Christ desires.  As a side note, Isaac told me I looked ridiculous and was quite embarrassed by this outfit.  Kaleb, on the other hand told me I looked like a beautiful girl from Hawaii.  :)

They LOVE to play Pay Day an old game I use to play as a child.  In fact this is my actual game.  

They can get so creative when the electronic devices are "on break."

Their bedroom looks like this most of the time and yes I step on something or knock something over nearly every night I sneak in to give them one last goodnight kiss.

Fun at the park

Zoo with friends

Field trip to Fox Island to learn about butterflies with friends

Kaleb saying Psalm 1 by memory.  We took 6 weeks to learn it.  

Other things that happened that I didn't get pictures:

We hosted a fun cook-out with friends from church, spent time with family, spent time in fellowship and learning with other homeschool moms, and survived our first term of school.  Even though the craziness of life, I love seeing this post and how much fun God blessed us with these past several weeks.

Reading Vs Hearing

Lately I've been feeling quite dry in my Scripture reading.  I read because I have need to.  I know its important but sometimes its more of a discipline than something I look forward to doing.  Can anyone relate?  And many times I'll read it and not really know what I just read but I figure I did it and need to keep moving with my morning.  Part of this is laziness on my part.  If I don't have a notebook in hand to jot down insights, I typically just read without looking for insight.  Lets not even go to my prayer life. While I do talk with the Lord all day long, I don't set aside time to just really pray about everyday life...my children's hearts, my marriage, friendships, ministries, etc.  I cry out to the Lord in need everyday but just don't sit with him quietly bringing every area of my life to Him.  

So I took a step to change that last week.  Got a new notebook out and decided I would find at least one thing to take away from scripture each day.  I wouldn't stop reading until I had heard from the Lord in some way.  I would also make a prayer schedule and keep a prayer journal.  I kept on my current reading schedule reading through 2 Corinthians.

Look what the Lord revealed/challenged me to in 3 days of reading....

Do I live as if I'm a new creation in Christ?  2 Cor 5:17  What do I still need to put off?  Things like wrongful thinking, anxiety/worry, sinful ways that want to creep in like gossip, envy, bitterness, doubt.

After reading 2 Cor 6:3 - We put no stumbling block in anyone's path.  Can I honestly say I don't put stumbling blocks in front of others?  Lord, reveal areas where I cause others to stumble.  Things like grouchy attitude at home to my husband and boys came to mind, gossip/wrongful talk where the boys can hear me, wrong thinking share with others, legalism.

2 Cor 7:1 - Purify ourselves from everything that contaminates body and spirit, perfecting holiness out of reverence for God.  Lord, what do I need purified from?  What do I put before you, Lord? Things like spending a lot of energy trying to keep life balanced, my to do list, thinking about success in what I do instead of who I am in Christ, living in the future (whether its fear based or thinking of exciting things to come) and not enjoying today's gift.

Who's spirit can I refresh?  Lord, I desire to be uplifting to those around me - especially to Jeff and the boys who tend to get the worst of me.  

More scripture I ran across about the words we speak from Proverbs 15:4 and Matthew 12:34 convicted me.  My prayer was to speak words of life and get rid of the words that tear down.  Wouldn't you know, that particular day I read and prayed this I could have gotten grouchy mom of the year award.  I had no patience with my kids and later that day the Lord revealed to me that while I had prayed for strength in this area, I had failed to keep it on the forefront of my mind and had allowed the enemy to get in.  I repented and asked the Lord to be in my words and help me to recognize it before I let my emotions do the talking.  I'm so thankful that I have a savior who gives me the grace I need and kids who pour grace over me daily as well.  

I'm overwhelmed when I think about all I miss when I "just read" my daily scripture reading.  I know the Lord is willing and ready to speak to me each day, but will I actually take the time to listen and study?  I feel renewed and have a new passion for my time with Him in the mornings.

Would love to hear how you make time with the Lord a priority!  I truly believe its a choice we make each day.  

Fall Purging

Inspired by this post....we are going to purge and organize this month!  It's my goal to do some deep cleaning/organizing 2-3 times each year with my next target date after the holidays in January.  

Our goals...

*Get rid of 120 items (the boys will find 20 items each and Jeff and I will each choose 40 items)

*Complete 54 items off our to do list between us all by doing 5-6 items each week for 4 weeks.  The goal is to start in September but while talking about this the boys got excited to start and actually started doing one of their projects before church this morning so we will probably get a head start this week since we are thinking about it.  These are varied from 5 min to possibly 5 hours!   

Our lists in no particular order...

Leslie

Clean out purse

Clean out fridge 

Clean out freezer 

Clean ceiling fans and light fixtures

Clean out silverware drawer

Deep clean microwave, stove and oven - I recently had food spill over so my oven desperately needs to be self cleaned but I am afraid it will smoke up the house terrible in the process.  This has happened way too many times!  

Clean top of fridge & put conditioner on cabinets

Clean out utensil drawer

Clean out & organize pantry & all food related cabinets

Clean out & organize all cabinets holding dishes & misc items

Sweep & organize closet floors

Clean windows & wash curtains

Clean out medicine cabinet

Go through my closet & boys' closet & update for the season

Sort & organize through entertainment/TV areas

Clean & organize linen closet

File

Bathroom drawers

Book shelf upstairs

Spare bedroom storage (Jeff's help)

Have carpets shampoo'd 

Update decor for the fall season (towards the end of the month)

Jeff

Sweep out basement

Fix fence

Paint birdhouses with boys

Spray round-up

Gutters

Till garden

Sweep car

Furring strips on barn

Paint Bathroom

Sweep under beds and couch

Sweep windowsills (to be done after harvest)

Clean vents

Go through closet

Spray for spiders

Paint door jam on barn

Frame overhead door on barn

Put door knob in garage door

Dispose of old tax records from 7 years ago

Wash filters

Wash windows outside (to be done after harvest)

Clean garage

Spare bedroom storage

Boys

Sweep Cushions & furniture

Clean out car

Wipe down baseboards

Wipe down door handles

Clean light switch plates

Go through toy boxes

Organize toy closet

Go through books

Clean out school desks

Organize video games & movies

Help Mom with her projects

I hope to capture some pics and give weekly updates!  

FUN

Look what we've been doing since school started 4 weeks ago......

We made "moon rock cookies" our first day of school for our space unit.

Family Date Night - the first time I was able to eat pizza in months!  Love the pizza at   http://www.800degrees.net.

Love my two cuties!

Pottery Wheel

His smile melts my heart daily.

Isaac finished the creation we all worked on.  Not really sure what it was.  Some "thing" with a face we later threw away.

BEFORE - Face Painting Fun

AFTER - Kaleb wanted to be Mario and Isaac was a cheetah, zebra and one other animal I can't remember.

Adding some fun into our school day has been a priority.  Each week we try to do something fun that correlates to our lessons.  We studied space, different cultures that included pottery and face paint.  The family date night was for fun to celebrate our first week in school.