Books that I read for fun in September

Not all the books that I have been reading have been for review. I have made several trips to our local library to check out some books to read just because.....

Here are a few that I read in September....(Disclaimer: if you click on the book pictures they will take you to the page on Amazon.com). 

I will say that Promises to Keep by Jane Green made me sob toward the end, it was that good! 



Other books that I have read for fun can be found here....
August 2014
July 2014 Part 2
July 2014 Part 1

Have you read any good books lately?

Softball Runner-ups!

This past weekend was CRAZY busy with softball tournament games for Rebecca. It was a double elimination tournament, meaning if they lost twice then they were done.

Rebecca's team entered the tournament as the number 2 team in the league and they got a first round bye. She had to play her first game at 2:30. They lost the first game, so then they had to come back and play at 5:30. The 5:30 game they won, so they had to play again on Sunday.

Sunday morning she had to be at the ball field at 10:30 for warm ups for an 11:30 game start time. If her team kept winning there was the possibility that she would be playing in at least 3 games back to back. Because of this I asked a friend of mine and her husband to come and babysit Jacob and Benjamin as I know they would not want to be out in the sun at the ball field all day long.

The first game went well. Rebecca's team won by a landslide. The other team only had 8 players, out of their 12, show up and although they tried hard, Rebecca's team was just better (and we were only missing 1 girl). That game lasted 1 hour 20 minutes. The girls got a 10 minute break to eat and go to the bathroom before the second game as to start. A parent went and got cheeseburgers from McDonald's for all the girls and coaches so they could eat, which I thought was really nice.

The second game, in which the winner would go to the championship game and the loser would be in 3rd place,  was a nail-biter. We were playing the team that had beaten us in the first game the day before. The score kept going back and forth, and the game went to extra innings. The game took over 2 hours to play, but in the end Rebecca's team was able to pull off the victory! It was a great game though! (In Rebecca's league the 8 and under teams are supposed to play 5 innings or 1.5 hours whichever comes first. In the regular season, they could end in a tie, however in the tournament they had to keep playing).

The Championship game was supposed to start right after but the umps had the grounds crew come out and fix home plate and grate the field down, I think so they could rest too. It gave our girls time to rest for a few minutes, get sprayed down with a hose as they were HOT and enjoy Popsicles from another parent.

The Championship game was against a team which was unbeaten all season. When Rebecca's team played them in the regular season, Rebecca's team got beat by at least 7-8 runs each time. We were just thrilled to be in the Championship, but deep down we were afraid our girls were going to be too tired after playing all day to get there. Let me tell you, it was another GREAT game! We were actually up by one run going into the bottom of the fifth, but the other team just got 3 extra base hits in a row that allowed them to win by 1 run!

Rebecca's team came in 2nd which I think is AWESOME! For fall ball, the first and second place teams get t-shirts. Also after they got shirts, her coach had all the girls come to the dugout and he said the umpire had given him a game ball to give to whomever he thought was the most valuable player. Well, he said he couldn't do that because they all had played their best and were all most valuable. He proceeded to give each girl a softball! I thought that was really great of the coach.

The team Rebecca played on did really well, and individually Rebecca did too! Rebecca had several hits on Sunday and a couple RBIs! She also did really well playing in the outfield. I am so proud of my little softball girl!!

Weigh In Wednesday #9

In an effort to lose 40 lbs over the course of the next year (by July 28, 2015) I have decided to have a weekly accountability forum here on my blog. Every Wednesday I will be posting a "Weigh In Wednesday" post where I will post my weight taken that morning and things that I did good on the previous week, and things (goals) to work on for the next week. I think that by doing this, I can break it down into smaller goals and hopefully make myself more accountable!

First let's recap:
 My official starting weight (on July 30) was:::  235.6 lbs.

My weight last week was::: 229.8 lbs

My weight this week is::: 230.6 lbs! I gained back the 0.8  lbs that I lost the week before. :(  
  

My food goal for last week was:::   Drink more water...I am going to aim for 4 glasses of water a day and build from there.

My fitness goal for last week was:::  Let's try this again... Walk 1 day to get Jacob from school! (start small and maybe I will build from there!) 

Yep, this past week was a big disaster. Didn't drink more water. Didn't exercise. My only excuse is that I have been battling depression this week and there have been issues with Hubby and his depression issues. It is not something I am proud of, but it has been a long week. 

So, my food goal for this week is:::  Let's try this again....Drink more water...I am going to aim for 4 glasses of water a day and build from there. 

And my fitness goal for this week is:::  Do at least 2 days of Wii workouts.  

Any words of wisdom? Thoughts? Advice? 

I would love to have all the support I can get!!
If you are trying to lose weight, feel free to tag along on these posts as well! Would love some company on this weight loss journey! 

Happy Homemaker Monday (9/22/14)

Happy Monday! 

Wow, what a busy weekend. Saturday, Rebecca had an early softball game, and I spent the afternoon cleaning out our mudroom and organizing the freezers. Yesterday, was a hard day emotionally. Last night, I had to take Rebecca to our American Heritage Girl day of service meeting and take the cake that I decorated. We had 16 girls show up so that was awesome! They created "socks of love" for one of the shelters here in town. Socks of Love are basically socks filled with travel size items--gum, deodorant, soap, toothpaste, toothbrushes, etc. The girls had a blast and really enjoyed making them. Today, I am off work as the teachers had a meeting they had to go to....I just got back home from taking Benjamin to speech and so now I am joining Sandra today over at Diary of a Stay at Home Mom for her Happy Homemaker Monday theme! 

Breakfast time, what is on the plate this morning:::: I had a bowl of multigrain cheerios. 

On this week's to do list:::: I have decided to change this to a weekly to do list because it makes more sense to me... So this week we have: work for me, work for Bill, softball for Rebecca (this is her last week!), laundry, Jacob school, school for Rebecca, Benjamin has speech therapy, Ben has a WIC appointment, and then there is the everyday things like cooking, cleaning, shopping for groceries, etc. 

Currently reading::
   

On the TV this week::::  19 Kids and Counting, football (I will probably watch college mostly, as the NFL is almost becoming unwatchable), baseball (playoffs are coming!), and tomorrow night is the season premiere of the new season of "Marvel's Agents of SHIELD". 

The weather outside is::: Supposed to be in the 70s all week. I will take it. 

On the menu this week:::: I have decided to have a mini freezer challenge, as I want/need to use up what we have in our freezer so that I can defrost it before winter sets in. So this week are meals will be using what we have. On our list this week is: 

Monday: Eggs, sausage patties, hash browns, english muffins and fruit
Tuesday: Sandwiches/ fend for your self (Rebecca has softball)
Wednesday: Soft tacos, corn, green beans
Thursday: meatloaf, macaroni and cheese, broccoli rice augratin, broccoli
Friday: pizza and fruit
Saturday and Sunday are up in the air because of softball tournament times...

If I have a few minutes to myself, I will:::: decide on cake designs for cakes I need to make in the next few weeks. 

Favorite photo from the camera::::

Praying for:::: My husband as he is dealing with some health/ depression issues.  

Bible Verse, Devotional that is resonating me with at the moment:::: 

Source

Thanks Sandra for hosting! Hope everyone has a great week! 

6 years ago today

source

6 years ago today, we lost our first son. In the early morning hours of September 21, 2008, our son Travis Omar was born silently into Heaven. I remember that day in such vivid detail, almost as if it was in slow motion. I felt like I was in a really bad dream and it was really bad, but it was reality.

At the time, the doctors did not know what had caused Travis to die in my womb. When I passed the placenta after I gave birth to Travis, the doctor said there looked to be a blood clot behind the placenta. Fast forward to when I was pregnant with Benjamin, I had to be monitored extra closely because the placenta had implanted right next to a rather large fibroid. My OB/GYN said that that may have been what happened with Travis--that the placenta attached partially to a fibroid, cutting off nutrition and eventually separating. As soon as she said those words to me, I knew in my heart that that is what had happened. Don't ask me how I know, but I know.

Source

I still don't know why. I still question and have a hole in my heart that will never be filled. I wouldn't wish what we went through on anyone, not even my worst enemy. Not a day goes by that I don't think about Travis. Rebecca knows that she has a brother in Heaven. I remember the first year after, there were several times that she would point or look at the ceiling and make some reference to her brother. I truly believe that he is the guardian angel to Rebecca, Jacob and Benjamin.

Source

In loving memory of Travis Omar, born silently into Heaven September 21, 2008. 

Things on my mind

What a week....it has been crazy busy and I think that is just the way that life is right now, as I don't see it slowing down any in the near future.

Monday I grocery shopped, and took Ben to speech then went to work. Tuesday, I did some laundry and worked, then met Bill, Rebecca and the boys at the softball field for Rebecca's game, then home to give baths and eat. Wednesday, I had to get the kids up very early so we could drop Rebecca and Jacob off at early care at 7, so we could go to Columbus for an appointment for Ben at 830. We got back from Columbus at 1:15, picked Jacob up, then home, then I had to be back to work at 2:15. Yesterday, I got caught up on some book reviews and did some housework before heading into work. Today, I have done work shopping and American Heritage girl shopping in store, ordered Halloween costumes for Rebecca and Jacob online, and am getting ready to head into work early for an in service meeting. Thank God tonight is easy dinner (pizza) and movie night for the kiddos.

Work has been crazy busy. We are averaging at least 35 kids a night in K-8 with anywhere from 4-10 preschoolers. Unlike previous years, this is for EVERY day, so there really is no room for downtime at work, which is good, but is also tiring. We do have a good group of kids though so I don't dread going into work. We are getting our state inspection next week so that has added a new layer of stress this week as we have to prepare and make sure all our ducks are in a row.

Speaking of school, Jacob is loving preschool and he talks my ear off when I pick him up about what they did and what fun he had. Rebecca is also loving school and everything is about dinosaurs now. She is infatuated with dinosaurs, as that is what her class is working on for their knowledge fair projects. (which reminds me I think I might stop and rent "Walking with Dinosaurs" tonight for the kids to watch!....)

Benjamin continues to worry me. We had a 2+ hour developmental delay evaluation testing done on Wednesday at Children's Hospital in Columbus. We will meet with the doctor in a month to get the results.... He is behind on speech and not quite catching up like everyone thinks he should and he has some tendencies that my other 2 did not have that have caught his pediatricians and his speech therapist's eyes. In the meantime, he has such a strong personality and he wants things his way...for example, today I wanted him to walk from the van to the store, as he is 50 lbs and is almost getting too heavy for me to carry... well half way across the lot, he went completely lax and did not want to walk. I stood firm though and made him walk and he was NOT happy with me..... I love him dearly, but there are times he is a handful.

Speaking of shopping, Bill and I decided that the month of October was going to be a low spend month and we are only going to eat out twice (Jacob's birthday and Trick or treat night as these are traditions). We are also going to be eating down the food in our freezers (I was inspired by The Frugal Girl, who is currently eating down her freezer). I will try to update this weekend when I clean it out and take inventory.

I have a busy weekend planned. We have softball Saturday morning. I need to make and decorate an American Heritage Girls cake for Sunday, we have church, Rebecca and I have a day of service for American Heritage Girls on Sunday... and my house needs cleaned from top to bottom. It has become a mess, and I would like to be able to decorate a little for fall. I bought a few things at the dollar store to make it more festive in here. I would also like to be able to read a little bit, as I have had no time or energy to read this past week and I miss it.

So there you have it...a few things that are on my mind today. I hope everyone has a wonderful Friday.

Is there anything on your mind? 

Moses Leads the People (kids book review)

Book description: 

Moses asked God, “Are you sure I am the right man?”

The Israelites are in slavery in Egypt, and God wants Moses to help set them free. But Moses is afraid no one will listen to him. And the Pharaoh is stubborn! He doesn’t want to let God’s people go. Even when God sends many plagues to Egypt, the Pharaoh still says no.

Then God sends the tenth plague. Will Pharaoh finally let God’s people go?

This level 2 I Can Read! book is designed for newly independent readers and is based on the Adventure Bible—the #1 Bible for kids!

My thoughts: 

Moses Leads the People (An Adventure Bible I Can Read!) illustrated by David Miles, is another great, accurate children's book depicting the classic Bible story of Moses and the Exodus. It begins with Moses seeing the burning bush and being asked to help set God's people free, and goes through the sending of the plagues, and Moses parting the water for the Israelites. I, personally, felt that this was a very accurate re-telling of the Bible story. The only part that caught me off guard was some of the pictures of the plagues were rather disturbing (like the man with the boils) and that the death of the first born was focused on. I know that that is a major part of the Biblical story, however, I wonder how appropriate it is to be focused on that for the ages group that would be likely to read this book (which is 4-8 recommended).

I did let my children read this book. Rebecca (age 7) read the story to her brothers (ages 4 and 2) and she did not have any problems with the story. There were a couple of words that she paused over but was able to sound out...like plague and locusts. Jacob (age 4) had a lot of questions about the 10 plagues and seemed afraid that they would happen again. It led us to discuss God's love for us and that the Egyptians were treating God's people badly and that is why God sent the plagues.  Rebecca did not seem to be upset or caught off guard by the pictures of the plagues.  Even with this issue, Moses Leads the People will remain in our library as a way to share the Bible stories with my children. I believe that they should know the stories, but I might wait until Benjamin and Jacob are closer to the 7-8 age range before we read it again. 

Disclaimer:  I received this book free from the publisher and Booklook Bloggers in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own. 

God's Great Creation (kids book review)

Book Description: 

"Man and woman had been created in God’s image … that meant people were extra special to God." God spent seven days creating his world. He made the stars and the moon, the plants and the trees, and the birds and the fish. On the last day he made Adam and Eve - people like you! God loved everything that he made. But one day Adam and Eve disobeyed God.

This level 2 I Can Read! book is designed for newly independent readers and is based on the Adventure Bible - the #1 Bible for kids!

My thoughts:

God's Great Creation: An Adventure Bible I can Read book is a wonderful book for kids! God's Great Creation, retells for kids the story of the first 7 days of God creating the world and the eventual fall of Adam and Eve and their exile from the Garden of Eden. I found that the story was very accurate when compared to actual Biblical scripture. Sometimes I find that Bible story books tend to gloss over scripture or don't tell the whole story when they are books that are geared toward children. Not this one.  

The book is illustrated by David Miles and I will have to say that personally I found the illustrations to be well done for children, however I was distracted by the cartoonish way that some of the animals were drawn. I like the way that Mr. Miles depicts Adam and Eve without clothes on but makes it a non-issue that kids won't pick up on. 

The book is geared toward ages 4-8 and so what better judges than my 4 and 7 year olds....Rebecca (age 7) enjoyed reading it to her younger brothers (ages 4 and 2). She is a good reader for her age and said that the book was a little easy for her to read, but she enjoyed the story. Jacob (4 years old) liked looking at the pictures and asking questions about the story. He said he liked that "God made everything." He said that the elephant was scary and that he didn't like the snake. 

Overall, I was very pleased with the content of the book and look forward to re-reading it over and over with my children. 

Disclaimer:  I received this book free from the publisher and Booklook Bloggers in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own. 

Weigh In Wednesday #8

Sorry for the late posting tonight...this has been an extra long day. Had to take Benjamin into Columbus this morning for a 2+ hour long developmental delay assessment, which meant having to take Rebecca and Jacob to school at 7am for their morning program, then the over 1 hour drive and of course I had to work this afternoon as well....just now taking a break to type this out! Hope everyone had a great day today!....Now on to regularly scheduled programming.....

In an effort to lose 40 lbs over the course of the next year (by July 28, 2015) I have decided to have a weekly accountability forum here on my blog. Every Wednesday I will be posting a "Weigh In Wednesday" post where I will post my weight taken that morning and things that I did good on the previous week, and things (goals) to work on for the next week. I think that by doing this, I can break it down into smaller goals and hopefully make myself more accountable!

First let's recap:
 My official starting weight (on July 30) was:::  235.6 lbs.

My weight last week was::: 230.6 lbs

My weight this week is::: 229.8 lbs! DOWN 0.8 lbs!  :) 
  

My food goal for last week was:::   Continue to make good food choices. Work on getting more water. 

I don't think I did bad with my food choices. I am still struggling with consistent eating. I did drink more water, but still not enough that I think I should have. 

My fitness goal for last week was:::  Walk 1 day to get Jacob from school! (start small and maybe I will build from there!) 

Didn't happen. BUT... I did do one workout on the Wii so I wasn't a complete lazy bones. LOL

So, my food goal for this week is:::  Drink more water...I am going to aim for 4 glasses of water a day and build from there. 

And my fitness goal for this week is:::  Let's try this again... Walk 1 day to get Jacob from school! (start small and maybe I will build from there!) 

Any words of wisdom? Thoughts? Advice? 

I would love to have all the support I can get!!
If you are trying to lose weight, feel free to tag along on these posts as well! Would love some company on this weight loss journey! 

Draw- A- Saurus: Everything you need to know to draw your favorite dinosaurs

BOOK DESCRIPTION:

Prehistoric Pencil Power!
Even though they lived some 65 million years ago, dinosaurs and other prehistoric reptiles continue to rule today. From movies to comics and cartoons, these ancient, giant beasts are everywhere you turn. Of course, who wants to just read about or watch these dinos when you can learn how to use pencils, pens, markers, and more to draw your very own? 

Cartoonist James Silvani combines easy-to-follow art exercises with the latest, greatest dino-facts to help you create fun and cool dinosaur doodles all by yourself. With lessons on old favorites like T-rex and stegosaurus, as well as lesser-known (but still awesome) creatures like the massive argentinosaurus, Draw-a-Saurus has everything the dinosaur fan could ever ask for (outside of their very own pet dino!).

MY THOUGHTS: 

I was excited when I got the opportunity to review this book. In my daughters and son's school, the second grade class spends the year doing projects and research on dinosaurs. Since Rebecca is in 2nd grade this year and she loves art, I thought this would be the perfect book for her. Before it arrived, Rebecca was assigned the pterodactyl as her dinosaur for the year. When Draw-A-Saurus arrived, I surprised her with it and she immediately got paper and set out to draw some dinosaurs. She LOVED the book. 

I loved that the dinosaurs are shown step by step and there are a wide variety of dinosaurs shown in the book. I love that Mr. Silvani includes useful facts about the dinosaurs that both children and adults can find interesting. Among the chapters, Silvani shows how to draw theropods including the T-rex, sauropods including the apatosaurus, armored dinosaurs including the triceratops, ornithopods including the iguanodon, and other prehistoric creatures including flying reptiles. I love that Mr. Silvani shows how to draw them realistically, but also encourages the kids or whomever is drawing them to make the pictures their own even if they are not then realistic. 

Rebecca has spent hours drawing dinosaurs since we received this book. It is definitely a keeper in our house and a must have for anyone who likes dinos! 

One of the pictures Rebecca has drawn with help from "Draw-A-Saurus"

DISCLAIMER: I received this book from Blogging for Books in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own. 

Happy Homemaker Monday (9/15/14)

Happy Monday! 

I am joing Sandra today over at Diary of a Stay at Home Mom for her Happy Homemaker Monday theme! 

Breakfast time, what is on the plate this morning:::: I am eating eggs, turkey bacon and a banana as I type this out. 

On this week's to do list:::: I have decided to change this to a weekly to do list because it makes more sense to me... So this week we have: work for me, work for Bill, softball for Rebecca, laundry, Jacob school, school for Rebecca, do something with pumpkins that I have to process, Benjamin has speech therapy, Ben has a developmental delay evaluation appointment, I have a cake to make for Rebecca's American Heritage Girls troop meeting and then there is the everyday things like cooking, cleaning, shopping for groceries, etc. 

Currently reading::::  Not a thing as of right now. I did get a whole stack of books from the library though so I do have options. 

On the TV this week::::  19 Kids and Counting and football

The weather outside is::: Much cooler and more seasonable. Love the weather this week. 

On the menu this week:::: I actually have some ideas of what to fix this week, but am not assigning days as I find that too constrictive.....so our choices for this week include: 

Fish sticks, broccoli, baked potatoes, carrots
Pizza
Hamburgers and french fries
Hamburger helper and peas
Baked cajun, green beans, corn and carrots
Sandwiches and fruit
Bratwurst, mac and cheese and corn
hot dogs and veggies
Spaghetti

If I have a few minutes to myself, I will:::: decide on a new book to read, start designing cakes that I need to make and decorate in the next month. 

Favorite photo from the camera::::

Praying for:::: Peace and understanding. For a friend who had her new baby boy earlier than planned (34 weeks). 

Bible Verse, Devotional that is resonating me with at the moment:::: 

Thanks Sandra for hosting! Hope everyone has a great week! 

Crazy to do list today--updated

I have updated this with what I have accomplished....

Right now, Bill has Rebecca at her softball game. I stayed home with the boys as Jacob was acting up this morning and I kept him home to clean his and Benjamin's room. I also have a mile long to do list that is overwhelming....

Today I would like to accomplish:

• Laundry--LOTS of laundry from this week, currently working on load #3 with at least 3 more loads to go.
• Kitchen
• unload and reload the dishwasher
• clean microwave 
• start to clean oven (see how much stuff I can get off with a scouring pad, without having to use chemicals)
• put away piles on counters
• sweep and mop
• dust
• menu plan for this upcoming week
• Mudroom/ Pantry
• put all shoes away in closet
• sweep and mop
• dust
• Dining room
• dust
• sweep and mop
• wipe down tables and chairs
• Living Room
• dust
• clean out from under couch, loveseat and chair (to find missing toys)
• sweep and mop
• Stairs
• sweep
• Upstairs and downstairs bathrooms
• dust
• clean toilets
• trash out
• sweep and mop
• Bedrooms
• straighten up
• beds made
• sweep
• Other
• go through at least one tote of Halloween stuff to list on facebook sell page
• clean out van once Rebecca and Bill get back home
• Blog
• write and schedule 2 book reviews

I told you it is crazy and overwhelming.....I am just taking a break to check facebook, then it is back to work for me. 

What are you up to today? 

Weigh In Wednesday #7

In an effort to lose 40 lbs over the course of the next year (by July 28, 2015) I have decided to have a weekly accountability forum here on my blog. Every Wednesday I will be posting a "Weigh In Wednesday" post where I will post my weight taken that morning and things that I did good on the previous week, and things (goals) to work on for the next week. I think that by doing this, I can break it down into smaller goals and hopefully make myself more accountable!

First let's recap:
 My official starting weight (on July 30) was:::  235.6 lbs.

My weight last week was::: 232.2 lbs

My weight this week is::: 230.6 lbs! DOWN 1.6 lbs!  :) 
  

My food goal for last week was:::   Eat 3 meals a day. Bring water to softball.

Yeah...well some days I did really good at eating three meals. Other days not so much. BUT, I have been making better choices when I can't eat one big meal. For example, Monday was a crazy day...I had a slimfast bar while I was taking the kids to school. I had some fruit about an hour and a half later.  I knew that I wouldn't be able to have lunch at a normal time, so I made eggs and turkey bacon around 11. Then I took a fruit smoothie to work, and I had a good dinner. I think I did okay. That may just be how I have to approach some days....like today when I am in and out all day long! I took a water bottle to softball for me, but ended up giving it to Rebecca since she drank all hers and she is the one playing not me! 

My fitness goal for last week was:::  Walk for at least 20 minutes 3 days. 

Yeah....about that....didn't happen. I did get a good Wii workout in. I am still trying to get into a routine with Ben in the mornings and adjusting to having to run Jacob to and from preschool. And did I mention it has been HOT! I am hoping to get in some walking starting this week as temperatures are supposed to finally cool off a little. 

So, my food goal for this week is:::   Continue to make good food choices. Work on getting more water. 

And my fitness goal for this week is:::  Walk 1 day to get Jacob from school! (start small and maybe I will build from there!) 


So overall I am happy with my weight loss even if I didn't meet my goals but I know I need to do better. I need to get focused. 

Any words of wisdom? Thoughts? Advice? 

I would love to have all the support I can get!!
If you are trying to lose weight, feel free to tag along on these posts as well! Would love some company on this weight loss journey! 

Happy Homemaker Monday (9/8/14)

Happy Monday! 

Boy was it ever a busy weekend. Friday night, I just kind of crashed from the stresses of the past week. Saturday we had softball for Rebecca (her team won!) and Rebecca and I had a wedding to go to. That night when we got home, my brother was here and we hung out until midnight. Then yesterday was church, and laundry, and cooking. And it doesn't look like there is any slow down this week either. 

To keep some consistency going, I am joing Sandra today over at Diary of a Stay at Home Mom for her Happy Homemaker Monday theme! 

Breakfast time, what is on the plate this morning:::: I had a slimfast bar and water. Will probably have a second breakfast of eggs and bacon and toast here in a bit since I won't be home for lunch. 

On this week's to do list:::: I have decided to change this to a weekly to do list because it makes more sense to me... So this week we have: work for me, work for Bill, softball for Rebecca, laundry, Jacob school, school for Rebecca, do something with pumpkins that I have to process, picture day for the kids and me at our school, Benjamin has speech therapy, Ben has an ENT appointment, I have an inservice to run for my staff at work, and then there is the everyday things like cooking, cleaning, etc. 

Currently reading::::  Just finished  Dancing with Fireflies by Denise Hunter

On the TV this week:::: 19 Kids and Counting, football, baseball. 

The weather outside is::: . One word...HUMID! It is supposed to be in the mid 80s until Wednesday, then with storms Wednesday night then cooler weather for the later half of the week. 

On the menu this week:::: I actually have some ideas of what to fix this week, but am not assigning days as I find that too constrictive.....so our choices for this week include: 

Fish sticks, broccoli, baked potatoes, carrots
Pizza and salad
Hamburgers and french fries
Hamburger helper and peas
Potatoes and sausage bake and macaroni and cheese
Baked bbq chicken, green beans, corn and carrots
Sandwiches and fruit
Bratwurst, mac and cheese and corn
hot dogs and veggies

If I have a few minutes to myself, I will:::: decide on a new book to read, start designing cakes that I need to make and decorate in the next month. 

Favorite photo from the camera::::
I tried a new recipe last week for carrot zucchini bread that came out fabulous!

Praying for:::: direction .

Bible Verse, Devotional that is resonating me with at the moment:::: 

Thanks Sandra for hosting! Hope everyone has a great week!