Nice family time, and linking to friends...
Topic: Blogging, In General
Today is a busy day for me as I have dinner to cook for church... about 40 people on the list tonight so far I think. Victoria is my regular helper (is it a school credit for her, afterall) but she is working today. She usually only works one day a week but this week she is helping out three days. I told her that is fine as long as she doesn't fall behind on her studies. She is usually several weeks ahead so we have plenty of leeway. She is going to meet me at church at 3:00 to finish up whatever we need to finish up there, which is basically just cooking the egg noodles and steaming the veggies. I am doing the roasted pork with hunter sauce here at home. I'm doing my favorite simple cake, too. Just add a small can of pumpkin to a spice cake mix and bake. No oils. No eggs. No nothing. It's absolutely perfect for this time of year! And, from what I've read, it is ok for diabetics, too. Gotta love that!!
Last night our family had a great dinner time together. The best thing about it was I didn't have to cook..LOL!! When we arrived at Cherry Point, and then attended the Newcomer's Brief, we were given a coupon book for lots of different places around the base. There are TONS of coupons in this thing and two of them were for a burger joint named Andy's. Mike used the single person coupon for lunch and he loved the Philly cheese steak that he got so much that we decided to use the $30 family coupon and have burgers last night. The food was delicious!! The burger special is original burger, fries, and a shake for $4.99. It was good food and I think we only spent a few dollars over the gift certificate so that was nice :-)
Andy's decor is a 50's style retro car kinda of diner. I loved it. Jesse still loves getting kids meals (he is our youngest, and very smallest child) and he was served up his meal in a cool car box. This is my mechanically brained child. He was in retro car heaven with his turquoise blue ford fair-lane cardboard mock-up! The box reminded me of one of my favorite shops online ~ Pedal Cars and Retro Collectibles run by Janice and Susan over at 5 minutes for mom. Andy's little mock up burger box reminded me a great deal of this little doozy... boy, oh boy, who wouldn't want that for Christmas?! It's really too bad these are mostly only for 3-5 year olds because Jesse kinda went ga-ga over it when he saw it. He does have a little pedal racer but it is an open frame. That's about the only thing my not-so-young'uns can fit there long legs into anymore.
In other blogging news, you may, or may not, have noticed that I've been adding affiliate links and changing stuff around in my sidebars. I will be rotating my main affiliate section (those two high profile places up there on the top left sidebar) every Monday while trying to list some of my favorite products -- I'm in love with that little acorn knitted hat -- to help you all find some good buys for Christmas shopping. This is about the only fair way I can think of giving all the affiliates I'm associated with a fair share of advertising.
BTW, I hate having lots of clutter in my sidebars but I also love so many places, too! Anyway, it's good netiquette to trade your links and such for free with folks, right?! Anyway, if you are a regular visiting friend of mine, then you know how often I like to change things up. You also know I appreciate your comments and critique. If the whole sidebar things ever get so cluttered you can't find my posts PLEASE tell me you think I should do a bit of cleaning up and make some space :-) What are friends for, right?!
Have a blessed day!!
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Sallie
From Chaos To Order: 25 Tools
Topic: Product Reviews
A LONG TIME ago I was sent a copy of
Malia M. Russell's "Chaos to Order". I didn't have time since we were moving to review it but it looked like something I really needed. After our move, I opened it up and looked at it as soon as we got our computer hooked back up at the new house but I honestly only gave it a cursory glance. When we really got on task with our school and things were nearly settled into place, I was determined to be better organized. I decided to pull up this ebook and take a
good hard look at Malia's suggestions! I wrote a review about what I had found and its been sitting in my saved posts directory just waiting for an open day to post. As we really head into a busy holiday season, now seems like a good day to share :-)
The first thing you notice when you open the book is the following formula:
CHAOS
– Distractions
– Decisions
÷ Delegation
+ Goals
x Spiritual Disciplines
__________________
= ORDER
When looking at the list, right away I know my worst habit is distractions. I have lots of distractions! I also have lots of decisions to make in keeping my household running in a way that makes my husband proud and so I get distracted by that. It's a never ending cycle!
If you ask any woman to point out the most distracted woman in the Bible pretty much every single person will name Martha. Martha was so busy doing that she forgot to focus on WHO was right in front of her! Martha had a gift of serving. Unfortunately, she let herself get interrupted with a grumpy attitude. I'm so like that in many ways! Aren't we all like that sometime?! Distractions take over our lives so much that what started out as good ends up being very, very bad. We don't have to live our lives this way!
In Chaos to Order: 25 tools, Malia breaks those 25 tools down into the categories mentioned above. First, in distractions she talks about 7 tools that are helpful but can also easily lead you to distraction. You can probably guess that the computer is high on this list!
The next 9 tools fall into the decisions category. She covers everything from meal planning to budget and chores. Not surprisingly, school falls into this category. Make a plan and stick to it. Occasionally you might have a need for a sick day but taking a week off, and then two doesn't work and before you know it the school year is finished and you haven't taught your children what they needed to learn. Discipline also falls into this category. Sit down with your family and make a list of rules based on what works for your dynamics. Put it in a prominent place in your home and stick to it!
Delegation comes next and really there is only one tool in this category: delegation! This is one of my hardest things to do! I give myself excuses all the time about why I should be the one taking care of everything. Really, if God wanted me to do it all then why on earth did He surround me with billions of other people? I don't have to do it all! My children can do things. My husband can do things. I can let my friends help me with trade-offs of stuff. I don't have to be Super-Woman! I like for this category Malia suggested using fun titles like Office Assistant or Kitchen Manager! It makes your children feel more important and makes it fun and creative, too!
Goals come next with tools 18-21. What do you want for your family in the next year? 5 years? 10 years? God reminds me often that His plans are not always my plans but that doesn't mean I'm supposed to just sit idly by and let whatever happens happen. That would mean that I never shop for groceries, never service my car, never go to the doctor or try to maintain my health, and so forth. My husband and I take time to talk about our goals for the immediate present time, and for our future. We have seperate goals for both of those times, but they often overlap as well. The tools in this section will help you focus on that, or at least give you an idea where to start!
The last four tools cover Spiritual Disciplines. She covers daily (prayer), weekly (church), and occasional (retreats) disciplines as well as just practicing joy! We face trials everyday but that doesn't mean our lives are a trial.
Habakkuk 3:17-18 says "Though the fig tree does not blossom and there is no fruit on the vines, [though] the product of the olive fails and the fields yield no food, though the flock is cut off from the fold and there are no cattle in the stalls,Yet I will rejoice in the Lord; I will exult in the [victorious] God of my salvation!"
Malia gives a bit of a modern day mom kind of translation to this verse. It goes like this: “Though there is no food ready for dinner, and there is no money in the account, though the sickness gets worse, and the pain persists, though my children are out of control, and my spouse does not appreciate me, though I feel like I am buried in never ending work, and I cannot get through a single subject without someone interrupting, yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will be joyful in God my Savior.”
There are good, godly things we can focus on each and everyday! Why not be a glass half full kind of gal? You'll be less stressed if you are and every one else around you will be happier, too!!
I look forward to implementing the tools I found in this book. Many I do already but many I don't. I look forward to subtracting those distractions and decisions and multiplying those spiritual disciplines for sure! I hope the future me looks a bit more like Mary instead of Martha!
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Sallie
October Giveaway -- Pilgrim's Progress All-in-One Curriculum
Topic: Contests and Giveaways
It's time for me to do another giveaway! My September giveaway went so well, with nearly 70 entrants for the apron and apron pattern from Amelia's Aprons, that I'm thinking I might try to make this a monthly thing. We'll see how this one goes :-)
Up for grabs this month is the hardcover book with CD All in One Curriculum for Pilgrim's Progress from Answer's in Genesis!! I have been wanting a study to go along with John Bunyan's book for a while and I finally found one!! At the end of the giveaway, the winner will need to provide me with a shipping address and I will have it shipped straight from the Answers in Genesis store.
So, all you have to do to enter is leave a comment, and if you want a second entry, then post about the giveaway on your blog. You can even use this snazzy little giveaway graphic that I made if you want!!
Just copy ALL of the following code to place it in your blogs sidebar or a post to get that second entry:
<a href="http://www.angelfire.com/sc/anderklan/seasidetales/index.blog/1343095/october-giveaway-pilgrims-progress-allinone-curriculum/" target="_blank"><img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v404/anderklan/pilgrimsprogressgiveaway.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>
Thanks for entering and sharing!! Have a blessed week!
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Sallie
The Missing Day CofH is up..
Topic: HomeSchooling
Homeschool Buzz is hosting the Carnival of Homeschooling over at their blog this week. It is up
here and my post for this week can be found
here.
Sallie
Happy Columbus Day
Topic: Our Family
Happy Columbus Day everyone! Mike went hiking with the boys early this morning. They really enjoy that!! We will probably all going hiking together again this afternoon. It is so nice to be in the middle of the forest with all its little hills and gullies and trails right here on base. It is at least very convenient!
I was making buckwheat pancakes for "brunch" but Caleb loves to be in the kitchen and cooking so I'm letting him finish up. I think it is very important to make sure your boys know how to do their own cooking and laundry while still living at home. They might not always live at home, yet they might not have a wife right away either. There are just a few things that are good to know no matter what gender you are :-) Right?! Anyway, for a topping we always add a bit of water to strawberry preserves (or plum, yum!) and microwave it to a syrup consistency and use that to top our pancakes and waffles. I sometimes buy syrup (or make my own) but I like buying things that do double duty. The leftover buckwheat pancakes will be good for peanut butter sandwiches later this afternoon, or as a side to dinner tonight.
I have been lacking in the sleep department lately. Many nights I just can't sleep and so I haven't been my full self in recent weeks. I didn't fall asleep until 4 a.m. Sunday. I was so tired but I had promised to fill in for Mrs. Sarah in Sunday School as she and Pastor were out of town for a wedding. I loved it! It was so awesome talking with the boys and girls about Abram/Abraham and what it means to be a patriarch and how he was in Jesus family tree. We talked about our homeschool because one of the verses this week happened to be about Abram and Lot and not quarreling. They were all so sweet and I had such a good time with the class :-) Church service was awesome and we had a powerful prayer time for one of our older gentleman who has a back problem (a growth on the bone is basically breaking his back). I love prayer time! We didn't do anything after church except rest and I ended up going to bed about 4 and sleeping until 6:30 this morning. Now that was refreshing!!
Today I am cleaning our office/music room and I will paint at least one of my small tables. I WILL, I WILL, I WILL!!! I hope you all have a blessed day :-)
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Sallie
