Stepping Up!

I call on the LORD in my distress,
and He answers me.
Save me, O LORD, from lying lips
and from deceitful tongues.
What will he do to you,
and what more besides, O deceitful tongue?
He will punish you with a warrior's sharp arrows,
with burning coals of the broom tree.
Woe to me that I dwell in Meshech,
that I live among the tents of Kedar!
Too long have I lived
among those who hate peace.
I am a man of peace;
but when I speak, they are for war
Psalm 120

I started a new Beth Moore study last night at the 'new' church with my neighbor Cheryl (Connor's mommy!). The study is called Stepping Up and is based on the Psalms of Ascent (Psalm 120-134). This is only a 6 week study but will run over the course of 12 weeks and we meet every other Thursday, not EVERY week. I'm looking forward to doing this because I think it will help me meet some other ladies in a church I feel like I don't belong in yet!

I can't believe I haven't posted since Tuesday, this week sure went by fast. I'm already looking forward to a 3 day weekend. Not that we have anything planned mind you. It will be like most other weekends, just relaxing around the house. Actually not so much relaxing this weekend because I am planning on painting my bathroom! I hope to get the paint today and prep the room ready to start tomorrow. I'll try to take before and after pics.

Darylynn asked a good question the other day "does Kristen like/eat all the meals I had planned this week"? Ha ha, well she is getting better at trying new things but I have to admit that she doesn't like most of them. She ate the spaghetti on Monday but would pick out the bacon and mushrooms. On Tuesday she tried to tell me she didn't like the chicken, but she's had it before so I made her eat it! Wednesday, she at least tried the goulash (which turned out verywell I might add and Jason and I both liked it) but she didn't like it so I gave her 'Beefaroni' :-/And I knew she wouldn't like the bbq chicken last night, so Jason made her mac and cheese and green beans after I'd gone to bible study. Tonight I think I'm going to do the quesadillas as I don't have the orange juice in to marinade the chicken. I'll get that today and do honey glazed chicken tomorrow.

OK, need to get some more organizing done around here. Have a great weekend, and HAPPY LABOR DAY!

Menu Plan Monday (a day late!)

Heather asked recently if I would share my 'weekly menu' and that it might give her and some of you some ideas! I often mean to do this but never seem to get around to it... but here is my menu plan for this week (and if you want to see lots more blogs that do the 'Menu Plan Monday', just click the graphic above that takes you to Laura's Blog!

Monday: Spaghetti Carbonara (I simply use Ragu Alfredo sauce, add mushrooms and bacon and whole wheat spaghetti) I serve this with tinned sweet peas. This is what I would call a 'storage meal' - usually everything I need is in my pantry. Monday's will often be storage meals from now on because I don't plan on going to the grocery store (for fresh fruit and veg) until Tuesday.




Tuesday: Chicken Parmesan (I tried this recipe a couple of weeks ago and it turned out really good. It's made by Ellie Krieger from Food Network's 'Healthy Appetite'.) I'll be serving this with a salad.







Wednesday: Southwestern Goulash. (This recipe comes from Taste of Home's Healthy Cooking magazine, June/July o8 issue. This will be the first time trying this. I tried to link to the recipe for you, but you have to subscribe to the magazine to access it!). I'll let you know how it turns out.

Thursday: BBQ Chicken Sandwich. (I did find a healthy recipe for this from Ellie Krieger on Food Network, but I'm trying this the easy way because I'm going to Bible Study tonight. I will simply put chicken breasts in the crock pot and add bbq sauce and let cook all day. Serve with a salad.

Friday: Honey Grilled Chicken. (another recipe from the Healthy Eating mag (June/July issue). And another one I haven't tried yet! I'll serve this with veggies and brown rice.

Saturday: Chili Beef Quesadillas. (Yet another new recipe and again from Healthy Eating magazine (Aug/Sept issue). I just really liked the look of these so I'm gonna give them a try).

Sunday: ????? I never know what to do on Sundays!




Food pictures were taken from various websites. I will replace and add my own when I've tried the dish and taken a picture of it ;-)

BON APPETITE!

Hi Ho - Hi Ho. . . .

. . . it's off to school we go!

Yay! We did it, we woke up in time. And here's my little '2nd grader' all ready for her first day back at school.

I set my alarm for 6am (and prayed I would wake up and not feel totally exhausted) and actually opened my eyes at 5.47am :-) I just lay there for 10 minutes and gave thanks and praise to God. To be honest it was easier getting up at 6 than it has been waking at 8am these past few weeks! It's true that you can have too much sleep I think. The longer I sleep the more tired I feel when I have to get out of bed. Well no fears of sleeping too much now that school is back. It will be up at 6am every morning except the weekend, which I would think by that time my body clock will be used to it and even if I sleep in I will be waking by 7am.

I woke Kristen at 6.30am and although she was very sleepy, she was ok a few minutes after and we headed out the door at our usual time of 7.10am.

Had to show you this picture too - can you see little Boo peeking out of the window next to the door? I'm sure he'll be wondering where Kristen is today!


So, now where do I start? It's housework, housework, housework for me today. What are you up to?

I'm back. . . . and a big day tomorrow!

I'm back from the Beth Moore Live Conference in San Antonio, and what a great time it was! I got home around 6.30pm last night and part of me felt like I'd been away for days - it's always so nice to be home. But I had a great time and am so glad I had a chance to go to a live conference. One of my 'bookclub' friends replied to a group email I sent asking "who is Beth Moore"? If you don't know Beth Moore CLICK HERE for her 'Living Proof website and then GO HERE if you'd like to read her LPM (Living Proof Ministries) Blog.

I first got to know of Beth Moore from bible studies at church. I love how she teaches the bible with her wit and wisdom. It's never boring, always rewarding and has really taught me a lot over the past couple of years. I think I already mentioned I will be starting her latest study 'Stepping Up' next week with my neighbor Cheryl, and I can't wait.

I called my sister before I left for SA on Friday. Mam came out of the hospital earlier that day (had been home about 3 hours, and that's where I talked to my sister because she didn't answer her own phone so I called my Mam). She's doing well but just a little weak. I'm sure it will take a few more days before she feels back to normal. I will be giving her a call for a chat tomorrow morning and can update again then. I thank you all again for your prayers and concerns.

Tomorrow is the BIG day - BACK TO SCHOOL! Kristen will be starting 2nd grade and is looking forward to going to school tomorrow (although how the pair of us will get up at 6.30am I just don't know)!!

Hope you've all had a great weekend. I do hope to make some visits tomorrow.

An Exciting Day!

I'm very excited this morning because later today I'm leaving for a night in San Antonio with a few girls from church (my old church!) We are going to see Beth Moore Live! I bought my ticket right after I'd been to the Spring retreat with these girls back in April this year.

I've done a couple of Beth's bible studies at church, and it just so happens that next week, starting at my 'new' church is a Beth Moore study called 'Stepping Up' which is studying the Psalms of Ascent (Ps 120-134). The old church has no Beth Moore studies on this year so I'm really glad I'm going to the new church. My neighbor Cheryl will be doing the study too and we're going to go together on Thursday nights.

I'll be leaving around 1pm and car pooling with a couple of other girls. The conference starts at 6pm tonight and will continue tomorrow morning from 8am til 12pm. After we leave we may be taking a detour to the San Marcus Outlets :-) I've never been to these outlets before so I'm looking forward to stopping off and having a look around. I'm hoping I might find some great bargains?

I haven't talked to my sister for a couple of days, but I'm assuming because I haven't heard from her, that all is well with Mam. I will call her this morning before I leave. She was on the phone for well over an hour the other night calling people with updates that when I got to talk to her I said not to worry about calling me every day (or even me calling her, cos her phone had never stopped ringing) and that I would check in by Friday to see if Mam was coming out of hospital. And I told her that I would assume 'no news is good news'.

I may not be back til Saturday evening, so have a great weekend. I'll try to update on Sunday!

Stable!

Mam is still in the hospital but is stable and being well taken care of. The 'slight' pneumonia that they thought she had has been confirmed as full pneumonia but my sister says she seems to be doing much better today and coughing less, so we are thinking the antibiotics (which they are giving mam intravenously) are doing their jobl. All being well, we expect Mam to come out of hospital before the weekend. Thank you all for your well wishes and prayers.

Now, on to a fun picture. . . . what does a little girl do when she's never seen a front loading washing machine?

Sit mesmerized of course!!!

This is where I found Kristen one evening after my sister had put a load of laundry in her washer! The next day she was just as surprised when we had to hang the washing out to dry!


See that bit of blue sky? Yeah, it didn't last long. Most days you're running out there an hour later dashing to get your washing back in before it gets drenched. I seriously don't know how they manage without a dryer (I am certainly spoiled) but then my nephew's wife told me the same thing! She has two young children and a dryer is a MUST have for her. Luckily she has the room for one. My sister doesn't, but then there is only herself and hubby living at home now so I guess they can manage just fine :-) And truth be told, when I did live in England I didn't have a dryer either and thought nothing of hanging my washing out or hanging it on the radiators to dry if it was raining. It's all about what you get used to I guess.

Yesterday Kristen had piano lesson in the morning then we went to the grocery store to get things in for dinner. I've made a menu so I know what we're eating all this week. My attempt at getting somewhat organized ;-) I'm starting to think about how to plan my weeks once Kristen is back in school. I need to start getting back to the gym. It's something I failed miserably at during the summer, only managing to go about half a dozen times, if that! I plan on going every Monday, Wednesday and Friday after dropping off Kristen, so I'm changing my grocery day from Monday to Tuesday. That way I won't feel tempted to skip the gym and get straight to the store, which is something I used to feel like doing and a few times gave in to. Instead I'll come home from the gym and make Monday's my main cleaning day around the house.

I'm rather looking forward to getting back in to a good schedule. I know I'll miss not having Kristen around, I've been so used to our lazy relaxing mornings over the summer but know they must come to an end at some point. I'm rather looking forward to the Fall, and cooler weather - speaking of which, yesterday and today was very cool compared to most days. It was only 82-85 degrees. And today we had a huge downpour and some thunder. I think the rest of the weeks is forecast for similar. Getting back to school is a lot like January 1st for me. . . . a new start so to speak! I almost feel like making some new resolutions, but I won't. I will start however making lists and thinking of getting more organized :-) And I will start thinking of Christmas soon too!!

Good News and Bad!

And it's the bad news first - my sweet Mam is in hospital! She went in the other day just to be checked out because she was having chest problems, (they sent her home that same day.) A nasty cough has developed and she wasn't getting any better after a few days. My sister called me this morning to tell me they've taken Mam in to hospital again and have admitted her for a few days. they mentioned hearing a 'crackle' when sounding Mam's chest and the possibility of pneumonia :-(

I asked my sister where she could have got this from, then it dawned on me that I might be the culprit, and I just feel SO awful about it. You see, while I was in England I started getting a sore throat, which then went straight to my chest and one night I feared was moving up in to my ear and I was worried it would give me an ear infection just days before I had to fly home. So I went to a walk-in clinic and they gave me a 5 day course of antibiotics. I've still got a nasty cough (it seems to linger for weeks when I get one, although I feel fine every other way). But my mam told my sis that her's started with a scratchy throat - just like mine did. I did keep telling people I didn't want to hug them in case I passed anything on, but you know they just poo-poo that idea and hug you anyway. And I was sitting next to mam a lot chatting to her even when I had the sore throat :-( I just feel so bad! If you could, please join me in praying for a quick recovery for my mam, and that it's not pneumonia. I would appreciate your prayers, and will keep you posted. Right now she is comfortable and being taken care of in hospital, and my sister is on her way over again this afternoon to take a few items she needs.

On to good news - in December I will become a 'great aunt' again. My niece Deborah is pregnant and just found out today that she will be having a little BOY! :-) She already has 4 yr old Charlotte who Kristen just loved playing with while we were there. Her husbands parents already have 5 granddaughters and no grandsons, so you can imagine how ecstatic they all are. And I have to admit I was wrong - I told Debs it was definitely a girl! (just a bad guess on my part). Congrats to Deb and Glen :-)

So, one more week to go before school starts! Open house is on Thursday this week when we find out which class and teacher Kristen has. Book club is also this Thursday! and on Friday night I'm going to San Antonio to see Beth Moore Live!!! A busy week ahead, one which I need to start getting more organized in. Hope you all have a great start to your week!

My Sweet Mam!

Julie asked if I had taken any pictures of 'my sweet Mam'? Of course the answer is yes, I just haven't posted any yet, but here they are . . . . this first one is my favorite :-)

Here's all of us outside Brenda's the day we arrived.

Mam and Kiki in Mam's little back garden.

And all of us in the back garden.

These are just a few of the ones with Mam. I've ordered over 250 photos so far to go in to an album, and I think that's only half of the pictures I took!!!

Another PhotoShow!

Got lots of housework and laundry still to do today so thought I'd make another photoshow for you all. This was one of the 'dry/sunny' days we got at the beach! I think Kristen would have been happy to come here every day if weather permitted - well except when she got sand kicked in her eyes and cried and screamed "I HATE the beach!" Hmmm, but we don't talk about that!

(you can hear music if it's not already playing, by clicking on the speaker with the red line through it, on the photoshow box)

Enjoy!

Trying to add a photoshow!

I hope this works! I've added a few photos of our trip to the farm. If this works I'll add more pics of our days out over the next few days.

Where to start?

Yay, our suitcases were delivered today! They had still not been located yesterday but Jason said BA (British Airways) called at 1am last night - 1AM!!!!!!!! He didn't pick up the phone cos he didn't recognize the number but they left a message saying the cases had arrived and someone would call today to schedule a drop off. I got them about 1pm this afternoon (and have been unpacking and doing laundry ever since).

So now where to start telling you all about our wonderful trip? I want to try and do one of those flickr albums that Darylynn has done on her site. But I will need to look in to that over the next few days. For now here's a photo of us just minutes after we arrived at Brenda's house. Talk about being made welcome :-) Not only had they made a great banner for us (many thanks to Michelle) but they had also decorated the inside of the house with stars and stripes 'bunting' and had paper plates, napkins and cups to match. And then there was the CAKE!

That's a sponge cake made by Michelle (my nephew's wife) and decorated with fondant icing. Kristen couldn't wait to cut in to it, although I was a little more hesitant as I thought of all the hard work Michelle had put in to it for us. It was so good to see everyone. And if you can believe it, the weather was actually nice that day (and the next couple of days) so we got lots of fun time out in the garden for our first weekend there.

Hello from . . . . . Texas!!!

Yes, we're back! It's Sunday morning as I type this, 7.49am to be exact. Kristen and I have been up since 6.30am (which was 12.30pm UK time).

The flight home was NOT GOOD! Our bags are still on their way home but should be delivered today. I won't go in to the miserable details today, but just think missed flights and delays and you get the idea! We arrived home at 1.30am last night which was actually 7.30am Sunday morning for us on UK time and we had set off at 11am on Saturday morning (UK time).

But all that aside, we've had a wonderful time. Loved every minute of it. Had a ton of laughs and thankfully no tears - even when we said our goodbyes :-) Kristen loved the beach, and the farm for the kids was a ton of fun. Holding a 5 week old baby rabbit was the highlight of that day for Kristen. I have tons to blog about and even more tons of photos to show (when I get my camera back which is in my suitcase!). So, all that will come in the next few days. Boo should arrive home today from Grandma's house. We can't wait to see him.

Thanks for all your comments in my last post. It's good to be home!

Hello. . . . from the UK!

Hello, it's me :-) Just posting a quickie to say we're having a great time with the family. We were at the beach today and managed to have a dry day, although it was raining and grey clouds when I woke up this morning.

It's hard to plan days out cos we never know what the weather is going to be like, but tomorrow we've said we'll go to Alnwick Castle. Sadie, I'm sure you are probably having better weather than us! It's not freezing cold here but it's not too warm either when that sun goes in behind the clouds, especially because of our North East wind. We to were lucky to have a dry day at the beach but most days we've had showers on and off with some sun peeking through the clouds now and then.

My diet is all to pot, and I'm sure I'll come home having to lose at least 10 pounds! We just had chinese takeout tonight and I'm going to sit with my sister and have a glass of wine. Usually the house is full with her grown children and grandkids, but they've stayed home tonight so it's a bit quieter.

That's it for now, my next post may be after the weekend once I'm back home in the US.