Look out the Window

Max, come look at all the birds out our window!

Mom, they're eating the berries from our trees & bushes. How come?

God created the berries for the birds.

Pause

I'm glad God picked this house for us and the berries for them.

Me, too, Max.
 Me, too.




-------------
My daughter, Courtney, posted some really cool pics she took
from a recent walk.  I love the last one best.. the reflection in the
water is super beautiful!

www.nomadicsongbird.blogspot.com

Wordless Wednesday, Oct 27, 2010

I took a break from painting our bathrooms
 to play in the leave with the kids.
Some of the leaves were HUGE!
All of the kids are gorgeous!

Wordless Wednesday

Wordless Wednesday

Talk-to-Myself-Tuesday, Oct. 26, 2010

My family says I
talk to myself, but
I prefer to think of it
as "thinking out loud!"

Here's what I've been
thinkin' lately...




- Paint Primer really does stick to all surfaces...
just take a peek at my hair

- Insecurity brings out such yuckiness

- By tomorrow night our family bathroom will be an
adorable shade of pale green/blue

-  I really do enjoy painting

- Just because I enjoy something doesn't mean I'm
great at it

- But, if I practice today & I'll be better tomorrow

- Everyday I ask Jesus for creativity because the older
I get the less often great kids-ideas pop into my head... sigh

- Dollar movie theaters are such
a fun way to enjoy
a day off with the family,
especially on Mondays
when the $1 movie is 1/2 price!
Yes!

- Del Taco's $ .39 tacos make a
cheap dinner to follow
the 1/2 price dollar movie days


- How awesome!  The whole fam  gets dinner & movie
for a total of $13... now that's a frugal day out!!!

- Nanny McFee Returns ... ADORABLE

- TMJ, hurts

- Jesus desires to change me... daily

- I really want to hang up shelves & then paint, paint, paint!

- Naps! Aww, they're so nice

Menu Plan Monday, Oct. 25, 2010

MONDAY
Lunch- Bird's Nest
Dinner- TBA












TUESDAY
Lunch- French Fry Salad
Dinner- Turkey, Rice

WEDNESDAY
Lunch- 
Dinner- Ham & Homemade Rice-a-Roni


THURSDAY
Lunch- Grilled Cheese & Canned Soup
Dinner-Dorito Casserole


FRIDAY
Lunch- Turkey & Rice Soup
Dinner- Pizza


SATURDAY
Lunch- Homemade Mac & Cheese
Dinner-  Messy Max's (aka "Sloppy Joes)








SUNDAY, Oct. 31st
Lunch-  Crock Pot Gumbo & Rice
Dinner- TBA

Don't Pamper the Theif

He was a King!
Tall. Handsome. Brave.... well, at one time he'd been brave.

His insecurities made him a people-pleaser.

He listened to people instead of obeying God.

He then justified his actions.

Those following him did what he did...

They were robbed of God's blessing & protection.

Insecurity.
It's steals SO much.

Don't pamper it.
Don't feed it by thinking about yourself all the time.
Stop.
Repent.
Choose to think about TRUTH!

Life in the D & Mistaken Identity

Mistaken identity sometimes gets the good-guy caught

instead of the bad. Well, at least in the movies, and we just

watched a movie about that last night.

But then today...

- Drove 1/2 hour south of the city with 3 of my kids 

to pick up a my daughter's friend

 

- On the highway home, just a couple of minutes from our house 

I suddenly hear zillions of sirens

- The sight in my rearview mirror makes me JUMP!

- There's about 5 police cars behind & almost beside me!

- Lights flashing! Sirens blasting!

- Where in the world did they just come from!

- Have I been in their way? Was I daydreaming?

- I've gotta get out of their way, QUICKLY

- I pull over. 

- So do they. 

- All of them. Marked cars. Unmarked Cars. Pull over.

- Wait?  WHAT?

- I wasn't even speeding. 

- Officers. Uniformed & in street clothes w/badges hanging around

their necks.

- I roll down my window and stick my head out to hear what he's yelling

- "Roll down ALL your windows!"

- I do.

- An officer cautiously but quickly  approaches my window

- His gun is drawn!

- He looks inside. At me. At the kids, who are as clueless as I am.

- Officers on 3 sides of the car.  Guns drawn!  

- WHAT in the WORLD?

- The officer at my window yells over his shoulder 

that we're "not the ones"

- (I know!  I know!  We're not!)

- At another window an officer asks where I've been & had I been downtown.

- No! I tell him where we were & what highways we'd used.

- He tells me there's a car exactly like mine that is going around downtown

today bashing (or stealing) cars. 

- They tell me I can go

- In a second they're in their cars, leaving

- Just like that.... 

- My heart was pounding. 

- I wish I'd told them I appreciate what they do.

- I wish I'd told them that I'm grateful for their protection.

- I did, however, use this incident to explain to my little boys that we don't have

to be afraid of the policemen because they were working at catching the

"bad guys" and as soon as they saw who we were, they went on.

- Now, this afternoon, I keep on praying for those officers, and for

their search

Grateful to live in the Protection of JESUS!

Grateful that He's called me to live in Detroit!

The Old & New Hutch, Wordless Wednesday, 2

Wordless Wednesday

Wordless Wednesday

Wordless Wednesday, Oct. 20, 2010

Woodward Ave in Midtown Detroit

on a Sunday morning in the fall.

(This pic on the top of my blog was also taken
in the same area on the way to church a couple
of weeks eariler. What a beautiful drive to church, huh?)


Wordless Wednesday
Wordless Wednesday

Talk-to-Myself-Tuesday, Oct. 19, 2010

My family tells me I talk to myself...

I prefer to think of it as "thinking outloud!"

Either way, here's what I've been saying...

- We can't expect God to guard our hearts if we're 

unwilling to guard our mouths. 

- When we had 11 

friends over the 

other night. I may 

have purchased 

too many donuts. 

ha!

-  Who needs work-out videos when you can
purchase a can of paint & get yourself going
on a painting project. Bend, squat, reach, lung,
dip, stretch, kneel, bend, etc...

- Sweet-Potato Bread may be a new favorite fall food.

- I miss my friend, Jodi.  (She lives out East & we
haven't seen each other in over 5 years! sigh)

- My kids make me laugh.  (especially when they
dance, tell original knock-knock jokes or make up
rhymes.

- I'm a halloween scrooge. Maybe it's just cuz I've been
coming up with cheap/free costume ideas for
18 yrs and I have a zillion years to go. But whatever
the reason, ugh. So far we have a pirate... and... um...
Bah Humbug!

-So blessed to have been 

given a swing set from 

a kind lady who also 

gave  my boys a 

trunk-full of clothes!!

- When our mouth is left to spout what it wants it

just reveals that our heart is selfish. (see the 1st thing

I listed on the post)

Menu Plan Monday, Oct. 18, 2010

MONDAY
Lunch- Homemade Rice-A-Roni
Dinner- Roast in the Crock-pot (didn't cook it last week),
 Bkd potato & fresh Asparagus

TUESDAY
Lunch- Homemade Mac & Cheese
Dinner- Crock pot Chicken, Broccoli

WEDNESDAY
Lunch- Chicken Wraps (leftover chicken from Tue)
Dinner- Beef Stew

THURSDAY
Lunch- Grilled Cheese, Apples
Dinner- Turkey in the crock-pot (experimenting for
Thanksgiving)

FRIDAY
Lunch- Chicken Tortilla Soup
Dinner- Pizza

SATURDAY
Lunch- Scrambled Eggs, Biscuits
Dinner- Turkey Pot Pie

SUNDAY
Lunch- TBA
Dinner- Gumbo over Rice


-----------------------------------------------------

It helps me to have a bit more than a week

planned, so I added a few more days...

MONDAY, Oct.  25
Lunch- Pancakes w/Apples Foster
Dinner- TBA

TUESDAY, Oct. 26
Lunch- French Fry Salad
Dinner- Dorito Casserole

WEDNESDAY, Oct. 27
Lunch-
Dinner- Chili


For more ideas check out OrgJunkie.com

Netta's NICHE- French Fry Salad

The name slips my mind.

It was a small restaurant on a main street of a fairly small town.

We were newly weds and would eat at that little place once in a while.

They served it there.

All these years later, a version of that dish sometimes shows up on my

 weekly menus.   The little restaurant called it STEAK SALAD!

If you know me well, you know that ANYTHING with STEAK on it

if gunna be on the top of my list!  mmmm

So salad with steak... awesome.

BUT... the real zinger here is what was served around the edges

of that giant steak salad.... FRENCH FRIES!

Today we don't have steak in our salad too often, but we do

have salads for lunch. No one gets excited about that.

BUT... if it's salad with FRENCH FRIES on the top...

well, that's reason for a jumping for joy!

Here's the ridiculously easy way to make those Joy-inducing fries:

The thinner you cut them the quicker they cook.

Usually I toss'um in Oil, salt & garlic powder.

Today I used a bit of leftover pasta sauce, oil & seasoning salt.

Turned out pretty good.

(Plain oil version is our fav)

Spread on baking sheet. Cook at 425 degrees

for approx. 30-45 min. Turn once.

(If you want them crispier, turn on the

broiler for a couple minutes. DO NOT

walk away!  They'll burn in seconds!...

not that I've ever done that or anything.

hee hee)

Serve on top of a tossed green salad.

(Our family uses Ranch, Bleu Cheese or

Thousand Island Dressing on it.)

Mmmm

Sometimes people...

Sometimes the very thing people fear
 is exactly the thing they run to 
while trying so hard to stay away from it.

The only way to avoid this is to truly know the author of love
... JESUS!

 (I John 4:16-18) 

Run to Him.

Wordless Wednesday, Oct 13, 2010

Nature Walk- City Style
(with a stop at the post office, too)

Wordless Wednesday

Wordless Wednesday

Weeds

 Our house sat empty for months before we bought it.
It was in decent condition, but the weeds were starting
to feel right at home.
































(Before)


Honestly, we've only lived here a few weeks and I
had already stopped noticing them.
I was used to those weeds.
They were almost decorative.

(Before)

But then...
Our friends came to the rescue!

About 15 of our wonderful friends came over on Saturday
and pulled weeds, and raked, and pulled weeks, and
helped fix the pipes so we can water the lawn next spring,
and did I mention that they pulled weeds?

(after)

My life is the same.

So is your life.

We have areas that we ignore, don't wanna deal with,

so we don't.

Then weeds grow. Little compromises that junk up our lives.

Little attitudes that are sin. Plain & simple.

We get used to them.

It takes honest, Jesus-lovin' friends to point'um out

and help us decide to get rid of the weeds.

Then, great friends go the next step, too, and

help us establish a working system (like the water pipes)

that will keep the healthy growth happening.

Do you have friends like this?

You must BE one to have one.

(and your life must be respectable before you can

earn the right to speak truth into a friend's life)

Menu Plan Monday, 10-11-10

Sanity is Baaack!
I haven't planned out meals
in detail for over a month...
and it's been driving us all crazy!

Kids: "Mom, what's for lunch?"
Me: "Food." (cuz I have no idea)
Kids: "What kinda food?"
Me: "The kind you eat."
Kids: "Mom!!!"

(I've even that the same
conversation with my husband!)
Not good








MONDAY
Lunch- Scrambled Eggs & Toast
Dinner- Chicken Enchilada Casserole

TUESDAY
Lunch- Cream of Broccoli Soup
Dinner- Crock Pot Chicken & Biscuits

WEDNESDAY
Lunch-  Grilled Cheese & Bacon Sandwiches
Dinner- Vegetable Chow Mein

THURSDAY
Lunch- Veggie Wrap Sandwiches
Dinner- Chili in the Crock Pot over mashed potatoes

FRIDAY
Lunch-  Steak Salad w/french fries
Dinner- Homemade W. Wheat Pizza

SATURDAY
Lunch- TBA
Dinner- Taco Bowls

SUNDAY
Lunch- Crock Pot Chicken Gumbo over rice
Dinner- Stuffed Baked Potatoes


For more ideas check out Organizing Junkie

But I followed the Rules...

People of every surrounding city were afraid of him.
Kings' hearts melted in fear.
He was takin the Promised Land by storm...
JOSHUA!

One of my favs.
He took on a big job and just DID it!
God directed, he obeyed.

But then there was that ONE time...

That time in Joshua 9 where he was super
aware of God's rules -
"Don't make a peace treaty with any country that is nearby!"
but... still broke'um.


Here's how he did it:


- Joshua used his own wisdom  By looking at the enemy
it appeared that their story checked out.
HUMAN Wisdom... faulty!
(Josh. 9:14)

- He failed to ask God about the situation. (vs. 14)


Just following the rules with our own human insight is NOT
enough to get the job done... and those following us will
pay a price.

Whether you're leading a ministry, a family or a group
of friends, your choices will leave a mark.
Sure... OBEY God... of course.
But TALK to Him.
ASK for His insight.
LISTEN to His specific leading!

I'm sure Joshua (and all the Israelites from that era)
would tell you the same.

Happy B-day, Chase

This cute little guy had a birthday this weekend!

We had lotsa fun celebrating with him.

Besides getting to bowl at church & share cookies with his

friends, he had friends over later to play & decorate their

own cupcakes.

Happy B-day, Chasey. You're my little present from Jesus!

xoxox