Daddy's Girl

What's for dinner?

My plan to post our weekly menu certainly didn't last too long! I'm still really loving the whole menu-planning thing. Not only has it saved us money, but my husband claims it's brought a whole lot more variety to our meals. Yay!

Here's what we ate for dinner the last few weeks:

Mondays: Out; Pineapple pork loin & rice; Cheddar cauliflower quiche

Tuesdays: Grilled chicken, green beans; Fettuccine Alfredo w/ zucchini; Fried chicken, spinach

Wednesdays: Stuffed green peppers, salad; Grilled chicken w/ grilled tomatoes; Vegan enchiladas

Thursdays: Taco salad; BBQ pork loin; Pasta, glazed carrots

Fridays: Chicken broccoli casserole; Buffalo chicken dip w/celery, carrots and tortilla chips; Out

Saturdays and Sundays we rotate with either eating out, having breakfast for dinner, or eating leftovers.

Any good recipes you've tried lately and care to share?

Fenced In

Join the warm weather of summer with the nesting instincts of a pregnant lady and you get: lots of home improvement projects! :-) Our most recent has been to fence in our small backyard. While we initially pursued this project so that my parent's dog would have a place "to do his business" during their visits, we've since discovered we LOVE having the privacy and security. Every evening has found us out back blowing bubbles, doing landscaping, daydreaming - you name it. Here are a few shots of the work:

Getting started. Notice all the utility marks on our lawn?
Red, yellow, and orange... it looked like a parade route or something!

My dad was kind enough to employ his talents for us.
Father and son-in-law workin' together...

Even this pregnant "nesting" momma picked up a hammer.
Tasks done as a family are much more fun!

Break time!
Here we all are: Uncle Buddy, Morenna, Baby Roo and I.

And the finished product!

Who Can Find a Woman of Strength?

One of my closest friends is getting married. Wedding preparations are in full swing and recently I had the joy of joining with several other friends in throwing the bride a Proverbs 31 shower. A heavy theme? Yes. But oh, so, valuable.

One of the wiser women in our group provided an excellent and encouraging devotion on this passage, and I came away encouraged to dig further still. Though the chapter can be overwhelming, what part of our walk/growth in the Lord isn't, apart from His grace?

For the past two weeks I've been unable to move past verses 10-12. There is so much within them, that I'm sure I could focus on them for months and still find the Lord revealing areas of improvement for me to better align myself with the godly character reflected! At any rate, I thought I'd share:

Proverbs 31: 10-12
A wife of noble character who can find?
She is worth far more than rubies.
Her husband has full confidence in her and
lacks nothing of value.
She brings him good, not harm
all the days of her life.

Here are a few thoughts I've been mulling around about this woman:

Vs 10: She is rare. In my past study of this verse I've always focused on the fact that this woman is valuable. But I've realized that it's more than that: she is rare. The law of supply and demand rings true: scarcity drives up value.

• Do I know many others like me? Even among Christian circles, am I different? How so? How not?

Vs 11: She is trustworthy, industrious and profitable. This verse packs a lot of challenge for me; most specifically the latter section. According to the commentary here (a great resource BTW), the basic translation reads: "so that he [her husband] shall have no need of spoil [goods gained from war]."

• In what ways am I profitable to my family? Is my husband "richer" because of me? What ways can I improve in spending my time wisely?
  

Vs 12: She rewards her husband with good. I love the basic translation "deals bountifully" here. No matter what her husband's actions, she continuously heaps good upon him. And they are blessed. I really can stand improvement here. My attitude tends to often be a tit-for-tat one. When it's convenient I'm kind. When I'm trying to make a point, I'm not. Yet the old addage "kindness makes a man attractive" is equally, even moreso, valuable for wives. It not only blesses her husband, but touches her whole family. And she is blessed.

• How can I actively reward my husband each day? Basics? Abstracts? Can I prevent any harm from befalling him? Do I value him above myself?

As you can see, I have lots of thoughts! Thanks for joining me as I'm thinking through the wisdom in these verses... and should you have any thoughts to add, I'd love to hear them. Much wisdom is gained from much council... and I have much to gain.

Momma's Little Helper

Morenna has developed a fascination for the kitchen. Her previous fancy of examining the drawers and cabinets has matured to a desire to help in any way she can: open the fridge, carry items, stir ingredients, play in the dishwater - you name it! Recently she stood by my side as I cleaned and snapped green beans. She took each bean as I was finished with it, chomped off an end, chewed and then slowly dragged "Mmmmm." She'd then place the chewed bean in the pot.

Last week she enjoyed standing on her little helper stool to assist me in cutting up a cantaloupe. I think the sweet smell and her love for melon got in the way with her "helping". :-) What do you think?

Melon euphoria


Must be clean-up time!

Sonogram says...

"It's a girl!" :-)

Ok, so we actually discovered this fact a week ago, but I'm just now finding a few moments of computer time to post the pictures. Sorry for the delay! We are very much looking forward to meeting our new daughter... and perhaps a few days earlier than expected as my due date has been moved back two days. Enjoy the photos... I'm in love with the little hand shot at the top:

~

CVS Love

It's been a long while since I last shared some CVS love. That's primarily due to the fact that CVS hasn't graced its customers with many new and exciting deals to employ the mind. Ad after ad has been a bit of a bore... I think all I've really snagged there in the last few months have been diapers.

But then there was today. And I am once again a CVS believer... you should join in, too. :-)

Today we scored $63.19 worth of household goods for only $3.27! (A total that even could've been lower, if I had been paying attention instead of ogling a candy bar.) You can do it, too!

Transaction One
1 - CVS Pantiliners $0.89
2 - Febreeze Noticables Starter Kits $6.50 each
1- CVS Tape $1.49

Used: 2 - $4 off Febreeze; $6.99 in ExtraCare Bucks (ECBs)

Total: $0.81
Got back $5ecb for Febreeze, $0.89ecb for liners and $1.49ecb for the tape


Transaction Two
3 - Post Cereal $3/10
2 - CVS Tape $1.49 each
1 - Glucose Moniter $19.99

Used: 3-$2 off Post Trail Mix; $19.99 off monitor; $5ecb

Total: $2.32 (Could've had it lower by using one of my other ecbs... oh well.)
Got back $5ecb for cereal, $5ecb for monitor and $2.98ecb for the tape

Transaction Three
5 - Theater Candies $1 each
4 - CVS Paper towels $1.29 each
3 - CVS Tissues $1.99 each

Used: 2-$1 CVS paper products; $13.99ecbs


Total: $0.14 (Was back to paying attention :-))


So that was that. And I left with $11 ecbs in my pocket. Yay! If you want to try your hand at CVS-ing, this post has some great scenarios at the bottom for this week's specials.

So Blue

The last weekend in June was a beautiful one. The weather just demanded you to be outside, so our little family trekked to a local farmer's market and then off to a blueberry farm deep in the VA hills.

We really enjoyed the organic grass-fed New York strip steak we selected at the farmer's market (totally sold on buying local beef now). But we really enjoyed the rolling hills of blueberries. In just over an hour we had picked 7.5lbs. Morenna, who is a big fan of blueberries anyway, appeared to be in complete awe that she could go 'round and 'round the bushes and pluck handfuls of the juicy little fruits.

And I forgot my camera.

We were able to get some video footage on Matt's phone, though. It's a bit blurry and the volume is, well, obnoxious, but if you listen closely you can hear her going "Mmm, MMMmmm!!!" after every bite. Enjoy!

Guess What Arrived?

You may recall me talking about this possible purchase last summer. Well, it's true. Matt and I are now the proud owners of this:



And Morenna is now the proud (and persistent) audience of the rear entertainment system.

Matt is too.

Guess who drives?

Who's Minding the... House?

It has been and continues to be a humbling experience to possess all the joys (who am I fooling?) of pregnancy while chasing down a toddler. My family and my home have all suffered. But it's also been a time of blessing to watch those around me chip in to help, especially my husband. I owe the current state of our home (yes, it's fairly clean!) to him... and also the current state of my emotional life (that's in good shape, too).

Now that I'm slowly regaining my pre-morning sickness ground, I've had to start doing things a wee bit different than normal. Here's how I'm minding my house at the moment:

-- My previous cleaning schedule has been shelved in lieu of an end-of-the-day tidying. There is dust in my house. Lots of it... but I'm only able to tackle a room when my energy meter decides to climb.

Did I ever mention that we purchased a Roomba?! I had hoped to write a full review of the newest member of our house -- affectionately termed Mosie (a combination of the Jetsen's Rosie and Wall-e's Mo) -- but something got in the way, I guess. So here's my review: Buy one. Now.

-- I'm managing my time using my personalized daily docket (at right). "MIT" stands for "most important things". Many thanks to SimpleMom for the inspiration.

-- And as you can see, I'm now menu planning. I've never been big into menu planning. Besides the pre-thought hassle (in my previously uninformed opinion), my tastes always changed from day to day, so I wouldn't follow it anyway. But now that food and I are not the best of friends, I've found a weekly planning session to be a winner of an idea. I only have to really think about food once a week, and my family has a rounded meal each evening. They are happy. Very happy.

Even better, I've started having Matt grill out a larger than normal amount of meat on Sundays, so then I can use it in quick dishes during the week. Doubling dinner portions also leaves us handy options for lunches.

Last week's menu:

Sunday - Matt grilled chicken; leftover green bean casserole
Monday - Blackbean vegetable soup; cornbread; peach crisp
Tuesday - Parmesan Tilapia; green beans; cantelope
Wednesday - Chicken tacos; corn-on-the-cob
Thursday - Dinner out
Friday - Beef stir-fry w/ carrots & zucchini

And that's the latest on who's minding our house... if you wanted to know. :-)