Grace Filled Living

I came across an article recently on a blog by The Humbled Homemaker 
which I just so related too.  

I'm not a perfect homemaker - I'm far from it.  I don't enjoy cleaning but I enjoy a clean home.  It seems like as our family has progressed, it's gotten more difficult to keep up with the every day tasks.  When I was single, my house not only looked clean, it smelled clean.  It was easy to keep up with everything and I always felt like my apartment was a haven.  Then, I got married HA!  It started out "good".  Our first apartment was tiny and easy to keep up with and our second apartment was brand new with two bedrooms and two bathrooms - it was nice to have the space and with both Darryl and I working to clean it, it was easy to keep that "haven" feeling.  Buying a home added a new deminsion.  The good thing was that it was just the two of us and we had TONS of space.  We even had an empty room and the basement - next to nothing was down there!  Eventually kids came into the mix followed by "stuff".  Somewhere along the way, it's because almost difficult to move in our home at times with the stuff that ends up everywhere and along those same lines I find it difficult to want to keep things up because it takes so much work to organize everything.  In reality, it usually comes down to discipline and, well, money.  I have lots of great ideas on how to organize stuff so it will stay that way but, I work to not spend money on additional storage items which means my ideas are on hold.  Now, this isn't a "woe is me" post at all because we made the decision for me to stay home with the kids, which is the best decision ever, but it also meant we had to tighten our belts and let some things go.  Anyway, all of that to say, this article almost comes straight from my mind (if only I could write like that!) and I really like the ideas that she gives.  Some I've done and some I'm working on but it is nice to know that I'm not the only one!
 

What We are Eating - McMaster McMuffins

McMaster McMuffins
adapted from . . .My Dad

My dad "created" these wonderful breakfast sandwiches that he often made for my mom or for anyone staying at their house.  I always loved when he made me one!  

Ingredients
Sausage patties
Cheese slices
butter
English Muffins

Directions:
Using your hands, flatten the sausage patties until they are about the size of the English Muffin (this helps them fit on the muffin AND cook faster)
Cook the sausage patty.  While those are cooking, toast the English Muffin.  Butter the toasted muffin, add the cheese and the sausage patty and Enjoy!! 

I served these with a couple of eggs over easy and fruit.
 

Books To Read

This is the stack of books that is currently staring me "in the face".  I pulled together books from years past that I had ordered and planned to read but either never got to or started and never finished.  As much as I love my Kindle/ebooks because those books take up less space, I have found that some books are better read the "old fashioned way" if you want to actually learn from them.  These books are only "learning" books - books about things to help me become a better person.  This doesn't even include the list of fun reading books I'd like to get to! 

I've created a Pinterest Board to attempt to track the books I read throughout this year.  I've found that without my rows of bookcases and all of my books in alphabetical order by author, I tend to forget what I've read.  The board is a great way to be able to look back and see what I loved, what I didn't and even what authors I've enjoyed.  It's also a great way to track a series too. 

So, what are some of the books in that stack?

1. One not in the pile is "Longing for Paris. I've started this one and am already enjoying it.

2. Stripped by Lina AbuJamra.  This is a book written by a long time friend of mine.  She also has a new book out, Resolved, that is on my list to purchase.

3. Taming the To Do List.  I've had this one for awhile and, as a person who is always writing to do lists, I'm hoping to game some control over the need to always have that list!

Those are just a few in that stack.  I love to read but I also find that I let other stuff get in the way of my reading.  My plan is to spend more time reading this summer.  Maybe while accomplishing some of those items on our summer bucket list from yesterdays post -  I can read while the kids play!

Summer Bucket List

Do you have a summer bucket list?  We do . . or maybe I should say I do for us :-)  This summer, all 4 kids (my two and the two I watch) are old enough to do some "field trips".  Earlier this year, I was working on some pretty good plans for the summer.  I got a little sidelined so I'm working this week on regrouping.  One of my goals to take off and do things one or two times a week. 

Summer Bucket List Part 1

Parks

 We have some great parks with in about a 30 -40 minute drive of our house that I'm going to attempt to get us to.  One of them includes this awesome bridge along with a creek they kids can play in and lots of play scapes too.

 This is one of our favorite parks with the huge wooden playscapes and lots of shade trees. 

 Not to mention Mooville.  Not only do they get to play, they get ice cream too! 

There are also some other great parks on my list plus stops at ice cream shops along the way too.  

Summer Bucket List Part 2

Activities and Water

 We have a state park not far from our house so I'm planning to take the kids to the lake this summer.  I'll be honest, it's not my favorite beach but it is a beach with water so the kids will enjoy it.  As a family, we'll try to make it to Lake Michigan as much as possible too!

 Water parks!  I love splash pads because there is not standing water or deep water and they are clean! 

 The zoos.  We have 4 zoos within fairly easy driving distance.  I don't enjoy going to the zoo in the heat so I'm going to watch for some cooler days and try to enjoy a few of them this summer.

 We love Catch Air.  I love it because it's cool and contained so the kids can just run.  The kids love it because they can just run.  

There are also free movies to see, mall playlands to enjoy (because free is always good!), and a picnic or two to the airport viewing park.  

 So, depending on the week and any other events in the week such as Vacation Bible School or family visits, I'm hoping for a park day and an activity day.  Some parks, like Mooville, are also "activities" and sometimes we might just go 10 minutes down the road to a local park just to get away from the house.  

My Playlist

In the Playlist post I shared last Sunday, I shared a song by Steven Curtis Chapman.  This article in WorshipFuel shares more about that song so I just wanted to include the link in case you would like to read the article.

One of the songs that was sung as a worship song at my dad's funeral was "It is Well with my Soul."  When I saw the song listed on the program the day before while reviewing it with my brothers, I told my brother Ken that I did not want that song used because it was not well with my soul and I did not have peace about what was going on.  He didn't listen to me and left it in the program but, for the record, I did not sing it.  Well, a friend of mine shared this version of "It is Well" with me recently and it has slowly grown on me.  It has some pretty powerful words about the simple fact "Through it all, it is well". 

Family Fun - Nate's Day of Fun

I like to use the blog to document our family memories which is what this Saturday post is all about so, due to not blogging much the past few months, I'm still working on December 2015.  

We celebrated Nate's birthday as a family on Saturday, December 19th.  Nate got to pick what to do this day so we started out at Catch Air. We then went to lunch at McDonald's where Josh lost his very, very, loose, hanging by a string tooth (and cried and cried)  We then headed to Chuck E Cheese before getting dinner at Red Robin (Nate loves the fries!!)   Finally, we ended the night by driving through the huge Christmas light display!

We then headed to Catch Air.  A favorite of both boys!

 Nate always has a plan so he asked me to follow him everywhere and posed for photos on every single item at Catch Air. 

 There are four slides to the ball pit, he went down them over and over until I got perfect photos of him on each one.  I think I took over 200 photos while at Catch Air.

 This is my favorite photo of the whole day . . .except for the creepy character in the background.  No matter what I do, I can't quite crop that guy out!

 So this is my second favorite.  I love his adorable little face.

 Look at that loosey, goosey tooth!!!

These aren't great photos but the light parade at the local baseball park is fabulous and a tradition we do every single year!

Weekly Menu

My weekly menu changed last week because my husband needs "softer" foods.  The oral surgery he had is taking much longer to heal with unexpected complications so he requested foods that he could eat carefully.  So, we ate differently than planned and I've ended up with lots of stuff in the fridge/freezer/cupboards.   

Friday:  Homemade Pizza Rolls, Chips and Salad

Saturday:  Bacon ranch Chicken Strips and California Spaghetti salad - we are actually meeting my mom for a movie and lunch/early dinner so I'm not sure if we will actually eat this. 

Sunday:  It's time to grill!  Hamburgers on the grill and fried zucchini and Spaghetti Salad

Monday:  VBS has started so it makes for a tight schedule.  Normally Darryl and I would go out for burgers at Applebees after getting the boys to VBS BUT Nate has baseball practice and he learned that at the last practice they play a game against the parents so now he wants to go to practice so I can play ball.  I'm hoping he changes his mind HA!  The last time I played baseball I took a baseball to the eye - it wasn't fun :-/

Tuesday: McMaster Sausage McMuffins, Eggs, and Fruit  (Even as I type this, I'm not sure this will happen.  The kids and I will be at the end of the school year party all day and there is VBS in the evening for one and baseball for another . . .I'm guessing we will end up with Taco bell HA!)

Wednesday: Tacos and Chips (Tonight - one goes to VBS and one has a baseball game!) 

Thursday:  Italian Meatball Subs and Pizza Pasta Salad  I might be exhausted by the time Thursday comes around . . .I'm not making any promises on this meal . . it might be Little Ceasers!)

Summer is here.  My disclaimer the past 10 years is . . if the "feels like" tempeture hits 90, Darryl brings dinner home.  Honestly, I'd rather cook than have 90 degree days so I'm hoping for a cool summer!