Lists, Loves, and Lunch...

Not really sure what lunch has to do with anything, other than the fact that I felt like I needed a third "L" word to complete my title. My lunch was a couple of celery sticks (that are probably over a month old - but they've been sitting in the fridge in water, so they're still crunchy and not moldy) dipped in crunchy Jif peanut butter. YUM! Oh, and a couple of glasses of ice water.

Lists. I have found over the past couple of days that if I have a list, I get things accomplished. And, when I don't have a list, I get NOTHING accomplished. No, I don't always finish EVERYTHING on my lists, but having one gives me some direction for my day versus having NO direction sans lists.

Monday, for example, I had a list with 11 (yes eleven) things on it that I needed/wanted to get accomplished. Each of the items was completely accomplish-able during the course of a "normal Monday". By 4:00pm Monday afternoon, I was finishing the final thing on my list (baking zucchini bread/muffins) and starting the dishes (which didn't happen to be on my list, but needed to be added). However, I was wiped out. And then, the fun began - my little girlie got the stomach flu and we were up ALL night.

Thankfully, I didn't have a list for Tuesday. I had a child literally attached to me (she wouldn't let me out of her reach even to nap) the majority of the day. And, I got nothing (other than caring for a sick little girlie) accomplished.

Yesterday was another list day. Although, when I made the list, it was more of a wish list than a to-do list. I knew there was NO WAY I was going to accomplish everything on my list yesterday, and I didn't try to. I simply worked on the things I knew I could get accomplished (laundry, running, kids' baths, updating finances, etc) and then worked on some of the other tasks I wanted to see some headway made on (finishing up Unit 1 lesson plans, reading my library book, starting some of my blog review books, etc). I made good progress on my lesson plans (almost done!!) and am working on the rest of the list even now.

Today doesn't have a list. Thursdays are our "Saturday" around here - first day of the weekend, slow morning, time together. We FINALLY watched Prince Caspian this morning (we DVRed it in HD back in May, plus I got the DVD for Christmas last year) - it was a really good movie! Halfway through, J decided he wanted pancakes for breakfast, so we paused the movie to make some pancakes. (The mix is over two years old, but they tasted better than the last time I used it - over a year ago!) After the movie, Jenny and I colored and worked on practicing "J"s, while J did the dishes. Lunch and naptime followed, and I got on the computer to knock a few more items off my list from yesterday.

Loves. J had a packet of information he needed put together and prepped to be mailed today. After looking it over, he asked me if I could gather the necessary information for him. I looked it over, found the information I needed, made copies, filled out the form, had him sign where he needed, and prepared the packet for mailing. It made me wish I were an administrative assistant. I love doing that type of thing. Putting together information for "the boss", filing paperwork where it belongs, making notes to reference when things were done and how they were done (i.e. "mailed via USPS on 7/30/09, included "x", "y", and "z"), and the like. It makes me feel useful and helpful.

Yesterday, I had a similar feeling of love while planning for the upcoming school year. I was attempting to put together my lesson plans on the computer, but was struggling with trying to flip back and forth between days in my unit. I grabbed some scrap paper and drew myself a unit plan and filled it in with a pen. I love being able to "scratch out" plans and then transfer them to the computer. After I figured out what I wanted my unit to look like, I was able to use an Excel spreadsheet to lay it out on the computer. I love pretty layouts, and I love organization!

Q4U: Do you use lists? Do you feel more productive if you use a list? What do love? What did you have for lunch? I'd love to hear your thoughts on these questions and any other thoughts you might have!!

It's All About ME!! I mean... It's NOT About Me!

I have had myself down and out for almost a week. Life was getting so difficult, I was ready to just give up and make a run for it. My marriage felt like it was falling apart, I couldn't get anything done during the day, I was sick and felt like crap, my kids wouldn't listen to me. Life was kicking and screaming at me and all I wanted to do was run!

I found myself laying in bed Friday night going over all the crappyness that had happened that day (and yes, some of the crappyness from Friday was legit), when it dawned on me. My focus was on ME. Not on my husband, not on my family, and most definitely not on GOD! The more I realized this, the clearer it all became to me. Yeah, my life isn't perfect (far from it), but it doesn't have to be. In fact, it never will be.

Life is full of bumps and bruises, but God is still in control. He lets us go through "crappyness" to grow us in our understanding of our need for dependance on HIM! And He's there to mend the cut and scrapes, to heal our brokenness, and to put the pieces of our lives back together in the way He meant for them to be.

I found myself in desperate need of the wake-up call I had just gotten. "Wake-up, Ashley! It's NOT about you. It's about GOD!"

Can I tell you how much better the past couple of days have gone since I had this wake-up call? The crappyness continues on a daily basis (and will continue until we die or Christ comes back), but I'm less focused on it and more focused on what God has called me to do - be the best wife and mommy I can be, for HIS glory!

Q4U: What wake-up call have you gotten recently? How's your vision/focus doing? Are you 20/20 on HIM? Or are you like me, struggling to fix your eyes on the prize?

Guess how much I paid??

I went to CVS after Church yesterday, and I walked away with all of this. How much did I pay? Well, actually, I got PAID $2.95 to take it all home with me! (And, if they'd had all the items in stock that I wanted, I had a plan to get paid even MORE - like $21.95 when all was said and done!)

I spent $1.41 out of pocket (and shouldn't have had to pay that much, but the cashier wasn't the brightest and ran some of my coupons up incorrectly causing me to have to pay tax on a few things I would have otherwise not had to pay tax on), got back bukoo ECBs and mailed in a rebate for the PediaSure!

I had to go back today to get the rainchecks for the items they didn't have in stock, because I forgot to get them yesterday. And, I used J's card to pick up a couple more freebies today.

How are your deals/steals going this week??

Blue Like Play Dough, by Tricia Goyer

In the everyday stretch and squeeze of motherhood, Tricia Goyer often feels smooshed by the demands of life. In Blue Like Play Dough, she shares her unlikely journey from rebellious, pregnant teen to busy wife and mom with big dreams of her own. As her story unfolds, Tricia realizes that God has more in store for her than she has ever imagined possible.

Sure, life is messy and beset by doubts. But God keeps showing up in the most unlikely places–in a bowl of carrot soup, the umpteenth reading of Goodnight Moon, a woe-is me teen drama, or play dough in the hands of a child.

In Tricia’s transparent account, you’ll find understanding, laughter, and strength for your own story. And in the daily push and pull, you’ll learn to recognizes the loving hands of God at work in your life… and know He has something beautiful in mind.

Tricia Goyer is the author of numerous works of fiction and nonfiction, including Generation NeXt Parenting and the Gold Medallion finalist Life Interrupted. Goyer writes for publications such as Today’s Christian Woman and Focus on the Family, speaks to women’s groups nationwide and has been a presenter at the Mothers of Preschoolers (MOPS) national convention. She and her husband, John, live with their family in Montana.

***I have not had a chance to read this book yet as the last few weeks have been a little busy/crazy, but I can't wait to read it! I hope you will enjoy it as well!***

Toilet Time...

This has been the week of toilets.

Last week at Prayer Meeting, Jenny disappeared. I went out into the hallway to find her. I called out her name, and she answered me from the Men's Bathroom. I opened the door to find her, and she hopped down off the urinal. "I used the little potty, Mommy!" (We had a good talk with Daddy when we got home about using ONLY the Women's Bathroom, NOT the Men's Bathroom.)

Then, Monday, both kids were MIA in the evening. I found them both in the bathroom "cleaning" the toilet. Jenny had the plunger and was attempting to "clean" the toilet with it. David had both hands in the water and was splashing to his heart's content. Thankfully, Jenny had flushed her pee/poop before deciding to "clean" the toilet with her brother!

And finally, just moments ago, I heard the toilet flush. J isn't here - he went to the recycling center to empty our recycling tub. Jenny is sitting in the recliner with me. Only David is MIA. I walked into the bathroom, and there he was. As proud as can be that he made the potty flush. I have a feeling we're going to have to keep that door closed now!

Oh the potty. Oh the potty tales.

Do you have any potty tales to share??

Food for four, a month at a time...

This is my calendar. It has all our scheduled events on it, as well as our menu for the month.

Menu planning can be a tedious job, or a fairly easy job. In a previous post about shopping, I mentioned in response to a question that I do not plan my menu around sales, but rather around what I have in my pantry/freezer/fridge, using sales to stock my pantry/freezer/fridge. This makes menu planning easier for me, I believe.

At the end of each month, I take out my planner and grab the calendar off the fridge. I update the fridge calendar with all our events (from my planner) and then proceed to plan the meals for the upcoming month. I only plan for supper/dinner, as our breakfast and lunch menus don't change a whole lot day-to-day. Breakfast is cereal and milk (maybe some fruit) and lunch is a sandwich or leftovers with fruit (or a microwave meal for J if he's home).

Since J works Sunday through Wednesday, I don't plan very extensive meals for these nights. Sometimes he gets home by 7pm, and other times he gets home after 9pm. Whatever I make on these nights needs to be fast and easy, or keep warm well. I usually use a "rotating schedule" for these nights - i.e. breakfast foods on Sunday night (waffles, eggs, etc), pasta on Monday night (macaroni, pasta salad, fettuccine alfredo, etc), hot dogs on Tuesday night. Wednesday nights we (the kids and I at least) eat supper at Church (we have dinner before prayer meeting), so J usually heats up some Ramen or a microwave meal when he gets home from work.

Friday nights are almost always pizza night - I've started making homemade pizzas every Friday night.*

That basically leaves Thursday and Saturday to plan for. I try to make these nights my "meat" nights - having the main course centered around some type of meat. Pork chops ($.98/lb on sale and frozen individually), chicken (usually less than $1.50/lb and frozen individually), hamburger (on sale and frozen in one pound packages), etc. make up the meat options for these nights. I try to vary the meal on these nights, attempting not to repeat a Thursday/Saturday meal more than twice in the month.

I usually stock up on meat 2-3 times a year, and stock my pantry every 2-3 months, spending around $30 each time. Fresh foods are a weekly/bi-weekly purchase (fruit, yogurt, bread, etc). WIC picks up the bill for our milk, or we'd add about $35/mo for milk. J has a loose budget of $4/day for lunch. Using this meal planning method, I can usually feed my family breakfast, lunch, and dinner for around $150-200 a month.

Q4U: Do you meal plan? Do you plan for a day at a time? A week at a time? Two weeks? A month? Do you plan from your stocked supplies or from the sales at the stores? What's your food budget look like? Do you rotate meals or try new things each night? I'd love to hear your thoughts on this topic!

I have more, but it's TMI...

Tonight, I'm tired, but I can't sleep. I went to bed awhile ago, and I quickly realized that sleep wasn't going to happen any time soon, and I had lots of brain "writing" activity happening, so I decided to get up and try to get it all out. Unfortunately, a lot of what is in my brain at the moment is pretty personal and would be WAY too much information to share with anyone, let alone put out on the internet for the whole world to see, so I'm not sure if this post is actually going to amount to much and/or accomplish my goal of emptying my brain in order to fall asleep sooner than later. I think I'm going to go with the numbered random thoughts list again... I like the order/organization of it.

RT#1: J, observing me updating my coupon database and working on my CVS "attack plan" last night commented that I'm "slightly organized". He thinks it's funny, but he loves (at least I think he does) the great deals I'm able to score!

RT#2: Somehow, J missed the memo that Jenny's starting school this Fall. I'm not sure how. In relation to RT#1, but I'm not sure how, he made a comment about "when Jenny starts school". I turned around and said her first day of school was going to be September 14th. He laughed (quite hard, in fact) and asked me if I was going to dress her up for school and pack her a sack lunch. Like I said, I'm not sure how this was "news" to him, but it was.

RT#3: J often refers to David as a "little fellow". Saturday morning, he asked (rhetorically): "Who's this little fellow?" as he often does. Jenny promptly replied, "That's David. That's a fellow. He's a baby fellow, Daddy." She has no idea what "fellow" means. We thought she was saying "pillow" or "towel" at first. We were doubled over in laughter.

RT#4: I love hearing Jenny talk. She talks like me. It's so funny to hear her interact and respond. Her newest phrase is "ever, ever, ever!" (Although it sounds more like "evva, evva, evva!") We've been talking about how it's NEVER okay to do certain things - "ever, ever, ever!"

RT#5: I finally "cleaned up" the DVR today. I've had some shows/movies piling up on it for a couple of months, and I finally sat down and watched them all today (2 movies and a TV show). It took me almost four hours to finish the first movie. It was a "NO KIDS ALLOWED IN THE ROOM" movie (Sex & the City), and Jenny decided about 30 minutes into it that nap time wasn't happening today and was having problems staying in our bedroom with her toys and her movie.

RT#6: Harper's Island season finale was last night. Jason and I called it right. But the end was still really weird. Anybody else think it was a little creepy and psycho?

RT#7: Teaching Sunday school to one kid is a little intimidating and weird. Especially when your curriculum is geared for a large class that you're supposed to break into multiple groups for a number of the activities. And then, when a kid shows up half way through the class (with about 20 minutes left) - that's just plain awkward. And yet, this is the norm. One kid to start. One kid 30 minutes into Sunday school.

RT#8: I made a "wish list" a couple of weeks ago. It's a list of things I'd like to do, and could probably quite feasibly do, but that I'll probably never do. I'll have to share it sometime with you.

RT#9: My whole "daily goals" with "rewards" has completely and utterly failed. I haven't even attempted to make it work. A few of the more key items on the "goals" list have managed to make it into my normal daily routine, which is an improvement, but on the whole, it's a bust. Just thought I should come clean.

RT#10: (This will be my last random thought for tonight, though I could probably go on for quite a while - I'm that wired tonight... could be the Excedrin I took before trying to go to sleep awhile ago.) We're 99.9999999999999% sure that we're not buying the house (or any house for awhile). After we heard back from the seller (via our Realtor) on a number of questions we had, and after we'd spent a week or two praying about it, we began to realize that God seems to have other plans for us at this time. Thankfully, we're comfortable in our current housing situation, and it's an open-ended lease. It's a relief to not have to think about what a year from now might bring - we have no idea...

RT#11: (Sorry, just one more... I promise!) I really want to see us back at Camp in the next five to ten years. I feel like that is where we are supposed to "end up". It might just be me wishing, but it's hard not to want to be where God is working and having an active role in that type of a ministry. I've been having lots of "Barakel" moments and cravings lately. God, would you show us what You have for us??

Alright... so this post definitely did NOT empty my brain. But, I think I've probably droned on long enough for you. I do want you to keep coming back for more, so I won't drag on anymore tonight.

Q4U: What are three random thoughts running through your mind at this moment? Where do you want to be in five years? In ten years? What are your thoughts on my random thoughts?

I'd love to hear from you!

Have you made money online?

Are you skeptical about signing up for survey sites and other "money making sites" online? I am too. But, I've found a few sites that have proven to work, albeit slowly. Over time, I've been able to "earn" a few bucks here and there online.

Here's some proof...

This is a screen shot of my PayPal history from the past two months. I've received payments from Dollar Surveys (Digital Branding), Mystery Shopping (Charles), and YouData.

This is a copy of a check I received in the mail today from Opinion Outpost (survey site).
I use Swagbucks for all of my browser searches, and I have managed to earn $15 in Amazon.com gift cards thus far. I take surveys for HarrisPoll and have earned multiple gift cards over the years (have been taking surveys for them since my college years). I also use some other survey sites, and am working towards earning gift cards and cash payouts from many of them. I've received cash payments from Nielsen//NetRatings and various university research programs.

If you are interested in any of these opportunities, I'd love to send you the links to sign up! Just leave a comment or email me your email address.

Happy earning!

ADDON: A new site I found today: iRazoo... earn up to 300 points daily (3000 points gets you a $5 Amazon.com gift card)!!

Nothing to do, yet so much to get done...

Today is one of those days where there is nothing on the agenda. Not even a trip to town (since I managed to get that done yesterday). And yet, looking around my house, I can find so many things that need to be done.

The dishes in the sink from dinner last night (it was an impromptu dinner since my parents decided to make a detour on their way back to Michigan from Delaware) need to be washed.

I washed a load of towels yesterday, and they're still in the dryer - well, actually, I think I hear our neighbor taking them out for me right now, oops!

Plus, my house needs to be cleaned - vacuuming, dusting, cleaning the bathroom, etc.

However, all of these tasks are ones that I struggle to find the motivation to do.

I'm probably going to work some more on lesson plans for the fall, too. I have part of my first unit (6 weeks, 12 sesssions, 3 hours each) started, but I want to get it almost complete before the curriculum books I have are due back at the library.

I'm pretty sure Gilmore Girls will be making an appearance during naptime this afternoon. And we'll probably get in the pool again after naptime. (We got in yesterday for the first time since our "party" over a week ago.)

Does anybody else have issues with a two-year old randomly asking them if they have to go potty and attempting to look at their underwear to see if they have poopies? Arrg. There are some things that Mommy doesn't really care to share!

I've found that I've missed not having a bazillion books to try and read the last week or so. I find myself "bored" and looking for something to do in the down time I have. I read one book last week - Karen Kingsbury's newest book, "Take Two" - and I picked up another book from the library yesterday. Hopefully I'll get an email in the next week or so with a list of the books that I'll be able to read and review in August.

I'm currently laying on the living room floor, and for some unknown reason, that seems to say to my children that Mommy is available to climb on, jump on, and to have you look under all my clothes. Can't Mommy have five minutes of peace?!?

Okay. So you probably don't really care about all of the above. I should probably try to put together some semblance of a real post sometime soon to keep you all reading! I promise, I'll try to check my list of ideas to try to put together a "real random post" for your reading pleasure. If you have anything you'd like to read about, feel free to leave your ideas/suggestions in the comments.

The I Believe Bunny, by Tish Rabe

A perfect book for preschoolers! My daughter and I read this together (she was begging me to read it to her just from seeing the bunny on the cover), and she loved it! Bunny teaches children to call on God for help when they find themselves in situations that are difficult. Bunny teaches children about faith and God's love.

The book is beautifully illustrated (by Frank Endersby) and is written in a catchy rhyme that will stick in children's minds. The truths throughout the book point children to God and His ways. The book opens with a Bible verse that sums up the story - Philippians 4:13 - and that is easy for children to memorize, understand, and apply to their lives. I plan to look for more books in this series for my daughter - we highly recommend them!

House and Happy 4th!

We found a house we really like... in fact, I might say I even love it. Oh wait, I did say that! (I tried to upload the picture, but it's having issues... click here to see a picture of the house.) We're hoping to take J's parents down to see it tomorrow when they're here (it's about 25 minutes southwest of where we live now).

Crash. Boom. Bang. That's what I'm currently listening to. Jenny and I tried to sit in the front yard to watch the fireworks over the lake tonight, but there were too many trees and we were too far away. We saw the tops of a few of the blasts down the road, but came in since it was too far away. She got to see one blast thanks to one of our neighbors, so she thinks she got to see the fireworks.

Hope you all have a great 4th of July!

Sweet sleep... and the weekend is here!

I FINALLY slept last night!! I started getting tired (couldn't get my eyes open while watching TV) around 9:30pm last night, so I told J I was going to bed. (I hadn't gone to bed til after 1am the night before, and had managed to stay in bed til around 11am yesterday morning.) I actually fell asleep without looking at the clock at all!! (Lately, I've been glancing at the clock for over an hour before finally being able to sleep.) And, I didn't wake up until David fussed the first time this morning around 7:30ish. What a beautiful thing a full night's sleep is!!

It's so nice to have a good night's sleep going into the weekend! Thursday-Saturday are our weekends around here (since those are the days J is off), so today starts our weekend.

We're planning on meeting our Realtor this afternoon to look at four houses around the area. We've been enjoying looking at homes - maybe we'll find something we love today!

Tomorrow night is the WL Fireworks. I'm not sure if we'll try to make our way down to the lake this year or not. Maybe we'll see if some friends will let us come to their house to watch them. We can see them from our house, but the view is slightly blocked (any of the lower ones) due to the houses and such in the mile between us and the lake.

J's parents are coming down to visit this weekend, too. They were supposed to be coming down tomorrow morning, but probably won't be here til Saturday now. We are looking forward to seeing them again (it's been over a month since we saw them last) and spending time with them. They are going to take us over to Paige's Crossing Fun Park on Saturday afternoon and then a YUMMY dinner Golden Corral (our favorite dining place with them)!

Saturday is also Jenny's "half-birthday". She will be two and a half. I can't believe that she's getting so old! Or that she's still so young. Time has sure flown by since that balmy winter night that she was born in Medford, WI!

Sunday is going to be super busy for me. I'm singing with the Praise Team, which means being at Church by 8:30am for practice, then I have to teach Sunday School (grades 1-5), and then the morning service (singing with the PT). I'm not sure if my ILs will still be here - they aren't sure if they're staying the night Saturday or not. I think I'll probably be making my weekly CVS trip on Sunday, too, since I have a coupon that is only good through Sunday. J has to work (as always), so I'll be juggling the kiddos along with everything else! I actually LOVE Sundays when they are this busy. It helps the day to go so much more quickly!

Q4U: What are your plans for the holiday weekend? Do you do anything special to celebrate the 4th of July? Do you prefer busy Sundays or slow Sundays?

Happy Independence Day to you all!!