my blessed life

I have felt as though I've been in 'survival mode' for a while now.  I'm sure most women feel like this at some point in their lives.  Life can just be overwhelming.  All of the laundry, the cooking, the homeschooling, the errand-running, the outside commitments ...and it's all so .... daily .  It doesn't stop.  So I was very excited to be able to grab a copy of Crystal Paine's new book Say Goodbye to Survival Mode .  Crystal is one of my favorite bloggers!  I've been following her blog, Money Saving Mom , for a very long time now.  It's chock-full of great advice on living frugally, living with purpose, and being intentional.  I knew this book would be full of the same great advice.  And it did not disappoint! When you do snag a copy of this book, I highly recommend bringing along a highlighter and a pencil.  You'll definitely want to mark all of the great stuff in here and you'll need a pencil for the "homework" assi...

Hey, it's Tasty Tuesday again!!  Yea!!  This one is brought to you by my daughter... This past week The Princess decided she'd like to make dinner for us one night.  After flipping through some vintage 70's children's cookbooks (that I've passed along to her) she found this one that seemed to suit the cold weather we've been having just fine.  She did a great job making it~I'm so glad she enjoys cooking!  And it was super yummy! Easy Chili 1 lb. ground beef 1 cup chopped onion 2 (15-1/2 oz.) cans kidney beans 1 can chopped tomatoes 1 can tomato sauce 1/2 cup water 2 tbsp. chili powder 1/2 tsp. salt  Dash of pepper ***** Brown the ground beef and onion in a large heavy saucepan. Cook over medium heat until beef is browned; drain the meat and put back into pan. Add beans, tomatoes, sauce, water, chili powder, salt, and pepper. Cover and simmer for 1 hour. **Mr. B freaks out over onions  ...so I told The Princess to...

Yes, I'm a bit past the end-of-the-week, aren't I?  You'll forgive me though, won't you?  I'm just relaxing a little with my self-imposed blog deadlines.  You may have noticed that I'm not posting quite as much.  I have made some decisions to simply cut back some and enjoy "real" life a little more.  So ...unless I just feel like it, no more staying up late to finish a post, or blogging while the rest of the family watches a movie ...you get the idea:)  My proverbial plate has been filling up too much again and I am having to take measures to keep my priorities focused.   Now ...for what's been happening in our homeschool this week!   As I mentioned last week , this has been a pretty good month of getting back into our routine following the holidays.  We have had a few bumps, and even some tears (mostly mine!), but that sometimes happens.  (The Princess' "preposition sandwich") The Princess is cruising right alo...

Since the fall I've had the opportunity to try out a fairly new meal planning website: relish!  I have tried a meal planning site before, but usually do my planning on my own--and have for six years.  I really love meal planning!  And sometimes I wonder if a meal planning website would make that job easier for me.  So I was curious to try out relish!   and see how it worked. When you first log into relish!   there is always a feature article on the home page.  They vary in topics from breakfast items, special seasonings or sauces, to how to make homemade cocoa.  I often enjoy reading these.  There are also other articles with links toward the bottom of the home page that are about similar topics.  These can be very helpful to your meal planning--if you have the time to read them.  You can read more about their member benefits here. I usually click right over to menus to see what recipes they're offering for the we...

I'm late getting this posted, but I find that always posting my menus helps me keep myself accountable.  So even though it's Monday night and I've already cooked and eaten the first night'splan (it was delicious, by the way), in the spirit of accountability, here's what's cooking at our house this week: Monday:   Golden Baked Chicken, Salad, roasted Brussels sprouts , potato cakes Tuesday:   Chili (made by The Princess) Wednesday:   Tuna Melts Thursday:   {girls night out for me and The Princess} the boys are on their own!:) Friday:   Homemade Pizza Saturday:   Teryaki Chicken with Stir Fry Veggies This post is linked to Menu Plan Monday at I'm an Organizing Junkie.

So, it's January and we're back in full swing with homeschooling after a very extended holiday break.  Because of how late Thanksgiving was and because of visiting out-of-town family, we ended up taking off six weeks!  Whew!  That was a long time.  I was so ready to get back into our routine after New Year's.   Of course, the re-entry back into homeschool life does present challenges for everyone after such a long break (even for mom!), overall it's been a good month so far.  Don't let me deceive you, there has been some whining and complaining ...maybe even a "fit" or seven ...but I have been very pleased with our progress these past two weeks that we've been back to the books.   I'm one of those ...and by that I mean one of those Type-A people who like to stick to my "plan".  And I'm happy to report that we've done well at keeping on track and have jumped back in {mostly} wholeheartedly.   a log cabin "qu...

I know I've shared with you before about how much we love Grapevine Studies Stick-Figuring-Through-the-Bible curriculum and I want to tell you more!   This curriculum has truly been a blessing to our family this school year.  I am primarily using this with my 8-yr-old son and not once this entire school year has he complained when I say "let's do your Bible lesson".  He's ready to go every single time and loves every minute of it.   I love that they also have short series with only a few lessons so that you can choose one to fit a certain season or time that doesn't require a long series of lessons.   The Birth of Jesus includes some introductory timelines, four lessons, and a final review.  That was just right for the month of December!   The lessons in this study are: The Announcement The Birth of Jesus The Proclamation The Wise Men and Herod As you can tell from my son's drawings above the thoroughly enjoys thes...

It's Monday and that means it's time to get organized for the week!  I've got a couple of new (*) recipes for us on the menu this week and a few that we haven't had in quite a while. Now if I can just make it to the grocery store in the rain... Monday: Cheesy Ham & Potato Bake * Tuesday:   Split Pea Soup * with Homemade Bread Wednesday:   Quiche with fruit and muffins Thursday:  Crockpot Orange Chicken* Friday:   Homemade Pizza and Stromboli Saturday:  {leftovers/snacks/maybe out?} This post is linked to Menu Plan Monday at I'm an Organizing Junkie.

This is a book that I've been finishing up for a while now (you know, the holidays hit!).  But I'd really like to share with you about it. Boundaries For Leaders really caught my eye because ...well, it's by Dr. Henry Cloud and he writes great books!  And this new one from him does not disappoint. It's not exactly what I thought it might be about.  I sort of picked it up hoping it was about leaders setting boundaries for their own time, etc., and, boy, was I going to read it aloud to my leader-husband.  LOL In reality, it's about how leaders can (and should) create boundaries for those they are leading--boundaries that they are able to succeed within.  Each chapter is just full of nuggets of truth and wisdom. One quote that has really stayed with me from this books is "You cannot grow a plant by dipping it into the dirt once a year.   It takes  an ongoing connection  to build a root system." Wow.  That can be applied ...

Boy, am I glad that last week is over.  It was no.fun.at.all. Vince threw out his back on Monday and spent the rest of the week in bed.  So our NYE plans went out the window.  So did that date night I was thinking of. Then I started having sinus issues.  This was after sleeping on the couch for 3 nights straight in an effort not to bother Vince's back while he was trying to get some rest in our bed.  I nearly threw out my own back doing that...lol Finally when I reclaimed my side of the bed, Vince told me it was the worst night of sleep he'd had all week:/  Wouldn't you know it?!  So Saturday night he said I could have the bed and he'd take the couch so I could get a good night's sleep and be refreshed for church the next morning.  It worked, because I got a good night's sleep and he got his back to pop into place on the couch.  See?  We should have been doing that all week long...hahaha OK, so much for all of my belly-aching ...

Happy New Year!   I always enjoy the fresh, clean slate that January brings.   I am very much looking forward to what 2014  holds for me and my family. Now, I'm off to finish making that Hoppin' John! Enjoy this day~Blessings! ***** Subscribe by email and never miss a thing here at My Blessed Life!