my blessed life

Have you ever felt like your life's plate was so full that you needed a to-go box to actually hold everything that was supposed to be on it?  I sure have--more than once!  Apparently that's a lesson that I have to repeat.  I admit it: I'm a chronic over-committer. Lately I have felt the rising panic as I realize to what all I have committed and what it being expected of me--not just by my family, but many others.  It's an overwhelming feeling, especially when it appears that you have bitten off more than you can actually chew. I am one who loves to be involved and active in things.  I've always been that way, cramming my calendar full and squeezing in as many things as possible.  I am by nature a very social person (and somewhat of a control freak, let's face it), but it's just not possible to do it all .  Even when you really want to.  It seems like I have to come to this realization about once every year or so.  Slow learner, I ...

Ah, the plan.  While I may not always follow it to the letter, this little thing sure does help keep my week on track. How about you?  Do you menu plan each week?  Sometimes I look back and think of how I ever did the whole it's-4 o'clock-what-are-we-having-for-dinner thing.  I did that for years, but after menu-planning for nearly 5 years I can't even begin to tell you how much stress I have avoided--and how much $$ I've saved by planning. Last week's plan went very well, but I have a couple of roll-over meals due to schedule changes.  Just makes this week's plan even easier! Monday: -Homeschool -Laundry -Change sheets -Dinner: Chicken Crepes with green beans Tuesday: -Homeschool -Clean bathrooms -Dinner: Individual Chicken Pot Pies Wednesday: -Homeschool -Some early trick-or-treating -Bible study -Dinner: Hawaiian Baked Ham & Swiss Sammies (my hubby has been just dying to try these since seeing them on Pinterest) Thursday: -...

We are so enjoying the beautiful fall color here in Kentucky this year!  This past week I just had to get out and take the kiddos to the Land Between the Lakes and capture some of the beauty with my camera.   (with Aunt Kari at the Nature Station) We made our first visit to the Nature Station there and had SO MUCH FUN taking a tour to meet all of their "residents".  They house several different species for various reasons (injuries, breeding programs to ward off extinction, etc.).  Here are a couple of the birds that we met:  (the barn owl) (the barred owl~our favorite!) There were also fallow deer, turkeys, a hawk, a great horned owl, coyotes, a bobcat, a bald eagle, and red wolves. It was the perfect cool fall day for crunching around in the leaves and taking the tour.  We also enjoyed some time inside the Nature Station checking out all of their fun displays.  They also had some reptiles inside and even some baby...

I'm so excited!!  Phase 2 of our kitchen remodel is done~whoo hoo!!   Some of you may remember last year when we moved in and completed Phase 1.   Remember that prison-cell-gray paint on the walls, the ugly dark cabinets with the dr's-office-plain hardware?  Ugh.  I sure do.  And I'm happy to say that's all g.o.n.e.!   Of course, we painted the walls right away with a bright, cheery red~which I love, still.  But the room was still dark-ish and dated looking.  So painting the cabinets was the obvious, frugal choice.  I decided to go white, then I realized I have white counter tops (duh) and those just wouldn't look good with white cabinets.  So, then a stroke of brilliance struck me.  I had started seeing (on blogs, Pinterest, in magazines, etc.) some kitchens that had upper cabinets painted differently from the lower cabinets--and I loved that!  And that's what I decided must happen: white on the uppers, black on the...

Could somebody please slow this train down?!  Where does the time go?!  Each week when I sit down to write this post and I type that date I just shake my head in wonder at how quickly time is going by. I sure do hope I'm making the most of it.  I don't want to just rush through life hanging on by the skin of my teeth (whatever that is) .  I am currently working toward refocusing, reorganizing, restructuring, and taking some things off of my "plate" (more on that soon) .  I don't want to miss out on living ! In the meantime, we've got to eat, right?  So here's the plan, a little sketchy, but a plan nonetheless. Monday: -Homeschool -Do laundry -Clean bathrooms -Dinner: Pan-Seared Talapia, Baked Sweet Potatoes, and Broccoli Tuesday: -Homeschool - Put a chicken in the crockpot -Do laundry -Take a load to the Goodwill store -Dinner:  Individual Chicken Pot Pies with Cheesy Garlic Biscuits Wednesday: -Homeschool -Dust/Vaccum -Bibl...

While we did so some school work this week, it was something of a fall break for us because it was such a busy week.  The weather has been so nice and the kiddos have enjoyed playing in the yard, chalking on the sidewalk and raking leaves (yes, they actually ask to rake leaves!). Vince is in Alaska this week on a ministry trip with my dad and the night before they left we went to Nashville to meet my dad for dinner and drop Vince off to stay at the hotel with him since he was flying out super early the next morning (I was very thankful not to have to get up in the middle of the night to drive him to the airport).  And then I had a totally unexpected surprise: one of my very best friends from childhood (whom I still keep in touch with-thank you, Facebook) turned up in Nashville on business.  So we all met at the Rainforest Cafe for dinner and had the BEST time!! It's so wonderful to have friends like Paula, who are truly life-long friends for always! ...

Not that this post has anything to do with Mr. Castanza's Festivus, I just love to say that phrase ;)  Actually, this post is about the fun fall festivals we've attended lately.  It's that time of year and it's our first fall here in Kentucky to enjoy the festivals~last year we were still getting settled in and just finding out about area events.   Here is our local "art car".  I had caught a few glimpses of it here and there, but was excited to get a good look up close~it's a sight to see! At the local Apple Festival we got to watch the process of making sorghum~it was very interesting!  I had no idea it is made from a type of cane using a process very similar to making maple syrup.      (stripping the cane for the juice) (cooking the juice down into a syrup) (sampling the sorghum on a stick of sorghum cane) Of course, what festival is complete without bounce-arounds?  Any festival, in my opinion, but th...

Well, it's Tuesday already, but here's my plan for the week.  Just the bare bones, mind you.  I haven't had a chance to get really organized with all of the other stuff I need to do yet ...but I will!  I promise! Monday: -Homeschool -Dinner: Meeting family and friends at the Rainforest Cafe in Nashville Tuesday: -Homeschool -Dinner: Marinated Baked Pork Chops , Mashed Potatoes, and Steamed Broccoli Wednesday: -Homeschool -Bible Study -Dinner: Spicy Roasted Chicken Legs with Slow Cooker Baked Potatoes Thursday: -Homeschool -Dinner: Butternut Squash Soup with Salad and Crusty Bread Friday: -Homeschool Co-op -Dinner: Individual Chicken Pot Pies Saturday: -Dinner: Tomato Tortellini Soup with Bruschetta Sunday: -Church -Lunch: Fellowship Potluck at church

We are having the most beautiful fall weather here in Kentucky and yesterday was no exception.  I just couldn't stay home any longer, I had to go for a drive!   So I bundled the kiddos into the car (with an awesome book on cd and our "flying creatures" scavenger hunt list), picked up my sister and took off!  We decided to take a road we'd never taken before and see where it led us.  I love to do that! Our first stop was at the charming little church shown above.  It was just too pretty and we had to stop and look around.   Next we discovered the little pottery shop that a friend told us about.  She certainly didn't steer us wrong~the pottery is lovely (and reasonably priced, too!).  I am looking forward to doing some holiday shopping there.   Near the pottery shop was a tiny--but very full--quilting shop.  Beautiful fabrics everywhere!  Since I don't really sew I didn't have a good excuse to go in there (...