my blessed life

I'm back in the saddle again after a week off from cooking last week--we were out of town most of the week and on the go the rest! My focus this week is getbackintoroutineandgetthishousecleaned !!!!!! Thus the emphasis on slow cooking and grilling this week.  I'm minimizing my kitchen clean up!  It's all about prepping ahead of time and not thinking about dinner all day long. Here's what's cooking at our house this week: Monday:   {slow cooker} Spaghetti with Salad and Garlic Bread Tuesday:   {grill} Sliders: Classic and Aloha styles with Chips and Baked Beans Wednesday:   {slow cooker} Honey Garlic Chicken Sandwiches  Thursday:   {slow cooker} Mexican Chicken with Rice Friday:  {grill} Korean Chicken with {slow cooker} Baked Potatoes and Asian Salad Saturday:   {dinner out in Nashville with friends} This post is linked to Menu Plan Monday at I'm an Organizing Junkie .

I don't know about you, but I think spring fever has hit our house.  It has been a struggle to focus around here!  I can remember when I was in school and the weather began to warm up, it was SO hard to think about my lessons.  And when you're at home I can only imagine how much harder it is for my kids to focus on these warm and sunny spring days when they're just dying to get out and play.  So I'm trying to be much more flexible these days and remind myself that it just as important as their studies some days. In fact, I feel as though I am in a process of relearning how to teach my children.  Their learning styles are growing and developing and I am learning so much more about how they learn--especially my son.  Since discovering some of his learning struggles I am having to rethink how I do things with him.  Even small changes can make big differences and get much better results!  I have to say that this past week and a half have been SO...

First of all, I have to say that we had a lovely Easter weekend and I hope that you did, too!  We enjoyed a relaxed Easter brunch with our family following our morning worship service.  SO much nicer than standing in line in a crowded restaurant!   My kiddos were excited about their baskets--although waiting until after church was a bit difficult for my oh-so-impatient son :)  That's what happens though with your dad is a pastor and has to leave super early in the morning.    Last week's meal plan went so very smoothly~made my week so much easier!  After the busy weekend I haven't been much in the mood to plan yet for this week, but I'm pressing though. Here's what's on the plan for this week: Monday:   Sandwiches & chips (made with an amazing fresh loaf of sourdough bread!) Tuesday:  Dinner out at Bob Evans since the kids can eat free :) Wednesday:  {small group night} I'm taking Baked Cavatini Th...

I love Easter!  Not only is it in the lovely season of spring, it represents all that makes life worthwhile--HE LIVES and because of that I can live in fullness of life, too.  Not just in Heaven, but even here on earth.  I'm so thankful for that! As long as I can remember Easter has always been a "busy" day for me.  I grew up in a minister's home so my dad was always preaching somewhere on Easter--whether as a guest minister or in the church he pastored for several years.  Then I married and my husband and I have also been in ministry full-time for 14 of the 18 years we've been married--the past 4 years as senior pastors. And the Easter weekend just gets busier.  But it's a good kind of busy.  Like today, we were at our church nearly all day for a fun event we like to call Easter Eggstravaganza.  It's a fun day for our church to simply bless our community with free food, games, petting zoo, some fun giveaways, and an egg hunt for the kidd...

Ah.  Meal planning. My housekeeping salvation. Last week went so smoothly (you know, after two straight weeks of chaos), it was lovely!  Here's hoping for another great week. But first, I have to tell you about Raddish Kids !  I found their booth in the vendor hall at the Teach Them Diligently convention I recently attended.  It is an awesome *cooking club* for parents and kids!  I picked up one of their freebie recipes at the convention and we tried it last week.  We made their Greek Turkey Burgers --only with beef instead of turkey because I didn't look carefully into the freezer before grocery shopping.  Oops.  Oh well, we loved these with beef probably even better than turkey.  And get this: these burgers tasted just like a yummy gyro!  I love those things! Anyway, you can subscribe to these cooking kits and they will arrive at your house every month with three of the recipe guides and all kinds of other cool stuff tha...

This past weekend my husband and I were privileged to attend the Teach Them Diligently homeschool convention in Nashville.  I have to say, I was pretty excited about going!  And my hubby was generous enough to come along, keeping me company while also enjoying some workshops himself.   The convention was held at the beautiful Gaylord Opryland hotel although we didn't stay overnight there.  Since we live just an hour from Nashville we commuted instead.  The first couple of days we left the kiddos with the grands, but decided to take them with us on the last day since we wouldn't be there the entire day.   If you've never been to TTD, or any homeschool convention for that matter, I would highly recommend going!  Until this convention I had only attended a couple of other state level conventions.  TTD has done an amazing job of putting together a well-thought-out, God-honoring event that they are bringing to 4 different cities in the US th...

Happy 12th Birthday to our Princess!! (isn't this an awesome hat/card that my sister got her?!) Yesterday our oldest turned 12.   It's hard to believe how quickly time flies by. It seems like just yesterday I was getting her nursery ready  and buying all of those tiny clothes. She has grown into a lovely young woman and we are SO proud of her!! She is a joy to have for a daughter. We had a great day together.   First, we had some lunch and played games  ...and acted silly at Chuck E. Cheese.   Then we went to see the new Cinderella movie (wonderful!). We squeezed in a bit of shopping (birthday $$, you know!)  and finally, we met up with my family for a birthday dinner at Olive Garden. And posed for a few funny shots after dinner :) Happy Birthday, sweet girl!!