Menu Monday

Monday: Chicken taco bake, beans, sauteed broccoli (feeling the need for some greens with all the germs and viruses around ha)

Tuesday: Taco Tuesday

Wednesday: Fajitas, beans, mexican rice

Thursday: Spanish Macaroni, crackers

Friday: Date night with hubbie!

Saturday: Sammies, chips, fruit

Onto the subject of laundry...the weekends are kicking my butt. I normally do 2-3 loads of laundry per day. Its the first thing I do when I wake up and the last thing I do when I go to bed. Come the weekend that does not happen..we are so busy with soccer, church, family time that laundry gets put on the back burner. Well, come Monday like today I end up with 8 loads of laundry to do. I am so sick of laundry at the moment and I will still have to wake up tomorrow and start a load. I am hoping to train myself starting this weekend to at the very least do one load of laundry on Saturday and one on Sunday just to keep somewhat on track. I mean my poor washer and dryer are pooped as am I! Good night washer and dryer.

Living our lives in seasons

I was listening to Joyce Meyer today on christian radio. She said something that just shook my bones. I'm paraphrasing this as I can't remember word for word but this is what she said:
There are seasons to our lives.
It is beautiful to live within our season.
It is ugly to live out of our season.
Can I get an Amen to that?

My gosh is that ever true. I see too many people willing to use a credit card to buy the new designer jeans or Coach bag rather than using cash to buy used or frequent a discount store. I see too many people graduating college and building a mcmansion when really they should be thinking starter home. I see too many people buying a house full of furniture to fill above said mcmansion when really they should be buying piece by piece.
Don't get me wrong. I have my moments where I try to live outside of my season. But, those are short lived moments especially when I get my credit card statement and realize its time for a Dave Ramsey intervention ha!

Seriously, I think if we choose to live within our season of life we would all feel so much better. Right now I am in my childbearing/child raising season. This is my time to be at home with my children, take care of my home even if it means having times of loneliness or missing adult conversation. This is my season and before I know it the kids will be grown and then my season for working outside of the home will come and I will converse with other adults and have opportunities for more "me" time. Right now it's all about raising my kids the right way: with morals and values and respect for themselves and others. That is my focus on this season of my life.

Living our lives in seasons is God's plan for us. He has purposefully created "times" in our lives to reach our milestones. Time for school, time for marriage, time for children, time to care for our elders, time for us. He has carved out these times for us and ordered them in such a way that we are able to grow and learn in His infinite wisdom. Let's get back to living within our season and let's get back to being true and open to the beautiful, wondrous gift that has been given to us: LIFE.

Menu Monday

Monday: beef stroganoff, green beans, rolls

Tuesday: taco tuesday

Wednesday: Mom's night out woo-hoo! Kids will be eating at my mom's for dinner

Thursday: crock pot beef stew, crackers

Friday: sammies, chips, fruit

Saturday: my bil and his family will be in town. not sure what we will be eating.

Sunday: sunday dinner at my mom's.

My girl is growing up; sniff, sniff

Yesterday when I picked up Mariposa from school she asked me if I could NOT walk her in to school in the mornings. I of course asked why and she proclaimed that she is now a big girl going to a big school and she knows her way around. Stop right there. When did my little girl grow up and where have I been? What a shocker. I think I'm still peeling my bottom lip off the floor!

So, this morning when I parked in our usual spot and was about to get out of the car to walk her in she says, "Mom, remember I walk myself in now." Sigh. and that was it. She walked her little self in by herself all the while my eyes were peeled at the door making sure some alien did not snatch her. It took everything in me to not go in just to peek and make sure she made it to her classroom. I stayed in the car in disbelief, then drove away anxiously awaiting 3pm when I could pick her back up. When I picked her up she was so proud of herself. She said she walked in with her little friend and they gabbed all the way down the hallway into the classroom. Yep, it's official she is growing up.

All I can say is that thank goodness I still have one at home with me and I am still the center of her universe. Watching my kids grow up is hard and letting go is even harder.

Need a plan, have a plan

I am such a planner. I cannot function without a plan. I must know what I am doing for the day and if I know what I am doing for the upcoming week all the better. A few years ago I bought my first Mom's Plan It Planner from Amazon. My hubbie swore to me I would never use it and it would just be money wasted. Well, 3 years later I am planning on ordering my next one for the new year and am happy to say I would be lost without my planner. I also keep my previous planners too. Its fun looking back and seeing all that I did, seeing when the kids were sick and with what, and seeing the overall rhythm of our family life. Looking back through them I got to see when our "busy" times of the year were v. our times spent relaxing more. Unfortunately we are in our "busy" time now in the Fall which is hard because Fall is my most beloved season. I love Fall when the weather starts cooling off, the Fair comes to town, all the fall bdays in our family, fall decorating and of course my fav. holiday Dia de los Muertos. But sadly as school begins and Fall comes Christmas is here and I realize I missed yet another Fall season just from the hustle and bustle that Fall brings.

This year I am hoping to stick to my plans for Fall and continue on with my Fall traditions and hopefully get to enjoy them rather than be bogged down with details called life. So my plan is to go to the fair and visit all the shows, agriculture displays, and of course eat fair food. I actually look forward to this every year. I also want to go to the apple orchard and pick apples, buy a homemade apple pie, and buy some local honey from the orchard. Their honey is so good and eating local honey can help with allergies. Of course do not give honey to any child under 3 though! We have to go the pumpkin patch and corn maize too although this year I will not be going inside the corn maize. 2 1/2 hours inside one last year was enough to do me in...I realized I do not like enclosed spaces with no way out and no bathroom in sight lol! I am hoping to actually watch Charlie Brown's Halloween and Charlie Brown's Thanksgiving. Last year I managed to miss them all...but i have a plan this year to actually scour my tv guide and find the show times for Charlie Brown. There is just something about watching him, Snoopy, and Linus that puts me in a holiday mood.

I'm hoping that by having a plan and writing it down in my planner that this season will not pass without me partaking in it. I am consciously deciding that if I have to put the dinner dishes aside to watch Charlie Brown with my kids or postpone cleaning out a closet so I can carve a pumpkin then so be it. I am doing just that this year. I am going to make new Fall memories in our new home and enjoy the season while it lasts because it does fly by. October is already going to be here this week. Which reminds me...I have to get my Halloween decorations out now!

My Birthday, her birthday, and a pound gained

It's official. I have gained a solid pound. I stepped on the scale this morning in horror to see the number go up by 1. Do you think all that cake, cupcakes, pizza, seafood pasta, and all around food related bday stuff could really make my pants give me a squeeze and an extra pound on the scale? Ok don't answer that...time for weight watchers ha!

So, last week was a busy one for me. It was Mariposa's bday (she turned 7) and then the next day was my bday (let's just say I'm in my mid 30s now!). Honestly it felt like we were in bday mode all week eating, preparing parties and hosting parties. Fun times but I am officially pooped out! and my house...well let's just say it needs a good cleaning with elbow grease being involved. If only I had some energy to do it. Where are Merry Maids when you need them?

Mariposa's friend had a party on Saturday that we went to. For me it was like a high school reunion. I saw people there I had not talked to since then. It was surreal to say the least. We did a lot of catching up and it was nice to see that we were all still married and to see all of our kids growing up. One of them had gotten married while in high school and had a baby. Their baby is now in college! They also added 3 more kids into the picture. My other friend married one year out of high school and is still married with 2 kids hoping to add more. I of course graduated in May, was married in July and had my first child a year later. Now I have 4 and am still married to my high school sweetheart. It was just so nice to see that we all together beat the odds. Many people including our families all thought we were too young to have babies and get married. They thought we would not be successful or that our marriages would not survive. Fortunately by God's grace we proved them wrong and Lord willing will continue to do so. It was so nice talking with these "ghosts" from my past and seeing that we all succeeded in our own ways. The majority of us got college degrees and the others have found success in their jobs. It truly warms my heart to see that we made it. But I have to admit it was very strange to see all of us older and ok some of us a little wider ha! Talking to them was like we were back in high school all over again...but in reality we all realize we are the old ones and our kids are the up and comers. Our kids are the ones stomping on our old stomping grounds.

It's so weird...when did we become the old ones and when did our "babies" become us? Why do I still feel 18 in my mind but my body is screaming I am in my 30s. Case in point...I had Mariposa's party yesterday at a bouncy house place. We invited her little soccer team to play with us and those girls had me going on every bouncy house there was. I was climbing, sliding, and fearing the heights at the top of the slides. 2 hours into the party my knees were screaming at me. They needed 2 advil and a sonic coke to calm them down. I was in agony. As I was sitting with major knee pain I see *artist* running and chasing those girls down like it was nothing. Not even a drop of sweat came from her brow. Oh the joys of being young.

I have yet another bday to plan for. Hubbie's bday is this week too! I really need to hold some restraint and not consume multiple portions of his bday cake as I did mine (I love my Harvey Wallbanger cake! Yummy!). I see where doing that leads me to...one pound gained and I refuse to gain another! We shall see next week if I was able to hold true to that.

I got an award! I'm so happy!

Michelle gave me a blog award! Woo-Hoo and this one is FuN! Here it is and the rules that apply:



Here are the rules..
1.) Say thanks and give a link to the presenter of the award.
2.) Share "10 Honest Things" about myself.
3.) Present this award to 7 others whose blogs I find brilliant in content and/or design, or those who have encouraged me.
4.) Tell those 7 people they've been awarded HONEST SCRAP and inform them of these guidelines in receiving.

Ok here are my 10 Honest Things:
1.) My all time fav. holiday is Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead). I know it sounds morbid but it really is not. In Mexican culture it is a day that we celebrate those whom have departed from us here on Earth. We celebrate that person by cooking a certain food they liked and especially remembering that person on this day. Where I live they always have a big venue with local art work, finger foods with punch, and ballet folklorico dancers. I look forward to this holiday on November 2 every year.
2.) I love Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera. I don't have any of Frida's artwork in my home as *artist* is freaked out by her. I have loved her ever since discovering her in high school. I do have some of Deigo Rivera's work up though.
3.) I love tv characters namely Bree Van De Camp from Desperate Housewives and Charlotte from Sex and the City. I will actually watch these shows to watch them.
4.) I must, must, must go to Sonic happy hour everyday. I must get a medium coca cola at said happy hour. It must be medium because I have discovered through trial and error that in a medium size there is just the right amount of ice and coke. The large has too much ice and too little coke and the small is...well...its small.
5.) I hate feet including my own. I hate to touch feet. I hate for other feet to touch me. Exception: baby and toddler feet. Now those are cute, cute, cute.
6.) I married my high school sweetheart straight out of high school and no I was not pregnant ha! I graduated in May and married in July. (and yes we are still married. 16 years.)
7.) No matter how often I clean it my van is always trashed with something or another...food wrappers, scraps of paper, shoes. I swear sometimes I think I live in my van. I must say my home is better lol!
8.) I have OCD and I channel Jeff Lewis. For those who don't know Jeff Lewis he is the main role in Bravo's reality show Flipping Out. Oh my I love this show! He is so compulsively anal about every little detail and I could so see myself being that way if I did not have 4 kids. (not that I don't love my kids..I freakin' adore them and my hubbie of course!)
9.) My daughter's middle name came from the soap opera Passions. "Paloma" that I have mentioned in this blog is actually her middle name and yes I chose it from the character "Paloma" on the show. I just loved this soap opera and miss it now that its gone. (She is on Days of Our Lives now not that I watch it lol)
10.) I love going to Wal-Mart. I love that wherever I travel to I can walk into any Wal-Mart and know my way around. The same goes for Target. I can leave my city here and go somewhere else and go into their Target and feel right at home.

Thanks Michelle for this award. This was a lot of fun!