My Peacefully Chaotic Life

This week is a lean week grocery wise so I have planned "roll-over meals" and simple stuff thrown in. A roll-over meal is where you stretch one meal to create a new one. Like rubber chicken. Roasted chicken one night, chicken pot pie another, chicken soup, etc. Now I didn't have a chicken this week but I did have 3 pounds of hamburger, a roast (on sale woo-hoo!), a pack of hot dogs and a small can of chicken. This is what we're having. Monday: Leftovers from the fish fry Tuesday: Grilled hamburgers and fries Wednesday: Sloppy joes, mashed potatoes, mixed vegetables (leave out 1 lb after browning for spaghetti) (save leftover sloppy joe mix) Thursday: Spaghetti, salad, garlic bread (save leftover spaghetti sauce) Friday: Eating with friends Saturday: L)Hot dogs with homemade chili (use leftover sloppy joe and spaghetti sauce) S)chicken tortilla casserole, refried beans, salad Sunday: L)crockpot roast w/gravy, potatoes, carrots, butterpeas, biscuits or cornbread ...

The rain we've had has left the air so clean and sweet. We all suffer with allergies so we are ready for that. Not to mention, this is the first rainfall the garden has received. I am thankful for the sprinklers but there is just nothing like a good rain to get the plants to thrive. Unfortunately the rain can also have some undesirable aspects. It gets the critters to moving! Yesterday we had a snake out at the manhut! Otherwise known as the gazebo. What kind, you say? A dead one. Well, he didn't start out that way. See, the GuitarMan came home for a visit yesterday. He wanted to spend some time with us, oh, and get his clean laundry. :P So we thought we would just grill some hamburgers for supper. The FisherMan was out at the gazebo cooking and had the hamburgers finished. He was about to start the french fries. Cornbread and I had just walked back inside from being out there, too. FlowerChild was sitting out there strumming her guitar. Apparently her daddy turned around just ...

Well, I suppose you could tell I have been struggling a bit with blogging! Life has really been something lately. You know how it is, when it rains it pours! The FisherMan has started preaching through the book of James and he has been focusing on how to handle trials. I don't know why it can't be enough to do lip service on that subject rather than having to live it out! LOL Wow, sometimes it is just one thing after another. Anyway I've just had this underlying melancholy feeling for the last few days. Not sad, not mad, not depressed. Just....magenta. Did you ever see that episode of The Golden Girls? Blanche defines that jumble of feelings with the color magenta. I tend to be an upbeat, hopeful type of person who is strong on faith and short on self pity and martyrdom. I really don't have much patience for those attitudes at all! So when I feel that old discouraged feeling creeping in I get a little frustrated with myself and I know it is time to back it up, get in th...

Well, one year ago at this moment I was attempting to get ready for bed hoping for a little sleep. But, it wasn't going so well seeing as how I was in labor! So it wasn't long and we were in the road making a mad dash for the hospital for Cornbread's arrival. I'll share the story after I tell you about LadyBug's birth. Ironic as it seems, today also held a mad dash for medical attention. The day started out as normal as could be. With The GuitarMan coming home there were some things I wanted to have ready. Tomorrow is the birthday party and fish fry at church so there were some things to attend to there as well. I had all the sheets in the wash, dishwasher halfway loaded, homeschooling started. As FlowerChild was doing her reading aloud she began to complain with an earache. By the time we had begun phonics (only a few minutes later) she started to cry a little and whimper. So schoolwork was set aside and I gave her some medicine. I have one of those little teddy b...

Such a peaceful night! When we arrived home from church tonight the children were so tired. A snack, some cough medicine, pjs, and brushed teeth...boom, they were all asleep! It went from children loud and rambunctious, dogs barking wanting to be fed, husband ready to eat his supper to.....quiet! Everyone went to sleep even the dogs, LOL! So here I am blogging. :) Do you remember me mentioning the couple from our church who was in the nursing home? The husband fell and broke his hip then 2 days later his wife fell and broke her hip and her shoulder. Oh so sad! They have not been well since. Well, the wife, Mrs. Gladys passed away and her funeral was today. There were so many stories told about her. She was upheld as a true Proverbs 31 woman. She was married for 40 years to her first husband and 29 years to Mr. Ben. Think of it, 69 years of faithfulness! So many today can't even manage 5! They told the story of when her first husband was alive. He was a big guy and worked as a dies...

Home! It feels so good to be here! It's been good day and a good evening but a tiring time overall. let me tell you about it. We took the children fishing this morning. They had a blast! I will share pictures on both blogs when I get them off the camera. We were all hot and tired when we made it home. After a shower we headed to the big city to do a little birthday shopping for Cornbread. Now when I say "a little" I meant that we would get it all done but not go overboard. So I had several places I wanted to go. Ya'll. Let me tell you. I went to one store. One! It was Toys R Us. I found a few toys I liked. Then we just browsed a few minutes. Well, we've been on the lookout for a playhouse of some kind for the girls. This store had a Victorian playhouse that blows up and has the the little motorized pump attached (like the big waterslides and ballpits you can rent). It was on clearance cheap cheap! FlowerChild's birthday is coming up in June. So we ...

Well, my week has not slowed down! Cornbread has not felt so well for a couple of days now. Yesterday he had to be held all the time. Today he ran fever. I think he is just cutting a tooth but I am keeping a close eye on it. Today I had an eye appointment. I am years overdue! My prescription is all wrong since my eyes have changed quite a bit. I knew that much! But hopefully the new glasses will help. He did tell me I may find I have to take them off to read. That is a new one for me! Sigh, one step closer to bifocals! Everything I told you about in a previous post is still waiting to be done. I am not a clean freak by any means but I do love for the house to be in order. I love to smell candles and potpourri. And bleach. I know, it doesn't quite fit in with that but there it is. You know those little lines the vacuum cleaner leaves behind when your carpet is nice and fluffy? yep, love'em.. My ladies class will smile at this next one. I absolutely love to see my towels all fold...