Setting Routines

Hi all....it's been a while since I have posted! Life has been crazy with soccer, dance-competition and recital preparations, and my business!

I am settling into the spring season and wanted to share with you my new daily routines:

Monday: (Soccer Day)

Quiet Time
Work Out
Pick up from the weekend-wash uniforms, resort dance bags, etc.
Plan weekly menu
Assign Referees for CMSL
Every other Monday, conference call with the MasterMoms group on parenting.
Shop if cooking on Tuesday for the Friendly Freezer
Collin-soccer practice

Tuesday: (Cook Day or Catch Up Day)

Quiet Time
Work Out if not cooking (every other Tuesday Tina and I cook for our business)
Catch up on laundry, errands, Bible Study, or soccer responsibilities if not a cooking day.
Laundry, if not a cooking day-wash a load of whites and/or darks
Pick up girls for Dance after school
Connor-soccer practice

Wednesday: (Soccer Day)

Quiet Time
Work out
Laundry: Wash towels & change sheets
I work every other Wednesday until recital at the studio.
Collin-soccer practice
Connor-soccer practice

Thursday:

Take 2
Lunch with the ladies (Mindi, Kim, Margie and other T2 Ladies)
After lunch-check emails, do a load of laundry, set out dinner, get dance bag ready
Pick up girls for Dance after school
Work at the Academy (I work every Thursday)
Connor-soccer practice

Friday: (Soccer Day)

Quiet Time
Work out
Get everything ready for the weekend-soccer games, tournaments, dance competition, etc.

Easter Facts: Early Easter

Just received this in an email today and thought it was very interesting about the dating of Easter etc.


Easter this year is: Sunday March 23, 2008

As you may know, Easter is always the 1st Sunday after the 1st full moon after the Spring Equinox (which is March 20).

This dating of Easter is based on the lunar calendar that Hebrew people used to identify passover, which is why it moves around on our Roman calendar.

I found out a couple of things you might be interested in. Based on the above, Easter can actually be one day earlier than it occurs this year (March 22) but that is pretty rare.

This year is the earliest Easter any of us will ever see the rest of our lives, and only the most elderly of our population have ever seen it this early (95 years old and above).

None of us have ever, or will ever, see Easter come as early as March 22.

Here are the facts:

The next time Easter will be this early (March 23) will be the year 2228 (220 years from now). The last time it was this early was 1913 (so, if you're 95 or older, you are the only ones who were around for that!).

The next time Easter will fall on March 22 will be in the year 2285 (277 years from now). The last time it was on March 22 was 1818, so no one alive today has, or ever will, see it any earlier than this year!

Wedding: First Dance

I received a link to this video some time ago from a friend and wanted to share it with my blogging friends. Click on the video & it will take you to another site. Enjoy!

glumbert - Best wedding first dance ever

A Boy with a Driving Permit

On January 17th, my oldest son turned 15 years old. Well, here in Missouri, that means driver permit time! On January 18th, we went to the Missouri Motor Vehicle Driver's testing office and Connor took the written exam and passed! He now has a Missouri Driver's Permit License in his wallet! Oh boy! I feel so old! I have a son who will be driving on his own in 11 short months.....YIKES!

On the 18th, he asked me if he could drive home after he got his permit. The answer was a firm, NO. I needed to have a drink and relax before getting in the car with him behind the wheel. No really, I wouldn't think about drinking and letting my son drive! My dad was at my house when we got home & Connor talked his poppy into taking him to Cosmo Park and letting him drive through the park. They came home and Dad told me, while trying not to laugh, that he did very well.

I got the nerve up to let him drive that afternoon and evening around town, trying to avoid any roads that had traffic or vehicles on them. In Columbia, that's not possible! Maybe at 2:00 am in the morning but not during day light hours! He drove down Stadium, while I braced myself in the passengers seat with my foot on the pretend break! He did pretty well. We need to work on the stopping and starting. I am sure that a couple of times I was close to having whiplash! The most exciting part of our driving experience that day was driving into our garage! As we pulled into our driveway, I told Connor to make sure that he clears both sides of the van and make sure that he doesn't hit the mirrors. He got a little close and I told him to back up a little and straighten out the vehicle some, well, instead of backing out a little, he backed out all the way to the road! While we were driving back up the drive into the garage door, I proceed to tell him to take it slow and when he reaches the ball hanging down to STOP!!!! He reached it before I could finish telling him what to do! He comes to a screeching stop and I am relieved to be stopped and getting out of the vehicle at that time!

The next day we were going to KC to a soccer tournament. He asked me several times if he could drive some more. Well, it will be a very long time before he is allowed to drive on I70 but I would consider letting him drive on Highway 50 when we head to Sedalia on Sunday evening from KC. I do let him drive from Warrensburg to Sedalia. We had 2 very exciting moments on that little trip! One a car was turning right off of the highway onto a side road, Connor is driving full speed and I'm trying to tell him that he can get in the passing lane and pass him but make sure their are no cars in that lane....well he had to put on the breaks before he could look and get over! Second, we have a little trouble when we come up on a big curve. He is driving with the cruise control on and as we approach this curve, I start to tell him that he will want to put his foot of the pedal so he has control over the vehicle and the speed of the car because sometimes it picks up speed around curves. We picked up speed until he put his foot on the break to slow down.

The really awesome thing about the drive from Warrensburg to Sedalia is that each time he was tested in his driving skills, we smelled a skunk! You may ask-soo? What's so great about that? My grandfather, who was killed in a car wreck when I was in 8th grade, loved the smell of a skunk-he said it clear his nostiles! Everytime I am on the highway driving and I smell a skunk, I think of my grandfather and smile and know that my guardian angel is with me on the road. My grandpa was with Connor and I and I felt a little more secure after smelling the skunk. When we got to my Mom & Dad's, I asked them if the smelled the skunks coming home and they didn't! Just a little more proof that I have a guardian angel :-)

I am sure that I will have some more stories about riding in the vehicle with my son! Just keep us in your prayers! I am so nervous and scared about letting him drive on his own when he turns 16 and get's his license! I am thankful that he has a whole year to become comfortable with a vehicle.

What Have I Been Up Too Lately?

It's been a while since I have blogged and you my be asking yourself....what has that woman been up to? Life has been very busy lately! I don't think I have caught a breath since the first of December! Many of you know that my good friend, Tina, and I have started a new business....check it out! Since we launched our business, I have been running on fumes! Here's a small list of what I have been up too.....

1. Cooking (3 sessions)

2. Delivering (3 sessions)

3. Stoning dance costumes

4. Sick kids-CWH, GLH and SJH (and me) have all had some sort of a strep throat strain...no fever just a really sore throat that last for 2 weeks with aching muscles in your neck and back.

5. Trying to keep up with the laundry-that's been a little dificult since the motor went out in our washing machine last week (Wed). We are pretty sure that the water damange from the sewer back up got the motor wet & that's why it's broke.

6. Futsal-scheduling and supervising games with hubby.

7. Indoor Soccer tournament in KC. Drove back and forth on Sat and Sun because CSH had cotillion Saturday evening.

8. Stayed in Sedalia for a jewerly party, which many of you will be invited to mine & Tina's party on March 15th---check out the jewerly! I attended the party and provided 2 dinners from The Friendly Freezer to help launch our business in Sedalia.

9. Working on recital packets.

10. Heading a committe for Futsal for MYSA.

11. Riding in the car with my son who recently got his driver's permit! That has been an experience. Really not too bad! Just a little nerve wrecking but we have been having fun!

12. Starting to work on Spring soccer for CMSL.

When it Rains.....It Pours

What started off to be a beautiful warm day in January in Missouri turned out to be a rotten, stinky day. Tina and I did our shopping for our second cooking session for the Friendly Freeze. Dropped everything off at the church and was feeling really great. Around 3:15 pm, the Tornado sirens went off! I went into panic mode because my boys were due home from school within 5 to 10 minutes and that meant they were on the school bus! I pick up the phone to call my oldest to see where they were when he called me! They were headed back to the closet school. He wanted me to come and pick up & Collin up! I was a little shocked that he wanted me to get out during a tornado warning to pick him up. He was fine with my firm answer. Needless to say, I got a little freaked out about being home alone during a tornado, most of the time I had one of my kids with me to snuggle up to but not this time. I had to wait out the storm all alone.

We had a nice dinner. Got everything laid out that I needed for tomorrow & headed to bed. Early for a change. I watched the new Challenge with Bruno & Carrie Anne and was getting ready to snuggle down and close my eyes when my husband and boys started yelling at me to come down stairs.....I was worried! Something had happened and I wasn't going to like it!

Well....it's 1:21 AM and since 9:30 PM we have been soaking up water with the wet vac, pulled up carpet because the sewer has backed up into our house. Water was pouring in the the sink in the boys room and we have not been able to stop the water (or sewer) from coming in! We called the sewer company and they are working on the problem. Because of all of the rain the manhole has flooded and our house got to be the lucky one that got the overflow!

I am going to get some new carpet out of this! What a way to start the new year!

Olive Leaves: A Sign of Hope

"After seven days Noah again sent out the dove from the boat, and that evening it came back to him with a fresh olive leaf in its mouth." Genesis 8:10-11.

That verse was the focus of my devotion a couple of days ago. The devotion stuck with me so much that I wanted to share it with my you.

An olive leaf. A simple olive leaf was a symbol of hope to Noah and his family after the flood. It was hope that they were going to get off the boat soon! Hope to them was the olive leaf-evidence of dry land after the flood....

Don't we love the olive leaves of life? "We'll get through this together?" "It appears that the cancer may be in remission?"

What's more, don't we love the "doves" that bring those olive leaves?

I wrote in my journal that day:

"Olive leaves-thank you Lord for the olive leaves you present to me each day. Each day is a new beginning, an olive leaf. Help me to recognize the olive leaves that are presented to me each day. Thank you for new beginnings. Amen."

I thought is was so timely that I had blogged about the New Year, reading Beth Moore's blog about each day is a new beginning and that evening when I had my quiet time, was presented with the olive leaf. A symbol of hope! A symbol of new beginnings!

Thank you Lord for the olive leaf! I love olive leaves. And I love those who give them to me!

Resolutions?

Last year, I was so focused at the beginning of the year to blog about all of the resolutions and changes that I wanted to fulfill for the New Year. I started off pretty good, got several closets organized, started working out at least 3 times a week and then I was in a minor car accident which got me off track. I don't think I ever got back on the New Year's Resolution track after that accident. School started and I thought, this would be an excellent time to start working on the changes that I had set out to make at the beginning of the year. I started reorganizing the areas of the house that need touching up and did well the first month but once again, life took over and I am no where farther than I was on Dec 31, 2006!

As the New Year approached, I was thinking, once again, about what resolutions I would make for 2008 and decided that I was not going to make any resolutions for the year but take each month, one month at a time and try to incorporate one new habit. I would also spend time each day reflecting on 2007, the previous day, the previous week, or month and look for little changes that would have a greater impact on my life. For January 2008, my new habit is to have quiet time each day with God, to reflect and mediate. So far I have had some sort of quiet time for 4 days running! It always isn't the same time of the day but I am a least getting my quiet time in. Yesterday was right before I went to bed. Ideally, I would like to start each day with my quiet time but right now, I am happy to get some time with God each day.

I started reading Beth Moore's blog and I am going to quote what she said about new starts and resolutions:

"I told God this morning how thankful I was for His penchant for new beginnings. Just think about it. He's the one who came up with New Years so we could have an annual new start. But we don't have to wait that long. He also came up with 12 different months, 4 seasons, and 7-day increments we call weeks. But we don't even have to wait that long. Every single evening the sun goes down and calls it a day then greets us the very next morning with a whole new start. Let's face it. Sometimes a day's so tanked, it just needs to end. Aren't you glad a bad day always does? But, then again, we don't even have to wait till morning. Because of Christ, we can have a new beginning any old time."

I just loved that! I know that with God, anytime is a new beginning. I don't need a New Year, a new month or even a new day to start a beginning!

Here's to new beginnings! Happy New Year!

What American City Are You???

I am NEW YORK....which is quite exciting! My girls and I (and possibly my Mom and sister) will be visiting New York this summer because the girls will be going to a dance competition and clinic in New York. I am so excited about the trip. New York was always a place that I thought that I would live! Funny I have never visited New York until now! When I heard that AFA was planning on their National Competition in New York....nothing was going to stop me from going!

I will also get to accomplish one of my 40 before 40 goals with this trip as well! Visiting NY and seeing a Broadway Show! We are planning on seeing Grease and Wicked! The girls and I watched "Grease: Your the One that I Want" this past fall and casted the parts of Danny & Sandy it will be neat to see them on Broadway!

What makes me New York? I do love trying to new foods! I am very competitive and driven! Very little does shock me! I am instead convicted about right and wrong and would God be pleased!

You Are New York

Cosmopolitan and sophisticated, you enjoy the newest in food, art, and culture. You also appreciate a good amount of grit - and very little shocks you. You're competitive, driven, and very likely to succeed. Famous people from New York: Sarah Michelle Gellar, Tupac Shakur, Woody Allen

What American City Are You?

What does your month say about you?

My friend, Notes from the Queen, recently posted about her birthday month & what it says about her. To find out about your month check out the link.
Here is mine:

JULY: Fun to be with. Secretive. Difficult to fathom and to be understood. Quiet unless excited or tensed. Takes pride in oneself. Has reputation. Easily consoled. Honest. Concerned about people’s feelings. Tactful. Friendly. Approachable. Emotional temperamental and unpredictable. Moody and easily hurt. Witty and sparkly. Not revengeful. Forgiving but never forgets. Dislikes nonsensical and unnecessary things. Guides others physically and mentally. Sensitive and forms impressions carefully. Caring and loving. Treats others equally. Strong sense of sympathy. Wary and sharp. Judges people through observations. Hardworking. No difficulties in studying. Loves to be alone. Always broods about the past and the old friends. Likes to be quiet. Homely person. Waits for friends. Never looks for friends. Not aggressive unless provoked. Prone to having stomach and dieting problems. Loves to be loved. Easily hurt but takes long to recover.

Merry Christmas!

Hope everyone had a great Christmas! We sure did! The kids got just about everything they asked for and more! My hubby and kids got me a present that I have been wanting for quite some time.....a Kitchen Aid! plus I got a cold too....see the last picture in my video! My Grandma gave all of the family a very special gift, which I helped her with, 4 CDs of my Grandpa playing the fiddle, her singing gospel music and the grandkids annual Christmas program on Christmas day! It was really touching and special. My sister read the letter out load that we put on the back of the CD cover. It brought tears to everyone's eyes!

Disney Desperate Housewives

Can you relate? Let's see, I think I can identify with at least 3 of them :-)

Blog Anniversary!

Oh my goodness! I have been soooo busy with life and a new business that I forgot my blog anniversary!

One year ago yesterday was the date of my first post! I was planning on blogging about the last year! As well as giving an update on my progress of my 40 before 40 list! I will do that later this week.....

Tackle It Tuesday (Sydney's Bedroom)

I'm embarrassed to upload a before picture of my daughter's room .....so I won't and upload the after when I get it finished. For some reason, Sydney's room becomes a drop off/hide it room for Gracie & Sydney's folded clothes, etc. There is no reason for this because I have plenty of room in their closets and drawers to put away their clothes. I am just a little lazy, I guess!

My tackle for today is to put all of the clothes away properly, clean out her sock drawer and her dance drawer. I will post the after pictures when I have it completed!

Okay....I didn't get this project quite done. I have about half of it done. Something came up & I didn't get it completed before I had to leave for dance.

I did get my Christmas decorations put on the tree however...I will upload those pictures with the Tackle It Tuesday final project!

Accountability (Week of 12-3-07)

I managed to stay on task last week with the help of my accountability to-do list. I had a few things that I wasn't able to get accomplished that I will work on this week. Here's my to-do list for the week:

1. Rearrange bedroom.
2. Put laundry away in Sydney & Gracie's room. This is my tackle-it Tuesday project! Okay-I am not quite done with this project, I will continue working on it for Wednesday.
3. Put garage sale items up in attic.
4. Stone Bushel & Peck costume.
5. Paint kitchen.
6. Put up Christmas decorations.-I have pulled out the Christmas trees & decorations. The tree is up but isn't decorated yet.
7. Work on Mindi's keepsake album.
8. Take recycle items to recycle bins.
9. Put up recycled cartridges/check from the Ink Factory.
10. Hang up coats.
11. Mop kitchen floor.
12. Dust.
13. Inventory freezer.
14. Finish mailing out Christmas cards.
15. Work out three times this week.
16. Clean out refrigerator.
17. Charge camcorder. Need to find the charger-it's not in the bag or in the drawer where it's stored away.
18. Finish mailing out referee checks.

What's in Your Freezer?

I know what's in mine! A freezer full of quick and simple meals for my family! I'm in a freezer co-op called The Freezer Chicks and we prepare 3 meal (5 times) for each family in the co-op & we meet once a month to exchange our frozen goodies and plan the next months meal. It works great for our family-I have 15 meals each month to serve my family! It saves me a lot of time & money each month on food. My typical grocery bill was running me close to $200.00 a week, plus $200.00 a month buying food from Schwans, PLUS the times we ate out because that was quicker than running home and trying to prepare a meal that I had bought on the ingredients for etc! Most of the meals that I have in my freezer can be defrosted really quickly in the microwave (if I forgot to set it out to thaw that morning!) and on the table in less than 30 minutes! My grocery bill, including eating out, is now down to about $600.00-I have saved closed to $400 to 600 a month using wants in my freezer to feed my family!

So why I am blogging about my freezer...well my friend Tina (Notes from the Queen) and I have started a new business based on this concept! We are preparing freezer meal for your family. Our website (blog) is up & running-it's still needs a little work-the header is too big, etc. etc but the main concept, meal choices, price list etc is up on the website for you to order from. We already have clients-we delivered meals to 2 families this week! Come check it out & see if we can help you get dinner on the table to your family each evening. We have lots of ideas that we will be implementing and adding each month:
1. A monthly newsletter.
2. Cash & carry meals-just in case you need something quick for the evening and your freezer is empty.
3. Meal cards-ideas of what to serve with the entrees.
4. Tasting events-where a client hosts and evening or afternoon at their home and we bring in same sample entrees for your friends to try & take orders.
5. Customer appreciation card.
6. We are currently working on getting the nutritional value of the meals that we prepare.

Etc. Etc. We do prepare the meals in a commerical kitchen to meet the Health and Safety Guidelines. Each month we have will have a list of meals that we prepare for your family. The monthly menu features the following groups of foods:
1. Monthly entrees-in season meals.
2. Fast meals-quick simple, on the table in less than 30 minutes.
3. Family favorites-tested by our families and the most requested!
4. Figure friendly-meals that are low in fat.
5. Crowd pleasers-enough to serve 12 people.
6. Soups, stews, stoups & chili.
7. Desserts

We are working on a "catalog." We would also love the challenge of preparing dinners that are your family's favorite by submitting a recipe to us & letting us prepare it for your freezer!

All of your meals will come to you frozen & ready for your freezer.

If you are interested in ordering from us or would like to check it out. Come visit us at The Friendly Freezer!

If you want to place an order give us a call (the phone numbers are on the website) or email us your order at thefriendlyfreezer@gmail.com. We are currently taking orders. Order by Dec 14th for delivery on Dec 19th-21st. Just in time for the holidays!

So....what's in YOUR freezer? Hopefully, you will do yourself a flavor & order some magnificent meals from the Friendly Freezer!

Accountability (Week of 11-26-2007)

Okay blogger buddies! You all have just become my accountability partners! I have an list of things that I need to get accomplished over the next couple of weeks before I have to start working on soccer items again and I get more accomplished when I blog about it! Cheer me on, congratulate me for getting so much accomplished in a short amount of time, etc etc! Here goes....

1. Tapes converted to CDs for my grandma. -Called Troy to set up appointment for this week.
2. Call hotel in St Charles for Starpower. Emailed phone number to competion dancers.
3. Send in gym request to Columbia Public Schools.
4. Call Stephen's College-re: gym.
5. Finish menu for business.
6. Take back item's to Home Depot-exchange them. Need to go again b/c the facuet still doesn't fit!
7. Clothes put away in Sydney's room.
8. Go through Sydney's sock drawer.
9. Email Board of Director's about bonuses and purchase of new fax machine.
10. Get out Christmas decorations.
11. Mail out Christmas cards. Addressed cards to my family. Need to address them for friends and mail them out. ****This was one of my 40 Before 40 items that I wanted to complete before I turned 40! Yeah! I get t cross another one off that list! I hadn't sent out Christmas Cards since I was pregnant with Gracie-she is now 8 years old! Everyone will be rather surprised!
12. Paint kitchen.
13. Put garage sales items away in garage on my side-so I can park in the garage again.
14. Clean out car.
15. Pick up recycled cartridges and check.
16. Get to the gym at least 3 times this week.
17. Mail out referee checks that I still have on my desk.
18. ??



I think that is it for know....I'm sure as the week goes on I will add to the list!

Enjoy the Holidays....

My friend, Mindi, posted this fun dancing elf clip & thought we would join in on the fun with my family....check it out!

www.elfyourself.com/?id=9586397235

Tackle it Tuesday (12 Things to Do Before Thanksgiving Break)

I haven't done a TT in a couple of months and would really like to tackle a big project but I have a lot of little items that I need to get done before the kids get home for their Thanksgiving break from school....today is the only day to get them done! So here is my list of 12 things I need to get done!

1. Pick up kitchen.

2. Run the sweeper.

3. Clean off desk.

4. Clean out CMSL basket.

5. Change sheets on beds-all beds.

6. Sweep/mop kitchen floor.

7. Clean bathrooms.

8. Set out dinner.

9. Send out Futsal reminder to teams.

10. Put dance costumes away-dance bag too.

11. Place popcorn order for dance.

12. Hotel for Starpower-email out phone number to Fairfield.

Plus...I need to get all of this done before 2:30!!

What are you tackling today? Check out more tackles at http://www.5minutesformom.com/

When God Paints

A friend sent me an email with the most beautiful pictures of nature...thought I would share them with you in a slide show....enjoy....