Making Memories

A few years ago I started getting my nieces and letting them build gingerbread houses with Abby and Erin. This year it grew to be all the girls plus Samuel and Andrew. I must say the boys did an excellent job for their first year. Samuel built a garage on his house. He is a lot like his grandaddy. Andrew surprised us tonight. I did not think he would be interested in building a house but he was. He sat there for an hour and 15 minutes working diligently on his masterpiece. The girls love this tradition. I think I enjoy it as much or more than they do. Their houses get better every year. As they were working on them tonight, I was looking at Chloe and Abby and thinking that Chloe will be 10 soon. I wonder how long this will be something they look forward to. I hope it will be a tradition that lasts for years to come. I'm 34 and I still enjoy building a gingerbread house.

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Busy Weekend in Pictures

Starting Thursday we had a very busy few days. Thursday was our last day of co-op and Friday was our end of the year party with our homeschool group. Dave and the band played a special concert at Life Way bookstore on Friday also. Saturday was Abby's Christmas piano recital at the (JSU)president's house. It was beautiful and she did great. Saturday night Dave was in Jordan's wedding. It was a perfect ceremony and the reception was really fun. The kids danced, danced, danced! Sunday we worshipped with our church family and that afternoon our homeschool choir performed their Christmas songs and hymns. They are a talented group of kiddos. So that wraps up our weekend, hope you enjoyed the pictures!

My Weekly Meal Plan

After my meeting with the nutritionist on Tuesday I decided to make out a detailed meal plan for each week. I already kinda did this but not using the food guide pyramid! So for those of you who are interested, this is my plan for this week. I figure after several weeks I will have so many planned I can rotate them and change new recipes in and out without having to do a two hour planning session every week. But I love doing this....planning meals that is. So here are my 3 meals for 6 days.





Day 1
bagel
apple
coffee
milk

pb&j sandwich
yogurt

Baked Chicken
Broccoli
baked potato
whole wheat roll


Day2
yogurt
cheese toast
coffee
juice

turkey sand
w/lettuce
baked chips
apple

Lima Beans
pasta salad
cornbread
corn
peaches

Day 3
cereal/milk
coffee

healthy choice soup
crackers
apple
yogurt

Pork Tenderloin
green beans
corn
whole wheat rolls



Day 4
bagel/cr. cheese
banana
coffee

turkey sand
w/lettuce
baked chips
apple

Spaghetti
Salad
fruit?


Day5
yogurt
toast w/jelly
banana

Salad
apple
crackers

Hamburger Steak
pinto beans
pasta salad


Day 6
cereal/milk
coffee

Healthy choice soup
Crackers

Roast
Baked potato
Broccoli
Carrots
rolls

Its not perfect but I am trying to stick within the guidelines of the pyramid. I need to add a fruit or dairy here or there.....here are the number of servings I should have each day.

Milk group-3 servings

vegetable group- 3-5 servings

fruit group- 2 servings

meat group- 2 servings

bread group- 6 servings

The good news is that with a balanced diet and exercise (and little medicine for 6 months) I can turn this around! I'll keep you posted on my progress.

News of the Week

This week I got some news that wasn't so pleasant. Let me give some back information. I have not been feeling great for some time now. I have had somewhat high blood pressure, slightly high cholesterol.....things I thought only happen to really old people, not me. So my doctor did some tests, one of which was a fasting glucose screening. Well they called with the results on Friday and told me I have pre-diabetes. From what I can understand, this can be treated with diet and exercise. I have to take a class with a dietitian this week. I love to cook(and eat) so this is gonna be hard for me. I especially love to make desserts. It seems all the things I really love to eat are not good for me to eat. I have a family history of diabetes so I really have to take this seriously. I know things could be much worse....this at least is something that I can work on to reverse. So please pray for me to make good choices. I'll update you on what I learn in my class.....

Cooking and Dancing!

There's nothing like a little Thanksgiving cooking followed by some dancing......We had a great Thanksgiving. Wednesday we went to Mama's and cooked for Thursday. We made cakes, peanut butter balls, casseroles, and dressing. After dinner Thursday night what could have been better than some dancing. Lori and the kids danced and we laughed and watched them. Tracy joined in at the end.....my kids definitly get thier dancing ability from Dave and my sisters, cause I can't dance....not well anyway! It was fun and who knows, it could be our new Thanksgiving tradition....Dancing after Dinner!

Give Thanks

"O give thanks unto the Lord;call upon his name, make known His deeds among the people."
Psalm 105:1

Today I am thankful for so much. This is a small list I have compiled during the month. God has blessed me way beyond anything I could have ever asked. So today I give Him Thanks for who He is and all that he provides.(these are in no particular order:)

God providing my every need and most of my wants.

Our troops in Afghanistan and Iraq

Getting to spend the day with family

Gas for $1.87 a gallon

getting to cook Thanksgiving dinner with my mama

my daddy helping me buy a tire

walks at the park

Ruthie singing happy birthday to me(so sweet)

Lori and Giny babysitting

Having coffee with Dave and walking around Target

having a November birthday(its such a fun time of year to be born:)

hot coffee on a cold day

the sound of the kids singing

firewood

my bible

a few hours by myself

Dave working two jobs so I can be home with the kids

smilebox

piano lessons

good friends

candles that make my house smell sweet

nights when we are all home

Christmas crafts

rainy days at home

Charlie the dog

our little schoolroom

Handwriting Without Tears(Abby is writing in cursive beautifully)

Erin and her silkie

Abby's smile

Samuel's cute face

the time change( I love when it gets dark early)

Starbucks Coffee

a warm, cozy bed

cool weather

Christmas Music(96.5 is already playing it)

Grace Fellowship

the beautiful fall colors.

the Internet

a good nights sleep

my sisters

a sovereign God

Cable News

Saxon Math

freedom

Dave, Abby, Erin, & Samuel

Decking the Swinney Halls

Make a Smilebox scrapbook