Give Me Your Eyes

Chris introduced me to a song last night and he was right.....
The Words Do Stick With You.

The chorus is a wonderful prayer to God.

Give Me Your Eyes
by Brandon Heath

Looked down from a broken sky
Traced out by the city lights
My world from a mile high
Best seat in the house tonight
Touched down on the cold black top
Hold on for the sudden stop
Breath in the familiar shock
Of confusion and chaos
All those people going somewhere,
Why have I never cared?

Chorus:
Give me Your eyes for just one second
Give me Your eyes so I can see
Everything that I keep missing
Give me Your love for humanity
Give me Your arms for the broken hearted
Ones that are far beyond my reach.
Give me Your heart for the ones forgotten
Give me Your eyes so I can see
Yeah

Step out on a busy street
See a girl and our eyes meet
Does her best to smile at me
To hide what's underneath
There's a man just to her right
Black suit and a bright red tie
Too ashamed to tell his wife
He's out of work
He's buying time
All those people going somewhere
Why have I never cared?

Chorus:
Give me Your eyes for just one second
Give me Your eyes so I can see
Everything that I keep missing
Give me Your love for humanity
Give me Your arms for the broken hearted
Ones that are far beyond my reach.
Give me Your heart for the ones forgotten
Give me Your eyes so I can see
Yeah

I've Been there a million times
A couple of million eyes
Just moving past me by
I swear I never thought that I was wrong
Well I want a second glance
So give me a second chance
To see the way You see the people all along

Chorus (x2)
Give me Your eyes for just one second
Give me Your eyes so I can see
Everything that I keep missing
Give me Your love for humanity
Give me Your arms for the broken hearted
Ones that are far beyond my reach.
Give me Your heart for the ones forgotten
Give me Your eyes so I can see

First Cereal

Thursday we went for Justus' 4 month shots. He is growing and is good and healthy.

He is 15 pounds 5 ounces (in the 50%)
He is 26.5 inches long (in the 90%)
His head is 43.5 cm around (in the 75%)

This means he also got to have his first cereal. Yes, he is wearing a Baby's 1st Valentines bib and it is January but it is the one Hannah wore when she had her first cereal (in October of 2006). It is just a really good, big bib.

He was not that excited about cereal at first but he has gotten better and better. This morning, he ate it up!!

The Circus

Chris and I decided to use some of our Christmas money to have a Hannah Night. We took JUST HANNAH to the circus. It was a lot of fun.

These 3 pictures really crack me up because they perfectly show her thoughts on the circus. She was happy and excited but very nervous. She was not sure about it at all. She was so so cute.

I was very very worried that she was going to freak out when the lights went out. SO, we planned on getting her a light-up toy thing when we got there as a souvenir and something that she could do when it got dark. Since when were those things over $20 a piece?? WHAT?? SO, she got a light up tiara instead which was much cheaper but still more than I wanted to spend. Do you know... they did not, even once, turn out all the lights?? Of Course!

The fun really began when we realized that Reese was sitting 4 seats down from us on the SAME row!?? How crazy was that? They were both so happy. They were excited to be there together - even if it was an accident!

Menu Plan Monday

This week I spent $26.10 at Aldi and $35.93 at Kroger for a total of $62.03. $2.03 over isn't that bad but it proved my point - - DON'T buy anything that is not on the list. I was suckered by the image of Ranch Potatoes and bought a bag of potatoes for $2.99 even though they were not on the list or on the menu for this week. THAT put me over. I have GOT to stick to my rules!!

Oh Well, here is the menu:

Monday: Salsa Chicken, Green Beans
Tuesday: Hamburger Helper, Lima Beans
Wednesday: Chicken Enchiladas, Spanish Rice, Mexicorn
Thursday: French Onion Pork Chop Skillet, Corn
Friday: Taco Salad, Chips & Salsa
Saturday: Going to a friend's house for supper
Sunday: Sandwiches and leftovers

As usual, I will let you know how next week goes!
To see other's menu plans just go to Org Junkie!

Our Sunday Pictures

New Book

Certain Girls was good. For some reason, with Good In Bed and Certain Girls, near the end I was just ready to get the book over with. I don't know why. I definitely liked Certain Girls much better than I liked Good In Bed but of course you can't read Certain Girls without reading Good In Bed... Oh well. One of the things I like the best about Jennifer Weiner is that she writes about girls and that is always fun!!

I have started doing www.paperbackswap.com. Have you heard of it? A few people have told me about it over the last few months or so. I finally took the time to check it out. You put books on there that you would be willing to get rid of. Once you put your first 10 books on then you get 2 credits. One credits is good for you to get one book. Then everytime someone wants a book from you and you mail it to them, you get another credit. With your credits, you look and see if someone has a book you want and ask them for it. It is free. The only thing is that when someone wants a book from you, you have to pay to have it mailed to them. The average amount is about $2.30.

SO, about a month ago I decided to get the first book in the Shopaholic series by Sophie Kinsella. It is called Confessions of a Shopaholic. I have read one other book by her (Undomestic Goddess) and enjoyed it so I thought I would try this one out. The funny thing is that about a week ago I saw that this is being made into a movie that comes out on February 13th. When I finished Certain Girls, because the movie is coming out, I decided this was going to be the next book I read. It will be fun to see the movie after I read it.

As always, I will let you know how it goes.

Brrrrrrrrr

It is cold here.
I am SO ready for Spring!

New Year's Resolution

This is part of our family's new year's resolution...
Tell everyone about Jesus.
(sorry the video is so dark!?)

Menu Plan Monday

SO, 2 weeks ago I was able to buy some meat and last week I was blessed with a gift of some meat.

SO, this week I had a secret goal of $50. I didn't want to tell anyone - just in case it became impossible.

Here is what I did this week. First, I took cash. There is NO way I can go over my budget if I don't have the money to pay for it. Next, on Friday I sat at the computer and went thru all the weekly ads for CVS, Walgreens, Kroger, and Publix to see if anything on my list was on sale anywhere. Also, I made a trip to Aldi this week to see what it was all about.

Let me tell you - Aldi is worth it. If you have one near you - you should try it out. You do have to put in a quarter for a buggy and you have to bring your own bags but their prices are great. They mainly do not have name brand items, however, I did see Tyson, Lean Cuisine, and Healthy Choice. Their milk was $2.89 for a gallon. Kroger and Publix had milk for $3.19 a gallon. Their canned veggies were $0.49 a piece. All their prices seemed very good. The only thing on my list that I did not see available there was Kidney Beans. Other than that, I think I could have done all my grocery shopping there.

SO, I spent $24.28 at Aldi, $22.04 at Kroger, and $2.62 at CVS (great sale on Cheerios!) for a total of $48.94 this week!! Yippppeeeeeeeeee!!

Here is the menu:

Monday: Hot Dogs, Mac n Cheese
Tuesday: Spaghetti, Garlic Bread (Saturday of last week we ended up eating leftovers instead of the Spaghetti planned - Chris was very sad!)
Wednesday: Saucy Parmesan Chicken, Zesty 3 Bean Salad, Cream Cheese Corn
Thursday: Pizza Boats, Grapes
Friday: Soup, Sandwiches
Saturday: Pork Chops, Rice, Green Beans
Sunday: Sandwiches and leftovers

As usual, I will let you know how next week goes!
To see other's menu plans just go to Org Junkie!

Our Sunday Pictures

This is a very special dress from a very special friend. My friend Julie gave Hannah this dress. Her, now 17 year old, daughter wore this dress. This family is so special to us. They are wonderful wonderful friends.

Thank you Julie (and Savannah) for the beautiful dresses you gave Hannah!

Trying To Be Big

So, this is our little "problem." Maybe I should call it a challenge. Hummmm... Maybe an experience? Maybe a phase? Anyway, I am not talking about the girl. (which by the way, please look at the beautiful girl and not at the messy room!) I am talking about the sitting.

Hannah calls it "sitting crisscross."

Sweet - isn't it? ....

... Until we realize that you can not pee pee (or poo poo for that matter) on the potty while sitting crisscross. (YES, my baby girl is officially potty trained and has been for about 4 weeks - I am just now comfortable enough to say it - or print it - out loud without it jinxing me.)

... OR until we realize that when she tries to sit crisscross during worship she has to sit on the edge of the pew and it makes her lose her balance and almost fall. If she doesn't actually fall then she definitely has a bowl of Cheerios in her hand that flies up high enough for our minister to probably see.

... OR until Mommy asks her to help pick up her toys and she answers "not right now, Mommy. I am just sitting crisscross in my chair right now."

OH the joys of my 2 year old trying to be big. It is so adorable and so aggravating.

Purposeful Surroundings

These are the pictures that are on a main wall in our living room. Chris got me this WISDOM picture that quotes Proverbs 2:6 last year for Christmas. I thought that some older pictures of some of our Grandparents were the perfect thing to accompany this beautiful scripture.

YES, that is the thermostat there in the middle of the wall. A little weird. I have decided to just pretend I meant for it to be there and go with it. What else can you do?

OK, the pictures.... Top to Bottom - Left to Right.
* Chris' Paternal Grand- mother
* My Maternal Great Grand- mothers
* My Maternal Grand- mother
* Chris' Maternal Grand- parents
* My Maternal Grand- father
* Chris' Paternal Grandfather
* My Maternal Great Grandfathers

I just love it.
That picture of my Grandmother is one of my favorite pictures of all time. Chris has laughed at me more than once because I can hardly look at it without saying (out loud) how much I love it. My Grandmom was here a few days ago and I was telling her that I just couldn't get over how much I loved that picture of her. She said she did not like that picture of her very much. She said she thought she was pregnant with my mom then... Hummmm... Maybe there is a reason I love the glow about her so much in that picture.

Already?

Can this really be my Baby Boy already? He is not even 4 months old. I can not believe how fast they grow!! (I know everyone says that but it is true!)

Justus is such a joy. He will steal your heart in about 2 seconds.

What a Cutie! (If I do say so myself!)

Menu Plan Monday

Go On And Laugh.
Yes, I failed again.

My bill was $71.81 this week. NOT GOOD!

I WILL get this right and figure it out.

Here is the menu:

Monday: Hamburger Helper, Green Beans, Biscuits
Tuesday: Chicken Enchiladas, Rice, Mexicorn
Wednesday: Chicken Tetrazzini, Lima Beans, Ranch Potatoes
Thursday: Pizza Potatoes (a recipe I am trying from my Aunt Wendy), Chips
Friday: Chili and Cornbread (we have been trying to have this for a few weeks now-crazy)
Saturday: Spaghetti and Garlic Bread
Sunday: Sandwiches and leftovers

As usual, I will let you know how next week goes!
To see other's menu plans just go to Org Junkie!

Our Sunday Pictures

Hannah has started making Sunday pictures more and more challenging. Not because of time. We usually have plenty of time to take the pictures. It is the stopping for 3 seconds to actually smile and let us take the picture. I have to remind myself that I wanted to do this so that I could see how my children grew and who they were week by week - this is not to get the perfect picture each week.

I think I will easily be able to tell by looking at Sunday Pictures which weeks were more challenging than others.

Baking

Staying at home has its advantages and disadvantages. I need to start focusing on the advantages and this is one. I get to bake cookies with my Baby Girl. It was so fun. When I got out a rolling pin and some flour she said "Mommy, what's that?" because she has never seen those things before. She won't see them very often in the future either, but it was a fun afternoon. Something I wouldn't have been able to do on a Wednesday afternoon before.

The Lord's Army

Purposeful Surroundings

So, I was telling you about how we are trying to be very purposeful about what we surround ourselves with in our home. (Check out what I did with my mantle here!)

We have had this up for a long time. This picture is what we have hanging over the doorway you have to go thru from the kitchen to get to the garage. In other words, when we leave the house - we HAVE to go under it.

Have you ever seen a sports team have some kind of tradition where the whole team hits a special picture or something when they are going out to the game before they get to the opening of the "tunnel" or whatever to get onto the field/court? Chris and I say this is our thing like that. (We don't actually hit it.) Before we go out into the world we pass by this. We need to live in such a way that we are always remember Who is lighting our path!

Out-Of-It

I am so out of it.
I totally forgot about sharing some family pictures that we got over Christmas.
Thank you Ruth and Lee for taking some pictures of our family for us - the timer thing was just not working well for us. We love you both.

Menu Plan Monday

This week I did pretty good. My grocery bill was $59.22. The only problem is that I forgot about an event last week that I needed stuff for. (I didn't forget the event, I just forgot what I said I would bring so I planned for another meal but needed items for a different one.) Anyway, so, I spent $8.10 last week for things I forgot.

This means technically I was $7.32 over budget this week. Booooo!!! I have GOT to get better at this. I think we may have start having 2 "light" suppers. You know, like soup and grilled cheese or ramen noodles and a veggie or something like that. I WILL figure this out.

Also, I have realized that I live near and ALDI store which is a discount grocer so I need to check that out. AND, I have got to keep up with double and triple coupon days. I just realized last night, after it was too late, that Harris Teeter was having triple coupons this weekend and I MISSED IT! Ahhhhhhhh!!

OK, now to the Menu:

Monday: Ham, Ranch Potatoes, Mac n Cheese
Tuesday: Sweet and Sour Chicken Lo Mein
Wednesday: Breakfast - Brunch Casserole and Toast
Thursday: Taking Beans to a friends house for a cook out
Friday: Chili and Cornbread
Saturday: Parmesan Crusted Chicken, Ranch Potatoes, Lima Beans
Sunday: Taking sandwiches and chicken nuggets to church building

As usual, I will let you know how next week goes!
To see other's menu plans just go to Org Junkie!

GIVEAWAY

Check it out.
At $5 Dinners, there is a $25 Kroger Gift Card Giveaway.
Enter! You Could Win!!!

Our Sunday Pictures