Fireproof

Chris and I watched the movie Fireproof last night. I highly recommend everyone seeing it, especially those who are married. I am not saying that you are about to see the most wonderful acting jobs or a movie that must have had an unbelievably big budget or that even has the best script. I am saying that you will be refreshed at the type of movie that it is and at the message of the movie.

Christians in America today know that marriages in this country are under attack. This movie is about how wonderful marriage is, about how beautiful a marriage can be with God as the center, and about how important the commitment that you made to spouse is.

Another thing that I really loved about the movie was some of the songs in it. I liked a lot of them but I really enjoyed Love Is Not A Fight by Warren Barfield. Here are the lyrics.

Love is not a place
To come and go as we please
It’s a house we enter in
And then commit
to never leave

So lock the door behind you
Throw away the key
We’ll work it out together
Let it bring us to our knees

Love is a shelter
In a raging storm
Love is peace
In the middle of a war
If we try to leave
May God send angels
To guard the door
No, love is not a fight
But it’s something worth fighting for

To some love is a word
That they can fall into
But when they’re falling out
Keeping their word is hard to do

Love is a shelter
In a raging storm
Love is peace
In the middle of a war
If we try to leave
May God send angels
To guard the door
No, love is not a fight
But it’s something worth fighting for

Love will come to save us
If we’ll only call
He will ask nothing from us
But demand we give our all

Love is a shelter
In a raging storm
Love is peace
In the middle of a war
If we try to leave
May God send angels
To guard the door
No, love is not a fight
But it’s something worth fighting for

I will fight for you
Would you fight for me?
It’s worth fighting for

If I did this right - you should be able to click on the link below and listen to it.

Love Is Not A Fight by Warren Barfield

Are You Ready?

Tonight before bed my beautiful 2 year old little girl told Chris and I that tomorrow, Ian, Elise (the two children that I keep each week) and Jesus were coming to her house. We asked her more than once (I thought she was meaning to say Justus) but she assured us that she meant Ian, Elise, and Jesus!

We couldn't help but pray tonight (and look inside ourselves) that we would be ready to see Jesus, whenever he comes.

We told her we hoped she was right.

Thank You, Lord, for the hearts of children.
Thank You!

I'm Standing In The Need Of Prayer

It's Me Oh Lord!

Hide and Seek

Chris is teaching Hannah how to play Hide and Seek. It is pretty fun. The only thing is that she usually just hides wherever Chris hid last time, which makes the game not quite so fun for Chris BUT Hannah Loves It!

She did, however, switch it up on him once and found her own hiding place.
It was a pretty good one too!

Television

... Or, that stupid box, as I lovingly call it most days.

I could go on and on about my thoughts on TV, the garbage on it (including commercials), the time it has taken away from family togetherness, how much of our country's money goes into entertainment, and how sick to my stomach it all makes me -- but I am going to try to spare everyone.

Let's just say that TV takes on a whole new role in the home once kids are involved.

Hannah never watched TV during the day when she went to day care. I had decided to incorporate some TV into our day once I started staying home. Like, at 6 am when Hannah gets up, she crawls in bed with me, I turn on Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, and get another 20 minutes of snoozing. Then we watch Sesame Street (some times) in the late morning. And in the afternoon while I am fixing supper she can watch Arthur.

I was feeling pretty good about 2 hours a day of TV until I caught one episode of that show about the family with 17 children. They watch 7 hours of TV a month.

Anyway..... when Daddy gets home there is usually some kind of sport on the TV while we play at night.

OK, wow, writing it down makes it look like we are in front of the TV a lot more than I would like to admit.

THE POINT!
The TV was not on so Hannah was playing "watching TV" for pretend. I asked her what she was watching.

She said Golf!

Of all the things that she could pretend to watch - Golf, I think, I can handle.

Menu Plan Monday

Remember last week? I was up to $126.28 for 3 weeks of groceries. Remember that my real budget for groceries is $60 a week which would be $180 for my 3 week plan. I was secretly going for $150 to somewhat make up for doing a little stock piling at Costco.

Well, this week I spent lots more than planned. I spent $11.17 at Aldi and $27.49 at Kroger. So my total for 3 weeks on groceries is $164.94. I am disappointed that I did not meet my $150 goal but very excited that I am under $180.

Just to help myself justify a little (can't a girl get a break sometime?), this money included all meals for my family, and we fed a meal to 8 more adults and 5 other children these 3 weeks. And Chris sprung a dish on me that he has to take to work on Friday that I was not planning on. I am pleased with the end result!

Here is the menu for this week:

Monday: Zesty Chicken & Rice, Greenbeans
Tuesday: BBQ Meatloaf, Potatoes, Corn
Wednesday: Parmesan Crusted Chicken, Macaroni and Cheese
Thursday: Chicken Tetrazzini, Lima Beans
Friday: Hamburger Helper, Zesty 3 Bean Salad
Saturday: Salsa Chicken, Biscuits
Sunday: Leftovers

To see other's menu plans check out Org Junkie! (There are lots of ideas there!)

Our Sunday Pictures

Air Jordans

(( I was looking thru some pictures and realized that I took some a while ago to blog about and I never got a chance to... these pictures are from the middle of January! Crazy!))

SO, we are fans of hand-me-downs. We love getting them, using them, and then passing them on to others who can use them. It is fun.

One day I was going thru some hand-me-downs and we found these. Air Jordans for Justus. They are tiny! They are so so cute. (I feel guilty that I don't know who handed them down to us!) Chris was excited. One day we are all about to leave for a fun outing and Justus was wearing red and Chris decided we needed to try the Air Jordans on him. He actually had already practically grown out of them (so he didn't wear them out) but we took some pictures anyway just to show that he had some on at the ripe young age of almost-4-months old!

HOW FUNNY!

Comfort In Knowing

Every time my sweet little two year old baby girl goes to sleep she always always asks the same questions.

"Mommy, when I get up, who's coming and where we going?"

I am very serious. At night and during the day for nap. Every Time!!

Sometimes we sigh about it. Sometimes we laugh about it. Sometimes we roll our eyes about it. But every time, we answer the question, she usually verifies the information by repeating it or inquiring a little further, she accepts it, and then she lays her head down and goes to sleep.

I have to say, when I look at myself, I completely understand why she does this. I am the same way. It usually does not really matter to me what we do or where we go but I just like to know. There is some kind of comfort in knowing.

Speaking of "comfort in knowing", I have felt a bit uncomfortable lately. Have you ever heard of Kroger Marketplace?

Well, we just got one. I loved loved loved knowing my old Kroger (the one this marketplace replaced). It was just regular. Nothing too fancy or crazy. The greatest part of our old Kroger was that I knew where just about everything was, I knew most of the cashiers, I knew the greeter man, and I could get in and out of there fairly quickly.

I am uncomfortable and terrified of this new Kroger Marketplace. There is a jewelry store in it (a real jewelry store) and a Starbucks, and a furniture department, and a clothing department. Really crazy when you just want to go and buy some groceries. I am officially intimidated and am not sure I want to go back.

Here is the problem. With all of this saving money mind-set, I have to consider one thing. This new fancy schmancy Kroger Marketplace is probably less then 2 miles from my house. Really, I have just got to get in there, learn it, embrace it, love it, and gain back my "comfort in knowing".

Can I throw a small whoa-is-poor-little-ole-me temper tantrum now please? Just for a moment?
**Whine**Whine**Whine** I don't want to get use to this new big store! **Whine**Whine**Whine**

OK. Whew. Thanks for letting me get that out. In about 8 years when I am raving about how I don't know how I got along before Kroger sold EVERYTHING all under one roof, please remind me of this post so we can all laugh together.

New Book

Yeah, that's right. I am already done with Deep In The Heart. It was just what I needed. I warm, cozy, heart filling, Love Inspired book. Ahhhhhhh!

Alright. I am on to Marley and Me by John Grogan. I am excited about this since more than one person has told me it is good and it is a little different than my norm and it is a movie now. After all this reading, I am going to have to catch up on my movies.

I will let you know what I think.

Valentine's Day

When Chris took the kids out on Valentine's morning I made him put them in Valentine's Day outfits. ("Made" in the very loose sense of the word!) Anyway, here they are.

Justus' shirt says "My Heart Belongs to Mommy." Do you know this is the only Valentine's Day outfit I could find at Target for a boy? (At least in his size.) Crazy.

Hannah's shirt says "Sweet." She was excited that both her and Justus had red pants. She is very in to matchy matchy! Can you see the little heart sewn knees?


And in case you missed them, yes, she has on red heart earrings. NO, she did not wear these out but asking to take them off for the picture is the craziest question ever! Obviously. In this picture, I told her to pose and show off her earrings. She is funny.

Menu Plan Monday

Remember last week? I was shopping and planning for 3 weeks worth of meals. My budget for all 3 weeks is $150. I spent $109.70 last week. I spent $16.58 this week. So far my total is $126.28! YAYAYAY! I am well on my way to hitting my goal. I may try this multiple week thing again.

Here is the menu for this week:

Monday: Chicken & Rice, Green Beans
Tuesday: Breakfast
Wednesday: Supper at the church building
Thursday: Rigatoni Chicken Round Up, Potatoes, Lima Beans
Friday: Fried Chicken with Family
Saturday: Pound Pound Bottle, Chicken Wings
Sunday: Taco Supper with Friends

To see other's menu plans check out Org Junkie! (There are lots of ideas there!)

Our Sunday Pictures

Today!

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!
Right Now, I am sitting quietly.
I am basking in my Valentine's Day present.
**Being. Alone. In. My. Home.**

New Book

Confessions of a Shopaholic was funny yet, also, ridiculous. I laughed and I shook my head. If you want a light fun read, this is definitely a great one. These books, like the other I read by Sophie Kinsella, are based in London so the reading of it is a little something to get use to. There are phrases and words that are not used here that I had to figure out. That was actually kinda fun, though. I will probably try to get the rest of the series and read those too.... some day.

I have chosen to read Deep In The Heart by Jane Myers Perrine next. It is a Love Inspired book so it will be great for the heart. I have so many book by my bed to read, I don't know where to start. Some are a little different than the book I am use to so I am a little nervous about reading them. Here they are (yes there are a lot). Tell me if you have read one and what you thought of it. I am going to put an * by the ones that are a part of a series.

• No Place Like Home by Fern Michaels
• A Rose From The Dead by Kate Collins
• The Bridge Across Forever by Richard Bach
• The Shack by WM Paul Young
• Sisterchicks on the Loose by Robin Jones Gunn*
• At Home in Mitford by Jan Karon*
• The Beach House by Mary Alice Monroe
• The Maidenstone Lighthouse by Sally Smith O'Rourke
• Swapping Lives by Jan Green
• Can You Keep A Secret by Spohie Kinsella
• Marley and Me by John Grogan
• One for the Money by Janet Evanovich*
• Two for the Dough by Janet Evanovich*
• Irish Hearts by Nora Roberts
• The Summerhouse by Jude Deveraux
• Shrouds of Holly by Kate Kingbury
• Slay Bells by Kate Kingbury
• As Sure As The Dawn by Francine Rivers
• Baby Proof by Emily Giffin
• The Wednesday Letters by Jason F Wright
• Sundays At Tiffanys by James Patterson
• The Chocolate Cat Caper by JoAnna Carl*
• The Chocolate Bear Burglary by JoAnna Carl*
• The Chocolate Frog Frame-Up by JoAnna Carl*
• The Chocolate Puppy Puzzle by JoAnna Carl*
• The Chocolate Mouse Trap by JoAnna Carl*
• The Chocolate Bridal Bash by JoAnna Carl*
• The Chocolate Jewel Case by JoAnna Carl*
• In Dublin's Fair City by Rhys Bowen
• On Danny Boy by Rhys Bowen*
• For The Love of Mike by Rhys Bowen*
• Death of Riley by Rhys Bowen*
• Murphy's Law by Rhys Bowen*
• PLUS 9 Love Inspired books

OK, I thought this would help me but now I am feeling more overwhelmed, especially because there are still some others I want. Ahhhhhhhh! If you have read any of these - let me know what you think and what you think I should read next.

Thanks!

I will let you know how Deep In The Heart goes...

He Found Them

Justus has found his FEET.

Since he was born we have called him "Monkey Feet" because if you put your finger on his toes he will grab your finger. Well, now that he has found his feet he is enjoying them lots. Grabbing them, Eating them, and Using them to help him eat!

These pictures crack me up.

Random Things

So, lots of people on Facebook are doing it and lots of people on Blogs are doing it. I suppose it is my turn. (I will just copy this and put it on facebook - he he he!)

25 Random Things About Me
(that you may or may not know)

1. I only went to Kindergarden for 1/2 a year.
2. If I allowed myself, I could/would drink 2 liters of Diet Coke a day.
3. I am a picky eater but try to pretend that I am not.
4. I have never permed, colored, or highlighted my hair in any way.
5. I have not put hairspray in my hair, except for my wedding, since my freshman year of college.
6. I don't like spaghetti but my hubby loves it. I make it for him but don't eat it myself.
7. I'm a hugger and a cuddler. Watch Out.
8. I sing songs about God to my children every day.
9. I don't read my Bible every day and am ashamed of that.
10. I don't like clutter but my house is cluttered. How does that happen?
    
11. I LOVE worshiping God! It is really one of my favorite things to do.
12. I have just started reading books within the last 5 years.
13. I don't read non-fiction but I probably should some time.
14. I have a complex about my pants laying over my shoes in the right way, which is why I wear big pants.
    
15. If I allowed myself, I could read blogs 3 or 4 hours a day and love every minute of it.
16. I only worked for one company after graduating college, before I quit to be a stay at home mom.
17. Being a stay at home mom is not my dream job and I don't feel bad that I feel that way.
18. I don't weigh myself.
19. I am not a big fan of concerts. The only concert I think I would ever really enjoy is the Eagles - if they sang their old stuff.
20. I love playing games and don't get to do it a lot. I especially love playing spades. There has been a time in my life where I played spades every day - I miss it.
21. I would go without TV before I would go without the internet.
22. I think the best show that has ever been on TV is The Cosby Show.
23. I truly believe all you need to understand God, in the way in which He wants us to, is The Bible.
24. I can not imagine working with and worshiping with another congregation of God's people. They are so so wonderful.
25. I can not put into words the greatness of my love for my Husband. I bubble over with love, admiration, and respect for him.

Menu Plan Monday

So, I did it. I tried to plan and shop for 3 weeks. This means that technically my budget would be $180 but with the bulk buying at Costco I am going for $150. We will see...

There are obviously things that I will have to buy each week but it should not be much. We will see how this goes...

This week I spent $35.13 at Aldi and $74.57 at Kroger for a total of $109.70. I am pleased with this. I should be able for the next two weeks not to spend over $40! I think/hope I can do it. I will keep you posted.

Here is the menu for this week:

Monday: Bow Tie Pasta with Chicken and Broccoli
Tuesday: Spaghetti and Garlic Bread
Wednesday: Soup and Grilled Cheese
Thursday: Ham Delights and Corn
Friday: Tacos and Rice
Saturday: Valentines Night Out!! <3
Sunday: Leftovers

To see other's menu plans check out Org Junkie! (There are lots of ideas there!)

Our Sunday Pictures

Harris Teeter

Triple Coupons
Up to $.99
February 5-8

(Thanks Kathy for letting me know!)

I just finished up my Harris Teeter Run!
I am not as good at this as some but I was pleased.
I spent some time on the internet looking at the deals and finding just the right coupons.
I ended up buying 2 things full price because I just needed them.
I was too late for 3 free items.. they were all out already.

My Total was $108.80
I saved $13.87 with my VIC Card
I saved $53.32 with coupons
My total payment was $41.61!!!
Yippeeeeeeeeeeee!

For Aunt Wendy

Hannah Funnies

#1

We have been doing great with the potty training and she has been taking her nap in her panties for a while and doing great. She did great a few nights also and so we were thinking we may even be out of the pull-ups phase too which would be great.

One night (after a long day and a fun night of playing with her friends Willa and Reese) we let her sleep in her panties. By the way, she begs to sleep in them. She says that pull-ups are scratchy and does not like them.

About 1.30 in the morning she busts into our room (she literally "busts" in - she is not gentle, quiet, or graceful when she is half asleep) and says very loudly "Daddy, I need a pull up Right Now!" She says this over and over until we finally wake up enough to get it. She had an accident in her bed. We couldn't help but laugh at how she decided to break the news to us.

#2

When Justus was born she got a book about a little boy and little girl having a baby brother. It is a really cute book and Hannah loves it. It shows the Mommy pregnant and then the Mommy not pregnant holding the baby. This book made it really click with Hannah that Justus was inside Mommy's "tummy" and then he came out. So we have been talking about this.

We told her that she came out of Mommy's "tummy" too and that Mommy came out of Nannah's "tummy" and that Daddy came out of Maw Maw's "tummy."

She knows this pretty well and so we are asking her about it....
"Hannah, whose tummy did you come out of?"
"Mommy's"
"Hannah, whose tummy did Mommy come out of?"
"Nannah's"
"Hannah, whose tummy did Daddy come out of?"
"Maw Maw and Poppa Bob's"
"NO, Hannah, just Maw Maw's"
"Daddy's too big to just come out of MawMaw's tummy"

Hope You Got A Giggle Out Of These!

Craziness

Ever seen one of these?

Well, wait....
I said I would tell you all the craziness so I will start from the beginning.

Wednesday morning - 1AM
"Chris, my tummy feels funny!"

Wednesday morning - 1.30AM
"Chris, I am going to throw up!"

I throw up more than once and have a fever over 101 all day Wednesday. Chris, my wonderful husband, stays home from work while I stay in bed.

Wednesday night - 5.30PM
My temp is still up and I still feel nauseous. I am going to the doc.

I am at the doctor's office. They want to give me some medicine but want to be sure I am not.... gulp..... um...... well.... they want to be sure I am not.... pregnant.

I look at my doc and say "Um, excuse me, I can not be pregnant. I have a 4 month old." She looked at me with very sweet and sorrowful eyes, as if she is about to tell me about the birds and the bees and how babies are made when I stop her. "OK, I understand, but really... I am not pregnant!" Then she asks me the dreaded request. "Please pee in this cup so we can be sure." This is when "Mindy:The Stage Fright Urinate-or" comes out. I sit in the bathroom with running water and drinking water for 30 minutes. Nothing.

The doc finally gives me the prescription and says that I need to take a pregnancy test first before I take the medicine. "But I am not pregnant" I said. She looks at me sternly and I just say "Yes Mam", hang my head, and go.

SO - DRAMA #1 - I go to the drug store and I have to buy a pregnancy test and I am hoping and praying I do not see anyone I know. I take the test. NO! NO! NO! I am not pregnant. I almost called the doc just to say "I told you so" but thought that would be a bit childish!

I am finally feeling back up to 100% Saturday. We have a wonderful day!

Sunday Morning - 4AM
I am sleeping soundly and dreaming of .... weird .... I am dreaming about cooking. I have enjoyed the life of cooking supper for my family but .... NOT that much.

Sunday Morning - 4.15AM
Chris: Mindy, do you smell that?
Mindy: Yes, I told you I put that rotten onion in the trash.
(( side note: my grandmother tells Chris when we get engaged that the women in my family don't do the trash. I had never heard of this rule, however, I play along and .... leave the trash to him. Thanks Grandmom!!))
Chris: I took it out!
Mindy: Maybe I put some in the garbage disposal and forgot to run it. That smells horrible.

Sunday Morning - 4.20AM
We are going ALL over the house, sniffing. Where is the terrible smell coming from? The downstairs is much worse than the upstairs. It is HORRIBLE.

Sunday Morning - 4.45AM
Chris googles "burnt onion smell in house" and that doesn't help too much.

Sunday Morning - 5AM
We go back to bed - bothered by this crazy smell.

Sunday Morning - 6.30AM
The house smells like a skunk.
We all get up, get dressed, don't do our hair, don't shave, get the quickest Sunday Pictures ever, and get in the car and go to the church building. (We are there over 30 minutes early!)

Sunday Morning - 8.55AM
Worship is about to start and my good friend Jeanna comes in. She sits behind us and I tell her "I have been waiting for a good friend - I have to ask you something." She says "OK, no problem. What is it? .... Hey, do you smell that??"

OH... That was the question. Do we smell? Yes, yes, we smell like a skunk. Gross!

SO - DRAMA #2 - We smell like a skunk and everything in our house smells like a skunk. We boil some vinegar (Thanks for the Tip, Sharon and David) which has helped but it is still there. We are not sure if the skunk sprayed the crawl space or our unit.

According to a guy whose expertise is in this kind of thing (and who was nice enough to put in this trap for us to try to catch the skunk)

- it was pretty impossible to get into our crawl space and since it is worse downstairs than up and our downstairs unit is outside - I think it sprayed our unit. This means we have to wait for it to circulate into and outof our house enough to go away! JOY! GROSS!

Now you know why there was no blogging for a few days.... CRAZINESS!
And now you know why we may not invite you over to the house for a while - please don't be offended - it is not you. It is REALLY us!

Our Sunday Pictures

Why are our Sunday pictures a little crazy?

Why are our Sunday pictures late?

Why did I go 5 days without blogging last week?

Upcoming Post will reveal!!

Craziness in the CMD Family!

Menu Plan Monday

For Christmas Chris and I received a year membership to Costco. SO, Saturday we decided to go and see if there were some things that we could stock up on at a cheaper price. We found Boneless Skinless Chicken Breast, Bananas, Cheerios and Napkins at a great price! SO this week we went over our budget on purpose. I am hoping that for the next 4 or 5 weeks I can keep the budget between $50 and $55 because of the stocking up! We will see how it works.

At Costco we spent $46.41
At Aldi we spent $11.68
At Kroger we spent $43.07
For a total of $101.16

I was very pleased with this - I was expecting to spend double the budget!

My friend Kathy does a menu plan for a month. I am wondering if I could do that and shop at Costco and really come out cheaper. I am contemplating trying it. What do you think?

OK OK OK ..... Finally ..... Here is the menu:

Monday: Tuna Helper, Lima Beans
Tuesday: Chicken Enchiladas, Spanish Rice, Mexicorn (wasn't able to do this last week)
Wednesday: 4 Can Black Bean Chili
Thursday: Parmesan Crusted Chicken, Squash Casserole, Green Beans
Friday: Frito Salad, Leftovers
Saturday: Soup and Grilled Cheese
Sunday: Supper at the Church Building with Edification Team!

To see other's menu plans check out Org Junkie! (There are lots of ideas there!)

I AM A WINNER!

Yipppeeeeee!

SO, a couple of weeks ago I decide to browse the Bloggy Giveaways blog. If you don't ever browse this - you really should. It is fun. I entered a giveaway (I think there is one every day!) and I Won.

I won 36 notecards and 40 return address stickers from Penny People Designs. You should check them out if you are looking for some personalized paper. They have really cute designs!

Then, last week was the Bloggy Giveaway carnival. I did my best to enter all the giveaways that I was interested in but there were over 1400 and I didn't have time to look at every one, even though I would have loved to. I entered about 40 or so, I would say, and I won one!!

I won 4 EBooks from CheapCooking.com. One is Money Saving Recipes, one is about slashing your grocery bill, and the other two are recipe books for chicken and side dishes. What Fun!!

Next time you see me, I will answer to "Winner!" he he he he he!