Back to Menu Shopping!

I've realized I really need to get back to menu planning...but the really important part for me is menu shopping. Making a menu before I go get groceries allows me to buy things for a list of dinners so I don't have to stand in front of the cupboard wondering why I have no useful ingredients!

There's not really a particular order I'll make these in. Wednesday is crockpot day since we have small group and our evening gets chaotic fast, but other than that I just decide each morning. So here's the recipes I'm shopping for this week: (Most of these link to the recipe)

Chicken and Black Bean Burritos


Sweet and Sour Cabbage Rolls


Baked Potato Soup


Skillet Chicken, Rice, and Green Beans

 Chicken and Avocado Quesadillas

Spinach Lasagna

Other things I may make:

Bacon & Egg Breakfast Casserole
Batch of Dinner Rolls to bag and freeze
Snickerdoodles (this will be on my "want to make" list until it happens!)

"Is She Real?"

I babysit a little 6 year old girl in the afternoons, and tonight we were taking her to her mom's office since we have small group, and I put in one of Parker's cd's. When "Jesus Loves the Little Children" came on, Nikki had lots of questions, and it was a blessing to talk about it with her. And the conversation was pretty cute, so I thought I'd share it:

Nikki: Is she real?

Me: Who? The person who's singing?

Nikki: No, the name they are saying.

Me: Oh, Jesus? Yes he's real, and it's a he not a she. He lived a really long time ago
.
Nikki: And he loves the children? And saved them? So he knows when all the kids are in trouble?

Me: Yes, he does!

Nikki: Oh, well that must be how I got saved from the airplane :)

Randomness!

So here are some random things from our week :)

1. Parker moved to a big boy bed!
 We tried once before with just his crib mattress on the floor & it was a disaster. So we went to the pack-n-play for a while & decided it was time to try again. He's done pretty well adjusting, gets up a little earlier than he should and naps are tough to get him to settle down for, but night time is great!

2. Parker got a table for his birthday!

Even though his bday isn't until next month, I won a gift card from another blog so I decided to us it on this. I'd been wanting one for a while. He loves it and uses it for just about everything. He also loves to push it around the apartment, which is just GREAT! (ha!)

3. Adorable-ness!

All day Parker has been saying "Annie" and I could not figure out what the heck he was talking about. Well....we finally figured out it's "Anthony" from the Wiggles. :) This kid adores those stinkin guys!!!

4. My Dry Skin Remedy!
Well, it's more of a treatment than a remedy, as it does not cure dry skin - it just temporarily relieves it I guess. But Parker's arms and legs get SO dry and lotion does absolutely nothing, so this is what I've been doing and it really really helps!
- A few pumps of Curel
- A glob of Cetaphil (or generic equivalent)
- Baby oil gel
So I put some Curel & Cetaphil in my hands and rub it on his skin. You have to rub it in really well, and then I follow it up by rubbing on some Baby Oil gel. Regular baby oil might work too, but it's alot messier! I haven't tried it for myself yet, but it has been great for Parker. He gets greased up after bath time at night, and then a little extra oil or lotion in the morning if he needs it.



Obedience

I get a devotional type email from a church in Texas, and am always SO challenged by it! Here's a little excerpt that I'm sure I'll be mulling over for a while:

"Though it was for the joy set before Him that Jesus endured the cross (Heb 12:2), His steps toward that cruel cross were not in a lighthearted frame. Furthermore, though He walked resolutely in`to His passion, it was not without the experience of profound and agonizing ambivalence, which He enunciated at Gethsemane. So we say Jesus' obedience was radical in its character because He committed Himself to what He knew
was His Father's will despite His own significant misgivings. He did not insist that His heart be entirely without wistfulness for some other alternative before He would do what was right.

...We also tell it to you to ask a straightforward question: what implications does the radical character of Jesus' obedience have for an issue in your life where your ambivalent feelings might be overshadowing the righteousness of the choice?"

Locked Out

Soooo.... We spent the last hour (and a half?!) in our neighbor across the hall's apartment. Brent was leaving with Parker to take out the trash. Parker started doing these crazy antics in the hall, so I stood in the doorway watching them and when I took a step into the hall and the door closed behind me, I thought, "I sure hope that wasn't locked." And, sure enough....

I SO did not want to tell Brent what I had done! Thankfully we have a friendly lady that lives across the hall who happened to be home tonight. We don't know her very well, but had stopped to chat a few times in the hall. She let us hang out while we tried to get a hold of property management and ultimately the locksmith.

As we sat there and talked, she opened up about some things she's going through, like a divorce and coming out of the military and some issues associated with that and just life pains. Ten seconds and $55 after the locksmith came we came home, and walked across the hall with a new friend and a new perspective.

I'm ashamed to say it took this situation to really get to know this person who lives 4 feet from our front door. I really am. I wonder if God had anything to do with it.... :) It's also kind of funny that Brent did great in tips at work today, $50 to be exact.

Pray BIG!

A lovely blogger named Becca who I love to read, recently made a comment about how when we pray and dream about what God can do, sometimes we do it in a small way. Read it here.

And so that started a sequence of things that has led to God really growing me in the area of prayer. And I love it when that happens! Someone challenges me and then God's uses scripture or circumstances to keep pushing me in a certain area.

Prayer is something I've always had a hard time with in my Christian life. Even to say that or think it or type it sounds weird, because I KNOW how amazing and powerful it is, but I've had a hard time consistently making it a real and intricate part of my life. However, I am beyond thrilled and rejoicing that my Father is growing me in this area!!!!

Now, back to the "Pray BIG!" part.... We have been praying for something in our lives, but it's been in our understanding. And in case you didn't know, our God is able to do exceeding above what we ask or think! Now it's looking like He may be answering our prayers so FAR beyond what we could have thought of on our own or expected. Nothing is for sure, and even if the whole situation falls apart, I've learned that nothing is too big for my God and He loves us and desires to give us even more than we could think to ask.

I didn't take this photo, but it's just too precious not to share!

First Official Act of Fall!

I've decided it can now be fall :) Not only is it October, and the weather is finally starting to cool down, but today we went to the Pumpkin Harvest Festival! I loved spending the morning with my boys in our gorgeous Colorado weather!

It was at Four Mile Historic Park, which we had never been to. It was a really cool place that has Denver's oldest standing structure! There were hay rides, stagecoach rides, a blacksmith, scarecrow making, and all kinds of fun stuff! We didn't feel like standing in line or paying for most of the stuff, but Parker did go in the pumpkin patch.

He's still not 100% since having the stomach flu this week, but he really loved trying to pick up all the big pumpkins and seeing the carriages. The holidays are going to be SO fun with this cute kid this year :)