Away

Hi everyone!
I'm leaving in about five minutes for family camp. It will last ten days. I will not have internet access, hence, no blogging. Toodaloo!

Writer's Workshop ~ Time out!

I remember putting my nose in the corner a good many times when I was a child. Although then, it was a punishment to be away from everything and everyone, now sometimes, a time out is just what I need.


Yesterday, I needed a time out badly. I woke up on the wrong side of the bed. I was a hormonal mess for some reason. I wanted to cry most of the day, and at the same time, I felt super angry. I spent time praying, and that helped my mind, but my emotions were . . . emotional!


What a nice thing it would have been for Jason to have come home, looked at me, and said, "That's it! You are in time out! Go away to a corner somewhere and think."


I wouldn't have even said, "But Jason, can't I make supper and do the dishes?" I wouldn't have asked, "Do I have to?"


I would have gladly taken myself to the corner of my bedroom. There is a bookshelf there. I would have chosen a book and read myself into another world.

I would have taken myself to the corner of my bathroom without complaining. That's where our nice big garden tub is. I have candles sitting around it, and bubble bath on a stand right next to it.


I would have taken myself to the corner of town to the local ice cream shop. An ice cream cone can make most days a little brighter.


I would have taken myself to the corner of our guestroom. I would have laid down on that cozy bed and taken a nap.


Any of those corners would have been fine. However, life doesn't stop on our bad days, so instead, I took myself to the corner of the kitchen, made supper for my amazing husband, who patiently put up with my tears, and my emotions that I absolutely could not explain.

Next time, though. I'm just going to take a time out!

When is the last time you put yourself in the corner or gave yourself time out? Treat yourself like the special person you are!



** This post is part of MamaKat's Writer's Workshop! Check it out by clicking the button at the top of this post.

Technology

The other day I went to do some laminating at our school office. The secretary wasn’t there, but I wanted to jot her a quick note. I started to write her a note, wondering why it felt so awkward. Then it dawned on me. That was the first time I had written anything in cursive all summer! Bad teacher! My to do list is on my computer. My correspondence is on my computer. My grocery list is on my computer. My journal is on my computer. I am so accustomed to typing, emailing, and so on, that it is very rare that I write anything during the summer.

Technology has become such a part of our lives that we don’t use some of the things we grew up using nearly every day. What are some of the things that you never do anymore? Do you find yourself not writing things as often? Do you think that relying so heavily on technology is a good thing?

Banana Muffins

I am so very unhappy with myself for deleting the pictures I had taken to go with this post! They were beautiful. Oops.

So you’ll have to settle with this one that I borrowed from tasteofhome.com

Ingredients:

1 egg

1/3 cup vegetable oil

3/4 cup sugar

3 medium ripe bananas, mashed

2 cups flour

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/2 cup oats

3/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup chocolate chips

1/2 cup chopped nuts

 

Directions:

Beat egg, oil, sugar, and vanilla until smooth. Stir in mashed bananas. Combine the dry ingredients (except chips and nuts), stir into banana mixture until moistened. Stir in chocolate chips and nuts (or divide the batch like I did. Half was nutty for my husband, and half was sweet, with chips, for me.)

Fill greased muffin cups three-fourths full. Bake at 375 for 18-20 minutes.

 

 

These were absolutely delicious. The oats gave them a fullness, and added a lot to the texture! You’ve got to try them!

Book Review 100 Prayers 100 Praise Songs

This is the most recent book I received from BookSneeze. I had originally planned to review it and then give it to one of my 5 nephews as a gift. I changed my mind, though. I am definitely keeping this book for myself and for the children I hope to have in the future.

When I first opened the package this morning, the bright colors interested me immediately. I quickly pulled out the two cds that are included and popped them into my cd player. The praise songs on the cds are so fun to listen to, while teaching kids about important parts of faith and prayer.

When I read the description of this book online, I thought that it was simply going to be children's prayers with illustrations to go along. I was wrong. This book is written almost like a devotional for kids. If you go here and click look inside, you can see an example. There are a couple of paragraphs talking about the prayer, the prayer itself, and then a "little prayer reminder". With each prayer, there is a icon that shows which song on the cd goes with that prayer.

This book would be great as a daily devotional for kids, or for a resource when they are facing something specific. Here are some of the topics included:

A School Day Prayer - talks about being a friend, the hurts you sometimes get
Day by Day - Jesus is my friend
A Prayer for My Family - God created families
The Peanut Butter Prayer - Thankfulness for simple things
When I Grow Up - God knows the future
The Puppy Prayer - Prayer is not getting what you want, but wanting what God gives you
A Penny Prayer - Praying for our country

This book teaches children that no matter what, we can talk to God. Each prayer has a colorful illustration.

Book Details: 100 Prayers 100 Praise Songs; written by Stephen Elkins, illustrated by Tim O'Connor; 205 full color pages; includes 2 CDs produced by Stephen Elkins; published by Tommy Nelson (a division of Thomas Nelson Publishers)

My thoughts: I am in love with this book. There is nothing about it that I dislike. The illustrations would keep any child's attention. The material is relevant to people at any age. The songs are well done.

Buy It :
Amazon.com
Thomas Nelson
Christian Book Distributors


**** I was provided with a copy of this book in exchange for providing an honest review. The book was provided by BookSneeze, a book review community. Check it out for yourself!

Menu Plan Monday August 2

Here are my menu plans for the week. Be sure to click on the button at the top of the post to see some more great menu planning ideas! Thanks to Org Junkie for hosting this each week.

Monday – roast, potatoes, carrots

Tuesday – spaghetti

Wednesday – fried chicken, mashed potatoes, gravy

Thursday – hamburger helper

Friday – Leaving for family camp. . . no cooking for me.

New Look!

 

After lots and lots of work, and lots of trial and error, I finally have a blog background that I am thoroughly pleased with. I did all the illustrations myself, and although it was very time consuming, I learned an awful lot.

This is a glimpse of what it looks like for those of you who are reading this in a reader or via email. I’d love for you to stop by and see the whole thing. Let me know what you think.

Winner ~ 250 Custom Stickers

 

Congratulations to Just this. . . Alice who won the 250 custom stickers from UPrinting. The winner has been contacted.

Writer’s Workshop 7-28-10

It has been awhile since I participated in writer’s workshop, but I determined to participate this week. I enjoy writing, and this is a great way to get practice. This week I chose prompt #2: Write a poem for your furry friend. So, here goes.

Try one. . . failed.
You wagged your way into my heart,
It didn’t take long for the waggin’ to start.
We picked you up from your old hood,
We bought you toys and special food.

Try two . . . also failed.
Squeak! You race across the floor.
Squeak! The ball hits the door.
Squeak! You have it in your jaws.
Squeak! You smash it with your paws.

Try three. . . failed.
Eyes of chocolate, heart of gold,
When we got you, three years old.
Fur of white, spots of brown,
You know how to be a clown.
Nose of black, tail that wags,
Playing games that make us brag.
Like to cuddle, that you do,
Especially when we want you to.

I give up. That’s all, folks.

Macaroni Salad

On a hot summer day, when I don’t feel like heating up the house with a bunch of cooking, I whip up a big bowl of macaroni salad. It is quick, easy, and a favorite of my husband. We eat it as a main dish, which works great, especially if you have a meatless meal once a week. It still has protein because of the eggs, and has lots of healthy vegetables.

   

Ingredients: (Please note, I make a fairly large amount, because Jason always gets seconds, and always wants leftovers to take to work the next day. Feel free to reduce this recipe.)

1 cucumber, peeled and cubed

1 green pepper, cubed (Does that make sense? Slice it, and then slice it again the other way.)

1/4 onion diced

4 boiled eggs, cubed

1 lb. macaroni noodles cooked, drained, and rinsed

 

Mayonnaise

Mustard

Lemon juice or vinegar

Sugar

Salt and Pepper

OPTIONAL (I love to add all of these things, but my husband prefers the salad without them.)

1 cup cheese, cubed

1/2 tomato, cubed (Or you could use some red bell pepper, either way, the red makes the dish pop!)

 

Directions:

Cook, drain, and rinse the macaroni.

That pasta needs to chill out!

Boil and cube the eggs.

I took this picture to show the beautiful yellow (not gray) yolks of the eggs. Do you want to know how I do it? Or am I the only one who has ever been frustrated by the little bit of gray that happens when eggs are boiled? (Just so that I can use parentheses again, I had to include this comment. Do you know how hard it is to hold a boiled egg in one hand, a camera in the other, and try to take a decent picture? One word. VERY!)

Chop all the other veggies.

But keep the tomatoes separate if you live with a tomato-hater!

Mix together the macaroni, eggs, and veggies.

Make a lovely yellow sauce of mayonnaise, mustard, lemon juice, sugar, and salt and pepper. This all depends on you and how you like it. My approximate measurements are probably:

1 cup mayonnaise

3 tablespoons mustard

1/4 cup sugar (my husband always adds more)

2 teaspoons lemon juice

1 teaspoon each of salt and pepper

 

We keep the sauce separate from the salad and mix it as we use it. You can also just mix it all together. No matter how you do it, it still tastes fresh and summery.

So, what about you? What is your favorite summer recipe? What do you make to beat the heat? Tell me all about it.

Side note #1 - Wouldn’t you know I spelled parentheses, and mayonnaise right without any problems, but then bombed tomatoes. . . Even teachers mess up sometimes!

Side note #2 – I use a ridiculous amount of parentheses. Have you noticed? Maybe it is because I have to constantly re-pronounce that word for my third and fourth graders when they see it in their tests and textbooks.