Greeting! Yup, it's that time of the week again! Time to whip out those meal plans and figure out what to feed to the starving masses that live in our homes! I asked my husband what he wanted to eat most this week, so it's a bit more "beef" heavy than normal, but that's fine by me! (I'll make it up next week with lots of fish and veggies!)

Monday: Saucy Beef Stir-Fry. I haven't tried this one before, but I'm going with This Recipe. Although, I can already tell you that I'll be changing things up a little.

Tuesday: Stuffed Baked Potatoes. (always a winner)

Wednesday: A Frontier Soup. I'm super excited to try and review one of these soups! Jacob is looking forward to helping me cook this dinner!

Thursday: Beef Stroganoff (possibly, my husband's favorite meal)

Friday: Baked tilapia, rice & broccoli

Saturday: Left-overs!



That's what we'll be dining on this week! How about you?

The First Day... in the books

(catch up post! the first day of school was a month ago! yikes!)

Well, we did it!

The first day of Kindergarten is officially in the books.

And, all I can say is... 6am is a beast. Especially, if you're the neurotic mom that has been up most of the night praying for her sweet little cherub who is about to go off into the big bad world of Kindergarten.... not that I would know anything about that.

::Ahem::

We got up and had breakfast and I made Jacob's lunch and put it in his brand new Ninja Turtle lunch box... that went into his brand new Ninja Turtle backpack. Listen, I have no idea where this new obsession had come from. The child has never even seen an episode of the Ninja Turtles.

I picked out his clothing. And, hooray for uniforms! Makes the whole morning/getting ready thing so much easier!

And, before I knew it, it was time to be off!


Here's Mr Scholar, sitting at his desk. Well, his space. They don't have traditional desks in his Kinder class, just big circle tables. If the smile looks a little forced.... it is. He was nervous.

(pardon the rest of the pictures! It was muggy and icky outside. My iPHONE camera was not having it's best picture day.)

Yup, the traditional First Day of School picture in front of our front door.

Me and Him, about to walk to school. I love that his school is in walking distance! Carpool lines are from the depths of Hell.

I wasn't quite sure what in the world I was going to do all day without Jacob! Fortunately, E stayed home and we went grocery shopping and hung out with the Tiny Human until it was time to retrieve Big Brother from school. It was quite warm and muggy as we all walked back home, but Jacob was full of stories about his teacher (She's pretty) and his new friends.

And, after a snack, he wanted to know all about earthquakes.
So, E pulled out Jacob's soccer ball & they had a short science lesson before going outside to play!





We had hot dogs for dinner, as per the request of the new school boy.
And, he was tired that night! He barely made it all the way to bedtime. I'm pretty sure he was asleep before his head it the pillow!
As first days go, this was one was pretty cool.

Kari Jobe- The Majestic Tour

I just want to go ahead and say for the record......I Love Music !!!!!

When I was growing up, music was what moved my soul. I believed then and I believe now there is a song for every situation, every mood, and every moment in my day. A very large part of my life is my love for Christ so finding music that reflects and pours out that love is one of the more satisfying "music moments" for me.

One of my favorite Christian artists is Kari Jobe. Have you heard Kari and her songs? You should. She's a gal from a town within driving distance of my hometown and began leading worship at her church at age 13. She's toured with Chris Tomlin, Winter Jam Tour Spectacular, Hillsong  and Passion tours. She also has a GRAMMY nomination and a DOVE award under her belt.

But what I love most about her music is that, at it's core, it's worship driven. That's the kind of music I gravitate to.......music that reminds me just who the God of the Universe is. Songs that make much of Him, such as "Healer,"  focus me and help me lock in on my thoughts and feelings toward God. The song, "The Cross is My Confession," sings of the marvelous and amazing truth of what the Cross of Christ does and means for me. It's a powerful anthem for my life.

I am so excited that Kari Jobe is kicking off her new tour with the release of her latest album, MAJESTIC. This album was recorded live at the Majestic Theater, here in Dallas, Texas. It's an amazing live worship album with new material that, I believe, listeners will fall in love with as they worship and praise God.

I'm thrilled to say I get to be in the audience when her tour swings through my area in October! I'll be Tweeting and sharing photos and thoughts about the concert!

Trust me when I say you do not want to miss this! Check out the link below and see if the Majestic Tour is coming to a city near you!


Kari Jobe

The Majestic Tour

Do You Remember?

I was 20 years old and attending community college.

I remember getting up and starting to get ready for school that morning. I was living with my parents and grandmother in my parents' home. I had over slept my alarm (again) and was hurrying to get ready for my Psychology class. I walked out of my bedroom and into the living room, on my way to the kitchen for some coffee. My grandmother was watching the tv with an odd look on her face.

I asked her what was wrong and she pointed to the television.

I glanced over at the screen just in time to see the second plane hit the second tower of the World Trade Center.

I will never, ever forget that moment.

The rest of that day is a blur of horror as everything unfolded and the truth that our country and our people had been attacked became clear. Evil had walked right up to us and sucker punched us.

That day. That moment. It changed every single facet of life. It changed the way we think. It changed the way we viewed the world around us. I think it humbled us. We realized that the bad things we saw around the world could, and would, happen here. So many lessons were taught that day. I hope we learned them.

I've gone back and forth in my feelings and response to that day. 
Sometimes, I feel like this...



and then, other times... it's more like this..




I'm a bit amazed that 13 years have passed since that morning. SO much has happened in that span of time. Marriages, divorces... babies have been born, including my two babies. Job changes. Life changes. Life goes on.

But some things should never be forgotten. Some things, I never want to forget.... no matter how much I wish they never happened. This day is one of those things.