I’ve been in a bit of a blog funk. Dunno…. Kinda bored… not motivated… allergies, that kinda thing.
Oh well, I decided that today I would do a blog anyway. 
The best way to get energy is to give energy! Right?
Qade and Myles have been cracking us up lately with their own special takes on Spiritual things! Oh to have the faith of a child! This past Sunday their teacher told me that while the lady was reading the story, she said, “God can set you free! Do you want to be free?” and Myles piped up, “I want to be four!” LOL!!! I’m glad she told me about that. It made me smile! Qade went on to inform us that “Gothrow painted the lamp with blood” keep in mind they have been learning about Moses and the plagues. We really couldn’t understand what this was, so I asked him, “Was it a lamb?” (thinking passover, ya know) Qade said, “No, it was a lamp.” Hmmmmmm?????
Anyway they keep us on our toes. I’ve been reading the boys Bible stories from the Jesus Bible Story Book (love that one!) and the other day we got to the story of Jon the baptist, and the boys were all enthralled with the concept that he ate “hoppers” and honey! Ha ha ha!! They might not have caught the part about him baptizing Jesus, but they know he ate hoppers!
It’s funny that when we listen to the Jungle Jam story of “Nermal and the Ark” Qade always goes to the bathtub and brings out the boat that they play with in there. He’ll park his cars along the “deck” and drive the boat all along the floor as he listens to the story. It amazed me the fist time we listened to it when he said to no one in particular, “Jonah said no, but Noah said yes!” !!! Truth sinks in even when we don’t think they are paying attention.
Yesterday I hunkered down and got 3 monthly menus planned. Sept Oct and Nov are done!! Woo-hoooo!!! It was a little on the depressing side for me as I realized that Summer is done, and Fall is on it’s way. *sigh* I just started to get thawed out, what’s up with that!? In fact for the most of summer, I still wore a sweatshirt all morning inside. Oh well, ya can’t change the weather I suppose.
Anyway, it was a bit of a challenge on that many menus, but it really wasn’t THAT hard once I got into it. I had my “leftover day” which I switched from Thurs to Tues since I’ve been doing Zumba on Tuesdays! (more on that later) And I worked on having “Meatless Monday” each week too. Then I threw in a “crock pot” day for each week, and a “soup day” for nearly each week. It starts to get really easy then. There are, of course, repeat dishes, but if you think about it, you probably eat the same things over again anyway. So I threw in the favorites a few times, sprinkled in some “new” recipes and had my “breakfast for dinner’ a couple times a month, and voila! It’s done!
It really is amazing how much pressure it takes off to have the menu there and know exactly what will be for dinner. It also takes a lot of stress out of shopping. On grocery days, I just look at that week’s menu, check the cabinets/freezer for ingredients, and add what I need to the list. Easy-peasy! It also helps me know what I may need to do ahead of time. Like if I see “crock pot chili” on the menu for the next night, I’ll know I need to soak some beans overnight. I like to keep it simple, and then do my experiments on different and new baking items or special stuff.
We eat different foods in the fall/winter than in the summer, so the first thing I did was sort the recipes that I wanted to use from the ones I wouldn’t. Then just plugged them into the menu. I simply LOVE soups and stews and chili in the fall and winter, so that worked out well to have at least one “soup” day a week. I’m so glad that Stu loves those foods as well!! (Except for the corn chowder fiasco, but we don’t have to drag that up! LOL)
The last 2 Tuesdays I’ve been going to a Zumba class in ‘town.’ I have a friend who has been going with me, for moral support so that I don’t feel like the only clown in the class. 
It’s a great exercise!! The class goes about 55 minutes, but it really doesn’t feel that long. Last night I felt like I was catching on a bit better. I could certainly tell when I was in the rhythm, but I have a long way to go! Ha ha! But it’s fun, and exercise and a way to get out of the house and a break from kiddos too! I think I’ll really enjoy it!
Stu took the monkeys and our Punky Munkin for a hike last night while I was gone. They all seemed to have a really good time, though Ella seemed a bit more “ready” for her nap this morning. Guess that hiking really did her in. Ha!
SO that’s kinda what I’ve been up to. The Fall-time allergies have kicked in, so that is NO fun, but I’m thankful for the little white pills that are supposed to help…. they can start helping any old time too! Hope you are having a fun week!
Toodle-oodles!
