Menu Plan Monday

I'm finding that this menu plan thing is really working for me. It was hard to get into the habit, but it save so much time (and money!) by planning ahead. If you haven't done it before, I encourage you to try it!

I've added lunch menus to my planning since we now live close enough to where my husband works that he can come home for lunch. And I'm also adding a "tea" menu (see previous post)!

Monday~~
Lunch: baked potato, butter, sour cream, bacon bits, cheese, broccoli
Tea: tuna salad sandwiches, orange slices, peanut butter cookies
Supper: chicken enchiladas, spanish rice

Tuesday~~
Lunch: Li'l Smokies in barbecue sauce, macaroni and cheese, sliced apples
Tea: cream cheese sandwiches, celery sticks, coffee cake
Supper: tater tot casserole, corn

Wednesday~~
Lunch: turkey sandwiches, cottage cheese, pineapple slices
Tea: egg salad sandwiches, carrots, cookies
Supper: chili dogs, cheese, crackers

Thursday~~
Lunch: ham sandwiches, chips, canned pears
Tea: scones with mock devonshire cream, pretzels, bananas
Supper: taco soup, tortilla chips, salsa

Friday~~
Lunch: grilled cheese sandwiches, tomato soup, celery with peanut butter
Tea: PB&J sandwiches, cheese crackers, apple slices
Supper: rice supreme casserole

Decora-a-Tea

This week's theme on the Gracious Hospitali-Tea Blog-a-thon is to share ideas and pictures that incorporate tea and/or tea themes into home decor.

Now, as you no doubt realize, my home is not all put together yet from our move... and my decorating is not complete. (But then, is it ever?) But here are a few pictures that go along with this week's theme.

First, my violet tea "set" that I told about in January. I have it on the mantle of my "faux" fireplace in the living room. My mother added a piece while she was here. She found the little pitcher night-light/scent-warmer that fits right in, while we were out shopping. I put rose-scented oil in it for now, because that's what I have... but I'd like to find violet-scented oil for it if I can. I also want to add some taper candles and greenery to this grouping, but for now it is simply the tea-set on a doily.
For some reason this Precious Moments figurine always makes me think of tea-time. The name of it is "You are Always There for Me"... and it portrays one little girl comforting another. Good friends, a listening ear, a hanky (if needed), and a cup of tea... isn't that what tea-time is all about?
Last week I quoted from Anne of Green Gables for my Liter-a-Tea post. Well, I found the neatest book this week: The Anne of Green Gables Treasury. One chapter in the book was all about tea-time. It even gave a typical menu, listing four courses: sandwiches, biscuits and jam, cookies or fruitcake, and dessert. I'll probably share some more of the ideas later, but I decided that my girls and I should start having tea every day! We usually eat lunch around noon, but often supper isn't until 8:00 p.m. or later, so of course we get hungry in between and do a lot of snacking. More than we should, I'm sure. So I told the girls that we will start having tea at 4:00 p.m. and cut out all this between-meals snacking. They loved that idea, and I think it will be a fun memory for them, as well as a practical idea. I plan to add either fresh fruit or veggies as a substitute for the dessert course. I just don't see the need for a cookies and fruitcake course, followed by a dessert course! LOL! And just as Marilla didn't let Anne use the rosebud-spray tea set for her tea with Diana, we won't be using the violet tea set for every day. Instead, we have this friendly little fat stoneware tea-pot that matches my Pfaltzgraff Yorktowne dishes.

Spring?? Really. Where?

"What with all this snow and one thing and another,
not to mention icicles and such-like,
it isn't so Hot in my field
about three o'clock in the morning."
-Eeyore

This is what it looks like outside my front door this morning.

This was taken yesterday morning.
I'm trying to decide what kind of "tree" that is.
I'm hopeful it's a dogwood.
Can anybody tell for sure?

The White Sisters (Follow-up Post)

Do you remember back in January when I posted about my sisters and my aunt and I pretending to be The White Sisters? (Click here to read it, if you missed it.) It was a fun memory... and brought a lot of chuckles as we talked it over again. In our little-girl minds The White Sisters were big celebrities, so I was very excited to get an email last week from Fay White! Check it out...

Hello Karla,

One of my family members found your site today and forwarded it to us.

The article on the trio is so special and we were blessed!

Your website is very interesting and I look forward to going there again.

My sisters and I all live in Brooksville, Fl. and are together so much. Our health has not been real great for a few weeks but up until then we were singing in our church "The Wesleyan Church." The Lord has continued to use our music via CD's or articles like yours.

It was soooo special. Thank you,

Fay for Joyce and Janet
The White Sisters

Imagine that!!! I feel almost-famous myself!

Thursday Thirteen - Edition #20 - H

Continuing with my alphabet theme, here are 13 things in my life that start with the letter H:

1. Heaven. So grateful that "this world is not my home"!
   
2. Hebrews 11. I memorized it the summer of 2003. Unfortunately, my "middle-aged" brain doesn't retain it as well as the verses and chapters I memorized as a child. I need to brush up on it again. Wonderful account of the heroes of the faith!
   
3. Heirlooms. The few I have are not worth much monetarily, but I cherish them because of the memories and the heritage they represent. Speaking of which...
   
4. Heritage. I am also grateful for the Godly example set by my parents, grandparents, and great-parents... and no doubt even earlier generations that I never knew.
   
5. Highways. Let's go! You never know what adventure awaits over the next hill or around the next bend!
   
6. History. One of my favorite subjects.
   
7. Hobbies. Let's see... reading, writing, blogging, crocheting, knitting, old time radio, genealogy, camping, road trips... just to name a few of the main ones... oh, and did I happen to mention reading?
   
8. Holiness. "...without which no man shall see the Lord."
9. Homemaking. It seems I'm always striving to do a better job of this.
   
10. Homeschooling. Something I never imagined I would do... yet now I can't imagine raising my kids any other way.
    
11. Husband. My best friend and the love of my life.
    
12. Hymns. My favorite kind of music.
    

A Gang of Elk

"Watching the scenery" is one of my favorite things about road-trips, or even just "going for a drive." My husband loves to drive, and I like to ride along to look out the window, so that works out well. Early in our marriage, when we couldn't afford to do anything else, we would just go for a drive for something to do. With the price of gas skyrocketing these days, our pleasure drives are beginning to fall in the "luxury" category. But I digress. I was talking about the lovely scenery.

We love to watch for wildlife on our drives, and the other evening as we drove to the airport to pick up my parents we saw several herds of deer along the highway. We estimated there were probably 50 deer in all! At a certain time of the evening, you can almost always count on seeing deer if you're out-and-about at all in our area. It was unusual to see that many, though, unless maybe we just hadn't been on that stretch of road at that time of day before. I don't know. But I got to wondering if "herd" was the proper term for a group of deer. So I looked it up... yes, "herd" is acceptable, but a group of deer can also be called a "leash" or a "mob." A leash?? Wonder where that came from? That makes no sense! I like "mob." So. Yes, we saw several mobs of deer the other night.

Then just this past Saturday we were excited to spot a herd of elk along the road between our old house and our new house! Elk sightings are more rare than deer sightings, especially this close to town, and especially a whole "gang" of them all at once! Yes, a group of elk can be called a "gang"! We wondered if vegetation had gotten scarce up in the mountains due to fresh snowfall and so they had come closer in to graze. In any case, it was exciting to see them!

We also like to watch for moose, but they are more rare even than elk, and unless you count the mother and her baby we saw together last summer, we've never seen a group of moose. What would they be called? Meese? Hmmm... I doubt it... Maybe a "maggle"? You know... a gaggle of geese, so a maggle of meese? Nah. That's just plum silly.

Off to look it up.

Oh, how boring. A herd. That's it.

What a let-down! We have a "mob" of deer and a "gang" of elk, but just a plain ol' "herd" of moose?

..::sigh::..

Gracious Hospital-i-Tea Blog-a-Thon

Oooh! I found another blog theme I want to participate in! LaTeaDah at Gracious Hospitality is hosting a tea-themed meme with a different topic each week through May. I missed the first week, but she said it was okay to join late... and the theme of the second week is right down my alley, so I'm going to jump in with "Litera-Tea"-- tea from the perspective of literature.

One of my all-time favorite authors is L.M. Montgomery who wrote the Anne of Green Gables books. The stories are set during the era when afternoon tea was a daily ritual. I love the chapter where Marilla (Anne's guardian) tells Anne she may invite her "bosom friend," Diana, over for tea while Marilla is out for the day. If you know Anne, you'll remember how excited she was...

"I can just imagine myself sitting down at the head of the table and pouring out the tea," said Anne, shutting her eyes ecstatically. "And asking Diana if she takes sugar! I know she doesn't but of course I'll ask her just as if I didn't know. And then pressing her to take another piece of fruit cake and another helping of preserves. Oh, Marilla, it's a wonderful sensation just to think of it. Can I take her into the spare room to lay off her hat when she comes? And then into the parlor to sit?"
--Anne of Green Gables, L.M. Montgomery

Thursday Thirteen - Edition #19

I'll return to my alphabet theme next week. But since my posts have been sparse this week, I thought I'd share 13 things we've done in the past few days!

1. Moved all our furniture from the old house to the new house on Saturday (with the help of half-a-dozen or so friends, and my parents)! We really appreciated the help!
2. Started sleeping at the new house on Saturday night.
3. Painted and decorated the kids' bedrooms. This was mainly my dad's project! They look so cute. One bedroom is lavender, green, and blue with big splashy flower decals. Suits our teen daughter perfectly. Our pre-teen's room has a "horse" theme to fit her interests. We painted the lower half of her walls green (for the pasture) and the upper half blue (for the sky) with sponged on "clouds" around the top. My mother made her a comforter of a horse print fabric.
4. Got drapes hung in the living room, and curtains in several other rooms.
5. Unpacked most of the boxes labeled "kitchen" and got it set up. My new kitchen is not large but I love it!
6. Decorated the bathrooms. The upstairs bathroom has a English garden feel... and the downstairs bathroom has a North Woods/camp theme. (My decorating style is eclectic, if nothing else! Ha.)
7. Decorated the living room. Unpacked some "pretties" that have been packed away for years because I didn't have a place to display them. Some I had forgotten I had.
   
8. Set up my desk so I could have internet access and be able to work and blog!
9. Visited fast and furiously with my parents while we worked. They left this morning. We will miss them.
   
10. Took an impromptu spring break from homeschooling.
11. Enjoyed having my husband come home for lunch every day now that we live only 2 miles from where he works. (The best feature of the new house!)
12. Enjoyed the beautiful views of the mountains from the kitchen window (looking west, so beautiful sunsets!)... and the picture window in the living room (which faces east, and my dad tells me has a good view of the sunrise... but I haven't been up early enough to witness it yet!).
13. Got the pets moved and situated. The dog doesn't care. She is beside-herself-happy to be just wherever we are. The fish don't care. At least, if they do, they haven't said so! But, the cat... oh, the cat is quite put out with us. Moving was not a good idea at all in her mind! She's been mostly cowering in the garage wishing she was "home". The kids said she is finally beginning to venture out into the yard for short periods this morning.

I'll post pictures soon!

Welcome to our new home!

My Show & Tell for this week is going to be more show than tell. My regular blog readers have been following the ongoing saga of the ups-and-downs of buying a house the past 3 weeks... and I am very happy to report that we are now officially homeowners! The slide show is a collection of pictures the way the house looks right now. Tomorrow it will be full of boxes! I'll take more pictures as we get settled and get things fixed up pretty!

Thursday Thirteen - Edition #18 - G

Continuing with my alphabet theme, here are 13 things in my life that start with the letter G:

1. Garrett. My sweet nephew.
2. General Store. Aren't old-timey little stores just so interesting? My kitchen has (will have) a general store theme.
3. Generosity. One of husband's best traits.
4. Genealogy. I am fascinated with family history.
5. Geranium. Such a cheerful flower that I enjoy growing in the summer. One year I brought one in the house for the winter and it bloomed again the next summer. It didn't survive the second winter, but I have one from last summer that looks like it's going to make it through this winter. Wonder if I can keep it a second winter?
6. Geocaching. A fun family hobby. Check it out here.
7. Gingham. One of my favorite fabrics. I especially like red checks!
8. Girls. Fun to be and fun to parent!
9. Gold Rush. My Great-great-great-grandfather Easley went west (from Arkansas) for the California Gold Rush in 1850. He only made it as far as Utah where he died of drinking alkali water. His son, my great-great-grandfather, was only 2. Isn't that an interesting story? That's why I like genealogy! Our ancestors actually lived history!
10. GPS. A really cool gadget we enjoy on road trips (and geocaching).
11. Grammy. What my kids call my mother.
12. Grandparents. I have been privileged to know all 4 of mine, as well as 3 of my great-grandparents.
13. Grateful. I am so blessed! I try to live with an attitude of gratitude.
    

Forever Stamps

Did you know that postage is going to go up again in May? A first-class stamp will cost 42 cents after May 12. I s'pose it shows my age to say I remember when you could mail a letter for 8 cents. I think it was 13 cents when I first starting writing letters at age 12 or so. By the time I got married, it was 22 cents.

Anyway... do you know about the Forever stamps? Last year when postage went up to 41 cents the post office started selling these Liberty Bell "Forever" stamps for 41 cents each. Big deal, huh? Well, the cool thing is, they will always (forever, supposedly) be good for mailing a first-class letter no matter what the current price of postage is. So, you can stock up now for 41 cents a piece, but use them to mail letters even after the price goes up to 42 cents (or more in the future). Cool, huh?

Saving money on postage... works for me!

"More of Him" Monday

Last week I posted about the stress of buying a house, the ups and downs with the bank, but how the Lord had given me peace in spite of all the uncertainty. Well, the details are falling into place, and Lord willing, we will be moving this weekend. But... even with God so obviously working out the details, I still want to worry. What if we can't handle the payments? What if we're making a mistake? Yeah, I'm a worrier... I come by it honestly... but I do fight it!

This week in my devotions I was reading about Moses and the children of Israel. They were getting ready to enter the Promised Land after wandering around for 40 years. Just before they crossed the Jordan, Moses gathered them around for "a little talkin' to"! He reminded them of how the previous generation didn't get to live in the Promised Land... just because they worried too much!! (Ouch!) He had told them:

Look, the Lord your God has set the land before you; go up and possess it, as the Lord God of your fathers has spoken to you; do not fear or be discouraged. Deuteronomy 1:21 (NKJV)

God told them to go! He promised He would be with them! But they took one look at that beautiful place and were too afraid of the giants, and lost it all. What a sad story. Another verse later in the chapter says:

...The Lord your God... went in the way before you to search out a place for you to pitch your tents, to show you the way you should go... Deuteronomy 1:33 (NKJV)

Aren't you glad that is still true for all God's children? He goes before us and shows us the way! We can trust Him!

Menu Plan Monday

This is going to be a crazy week, as we get ready to move. (Closing on our house is scheduled for this Friday! Yikes!) Also, it just happens to be the week my parents are coming to see us. It's been 2 years since they've been here, and this visit has been on our calendar since last summer... Fortunately, they are no strangers to moving, so hopefully we can enjoy visiting amongst the chaos! In any case, it seems like a good idea to take the time to make out my menu plan now so I don't have to figure out meals on the fly throughout the week. Needless to say, they will be quick and easy!

Monday: grilled cheese sandwiches, tomato soup
Tuesday: chili dogs, tater tots, cole slaw
Wednesday: ham sandwiches, chips, fruit
Thursday: frozen lasagna, green beans, tossed salad
Friday: barbecued Li'l Smokies, macaroni and cheese, broccoli
Saturday (moving day): sub sandwiches, chips, raw veggies
Sunday: turkey breast, cheesy potatoes, green bean casserole

One Word Fun

Here's a game a friend sent to me by email. I thought it would be fun to post it on my blog. Please play along, and copy it to your blog. If you do, let me know. I'd love to read the answers you come up with!

You can only type ONE Word! Not as easy as you might think. Now copy or forward, change the answers to suit you and pass it on. It's really hard to only use one word answers.

1. Where is your cell phone? CHARGING
2. Your hair? LONG
3. Your mother? SWEET
4. Your father? LOVING
5. Your favorite thing? FAMILY
6. Your dream last night? WEIRD
7. Your favorite drink? LATTE
8. Your dream/goal? TRAVEL
9. The room you're in? OFFICE
10. Your hobby? WORDS
11. Your fear? SNAKES
12. Where do you want to be in 6 years? HOME
13. Where were you last night? COEURD'ALENE
14. What you're not? FASHIONABLE
15. Muffins? POPPYSEED
16. One of your wish list items? BOOKS
17. Where you grew up? PARSONAGE
18. The last thing you did? EXERCISE
19. What are you wearing? JUMPER
20. Your TV? OFF
21. Your pets? CUTE
22. Your computer? NECESSARY
23. Your life? CONTENTED
24. Your mood! EXCITED
25. Missing someone? SOMETIMES
26. Your car? MATRIX
27. Something you're not wearing? JEWELRY
28. Favorite store? THRIFT
29. Your summer? FUN
30. Like someone? YES
31. Your favorite color? RED
32. When is the last time you laughed? TODAY
33. Last time you cried? FRIDAY
34. Who will resend this? YOU

My Mother's Gloves

In honor of my parents' anniversary this week, I thought I would show you my mother's "going-away" gloves, which she gave me as a keepsake a few years ago, only if I promised to treasure them! (And, oh, I do!)

I love the detail on the edge... the delicate stitching and eyelet cut-outs... and such a pretty pale blue color. She wore them with her brown "going-away" suit that she changed into from her bridal gown.

I found this picture of Mother and Dad as they were getting ready to leave on their "honeymoon" but I was disappointed that she doesn't have the gloves on in the picture. Mother tells me that no well-dressed young lady ever left the house without her gloves and hat, so I can only assume that she just hadn't put them on yet because she wasn't yet going out. But perhaps she can clear up the mystery for us!

Mother, is there more "tell" to this Show & Tell? (To my other readers, my mother posts as "pse" so look for her comment to see if she has the "rest of the story"!)

Update: She did tell a little more about it! And she sent another picture, showing the gloves and the matching hat. (And, oh, my! How my dad looks like my youngest brother in that picture!)

Thursday Thirteen - Edition #17 - "F"

Continuing with my alphabet theme, here are 13 things in my life that start with the letter F:

1. Faith. The most important thing in my life is my faith in Jesus Christ.
   
2. Family. I have a very interesting, very large, extended family.
3. Feather pillow. I can't sleep without it. If I'm going to be away from home at night, I take mine with me.
   
4. Fiction. I love a good story.
5. Fire. I enjoy campfires and fireplaces.
6. Forest. 75% of Idaho is National Forest land. (Incredible, huh?) We love to go camping, hiking and exploring in the forests.
7. Forty-two. My age. :o)
   
8. Four. My immediate family.
   
9. Freebies. Aren't they fun?
   
10. French. My husband's heritage on his mother's side.
11. Friends. It's great to be able to keep in touch through blogging.
    
12. Frost, Robert. My favorite poet.
13. Frugal. I like to think of it as being a good steward.
    

Happy Anniversary to my parents...

My parents have been married 43 years today! I am so grateful for their living example of how a perfect marriage works! Do me a favor and pop over to Daddy's blog (ozarkcountryparson.blogspot.com) and leave a comment for them. It would make their day! Thanks so much!

So that explains it!

I love getting mail, don't you? Good mail, that is. Letters and packages. Here's something I received in the mail last week that just made my day! My dear friend, Farrah, sent me this whimsical "Laini's Lady" ornament. She has on a red polka-dot dress, a satin ribbon sash, bead "shoes" and is expressing such exuberance! But read that quote: "She is too fond of books, and it has addled her brain. -Louisa May Alcott"!! Does that describe anybody you know? I can't imagine who!

It makes me smile every time I look at it. I had to hang it on my desk for now, just so I could admire it. Thanks so much, Farrah! I just love it!

"More of Him" Monday

As I was considering what to post for this Monday, I remembered the Monday meme, More of Him, that Farrah had discovered last week. The premise is to share either a scripture passage or particular event when you felt God speaking to you.

Last week I shared about the house that we are in the process of buying. We have sensed the Lord's leading in this direction and have been trusting Him to work out the details. That trust was put to the test this weekend! We got an email from the bank late Friday afternoon that there has been a glitch in our loan application. The bank had pre-qualified us before we ever made an offer on the house, but apparently they have now discovered that, based on our income, we don't qualify for the type of loan we had first applied for. The banker said he would need to see what else was available, but the terms will probably not be as good as we were first quoted. What in the world does that mean? What if we don't agree to the new terms? And what a thing to throw at us on a Friday evening for us to have to stew about all weekend!! You can imagine all the things that have been going through our minds all weekend. What if we have to come up with more money? What if we don't get the house? What if we have to keep renting?

All the what if's... and uncertainties...

But you know what? God is still in control. He reminded me again (as He has many times before) that the only thing I ever truly want is His will. In all things. If it's God will for us to get this house, we will. And if it isn't His will, then I don't want it. So that settles it. I'm at peace, either way.

(Just wish I knew which way it's going to go! In His time, Karla. In His time.)