The Truth

This is an excellent video. I know, I know... its 7 minutes long! But surely while you're browsing facebook or other blogs, you can keep this open and listen to it ;-)

The New Look!

As you can tell, things have changed around here (yet again...!)! I mentioned previously that I was blessed to win a giveaway from Tonya at Safe in HIS Arms for a blog makeover by The Design Girl. This is the result of her hard work!

I love it - its so perfectly "me"! Danielle (the Design Girl) was great to work with, especially considering that I am clueless when it comes to digital design stuff - she was patient and helpful, and worked SUPER fast to get things done. If you're ever considering a professional blog makeover, I would recommend her in a heartbeat!

Thank you Tonya, for the giveaway, and for Danielle, for the awesome work!!

A Song for Saturday

Another great song off of the Glory Revealed album. This one is my favorite! It is based on Romans 11:33-36:

"Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God!
How unsearchable are His judgments and unfathomable His ways!
For WHO HAS KNOWN THE MIND OF THE LORD, OR WHO BECAME HIS COUNSELOR?
Or WHO HAS FIRST GIVEN TO HIM THAT IT MIGHT BE PAID BACK TO HIM AGAIN?
For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things
To Him be the glory forever.
Amen."

Who could hold the wealth of God?
Such treasure found in Him
Who could comprehend His heart and mind?
His wisdom has no end

For from Him, through Him, to Him are all things
From Him, through Him, to Him are all things

To You be the glory, forever
To You be the glory, Lord, amen
To You be the glory, forever
To You be the glory, Lord, amen

Who has known the mind of God?
Who has counseled Him?
Who has given gifts to God
That He might be repaid?

For from Him, through Him, to Him are all things
From Him, through Him, to Him are all things

To You be the glory, forever
To You be the glory, Lord, amen
To You be the glory, forever
To You be the glory, Lord, amen

In dark and light, in death and life
When hard times enter in
In all things we will worship You
With You there is no end

To You be the glory, forever
To You be the glory, Lord, amen
To You be the glory, forever
To You be the glory, Lord, amen

For from Him, through Him, to Him are all things
From Him, through Him, to Him are all things

Homeschooling Humor

Meatloaf and Mac N' Cheese

Yes, that's really what this post is about! I rarely ever share recipes - cooking is not my forte and is something I'm working on my attitude about. I tend to get overwhelmed over menu planning, grocery list making, grocery shopping, and food prep in general. However, I am a "work in progress" in this area and know that good food is not only a blessing to those whom I serve, but a necessity! So I need to get over my attitude and decide to find joy in it :-)

Here's a meal that we love, and is super, super easy to throw together.

Meatloaf:
2 lbs ground beef (I actually use ground turkey because its usually cheaper)
1.5 cups Stove Top Stuffing
2 eggs
1.5 tsp Bragg's Liquid Aminos (yummy!)
dried onion, garlic powder, and salt to taste

Mix all ingredients together, place in a greased loaf pan. Cook at 350 for an hour or until no longer pink. Some might like it topped with tomato sauce or ketchup, we don't. If you do, pour some on top before cooking.

Macaroni and Cheese:
(I found this recipe at A Year of Slowcooking, check it out for more great Crockpot recipes!)
1/2 lb uncooked macaroni noodles - I use whole wheat
4 cups milk
1 egg
4 cups shredded cheese (I use entirely sharp cheddar)
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
1 tsp dried mustard

Spray crock pot with cooking spray. In mixing bowl, whip egg and milk together. Stir in spices. Add cheese and noodles, stir well. Pour into crockpot, cook on high for 1-3 hours, or low for 2-5. It can get a little mushy, so check it on occasion. Delicious and so easy!!

We like to steam some broccoli or brussel sprouts to go along with it. It makes a yummy, easy-to-make meal! Enjoy!

Wordless Wednesday - When 2-Year-Olds Dress Themselves

A Day at the Races!

On Sunday afternoon, Michael and the boys ran in the "Fall Back 5K". Michael entered the 5K, Isaac and Ezra ran in the 1 mile fun run, and Joel and Nathan joined in the tot trot. Judah and I were the cheerleaders! It was a really enjoyable family affair. I took a ton of pictures, so here's a little picture documentary of the day:

These are the "King and Queen" Buildings - we've passed them on the highway before, so it was really neat to be AT them!

Before the race - I apologize for the bad lighting. I don't have any cool photo editing software to fix pictures like this!

Just some pretty trees :-)

Michael's in the line-up... can you find him?

Waiting for Daddy!

Isaac

Ezra

Joel

Me and Judah!

There he goes!

His official time. His goal was to get in under 23 minutes! He finished 7th overall, and 1st in his age group.

Receiving his award

Isaac and Ezra's turn

Isaac surprised us! We thought we'd see him around 10 minutes... he finished second, with a time of 8:35!

Ezra came is right behind Isaac at 8:48!

Ezra's award

Its good sportsmanship to cheer on your competitors ;-)

Joel and Nathan's turn. See how well they're paying attention to Daddy telling them where to go? ...Or not?

They're off! Joel, is, anyway. Nate was confused by all of the commotion! I love the look of excitement on all of the children's faces.

There goes Nate!

Joel coming in to the finish. He came in second!

Joel's ribbon!

Nathan got scared and started crying. :-(

Still crying, even after getting a ribbon

Still crying...
but no worries... after a few post-race cookies, he felt much better!

On the ride home ;-)

We really had so much fun (well, except for Nathan toward the end). Perhaps a Tot Trot when it should be nap time isn't the best idea!

We're so thankful that running is an activity that we can all enjoy as a family, and even share some success in, too! We met a dad there who had 6 children - he was there with 4 of them, and they all run, too (the mom and the other children were at a half marathon!). It was neat to meet another large family parent, and to see how much running has been enjoyed in their family as well.

Gratitude

Rejoice always; pray without ceasing; in everything give thanks; for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

36. His new mercies

37. Early, quiet mornings

38. My dishwasher

39. My dishwasher of the human kind



40. Dishes to wash

41. My Ergo, how I love to keep baby close

42. Chubby, naked baby bodies - is there anything more adorable?

43. Brothers that love, voluntarily



44. Boys who are turning into young men before my eyes

45. The man who is raising men



For more of my gratitude list, go here. Consider starting your own, and giving thanks to God in everything!

Treasures of October

Why Children in Church? and Training Children to Be Included in Church at Passionate Homemaking

Ten Steps to a Smile (or, How to Light Your House for Nearly Free) at a path made straight

A Season of Repentance, Remembrance, and Renewal at The Homeschool Post

8 Habits of a Happy Homeschool Mama at A Ten O'Clock Scholar

Solving Sibling Squabbles at Raising Olives

Top 5 Worst Things About Parenting a Large Family at Amy's Humble Musings

How to Fall in Love Again at (In)Courage

Living a Lifestyle of Hospitality at Pursuing Titus 2

Bible Time - Navel Gazing at Large Family Mothering

Bible Time - Prophetic Parenting at Large Family Mothering

8 Ways to Sabotage your Homeschool at Heart of Wisdom Blog

Deep and Complete Contentment at At the Well... In Pursuit of Titus 2

Mommy Likes Me Better: A Parable About Serving God in the Church at Pursuing Titus 2

Mommy's Toolbox - Order at Large Family Mothering

A Few Random Things

I wanted to take a minute to post about a few random things that are new in our world, but don't really deserve a full-time post. Here's a few snapshots of life lately:

• Nathan is now totally daytime potty trained! For a while, it was more like I was the one potty trained, as I would be the one reminding him to go sit on the potty, which he dutifully did when I'd ask... but take no actual initiative of his own. But now he willfully goes and sits on the potty whenever he knows he has to go! Sometimes he does need a little reminder - I'll say, "Nate, why are you doing that funny dance?" and he'll say "I don't know... Oh! I have to go potty!" He's reliable both at home and out and about, so we're all very happy :-)


• Guess what? After all my polling and tweaking and excitement over my new blog design... I won a professional blog makeover by The Design Girl, from Tonya at Safe in HIS Arms!! I had to laugh at the irony, but I am really so, so excited! I've been looking around at Danielle's other work, and am so looking forward to having a custom, one of a kind, beautiful blog made just for me! Now I just have to narrow down my theme choices... its really hard - there are so many beautiful themes out there! Hopefully it will be in the works within the next few weeks... and maybe I'll have to do another fun giveaway to celebrate... hmmm....

• We have a LOT coming up in the next few months. Between now and January, we've got 4 birthdays and a wedding! One of which is mine. Not the wedding, obviously. I feel like I'm about to officially enter adulthood - I'm turning 30! You'd think having 5 kids would make me feel like an adult, but that hasn't really done the trick. It still feels like an out-of-body experience when I think about saying "I'm 30". Didn't I just graduate from High School?! (actually, self, that was almost 13 years ago.. yikes!) But apparently, 30's is the new 20's, whatever that means. So its all good ;-)
  

• And just as a really random note, for any of you who enjoy a nice Coke-A-Cola every now and then (or, perhaps, more frequently, such as someone-I-won't-name-whom-you-all-know-very-well) but are worried about the HFCS ("high fructose corn syrup" - its really bad for you, and is in, oh, just about everything), did you know Coke made in Mexico does NOT have it? It has regular, plain 'ole sugar. I found some in the international aisle of Kroger. In a nice old fashioned glass bottle, too - how fun! Michael and I shared it and both agreed it was yummy. I thought it taster "fresher" than American Coke, not so "syrup-y", but perhaps that was just a mental thing.
  


• I will confess that I have gotten REALLY bad about exercising. *sigh* That and a few too many Cokes (who, me?!) has sort of hindered the post baby weight loss thing I had going on. For my birthday I've asked Michael for an iPod and some spending money to get some good running shoes and support garments. I'm eager to begin running again... the energy in the fall air makes me awfully restless. I'm also just going to go ahead and BUY a DVD of "The 30-Day Shred" so that I don't have to keep checking out from the library, only do it for a few weeks, and then have to return it and wait in a 30+ person hold list to check it out again. That makes for slow results, to say the least!

My little ones have woken up, which means I'm on duty again. I've got more to share, but those things will have to have their own posts, soon to come!