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M- Homemade pizza tonight, cucumber salad T- Shrimp alfredo, toast, and salad W- Thanksgiving at church.... :) Th- Chicken and noodle soup, grilled cheese sandwiches F- the boys and girls are on the road.
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This morning its Brrrr cold in Alabama at 28. I've got daughter snuggled in our old antique bed where it was piled with quilts, her room has so many windows its cooler on days like this, so when Daddy left for work, in she trodded at 12 to snuggle in. This morning I am up for cleaning out our Master closet. This is stage two, where more ruthless sacking up is needed, giving away that which isn't used and needed to those who can use it. I dislike a crowded closet and grew up with hooks on the wall in an antebellum home, so I do not see use for more than five or so outfits if they are chosen well. Currently there are still too many. Dh and I had some difficult talks this weekend. It culminated in a family meeting before church and the teens were given a chance for input on the stress causers. It was a good family meeting and we all left in better shape. This week I am packaging Christmas for Oklahoma family so that Dh can take it when he leaves Friday. We did a shop yesterday to finish 4 presents we didn't have yet and had a wonderful experience with 50% off sales and then additional coupons to get each gift for $6.99 or so. I was so thrilled. The teen boys 3 piece Joe Boxer flannel sets (shirt, boxers, pajama pants) were 5.99, usually 29.99 and our boys love them so that was very good. We have $200 budgeted for individual gifts for all ($200 total for 6 of us) and then we are buying one family gift for $300. We also have 8 extended family that will come out of that budget. Some of it is homemade (like Christmas dresses) and other things are purchased carefully. One purchase yesterday gave us a $25 gift card as a bonus, so that became a present purchaser. Another store had a free $25 card, so we found a $30 item and the $5 difference was our cost. That kind of thing. We're almost done, two more things we have to find for son1 on the list at the price we want then its done. Christmas is 3 items or less per child at our home and usually one per mom and dad. Its about the gathering, food and fellowship of celebrating God, not anything else here. We are changing our plans for Thanksgiving. Friday through Wednesday the boys and girls will be at their natural dad's in Arkansas hunting with family there, and Dh will be in Oklahoma then we will all meet at my dad's for Thanksgiving lunch on Thursday. Chase will most likely return to his dad's through the weekend to hunt, but my dad has cancer, and we felt we all need to go, Dh needs to be at his Grandad's as well, but he is in the hospital, so Dh will spend Fri- Wed in his town. A busy week to be sure...I hope Fri through Wed I get alot accomplished at home alone and at least a little down time as well. I am planning, since our Christmas buying is over, that the weeks in December I can take advantage of holiday sales and stock up food supplies. Coupons have been great combined with sales. Yesterday libby cans were 50 cents, and I had a coupon for 3/50cents, so that got them down to 33 cents apiece. Aldi had a $10 off coupon, everything helps, then we have the cupboard to share as we find folks who need help. God is good, I am thankful and that closet is waiting! Sweetie
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Yesterday I thought I was being clever and trying a new mexican chicken recipe....low carb even....but the joke was on me....it was not work eating. Today I will continue on my journey falling back to a tried and true recipe for tonights dinner..I felt badly that Dh came home to a dinner not worth eating....he just chuckled and headed to a rare treat of Sonic for he and DD, mainly because she was sick and he wanted to treat her, but he had much fun with it... Today I've been working on our budget through January 09 so that I can make sure nothing bushwacks our budget between here and there. Court changes from last week means that we probably won't see child support until January and while I am unused to seeing it regularly, I had hoped it would be here by December to help with Christmas....but it will be good when ever it arrives and we will be thankful. They tell me it takes 6-8 weeks for the AL system to be in place even though the order states Nov 1. Today is a dreary day and I am so thankful to be home. Its not that I'm caught up on chores or blessing this home, but the very fact that my husband has sacrificed to allow me to be home and it is his goal for me just simply makes me feel loved......it was his little boy dream and at 42 he was able to do so....now at 45 we're spoiled to me working and living full time from home, homeschooling our youngest and being available to the others. God is good! Sweetie |
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We had a quiet Veterans day, my husband has seen action in four war theatres in his career, so it is a meaningful day to both of us. We are so thankful he has come through his Navy and DoD time without the costly price so many have paid. I know personally what it is like for a cell line to have bombings in the background and then for the line to go dead....I am thankful he is home and we live in our country. Daughter is very sick this morning with a deep cough in her lungs and trouble with her asthma. Upper respiratory things are never good with an asthma child. This is day three and we're not better. Today will be a comfort the child and casual laundry/kitchen day. I am thankful for food in the fridge so I don't have to go out today. Its a rainy cool day and it'll be better to just stay in. Things have been smooth after court last week. We are so thankful that things did go smoothly and it hardly seems real that it is all over now.....custody is so much more than a legal thing, it is such a heart case when your children are torn between parents. We're working it out for son to go with his natural dad hunting Thanksgiving week since Les needs to be in OK anyway. We have never wanted him seperated from his Dad, but try to work together to get him there as often as possible....its just not where he needs to live...the children don't need to be seperated and he's doing well where he is. Who can believe that November is half way through? God is good, I am so thankful he is a God that answers and advises each one! Sweetie |
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We visited the Baptist church again this week and Dh says it will be where we continue as we explore until we join our new church home. I am beginning to focus on low carb eating again. My systems just do much better on that program. Today I have made sausage cheese balls, substituting 1 T onion flakes and an egg to bind them and they came out well. I hope to find many low carb substitutions for our meals. It is so good to have court over with. The change of states for child support means we won't see payments most likely until January, but it will be a blessing if and when we receive any! I have been working on our budget to find $300 for a trip for Dh to go to Oklahoma to see his Grandpa, Grandpa is dying and its time for Dh to spend time with him before he cannot. He will go Thanksgiving week. Pantrys really help when you need to "find" money! God is good! I was so happy to find ground chuck for $1.69 a lb this weekend. I bought 12 lbs and seperated it into precooked for tacos, pizza toppings, spaghetti and nachos and 9 lbs in 1.5 pound ziplocks for soups, meatloaf, and recipes that call for it. We also bought ribs ahead for 99 cents a lb. I usually do not cook ribs but we slowcooked 3 lbs and then grilled them for 15 minutes on the grill with sauce, they were so good! Tonight I am trying a low carb flat bread recipe for tacos. We'll see how they turn out! God is good! I am thankful! Sweetie
P.S. Secret Sister, your comments were such a happy surprise! Thank you!! |
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Thank you for the kind comments regarding our court day yesterday. My husband and I came home and spent our afternoon thanking God that our son's peace was restored. The actual money involved will most likely always be hard to actually ever see, for this person has rarely sought or kept employment, but it was never about the money... My husband has taken two days off of work to come home and be here just in case there is any backlash from yesterday's results.....I am proud to have him home and we'll enjoy letting him in on our homeschooling days with daughter. This morning I woke up with the most wonderful freedom of knowing we are past the hardest part of any court proceedings, and I have to say, it feels wonderful! After court yesterday we had picked up son from school and daughter from another friend and took them so they could have lunch and spend a little time with their dad while he was here in Alabama. I couldn't imagine coming 7-8 hours and not seeing my children if the shoe had been on my foot....we had allowed dinner last night with him when he showed up without warning, but I did expect them to come home at 9 p.m. We have never allowed strife to interrupt the children's time with their dad when he is available. He truly seemed surprised for some reason yesterday I was willing for the children to see them after court, we checked Chase out of school for his lunch break, and took them to a restaurant where he could meet them, the school agreed to allow Chase an additional 45 minutes because of some special scheduling without penalty.....I don't know why their dad was surprised, during fall break we drove them 8 hours for him to have a visit for 5 days when it wasn't his time, but fall break weekends are about the only time in the fall it makes for a long enough visit. We will do the same thing with Thanksgiving since they are out a week, though its "my year" to have them.....children need to know their families.....they have always been close to their cousins and I don't want that to stop....and the children should not be punished since their grandparents and aunts and uncles love them too. Today I am taking a morning off to simply relax and enjoy the outcome of knowing we're not in court again for a very long time. Dh is teaching Madison mid morning, so I will get her started then he has an activity with her in the refuge nearby. What a wonderful gift! Madison's natural dad moved out when she was 18 days old, so my Dh is truly the daddy she knows...we married when she was 5. She loves her natural dad but Dh is Daddy in her heart. Yesterday when we arrived home I had cleaned the kitchen before we left and started a roast in the crockpot. It was a real gift to myself to come home to the clean space and smells of a roast in onions, carrots and potatoes.....I am thankful for a home and especially thankful that I am home now to live in it full time, and homeschool within it. For so long I was a teacher at university and public school level always going somewhere afterschool and many evenings to keep our life paid as a single mom, it was a hard life and I am thankful Dh has brought me home and chooses to sacrifice financially to support our family having a wife and mom at home. God is good and he has restored so much of what was taken from me.....and continually amazes me as he continues to be a God of restoration in my life. God is good
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This morning I faced something and someone I have been intimidated by for over a decade. For over a decade my children's father (my ex husband) has intimidated me, mentally bullied me, and gotten away with not supporting his children financially except on his own terms. Last spring he announced that he was going to change where our 14 year old son lived, out of no where. It was the line in the sand that I could not ignore. Today we went to court some six months later. It was a scary time for me, my children have never lived away from me, I have had them always, this man has broken many rules to win in the past.....and cheated to ignore orders..... but I knew that you can never ignore a bully's line in the sand. After sitting through several other cases, the judge not only affirmed my custody of our children, but affirmed our original orders, ordered current support to be overseen and past support of over $40K and changed his place to report these payments to our state and let him know that failure to do one payment would land him in jail without further warning. He has played the system long enough. I could have had him placed in jail, today until much of what he owes is caught up, but it is to no advantage to punish him, the goal is simply to stop the bullying, and affirm the original orders of custody and child support we made so long ago. I am so thankful. The judge accepted my suggestion of how much he could pay. (usually someone this far behind has to pay at least 25% of arrears before they can leave jail, but I did not want him to go to jail, to lose a job he has begun that was very hard to achieve, and I knew 25% of what he owes would be a hardship on his parents if he had to remand it in 24 hrs as other cases were told, for he doesn't have it and they shouldn't have to pay it.) Instead there was a low low monthly amount set, it was never about the money, and it will take him well beyond 10 years at the amount per month set past when our youngest is grown, but he can no longer evade it or use it as a weapon as to when he shows up, or demands additional visitation, or anything else. It has taken me ten years to trust God more than trusting the fear I had of the situation.....I am not proud of that.....but God indeed has provided more than we asked, in ways that are clearly his hand, and peace is restored to our son, who has been so caught up in all of it. He is happy to be home and without the inner struggle of feeling he has to choose.....the judge made it clear that it is not his decision, which gets him off the hook so to speak....and I feel strongly we handled it kindly, but rightly in not allowing the father to bully me any longer. God isgood....and I am thankful!
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The more I look around the more there is to declutter in this home. It becomes apparent as I lessen our loads that less is truly more. In the meantime I've decided there's a new word.....swort.....sorting is too light weight for the effort put into this decluttering, sworting somehow seems much more encompassing of the work , sweat, and effort put into sorting the things that stay or go. lol Dh put in my new Honda windows last night after two weeks without them after a breakin. It was so nice to have the wind break taking son to high school this morning. Soup is on the stove and while laundry is finished, there's more sworting to do! I'm setting the dining room table with turkey plates today. I found some red toile ones that I am tickled with and its time to dress the nest for November. Can you believe Saturday will be November? I surely cannot! God is good! Sweetie |
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Yesterday felt like we got a few things done, I cooked ahead for three meals and that felt so good to know that I had cleared more time for other chores. Lately it just seems everything can get overwhelming if I don't carefully focus on what I need to accomplish instead of focusingon what is not done. The ride to school to take Chaser was still cold, at 32 degrees and no driver's window in yet, brrrr! I am thankful though that we can drive it. I wore a new to me red car coat for $5 at a recent yard sale. It worked out well and was comfortably warm quickly. Today I am spending another 15 minutes releasing clothes from my closet and Dh's that would serve others elsewhere and are not useful here. Its not that they don't fit, its that they no longer fit our lifestyle. Dh needs more of his dressier work clothes as he moves to upper positions now and he only needs a few "barn" work clothes, where as in Arkansas he needed many casual outfits and few dress ones. Homeschooling daughter is going well, at 12 she can do much of it by herself, but we so enjoy the lessons together when we work side by side. I am thankful. God is good. Sweetie |
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It was cold this morning taking Chaser the short drive to high school. My car window is still out after last week's break in, so far we are waiting for the replacement window. I am thankful it is our only need for the moment. We went to see a 13 acre property about 20 miles from here, and it indeed reminded us all that we prefer living away from town. The issue right now is not changing son's school, so we perhaps will stay in town another two years...then move more to a rural location. Our area has alot of folks moving in in the next 24 months due to a military realignment and if we are fortunate, we'll end up with a time that will be easy to sell the house in town. This weekend we were all home for the weekend for the first time in three months, it was so good to have all of us at home at once! Menu this week: M Salmon patties, green beans, corn, and pudding for dessert T King Ranch chicken casserole, salad W Homemade pizza Th Chicken and dumplings, potatoes, rolls and green peas F Dinner at the game for son's final footbal game before playoffs What's baking? Gingerbread cookies, homemade biscuits for breakfast, and cornbread.
God is good! With all the negative stuff on the airways lately, I am reminded that what we focus on and what we profess is what comes to pass.....so I am professing the love of Jesus, the promises of Abraham and thanking God all the day for our health, our blessings, and our salvation! Sweetie |
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The house is busy this morning, chili is on for the sophmore's dinner tonight, Madison is making gingerbread cookies for Dh and son after the pep rally. We've been to the store to get ginger and fill up the truck, my honda is still out of commission after last weekend's bashing in our drive. (it was broken into with a cement block) The hous eneeds alot of attention and I am simply lazy this week, so I've got the laundry going and the kitchen spiffed. Dh built a new doghouse since rain is in the forcast for the big dogs. Time to get on with it. God is good and I have no excuse not to be busy at it! hugs Sweetie |
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This weekend my car was broken into in our driveway. I felt responsible for I didn't put it in the garage for once....but more than that, I feel violated, for this is a nice neighborhood and someone used a concrete block to destroy my car in my driveway. I am thankful it was nothing more than things, and they didn't get much except my Tom Tom, but the damage to the car is expensive and leaves me without one for a few days while we find the parts, windows and repair requirements. Today I am enjoying the coolish weather again and I have a very messy house before me so it is time to get going! There is chili to make, laundry to do and time with my Bible this morning then the housekeeping to get on to. Be Blessed! Sweetie |
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Do you ever have the desire just to go through your home and simply give away anything you don't specifically need. I mean, get down to 7 sets of clothes, give the rest away. Go through your pantry supplies, and those pans you don't often use, give away. Go through your bookshelves and simply take out what hasn't been touched in 5 months. I'm there today and Dh has given me permission to do it as often as I will until we have only what we truly use. This brings two issues at hand. I am good at sacking it up, but less good at knowing where to take it here since we moved. I have always been raised to dress a certain way and recently my husband has encouraged me to think that while a dressy look is the one he enjoys, he realizes it isn't as realistic for my daily at home wear. I grew up more in a "uniform" mom. She had khaki skirts and denim skirts with sweater sets at home all the time and then dressier things for church and meetings. I wish I could so snap my fingers and energize myself to get past the laziness I am fighting this morning.....so the best choice is to simply start. So I will leave you now and go set the timer for a period so I can say I at least got x amount of time spent working! Have a blessed day! Sweetie |
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In our home this week anyway. Our son had a mid fall break from school for two days and we took he and his sister to see their natural dad in Arkansas. It was his birthday weekend so it was a good surprise for him. Today though, I have to catch up the two days I've been off schedule. The question was asked how we are in our home, changing how we live as we combat rising prices. I have not seen a tremendous change in what I do, though I am more careful to menu plan. More careful not to waste things that formerly I might have let go (a leftover serving of food) I am packing son's lunch now instead of a school lunch, for this year it went to $3 a lunch and that $20 a week is 1/3 as much as my whole food bill. This time of year we keep soup going almost all the time. The children eat it as an afterschool snack with cornbread and I often have it for lunch during the school day. We have always unplugged boxes for satellite and t.v. at night after I figured out unplugging xbox alone at night when they had one saved $10 a month in electricity. Our laptops were costing $7-14 a month in electricity when we weren't using them. We've been much more frugal with clothing purchases. I use goodwill and yardsales to find the brands I like, this year we'd moreso chosen to limit outfits to 3 new per child and 2 Sunday or dressier outfits and continued the cleanout of clothes we felt were worn and out of date. Less has been much more in the clothing department....laundry bills went down, messy rooms went down, time to clean up after laundry went down. Children are more responsible when they can recognize and name all their clothing. Fuel is something we're very aware of. Late summer I sold my minivan which was in fine shape, and bought a very used honda civic. the 35-40 mpg has made an impact on our fuel bill. When we drove to meet the children's natural father this weekend, it cost $60 roundtrip, in the past that would have been $130. Yes, I miss the roominess of the van, but with only 2 children at home, there really wasn't an excuse to keep it. Insurance and fuel bills went down. I am also using my old standard of using things from home sales or ebay to buy those "whims" I would want that are not budgeted. In one case, I found a set of craftsman tools at a sale for $6, each piece of it would ebay for more than $2 apiece. A pain to do, yes, but even with fees, my husband made over $50 that paid for the part he needed for a reloading project. Its like "free" money to me when I can do so. I usually do it with clearance plates from known china and manufacturers, where I can get the plate for $3.99 and sell it for $8-9. God is good, and more than anything this season I am choosing to be more content with the many blessings I have at home without buying. I have been so blessed to have the family, health, and home we have, and if I am truly honest with myself, if I simply take care of what I have I do not have time to worry about anything else I might not have! When I start worrying lately about this or that, I take time to stop myself, focus on something I am using that worry time doing that I need to be doing, and try to get back on track. Its serious work, training our thoughts, but its in obedience to God who knows I have much work to do in most areas! Be blessed! Sweetie |
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Its another crisp cool morning in Alabama. I have a messy kitchen to clean up this morning, I was simply lazy after the JV game let out at 8:45. Yesterday's dinner was potato soup with bacon, fried okra, and homemade biscuits. The potato soup had heavy whipping cream I had left over from something else, I cubed the potatoes, boiled them tender, drained, and then added 2 C of 2% mild and 1 C cream along with garlic, butter, pepper, and a wee bit of onion. They liked it alot, it was very rich and thick. I am doing Southbeach, so I couldn't have any of what I did for dinner so I had what I could have. Apparently last night it rained here lightly, which is good, the sun is not out yet today, its overcast and cloudy. Dh and I discussed more the desire to move from town and find land (very small 2-5 acres) and begin the process of living the way we prefer (as we did before) We will most likely stay here 2 years so son finishes high school, but even that isn't concrete....he prefers a smaller school too. It seems impossible from where we are, with the housing market where it is, but God is God and he has given us each this desire, so we shall see His work first hand. I have a writing project due by Thursday for a writer I ghostwrite for. It is not a tedious writing project but new software for the product has me dreading it, so this afternoon I will knock that out....nothing like getting something you dread off the table! Tonight is family night so we'll be having a family friendly meal such as spaghetti and then play a board game together for the evening then early to bed. God is good and we are blessed! Sweetie |
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Isn't it amazing how little time truly each chore takes? Lately I've played a game with myself on what to do each "run" In the amount of time my coffee pot brews two cups, the counter can be washed down, or the dishwasher unloaded. In the time a load washes on light load I can sweep the front hall and porch and kitchen. In a quick trip while warming up coffee again later (50 seconds) the hall bathroom can be counter wiped. I so imagine all of these taking so much longer. Its beautiful here today...in Northern Alabama and I so want to get the house spiffy so I can go outside and enjoy the day a little while at lunch. We have a patio table and chairs we rarely use, but today its so the right temperature and niceness to take daughter for a patio lunch outside and enjoy visiting there for an hour or so before school work. To "be" in the moment of this life, that is what I am trying to be today. To enjoy knowing I am spiffing up for the joy of a clean kitchen, to smell fresh laundry and know they (the children and husband) find it in their drawers easily done without search....to enjoy the beauty of a cleared table with apples in the basket for them later. You know, of all the things I have grown up with and had as well as have now, the most expensive things are not what I look on fondly, its the crisp biscuit and homemade jam with a loving relative, its the joy on son's face when he sees homemade chicken noodle soup, its the fun baking with daughter....and the blessing of a man who appreciates dinner cooking for him when he gets home. These are simply blessings that I do not want to overlook my ability to give them....God has so blessed us each one, and my focus is on those blessings today and not on the lack I so fleshly look for sometimes.... God is so good . |
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I have had a nice morning so far. Dh had cleared off one counter of a heavy piece of kitchen equipment and I got the rest of the counters to match in cleanness....a nice incentive to begin as a gift to me, how kind he is! We heard this morning that he is up for a job in the next town that will be a $11K payraise. More importantly to me is that it would allow us to move more North from where we are to a part of Alabama that I really enjoy and think is more us. Of course we'd be commuting until the house is sold, but it is a doable thing for $200 a month in fuel. I was praying when he called to tell me, and of course we'll have to wait to see if it works out, but it was like God whispering, this is step one. Tonight is church and I have to burn CD's for my choir to practice with. I am ready for the nice fall day that has arrived! God is good! Sweetie |
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A Chicken stewing in a bright red pot, onions and carrots with it. The kitchen counters clean after dear daughter and I hand washed the dishes so they would be immediately put away. It is such a bessing to be able to clean a kitchen....if only I could clean the messes in my life as easily and with as much effort! Its coolish out today and I thought pumpkin bread sounded good as my friend Farrah also mentioned it this morning. Daughter has lighted 3 vanilla candles and between those and the chicken and the lemon scent of our cleaning the whole house is smelling fresh! Now on to put clothes in the washer! I do love being home....and being able to slowly but steadily make headway on our home becoming a more loved one. God is good and I am thankful! Sweetie |
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This Week's Menu: M Homemade chicken noodle soup T Date night for Us, Homemade pizza for children W Chicken and dumplins, potatoes, green beans Th Fish sticks, Salad, Mac and Cheese F Game night, Paneni Sandwiches and soup before the game The weekend was a quiet one. Daughter was in Texas visiting my brother, she flew by herself for the first time each way, though I was able to load her on the plane and brother was able to meet her at the gate, so her alone time was minimal at 12. Son had a game Friday night and a movie night at a young lady's parent's home on Saturday. Six kids meeting to watch a movie together with parents in the room. Today is homeblessing day and I have alot to accomplish this morning. The children's grandparents and natural father will be coming this weekend for Chase's game, so I hope to do a few special things for their hotel room to make them welcome. I like to send over a basket of drinks, homemade cookies, and a few niceties. They are making the time and effort to come six hours away, I want them to know we appreciate it. Their son is still in a legal battle with us, so I suspect I won't hear from them much except when we meet to bring them the children.....but until now it wasn't an awkward or angry time and I do not intend to let it be this time either. My kitchen looks like world war III hit it this morning....time to get crackin! hugs S
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Its been a full week. Two of my children have been ill off and on, mostly on, all week. Dh is travelling this week so its been a different sort of evening each night. I took daughter to the National Racking Horse Competition near us one evening when she was feeling better. I am so glad we got there. Fall is coming sure as shooting to Northern Alabama. It is in the crisp cool mornings and enjoyabe evening times. In Arkansas, where we came from, fall would not come for another month, so I am enjoying the early Fall surprise. The menu went smoothly this week despite illness and I am thankful that we were able to have soup on hand so enjoy when they coud sip something. Tonight we will have chicken noodle soup once I get the chicken stewed and that too will be welcomed with cornbread for a light dinner for us all. I so love cooking whole chickens, I can get three meals out of one! We do chicken and noodle soup, then chicken and dumplins and the latest version of meal three is to take 1/2 of a layered biscuit in the muffin pans, bake crisp then add chicken apple salad or hot chicken salad recipe in each cup to serve with vegetables for dinner. A new "old" favorite. Have a blessed day! Shanna |