Lots and Lots of Chicken

I bought 6 packages of Tyson Chicken Breast on the bone for .99 cents a pound. My total bill was $15.39. I brought it home...rinsed it all and put it in 2 large pots, fill with water to cover..add 1 stalk of celery to each pot. Bring to a boil...reduce to simmer..cover and cook for 1 hour.

I have 18 huge pieces of chicken from this batch. I personally prefer to have boned chicken when I am boiling it but I use boneless sometimes as well. I always use boneless to grill.

I pulled all the chicken and cut it into chunks.....Skimmed the fat off of the broth. I used 3 breasts tonight for our dinner. Chicken and rice...YUM a family favorite! I put about 1 cup in a small baggie and spooned a few teaspoons of broth over it so it wouldn't dry out and stuck it into the fridge for quesadillas tomorrow night. I made homemade chicken salad with part for lunch over the next few days. The rest I divided into family size portions for Chicken Soup, and Chicken Pot Pie for later. This saves me money and time!

Modesty Part B

If you are reading this one for the first time you might want to scroll down and read the part A......on to my thoughts:

*What are some guidelines that we have given our girls

1. If you lean forward and someone can see down your shirt you might want to reconsider...this has happened to many of us even if we are covered appropriately....yes this even happened to me...with my pastor??????? not even joking....I leaned over to tell him and his wife something and he jumped up really fast and I thought that was odd.....didn't hit me until later that I had given them both the full view...bless their hearts??? Probably scarred him for life!!! :(
2. If you bend over and I can see your underwear....enough said!
3. If you raise your hands and your whole mid section shows...you might want something longer....this can be remedied by wearing a longer shirt...like a tank...underneath.
4. Because many computers screen our certain words...I am going to call the top area B...catch my drift? Seriously I can't believe that this even needs to be said but seeing what I see in CHURCH from teenagers and MOTHERS!!! Please do not show your B's...even if you are small chested....if your dress or blouse is low cut IT IS INAPPROPRIATE! When the Bible says "and her B's shall satisfy him"....it tells us two things...first...they are powerful! 2nd they are for "her husband"!!!! Why do we think that dressing pretty and feminine = sexy?????
5. Ask yourself the question..."Am I totally cool wearing what I am wearing if Jesus in the flesh walks up?".....He really is here you know?
6. At my house we love boys tank tops....they are longer and higher....my girls use them under all kinds of shirts that might not otherwise be acceptable...like something low cut or strapless.
7. Again can't believe that this needs to be said....but if a word or saying is written across the bottom or across a tight shirt...where do you think the attention is supposed to go? Why do we think this is cute???

Lastly....and this may seem contrary to all the other things that I have said....don't be judgmental....why...glad you asked!

1.How many times have you realized after you were out that something was a little too short or lower than you realized....certainly that has happened to most of us and especially to a young growing girl who's body is changing quickly. This should be an ut-oh moment and not an ongoing issue :)
2.Our standards may be different...for instance we let our 16 year old wear a spaghetti strap dress to her formal dance....it met our standards of not being low but you may totally disagree and think that showing shoulder is too much. There will always be differences in what each family does...and that is ok....in the end I am responsible and will have to answer for my kids and not yours.
3.This last one is really just for Christians.....we tend to put more emphasis on the outer than the inner.....there may be a young lady or woman who isn't saved or is a young Christian....maybe she has always thought that to get attention from a man she needed to dress provocatively...you need to be patient and understanding! You need to busy yourself with helping clean the inside first.

I would LOVE your feedback!

Proverbs woman

I want to be a Proverbs woman....I am pretty sure I could pull it off except I am missing this one little part.......and she gives a portion to her servants.........Yes I need hired help! And did you notice it is plural!!!!!! All these ideas rolling around in my head...I could do them if I had help!!!!!!!

Smashed

Yes......I had the dreaded mammogram today....UUUGGGGG......my grandmother died from breast cancer so I will endure! Are you due for yours? I promise it isn't as bad as you might think....uncomfortable yes.....a little painful...yes...over really quick...yes! Go now...right now and make your appointment if you haven't!

Fajitas

I love fajitas! My whole family loves them in some form or another. I started off with thin meat and I sliced it into really thin strips.





Then I put it in a marinade of olive oil, lime juice, jalapenos and vinegar. I cut up more than we will use in one night and I put it raw..in the marinade...in a freezer bag and froze it for another day. Make sure to label the outside of the bag with a sharpie...you think you won't forget but it all looks the same when it is frozen. Can you tell that I have experience with this?? :)
Throw the meat into a hot pan, I used an iron frying pan.


After browning the meat I threw in the onion and bell pepper. I used red but green is good as well. Then I put spices that we like....red pepper, garlic salt and this seasoning by McCormick.
I made homemade salsa.....oh baby is this stuff good....I'll post about it another time. I use Pace Picante whenever I don't have fresh.


The black beans are from a can...warmed and seasoned. I served ours with lettuce, cheese, black beans, refried beans and the steak. Yummy!!!!Wrap it in a warm tortilla and enjoy every last little bite.

Sweet Boy

Benjamin went to a party and there was someone there making fun balloon swords and animals for the kids. He asked if they could make a flower for him to give his mama. So sweet...he gave up his chance for a cool sword for me! AAHH these are the things that warm a mama's heart!

multi tasking

Today was productive! The day started early and went very well. Yesterday I make a huge batch of homemede spaghetti sauce which we had for dinner last night. Today I made 2 large batches of lasagna. I didn't cook them...I just put them together and froze them. It always makes me feel good to know there is a meal ready for another day.... a crazy day! And it really didn't take much time.

Last week I bought a huge bag of apples. We prefer a really crisp sweet apple...Gala or Fuji.....these were very tart and softer than we like to eat but......perfect for baking! Emily and I worked together to peel and slice the 20 pound bag. It didn't take very long and of course we had a great time together. I bought one of these handy dandy apple peelers...which is a great alternative to the expensive kind. We found it on clearance for $3.oo a few years ago and it works great. It doesn't slice them for you but it peels very well....and the kids love to crank it!

We put them in large bowls....sprinkled with a little sugar, cinnamon and a few pats of butter. We threw them in the microwave for 5 min......took them out stirred them and then another 5 min. We had 2 large batches of these....we let them cool and put them in freezer bags to use later for apple crisp.

Yes ,I know that my pictures are all out of whack!!! Our PC is going crazy and I am having to use Eric's lap top.....I can't make it work???? I do not have time to continue to fiddle with it:)

What FUN!!!

We had a blast with our friends! There are not many families (actually I do not know of any other family) that I could spend 12 days with and wish they could stay longer! Our approach to child rearing is very similar. Their kids are very polite and helpful...full of laughter and a heart to serve. I laughed till I hurt on more than one occasion.

We did go about half way through the "Do hard things" book. That was so good...it brought up so much conversation with the kids. It challenged me and I know it challenged the kids as well.

One day we joined my sisters at my moms house for a tea party...it was such a fun time. We will make that a tradition. Now we are trying to figure out how Eric and I can speak in churches down through FL so we can plan a visit soon.

It all reminds me of the importance of having good friends who you can laugh and cry with but also friends who have the freedom to speak truth into your lives. We love the Zaldivar's!!!!

Back in the saddle!

Believe it or not she was asking to go back to the barn when she was still using a walker!!!! Yes I am serious! Her dream is to work with kids doing horse therapy so nothing as little as a horse falling on top of you and spending 5 HOURS strapped to a board is going to stop you! She works so hard to pay for her own lessons...she scoops poop...feeds and waters her trainers horses and loves EVERY second of it! I have my eye on 86 acres here in Woodstock...can I just claim it like the Children of Israel???? Does it work that way??? I would let my baby girl have her barn and her dream and I would ask a few other families to build on the property with us. One can dream! Right! She does love those horses!

Beauty and the Beast

OK.....finally I am getting to this post! Beauty and the Beast was wonderful! We have had so much positive feedback!! The kids seemed to have a great time and so did we. We are so grateful for all those who made this happen! Without the volunteers this would not have been a success...Thank you...Thank you...Thank you!! From our friends who were with us to those who put in many many hours prior to the event and then again on the night of BB. Thank you for praying for us! Thank you First Baptist Woodstock for hosting this event!!!! Enjoy these pictures!

The picture above is of the Matt Tillman Band. They did an amazing job!

It is awesome when kids raise their hands in worship to the Lord.

Eric brought Brandon Apon in to do a demonstration....He did a great job!




My honey loves to share the gospel!

Eric and I both did demonstrations showing how to make healthy choices when choosing food.

Oh my goodness...Kari Robertson did an amazing job speaking to the girls. She is beautiful...I love her! She has an amazing voice...I should have had her sing??? She made it all the way to the top 10 in the Miss America Padget??!! I love her testimony!!



I loved sharing with the girls!!!

Smoothie King came and gave out 250 free samples! And the kids were able to sample healthy protein and snack bars.




Publix donated many many waters and my daddy is guarding them!




Here are the kids below hanging out between the sessions and enjoying all the goodies.

This was an awesome night! Subway and Chick fil A donated sandwiches to every kid who came! Amazing! 2 kids made professions of faith that night and many more recommitted themselves to making a difference for Jesus!

Guess Where I am?

Guess where I am?? I am at my church First Baptist Woodstock......with Beth Moore! Yes she is here tonight...I have never had the chance to see her in person so I am so very excited!I will give you an update later! For now I am waiting outside the doors of the church...the doors open at 5:00 and I have been here since 3:00.

This weekend I spoke at a church in Florida. I took my daughter Emily with me and we had a wonderful time. It is so much fun to have one child away like that. We were in the car for 12 hours so we made up many games and talked about lots of fun things! The ladies in Florida were wonderful! Such a sweet, sweet time!

Talk to you soon!

The Video

Hello Ladies.....Here is the video that I promised???!!! Look at those pants.....and you know I feel really good about losing 80 pounds until I see myself on a video looking pregnant...I need to go shopping and have a tummy tuck???!!!!

Life is just embarassing sometimes!

I had the awesome privilege of speaking to a wonderful group of women in Douglasville this past Friday night. I love to encourage women to be passionate about the things that God created them for! The ladies were wonderful...the entire night was planned out so nicely......and as someone who speaks at womens events.....sometimes it is crazy unorganized! :) Not this one! I took Lindsey my 15 year old daughter with me. We had a blast. She is so fun....she makes parenting a joy! After the night was over she was my biggest cheerleader. What an encouragement she was!

Now for the embarrassing part????!!!! I took our video camera just to get a few clips for a video that our church is putting together for our ministry. On Saturday morning I picked it up to download it on the computer and I of course saw myself........AAAAAHHHHHH I called Lindsey...."Please tell me that this is a mistake on the camera...because I am pretty sure that my pants look really short!" You know.......when it looks like your grandma went to the bathroom and pulled her pants up way too high!!! Not a little short...way short!!! How could I do that?? Lindsey told me that they were indeed to short and she(my total fashion girl!) didn't want to hurt my feelings and she didn't know if I could afford new pants so she thought it might make me sad! OK that is very sweet!!! BUT I do have other clothes! I wear those pants all the time but not with the shoes...I told her that I guess that was the problem and she said no that just made it worse but basically they were always a little short. We then had a nice conversation about how she can help me without hurting my feelings or making me sad that I don't have money to buy new pants!!!:)

I will try to post a picture of it soon so you can join in the laughter! Thank goodness the night wasn't about me but about Him and I did my dead level best to honor and glorify Him!

Love those babies!

Cook Book

I love to travel and speak to womens groups. Outside of being home with my babies...which I love the most.....I love to encourage other women to love Jesus, love their husbands, love their babies and enjoy their time making a home! It truly brings me great satisfaction to pour out the things that the Lord has taught me over the years. I spoke last year at a ladies event in Newnan, Georgia and one of the ladies who was there wrote a really sweet comment on my blog and told me that she is going to feature my book on her blog! WOW! That is awesome! Her blog is great...you can check it out here.

I love cooking and I love having time with my family around the table. You can learn many, many things at the table! We live in a society that is WAY to busy! The story is long and I am tired but it is a great story about how the book came to be...I will try to write about it tomorrow. But for today...this book is a really easy read.....about 30 of my families favorite recipes (easy, simple,and enjoyable), a few cooking tips, a few parenting tips and a lot of encouragement to enjoy your family at the table.

If you are interested you can order it right here for $6.95 which includes shipping. It is also available on Amazon. It would make a great stocking stuffer or gift for a mom who needs some encouragement! If you wanted it and order it today I will send it out immediately and I think it should make it for Christmas. Love those babies!

It's the little things!

So many times I see women who are feeling very defeated in their role as mommy. They feel discouraged in their everyday lives, which is a very effective tactic of the enemy. Being a mom is a huge important job, however, that is a subject for another day!

I want to talk about how you can make a HUGE impact in your everyday comings and goings. Think back about someone who impacted your life in a huge way and they don't even know it. Maybe they said something in passing that encouraged you or maybe it was a kind word or deed from a neighbor that they have long since forgotten but you still remember. You have that power to speak kind words and do kind deeds. Share your extra dinner with your elderly neighbor, take a little extra time at the store to ask how the clerk is doing, write your pastor an encouraging note...you get the idea.

This is all fresh on my mind because I was reading a friends blog and I clicked onto one of her friends blog. I found it so interesting. She and her husband sold all that they have and went to South Africa to be missionaries....you know I love that!! Her blog is raw and edgy and I enjoyed reading of their work, I left a simple comment and she emailed me back and told me about how much those comments mean to her. I felt guilty....my comment was not very long and I also felt encouraged...it was such a small thing that had an impact on someones' life....someone that I do not know. I will comment more on her blog....and guess what...someday if our paths never cross here on earth, I will get to meet her in heaven and meet all the sweet African children that came to know Jesus as a result of her willingness to go there. Maybe just maybe the Lord will use me to encourage her in His work in South Africa!!! WOW!!!!! Now that is exciting!!!!!
If you need a place to start making a difference...you can leave a comment for Kristi....http://kristiapplesauce.typepad.com/kristi/

LOVE THOSE BABIES!!!