Happy Homemaker Monday 9/11/23

Joining in this week's Happy Homemaker Monday with Sandra over at Diary of a Stay At Home Mom.  Another Monday!  Hard to believe that the middle of September is almost here. 

The Weather:

Cloudy and wet.  Rain is predicted for most of this week.  With Hurricane Lee forcasted to come up the East Coast it'll be interesting to see just how much rain we do get.

Outside my Window:

It's green and wet. 

Right Now I am:

Blogging, getting a slow start to today; I was able to schedule flu shots for the kids so that's one thing accomplished so far.

Thinking and Pondering:

So thankful for encouraging and refining Christian friendships; a close friend is moving soon as her  pastor-husband has been called to a church in another area of the country. Praising God for His clear leading but also feeling bittersweet about them moving so far away. 

Podcasts I'm listening to this week:

Tony Evans: The Urban Alternative - I learn so much from listening to Dr. Evans.  The ones I recently listened to were Titled: Trusting the God you Believe In.

On my T.V this week:

Not sure.  We did watch some of the NFL opening week games yesterday.  I grew up watching football and still enjoy watching it now and then.

On the Dinner Plate:

Tortellini & Sausage soup

On the Menu this week:

I don't have a set menu but I do know that I want to make the following meals:

Tortellini & Sausage soup

Beef Stew

Chicken Caesar salad.

What I'm Reading:

Bible

A Slave No More: Two Men Who Escaped to Freedom, Including their own Narratives of Emancipation

Having a Mary Heart in a Martha World by JoAnna Weaver

On my To-Do list today:

Finish Laundry

Clean up from weekend

Make flu shot appts. ✓

Get together with friends

Plans for this week:

Keep up with housework.

Deep Clean laundry room

Clean Fridge

Get together with friends 2x

Take daughter for hair appt.

What I'm Creating:

I want to finish up a hook board that I started some time ago. I'm hoping to hang it in the kitchen for aprons.  Also hoping to start the graphgan since the weather is supposed to be a bit cooler this week.

From the Camera:

Nothing too exciting but we did have more wildlife happenings here.  We have a group of turkeys that regularly trek through our yard; however this was the first time we saw one up on our car! 

 

Highlight from Last week:

A wonderful phone conversation I had with our oldest.  Just really encouraging. 

 

Bible Verse/Devotional Quote:

Another thought from Having a Mary Heart in a Martha World:

"Are we willing to let God explode our comfort zone and expand our capacity for him? Or do we want a God we can manage?  Unfortunately, a lot of the time that is exactly what we want -- enough of God to make us happy, but not enough to make us change."

On My Prayer List:

Family & Friends who are ill

Kids away at college and kiddos here this school year.

Wisdom for parenting.

Happy Homemaker Monday 9/5/23

 Joining in this week's Happy Homemaker Monday with Sandra over at Diary of a Stay At Home Mom.  I know it's not Monday but since yesterday was a holiday here I figured it would still "count" for this week. :)  It has been extremely busy this past month with two road trips to drop our oldest two off at their respective colleges.  Praising God that they are settling in well and praying for His continued guidance and protection on them.  We flew home on a Sunday and our younger four started school on that Wednesday so with all that and a holiday weekend today is the first time I have a chance to sit and blog.

The Weather:

Today is sunny and hot.  It is supposed to be in the high 80's and 90's this week.

Outside my Window:

The sun is shining brightly today.

Right Now I am:

Blogging, waiting for bread to come out of the oven and enjoying the quiet before the kids start coming home in a bit.

Thinking and Pondering:

So much on my mind today; struggling to keep every thought captive and to trust God's wisdom and sovereignty in all things. 

Podcasts I'm listening to this week:

Nothing this week. I'm enjoying some classical Christian music as I'm needing less words this week.

On my T.V this week:

Nothing so far; we'll probably watch Ahsoka as a family once the new episode is released.

On the Dinner Plate:

Chicken wings (leftover from Chinese takeout), sauteed swiss chard and brown rice

On the Menu this week:

I don't have a set menu so I'll just wing it with ingredients we have to use up the fresh veggies in the fridge.

What I'm Reading:

Bible

A Slave No More: Two Men Who Escaped to Freedom, Including their own Narratives of Emancipation

Having a Mary Heart in a Martha World by JoAnna Weaver

On my To-Do list today:

Finish Laundry

Clean up from weekend ✓

Bake Bread ✓

Get Poshmark listings ready/take pictures✓

School open house/Help PTO

Plans for this week:

Keep up with housework.

Get listings up on Poshmark

School Open Houses

Celebrate a family birthday

What I'm Creating:

I finished a scrubby washcloth (it's in the wash now so no picture).  I bought the yarn and set up the chart for a graphgan for one of my daughters but with the weather so hot this week I'm not sure I'll get it started.

From the Camera:

A couple fun things happened that I'll share.  We live in a pretty developed area so we see quite a bit of smaller wildlife (rabbits, groundhogs, foxes, etc) but rarely see larger wildlife in our yard.  The other day our youngest said "mom, come here quick!" These three little guys (all still with spots) were in our yard.  They stayed for about 15 minutes grazing and enjoying the yard.  I'm hoping they'll be back. 

Since yesterday was Labor Day we decided to go for a hike.  With the rainy summer we had and busyness of life we hadn't been able to hike yet this year.  Our youngest didn't think she could make it but she did!  She was so excited when we got to the top and loved the view.  

 

Highlight from Last week:

We celebrated a friend's 50th birthday party on Saturday.  We don't get to see them often as they live several hours away so it was a great time catching up with them and seeing other friends (who hosted the party) that we also don't get to see often.

 

Bible Verse/Devotional Quote:

 I have been reading Having a Mary Heart in a Martha World and trying to remember to "drop the rocks" of things I am not meant to carry.  If you don't have this book I'd encourage you to read the illustration story of the Wagon of Rocks; it's been such a good reminder to me. I actually made a background for my phone with the words Drop the Rocks El Roi to remind me that it's okay to drop those rocks because God is a God Who sees me (El Roi) and He's got it.

On My Prayer List:

Family & Friends who are ill

Kids away at college and kiddos here starting the school year.

Wisdom for parenting.