Monday Musings

I do love a day where it feels like a lot got accomplished. Make it a Monday and we're off to a good start! Now if only we could all get healthy....

1)Operation Kill-The-Germs was a success (I hope) this morning. The minute I got back from dropping the boys off at school (E slept the whole morning), I spent 2 hours scouring the house from top to bottom....or really, side to side:) From the table, counters and sink to disinfecting cups and throwing out toothbrushes, changing bedding, vacuuming, bleaching toys and the bathroom and more, our germs made a run for it! I hope....

2)Every single one of us has some varying form/shape/size of illness. Every blasted one. The baby only wanted to sleep ALL day today and when she was awake, just whimpered at me. I have no idea what is going on but I can only pray she will wake up fine tomorrow.

3)Operation Sunshine: Had a miracle answer to prayer today! All day I kept thinking "How is God going to answer this prayer? I just know He is!!" And then this afternoon, I checked my email and found out we made a simple, easily corrected error on our taxes and it resulted in some extra money...the exact amount we were praying for!! So, we are hoping to get some much needed away time together as a family next month.

4)Dinner was a big hit with all 3 of my "men." (Sausage Gumbo Soup and Homemade Bread) and I was declared the "best cooker ever" and "an excellent mommy!" Who wouldn't be a little puffed up with that kind of praise?:)

5) The boys, as you probably know, have a prize bucket where they can pick out a small prize after earning a certain amount of stars in their jars. The Target dollar section can be hit or miss so sometimes (like now) the bucket dwindles to practically nothing. So I decided to add some of my "own" prizes

Can I tell you how excited the boys are to pick out one of these??? And the nice thing is that most of them don't cost any money! Zakkai has already laid claim to the candy one....as you might be able to tell:)

6)Life Simplification Tips: I know I am no record breaking genius when it comes to figuring out how to simplify my life. As a matter of fact, I'm probably a little slow on the uptake!  But I feel pretty proud of myself when I do change something small or big in our life that makes a big difference with time (of which I never have enough of!) or just makes living...easier!

          *Today's Simplifying Thoughts: I have a friend who helped me figure out how to manage the crazy dinnertime hour with having multiple children, one of whom wants to go to bed at 5pm (AHEM, Little Miss!). She encouraged me to prep for dinner earlier in the day to save time at the end of the day. So now, during Eliana's naps, I start chopping veggies or even just measuring out ingredients for something to be made later. It really helps! Today I went a step further: while she was sleeping and I was making dinner early, I went ahead and sliced up ALL my veggies instead of just the portions I was using.

       Now I have vegetables already washed and sliced, ready for easy snacking (I don't know about you but I eat fresh fruits and vegetables much easier when they are easily available and I don't have to do a lot of prepping) and ready for easy dicing for other dinners this week! Why I haven't been doing this all along....

        So now after a produce market run (like today), I plan on washing all produce (that won't get moldy, like berries) and preparing it for the week in one afternoon! Genius.

       *My friend also does a really smart thing and as soon as she buys a package/bag of chicken, she goes ahead and cooks the entire thing, dices it up and freezes it so she has ready made meat for meals. I, who cannot stand the sight, touch or thought of raw meat (shuddering now...), totally put off doing this but I know it would make my life so much easier. Maybe next month....

And one last thought: While I was wielding my trusty (broken) knife in the kitchen, I was thinking about my latest urge to simplify our life here by getting rid of things, selling things, cutting down on "stuff", organizing.... and I was wondering why I am feeling this way, almost like I am "nesting." And I had the thought that I am "preparing" for something or perhaps "being prepared." That maybe God is going to bring some change into our life soon and I am starting to get ready. I don't know if we'll be moving on (it would be a miracle for this next year) or what but I'm really curious to find out what/when it is!

Whenever it is, there is a light at the end of the tunnel and we are feeling a lot of things change within us and around us, sure signs that something is coming.

I'll give you a hint to one thing that is coming...tomorrow!
Hint: "Here Comes the Bride..."