Ever eaten your lunch in alphabetical order?

My 8 year old daughter told me one day this week that she got to "eat my lunch in alphabetical order".  I looked at her confused.  She explained, "I ate the carrots first, then pizza, then strawberries, then sugar cookie, and water.  Alphabetical order!"  She was very thankful that I'd packed her a lunch conducive to the ABC order!

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I walked in on this happy little scene my 5 year old had set up to read to all her little stuffed friends:

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Every Friday I do a "special snack" for the kids after school.  The rest of the week is fruit or granola bars or whatever happens to be around, but on Fridays I plan something a bit special that I know the kids will love.  Last week I was too busy to make anything but did plan ahead enough to grab three bags of popcorn while I was at Trader Joe's, one regular, one cheese, and one kettle corn.  I set up a "Popcorn Bar" for the kids and they LOVED it!   So easy!

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In a throw-back to the 1980s, the 10 year old has gotten into the Rubix cute lately.  My husband was quite the Rubix cube expert in his time and has taught the 10 year old some of his tricks to solving the Rubix cube.  Then this week, a 2nd Rubix cube arrived in the mail.  My husband ordered a 2nd one so that he and the 10 year old can have Rubix cube races.  Here's one that happened after the 10 year old's swim practice tonight:

I love the serious face on my son!  My husband won, solving it first in about 5 minutes, but I give the 10 year old just another month or so before he'll be beating his dad!

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Happy Friday, Friends!  Try eating a meal in alphabetical order this weekend!

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How God Feels About Orphans

Orphan Sunday was Sunday, November 3rd.  I helped with a few events at our church the last couple weeks related to adoption and caring for orphans.  But, I realized I hadn't posted anything on the blog yet.

Instead of sharing my own views and beliefs regarding orphans, I want to defer to God's words to all of us:

"Learn to do good; Seek justice, reprove the ruthless, defend the orphan, plead for the widow." Isaiah 1:17

"Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world." James 1:27

"When you reap your harvest in your field and have forgotten a sheaf in the field, you shall not go back to get it; it shall be for the alien, for the orphan, and for the widow, in order that the LORD your God may bless you in all the work of your hands." Deuteronomy 24:19

"A father to the fatherless, a defender of widows, is God in his holy dwelling." Psalm 68:5

"God sets the lonely in families." Psalm 68:6a

“I will not abandon you as orphans, I will come to you." John 14:18

"To do justice to the fatherless and the oppressed, so that man who is of the earth may strike terror no more." Psalm 10:18

"Your princes are rebels and companions of thieves. Everyone loves a bribe and runs after gifts. They do not bring justice to the fatherless, and the widow's cause does not come to them." Isaiah 1:23

"Give justice to the weak and the fatherless; maintain the right of the afflicted and the destitute." Psalm 82:3

"He defends the cause of the fatherless and the widow, and loves the alien, giving him food and clothing." Deut. 10:18

"And the Levite, because he has no portion or inheritance with you, and the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow, who are within your towns, shall come and eat and be filled, that the Lord your God may bless you in all the work of your hands that you do." Deut 14:29

"But you do see, for you note mischief and vexation, that you may take it into your hands; to you the helpless commits himself; you have been the helper of the fatherless." Pslam 10:14

"The Lord protects the strangers; He supports the fatherless and the widow, but He thwarts the way of the wicked." Psalm 146:9

"Do not move the ancient boundary or go into the fields of the fatherless, for their Redeemer is strong; He will plead their case against you." Proverbs 23:10-11

Can we call ourselves followers of God and ignore these verses?

There are 147 million orphans in the world.

"2.1 billion people on this earth proclaim to be Christians. The truth is that if only 8 percent of the Christians would care for one more child, there would not be any statistics left." from Kisses from Katie: A Story of Relentless Love and Redemption by Katie Davis

So what can you do?

Love them, pray for them, visit them, feed them, speak out for them, care for them, provide for them, adopt them.

Oshin really is a better way to spell it!

My 6 year old has a saying, "my worst favorite" that he uses often.  For example, "My worst favorite day is Monday."  I LOVE this saying of his and think it is the cutest thing!  Maybe it is because he is my 3rd child and I KNOW just how fast they grow up, but I have no desire to correct his grammar and am confident he will not be saying it forever.  Also, I think it is a much nicer way of saying he doesn't like something.  Instead of him saying, "I hate _______,"  He says, "_______ is my worst favorite.  It puts a whole positive spin on things in my mind!

Tonight at dinner he told us that, "His worst favorite part of school was DOL." (DOL stands for Daily Oral Language.)  My husband began to correct him, "You mean your least favorite."  But, he could not really get the words out because of my loud, "SHHHH!"  And then my whisper to him, "Do not correct him, that is the cutest saying ever and I am not ready for it to go away!"

Then, after the kids were in bed my husband and I were looking over the paperwork that had come home and we came across some of the most delightful little stories our 6 year old son wrote and illustrated at school.  The phonetic spelling had us consumed laughter.  "Wus thar wus a Oshin." translates to "Once there was an ocean."

But honestly, why is ocean spelled like it is instead of "oshin"?  I think my 6 year old is on to something!

Find more Wordful Wednesday here.

My Enthusiasm for the "Fall Back" has dwindled!

I spent the day at the zoo with first graders helping to chaperone a field trip.  As you might imagine, I'm just a little tired now.  My group was all boys since it is one of my sons that is a first grader right now.  A friend and I laughed at the difference in having a boy group versus a girl group!  But, I did not lose anyone, there was only a little blood (One boy's lip got dry in the cold wind and began bleeding.  He got blood all over both hands before I realized where is was coming from!), and we had fun, so the day was a raving success!

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We showed my daughters the recording of the world championships of women's gymnastics recently.  They loved it and proceeded to watch while imitating the various gymnasts.  They were very cute, but I have no idea how the TV did not get kicked over during their stunts!

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In other news, we had to get a new kitchen faucet recently and it was unexpected.  The plumber showed me all the ways our old faucet was beyond repair and we were better off replacing it.  And then he regretted ever being assigned our house that day because I could not for the life of me chose a faucet!

There were just SO MANY CHOICES in his book and I was unprepared for such a decision and I really don't spend much of my day thinking about kitchen faucets until mine doesn't work and then the only feature I really need is "one that works".  Finally, I begged the man to please just choose for me!  He seemed surprised that I didn't have more opinions about faucets or want to look around at some stores or drive to their showroom to see choices and talk about features.  "Oh, I just don't have time, and even if I did, I'm not sure faucet shopping is how I would choose to spend it!"

He installed a new one and it works so I'm happy with it.  And then I talked him into re-caulking around the bottom of the toilet in my kids' bathroom that had gotten stained from years of little boys and their bad aim, which he did without charging me extra.  He's my new hero!

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Remember how excited I was to "Fall Back" last week?  Well, after a week of my kids waking up 1 hour earlier than usual, my enthusiasm for the "Fall Back" has dwindled.  Gaining one extra hour is not a good trade for all four kids awake at 6AM every morning!

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Happy Friday, Friends!

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A Nearly Perfect New Recipe!

Here are the things I love in a recipe:

1.  Healthy

2.  My kids will eat it

3.  Easy (I love me a Pioneer Woman recipe but not for weeknights, then I really appreciate simple!)

4.  Can be cooked in the crockpot (So if we have soccer practice until 6:30pm, we can come home to dinner ready to eat!)


Do you think I ask for too much?  Can no recipe really live up to all that?

Well, I have a small arsenal of ones that do and they get replayed around here so often that we get sick of them (I am talking to you, Taco Soup!).

But, today I tried out a new one and it is a keeper!  Totally fulfills the quadruple crown of recipes!

Do you want to know what it is?

Salsa Verde Beef (click for the recipe)

I served it wrapped in whole wheat tortillas (made fresh at HEB) with lettuce, tomatoes, cheese, and extra salsa verde.  It was yummy!  AND all 6 of us ate it happily (three-fourths of the children did not have tomatoes with theirs).  This recipe is going to get worn out, I can already tell!

Is there anything cuter?

Is there anything cuter than a little girl and her doll in matching pajamas?

No, I don't think so!

Find more Wordful Wednesday here.

The Unstuffed Dog

The carnage in my kitchen:

Poor unstuffed dog!

Madeline the goldendoodle is very sorry, she couldn't help herself!  There are few things more fun to her than ripping the stuffing out of something!

Here's to hoping that dog really is unstuffed this time, he's been losing his stuffing all over the house for weeks now!  Just how much stuffing could they fit inside that guy?