the baby cried inconsolably,

the older children fought,

we had somewhere to be,

no one got naps.

It was one of those days.

It was one of those days –

where the best I can do is make sure everyone is fed and unharmed,

where the thought of turning in my “Mommy” title crosses my mind,

where I ask God if he really thinks I can parent these three little people.

It was one of those days.

But it was one of those days –

that ended with baby smiles,

with a giggly game of ride-a-little-horsey,

with Daddy coming home and taking the reigns,

with Mommy-time spent with a group of grown up girls.

It was one of those days.

It was one of those days –

that in the midst you want to end,

but then you would miss the blessings of an end that was so much better than the beginning.

It was just one of those days.

This week’s Ten on Tuesday questions were preceded by the following disclaimer: They are a different group of questions. So my advice? Don’t participate if you aren’t feeling fun and creative! After reading them, I totally understand why Chelsea felt the need to warn us. It looks like someone has been reading World War Z or watching I am Legend.

1. Quick! Zombies are coming!! What do you do?

Gather the kids and hide under the desk wielding my tazer (assuming I had one, of course). Then I’d call Matt.

2. Whew, that was a close one. …I think your phone is ringing. Oh, it’s your best friend! She thinks she’s been bitten by a zombie. What advice do you give her?

I’ll try to get you some anti-zombie bite medication and leave it on your front porch. Please don’t come to my house right now!

3. You realize it’s time to leave your current location because it’s clearly not safe anymore. Are you going to move at night or day? Defend your reasoning.

Day. Zombies are much more active at night; that’s when they feed. If I move during the day they are slowed by the intensity of the sunlight in their light-sensitive, nocturnal eyes and I have a chance to out run them. If a move at night is necessary, I must be prepared with the highest powered flashlight I can find.

4. During your relocation, you come across a weapon superstore. My, that’s convenient. What kind of weaponry do you choose?

Pretty much anything I can get my hands on, but I’m definitely looking for a gun with long range, a stun gun, and a crossbow (just because I think it would be fun to shoot one) plus lots of ammo.

5. As you leave, an old lady on the side of the street begs you to help her. Do you? Why or why not?

Yes. If she really is a little old lady then she definitely needs my help. If she is a zombie in little-old-lady disguise, then it will be too shocked by my willingness to help to attack me. If I didn’t help, and she was a zombie, then I would be done for.

6. Good choice, you’re clearly a good person to have around in a zombie apocalypse. Oh hey, there’s a wifi signal here! You can’t stay long but this is your chance to gather some intel on the current situation. What’s the first website you check?

drudgereport – drudge will definitely have the latest intel on the zombie invasion.

7. SHH! What was that noise?!

Oh, it’s the barista calling my name. My latte must be ready. (The wifi hot spot was in a coffee shop, right?)

8. I think it’s time to get out of here. I hope you have a plan. Where are you going now?

Gotta make a quick run to the grocery store. We have to have milk and bread, don’t we?

9. Wait a minute, that looks like a bite mark on your arm… You may be infected too! Will you tell other people?

Quick, hand me some of that anti-zombie medicine I procured for my best friend! I’ll tell Matt so he knows what happened if I go awol, but otherwise, we’ll keep this one under wraps…for now anyway.

10. How does this story end?

I’m not sure…last thing I remember the zombie venom and the anti-zombie medication were battling it out in my system. I must have gone into a coma because, next thing I know I wake up in a hospital bed an indeterminate amount of time later. It would appear that someone developed a vaccine, though, because I hear the zombies have been eradicated. Ahh! Now we can return to life as before.

That was fun. For more zombie stories, or to create one of your own, visit Roots and Rings.

I need to clean out the freezer to make space for more groceries. So, this week our menu consists largely of meals carried over from last week and meals that we have in our freezer.

Friday: pizza
Saturday: lunch: sandwiches / dinner: cheeseburger meatloaf, potatoes, peas
Sunday: lunch: fend / dinner: chicken & rice casserole (freezer), crescent rolls
Monday: leftovers
Tuesday: deconstructed broccoli & cheese stuffed chicken breasts, corn
Wednesday: tacos, guacamole, chips & salsa
Thursday: baked creamy mostacolli (freezer), vegetable

For more meal/menu ideas, visit orgjunkie.com.

Happy Monday!

For several years we made bread by hand occasionally, but mainly relied on store bought bread for everyday use. Then, several months after Little was born, we decided we wanted to cut some of the HFCS and preservatives from our diet, and I began baking all of our sandwich bread.

Enter Boo and many months of sleepless nights, and we were back to buying bread at the grocery. And as much as we like Oroweat bread, paying $3.50 a loaf began to wear on the grocery budget.

So, for Christmas I asked my parents if they would buy me a bread maker. I love this appliance! We bake bread at least twice a week, and it is wonderful to have fresh bread available for toast, sandwiches, etc.

For the last couple of months we’ve been testing wheat bread recipes for the bread maker, and a couple of weeks ago I stumbled upon a winner. This recipe makes soft, fluffy, tasty bread that everyone in our family enjoys.

Wheat Bread for the Bread Machine
adapted from this recipe

* 1-1/2 cup warm water
* 2 tablespoons honey
* 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
* 2-1/4 cups whole wheat flour
* 2 cups all purpose or bread flour
* 2 teaspoons salt
* 1/3 cup packed brown sugar
* 3 tablespoons nonfat dry milk
* 2 teaspoons active dry yeast

Place ingredients (except yeast) in bread maker pan in order listed. Make an indention in center of dry ingredients and spoon yeast into the indention. Set bread maker to 2 lb. loaf on whole wheat cycle.

Let the bread maker do it’s thing and then enjoy some warm, yummy homemade bread.

Little was born when I was 27. I gained a total of 24 pounds while I was pregnant with her. At my 6 weeks post-partum check up I had lost 26 pounds. Then I lost another 20 pounds while she was nursing.

Boo was born when I was 29. I gained a total of 32 pounds while I was pregnant with him. At my 6 weeks post-partum check up I had lost 22 pounds. I lost the other 10 pounds before he was a year old, but then gained them back before my pregnancy with Baby Girl.

Baby Girl was born when I was 30. I gained a total of 40 pounds while I was pregnant with her. At my 6 weeks post-partum check up I had lost 20 pounds. And here I am, as Baby Girl turns 2 months old, holding steady at 20 pounds to lose.

So, I decided to get going this week in an effort to reclaim my jeans. I’ve teamed up with my SIL for encouragement and support, and we’re embarking on a get-in-shape/weight loss journey.

Right now I’m just doing T-Tapp, a 15 minute toning/cardio routine that I’ve had success with in the past. After the 14 day “boot camp” with T-Tapp I plan to add in some Wii Fit or walking as well.

I might have also mentioned in Matt’s hearing that I might need to do something drastic like give up chocolate. So I guess I’m doing that too. Short-term, at least.

And to further my accountability, I’m going to write about my successes (or failures) right here.

Wish me luck.

And motivation.

1. Of your current hobbies, which would you choose to spend more time, money, and effort on? Why?

Reading. It is (and has long been) my favorite pass-time, but I don’t have as much time to read as I would like since we’ve had three kids in less than four years.

2. List two other hobbies/habitual activities (not chores) besides the one listed above that you regularly do now and didn’t choose in question one.

Umm…blogging and counted cross-stitch (although I am not currently doing it regularly, it is the only other hobby I can think of)

3. Why are you spending time on the above two hobbies/habitual activities at all if you really wanted to spend your time on the first one you chose? …or to put it another way, what are these two hobbies/habitual activities fulfilling that the first one doesn’t if you don’t want to put all your effort into the first hobby?

If I don’t blog it is often because I’m reading; especially when I get caught up in a really good book. I enjoy blogging on a totally different level than reading, though. Blogging allows for interaction with others, for one thing, but I also enjoy writing and chronicling what’s going on with our family.

4. Read John 3:16 in the bible… In what way does this passage affect you? What are your feelings towards these words, positively or negatively?

It reaffirms for me that God loves me on an individual and personal level; God sent Jesus because he loves the world, but also because he loves me. And it is because of my belief in Jesus that I have eternal life. I love the promises of the Bible because I know they are of God and that my God doesn’t lie.

5. M&M’s: nuts, no nuts, or peanut butter?

Usually plain M&M’s, although, I like the peanut butter ones a lot, too. In college I kept a bag of peanut butter M&M’s in my freezer most of the time for a quick between classes snack.

6. Putting away the feeling of pride being a bad thing; what secretly/openly are you proud about yourself?

I’m proud of the fact that I’m able to be a stay-at-home mom; that Matt and I have made that a priority over the conveniences (because that is what it would be in our case) of having a second income. Also, that we cloth diaper.

7. Given one room in the house to do with what you want, not changing the actual size of the room and with all the money you would need, what would you do, and be specific? (this can range from bouncy floor,walls & ceilings; to hard wood floor with wood paneling and purple ceiling with a chair; to nothing)

This was a tough choice between the living room and kitchen, but since I can’t change the size of the room, I would change our living room…install hardwood floors, take out the painted paneling and hang drywall then paint it a warmer beige or ecru, scrape the “popcorn” ceiling, change the look of the fireplace opening, add a nice comfy chair, convert part of our built-in bookshelves to a computer desk

8. What’s the next movie you’re going to see? Not what you’d LIKE to GO see, but the next movie you realistically are going to watch.

The newest Star Trek movie (next on our Netflix queue) or Julie & Julia (borrowed from a friend)

9. Use the keyboard only and make your best smiley/funny/cool face –> like this! 8^)

8-S

10. What makes you cry? What makes you pray? What makes you laugh?

My kids.

For more Ten on Tuesday fun head over to Roots and Rings.

Welcome to a new week! It is starting to warm up a little in these parts, and I am so ready for Spring! Here’s the yummies we’ll be dining on this week…

Friday: pizza
Saturday: lunch: sandwiches, chips / dinner: creamy baked mostacolli, snap peas
Sunday: lunch: leftovers / dinner: fend for yourself
Monday: chicken and dumpling casserole, salad
Tuesday: leftover casserole
Wednesday: cheeseburger meatloaf, mashed potatoes, green peas
Thursday: deconstructed broccoli & cheese stuffed chicken breasts, corn

For more menu ideas visit Menu Plan Monday at orgjunkie.com.

Little: Mommy, when will we die?
Me: I don’t know, sweetie, only God knows that.
Little: Why?
Me: Because God knows everything.
Little: And we only know a couple of things.

She is more right than her little three year old mind can grasp.

Sunday morning as I got ready for church Baby Girl sat in her comfy chair happily looking around. Little came up and started chatting with Baby Girl, and, of course, Baby Girl smiled and smiled at her.

After a few minutes Little told me that Baby Girl was giving her all the smiles. And then she told her daddy: “I’m all filled up with smiles because Baby Girl keeps giving me all her smiles.”

And my heart melted at the sweet sisterly-ness of it all.

If only they would still be this sweet to each other in the years to come.

Welcome to another edition of Ten on Tuesday hosted by Roots and Rings. This week’s questions are a bit all over the place, but you’ll definitely learn a little more about me.

1. If you were given an hour to use a $200 Amazon gift card, what would you buy?
I can’t even decide on what to buy with the $30 Amazon gift card I have, let alone a hypothetical $200 gift card. Hmm…probably some shoes and a few books, and maybe something for the kids (or maybe not).

2. Are there any fairly common foods that you’ve never had?
Brussels sprouts are the only thing that come immediately to mind.

3. What was your favorite way to use your imagination as a kid?
I loved to play with my baby dolls and to play “house”.

4. What’s your favorite state? Why?
I’ve got to say Tennessee here just because it is the state I’ve lived in all my life. It has three distinct and very different areas (East, Middle, and West), and I’ve lived in and enjoyed them all (although, East TN is definitely my favorite). A very close second would be North Carolina (at least the western part) because Matt and I love the mountains and the Asheville area.

5. If it was our culture to have our parents choose our spouses, do you think yours would make a good choice?
I think they would. They know me (and my strengths and weaknesses) pretty well.

6. What’s your favorite herb?
Tough one…It’s a close call between cilantro, oregano, and basil.

7. If you could have dinner with one celebrity, who would you choose?
I’m not much of a celebrity watcher, so I don’t really have an answer for this one.

8. What’s your favorite Disney movie?
Beauty and the Beast – My Daddy took me to see it in the theater for my 12th birthday.

9. If you had to listen to the same song over and over for 24 hours, what song would you choose?
That pretty much sounds like torture. No matter what song I chose and how much I liked it, by the end of 24 hours I’d probably be about ready to hurl myself off a cliff. (Matt suggested John Cage’s Four minutes, thirty-three seconds)

10. How do you order your steak?
It depends on where I’m eating. If it is a steakhouse, I usually order it medium-well; if I’m at a restaurant that just happens to have steak, I usually order it medium. Most places overcook their steaks.