Trunk or Treat

Well both of my girls have their costumes and were ready to go to our church for Trunk or Treat tonight. In our church parking lot different people come and decorate their trunks and pass out candy to the kids. They also have hayrides, a balloon slide, and a place to get popcorn and cotton & candy. We went last year & it was a lot of fun. Jody's costume is a princess and Bethany's is an angel. However, an angel, Bethany is not. Bethany got in some big trouble at school last week, therefore, as hard as it is to do, John & I decided that Bethany will not be going to trunk or treat tonight. I understand the importance of teaching my kids right from wrong and inforcing disicpline when need be, but boy is it hard sometimes. We have talked to Bethany about her actions and why she is not allowed to go and she seems to understand, but as a mom do you know how bad I feel inside and want her to go. I don't want her to miss this fun time, but I also know she has to learn that there are consequences to your actions. I think this might be one of those times when parents say "This will hurt me worse than it will hurt you." Bethany wants to still dress up in her costume and get pictures taken, which John & I are allowing.

Whatever you are doing tonight HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Until later,
Betty

Menu Plan Monday

Monday Menu Planning is here again. This has been such a benefit to me and my family. I plan my menus around our weekly activities and shop according to what I have plan. I also print out our menu and keep it on our refridge. My family and day care kids (the afterschoolers) are now in the routine to look and she what's for dinner & snack. They seem to like it being posted.

Monday

Lunch: Hot Dogs, green beans, apples

Snack: Apples

Dinner: Beef & Noodles

Tuesday

Lunch: Beef & Noodles (leftovers)

Snack: Bread Sticks

Dinner: Meatball Subs

Wednesday

Lunch: Lunch meat sandwiches

Snack: Tortillas

Dinner: Philly Steak Sandwiches

Thursday

Lunch: Grilled Cheese

Snack: Garlic Bread

Dinner: Taco Casserole

Friday - Sunday I will be at a women's retreat so meals are up to Hubby :).

To leave your menu or to check out other Menu Plans go visit Laura at I'm an Organizing Junkie

Weekend Reflections

Weekend Reflections

Judi at Mommy to Two hosts weekend reflections. This is the time we are to reflect over our past week and list at least three blessings or positive things in our lives. It is good to take some time to think back over the past week and comment and record the good things that have happened in our lives. I believe we need to be thankful no matter what is going on in our lives. Here are some things that I am thankful for:

• I am thankful for my child care dids that I have. I had some special moments - smile, hugs, and kisses - with them this week.
• I am thankful for my sister-in-law, Heather. We had a chance this week to talk and relate child care issues together. It is good to be able to unload on each other, share concerns, and share ideas with each oter.
• I am thankful I had some time to spend with my family this week & to go out to eat.
• I'm thankful that we had some people from church over on Thursday night.
• I'm thankful for the blog world. It has been very encouraging to me and I'm ejoying "meeting" (reading) about people's lives and being able to share mine.
• I'm thankful that my husband is my best friend and I get to share my heart and thoughts with him.
• I'm thankful that I had a Saturday with not a lot going on and I was able to spend some time with my girls today.
• I'm thankful for our new van and how God has worked out the finances for it.
• I'm thankful that God's love is constant, even when I'm feeling down, emotional, unmotivated, and not staying on my eating plan.
• I'm thankful that Thanksgiving is coming and we get to go to Ohio for a week and visit with family & friends.

In order to share your weekend reflections or to read more go over and visit Judi.

Until Later,

Betty

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Rainy Day

Today is Friday, it has been raining all day, and I feel so unmotivated to do anything. I need to catch up on my budgeting, laundry, and finish my child care handbook AND TO RELAX! We have had so much going on I just need some time to crash and do nothing. I also want to do some different things with my blog and make some changes. Good thing we don't have anything going on tonight or tomorrow. However, we have a long day at church planned for Sunday. I will get some things done and will take some time for me (blogging) this weekend.

I will return for weekend reflections!

Until Later,
Betty

My 1st Works for Me Wednesday

This is my first What Works for me Wednesday. Usually I just check in looking for ideas to better organize my house and my life, because organization does not come naturally for me. I have found something that has been working in my house and I wanted to share it.

About a month ago I was struggling and fighting with my girls to get them to keep their room cleaned. Every night when my husband and I would go in to their room and have prayer time it was a mess. It did not matter how much time I would spend helping them clean it and telling them how it was to look I would end up in a fight with the girls and sometimes with John. I did not like this and how I felt afterwards, but didn’t know how to teach them without yelling and fighting. A few weeks ago I found the answer. I was on the Fly Lady’s web site and was reading about the student control journal. As I was reading about it I knew this was the answer I was looking for. I printed off the pages and got a notebook ready and the girls and I made the journal that night. If you are not familiar with the control journal it is basically a set of daily routines that we have developed and keep written record of these routines in a notebook. These routines include getting ready for bed, getting ready for the next day, and five minutes a day cleaning up the room. The girls get a sticker every time they do it. It has been working for us! We have not had any more fighting or yelling about keeping the room cleaned. All I do is tell the girls to go do their control journal and I have no fighting about getting ready for bed or cleaning their rooms. Their room is actually clean everyday. I can’t believe it is working, but it is. It works for me! For me ideas visit Shannon at Rocks in my Dryer

Menu Plan Monday

It is menu planning time again. This week I have seen several different receipes in Blog World that I am going to try this week. I am using my crockpot several times this week also.

DAY LUNCH SNACK DINNER
Monday Meatballs Apples Sandra’s Smoky-Flavored Barbecued Ribs
Tuesday Chicken Tenders Bagels Bev’s Chicken Divan
Wednesday Little Smokies Applesauce Mrs. C’s Slow Cooker Chicken Cordon Bleu
Thursday Grilled Cheese Crackers & PB Chili, Soup, Salad (people over)
Friday Chili leftovers Popcorn Stir Fry
Saturday Leftovers Sunday School Party
Sunday Beef & Noodles Leftovers

In order to view more menu plans go over to Laura's at Org. Junkie

Weekend Reflections

WEEKEND REFLECTIONS

As I reflect this weekend on this past week, we had several struggling times and saw how God came through and blessed us.

• The biggest blessing and positive of this week was we were able to get a new vehicle, which we needed. Friday John was over an hour late coming home from work and I was worried. We have been having problems with the car he was driving and he forgot to take the cell phone with him that day. I just had a feeling he was on the side of the road on his way home and no way to contact anyone. That is what happened. We had already planned to look at vehicles this weekend and Saturday we found one that would fit our needs and our budget. We were suprised how smooth the process went and are very pleased. We have been praying all week about finding the right vehicle at the right price and it happened. I was having a rough Friday night, because I was worried about our vehicles and finances and I could not sleep. I keep praying & praying and telling the Lord everything I was thinking, feeling, and asking for His guidance & help. At 3:00am I finally got peace about the situation and was able to go to sleep. Because I went to sleep so late the day before a very busy day I did not think I would make it through. Amazingly, I did not notice the lost of sleep and God gave us His blessing. He is so awesome and shows us over & over again His Love.
• Another positve thing that happened this week was a Friend called me on Friday and said they had 2 extra free tickets to the hockey game and invited John & I to go. It was a good time.
• Another positve - Bethany is on the children's Bible quiz team at our church and they had a quiz meet this weekend. They have 20 Bible verses they have to have memorized by the February quiz and Bethany already said 19 on Saturday. I was so proud of her. The 20th verse she missed by one word and it is my favorite verse - Romans 8:28. She now can say it.

I have enjoyed participating in these weekend reflections. If you would like to read more you can visit Judi's site, mommy -to-two for more.

Until Later,

Betty

Chili, Soup, & Salad Dinner

Last night we had our first Chili, Soup, & Salad Dinner. God has been laying hospitality on my heart lately. Therefore I invited 2 couple from our church over for a causal dinner to just enjoy each other. I was nervous about it and how it would go, but everything went great! I was thinking that we would do this weekly and as my nerves got to me, I thought well maybe we will try it monthly. Last night I made plans for next week. I already called 2 more couples. I fugured I better plan it now before I get to nervous and back out. I'm starting to realize a lot of benefits to this. I'm thankful for the opportunity to teach my girls about being kind and how to treat others and to live it in front of them and not just preach it to them. As we talked about it last night of who we might invite and why we are doing this, I reminded the girls that God tells us in His word that we are to do this and we must be obedient. I'm excited and looking forward to next Thursday. I believe this will also keep me accountable to keep the house up and to follow through with my organzational goals ( which Laura just gave me another goal - buying gifts ahead of time and storing them, who knew? lol:) ).

We have a busy weekend plan. I will tell about that in my weekend reflection. Also I have already started on my Monday Menu Plan. I'm slowly getting organized, just not all the way there lol :).

Untli Later,
Betty

Busy Week!

BUSY WEEK!

I have gotten behind in blogging, but I have not left the Blog World LOL!! Thanks to Amanda from home front mom for missing me.

This past weekend and the starting of this week sure has been busy. Friday night my girls stayed over night with some friends, therefore John & I had some alone time and we went out with some friends. I love my kids, but it is so nice to have time away when I do not have to be responsible for any children. It was a well needed break.

Saturday we had some unexpected car repairs, which cost time & money I was not planning on spending. I made a previous commitment for an activity at church; therefore I did not make it to the grocery store on Saturday and had to go on Monday night. Now for most people that might not be a big deal, but considering I could not leave the house until after 7:00pm, the store was 20 min away, closed at 8:00pm, and if I did not go we would not have had enough food for the next day, therefore it did take up a good part of my evening. On Monday I was still playing catch up on my weekend cleaning and organizing the house.

I have also been working on making some changes to my day care. I am revising my policy hand book and trying to come up with different activities for the kids and rearranging (organizing) to better use the space I have. Plus I am trying to develop some new behavior systems with the girls. We are going to try a treasure box full of toys that they can get when I want to bribe, I mean reward good behavior :). I’m still trying to work out all the details of how it will work. Along with everything else going on I am trying to get my house cleaned and organized – thanks to Fly Lady and Laura at http://orgjunkie.blogspot.com.

This weekend I felt like God gave me this idea to start inviting some different couples over to our house for a fun and casual dinner. On Thursday we are having two couples coming over and are going to have chili, soup, and salad. I want to make this a weekly (maybe monthly) event and invite different people over that are not in my core group of friends @ church. I believe this is a way to reach out and get to know different people. Although having people over makes me nervous, I heard it say that the more you do it the more comfortable you get at it. God has laid this on my heart and I am going to be obedient, no matter how nervous I am.

It looks like we are going to be going car shopping, which also makes me nervous. I was hoping to keep our current car for another 6 months to a year, but I don’t think that is going to work. Please pray for us in this adventure. Pray that God will lead us to the right vehicle and the price will be right in our budget. I am trying to trust that He will go before us and work it all out.

I think that catches things up for now.

Until Later,
Betty

Challenging Day

Today has been a bit of a challenge. I received a phone call last night informing me that one of the children that is in my family daycare will no longer be coming because of the mom’s work schedule has changed (for now). Therefore, this means I will loose money that I already had budgeted for this month. I have been trying not to worry and trust that God will provide, but that is easier said than done. We are planning a trip to Ohio in November to see family and friends. This is our annual trip and we celebrate our family Christmas at this time. With loosing this child I’m worried that we will not be able to make our trip. I am concerned, but I’m trying to trust God and reminding Him how much I want to go to Ohio.

I am also considering finding a job outside the home. I was approached on Sunday about a possible job opportunity that seems like it would be perfect for me. I am going to send my resume around and see what happens. There are several reasons why I am considering finding another job. One of the big reasons is because right now I have other people’s children in my care for 11 ½ hours a day everyday and this is a lot of responsibility that ties me down to the house. This makes it very hard to get to church and different activities that involves the girls. After the children leave it does not give us much family time in the evenings. I am putting in a lot of hours and I’m not sure it is worth it and is benefiting my family right now. So please pray that God will give me wisdom of what he wants me to do and will provide the right opportunities for me.

Well nap time is just about over, so I will go for now and will keep updating.
Until Later,
Betty

Menu Plan Monday

I am really enjoying Menu Plan Monday's. I am finding that when I have my meals planned my week goes a lot better - even when unexpected things come up. It is also helping with the grocery bill and helps saves time, because when I plan my menus I plan by what I have I have it the house, therefore I don't have to go to the store as often.

So here is my menu for this week. I am also adding lunch and snack. I have an in home daycare and I find that if I plan their meals and snack along with my personal meals our day goes a lot better.

Lunch/ Snack:

Monday Spagatti/ Blueberry Muffins

Tuesday Turkey Sandwiches/ Peanut butter Bread

Wednesday Breaded Chicken/ Raspberry Muffins

Thursday Ravoli/ Vanilla Wafers

Friday Hot Dogs/ Cherry Cobbler

DINNER:

MONDAY Philly Cheese Steak Casserole

TUESDAY Barbecue Ribs

WEDNESDAY Beef Stew

THURSDAY Hamburger Patties

FRIDAY Filet Steaks

SATURDAY Spagatti

SUNDAY Carry in at church

For more Menu plans visit Laura at Org Junkie.

Until Later, Betty

Weekend Reflections

This week gone fast. We have stayed busy. Here are some of the positives in my week.

• My oldest daughter did not break her finger
• I have keep up with my blog and posted everyday
• I was encouraged to help a friend and my daughter to start a blog
• I have received several encouraging emails this week
• I'm glad I have a husband who listens to me and cares about me
• My youngest daughter, Jody, had her birthday party and it was fun to have a house full of people here
• After Jody's party a couple of friends stayed for dinner and it was a good time
• I got our extra room upstairs cleanned and organized
• I got our garage cleanned out
• I lost three pounds
• The children's musical Promise U went very well. The kids did great. My daughter Bethany had a solo and my youngest, Jody, was in the choir. We were so proud of all the kids!

I feel very blessed this week. John & I were talking about some of our goals, dreams, and frustrations this week. Although we don't have certain things that others may have we feel very blessed to have what we do have. We have worked hard to have what we do have and we are still on our journey together.

To view more Weekend Reflections visit Judi at Mommy - to - Two

Until Next Later, Betty

Happy Birthday Jody

H A P P Y B I R T H D A Y J O D Y ! ! !


October 7 is my daughter, Jody’s, 5th birthday. I wanted to take this opportunity to tell her Happy Birthday and to share 5 special things about Jody.

5 Special Things about Jody:
1. She is so huggable and loves to give hugs
2. She is so easily excitable
3. She loves to go to church
4. She says funny things and likes to make others laugh
5. She likes to share things with others and is forgiving

Jody you are a very special daughter and I am blessed to have you in my life. I thank God for you. I love you very much. I hope you have a wonderful birthday.

Love ya,
Mom

Happy Birthday Katrina & Kayla

October 2 is my niece, Katrina’s 10th birthday and October 6 is my niece Kayla's 12th birthday. In honor to celebrate their birthdays and to show them how much I love them I wanted to list 10 things about Katrina and why I love her and 12 things about Kayla and why I love her.

HAPPY 10TH BIRTHDAY KATRINA!
I LOVE YOU!

10 things about Katrina
1. Katrina’s name is also Katie
2. She has such a heart for people and really cares
3. She is so thoughtful
4. She is very forgiving
5. She likes to play softball
6. She is beautiful
7. She likes to talk
8. I believe Katrina will make a positive difference in a lot of people’s lives
9. Katrina is a special girl
10. Katrina’s aunt Betty is the best she could ask for :)
11. I am so blessed to have Katrina as my niece :)

I LOVE YOU KAYLA!
HAPPY 12TH BIRTHDAY KAYLA
12 things about Kayla
1. Kayla is a very smart girl
2. Kayla loves to read
3. Kayla loves to play jokes
4. Kayla enjoys sports
5. Kayla is very beautiful
6. Kayla is good at dancing
7. I will always know Kayla as “bubble face”
8. I have fun picking on Kayla about liking Tony Stewart
9. I believe Kayla will be successful in life
10. Kayla is very special to me
11. Kayla’s Aunt Betty is the best :)
12. I am very blessed to have Kayla as my niece :)


I hope you guys had a good birthday! I wish I could have been with you on your day. I am looking forward to seeing you both in November and going shopping with you guys. I miss you lotz!!!!!!!!!!!!

Love,
Aunt Betty

Thursday Thirteen

This is my first Thursday Thirteen so I thought I would start out telling about me.

13 Things about me:

1. I love God and committed my life to Him

2. I have been married to John for the past 11 years

3. I have 2 daughters – Bethany 9 yrs old, and Jody 4 yrs old (she will be 5 on Saturday)

4. My favorite restaurant is Pizza Hut!

5. I have provided family child care in my home for 7 years now

6. I’m cheap and always looking for ways to save money

7. I love Fried Green Tomatoes

8. I am originally from Ohio

9. I went to college at Mount Vernon Nazarene University

10. I like to do creative art ministries – such as drama, puppets, stick ministries, and sign language

11. I love to get into deep and serious conversations

12. My favorite color is blue, but I’m starting to like maroon

13. I like waterfall pictures

Until Later,
Betty

Welcome to Blog World Jenn

Blogging has been so much fun and such a blessing to me lately. I have noticed that I must be talking about it more to the people I see and talk to on a regular basis because my friend Jenn has now enter the blog world and is already hooked after the first day. As much as I love reading and commenting on people’s blog that I don’t know in person, I am excited to be able to blog with someone I do know in person.

I have known Jenn for about 2 ½ years now. Jenn and her husband, Jim, was one of the first people we met when we moved to Georgia. Jenn and Jim are very committed to God, working in the church, their 2 daughters, bringing their neighborhood kids to church, and telling others about Jesus.

Jenn is someone who you can just be real with. She doesn’t judge, criticize, or look down on you. She is one that will just accept you just the way you are and doesn’t try to change you. She is also a very forgiving person. Jenn doesn’t try to be someone she’s not and she will own up to her mistakes.

Jenn is also always ready for a laugh – just ask her if she has a Kroger plus card :). God used Jenn and a situation in her life to show me how He can use my husband’s sense of humor, when so many times it would get on my nerves.

So as you can tell I think a lot of Jenn and now the Blog World gets to meet her and be blessed by her blog. So please go over to her blog, Lord Lead Me, and say hello & welcome! I love you Jenn and I know the blog world will too.

Until Later,
Betty

Up Date on Bethany's finger

I heard from the doctor and Bethany's finger is not broke. So she will not have to wear a cast or sling for the performance on Sunday.

John talked to the school nurse about not calling us and she apologized. Apparently the regular nurse was not at school yesterday and other people were filling in. The nurse did tell John that we should have been called and said she was sorry it fell through the crack.

Bethany's teacher did call me and felt bad. She sent Bethany to the clinic and thought they took care of it. She did inform me that nothing would happen to Bethany because of her homework not getting done. I felt better about the whole think after talking to her teacher. I'm thankful that Bethany has a good teacher. We all have bad days no matter what profession we are in.

Thanks for all the prayers!
Untill Later,
Betty

Bethany finger broke or not?

Well yesterday turned out to be an interesting evening. Bethany comes home from school and informs us that at recess a boy was chasing her and bent back her thumb and it was all swollen. After seeing how much pain she was in, John took her straight to the doctor’s to get it checked out. I was not able to go because I still had childcare kids I was responsible for at the house. She could not have been home for more than 5 minutes. The other frustrating thing is the school did not call me and this happened around 1:30 pm.

John & Bethany left the house at 4:00 pm and for the next 5 hours they went to 2 different doctor offices to see if the finger was broken or not. They started out at our regular Doctor and he sent them to an after hour urgent care to get X- Rays. The center was apx. 30 min away and when they arrived they were informed that for the past year they no longer do out patient X – Rays after 5:00 pm. The only way they could do the X – Ray would be if their doctor saw Bethany and order them. At this time our concern was if insurance would pay for the 2nd visit or not. They assured John that insurance would pay for it because of it being a different facility. They did end up examining Bethany, the nurse thought her finger was broke, the doctor doesn’t think so, and we are still waiting on the results of the X-Rays.

This has been a frustrating ordeal for us parents, but Bethany is excited that she might have a broken bone. They put her finger in a sling, but if we find out it is broken she will have to get a cast on it. She is hoping to get a cast and is already talking about everyone signing it. It is funny how the child’s perspective and the parent’s perspective are different.

Sunday is our performance for the children’s musical “Promise U” at church. Right now we are not sure if she will be doing her part in a cast or a sling. The sling is purple and we commented that if she is still wearing it then it would match the theme colors of the musical lol. At least we are finding something to laugh about. We are waiting to see what happens. I will let you know.

Until Later,
Betty

Menu Planning Monday

I am actually ready to post my menu on Monday and not Tuesday. I like to plan my menus. It helps with knowing what to fix and it also helps with the grocery bill. I am trying 2 new receipes this week. The Mexican Pizza is from Rachael Ray and the chicken Stir Fry is from my friends Caryl and Rick.

Monday Left over Pizza (Because I will leave early for Ladies Bible Study and that will be easy for John).

Tuesday Chicken Parm. with Garlic Bread

Wednesday Hamburger Patties and Baked Corn

Thursday Rachael Ray's Deep Dish Mexican Pizza

Friday Caryl & Rick's Chicken Stir Fry

Saturday Jody's 5th Birthday so will go out

Sunday Children's Musical Performance at church and will eat dinner there.

For more menu plans go visit Laura at I'm a organizing junkie.

Weekend Reflections # 1

Preemie Mom has asked that we do a weekend reflection of the good and positive things that have happened in our week. I believe we all need to remember the blessings in our lives, so I'm all for this idea.

This week I am thankful for some time alone I had to get some organization done in my house and some extra time to blog.

I'm thankful that John and I worked through an argument we had, and that we can joke and laugh with each other.

I'm thankful for the Sunday School workshop we had at our church this weekend and being able to help out and getting to know some different people in our church.

I'm thankful that without any notice we were able to go to Pizza Hut (my favorite resturant) with some friends, Alice & Sam.

I'm thankful for our church and the worship service we have. I love being at church.

I'm thankful for the group of friends we have at church, Caryl & Rick, Jim & Jenn, Alice & Sam, Lisa & Rodney. We are working on a children's musical and us five couples are helping. During last weeks practice nerves, stress, and emotions were all going high and we seemed to be taking it out on each other. This week we all were able to work out our differences and our new phrase is "We have to love each other anyways." It's a blessing to know we are all good enough friends that we can be frustrated with each other and yet know we are still friends. This is a new thing for me.

I'm sure there are more I could be thankful for, but that's all for now.

To view more weekend reflections go visit preemie mom and and visit the other links.

Until Later,
Betty