I need a moment to organize my thoughts...

I have been staring at this page for a few minutes.. wondering what to write. There are so many things that I'd like to share about this week but as of right now they are all jumbled up in my head! I need to somehow sit and collect my thoughts... organize them so that when I do type them out, they make some kind of sense. You will appreciate it, I promise.

So, until then I just want you to know that this week has been one of the most encouraging weeks I've had. I have been blessed, convicted, corrected, overwhelmed and mostly encouraged. I feel showered by God's mercy and grace just by being allowed to hear His truth. I am grateful for pastor's who preach His Word.. the entire council of His Word. I am so thankful for God's promise to continue His good work in me. I must never take that for granted.

May God get honor and glory for the work that was done this week. He alone deserves it.

Like I said, once I can sit and gather my thoughts a little better I'll share more. If you have time please visit Don Currin Ministries. My friend Misty also posted a blog, highlighting the points of the first message that the evangelist (Don Currin) preached on. Check it out :)

Menu Plan Monday ~ July 28

Well, this weeks menu is going to be very easy for me! And I am very happy about that! :)

We are having 'revival' (and I put that in quotations only because God brings revival... people do not... so technically it really shouldn't be called a revival until God shows up! And He is.. but more on that later) and we (the church) are feeding the evangelist and his wife. We are blessed to be on staff and because of that we get to eat with them! So guess what that means?? I don't have to cook dinner this week until Thursday! Here is my short menu for the week:

Tacos, rice (rolled over from last week)
Baked Chicken Parmesan Tenders, Corn, and Steamed Broccoli
Homemade Pizza (half cheese/half artichoke, mushroom and black olive), salad

When I make the chicken tenders I just bread them with seasoned panko bread crumbs (SOO much better than plain bread crumbs because they have no HFCS plus they taste better and crunchier) and Parmesan cheese.

New recipes from last week: The Noodle and Spinach Casserole was really good! It will probably be on my menu next week because I want to make 2 smaller pans and freeze one. The Chicken Parisienne was also really good, too. Instead of serving it with noodles, I served it with rice (since the Hubs was gone.. he hates rice! Crazy, I know!) & green beans. I also used light sour cream and the low fat cream of mushroom soup. So those are 2 dinners that I plan on keeping.

I've still got 2 more banana bread loaves to make this week since the bananas are on the verge of being inedible! I've got one in the freezer already and I'll probably freeze one of the two I make this week as well. The book I have claims that they will last 2-3 months in the freezer if properly wrapped so we will see how they do. It will be nice to have when Eli gets here. I'm also going to be cooking corn (Thanks, Misty) sometime today to freeze just because I know we won't get to it until the weekend. So, I'll still be cooking even though it won't be dinner!

Well be having the usual for lunches and breakfasts. My grocery list mainly consists of fruit, milk and the ingredients I need for the pizza so I will be saving lots of $$ this week too!

Ok, I've bored you enough with my food ramblings. Go visit orgjunkie.com and have a great week! :)

Funny Friday.. Pregnancy Update

I'm 35 weeks today! 35 days to go! I started packing my hospital bag this week. It's crazy to me that it's already time to start thinking about these kinds of things. Here is my list so far:

Socks (the kind with the rubber stuff on the bottom.. I don't do slippers)
Hair things
Shampoo & Conditioner
Face/Body Wash
Deodorant
Toothpaste
Toothbrush holder
Chapstick (2!! This was so important)
Lotion
Ginormous Pads
Robe
Coming home outfit (which consists of stretchy pants and a tshirt!!)
Undies (for coming home.. I don't think I wore my own much at all while I was there)
Cell Phone Charger
Snacks
Disposable Camera
Reading material
Luke's big brother box
Nursing Bra
List of names and phone numbers for the Hubs
Baby items: A few onesies, socks (for hands, the mittens never worked for us), nail clippers, carseat, baby book for hand/foot prints (I forgot this with Luke!!), boppy

Last minute things to grab:
Make up/Moisturizer
Toothbrush
Digital Camera
Pillow

Am I forgetting anything?? I've made a billion lists out and then I lose them, so I make another one! It seems like a lot on that list! Do I really need it all? Notice there is not a thing on there for the Hubs. Maybe I should pack him some PJ pants just in case. I know he'll be coming home to shower and stuff though... But we got to the hospital at 9am with Luke and he wasn't born until 8:53PM that night.. and of course after we got settled in our room it was late.. and all the Hubs had was his jeans and tshirt... so maybe I should throw him some PJ's in there. Anyway, I'm rambling...

We also set up the cosleeper this week. It's so strange seeing it in our room and I'm having to get use to getting out of bed with it being right there. It's exciting imagining my sweet Eli sleeping in there.. (you are going to SLEEP in there right, Eli??) and remembering when Luke once slept in it. I also found a large bin of Luke's clothes under my bed! Guess what sizes they were? Newborn-3 mths!!! I thought I had gotten rid of them all (or lost them when we moved)! I'm glad to have them now though. It will be fun to put Eli in some of Luke's tiny little things!

Speaking of Luke, he ran another fever last night after being fever-free all day yesterday. I called the nurse again and she said this was typical of the 'fever virus' that is going around. He's still eating and playing like normal though. I was told that it may last 2 or 3 more nights but should be gone by Monday. We're going stir crazy here. I have a child that would live outside if he could! The Hubs took him to the gas station to get gas (and mommy a York Peppermint Patty) just to get out of the house for 10 minutes this morning!

Well, I was just told that Luke stinks.. so duty calls.. :)

I'm not even sure what to title this because it's so random!

Luke has a fever... which means we didn't sleep much last night. The Hubs was kicked to the couch because all 3 of us, plus my belly couldn't handle sleeping in one bed! It was better with just me and Luke, but not great! I have found that a fever with no other symptoms can mean lots of different things and I'm just hoping that it's one of the things that doesn't require a doctor's visit later on. He's been playing like normal and eating well.. so we're good... so far!
One of Luke's new favorite things to do now is ask me, "How you doin' Mommy?" Then I say, "I'm good. How are you doing Luke?" And he replies, "I'm goo-wad." I can't even begin to count how many times that conversation went on yesterday, over and over!
This weekend Luke spent some time with my mom and dad. The Hubs and I got to go to a movie by ourselves!! We had a great time being together! I know it will probably be a while before that is possible again but it is something that we try to make a priority (and will continue to try with 2 kiddos). It's important for a child to know that Mommy and Daddy care about one another and make each other a priority. I definitely think it gives them a great sense of security. The past 2 anniversaries that we've had, while having Luke, we've been able to get away. When he was just 4 months old we spent one night away and then last year we went to Helen, GA for 2 whole nights! It is hard to leave him but I think it's absolutely necessary in a marriage. Like I said, it's great for the child(ren). But it's also wonderful for the marriage relationship. I know the Hubs and I really look forward to nights like this past weekend. Having children is a full time job. It is the most wonderful and sometimes scary responsibility. Parents need time to reconnect and relax, even if it's just a movie, take out Mexican food and a morning to sleep in! This year we will probably skip the mini 'get-away' since we will have a 6 wk old on our anniversary but we might can get away for 2 hours to have dinner! I'm sure 2 hours alone will be needed by then! :)
That was sort of a mini-ramble because the point of my story was to tell you something cute Luke said this weekend... The Hubs and I came out to my moms to eat dinner and pick up Luke Friday night. We decided to go ahead and get Luke bathed and pj's on before we left since we knew he'd be out by the time we drove the hour home. Well, after his bath I was getting him dressed while my mom entertained him. We call Luke's bottom his booty. As you know, with toddlers, many words don't come out exactly how they are suppose to. So, when Luke says booty, it comes out 'booby'. (Which is funny in itself!) One thing we've been dealing with here lately is Luke calling everything his, whether it is or not. He will say, 'my car', 'my milk', 'my house' and on and on. You might can see where this is going. As I started to put on the diaper, which Luke wasn't happy about, he started saying, "My booby, my booby!" My mom just looked at me like, WHAT is he saying?? So, I had to explain that his booby is in fact his booty! Hahah! It was so funny because he kept saying it over and over!!! I absolutely love the age that he is at because he is saying so much! And some of it is just so funny! I love every minute of watching him grow!
Well, speaking of every minute... time is passing and he is sleeping... and I should be to, considering last night and another possible repeat tonight! Please send prayers our way for a healthy little boy!

Menu Plan Monday ~ July 21

Last week I had 3 new recipes on my list to try. Since my menu's start on Tuesday's now, I actually haven't tried 2 of them. One because I am making it tonight and one because it's rolling over to next week.
So here's this weeks menu (below is a 'review' of one of the new recipes I tried):

Spinach Noodle Casserole (from last week), Salad

Turkey Sandwiches, Carrots w/ Ranch Dressing

Mexican Tortilla Pie, Salad

Chicken Parisienne (crockpot- recipe link below) Over Noodles, Green Beans

Tacos, Spanish Rice

I was blessed yesterday to receive LOTS of bananas, so I'll be making banana bread and banana oat muffins this week to eat and freeze!

Breakfast this week: cereal, banana oat muffins, fruit, yogurt

Lunch: chicken fingers, tuna salad, PB and J, leftovers and the usual fruit, carrots w/ ranch and a new favorite for Luke: string cheese!

Snacks: Raisins, Popcorn (for me), fruit, yogurt, cheese, banana bread

I bought a new cookbook recently and am trying a new recipe out of it. The book is: Don't Panic Dinner's In the Freezer. I have often thought about trying to do some 'cook ahead' meals for the freezer but just never gotten around to it. Plus, I can't do much since we only have the refrigerator freezer. Since Eli is on his way, I thought this might be a good time to try a few recipes out. So this week the Chicken Parisienne is a new recipe I'm trying from the cookbook. I am going to make it, without freezing first and if we like it I can make it ahead and freeze for when Eli comes. Since it can just be thrown into the crockpot it will be an easy dinner from the freezer! (The link is to a recipe on Allrecipes but it's the exact same on in the cookbook- I'll be using chicken broth instead of white wine)

I may even attempt to freeze 3 of the chicken breast to test it out. The book gives great instructions on how to properly freeze these types of things and how long they will last in the freezer.

We had the Tuscan Pork Chops, Saturday night. Umm.. they were ok. I think I'm just not a huge fan of that much balsamic vinegar. I love a little drizzled on salads or roasted asparagus. And lots of recipes call for a TBS/tsp of it for sauces but 1/3 c (and I didn't even use that much, I scaled it down to 1/4 c) was just too much for my taste! I ate it, Hubby ate it, Luke took a bite and spit it out but this time I actually didn't blame him. It got a lot of high reviews off of the website so I guess it just wasn't for us!

Well, that's about it. I tried a new recipe today for banana bread. I've got to stop doing that though. I need to just find good recipes for certain things and stick with them! It turned out really well. I did use 3/4 c of whole wheat flour instead of all white. And instead of 1 & 1/2 c of sugar (which seemed like too much to me!), I used 1 c sugar and 1/4 c honey and it was perfectly sweet. I may try it with 1/2 c sugar and 1/2 c honey next time... because you know I can't leave it alone.. and subbing some of oil for applesauce isn't a bad idea too. Oh, and mine was completely cooked at 1 hour. :)

Check out OrgJunkie for more menu planning and recipe ideas! Have a great week!

My little sponge... and the Wall O' Diapers

I thought I'd sit down and share a little bit about my sweet Luke! He's spending the morning with his Mimi and Grandaddy and the house is just not the same with him here! You hear all of the stories of the 'terrible twos' and I am beginning to understand that that means. Don't get me wrong, he is a sweet, precious little boy but I can see him attempting to assert himself and be independent. That desire to be independent usually comes out in tantrums and lots of, "No Ma'ams!" (and even the occasional attempt at hitting!!!) At the end of the day though he still loves for Mommy to rock him and I love it too! I know it will soon be a thing of the past!

He is like a little sponge... soaking everything and I mean everything up! One day last week The Hubby and I were riding into town with Luke. We were just driving along, listening to the radio. All of a sudden Luke starts saying, "phone ring, phone ring". I said, "No, the phone's not ringing." Well, he continued to do it and Hubby and I kind of looked at each other a few times, like "What is he talking about??" All of a sudden Hubs says, "Hey, didn't that song use to be your ring tone??" AHH, yes it did!!! Luke heard the song (Made to Love You, by Toby Mac) and knew that it was my phone's ring!! So he was trying to tell me that my phone was ringing! How funny!!!! He is very observant! He knew exactly what he was talking about and we were the ones who didn't have a clue!!

In the past I've talked a lot about our issues with food. Well, (and hopefully this won't jinx us!) here lately we have made leaps and bounds in that area. He has developed quite an appetite and has expanded some of his eating habits. He is now eating PB with jelly (all fruit preserves). Before, he would MAYBE eat a PB sandwich.. and at the most a few bites but just this week he had 2 halves of PB sandwiches, one which had strawberry preserves on it. He ate the crust and all!!! Monday night we had one of those skillet meals (Garlic Chicken, I think) and I added extra frozen broccoli and peas to it and Luke had 2 helpings! And he ate everything where before he might have picked out a piece of broccoli or two and a handful of peas. Also for the first time this week he ate a whole helping of corn (off the cob, when before he's only eaten it on the cobb). I think it helped that I told him it came from Granddaddy's garden! It has been really exciting to see him eat all of these new things and in such large amounts! It may seem strange for someone to think that this is all exciting to me, but if you ever have a picky toddler... you will understand! I really think that being consistent with him has helped. I was talking with a friend this week about that. I think it's very important that Luke knows that he has to eat what's on his plate because that's what Mommy cooked. If you don't want it, you don't have to eat it. But you don't get anything else either! (Don't worry, I don't starve my child, we always have something that he WILL eat, even if it's a roll or a piece of toast!) I've also been limiting his snacks to pretty much fruit or dairy (cheese and yogurt). I think keeping him away from carb type snacks have helped his appetite at meal times. Occasionally, he will get crackers of some kind but I keep it very small servings because I think he was filling up on snacks like that. I reserve snacks like goldfish or teddy grahams for when we are out and about since yogurt and fruit tend to be a little messy!!! One of his new favorites are baby carrots and ranch dressing. He pretty much has that every day at lunch with whatever else he's having! One day this week I baked him some french fries and at the end of the meal he ate every carrot and left about 3 or 4 fries on his plate!

One more little thing about him that just melts my heart... he's become very good at saying "thank you" when he's given something (especially if it's food). So when I serve him his meal or even a snack, he says, "Thank You, Mommy" in the sweetest little voice you've ever heard! Moments like those make all of those temper tantrums fade away!

I'm a very proud Mommy! :)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This past Sunday, I had a Diaper and Wipes Shower at church. Let me just show you a picture....

What a HUGE blessing! Oh, and that's The Hubs on the floor. He thought laying in the floor was a good idea for the photo.. !? (You know I love you!)

Have a fantastic weekend... I've got to figure out how to fit all of these diapers in the closet!

Menu for July 15-21

So, it may seem like I am behind on my menu planning. And even though I would have much rather had it finished by Monday night, I'm actually changing my shopping day to Tuesday evenings. It's just getting too difficult for me to do my one BIG shopping day by myself, with Luke. Maybe I'm being a wimp, but making a trip to Target and then Publix all the while loading Luke in and out of the car and loading groceries/ect in and out of the car (oh, and let's not forget that I'm 33 weeks pregnant!!!).. it's just too much! So, Tuesday evenings with the hubby will be our grocery day for a while! I'm hoping next week to still get my menu finished over the weekend so that I can participate in Menu Plan Monday. So, now that you are all updated... because I know you've been dying to know why my menu wasn't up ;).... here is the menu for the week:

Chicken Fingers, Corn (from my previous post!), Cheesy Cauliflower

Ham and Swiss Melts, Potato Salad, Cucumber Slices w/ Dressing

Tuscan Pork Chops, Squash & Zucchini 'Patties', Steamed Broccoli

Dry-Rub Steaks, Roasted Potatoes, Lima Beans

Noodle and Spinach Casserole, Salad

Extra meal on hand- Tuna Sandwiches, Apple Walnut Salad (deiced apples, walnuts, vanilla yogurt)

Breakfast- Cereal/Oatmeal, Blueberry Muffins, Fruit
Lunch- Leftovers, Sandwiches, Salad, Lean Cuisines (for myself), Fruit, Carrots/dressing
Snacks- Fruit/Raisins, Yogurt, Graham Crackers, Popcorn, 100 cal Pudding Cups & 100 cal Cheez Its
Fruits this week- Apples, Bananas, Strawberries, Grapes, Peaches and of course, Blueberries!

Ok, time to start the day!

A few reasons why I love summer..

From my dad's garden....



From our back yard.. and there's more.. so far we've picked abut 12 cups of blueberries!

... my dad's garden...

.... from my dad's garden....

Mmmmm..

And if you want to know what I've been doing with those blueberries.. I've made Oatmeal Blueberry muffins, and this and this. All fabulous I might add....

I just did a search for my oatmeal blueberry muffins recipe and every recipe that I found (on my blog!) was not correct. Probably because I tweak them so often... but I've finally gotten a recipe that I like and use EVERY time I make them. Here is the final recipe:

Oatmeal Blueberry Muffins (12 muffins)

1 1/4 c quick cooking oats
1/2 c ap flour
1/2 c whole wheat flour
1/3 c white sugar
1 T baking powder
1/2 t salt
1 t cinnamon
1 c milk
1 egg
1/4 c vegetable oil
1 1/2 c blueberries (fresh or frozen)

Combine oats, flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and cinnamon. Mix in milk, eggs and oil.; mix just until dry ingredients are moistened. Fold in blueberries. Fill muffin cups about 2/3 full. Bake at 400 for 20-25 minutes. (If using frozen blueberries, do not defrost. It may take a little longer in the oven but it's best to keep them frozen solid) These freeze well!

The pie above is so yummy. I just had a piece for breakfast! It kind of turned into a runny mess when I heated it up but it was a good runny mess. It is probably best cold or even at room temp. I'm not complaining though.. I just wish I had some vanilla ice cream to go with it! Seriously, I had dreams of blueberries last night... hahaha...

Ok, I've seriously got to go and make my menu/grocery list for the week... and work on my nursery workers meeting... and unload the dishwasher... and load the dishwasher... and wash a load of clothes... and get ready for my Dr's apt this afternoon...

And take care of my son... my most important job...

Anticipating the Holy One, Part 2

So, it took me a little bit longer to get to this post!! We had a busy week and weekend and I have really wanted to be able to sit down and finish this! The house is quiet at the moment, so I'm attempting to sit down before the day gets going! If you didn't read Part 1, please go back and read it otherwise it's just not going to make as much sense!

Revelation 5:8-14, begins the song of the Holy One. Verse number 7 ended with Jesus taking the scroll from the right hand of God. How exciting that will be! Verse 8 begins describing exactly what happens as a result of Jesus taking the scroll from God's hand! Praise starts breaks out from everywhere! The cherubims and elders fall down 'before the Lamb' in worship and adoration. This act of worship is a reaction to the very fact that sin and Satan have finally been defeated! Jesus Christ is soon to begin his millennial kingdom. This anticipation that has been building since the beginning of time bursts into praise because the Son of God, the Holy One, is about to claim victory! All of the 24 elders (which are representatives of the glorified, raptured church) have harps. In the Old Testament harps were associated with worship and also linked with prophecy. They also held 'golden bowls of incense' which represent the prayers of the believers throughout the ages. All of the prayers that Christians have been praying for God's redemption are represented in these bowls. The harps and bowls together represent the soon to be fulfillment of God's prophecy. Verse 9 and 10 with the 'new song'. It is a song of redemption that exclaims that Christ is worthy to take the scrolls. Christ is worthy because of His sacrificial death and the blood that was shed for His children on the cross. He paid the price to redeem men from 'every tribe and tongue and people and nation'. All those who have been redeemed are a part of God's kingdom. The phrase 'priest to our God' signifies the complete access to God's presence that His children will have. Many cults have twisted this verse to mean that we will become 'like God'. That is never possible. It's a foreshadowing of that day when those who have been called will have total access and perfect communion with God. In verse number 11 another group of worshipers join in... an innumerable number ('ten thousands times ten thousands, thousands and thousands') of angels. Can you even imagine how loud their praises will be?? I have no doubt that it will be more exciting and louder than any little puny offering of praise that we may try here on earth to give. They began praising Him, saying with a loud voice, "Worthy is the Lamb who was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom, and strength and honor and glory and blessing!” Again, the focus is on Christ' death and the redemptive power of that death. He is worthy to receive power and recognition because of his 'power and riches'. Christ owns everything. He is worthy because of his strength and honor... He is worthy to receive all glory and blessing. He is worthy! At this moment in scripture, verse 13, we see that the great hymn continues an everyone, those 'in heaven and on the earth and under the earth and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them' joins in! This mighty chorus cries out, "Blessing and honor and glory and power be to Him who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb, forever and ever!”Lastly, we see the cherubims say, "Amen" which means let it be and the elders fall down and begin to worship Him.
Might I add here that there will be no end to Christ' worship in heaven. His worship and adoration will go on forever.. throughout all eternity. God's children will never tire of giving Him praise. Many believe that they will 'make it' to heaven.. but they can't even 'make it' to church to worship Him. A lifestyle reflective of that might want to examine their life... Something to think about...
Now the stage is set. Soon this mighty host will march out of heaven to execute judgement, gather the elect and return with Christ as He sets up His earthly kingdom. Praise Him!

That is some exciting stuff. I do want to be candid though and share with you something that I shared with my girls in Sunday School. I can remember times in my past when reading Revelation or hearing a sermon on Revelation scared the daylights out of me. Seriously, I avoided it at all cost. If I happened to be in a sermon where someone was preaching on the subject of 'end times' I would tune everything out. Why was this? I was lost. I didn't know Christ; He didn't know me. I definitely had every right though to be frightened, because every word in Revelation is true. Everything written in God's Holy Word is true. Christ will take over and God's wrath will be poured out on those who are not His. God will be just and right for every ounce of that wrath. Thankfully, God saved me... He called me to be His own. Passages of scripture like this are exciting to me... I long for the day to see Jesus! But it also compels me to share with you the truth. Where will you be on the day Christ takes the scroll from God the Father? The end is near... does it frighten you?
My prayer is that the Holy Spirit will draw you to God's Word and reveal to you where you stand with God. Reading 1 John is a good place to start.

I am waiting and watching for Him... Oh, what a day it will be!

Anticipating The Holy One, Part 1

I mentioned before in my 100th post that I teach the Sr. High girls Sunday School class. This past weeks lesson began an entire month in the book of Revelation. I must admit that when I saw that we were going to be in Revelation, I was a little worried! Some of Revelation can be difficult to understand. Thankfully there are men like John MacArthur, who God has gifted to help people like me! Once I began digging into Revelation 5, I was completely overjoyed! It was one of those moments where I read it and just couldn't hardly contain my excitement! I haven't been able to get it off my mind. I'm sure it will be a passage that I read time and time again. It is such an exciting book and an encouragement to those who are called by Him. I'd like to share a little bit of what I learned and I hope that maybe this will excite & encourage you as well... and if it doesn't... well, I've got some info for you as well.. you just have to keep on readin'!

Revelation 5 is the book that introduces the rightful ruler of the earth, Jesus Christ. Currently, we know, that Satan reigns and rules over the earth. The scene in chapter 5 takes place in the throne room of heaven. John amazingly got an eye witness account of the events to come. In vs. 1, John sees 'in the right hand of Him who sat on the throne a scroll written inside and on the back, sealed with seven seals.' This scroll is kind of like the deed to creation. The chapter goes on to tell about a 'strong angel' who is searching for someone to open the scroll (vs. 2). All of heaven remains silent because no one there was able to open the scroll; there was none worthy (vs 3). Then on to verse 4, we see John begin to weep. He is overwhelmed with grief. We must understand where he is coming from though. He has just seen Jesus Christ executed on the cross, Jerusalem destroyed and the Jewish people scattered. He feels hopeless and now that no one can open the scrolls, he fears that Satan will reign forever and that sin did in fact win. We know the rest of the story but, at the time, John did not and he was devastated.

John was then told not to weep in verse 5. His weeping was inappropriate because, "Behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has prevailed to open the scroll and to loose its seven seals." Someone was entering the room and it was the One and Only... the Holy One! Can you even imagine Christ stepping into the throne room of God at this moment in time?? Jesus Christ has prevailed! He is the victor and at this moment He has come to take back what has always been rightfully His. He came on earth as the sacrificial Lamb but here is is described as a mighty lion and that He will be. He has come to destroy His enemies and once and for all claim victory over sin, death and Satan. Now seriously, I can't begin to tell you how much that makes this pregnant lady want to just jump up and down.. Eli wouldn't appreciate that.. so I'll refrain!

I won't go into all of the imagery and symbolism of verse 6 but basically it speaks of Jesus' perfect strength and power & His perfect omniscience and complete knowledge. The end of verse 6 also mentions the Holy Spirit in His fullness being 'sent out into all the earth'. This is speaking of the Holy Spirit's fullness in relation to judgement. He will be sent out into the earth to avenge the enemies of God. Then lastly, verse 7, says that, 'He came and took the scroll out of the right hand of Him who sat on the throne'. Jesus has arrived to take back what is His! From the beginning of time, anticipation has been building for this very moment to begin. The prophecy of all prophecies is about to be fulfilled.

Wow! There is not much more to say after that. I didn't realize that this was going to turn into such a long post.. so I'm going to finish this up tomorrow! I'm going to end with something I read today out of Isaiah 51. My journey in Isaiah is almost over.. These verses go so well with everything in Revelation 5 because it speaks of God's comfort & redemption for His chosen people at the end of time.

Isaiah 51:11-16~ So the ransomed of the LORD shall return, And come to Zion with singing, With everlasting joy on their heads. They shall obtain joy and gladness; Sorrow and sighing shall flee away. “ I, even I, am He who comforts you. Who are you that you should be afraid of a man who will die, and of the son of a man who will be made like grass? And you forget the LORD your Maker, who stretched out the heavens and laid the foundations of the earth; You have feared continually every day because of the fury of the oppressor, When he has prepared to destroy. And where is the fury of the oppressor? The captive exile hastens, that he may be loosed, that he should not die in the pit, And that his bread should not fail. But I am the LORD your God, who divided the sea whose waves roared— The LORD of hosts is His name. And I have put My words in your mouth; I have covered you with the shadow of My hand, That I may plant the heavens, Lay the foundations of the earth, And say to Zion, ‘You are My people.’”

Dear child of God, let us continually wait in anticipation for the appearance of the Holy One.

Menu Plan Monday July 7

Well, good morning! I just had a slice of applesauce bread and a glass of milk. Yum. I'll post a review of the recipe below my menu. This week there is one repeat because we didn't get to it last week.

Spinach Lasagna Rolls, Salad

Loaded Baked Potatoes, Salad

Chicken Salad Sandwiches, Carrots/ranch

BBQ Pork Chops, Steamed Broccoli, Veggie (whatever I can find on sale)

French Toast, Baked Apples

I'm improvising on the lasagna rolls this week. I mean how hard can they be? Ha.. I'll let you know. Loaded baked potatoes have been on my menu many times here lately... I LOVE them. I'm not sure R gets very excited about them. He's like, "Where's the meat?". I guess bacon bits don't count (although occasionally I do fry 'real' bacon with them). I'll probably throw a few chicken fingers on his plate so he doesn't die of starvation. I'll make chicken salad Wednesday since Wed. night is my easy night. The pork chops are a repeat from many menus... I really need to cook them! And french toast just sounded good. I rarely make it, and by rarely I literally mean I've probably made it 3 times since we've been married. I'm going to try the apples in the crock pot so I don't have to heat up the kitchen with the oven. I have a good recipe but I'm not sure how it will work in the crock pot.
So now on to the Applesauce Bread. If you have read just a small sampling of the recipes I try you probably know that I rarely stick to the actual recipe! I'm not sure why I don't... I just have something in me that says do it different!!! So, why should this time be any different! This recipe (the original you can get by clicking the link) looked really healthy so that's mainly why I tried it. I'm always looking for ways to get healthy food into Luke. Luckily anything even mildly sweet and bread-like, Luke loves. So after looking over the recipe I did change a few things. I'm sure the original is great.. and one day I may even try the original recipe! I was just afraid that it might be too 'whole wheatish and not sweetish' for my family. Here is my altered recipe, which is still quite healthy:

Applesauce Bread
3/4 c whole wheat flour
3/4 c ap flour
1/2 t baking soda
1/2 t baking powder
1/4 t salt (I use kosher, in a pepper mill so that it's finer)
1 t cinnamon
1/2 t pumpkin pie spice
1/3 c honey
2 T brown sugar
3/4 c applesauce (no sugar added)
2 eggs
1/4 butter, melted

(and yes, the butter is in the original recipe... I am not scared of butter though! I'd much rather have butter in my baked goods than plastic... I mean margarine.)

Mix all dry ingredients together. Make a well in the center, add applesauce, eggs, butter and honey. Mix well. Pour into greased and floured loaf pan. Bake at 350 for 40-50 minutes or until toothpick stuck in center of loaf comes out clean. Let cook 10 minutes before removing from pan.
It's really yummy sliced and heated up with a little butter on top! Next time I might get adventurous and add some shredded carrots or raisins.. or use this recipe for healthy pumpkin bread! BTW, I just used Sparkpeople Recipe Calculator to determine exactly how healthy it might be... and it roughly has 145 calories (12 servings) and 5 grams of fat. Not that I'm counting calories at all, but it's nice to know! Oh and I didn't figure in the butter on top! ;)

Go to orgjunkie.com to see more recipes and menus!

Time to grocery shop!

Pregnancy update and some ramblings!

I had my 31 week appointment yesterday. Now I will start going every 2 weeks until 35 weeks... then I'll be going every week! It was a quick visit, everything looks great! I asked her about my walking (I'm still walking about 3-4 times a week) and she said that I could keep it up as long as I didn't get too hot. The weather has been sooo nice out but I'm afraid it's not going to last much longer. I guess then I'll just do my walking DVD inside in the AC! She also asked me if we were still planning on the VBAC. Yep! I have been thinking about that a lot.. especially since delivery is getting closer and closer! I will admit I am a little scared about it but the thought of scheduling major surgery scares me even more. There are risks to having a VBAC but the risks are very, very rare. Uterine rupture (which freaks me out so I don't plan on even thinking about it ever after this very moment.. well, I will at least try not to think about it!) only happens in about 2% of those who try VBACS. And that is only increased if you are induced. And seriously if you think about it there are definitely risks to having major surgery as well! I know that I have a higher chance of labor resulting in repeat c/s this time around but I've done it before.. and I can do it again! It helps that my Dr is supportive! I have a fear though of getting a nurse who isn't all about VBACs and is ugly or discouraging to me about it. Here is what I do know:

I cannot be induced (but wouldn't want to be anyways, I wasn't with Luke)
I have to progress on my own, no help with drugs
I have a 70-75% chance at a successful vaginal delivery
I can have an epidural (yay!) but should try to delay so that my body progresses well
And most importantly: God is in control!!!

I have been praying about this since the moment I found out I was pregnant. I know that God will be with me no matter what the outcome! I'm praying for a successful VBAC but most importantly a healthy baby (and a healthy Mommy to take care of both of my babies... and R too!).

So, for all of you out there, please add this to your prayer list! In just 5 & 1/2 weeks I will be considered full term (wow, it is really that close!). Eli will be here soon! :)