1. Made chocolate chip cookies for my husband
2. Made lasagna for my husband and my 3 year old did a GREAT job helping me with it!
3. It was a struggle but I was able to join my daughter for her field trip to the dairy farm and pumpkin patch today!
Come Rock On with Moms at Faith and Family Live!
1. Needs a new bra and I’d like to get a really nice one that is fitted for me but doesn’t really want to spend the money when there are so many other things I could/need to buy
2. The ice cream truck man who prowls around our neighborhood while my children are trying to sleep is realllllyyyy getting on my nerves
3. Baseball-size hail landing on roof at about 130(+) mph = poo. I guess I’ll buy a new bra next year…
It’s good to do a ‘reality check’ in our ‘perfect’ lives. Get the code for the picture here and link back here if you want to join Whiney Wednesday in your blog. Then leave a comment here (even if you don’t have a blog) or on the Erika Marie/simplemama facebook page if that’s easier.
Mmmm, if you like whole-grain pancakes and dark chocolate, you’ll probably like these Whole-Grain Chocolate Chip Pancakes my friend Monica shared and I finally made some this past weekend. Yum! Nothing like a little bit of dark chocolate to start the day!
Check out some other great recipes on this Tasty Tuesday!
I struggle a lot with how I manage my time. There are so many good ways to spend my time. The problem though is learning when to do which of all those good things. And there are also a number of things I could do that are just dumb and wasteful and useless. King David’s son, Qoheleth said it so well,
“…Vanity of vanities! All things are vanity! What profit has man from all the labor which he toils at under the sun?” (Ecclesiastes 1: 2,3) In my bible, the side note explains that “Vanity of vanities” is a Hebrew superlative expressing the supreme degree of futility and emptiness.
I hear you Q man. What’s the point of spending time cleaning the dishes after a meal if the kids are just going to be hungry and want to eat again right after I’m done putting them away? And why even bother putting the toys away at night when they’ll just get scattered around the house again the next day?
The time I’ve been given is incredibly precious and I should strive to make the best use of it while it’s been given to me. The problem is that I tend to over think and obsess over things a little too much especially with time. I have so many great ideas and plans in my head but not enough time to get it all done. Then I feel really guilty if I spend time doing something silly or unimportant when I could have gotten something else more important done instead. I unfortunately have not figured out how to convince God that all mothers should automatically be given the gift of bi-location. I complain to my husband about not having enough time to get things done but then pack my plate up with more than I can swallow.
It’s especially tricky when I have some random quiet alone time. Baby is napping, another is occupied or watching a movie, another is in school…freedom! Moments like these few and fleeting. What should I do first?
I can’t make any phone calls or do anything noisy in the kitchen lest my very light sleeper baby is woken up prematurely from his usually short nap. I could paint that picture I’ve been painting in my head for the past year. I could knit that sweater…I could work on a writing project or catch up on bills and other ‘computer errands’. I could blog but I really should also catch up on other people’s blogs and catch up on commenting. (Blog commenting is a whole blog post relating to vanity in itself.) And then of course there’s facebook. The biggest time-wasting communication tool of all time. Then there’s all the many ‘work-at-home’ money-making opportunities to distract and tempt me. Multi-tasking is both a gift and a curse. I can do many things at once but usually one of those many things is not done as well as it could have been done if I would have focused on just that.
I want to BE and DO so many things all at once.
BUT, I NEED to BE and DO what GOD wants me to be and do.
I only wish He could send me a daily task list. Wouldn’t that be easier than me wasting time guessing discerning what I think He wants of me.
In my Magnificate today, the Venerable Pope John Paul II (the Great!) explains that ”The speaker in the Ecclesiastes reading is not being sincere, but rather cynical and sarcastic.”
But, “The meaninglessness of time and the nihilism of life that he deplores are overcome by answering one question: ‘Who do you say that I am?’ ‘Jesus Christ is the center of history. God entered the history of humanity. Through the incarnation God gave human life the dimension that he intended man to have from his first beginning”
As cynical and sarcastic as Qoheleth may have been. I think he really hit it spot on when he observed that everything in time has a place and an order.
“There is an appointed time for everything, and a time for everything under the heavens. A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to uproot the plant. A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to tear down, and a time to build. A time to weep, and a time to laugh a time to mourn, and a time to dance. A time to scatter stones, and a time to gather them; a time to embrace, and a time to be far from embraces. A time to seek, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away. A time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to be silent, and a time to speak. A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace.”
My life does have order. That order may change day to day and even minute by minute. But in all of it, I have to remember that my life has a purpose. “I know well the plans I have in mind for you, says the Lord, plans for your welfare, not for woe! Plans to give you a future full of hope.” (Jeer 29:11)
Right now it may not seem like washing the dishes or picking up toys over and over again matters, or that facebook and blogs and taking the time to read and comment on other’s blogs matters. But it all matters. Everything. (side tangent: For Lost fans: anyone remember who said something like that and when?)
I think prayer is the only way I’ll have the best chance of accomplishing that purpose that God has for me. If I give him my day in the mornings then I can hope that he will give me the strength and wisdom I need to accomplish what He wants of me. And He can take everything I do, even my time on facebook, and make it good.
Ok, now I’m going to stop ignoring my starving children and make lunch. (we had a late breakfast)
Have you counted you successes of the week today?
1. Baked! Apple muffins, blueberry muffins, apple crumble
2. Played dolls with my daughter
3. Played in our outdoor playhouse with my sons
1. Why does my bed have to be the most comfortable and my sleep the deepest right around the time my morning alarm goes off?
2 Can’t school start at 8:30 or even 9?
3. I hate being in between pant sizes. The ones I’m currently wearing are a little too big in the pants area and tend to slide down whenever I walk around. I could get some suspenders but that would look a little nerdy. Maybe I could just buy some cool boxers (or ‘sexy’ thongs for that matter) and then I’d be ‘cool’. If I go down a size they’d fit perfectly everywhere except for in the front where my extra flabby skin just hangs like a numb lip. So it gets all pinched up in my pants and is just very uncomfortable and incredibly annoying. My baby likes to pinch it while we nurse but I wish I could just cut it all off somehow.
It’s good to do a ‘reality check’ in our ‘perfect lives. Get the code for the picture here and link back here if you want to join Whiney Wednesday in your blog. Then leave a comment here (even if you don’t have a blog) or on the Erika Marie/simplemama facebook page if that’s easier.
I made some BBQ Beef in the crockpot Sunday. That night we had BBQ Beef Sandwiches and I still had some leftover beef yesterday (still do actually). Inspired by my friend, Elizabeth’s, homemade convenience taquitos, I made some sort of like them (hers are better so do check her recipe out)
My pictures below don’t do them justice but they were very delicious even though I ended up mixing salsa in with the BBQ-flavored beef.
If you heard or read the long version of today’s Gospel, and if you are simple-minded like me, you may have been slightly confused especially by this part:
And the master commended that dishonest steward for acting prudently.
“For the children of this world
are more prudent in dealing with their own generation
than are the children of light.
I had to look a few times to make sure I read “commend” and not condemn but sure enough it was “commend”. Feeling perplexed I caught my pastor after Mass hoping for some explanation. And indeed he gave me some wise insight.
During his homily he made an example of the recent hail storm that came out of nowhere and caused some pretty bad damage especially to rooftoops. Almost as quickly as the hail came down, up came the roofing company signs and phone calls offering their services for roofing repair. These companies took advantage or a situation, some dishonestly by taking advantage of something disastrous so they could benefit. It’s impressive in a way though that these businesses are so ‘crafty’ and prudent since they were ready to go with their signs and phone calls so that they could reap the benefits, even if it was because of something disastrous.
My pastor brought up the example of frugality or deal-shopping to help me relate. I put a lot of energy into getting the best bang for my buck. This isn’t a bad thing always, it’s prudent of me. But there are times when I wonder if I’ve stooped too low or wasted too much time deal shopping. Estate sales are a good example. When someone dies, sometimes their family sells their belongings in an estate sale. Whenever I see a sign for an estate sale, an inner battle in my mind breaks out.
On one hand, going to the estate sale would require me to go through a bunch of stuff that once belonged to someone who I didn’t even know and now they are dead and here I am going through all their personal even sentimental possessions. One the other hand, if I went, who knows maybe I’d find something incredible, like a free piano. It would be prudent of me to at least drive by and check it out lest I missed out on a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. An even better example would be the family members who are running the estate sale.
What the Gospel today tells us is this:
If I can put so much energy and time into making good of an otherwise sad or disastrous situation like a hail storm, or an estate sale, then I should also be able to put in the same if not more effort into getting the best ‘bang’ out of an otherwise bad situation and make it an opportunity for grace.
Example: When my children spill water or food all over the floor I just cleaned up I have 2 choices. I can react by yelling and screaming at them and stomping my feet and crying about it all day long. Or I could just tell them to get a towel and clean it up while at the same time offering up this minor annoyance for a mother and her child who have no food or water to spill.
So I get that part of the Gospel now but I’m still not completely understanding why it says this:
I tell you, make friends for yourselves with dishonest wealth,
so that when it fails, you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings.
i forgot to include the All-purpose cleaner in my last post. I’ve been using this one for a while and really like it:
It is simple but soes a great jub and is truly all-purpose. I use it in the kitchen, bathrooms, mirrors, windows (1-2 times a year), etc. I use it in the kids’ tub but not our icky shower. It is a very old tiled-shower that we basically have to use bleach for and it’s still gross. One day we’d like to redo the shower and get rid of the tile but that will have to wait until we win the lottery. 
Below is the dishwashing liquid I bought and tried and hated. Now I have to drive across town to return but at least I know that my ECover tablets are really better. (Monica-I get those at Food4thought or Whole Foods)
I like to use ‘natural’ cleaning products in my home because they are probably safer for me and my family. Even though I’m no ’mother-earth’ worshiper, I still like to use products that aren’t going to pollute the environment or the bodies of me and my family either. Usually if it is ‘Eco-friendly’ it is also ‘Kid-friendly’.
Over the years I’ve tried many products. I’m happy to see more options in ‘Eco-friendly’ housecleaning products available in stores other than health-food stores, like the Dillons Grocery store down the road. Though I still like to shop at Food-4-Thought b/c it’s such a fun store. Some products have worked really well and some have just been quite useless. They are a bit more expensive and I can’t buy them in bulk like other cheaper and not so ‘friendly’ products out there. But it’s worth paying a bit more if it means my family will have to endure less toxins.
Here is a good simple article about using some regular ‘cooking’ products around the house for cleaning.
Below are some products I use and like. I’d love to hear what others have found to work well without stretching your budgets too much.
Ant Killing Spray that actually works!
Dish Tablets that really work also. I recently tried a new brand but hated it so went back to these:
I bought this Bac-Out originally for getting the stink out the baby’s diapers but have also enjoyed stain-removing abilities also:
This laundry detergent I also bought for diapers. It is gentle and scent-free and safe for my HE front loader. The diapers don’t collect any residue (that make’s them stink eventually) with this detergent. I use it for all our clothes which works well. Though I’d really like to find something for keeping our whites and colors brighter. Any suggestions?
And a random monkey that my baby likes to carry around.
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