After all sorts of cloudy weather, the sun came out today. It was beautiful. This afternoon Daniel was snooping around playing and found some balloons on Tim’s desk.
That could mean only one thing.
Yep, you guessed it – water balloon time!
Kathy
Project 366 – Day 75
… when you have a free evening and a relatively open weekend?
I know, these are serious and deep questions. Enough of that frivolous money talk. Let’s take this blog to the next level.
Weekend Relaxin’
I would do a survey but that’s beyond my technical blogging skills. Tim usually handles that sort of thing and he’s too busy to help little ole me. Instead I’ll just cover the basics and you let me know if this sounds like your idea of a good time.
Laundry
Come on, what’s not to like about a weekend full of laundry?
Where did I get all of these socks, and more importantly, WHERE are all their matches???? If you chose laundry as something that tops your list this weekend, perhaps we could get together and combine our unmatched socks. Surely between us we might have a few assembled pairs.
Bills
Another exciting way to spend a weekend. A desk full of bills. Do you see that Dell computer catalog in the stack of bills? Moral dilemma – keep the catalog or throw it away so it won’t be a SNARE to Tim? What do you think? So far it’s been buried on his desk and he hasn’t noticed it, but he LOVES to browse through the yummy computer catalog. Only a computer geek could think a Dell catalog was “yummy.” I don’t want to deprive him of an enjoyable read and I certainly don’t want to be disrespectful.
On the other hand, it seems silly to keep chocolate around if you’ve chosen not to eat sugar. Same concept.
Slumber Party!
Let’s see, a Slumber Party in the upstairs hallway. Is there anyone else who thinks that is just the tad bit odd? You would think these children don’t already spend enough time together. Nope, they want to continue to the fun on into the evening.
No matter what the excitement, joy or fun, you certainly know that my weekend will contain some of this…
Because really, what’s a little fun if you aren’t awake to enjoy it. Some of us need our caffeine, even on weekend. 
What are YOU planning to do this weekend? Drop a note and let me know.
Kathy
Project 366 – Day One more than Yesterday
These pictures can’t truly capture our day, but neither will they make you green with envy over our exciting life.
It’s difficult being a blogging inspiration, but I try.
I was invited to a luncheon at a friend’s house today. Sarah, Daniel, and David accompanied me. We had a lovely time. It’s not often that I am able to visit with other moms in the middle of the day. Oh, the unadulterated luxury. My salad had feta cheese, shredded chicken, avocado and sliced tomatoes. Definitely grown-up food.
Sarah dressed up for our party – skirt, sparkly top and a black velour cape. Next to her I was quite under-dressed and rather shabby. Thankfully she was there to give our family its much needed class.
We also did school, played chess, washed dishes (many times), and did computer work. These pictures are unedited, uncropped and terribly boring.
Sort of like our life at times.
I also managed to fit a dental appointment in to the day. Sorry NO picture of that little outing, although the office is GORGEOUS, newly renovated and impeccably decorated. Sarah’s party outfit would have been perfect. I really should have consulted with her before I left the house. Who knew you need to dress up for a teeth cleaning these days.
Because I don’t want this blog to be a complete waste of your precious time, I will share a few links.
Fight the Frump with Fussy Pants
Record your eating, track your nutritional info with Fitday.com
Enjoy some crock-pot recipes with Slow Cooker Thursday
Have fun getting organized over at Lysa TerKeurst’s Organized Swap Hop
Found a link to the world’s 50 most powerful blog put out by the Guardian’s Observer. Interesting collection. I skimmed the article but didn’t see a single Christian blog in the bunch. In fact, I did a ctrl find on the words God (nothing), Christian (nothing), and religion (again nothing). What does it mean that the world’s so called 50 most powerful blogs don’t deal with religion or God at all??
Something to ponder.
Note: I didn’t include the link as many of the blogs were not kid friendly.
Kathy
Project 366 – Day Whatever
This evening I prepared some delicious roasted vegetables for dinner. I took 3 small yellow onions and 1 large sweet onion, diced them all and put in a large baking pan. I misted them with some olive oil (with my wonderful Pampered Chef spritzer), added lots of minced garlic and some seasoning salt. I chopped three small red potatoes and added them to the onions.
Not my actual spritzer, my hands or my peppers.
Bake 400 for 20 minutes
Asparagus was $1.49 a pound last week I still can’t believe I didn’t buy more when it was so gloriously cheap. Still, it only lasts so long in the fridge and I’m the only asparagus lover in the family, so perhaps three bags was enough.
“Sarah, you want any asparagus? Me neither!”
Snap woody ends off asparagus and add to onion/potato combo. Toss sliced mushrooms on top. Mist veggies with olive oil again and salt lightly.
Bake 425 for another 20 minutes
Okay, so the cooking time is approximate. Roast veggies until tender and delicious. Next time I’m adding some squash and fresh tomatoes in at the end with the mushrooms. Yum!
Enjoy!
Kathy
Project 366
Picture this: sunny days, warm weather, cute summer purses and…
Bathing suits, shorts and tank tops!
I don’t mean to speak for all women, but those first images make me smile and the others CRINGE!! In rainy Washington, summer still seems awfully far away. Those gorgeous, warm days are coming, however, and I don’t want to let these frumpy, sweatshirt days lull me into thinking I am safe from skimpy styles and beach wear.
What to do? What to do?
Last year I went through a period of depression at the onset of summer. Instead of spending some time over the winter exercising and keeping fit and toned, I ATE and lazed my way through the cold months. I had a full bin of cute summer things I never even touched — too tight or pinched to wear.
This year I am determined to hit summer with confidence. I might not have that model worthy figure (I think that’s a bit elusive for this mother of five) but I can at least spend some time NOW eating healthy and exercising consistently.
How to do it? How to do it?
I am a person who loves a new idea, plan or contest. I need motivation and external rewards to keep me focused. As I thought about how to motivate myself to get off my comfy computer chair and into the gym, the Lord gave me a fantastic idea. I say the Lord because this was truly divine inspiration.
If you look closely you can see a little sister in the picture.
This is NOT beach weather.
Our church is hosting a women’s retreat in April. This provided the perfect, natural deadline. I’m on the retreat committee and will be helping to coordinate things over the weekend. In other words, I will be somewhat in the “public eye.” I have the opportunity to greet the women as they come, welcome new people, share some of how God has put this retreat together and so on. Last year we performed a hilarious skit using the Lord’s Prayer. I was in my bathrobe for that one but you never know what they’ll come up with this year.
Talk about motivation!
Five for $5
The premise is simple:
That’s it! It happened to work out that there are 5 Mondays until our retreat so it’s actually 5 for $5 in 5 Weeks. Isn’t that perfect!!
My Goals ended up looking something like this:
3 Bonus points if Cardio and Wt Training are completed for the week.
The response has been delightful! My initial thought was to invite only the retreat steering committee of four people (including myself). This soon spiraled beyond our group and we now have between 17 and 20 people participating. Almost every single person has thanked me for encouraging them to make some goals and Strive For Them! I’m thrilled that the Lord would use me to encourage others to develop self-control and a healthier lifestyle. Isn’t He creative!
I take no credit for the idea, it was whispered into my ear by the One who penned these words:
For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men. It teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age…(Titus 2:11-12)
I encourage everyone to steal this idea, grab some friends and start your own 5 for $5 group. Let’s greet the summer with joy and confidence, knowing we have been disciplined and healthy in our eating and physical exercise.
It won’t be long before my kids are packing lunches, gathering suits and towels and heading for the beach.
Grab the sunscreen and let’s go!
Kathy
Project 366
