Eat Mor Chikin

I've become a huge fan of Chick-fil-A recently. The quality of the company and the product is so great. They have great family oriented activities on Tuesday evenings for Family Night. Coming up soon they're having Customer Appreciation week with free stuff every day and the finale will be Dress Up Like a Cow Day... you read that right. If you come in to Chick-fil-A wearing a partial cow costume you receive a free menu item. If you come in full costume you get a free value meal. Right on cow lovers!

Searching for Solitude

I am one of those people that are almost evenly split between being an introvert and an extrovert. That's what a quiz I took online once said - so it must be true! Ha! But seriously, sometimes I love being social and spending time with people... other times all I want is to be alone (or even when I'm in a great group of people but I still feel completely alone). And as a stay-at-home-mom.... well, I'm sure most of you know that real alone time just doesn't happen much. I enjoy being a SAHM and I love my kids and my husband. But every once in awhile I just get tired of being "needed". Sometimes I feel like every minute of every day someone is pulling me in this direction or that, needing me to do something for them or to them or whatever.
Wouldn't it be nice to be alone with God for awhile? To not be hindered by our daily stuff that distracts and inhibits us. I want to be able to find that within myself and my relationship with God. One on one time with the Master. Time to just focus on Him and His many awesome characteristics and the blessings He's given us in our lives. Ah, to be able to spend time alone in nature with the Creator Himself! Sounds really good right about now!

Here are links to a couple of articles I found online on the topic of solitude:

SOLITUDE ~ by Andrew Richards

Silence and Solitude ~ by Donald S. Whitney

Love Lets Live

While we were at the Pro-Life Music Festival we saw and heard alot that made us think about our position on the subject and how our position should make us respond.
I've always been pro-life so I don't always stop to think about it much. And the statistics that they gave us really got me thinking about the sad reality of the issue. And its become such a political issue, detached from the personal nature of it. It shouldn't be a political issue: its an issue of the heart. How sad it is that so many women (and men) are comfortable taking a life in this way. Who are we to decide which pregnancy should fulfill its God given purpose and bring a life into this world and which ones should be "terminated"?
A guy from Stand True said something that stuck out to me. He said the key to stopping abortion is a matter of the heart. And if we bring all the doctors and mothers who are performing and having abortions then there won't be anyone left to do them. How cool would that be?!?
Here are a few stats I found on Abort73.com:
- Nearly half of pregnancies among American women are unintended; about 4 in 10 of these are terminated by abortion. Twenty-two percent of all U.S. pregnancies end in abortion. (AGI).
- On average, women give at least 3 reasons for choosing abortion: 3/4 say that having a baby would interfere with work, school or other responsibilities; about 3/4 say they cannot afford a child; and 1/2 say they do not want to be a single parent or are having problems with their husband or partner (AGI).
- 95% of abortions were known to have been performed by curettage (which includes dilatation and evacuation [D&E]). Most curetage abortions are suction procedures(CDC).
- 54% of women having abortions used a contraceptive method during the month they became pregnant. Amont those women, 76% of pill users and 49% of condom users reported using the methods inconsistently, while 13% of pill users and 14% of condom users reported correct use (AGI).
- 40% of minors having an abortion report that neither of their parents knew about the abortion (AGI).
- 17 states (AK, AZ, CA, CT, HI, IL, MA, MD, MN, MT, NJ, NM, NY, OR, VT, WA and WV) do use public funds to pay for abortions for some poor women. About 14% of all abortions in the United States are paid for with public funds (virtually all from the state) (AGI).
I like what Abort73 had to say here:
Abort73.com, believes that "secular" arguments are invaluable and even sufficient to demonstrate that abortion is an injustice of historic proportions, one which systematically destroys the most innocent and helpless members of the human race. You needn't believe in God to oppose abortion. Anyone who cares about human rights, and understands that the right not to be killed outweighs the right not to be pregnant, cannot support abortion. At the same time, we believe that there is no such thing as a truly "secular" argument. Human rights must come from somewhere, and if they're not God-given, they're arbitrary and baseless. Public policy can never be established outside of some kind of absolute moral framework.

Here are a few more great Pro-Life organizations if you are interested in helping to make a difference to the 4,000 unborn babies that are aborted every day in the US. ** some of these sites may have graphic images of abortions and aborted babies.
Stand True - Christ Centered Pro-Life
Rock for Life - A Project of American Life League
TeensForLife - a pro-life website just for teens
American Family Association - America's Largest Pro-Family Action Site
Survivors... of the Abortion Holocaust
Life Centers - formerly Crisis Pregnancy Centers
After Abortion - help for those who are healing after having an abortion

Four Foods on Friday

I've been getting reminders about Four Foods on Friday for awhile and I've been a slacker and haven't done it! So today I will!
Four Foods on Friday is hosted by Fun, Crafts and Recipes. Here are this week’s four questions. Once again its four questions that all share a theme. The theme this week is “inspiration”.

#1. Name one cookbook, cooking website or food blog that you frequently use.
I must say that often I go to my default dishes in which I don't use a recipe at all... we're in a cooking rut sometimes. But when I do want something different I often go to KraftFoods.com - most of their recipes are pretty simple but they have some more interesting and challenging stuff too. And they have alot of family friendly suggestions.

#2. Do you watch any cooking shows on tv? Which ones?
Not usually... but occasionally I'll watch 30min Meals w/ Rachel Ray. I like her - she's fun! Yum-O!

#3. Are you in a cooking rut? Name a food or dish that you’d like to find a recipe for.
I'm definitely in a cooking rut! We have our family favorites and it seems like thats what we eat, almost all the time. I'd love to try something fun like making Pad Thai from scratch instead of getting the instant kind in a box!

#4. Share a recipe created by somebody else that you haven’t tried but would like to.
This is a recipe my aunt emailed me awhile ago and I just never got around to trying. It sure sounds good though.

Grilled Chicken w/Tortellini

1-2 pkgs Tortellini ( your preference)

1- jar of Basil Pesto sauce

1-2 pkgs grilled chicken ( can grill your own)

1/2 pkg of grated Romano cheese ( or cheese of choice)

Drain cooked pasta and save about 1 cup of water it was cooked in. Add pesto sauce with 1/4 cup of water, mix well. Add grilled chicken or serve on side. If needs more moisture add some olive oil and a little more water. Add cheese on top or mix in.

SERVE and ENJOY !

This is also good with pork tender loin.If you do not want tortellini you can use just plain pasta. Penne is great.

Thirteen Favorite WFMW posts

Another meme/carnival I participate in sometimes is Works For Me Wednesday hosted by RocksInMyDryer. Its alot of fun and we share alot of great ideas together. Here are thirteen of my favorites from this week.

Job security for SAHMs - @ AreWeStillCool

Chore Schedule - @ Weenuts

Punishment to Fit the Crime - @ Tara's World

Cleaning Up - @ She Lives

Journaling for Kids - @ PajamaMama

Simple Menu Planning - @ Passionate Homemaking

Reward Charts - @ SuperNanny.com

Overcoming Laziness - @ Like a Warm Cup of Coffee

Organizing Kids' Drawers - @ Capturing Today

Clean House in Minutes - @ The Simple Life at Home

Taking Odd Pictures - @ Just Pure Lovely

Birth Art - @ Because I Must

5 Minute Dates - @ World's Greatest Mom

Join In the Birthday Bash!

Summer's Nook is having a blogoversary! There will be lots of giveaways - so check it out!
Details: Finer details are still working themselves out so these are subject to modification:
* Giveaway and comment game posts will be put up every hour on the dot from 10am to 8pm.
* All giveaways and games end at midnight, wherever you are. Most winners will be chosen at random (unless post specifies otherwise) and announced Saturday morning.
* Games require comment participation and will include door prizes.
* Eligibility details for giveaways will be provided in each post.

WFMW - DIY Library Bag!

I love to read and I love passing that love on to my kids. We go to the library fairly often and I got tired of juggling the books or dealing with plastic sacks that always seem to tear at the worst possible moment! I figured there had to be a better way. I used my 40% off coupon at Joann's and bout a pack of 3 plain canvas bags. Then one day I dug out my mom's old toll paints and my 2yr old and I sat down for "craft time". I stenciled on some encouraging words and then together we did out hand prints - Nate says we're "holding hands". This is our library bag. Its just the right size for several kids books and one or two for mom. If we don't load it up too much Nate can carry it himself. We love it and its just one more thing that makes a trip to the library special and that works for me!
If you want more about Works For Me Wednesday posts check out RocksInMyDryer!

Music Festival

This weekend was so much fun! My sister and friend went up to the lakehouse with us on Thursday. We got to hang out and visit which is good. But we also got to go to this Pro-Life Music Festival which was taking place near the lake.
It was a three day festival with tons of Christian rock bands, a few of which we were really interested in seeing. So for $5 we got into the festival both Friday and Saturday evenings after dinner we went over and saw three bands each night. What a deal!
Friday we saw Seventh Day Slumber, Project 86 and Superchick. And Saturday it was Run Kid Run, Leeland and Hawk Nelson. We also got to meet Eowyn - who was totally cool - and we actually ended up buying her cd and loving it.
The bands were great... but we were also convicted by the speakers' message. I'll post more about that later. The festival was alot of fun. One of the cheapest dates considering all we got for our $5 cover charge. I really enjoyed the time spent with my friends(that includes my sis!) and husband (he's a big music person so he loves that environment).

This Week's Scrappin'

Well, I don't remember if all of these pages were done since last week's Sunday Scrappin' post, but we were gone a few days so I figure it kind of evens out. Anyway, enjoy the slideshow of my TaDa's!

A Work in Progress

Alright, finally I've got something to show of my scrappin' space. I've been slowly making a area for myself in my husband's music room. He's willing to share "his" room with me and I am thankful for that. I've been trying to make the most of the space without having to buy alot of furniture or storage units, etc. The table I'm using is a sofa table and its really a smaller workspace than I'd like, but its fine for now.
I hung a shelf that I've got as a wedding present and never found a spot for until now. I drug in a small shelving unit that wasn't getting much use in another room. And I did buy the plastic storage drawers on sale at Walmart and a few storage containers at the dollar store all for under $20. I'm pleased with the progress I've made and have been able to do more scrapping now that I have a designated space where I can have my things instead of having to pack them all away into the closet between craft nights. But I do look forward to being able to do more to it later as funds allow.

I've been tagged!

JAN tagged me with a meme so the laws of blogging compel me to do it! The rules of the game get posted at the beginning.
1. Each player answers the questions about themselves.
2. At the end of the post, the player then tags five people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know they’ve been tagged and asking them to read the player’s blog.
3. Let the person who tagged you know when you’ve posted your answer.

Q. What were you doing five years ago today?
1. Wow. Five years.... hhhmmm... I was probably working at ATA's call center. I didn't care for that job... sitting on the phone and the computer all day long wasn't my fave thing to do.
2. Still basking in my first year of marriage.
3. Getting ready to move into our new home that we'd had built.
4. I was really struggling with my weight (I partly blame that on said call center job).
5. Our church was meeting in another church's facility because ours got burned down right after our wedding. sigh... not our fault - I promise.

Q. 5 things on your to do list today.
1. Pack for the lake this weekend.
2. Take a shower... hhhmmmm - should have been done already.
3. Dig out birthday present for Jess.
3. Plan out the timeline/meals for the weekend.
4. Take Nate to soccer.... Done - its really more of a workout for me than for him.
5. Physical Therapy with Joe.... Done - more of a workout for him than for me.

Q. 5 snacks you enjoy.
1. Brownies
2. Movie Theater Popcorn
3. Oreos cookies
4. Trailmix - as long its the "perfect" bite
5. Ice Cream

Q. 5 things you would do if you were a billionaire
1. Hire a maid
2. Buy a house out in the country where we wouldn't have a dozen or so houses that can look right into our yard or windows.
3. Buy a minivan ( I know - how lame am I?!?)
4. Help our families, and church etc.
5. Save for our retirement and travel the world.

Q. 5 jobs you have had.
1. babysitter
2. bagger, deli/bakery
3. Airport Ticket agent
4. animal handler, delivery person, office help
5. Photographer - self employed

Q. 5 people you want to tag. I'm sorry... I'm weird about stuff like this. I don't usually tag people, I figure if people want to do the meme then they'll do it. I like them! Let me know if you decide to do it and I'll come by and check it out.

WFMW - Summer Bible/Book Study

A wonderful friend of mine has taken some of us younger moms under her wing and filled a mentor type role in our lives. She has coordinated a summer study two years in a row and we're getting ready to start our third. We have 5-8 women in our group and throughout the summer we meet once a week in one of our homes. We arrange to have a teen watch all of our kids (she's brave!) while we meet and we each pay her $2 per child per week.
Just about all of us have kids under 5years old so the first year we went through Creative Correction by Lisa Whelchel. Great stuff on discipline and various motivational tools to teach your children godly behavior, etc. Last year we did Created To Be His HelpMeet by Debi Pearl. I think alot of us kept going back and forth between being really convicted and not quite agreeing with the author on some things. But it brought about some great discussions. This year we're going to be reading Boundaries by Cloud & Townsend. I'm looking forward to this book in particular because of how it applies to all of our relationships in life.
For two hours, one day a week we get adult conversation about the book and life, sharing time, prayer time and usually some yummy snacks that one of us brings. Its been such a great ministry to those of us involved. I can't tell you how much I have been looking forward to spending this time with these women. And that works for me!
Check out more about Works For Me Wednesday here!

Gyro Fun!

My parents have been in the party rental business for fourteen years DBA Clown Around Party Rentals. They recently sold the business but have kept a few large ticket items to continue doing parties on the side. So, this weekend when we went out to the farm for Father's Day we took a ride on the Gyro! Just for the record: Nate and Joe just sat for the picture - they did NOT actually take a spin!

This is my sister and I going for a real ride! She and I both were screaming as we flipped upside down and spun around. It was so cool! Now my husband wants me to go on one of those gerbil cages that they throw into the air at Kings' Island. I don't know if I'm ready for that!