menu plan monday.

I know, it's Wednesday, not Monday. But I just planned our menus through July. What a relief! I'll be using a lot of what's in the freezer, garden, and pantry (saving $) and of course we'll be doing our usual Cheap Pizza Night on Mondays. My family loves breakfast for dinner, so that's always on Friday nights. I planned stuff for the grill on Saturdays, but it's so crazy-hot out there, I'll have to ask my grill chef if he actually wants to do that. So here's the rest of the week:

Wednesday - Chicken tenders, Mashed Potatoes, Salad
Thursday - Bean Soup (it's in the freezer), Cornbread, Salad, Strawberries
Friday - Breakfast for Dinner (Scrambled Eggs, Hash Browns, Bacon, Biscuits, Fruit)
Saturday - Smoked Chickens, Smoked Potatoes, Salad, Watermelon
Sunday - Chalupa Casserole (I'll try to post the recipe very soon - this is a favorite with everyone!), Guacamole, Salad, Fruit

Stuff from the garden:
I have some yummy-looking squash in the garden that we'll be eating in a variety of ways...I especially love it on the grill. I only have one plant right now, but it's cranking out the squash! I pulled out four more plants last week because they were making weird, bumpy, orange squash that I didn't like. I think someone messed up at the store where I bought them and labeled them wrong. I should have just planted seeds, but I just love when I start my garden in the spring to see those baby plants all in their rows...sort of immediate gratification for gardeners, I guess.

I planted the zucchini very late, so we won't have any for a few weeks, at least. (I just noticed that it's 104 degrees - I better water my baby zucchinis.)

I just pulled up my green bean plants this week. They were making good beans, but they were a mess and you know I hate a mess! I'm going to be planting some new ones with plant supports in place to avoid the mass confusion of my first batch.

There are a lot of tiny cucumbers out there, but with the lack of rain, I'm not sure how they will taste. I have been watering, but I think they prefer actual rainwater...

I know I haven't posted anything creative since I moved to Blogger...I've been working on my scrap space! It's almost clean and then I'll get busy making fun stuff again. I did just do some things for the Prism booth for CHA and a project for the Fiskars Website for July, so I'll be posting those in the weeks to come.

One more thing. Do you hang your bicycles from the ceiling in the garage?

{He is like a well-watered plant in the sunshine, spreading its shoots over the garden. Job 8:16}

because I have so much else to do.

Today I have a friend coming over to help me rearrange my scrap space. There's not really anything wrong with the way it's arranged now. But when I move stuff around, it seems to give me a huge creative jump-start. And believe me, I need a huge creative jump-start.

And since I need desperately to work in my garage (gigantic wasteland of treasures that need sorting and putting away) and there are lots of clothes to fold and a little boys' room that is screaming for attention and a half-organized kitchen cabinet that wants to be finished, well, I just decided that today was a good day to attack my creative space.

In reality, even though the scrap room isn't as desperately needy as some other parts of our home, I'm not finding it conducive to creativity and if I can't be creative, I can't work. And I need to work. And I need to feel creative! So...the scrap room it is for today.

I guess I'll take pictures. I always wish I had when I'm done with something like this, although in the beginning, I always cringe at the thought of sharing my mess. Now, really, the room isn't as messy as it is just inefficient, slightly cluttered, and not creatively inspiring...

But first, I have to do something with my hair.

{Your head crowns you like Mount Carmel. Your hair is like royal tapestry; the king is held captive by its tresses. Song of Solomon 7:5}

cheap pizza night.

Yes, it's Monday again, and you know what that means...it's Cheap Pizza Night! We go to the pool from about 5-7pm, then order pizzas to pick up on the way home from Papa John's. $5.99 for a large, one-topping pizza. We love Cheap Pizza Night. Sometimes it leads to Cheap Pizza Leftovers For Lunch on Tuesday.

What's the only cardstock that's better than Prism Cardstock? FREE Prism Cardstock! (Gotcha.) If you visit the Prism Blog, Prism Girl Jamie is giving away some class kits - leave a comment over there and maybe you'll win one!

It's 99 degrees at 8:00pm. It feels like mid-August, not mid-June. And still no rain in sight. I am so thankful for our air conditioning, shade trees, pool pass, and Sonic - oh, and of course, cheap pizza so I don't have to cook!

{And when the south wind blows, you say, 'It's going to be hot,' and it is. Luke 12:55}

forecast.

The seven-day weather forecast for the Brazos Valley. It has been hot. It is hot. It will be hot. It is so not a dry heat. I really don't understand how the humidity can be such a factor when it hasn't rained for over 25 days. The ground is dry, but not the air. Maybe it comes from all those sweating people.

My oldest goes to Youth Camp tomorrow. She's so excited. She loves camp. We've prayed over her. Over the leaders, speakers, music. Over the friendships - the friendships she's going there with and the new ones she'll begin. We've prayed over the food and the people who will prepare it (no peanuts). I've asked God to help her to be discerning, aware, forgiving, safe, and teachable. She has packed oh-so-meticulously and painted her toenails Taffy Pink. It's going to be a great week. I'm going to miss her.

My second child was complaining of mosquito bites today. Itch, scratch. Itch, itch, scratch, scratch. Turns out she was covered in hives. The Benadryl isn't working as fast as she'd like for it to, that's for sure. She has been my only child with no allergy issues so far. We'll see.

My third and fourth children came home late this evening from a weekend at Grandma's. They got new haircuts, new legos, and Captain Crunch cereal. I'm going to hide the cereal and see if they miss it. Ick.

I had the strangest dream last night. I'd kind of like to pick it up tonight where I left off when I woke up this morning and see what was going to happen.

{He said to them, "Listen to this dream I had:..." Genesis 37:6}

happy father's day.

If you have your dad still, I hope you got to love on him a little bit today. I am missing mine very much on this day. I was thinking about him, getting a little teary-eyed, and then realized it was Father's Day... I guess it makes sense.

I'd have taken him homemade chocolate chip cookies today, one container for everyone else and one just for him. He always got possessive about the cookies I made him and I finally realized he was better off not having to share! I always gave him a shirt, too. He just always liked a new shirt. No surprises, really. When he died, one of the worst moments I had in the days following was when I opened his closet to get something. Something about all his clothes organized so perfectly...

It's been quite a while since I have felt it so intensely. I really, really miss him.

And I am wearing mascara for the first time in at least a week...what timing. Oh, well, it feels strangely comforting to cry a little bit and just miss my daddy.

Hug your dad today!

{he will swallow up death forever. The Sovereign LORD will wipe away the tears from all faces; he will remove the disgrace of his people from all the earth. The LORD has spoken. Isaiah 25:8}

adding stuff to the list.

I have to create another post to test my divider image.

After I posted this morning, I was tempted to go back to my to-do list and add some things. You know how it makes you feel so much more accomplished when you write something on your to-do list just so you can mark it off? I wanted to add:

• play Word Grid on Facebook for one hour
• make a root beer float
• change blog template

then I could mark those off my list and feel like I had really Done Something.

random summer.

I've been frequenting Sonic this summer. I always order the same thing, a Route 44 Cherry-Lime Water With Lots of Extra Ice. (Drool.) Two days ago, someone put mango in my Cherry-Lime Water With Lots of Extra Ice. I still drank the whole thing, but I didn't love it. From now on, I'll taste my drink before I drive off into the blistering heat. Oh, and FYI, this gigantic delicious concoction is only 54 cents. You can't beat that! It does NOT qualify for the Happy Hour Half-Price discount, though, so don't go getting any ideas.

Speaking of the blistering heat, I have been to the pool every day this week. Every day. I don't really like going to the city pools, but we got a summer family pass so I'm committed. The kids love it and it feels so great to be wet when it's 100 (okay, 99) degrees outside, but I just struggle with being surrounded by so many other almost-naked people. I have trouble being in fully-clothed crowds, so a pool crowd is a huge challenge for me. The relief from the heat is definitely my motivator. We usually don't go until at least 5:00 and I have learned that at 5:00, I still need sunscreen, but at 6:00, I don't.

Outside is the lovely sound of someone mowing and weedeating and blowing grass. We normally don't pay someone to do our yard (I am happy to say that I am way too thrifty for that - that that sounds so prideful in a weird, cheap way and the reality is that we really can't afford to have our yard done so we do it ourselves - and when I say "we" and "ourselves" I mean "Doug" and "himself"), but the yard is crazy-overgrown (especially the back yard) and it's Father's Day weekend, so I grabbed the guys who were doing my neighbor's yard and begged them to squeeze us in. Happy Father's Day, Sweetie.

My to-do list is quite long today, but I am motivated and excited to get some things done. I have a shiny new stack of Sterilite baskets (I use these for everything) and my label maker is ready to print. My boys went to Grandma's for the weekend, so their room is at the top of the list! I always miss them when they are gone, but the grandparents are RVing to Alaska this summer, so this will be their last visit for a long time!

Here's the to-do list. I know you were wondering.

• mow grass
• boys' room (this should have a sub-to-do list attached)
• CPS Blog card
• send Basic Grey paper matches to Prism
• plant ice plant clippings
• complete phone rebate
• buy stamps to mail rebate
• grocery store
• return videos to Blockbuster
• make zucchini bread
• vacuum gigantic hairballs from hard floors
• mop
• clean kitchen cabinet to make gift-wrap center
• mail box to Tiffani
• CVS for 88-cent Raisin Bran
• birthday gift(s) for tomorrow's party
• put mosquito sprays away
• empty diswasher
• fold laundry
• bean supports in the garden
• put up cucumber trellis
• fix blow-up pool
• clean litterbox
• order cookie cake
• cook ground beef
• make lemon bars
• wash cars

I am happy to say that I will be delegating as much as possible...as always. I have lots more to do, but these are my items for today and very likely tomorrow.

The mowing-weedeating-blowing sounds are gone, so I guess I can cross one thing off my list. If you know of something that should be on this list, please let me know...

{to be self-controlled and pure, to be busy at home, to be kind, and to be subject to their husbands, so that no one will malign the word of God. Titus 2:5}

transition.

I'm working on switching back to blogger. I am thankful that Blogger extends unconditional forgiveness to those who have abandoned it for years and then come back with no real good reason for the betrayal...

I have a card up at the Prism Blog today. I like it. I don't always like what I've created, but I like this one. I used the Papertrey Ink Basic Backgrounds: Retro stamp set and a couple of others (you can see the supply list on the blog). I especially love the grid stamp from that set.

Here is a peek:

I'm off to the grocery store. It's only 91 degrees, so I'm kind of beating the heat at the moment. It will be 100 or more later this afternoon!

I think I'll take the kids to the pool this evening. I have a lot of "blogs from the pool" rolling around in my mind...let's see if I ever get them posted...

{It rises at one end of the heavens and makes its circuit to the other; nothing is hidden from its heat. Psalm 19:6}