Happy 4th of July

Patriotic Freedom

John Quincy Adams:• “Why is it that, next to the birthday of the Savior of the world, your most joyous and most venerated festival returns on this day [the Fourth of July]?" “Is it not that, in the chain of human events, the birthday of the nation is indissolubly linked with the birthday of the Savior? That it forms a leading event in the progress of the Gospel dispensation? Is it not that the Declaration of Independence first organized the social compact on the foundation of the Redeemer's mission upon earth? That it laid the cornerstone of human government upon the first precepts of Christianity"?--1837, at the age of 69, when he delivered a Fourth of July speech at Newburyport, Massachusetts.
Read more quotes from our founding fathers here. If you've not ever read the Declaration of Independence, today is a great day to read it and be thankful!
picture from allposters.com

My Favorite Things....Baby Edition

Oh how I love bathing my happy, smiley, pleasantly plump little baby!
She enjoys it too!
She smell so good after a bath with Burt's Bee's Baby Bee shampoo and wash. It's my favorite way to wash baby. It is so mild and gentle that no lotion is usually needed. But my favorite baby lotion is Burt's Bee's buttermilk lotion. A little goes a long way. The wash lasts a long time because it is so concentrated.
Be sure to join in Sarah's favorite things, it's so much fun! Or just go read about other's favorites at Fiddledeedee.

Menu Plan Monday

It's a perfect time of year to take advantage of the local farmer's market. I bought all this organic produce and 32 eggs for $15 except the rasberries that were given to us by our neighbor. I included everything in our menu this week!

Monday-B-bagels, cream cheese, juice

L-turkey, ham sandwiches

D-hot dogss with chilli, fries

Tuesday-B-oatmeal with fresh rasberries

L-mac-n-cheese

D-taco salad, made with black beans and ground turkey(make double for Sat.)

Wednesday-B-bagels, cream cheese, fruit

L-egg salad (make extra for another meal), PBJ

D-men at baseball banquet, girls night out!

Thursday-B-eggs, toast

L-bean and cheese burritos, cantaloupe

D-chicken with summer squash and zucchini over whole grain pasta

Friday-B-whole wheat rasberry muffins

L-egg salad, PBJ

D-burgers, baked beans, cole slaw, watermelon, blueberry pies for desert

Saturday-B-cereal

L-leftovers

D-Taco Salad

Visit Laura's blog to see more menus!

A Chat With Lil'

While snacking on craisins.....
Lil'...."You wike my shoes Mom?" (not mommy, just Mom, she's so grown up:0)

Mom...."Yes, they are beautiful, love them!"

Lil'..."Where did you get these shoes for me, Mom?"

Mom...."Umm, not sure."(I had never seen them before, she pulled them out of a bag of hand-me-downs in the garage)

Lil'..."You pwobwee bought them at CBS for me." Interpreted...you probably bought them at CVS for me, it's such a great place to shop you know?!

My Favorite Things....Baby Edition

I'm joining Sarah at Fiddledeedee, sharing my favorite things! One of the most helpful baby things I own is my Boppy nursing pillow. It helps support baby while nursing. I can't say enough about it, I'm using it right now as I type one handed, something I have become quite efficient at doing! I have a cover that can easily be removed and washes well.
I take it anywhere that I go that we will be staying for a while. I take it to church with me and leave it in the nursery until I have to go in to feed Rose.
It helps little ones "hold" baby and baby feels more supported and secure. This is our little friend Andrew holding Rose on his first visit to see her!

Simply Cutting Watermelon

I came across this video from a link on Like Merchant Ships a while back. Meridith's blog is one of my favorites! I thought the video's instructions for cutting melons was interesting, but wouldn't work. I often dread cutting fresh things because I'm lazy that way and it makes such a mess. I decided to try cutting a watermelon this way, just to see how it would work. This is how...


First cut the ends off and set the watermelon on one end. I tried a couple of different knives to see which one cut through the easiest.
Then I continued to cut off all the rind.
I was surprised how easy and how fast this went and how little waste there was of the actual fruit.
Another good thing I noticed was that very little juice was lost until I started cutting into chunks. This made for a much easier clean-up compared to my usual method.
This was a perfectly ripe melon and we enjoyed it very much. I will dread this chore less now!
Be sure to read more great tips at Tammy's Recipes for Kitchen Tip Tuesday.

Making Your Home A Haven Monday

Monday is always "extra" busy here. There is lots of laundry and clean up from the weekend, but thankfully I am usually a bit more motivated after a weekend "off". Here's a to-to list

1. Wash Wendy and Lily's laundry (started)
2. Fold and put away clean laundry from Friday
3. Make a menu and grocery list (done)
4. Run errands...library, vitamin store, Kroger, dollar store

I'll update tonight how the day goes....Read more at Biblical Womanhood.

**updated** We made great progress yesterday. Lists and errands are done! Laundry is a work in progress. It's never done. We got behind last week, so we will play catch up all week:0)