I got this from Julie at Accidental Pastor's Wife...
I'm a lover of coffee, so of course it peaked my interest!

You Are a Plain Ole Cup of Joe

But don't think plain - instead think, uncomplicated You're a low maintenance kind of girl... who can hang with the guys Down to earth, easy going, and fun! Yup, that's you: the friend everyone invites. And your dependable too. Both for a laugh and a sympathetic ear.

What Kind of Coffee Girl Are You?

Got Milk?

The price of a gallon of milk is rumored to go up to $5 a gallon soon!
It's already $4.50 where we live and I think thats expensive!

So... I tried following some advice I got from a couple of different moms,
(one is over at hillbillyhousewife.com)!

I'm now mixing equal parts powdered milk and regular milk.
So, when we buy one gallon, just by mixing it with powdered milk,
we double the amount from one to two gallons!

We drink about three gallons of milk a week in our family.
With milk prices at $4.50/gallon, that costs $13.50 a week ($54.00 a month) just for milk!

Now that were mixing powdered with regular, I am cutting my cost in half, to $2.25/gallon, $6.75 a week ($27.00 a month)!
Thats almost $30 a month savings, and $360 a year savings!

I was pleasantly surprised at how good, and like regular milk it tasted!
My little guy didn't even discriminate, he can't even tell the difference.

One piece of advice I got, and that I try to do is
to make the milk at night, and let it chill overnight
to let it get nice and cold. This helps the flavor.

"Choo, Choo, Whoo, Whoo!"

I've got a Train Conductor in my dining room...
The boxcars are full and the track is set as my Little Conductor
says, "all aboard!"
When his little sister isn't busy watching him or acting
as the, "Engineers Assistant," she's content to listen
to Wiggles songs, and talk to the babies in her books.

...must go do some more, "chugga, chugga, choo, choo,
whoo, whooing!"...

Days Off

Well, there's been a little change to our schedule thats starting this week.
Our day off (our family day) has always been on Mondays, but now is changing to Fridays.
It's mostly because Mondays are such a let down day in the ministry.
We've been finding it near impossible to relax and to just forget about the business of the church on Mondays.
So, I'm praying that Fridays will be better...we'll see!

Sick Days

Hubby's not feeling too good these last couple weeks.
He's had a low grade fever, coughing, aching, and other
yucky symptoms.

I think he needs to take a break, but I also realize
that it's not in our budget right now...
Our vacation is scheduled for the end of August, I
just hope he makes it okay till then.

For now, I'm praying lots of prayers, and trying
to give him a little more TLC. It's amazing how
fragile this big, strong man that I married can be
sometimes. I think his vulnerability during these
times is sweet, but I do hope he gets better soon!

Embarrased Miss New Jersey

I don't want to spend too much time on this one, but in case you haven't heard...
There are some pictures out there of Miss New Jersey that were being used by someone alegidly blackmailing her.
At first, she did not want the public to see the pictures, but she decided today to release them.
According to her they are just pictures of her being a normal college girl.

My interest about this story is not due to anything more than role models (or lack thereof).
Now that I have a daughter, I am wondering...where are all the role models for girls?
I certainly never expected to use any of the "Pagent-Types," as role models...
but, aren't they at least supposed to act lady like?

I was no angel in high school.
By the time I got to college, the Lord had done a major transformation,
so that, thankfully, I was no longer a normal college girl.

I don't expect anyone who doesn't know Christ personally,
to act any different than Miss New Jersey.

It does however confirm my mental list of poor female role models, make my job of finding good ones even more important, and making sure that as her Mama, that I'm the role model God intends as well.

Hot and Sunny Days

Mmmm, our raspberry bushes are yielding lots of berries this year.
I picked a bucket full this afternoon.
Usually, I get about half that because my little guy loves eating them right off the vine!
Right now, I'm eating my favorite; Raspberries and Cream (delicious!)

The weather is projected to be unusually hot for the next couple days.
They say it's supposed to get in the triple digits. We almost never see this here!
Little guy and I set up our little pool and turned on the mister (like a sprinkler) in the front yard.
So were as ready as we can be!

What fun these times are...
I prayed today that these times wont go by too fast, and that God will make it seem like my kids have been little forever!