Special thanks to Sandra for hosting!

The weather in my neck of the woods:
Rainy and cool...seems to be a trend for the past few Mondays

One of my simple pleasures:
My heated/electric blanket...a necessity in our house! I haven't put it on the bed yet, but am thinking seriously about adding it this week!

On my bedside table:
In the Still of the Night
Food Matters
Living by the Book
Taste of Home magazine

On my TV:
We missed Survivor last week and for some reason our DVR didn't record it
Dancing with the Stars
It's a busy week with meetings each night so not sure if we are going to get time to watch them this week or not

On the menu for tonight:
Since it's raining, football is questionable at this point - that always screws up our evening meal plan. I've been heavy on the soup the past few days so need to get a bit more creative this week - AND, I really need to get to the store!

On my To Do List:
Grocery shopping and co-op...I am totally out of wheat, milk, yeast, and eggs!
Finish applesauce after I get more jars
Meetings this week

New Recipe I tried last week:
Tried two different apple crisp recipes from our church cookbook - they were both yummy!

In the craft basket:
I have buttons to sew on some clothes and some gardening tasks to complete

Looking forward to:
Continuing to see the leaves change and hopefully they can stay on the trees a bit longer so we can enjoy them

Homemaking Tip for this week:
Man, I seem to have nothing this morning of any relevance to share! :) How about this one? If you have the space, keep all of the cleaning supplies for a bathroom in the bathroom. Make a list for your kids to complete - a step by step process, and teach them how to clean the bathroom and take ownership. Plus, if all the supplies are right in the bathroom already, you can do a quick clean up as necessary.

Favorite Blog Post of the week (mine or other):
Bella Mella continues to amaze me as she journeys with her son who has cancer. This post is quite the witness to how the bible applies to our everyday situations.

Favorite photo from last week: I've got two (equal time for all the kiddos. :))



Lesson learned the past few days:
Life needs to be revamped and reorganized - well, actually rePRIORITIZED often, as it is very easy to get off track with what is important.

On my Prayer List:
My pastor
My spouse
My kids
My extended family
The military and all who sacrifice for our country
Andrew (see button link on my right column)

Devotionals, Scripture Reading, Key Verses:
We've started teaching an indepth bible study called Living by the Book. Well, we are not teaching it per se, but facilitating it. I am excited about digging into the word on a deeper level, and searching for the deeper meaning. I have been a Christian all my life which sometimes can be a detriment to biblical study. Verses that are familiar get glossed over time and again, so I need to take the time to stop and inwardly digest...the word ruminating (I love that word...) came up time and again in our class yesterday. I look forward to sharing more of my journey as we become more immersed in the class.

Have a blessed week!