God Our Father

I noticed the other day at lunch time, that my boys were singing something. My oldest I can usually understand, while my 2 yr old can be a little, well more difficult at times. And while my oldest was singing nicely over his meal, my 2 yr old was SCREAMING at his. And all I could make out was GOD! IS! IN! THE! BEDDING!!! Ok, um.... WHAT??? I finally figured out that my 3yr old had learned a little song for Grace at MOPS.
God our Father, God our Father,
Once again, Once again,
Thank you for our blessings,
Thank you for our blessings,
Amen, Amen
Now how cute is that? While we have taught our children to say grace at mealtimes, we have gone the improv route. Just like we do in our night time prayers. We have the boys thank God for family, let them add in their own personal messages, and then the usual keep us safe, and help us be good. I want them to be able to put together their own prayers. That while the rhymes and memorized ones can be nice, I want them to think, Oh hey I need to pray for such and such. Which they do.
So this morning at about 8:20am, I was awakened ONCE AGAIN, by my two yr old. Now lately, and I am not entire sure why, he has decided that he wants NO part of sleeping in his big boy bed. We still have the crib up in the other bedroom, for bad nights, and when he can't seem to stay in his own bed. And usually he does not like the thought of being in the crib. But two nights ago, my little guy was in tears, big giant tears rolling down his little cheeks and soaking the collar of his shirt.
"I don't WANT to sleep in my bed Mommy, No Thank you Mommy"
"Well, where are you going to sleep?"
"I wanna sleep in my CWIB, Mommy, No thank you for bed Mommy"
I finally got out of him, that he had had a bad dream and didn't want to be in that bed. So I gave in. I was tired, and I just wanted him to go to sleep.
So once again, last night, after prayers and stories, he asked to be transfered to the crib. I obliged him. He slept through the night, and woke me up with a ROUSING rendition of GOD! OUR! FATHER!! Loudly and several times through! I will admit, I had a big smile on my face.

OOH OOOH OOOH A Coach purse!!

Hey everyone, Haley at Love, Life, Family, and then some, is giving away a SUPER cute Coach purse!! But, DO NOT check it out, because I want it....
Just kidding....

Fundraiser or Benefit

In light of several things, one of which being Heathers most current update, and also the post over at Boomama's I have been inspired (and hopefully) led by God to contribute in my own way. As most of you know, I think... I own my own Event Planning business. God gave me this, and with the help of Heather, I got started. Heather gave me the shove I needed to get started, and for a short while, was my business partner. If I can use what God has blessed me with to help her family out, than thats what I aim to do.
I know Boomama is working on putting together a paypal fund for Heather. Which is AWESOME! GO BOOMAMA! My thoughts, that have been circulating in my brain since yesterday or so, are that I want to either organize and coordinate some sort of Benefit Function, and have all proceeds go to Heather and her family, or find a willing Christian Artist (I have already contacted Casting Crowns, and am waiting for a reply) to participate in a Benefit Concert. I am working on researching the hows and whats need to happen to make this a reality. So, if you know anyone, or anything about this sort of thing, leave me a comment with your email, or email me! I know everything has been moving so fast for Heather and Mark, but I would love to see this happen sometime this summer as I know they will need continued financial support from as many avenues as possible to ease the burden on their family.
Thanks in advance!

Slow Cooker Thursday First Time!

I thought I would join in Slow Cooker Thursday, I usually have at least one Crockpot meal a week, so it will be nice to get some new ideas and share some of mine!

Cream Cheese Crock Pot Chicken

7¼ hours 15 min prep
Change to: servings US Metric
4 boneless chicken breasts
1 package dried Italian salad dressing mix
1 can cream of chicken soup
8 ounces cream cheese, cut up in cubes
1 large onion, slivered
crushed garlic

Lay chicken in 4 quart or larger crockpot.
Sprinkle with Italian dressing mix.
Sprinkle onions on top.
Press fresh garlic on top of all.
Cook on low for 4-5 hours at med.
heat.
About 45 minutes before you're ready to eat, remove the chicken and set aside.
Add the cream cheese and soup to crockpot stirring occasionally until smooth.
While the cream cheese is melting, cut the chicken into bite sized pieces.
Once the cream cheese and soup are smooth, add cut up chicken back to the crockpot.

This was simple and REALLY good. Even my two yr old ate it and then asked for more! I put it over pasta, and served salad and garlic bread. YUM! OH and for more great recipes, head on over to Sandras at Diary of a SAHM!

TV Just Keeps Getting Better....

I tend to watch the Food Network in the afternoon. Watch is a relative term, since it is mostly background noise while I putter around the house. I figure it is safe for my boys, they are busy playing, but don't bug me about their shows because, hey, something is already on! Genius, I know!
I was answering some email, watching Racheal Ray, and playing with the boys, when I think one of the WORST commercials I have seen in a while came on.
It starts with this guy getting ready to leave his house/townhouse when he sees this VERY cute girl, who happens to be a plumber go into the building next door. Well of course, being a GUY, he races into his house to try and break something pipe related. You think, pretty funny, single guy, trying to get the hot girl to fix something so he can drool over her and perhaps awkwardly ask her out. He is in the bathroom, LITERALLY flushing everything he can reach down the toilet to clog it up. And then I saw a bra go down, and I started to wonder a little. And then when he is POURING dogfood down, his WIFE, thats right, I said wife, pops her head around the corner, with a look of "What on EARTH are you doing??" look on her face. Why, preparing to cheat on you my dear.... Obviously thats not what the punchline was, it was a commercial for Kohler, the brand that does bathroom fixtures, faucets, toilets, and tubs.
Hmmmmm, what is the world coming to? I know we all know the answer to that one, but I was just a little surprised to see it so blatant.

WFMW

I have two little guys, one of whom is still considered a toddler, my other a Pre-Schooler. And when they eat they make a mess! Especially my two year old. He enjoys his food immensely, sometimes even rubbing it all over his face and head. Maybe this is how he eats less calories?
We had bought probably about 6 months or so ago, two splat mats. These are big thick plastic mats with some character on them that you put under your mess making kids chair to save your flooring. We had a Dora one, and a Spongebob one. They did the job, but the cost us about $7 a piece. Which to me, is a lot for a piece of colored plastic. The ones we had, sorely needed to be replaced. They had stains on them, and had been shredded in places by our cat.
We couldn't "exactly" remember where we had picked them up last time, but thought it was Target. Which of course it wasn't, or they stopped carrying them. Anyway, the only thing they had was a box of disposable splat mats. Thin and I mean THIN plastic with Pooh Bear on them. There were six to a package. But we would probably have to spend about $5 every couple of weeks to replace them.
So instead, we decided to get one of Targets CUTE easter tableclothes! They are thick, they have flannel backing so they don't slip on my carpet. We cut it in half, and put one under each chair. The one we got is striped with blues and lavenders, so more spring than Eastery. And even better?!?! It only cost us $2.99!!!
What a DEAL, and it WORKS for me!

Prayer Changes Things

I had a hard time last night. Yesterday was my Dad's biopsy for the tumor in his thryoid. They did it without any local, and went in about 7 times. So he is very sore. They should know results on Friday. If everything is ok in that area, then Monday they are going to go into his leg, biopsy and remove, and then insert the steel rod.
Then I heard about Heather. And my heart broke all over again. They have discovered what looks to be a cancerous brain tumor. She goes in today to look over the scan and get a better explanation before she sees a neurologist on Thursday. Their family has been through so much already, and I know that God will not give them more than they can handle. But it still hurts to hear that someone whom I count as a dear friend, has to go through this.
So this morning, I hug my boys a little tighter (they are too young to really protest it yet!) and thank God for my life. It is such a fragile thing, and you don't really realize it until someone, or two someones in my case, are faced with their own mortality. I charge all of you to lift her up in your prayers. Pray hard for this family that has already endured a lifetime of pain. Cover them with Gods grace and mercy.