seasons

In the past few weeks, my prayers have been very focused and I have cried out to God desperately for clear, real direction.  I had been approached about some ventures, but I knew for my family's sake I would have to give up something up in order to take anything else on.  Thankfully God has shown very obviously what direction I needed to take.

Pastor Mel, the missions pastor asked me if I would take on some roles for global missions at our church.  I was so excited, but not sure that was the direction God wanted me to take; was it God leading me that way or was it just a hole that needed to be filled.  So, I prayed all night long if this is what God wanted me to do, something had to give.  The next morning one of my sweet friends said she wanted to take on more responsibility with curriculum and she was going to start helping with the Nursery curriculum at the church.  OK, clear answer God, thank you for answered prayers.  

I began researching the countries our missions teams will be working in this year, and got even more excited.  Missions is all about ministering to children.  This week my role has grown even bigger.  I have been working on project all week, globally and locally.  Researching Nicaragua, Peru and Africa, I have created info pamphlets on the locations, 10 page packets on the countries, applications, started planning an informational meeting, written media requests, you name it and I have probably done it.  I am really excited;  just knowing that I am touching the world.  Now, I am praying for guidance on what trips I want to take and wisdom on how to fund them. 

This is only one of the many seasons that has changed this week alone in our household, I want to share everything with you, really soon.

Richards Family Four Recipe

I have had some requests with the grocery game for some recipes. So, here is a one-week menu with a couple of recipes.
S-Turkey Chili (serve with fritos and cheese to make go farther)
M-leftover chili for Taco Salads (lettuce, tomato, avocado, cheese, fritos, black beans, fat free catalina dressing)
T- Lemon Garlic Shrimp and garlic mashed potatoes
W-Garlic Roast and Roasted Veggies
T- Pork Tenderloin with leftover roasted veggies
F-Eat Out - watch for Wednesday fliers with restaraunt specials, even Chuy's is running a Happy Hour these days
S- Ribs, Corn on the Cob and Salad

Recipe -
Garlic - Place your garlic bulb on a piece of foil, slice the top off your garlic bulb, and drizzle EVOO over the top. Wrap up your foil, roast 30 minutes in a 400 degree oven.
Begin boiling water for your new potatoes (buy in bulk for 3 dinners). Add potatoes to water and cook for 10 - 15 minutes or until soft. Drain. Add, half of your roasted garlic (just squeeze into the potatoes). Add 2 T. Smart Start Butter, and enough 1% milk to soften up potatoes. You can add more or less for your liking.
In a large skillet add small amount of EVOO and heat. Squeeze the remainder of your garlic bulb into your pan, then add shrimp. Stir constantly, squeeze lemon juice over your shrimp (I also buy lemon juice in the bottle, b/c we use a lot of lemons and it is cheaper.) When shrimp is pink add 2 T. Capers. Serve shrimp with garlic potatoes and spoon lemon garlic mixture from pan over your mashed potatoes.

cupcakes for the queen

strawberry milkshakes

ingredients:

15 fresh handpicked strawberries

4 cups vanilla ice cream

1T. Honey

1T. Vanilla

Blend ingredients and serve!  Bella loved it, but I do not think LE liked the texture.  Mommy and Daddy loved them.  Good strawberry picking, girls!

grocery tip #3

I have many tips from other bloggers, so please forgive me if I don't give proper credit if I learned this from you, just know I appreciate it.
So, when you shop every other week it is hard to keep fresh produce. I do use the Debbie Meyer green bags and so far they seem to work, mainly you have to have enough to put in them. Usually when there is anything fresh in the house it gets eaten. I have learned to buy alot of frozen items too, that are great for cooking. Anna taught me about frozen pre-chopped onions. At first I was very hesitant on purchasing them, but when I realized I never had to chop another onion, I danced a little jig! A bag is 99 cents and it is enough for about 6-7 meals. I also loved to purchase herbs from the bulk aisle. This tip is from Erica. I usually spend all of 8 cents on a bag of herbs. Do you know pre-bottled herbs should be tossed out at 2 months after opening. Just keep your original bottle and restock, at 8 cents you can afford to buy herbs each week.
I also buy toilet paper, dog food, paper towels, laundry detergent in bulk. Then, I only purchase one each shopping trip. I also try to purchase it even I don't need it right away on months when I am under budget. You know it will not go bad and you are gonna need it some day.

strawberry fields forever

Anna and Abby Lu invited us to Sweet Berry Farms for a day of strawberry pickin'.  We learned the redder the better and green is mean, donkeys do bite, LE does like strawberries (if they are dipped in Daddy's coffee sugar),  baby goats are also called kids and strawberry milkshakes are best when watching the Muppets from Space (recipe coming soon).  What an awesome day!

swifty swine races

rodeo

Landry's favorite part was picking eggs in the chicken coop and Bella liked petting Bambi.  My favorite part was making memories with my girls that I know I will remember for a life time.  We were invited by my friend, Zelia to join her cowboys at the rodeo last week.  We pet all kinds of animals, had cowboy biscuits, watched pig races, collected fresh food from the farm to be taken to the market and rode a tractor.  

oh my child

devaluing words

I am not sure devaluing is a real word, OK it is according to spell check.  I have had this thought on my mind for a few months and then last night around 4 I woke up and it was very clear to me that I have been devaluing some very powerful words.  See, I often say things like wow, "I love that pink dress or I love Meg Ryan".  I do not love these things, I like them a lot, but it is not love.  I mean I do not even know Meg Ryan.  So, it just really got me thinking what do my loved ones think when I tell them I love them.  Do they know I value them more than pizza?  Is it just something I say when I hang up the phone, is it heartfelt words or just something that slips off the tongue.  I think we as a society just toss the word around so carelessly.  I mean, I know I do anyways.  I want my girls to know real love, not some temporary feeling that a new pair of shoes gives. 

Then, I started thinking about Christ's love for us.  I mean He died for me even though I did not deserve it. That is love, true unconditional love, no strings attached, holes in his hands kind of love.     

purple day

Since we had "green day" on Tuesday it was only fitting that LE decided Wednesday was purple day.  So, we had a picnic at the park with popcorn, peanut butter, pickles and pink yogurt (She is learning the letter P) oh, and lots of people friends.

These are just the friends we could get seated at one time~

sharing

A few weeks ago I found this small desk at a thrift store.  I hid it in the trunk b/c I knew I needed to find another one or there would be WWIII in our home.  Well, LE found it and I brought it in, much to my surprise...

very busy family

I got a call from my grandmother on Tuesday informing me I had not blogged in awhile.  Please excuse the inconvenience.  I have been working very hard the past week.  So, yesterday, the girls and I spent the day outside.  We had a green day.  We went to the green park, looked for green ants.  Ate green grapes and breakfast bars, we would have had green eggs and ham, but I could not find food coloring. 

green day

Yesterday, we were invited to a March Madness Party at our friend's T.A. and Miss Pam's.  We had a blast, I made sure to get a pic of the couple this time.  LE thinks Miss Pam always has a big bouncy house at her home now!  T.A. and Pam are Care Teams for a local apartment complex.  It is the neatest outreach.  I will probably blog about it soon.

Philippians 1:6

And I am confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day Christ Jesus returns.  

potty dance

YIPEE, HIP HIP, Hooray!! Landry slept through the night in big girl pants.  She may have been able to do it awhile ago, but Mommy and Daddy was not ready for her to try.  So, last night on her 1st try she did it!  Bella also was accident free yesterday, An extra $45 in the budget coming soon!  Thank you Lord!!!

It's raining!

When the king smiles, there is life; his favor refreshes like a spring rain.  Proverbs 16:15

Thank you Father for the rain.  Please continue to send showers to fill up the creeks and rivers.  

grocery tip #2

Make a menu-

I have a list of meals that I regularly cook.  It has about 40 -5o entrees listed according to main ingredient --- chicken, soup, pizzas, pastas, beef, pork, etc.  When I get ready to make out my grocery list for the two weeks I resort to this menu.  Every two weeks I look for a new recipe from someone's blog or website to try and hopefully add to our list.

I then take that list and list all of the ingredients that are needed.  By using the master list many times I have already purchased that funky ingredient such as sesame oil.  I also try to make things that can use the same ingredients.  For instance this week we had fajita wraps, so I bought avocados, fajita meat and black beans that I will use the leftovers to make a fajita salad the next day.  I especially do this with my meats, buy hamburger meat in bulk and use it for two meals or Italian sausage for a pizza and a pasta dish.  

Next week - Other bulk buying tips

FINALLY...

a picture with both girls

dandelion fun