Big Fish Little Fish

My fish tank always needs something. 

Well last week I learned two things. 

First, it doesn’t really take that long to clean it and refill it.  Half an hour tops—so why do I put it off?  I don’t know I just do.

Second, when you have only 1 fish( and he’s rather large and sometimes food deprived) and you add several smaller fish then he might just might think that the new fish are food.  Can you see where this is going? 

We bought 5 neon tetras after telling the pet shop guy(whom we really like!) about our 1 lonely fish.  He thought it would be fine.  Two hours after coming home we were down to 3.  Elizabeth found out what was going on when she looked at the big fish & saw fins sticking out his mouth.  She was NOT impressed!!  By morning our big fish was bigger and not hungry at all.

So this week I learned you shouldn’t deprive your fish of food.  And don’t put little fish in with the big ones.

 

Friday Favorites & Funnies

This week has been odd.  Nothing in particular but just odd.

An extra guest for a couple of hours.   He was a ninja and really liked the pretty girls here.

We delivered the final fundraising cinnamon rolls!  Yeah!

  

Although some of them turned out odd too.  Any one see Flibberoloo?  What movie is that from?

I love cinnamon rolls & finally got to eat some of them for my birthday breakfast!  Yumm!  I had some other favorites that day.

 

Angel food cake, pineapple & a very special gift from Joshua!  He knows what I like!

I also got to spend an hour at the doctors for a sinus infection.  I didn’t feel bad but my ear & teeth hurt.  Very strange.

#1 son came home for said birthday & started running a 103 degree fever. 

He hasn’t left or gotten better yet.  And yes that is a moustache—I claim the boy not the furry lip. 

At my birthday dinner the kids got going like they often do. 

Here are some of the highlights

Discussions on what to do if you don’t have clean laundry—consensus “Dig something out of the dirty”—Augh what have I taught them?  This was brought on by Michael’s statement that he had brought home his laundry to do but forgot to bring any clean clothes.  He was planning to stay all night.  Hence the problem.

Steve was describing some hair challenged person & said “He had baldness all the way to his shoulders”  Interesting.

Megan stated “I like it clean I just don’t like to clean it.”  This was about her room.  It got cleaned today, finally.

How was your week?  As odd as mine? 

I hope not.

 

Whittling down the debt

Today is my birthday.  I have avoided the computer some and spent time with my family & catching up on some long over due paper work(bane of my existence).

It has been a good day.

Cinnamon rolls for breakfast.

2 hours of quiet(for the mentioned paper work) from my hubby.  He took the kids out to look at dealerships he said.  I really think they went shopping but we will see later.

They drove home Buick Rendezvous. 

Not a new vehicle but if we go that direction it would eliminate our auto loan.  We haven’t made any decisions yet other than we need to sell the Rav4 we have now.

Back in October when we were in this lovely place. 

We made some hard decisions.  It was time to work towards getting out of debt.  We had had some great opportunities to invest & spend in the past couple of years.  It didn’t work out so we are changing our directions(per God’s orders) and working on it.  We aren’t going under or declaring we are bankrupt but the debt we had was too much. 

It was a burden and suffocating us.

This year will be a year of change and I am actually looking forward to it.

I think it is a great attitude for a birthday.

Now on to cake, presents & time with my family.

Praying for my children

Do you purposefully pray for your children? 

I mean beyond “Please God keep them safe"?

I have done different praying at different times in their(my) lives. 

1.  Infant—Please HELP me God, I don’t know what I am doing.

2.  Infant—Please God just a few minutes of sleep?

3.  2 years—Please HELP me God, I may loose my mind.

4.  3 years—Please God will he/she ever go in the potty?

5.  Middle Years—Please HELP me God, you meant them to be my kids right?  They are so strange.

 

6.  Middle Years—Please God will they survive to be adults?

7.  Teen Years—Oh Lord, you and me right?  HELP!

 

8.  Teen Years—Lord help them to be pure and wait for the mate you have for them.  Help them desire your best.

9.  Teen Years—Please God help them to hear their tone of voice.

10.  College Years—Please Lord, bring him home once in a while.

Today I don’t have bottles & diapers to deal with any more, but the remaining years seem to be flying by as my little people are rapidly becoming BIG people.

This morning I was blessed to have this verse jump off the page.

Asking God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding. 

And we pray this in order that you may life a life worthy of the Lord and may please him in everyway; bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God.       Colossians 1:9-10

Even if it wasn’t highlighted already I would have recognized this verse.  I have prayed this over and over for my children. 

For so many of those younger years I kept looking for the fruit of my labors.  I did see some good fruit.  They would share toys, play nicely & speak kindly—most of the time.  But it seemed I saw my fair share of rotten fruit too.  Hitting, selfishness, laziness—they are/were human after all.

Now I am learning to let them go.  A year ago I was a total mess.  All I knew was that my oldest, who was a senior, was LEAVING. 

My heart was breaking and I cried A LOT.  I couldn’t stand it.

I knew he was ready for this step and that he would continue to grow and become an amazing young man.  BUT it is hard to let go and see things change.

I prayed that verse many times because I knew that God would take care of him when I wasn’t there.  I didn’t want him to stay the same but finding a way to let go was just beyond me.

So I continue to pray although he isn’t under my roof everyday.  I don’t know where he is most of the time.  I pray for him to have good fruit in his life. 

But I know my job—to pray and lift all my children up so that God can fill them with the knowledge of his will.

What do you pray over and over for your children?

DIY Cream Soup Mix

My husband really doesn’t like food that has been over salted.  Even peanuts he prefers the ones lightly salted or unsalted.

I try making our meals lower in sodium by making my own cream of _____ soup.  It is also saves me $$$—have you seen how much a can of soup costs?  Yikes!

Use the mix below as a basis for your soup and then add the ingredient that forms the flavor of the soup.  Chop mushrooms, saute a bit in some olive oil & you have cream of mushroom soup with out the mega sodium & preservatives. Chop celery for cream of celery or chop chicken for cream of chicken.

DIY Cream Soup Mix

2 cups nonfat dry milk powder

3/4 cup cornstarch

1/4 cup instant reduced sodium chicken or beef bouillon granules

1/2 tsp dried thyme leaves

1/2 tsp dried basil leaves

1/4 tsp white pepper

Combine all ingredients and mix well with wire whisk until blended.  Store in an airtight container.

To prepare:

As a substitute for 1 can of condensed cream soup in recipes, stir together 1/3 cup dry mix & 1-1/4 cup water in a glass bowl or sauce pan.  You can microwave this—stirring every 30 seconds—for 2 minutes.  Also it can be heated on the stove while stirring.  I use the microwave because it is faster that way—just don’t for get to stir!  The mix makes the equivalent of 9 cans.  For cream of chicken you might want to use chicken broth instead of water to help with the flavor.

Linked up at Frugal Follies