Over the weekend we had some unseasonably warm weather. We all enjoyed being outside.

They all played in the sandbox for a while. My parents helped us build it and it has been wonderful for the kids to play in. Anna wasn’t too sure about the texture of the sand on her hands though!

We tromped around in the woods. . .

Samuel pushed Anna around in the dump truck

. . . and had to keep putting her boots back on. They’re still too big and just would not stay on her feet.

It amazes me how quickly these little ones grow up!

Caleb turned three today. Has it really been that long? It doesn’t seem like it’s been three whole years since he was born.

He loved his “fa-wer tup” (fire truck) cake.

Here’s a closer look at the cake, which I really messed up. It did NOT come out of the pan in one piece, so I plopped the top back on and frosted it in the pan. I copied a fire truck coloring page for the shape of the truck.

He is growing up so quickly. . .

Happy Birthday, Little Man!

“I’m hungry! That’s why I’m eating playdoh. You didn’t give me anything else to eat!”

I promise – we really do feed that child! I’m starting to think he has a hollow leg though. . .

We switched phone and internet providers yesterday. It’s great. For only $15 more a month, our internet speed is double what it was before. What we had was fine, but the quality wasn’t that great.

Until someone in our community started using a cb radio. Somehow, the frequencies he uses interferes with the digital cable in the area (we had cable internet). One person’s actions affected an entire community. It’s one of the more bizarre things I’ve heard of, but I trust that the cable guy knows what he’s talking about.

So we switched. I’m hoping the faster speed will help Stephen be able to get his work done faster in the evenings, but we’ll see. The internet didn’t get working last night until about two hours after he usually starts working, so he was up until 1:30 this morning finishing. Yikes!

Then today I called and canceled our old accounts. Even though we still have voice over internet phone, the sound quality is a lot better. I’m thankful!

Today’s a special day – it’s my Arrival Day. I know some people call it Gotcha Day, but my parents always just called it Arrival Day. For those who don’t know, I’m adopted. My parents adopted me when I was five months old, and January 17th is the day I was placed in their arms. Every year, they would do something special with me to celebrate the day. Even now that I’m an adult, Mom still sends a card every year.

Here’s our menu for the week:

Sunday: roast, mashed potatoes, white gravy, broccoli

Monday: sesame chicken, brown rice

Tuesday: crockpot chicken taco stew

Wednesday: baked rigatoni

Thursday: ham slices, sweet potatoes

Friday: pizza night

Saturday: hot dogs, fries

The meals without veggies listed we’ll just decide then which veggie to eat from the freezer.

Breakfasts are eggs, scones, oatmeal, biscuits, grits, smoothies, and pancakes.

Lunches are sandwiches, wraps, macaroni and cheese, tuna salad, leftovers, etc.

Snacks are cheese, baby carrots, nuts, fresh fruit, smoothies, etc.

You can read more menu plans over at Orgjunkie.com.

We bundled all three kids up yesterday and went outside to build a snowman. Unfortunately, the snow didn’t pack very well. We still had fun though!

Anna liked being outside a lot more than I thought she would. I had to dig out some of the boys’ old winter clothes for her to wear since we don’t have a lot of outside clothes for her. She actually got upset when I brought her inside and took off her boots :O)

Yesterday afternoon it started sleeting. Now the snow has a nice layer of ice over it. We’re thinking it should make for some good sledding. . .

Sam’s only complaint is that he doesn’t get a snow day. That’s ok – I’d rather get schoolwork done this time of year and be free to take a few days of here and there later this spring when it’s nicer out.

Here’s our menu for the week:

Sunday: roast, brown rice, lima beans

Monday: hot dogs and french fries

Tuesday: chicken and barley soup

Wednesday: tacos

Thursday: baked chicken, brown rice, green beans

Friday: pizza night

Saturday: meatloaf, mashed sweet potatoes. . .or dinner at the in-law’s. Not sure yet.

The meals without veggies listed we’ll just decide then which veggie to eat from the freezer.

Breakfasts are eggs, scones, oatmeal, biscuits, grits, smoothies, and pancakes.

Lunches are sandwiches, wraps, macaroni and cheese, tuna salad, leftovers, etc.

Snacks are cheese, baby carrots, nuts, fresh fruit, smoothies, etc.

You can read more menu plans over at Orgjunkie.com.

Back in August, I posted about the Read the Bible in 90 Days challenge I was about to begin.

Wow. It was hard. It was so worth it, but it was HARD.

I am usually a pretty fast reader, but found that most days the reading took me an hour or more. That’s not a problem, but when I would get up at 6 to read and my kids would wake up at 6:15. . .it became a huge struggle to get all the reading in.

One thing I did to help me keep up was to listen to the Bible on mp3. It was nice to be able to sit down with my Bible and hear it be read at the same time. That really helped me to concentrate, especially on mornings when I was really drowsy. It was nice also to be able to listen while driving or washing dishes.

I finally finished a couple days before Christmas. If I counted right that’s 126 days; about two weeks longer than the goal. I thought it was closer to 90 than that but apparently not.

While I made it through the Bible faster than I ever have before, I didn’t make it in 90 days. I also used the mp3′s instead of reading at times.

My new goal is to try again. I would like to be able to do it in 90 days. I’d also like to be able to do it without listening to mp3 unless I’m reading at the same time.

It’s disappointing to admit I didn’t meet the 90 days. On the other hand, it was amazing to be so completely surrounded by the Bible during that time. It was so neat to see just how everything tied together so much. I’ve noticed references to the Old Testament in the New and vice versa, but going through the Bible in this amount of time seemed to make them more obvious.

One thing that was really neat was I finished up the week of Christmas. That last week I was reading in both Zechariah and Revelation. I never realized just how many references there were to the Messiah and His birth in the book of Zechariah alone. It was so amazing to read through it during the week we traditionally celebrate Jesus’ birth. And then to be reading about Heaven and the return of Christ at the same time. . . absolutely amazing.

So. I didn’t meet my goal. But I’m going to try again. Not sure exactly when, but I want to try again.

Happy New Year!

01-01-11. I can hardly believe it is 2011 already. Can you? 2010 went by fast.

Looking forward to seeing what 2011 holds!