Groupon deal~Love Stamped

Today's Groupon deal is $25 worth of jewelry from Love Stamped for $12, plus free shipping. I hope to buy a necklace with my four boys' names stamped on it. If you are interested, go here to buy this deal today (this is my referral link. Refer friends and earn $10 for each friend that buys from Groupon!).

Sunday Reading

I recently started reading Respectable Sins: Confronting the Sins We Tolerate by Jerry Bridges. Susan Schoeman recommended this book during her talk at family camp a couple of weeks ago and our adult Sunday school class studied it last season. I've read the first 7 chapters so far and have really enjoyed it. Here are a few gleanings from chapters 6 and 7.

Chapter 6: Directions for Dealing with Sins
1. We should always address our sin in the context of the gospel.
"Our sins are forgiven and we are accepted as righteous by God because of both the sinless life and sin-bearing death of our Lord Jesus Christ." (p. 48)
2. We must learn to rely on the enabling power of the Holy Spirit.
Bridges says we have default setting and resort to trying to use our own willpower to defeat sin.
3. While depending on teh Holy Spirit, we must also recognize our responsibility in dealing with sin.
One of the old writers said: "Work as if it all depends on you, and yet trust as if you did not work at all."
4. We must identify specific areas of acceptable sins.
5. We should use scripture to help us with these identified sins.
"I have stored up your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you." Psalm 119:11
6. We should pray over the sins we tolerate.
"...it is through prayer that we consciously acknowledge our need of the Holy Spirit, and it is through prayer that we continually acknowledge the presence of those persistent sin patterns in our lives."
7. We should involve one or two other believers in our struggles against our subtle sins.

Chapter 7: Ungodliness
"Ungodliness may be defined as living one's everyday life with no thought of God or of God's will, or of God's glory, or of one's dependence on God." (p. 54)

What does it mean to do all to the glory of God?
1. "I desire that all that I do be pleasing to God."
2. "I desire that all my activities of an ordinary day will honor God before other people."

"An even more telling indicator of our tendency toward ungodliness is our meager desire to develop an intimate relationship with God."

Bridges believes that the root of all our respectable sins lies in the sin of ungodliness and states: "Our goal in the pursuit of godliness should be to grow more in conscious awareness that every moment of our lives is lived in the presence of God; that we are responsible to Him and dependent on Him."

What's Cookin'

Mon~Chicken quesadillas, rice, chips and PW's salsa
Tues~French dip left over from last week that I froze, salad
Wed~Daddy's cookin' while Mommy's gone
Thurs~Spicy Onion Burgers, Old Settler' Baked Beans, potato chips, veggies and dip
Fri~Pancakes, fruit
Sat~Frozen pizza, salad
Sun~Cheesy Beef and Spirals (freezer), green beans, bread

Stain Remover Product Recommendations

I kind of consider myself an expert on stains. With 4 boys, I've seen pretty much every stain. Ink, spaghetti sauce, ketchup, blood, baby poop, toddler poop...it ain't pretty. So here are a couple products I'd recommend.

First, Shout Advanced Heavy-Duty Stain remover. I would use this for moderate stains. Mine came with a tip that has a brush on it so you can really work the product into the stain. I had a pillow case that had blood stains on it and they are all gone except one small spot. I'm guessing with a 2nd treatment I'll be good to go. Cost: $3.29 for an 8.7 oz bottle at Meijer.



Second, for tougher stains use Clorox Oxi Magic Multi-Purpose Stain Remover. I soaked some clothes with this in a bucket of water for a few days and all the clothes except one of Noah's t-shirts came out clean (that t-shirt has been in my stained pile of clothes all summer. I have no clue what he got on it, but the Clorox did get all but one small spot out.). Noah had a green polo shirt that had ink marks all over it and they all came out. Cost: $3.69 for a 32 oz tub at Meijer.

I've tried numerous other products. The last one was Zout which was cheap, but didn't work worth beans. These are products I will pay a bit more for because I washed things numerous times with Zout with no success. I'd rather pay a bit more and get things done right the first time.

TKD Cousins

What's Cookin'

Mon~French Dip, roasted red potatoes, carrots
Tues~PW's pasta primavera, grilled chicken
Wed~Bean and Cheese Tostadas, salad
Thurs~Grilled cheese, fruit (no daddy)
Fri~Try to meet daddy for supper somewhere
Sat~Spicy Onion burgers
Sun~Spaghetti, green beans

Mud Puppies

It poured rain yesterday morning so our sand box turned into a big mud puddle. The boys and Caleb thought it would be a good idea to turn the picnic table upside down and use it as a boat.

They were a muddy mess by the time Caleb's mom came to pick him up!

What's Cookin'

So, I heard that my weekly "What's Cookin'" post was missed last week so I'm going to post two weeks right now! Glad someone enjoys it! :-)

Mon~Chicken quesadillas, cantaloupe
Tues~Breakfast burritos, watermelon
Wed~Pasta primavera, green beans
Thurs~Ludington~bring hamburgers, potato salad, etc.
Fri~Chicken alfredo with leftover grilled chicken, green beans
Sat~Frozen pizza
Sun~Cheesy beef and spirals (from the freezer), carrots

Mon~Bean and Cheese Tostadas, salad
Tues~Family Camp!
Wed~Family Camp!
Thurs~Family Camp!
Fri~Hamburgers, salad, chips
Sat~Grandma E's bday party-need to bring appetizers for 10
Sun~Beef Lombardi (from the freezer), green beans

Groupon deal today~The Mud Room in Ada

Here's a deal for you:
Get $20 worth of pottery fun at The Mud Room for $10. I've been here once with my cousins and we had a great time. They have all kinds of different things you can pick to paint and then they glaze and fire it for you. Great for a girls' night out!
Click here if you wish to purchase.

What's Cookin'

Nothing right now! We're in Goshen, IN right now with Chris for a conference until Wed evening so who knows what we'll do the rest of the week. We've been in the pool twice and tomorrow I hope to head to Shipshewana country with my sister and the boys. We took a back way into Goshen and drove down all sorts of roads filled with Amish farms. Yeah, I was the crazy one trying to take pics out the car window. Don't think it worked too well!

Groupon deal today~El Barrio Mexican Grill

Here's another Groupon deal I just purchased.
Pay $9 for an $18 gift certificate to El Barrio Mexican Grill located on Michigan just east of College. I've been wanting to try this restaurant!
If you purchase, please use my referral link here. :-)

7 weeks old

Grilling Pizza

I had never tried this before but thought it was a great idea since its been so hot around here lately. It was pretty easy once all the prep work was done. I need to try it a few more times to get it down pat, but they were pretty good, especially the barbecue chicken pizza I made with leftover grilled chicken.

Here are the ingredients. Typical pizza ingredients and then barbecue sauce, grilled chicken, cheese, and onions, for the barbecue chicken pizza.

Grilling the crust. Will have to try again to get the hang of it. The outside was done way faster than the inside. Maybe I need to turn the heat down lower.

Finished pizzas!

Naptime!

Chris propped Aaron in the bumbo last night and a little while later we noticed he had fallen asleep in it!

Breakfast Burritos for the Freezer

I got the idea for these from my sister-in-law, Aimee. Here's how I made them:

Ingredients
1 egg/burrito
soft tortillas
bacon, cooked and crumbled
cheese
onions/peppers/mushrooms

I scrambled the eggs with 1 T of milk per egg and added a good dash of salt and plenty of pepper. After scrambling the eggs, just assemble burritos with whatever ingredients you want. I made my plain, with no veggies so that the boys would eat them but I think they would taste super good with onions and peppers.


I rolled up my tortillas and wrapped them in saran wrap and then stuck them all in a freezer bag. Just heat in the microwave and you have a yummy quick breakfast!

Aaron's Baptism

Aaron in his baptism outfit worn by Uncle Nate V and Noah also. The blanket is from Grandma E and all 4 boys used it for their baptisms.

Aaron was baptized on July 11 with two other babies from our congregation. Dr. Murray was preaching that day and you can listen to it here.

The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit.
John 3:8

What's Cookin'

Mon~Picnic with grandma and her leftovers :-)
Tues~Pancakes, fruit
Wed~Grilled Chicken, pasta primavera
Thurs~Pork chops, potatoes, green beans
Fri~Hamburgers, chips, salad
Sat~Pizza (frozen, grilled, take-out, not sure yet)
Sun~Leftovers (been working really well for Sunday lunch. We can eat quick and get kids down for naps and Chris can head to the nursing home.)

What's Cookin'

Mon~Grilled pizza, salad
Tues~Spaghetti, carrots, bread
Wed~Scrambled eggs, toast, fruit
Thurs~sandwiches, picnic food at Millenium while we swim
Fri~Sloppy joes, chips, fruit, salad
Sat~Leftovers/out
Sun~Beef and mushrooms over noodles, green beans, red cabbage

Groupon~$60 Louis Benton Steakhouse gift cert. for $25

Groupon just launched in Grand Rapids. The idea is that a large group of people buy a coupon to get a better deal. Today was the first day it was available and the deal is a $60 gift certificate for $25 to Louis Benton Steakhouse downtown. The catch is that you can only use one per table unless you have 5 or more people, then you can use two if there are two separate parties (you can only buy one of these coupons for yourself but can give more as gifts). Coupon is good on alcohol but not on tip, so you will need to leave a separate tip and no cash back so spend the whole 60 bucks. Deal is only good today.
Use my referral link here if you buy. :-)

What's Cookin'

Mon~4th of July celebration
Tues~Grilled chicken alfredo, green beans
Wed~Grilled chicken salads
Thurs~Grilled hamburgers, potato salad, chips, fruit at Millenium Park
Fri~Pizza, salad
Sat~pancakes, sausage, fruit
Sun~Beef with mushrooms over egg noodles, red cabbage, carrots