A Full and Fun Weekend

Friday right after lunch, the children and I traveled to Memphis to meet the newest member of our family--Davis Daniel Simmons. Davis was born October 2. He is welcomed by his parents Rhett (my youngest brother) and Amanda and big brother Wesley. Davis is a beautiful baby! I enjoyed holding him so much! It makes me want another baby!

After our visit my parents followed us back home to spend the night. We were joined by Jimmy's younger brother Russ and his wife Megan. All of our guests had come to attend the cross country meet that the children were running in Saturday morning.

Believe it or not, all 11 of us were dressed, packed and ready for the meet at 7:30 a.m. (This was after Jimmy, Russ, Megan and I stayed up until 1:00 a.m. talking!). Jimmy and Russ set up the tent, complete with the Spartan banner Jimmy made.

The races were exciting! Each of the Spartans improved their times from previous races. All of their hard work is paying off. Of course I was especially pleased with Olivia, Julie, and Clay. They all ran in the junior varsity races which were 4Ks (2.5 miles). Julie placed 1st, Olivia 2nd, and Clay 17th. There were about 100 students in each JV race. I have posted their times in the sidebar.

Julie with Sarah and CatherineOlivia and Clay

My parents and Jimmy's daddy holding Leah. Jim came to the meet too.

My daddy holding a tired Sam

Megan blogged about the day too--check it out.

Russ and Megan intently watching a race

After the meet was over my parents traveled to their home. Russ and Megan went back home with us. We spent a nice day together, visiting, resting, and even working a little! Russ helped Jimmy mow the yard, and Megan watched Leah and Sam for me while I ran. It was a really nice day!

Joy

I thought I would share an update about our injured little dog, Joy. Joy has made remarkable improvement over the last 8 weeks. She can stand up by herself and even walk a short distance. In the picture below, you can see that she even attempts to come up the stairs into the house. However, she cannot get past the bottom step. We are continuing to keep her inside, but we take her outside a few times a day to visit the other outside dogs and to enjoy the fresh air. She tries to walk and move around more when she is outside. On Tuesday, it will be one year since her initial paralysis.

New Shoes for Sam

Tow Mater Shoes

I took Sam to the shoe store several days ago to purchase some fall shoes for him. I had in mind some sort of running or tennis shoe.....all he had that still fit were camoflage crocs, and it will soon be too cold for those. While I was searching for tennis shoes that velcroed, Sam spotted the lovely shoes pictured above! They truly are the ugliest shoes I have ever seen! Sam squealed with delight because he LOVES "Mater" from the movie Cars, which by the way he has seen 492 times in the van---viewing it while I cart his siblings to cross country practice, races, piano lessons, etc. Anyway, I could hardly get him to even try on the blue sketchers I chose for him. He finally reluctantly tried on ONE sketcher, keeping the Mater shoe on the other foot. The sales lady boxed up the sketchers and Sam proudly wore the Mater shoes right out of the store. And he has worn them EVERYWHERE since. I think he has worn the sketchers one time.

Supper Menu

Sunday: cereal or peanut butter and jelly sandwiches
Monday: beef and vegetable stew (crock pot), bread
Tuesday: taco soup (crock pot)
Wednesday: leftovers
Thursday: Fruited Chicken (crock pot), brown rice, green beans
Friday: grilled chicken, ranch potatoes, peas
Saturday: lasagna

8 miles!!

Jimmy unexpectedly finished work early today and offered to take Leah and Sam while the rest of us ran. So, I didn't have to push them in the stroller! I had planned to run 4 miles, but since I didn't have the stroller I went ahead and did my long run for the week...8 miles. Olivia and Julie ran 8 miles today too (20 minutes faster than I did!) I took a 1 minute walk break at the end of each mile, and that really made a difference. I still felt strong when I finished. The rest of the week is downhill--3 days of 4 miles each.

I Survived!

I survived being away from Sam overnight. He did too! It wasn't easy though. I know I cried at least ten times during the retreat. Between thinking about Jimmy and the children being so far away, hearing Sam cry on the phone late last night, "I want Mama!" repeatedly, and listening to wonderful Christian women speak their hearts about the seasons of a woman's life, I was just a little emotional. But, the retreat was excellent, and Jimmy and my parents did a fine job of taking care of all of the children. Sam was much happier today with the distraction of the race, playground, and playing with my parents. He was estatic when I arrived home! I was so happy to see my dear husband and precious children. I just love my family so much!

To read a synopsis of the retreat, go to Lynn's blog.

Here are some highlights of the trip to Forest.

My grandmother (Meme) and my mother are the ladies behind the couch.

Meme recently moved to an apartment in Forest. This is the first time my children have visited her in her new home.

Jimmy, Olivia, Julie, and Clay all ran in a 5K race Saturday morning called the Wing Dang Doodle! The race is part of a fun day of chicken wing cooking competitions and blues music. All of them ran their fastest time ever in a 5K race. Jimmy won 1st in his age group, Olivia was 1st in 14 and under (2nd overall female), Julie was 1st overall female, and Clay was 1st in 14 and under. I listed their times under Race Results in the sidebar.

Clay in is "race day" shirt. He wears this red shirt to EVERY race!

Clay, Olivia, and Julie showing their awards.

All of the children

Pops (my daddy) and Sam

Pops, Sam, and Leah

My parents and all of the children

Sam's favorite picture pose

Finally, a picture where you can see Sam's sweet face!

Recipes

7 Can Soup

1 lb. ground beef, browned and drained
1 can chili without beans
1 can tomatoes
1 can stewed tomatoes
1 can tomato soup
1 can vegetarian alphabet soup
1 can corn
1 can Veg-All

Put all ingredients in a crock pot. Rinse each can with 1/4 can water. Then add 1 more can of water. Cook on low for a few hours.

Potato Soup

1 30oz. bag frozen hash brown potatoes
3 cans chicken broth
1 can cream of chicken soup
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/2 tsp. black pepper
1 8 oz. cream cheese, softened

Mix all ingredients except cream cheese in crock pot. Cook on low for 5 hours. Stir in cream cheese and cook 30 more minutes. Stir before serving.

Weekly Menu

This week's menu has a couple of repeats from last week because I didn't cook what I had planned on two nights. The meals are listed--breakfast, lunch, supper.

Sunday
pig in blankets
pasta salad, fruit salad
cereal (what we always eat on Sunday nights after church)

Monday
homemade waffles
baked potatoes
creamy chicken pasta

Tuesday
self serve (frozen waffles, cereal, granola bars)
sandwiches or leftovers
chicken tacos

Wednesday
ham and cheese eggs, toast
sandwiches or leftovers
7 can soup, bread

Thursday
cinnamon rolls
raviolis
potato soup, bread

Friday
oatmeal, cereal
leftovers
eat out or frozen pizza

Saturday
self serve
grilled cheese sandwiches
grilled chicken, ranch potatoes, peas

Sunday
pig in blankets
homemade pizza
cereal

Sleeping Sam!

Sam has slept all night in his own bed for 4 nights now! I have been apprehensive about leaving him overnight tomorrow, but now that he has shown me that he can sleep without me, I am less worried. I know that he will be fine, but I also know that I will miss him terribly. Of course I will miss all of my delightful children, but this is my first time away from Sam. Amazing how the 5th child can be as hard to leave as the 1st! I do love my sweet children so much. I guess that since we spend most of our waking hours together, it makes the separation that much harder. I am praying over and over again for their safety and happiness while I am gone. I also pray that I will not be so concerned about them that I cannot enjoy myself!

We have changed our plans for the weekend for Jimmy and the children. Instead of keeping them here at home and running in the race in New Albany Saturday with their cross country team, Jimmy is taking them to spend the night at my parents' house (3 hours away). They will run in a 5K race there Saturday morning. My parents are looking forward to cheering them on. Hopefully being at Mims and Pops's house will serve as a pleasant distraction to Sam. We should all arrive home around the same time Saturday afternoon. It won't be a minute too soon.
Can you tell that I am nervous about being gone?

We had a fun, but tiring (for me) cross country practice this afternoon. I ran with some of the kids, and they ran a faster pace than what I usually do. They worked me hard! Jimmy was able to come and run too, and my sweet friend Liesa, and some of the other mothers, watched Leah and Sam for us so we didn't have to push the stroller. After practice the whole team and some of the parents went to the local Mexican restaurant for supper. It was a lot of fun! The children had a fabulous time.

Running

First of all, I ran 7 miles today! The farthest I have ever run! I have run 6 miles many times, but until today, that was it. My current training plan is to run 4-5 miles 3 days a week and one day each week run a long run, adding one mile to the distance each week until the week before the half marathon. I ran the first 5 miles today without taking any walk breaks, but then at mile 5 and mile 6 I walked for about one minute. Next week when I run my long run, I plan to try this routine: run 8 minutes, walk 1 minute. This run/walk method has been made popular by Jeff Galloway, and I think it will be good for me and my knees.

I have two friends who are beginning to run. For them and anyone else out there who is interested, here are a few websites with helpful information.
Beginning Runner's Guide
Hal Higdon's Beginning 5K Training Guide
Jeff Galloway
Runner's World

My advice is to take it slowly, run slowly, and increase your distance/time slowly. I first began running consistently 18 months ago, and most of that was with the double stroller. Commit to sticking with it for 8 weeks before you decide that running isn't for you. I promise you, you will be hooked! Remember, each mile burns about 100 calories! (That's walking or running).
One more thing, once you are committed to running regularly, invest in a good pair of running shoes and some decent running socks (not thick 100% cotton ones).

Happy Running!

Running, Sam, and Books

I signed up for the St. Jude Half Marathon (13.1 miles) on Dec. 6th. I have been training for 4 weeks now. I had two main concerns when deciding whether to try this or not--1: my knees, 2: what to do with Leah and Sam during my weekly long runs. So far, neither concern has been an issue. I am running very slowly, and I am increasing my weekly mileage very slowly too, adding 1-2 miles each week. Saturday morning Jimmy kept the children while I left at 6:00 a.m. to meet a running group in town. I ran 6 miles that morning. Tomorrow I plan to do my long run for this week, 7 miles, at the park. I have a baby sitter coming to play with Sam on the playground, Leah will be at a birthday party, and the older three will be at the same park having cross country practice. The reason I am running my long run for this week on a Tuesday instead of a Saturday leads me to the next thing on my mind...

I am leaving Sam overnight for the first time in his life (he will be 3 in January) this Friday night. I will be gone a little over 24 hours. Lynn and I are going to a Christian Women's Retreat about 1.5 hours away from home. Sam has never gone to sleep at bedtime without me and my hair. I can count on one hand the times he has not gotten in our bed during the night. He wakes up calling, "Mama, Mama!" I get him, he grabs my hair, and he is back asleep within a minute. I am not sure that I can sleep without his little hands pulling my hair! We'll see!

While shopping for a birthday gift today, I saw Karen Kingsbury's newest and last book in the beloved Baxter family series. I bought it! I want to stay up all night and read the whole thing (I won't)! But I am still reading two other books. I am going to make myself finish the other books, and then read this last book, Sunset at a slow, enjoyable pace. I have never read a book without skipping ahead to see what happens. I am going to TRY to read this book, page by page, in order!

Creamy Italian Chicken

This recipe was given to me by my dear friend Lynn.

4-6 frozen chicken breasts
1 package dry Italian salad dressing mix
1 can chicken broth
8 oz. cream cheese
12-16 oz. pasta (I use angel hair because it cooks quickly)

Place chicken in crock pot and sprinkle dry mix on top. Add the can of broth and cook on high for 4 hours. Add the cubed cream cheese, shred the chicken a little with two forks or some scissors, and stir well. Continue to cook for 30 minutes or until cream cheese is melted. Stir. While the cream cheese is melting, cook the pasta. You can either spoon the chicken and sauce on each plate of pasta, or mix the whole thing together in a big bowl (or the pot you cooked the pasta in). Enjoy!

Menu Monday

I am going to copy my Farm Wife friend and list my menu for this week. With piano then running on Mondays and cross country practice Tuesday-Friday afternoons, I have begun to rely heavily on my crock pot and leftovers. I prefer to use my crock pot in cooler weather, but unless I want to cook supper at 2:00 and reheat it later (which I have done sometimes) or cook when we get home and eat at 7:30 (which I have also done), I have got to start using the crock pot more often.

• Monday: leftovers (we have grilled hamburgers and chicken)
• Tuesday: Crock Pot--roast with carrots, potatoes and onions, green beans
• Wednesday: Crock Pot--Creamy Italian chicken served over pasta
• Thursday--eat out with the cross country team after practice
• Friday: spaghetti (thawed and heated from the freezer)
• Saturday: frozen pizza
• Sunday: Crock Pot--Mexican chicken--to be used for nachos or soft tacos

Saltillo Invitational

This morning the Spartans participated in the Saltillo Invitational Cross Country Meet. There were over 900 runners! We had a super time. Olivia was our only child to run--cross country is for grades 7-12. As a 7th or 8th grader, you can run in the varsity race (grades 9-12), but the older students cannot run in the Jr. Varsity (grades 7-8). Olivia and the other Spartan girls ran the Varsity race. There were 117 (I think) runners, and Olivia was 10th! Way to go Olivia!! Julie and Clay did a wonderful job cheering for her and all of the Spartans. Check out Olivia's blog for photos and more.

Preschool Activities List

Here is the list of activities I use for Leah and Sam during our morning school time. I start at the top of the list, checking off each item as I use it. Usually, they play with 2-4 activities a day. When I get to the bottom of the list, I just start over.

• cut lines drawn on strips of paper
• wooden ABC puzzle
• matching socks
• buttons
• flower arranging
• Lauri puzzles
• stencils and paper
• woodkin dolls
• popsicle sticks, paper, and glue
• pom poms, muffins tins, bowls, and clothespins
• dominoes
• fun noodles
• wedgits
• felt board
• play-doh
• magnet paper dolls
• lacing pets
• beans
• fit-a-space (Lauri product)
• dry erase board
• cut coupons
• pipe cleaners and beads
• bears and cups
• clock puzzle
• abacus
• ABC floor puzzle
• tongs and objects to pick up
• wooden beads
• plastic animals
• gears
• school bus (cloth ABC toy)
• form fitters (Lauri product)
• stamps
• egg carton counting
• magnet boards
• rice
• beginner pattern blocks
• water, bowls, droppers
• letter magnets
• see and spell
• soft beads
• plastic buttons
• Familiar Things puzzle (Lauri)
• Leap Pad
• animal lacing cards
• toothpick art
• Dress the Bear puzzle
• water doodle mats
• ring builders
• lace and link letters (Lauri)
• chalk art
• geo blocks
• Cuisenaire rods
• Discovery Toy Farm puzzle
• number peg puzzle (Lauri)
• cubes
• Little People
• soft blocks
• Fisher Price ABC animals
• water, bowls, sponges
• Lauri stacking pegs

I did not buy or gather these supplies overnight! I have had a preschooler since the beginning of my homeschooling career, and I have collected these items over 10 years. I like to give the younger children items that can be used during school time for birthday and Christmas gifts.

Time For God

Last Sunday Jimmy filled in for our regular preacher who was out of town. His sermon was titled, "Time for God". I have still been thinking about his message all week, and I have a few thoughts.
How much of our time does God want? 30 minutes of Bible reading and prayer first thing in the morning so you can check it off your "to do list"? Or a few minutes of prayer right before you go to bed at night so you won't feel guilty? Is reading your Bible in order to complete your lessons for Bible class enough? What about praying when life gets stressful?

Obviously God wants way more than this. Consider these few verses (all from the NIV).
Romans 12:1 "Therefore, I urge you brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer yourselves as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God--this is your spiritual act of worship."
Remember those sacrifices that God demanded daily for various sins in the OT? Do you remember that the animals for sacrifice had to be without blemish? God's people had to put some thought into choosing their animals for sacrifice....on a daily basis. Today WE are living sacrifices. I think God wants us to put a good deal of thought into presenting ourselves holy and pleasing to God. Of course we are not without blemish (thank you Lord for Jesus's blood), but we must make choices all day every day that reflect that we are sacrificing ourselves for God. Choose to spend much time in prayer and Bible reading. Choose to memorize Scripture. Choose to give a gentle answer instead of displaying your anger. Pray, pray, and pray some more for the Lord to help you be the living sacrifice he wants. This takes lots of time.

1 Thessalonians 5:16-17 "Be joyful always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus."
We are commanded to pray continually. Throughout the day. Prayers of praise and thankfulness, and prayers of help and for wisdom.

Colossians 3:17 "And whaterever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him."
Colossians 3:23 "Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men."
Obeying these verses will pretty much take up all of our time! Whatever you do, do it ALL in the name of the Lord Jesus---so as you are working today, serving your family, working outside your home, taking care of a sick or elderly relative, cleaning up from the children's stomach virus, whatever you do today, think of serving the Lord while doing it.
God wants ALL of our time.

Happy Birthday to Me!

Today is my 39th birthday! I have had a fabulous day! Actually the celebration began last night with supper at my favorite Mexican restuarant. Jimmy had a mandatory work meeting tonight (he was off all day), so we had the birthday supper last night.

Today began with my finding a special gift in the kitchen---a Belgian waffle maker! The girls had already taken it out of the box, read the directions, made the batter, and plugged it in. They began cooking while I served myself some coffee.

Here is the first waffle.
Here is Sam enjoying his waffle while making his "picture face".
This is what the kitchen looked like after the cooking session.

After breakfast the children gave me beautiful handmade birthday cards, and I opened two more gifts. I had actually bought these for myself and had the girls wrap them, but I had honestly forgotten what I had ordered! So it was a surprise! I had attended a Southern Living party a few weeks ago and purchased a small serving dish and 4 little dessert bowls for my birthday!

Later on in the morning the whole family went to Trails and Treads, and I picked out some new running shoes. They feel good and they look great! Next, we went to eat lunch at a Japanese restaurant. We had a short amount of time back at home, and then we were off to cross country practice. Jimmy and I took turns watching Leah and Sam while the older three practiced, and we ran too. My new shoes ran great!

As soon as Jimmy came home tonight I had one last surprise--birthday brownies complete with homemade icing and candles! I was shocked. My first question was, "When did you cook this?" The answer was even more surprising. My sweet Olivia and Julie got up at 5 O'CLOCK THIS MORNING! They cooked the brownies, made the homemade icing, hid the brownies in the basement, and cleaned up all the evidence! All before I woke up at 7:00. How wonderful was that??

I have the sweetest, kindest, most thoughtful husband and children. I thank them so much for all they did to celebrate my birthday. I had a lovely day!

Sherman Day 5K

This morning was the Sherman Day 5K held in Sherman, Mississippi. It was a fun race because the children's homeschool cross country team, the Spartans, participated. Olivia, Julie, and Clay had a super time running with their friends and teammates, and they also enjoyed the fellowship before and after the race. Many Spartans won awards! Go Spartans! I was especially proud of my family. Jimmy won 1st in his age group, Olivia won 2nd place overall female, Julie won 1st place overall female, and Clay won 1st place in his age group. The course was nice, not too hilly, not too flat. Thank you to my friend Karen, who watched Leah and Sam while I ran so I didn't have to push them in the stroller! Here are some pictures from the day

Some of the Spartans before the race

Some girl Spartans before the race

Sam's new picture face. This is what he does whenever he sees the camera.

Leah playing and waiting for the awards

Sam was thrilled to see this backhoe!

hanging out after the race

Olivia--2nd place overall female
Clay--1st place in 9 and under males
Julie--1st place overall female

The Spartan team group photo
Brothers having fun

Back to School Picnic

Tonight was our local homeschool's support group annual back to school picnic at Ballard Park. I am guessing that there were 150+ people there. We enjoyed grilled hamburgers and hotdogs, fellowship, and lots of fun. The children really enjoyed visiting with their friends. They played volleyball, played on the playground, and just ran around in the grass. The parents enjoyed sitting around visiting with one another.

Here are some pictures of the girls.....Clay and Sam were there too, I just didn't get any pictures of Clay (he was too busy playing) and the only one of Sam really wasn't that good.

Leah and her friends

Julie and her friends

Olivia and her friends

Fun

Well, the ribbon and wrapping paper came in today. I sat the box full of packing peanuts on the floor and began teaching our Bible lesson. That box was a magnet! You can see the fun Leah and Sam had!

A Typical School Day

I have really increased Clay's workload this school year, and he has risen to the challenge. Yesterday he did two day's worth of school so he could be "off" today. We spent most of the day in town getting haircuts for him, Sam, Olivia, and Julie (at two different places) and then to New Albany for the Spartans (homeschool cross country) practice. He still enjoyed his morning at home just playing, and he was glad that he didn't have to do any school in the car or at the beauty or barber shop!

Here is Sam playing with a fun activity on the schoolroom floor. For the first hour of our school time, Sam plays upstairs with different siblings. Then I let him come to the schoolroom either to sit in my lap or play with the activities of the day. This day he was playing with plastic buttons.

Olivia does all of her schoolwork independently. She is doing quite well in 8th grade Apologia Physical Science. This is her first year to use a textbook for science (or any subject), and I am so pleased with how she has adapted.
Julie does all of her schoolwork independently too. She has a different science curriculum than Olivia, but she is doing it all alone too. She is also using Teaching Textbooks Math for the first time, and she seems to enjoy it more than the Horizons we used in the past. I still plan to use Horizons math through the 5th grade for the younger children.
Here is Leah playing with the "arranging the flowers" activity. I rotate about 50 activities for Leah and Sam to do each day. I usually put out 3-4 different activities each day. Leah is loving preschool! We are counting the school days to 100. Every day she asks if it is the 100th day. I told her we would have a big celebration on the 100th day, and she is really looking forward to it.

Storage and Ribbon

When we bought our first house twelve years ago, I first began storing my stuff--things I don't use on a daily basis but still want to keep (seasonal decorations, children's clothes to pass on to the next child, special keepsakes, extra linens, etc.) in large plastic containers. I numbered each box with a permanent marker, and then wrote down the contents of each box on numbered index cards. If I changed the contents of the box, I changed the card as well. These boxes were kept in the attic above the garage in our first house, so I would look through my cards to see which box I needed down before I climbed up there. In a later house, Jimmy's daddy built us a shelf around the perimeter of our garage about 2.5 feet down from the ceiling. I lined the storage boxes up in order. All I needed was a ladder to access the boxes.....much better than climbing in the hot/cold attic. Currently my storage boxes (about 40 of them) are housed on shelves in the storage room in our basement. Jimmy built these shelves specifically for these containers, and at last I can just walk in the climate controlled room and get what I need. Instead of writing the contents on index cards, I now have a typed list of the box numbers and their contents hanging on the wall beside the shelves. Since I have been storing items this way for over 12 years now, my boxes are various colors and slightly different sizes. Also, somewhere along the way I numbered a couple of the boxes with the same numbers, so I made labels for them. The labels are not sticking very well. My next project is to purchase chalkboard paint and paint a rectangle on the front side of each box. Then I can renumber the boxes with chalk. But for now, even though some of the labels are falling off, the boxes are stored in numerical order so I can find what I need.

When I paint the chalkboard paint on the front, they will look nicer.

Also in my storage room, which is also my gift wrap and scrapbooking room, I have the neatest ribbon holder that Jimmy built me. I have more ribbon ordered, because we were out of several colors. Here are the two sites where I order ribbon and gift wrap. Paper Mart and Superior Gift Wrap. At Superior Gift Wrap, I order the Splendorette ribbon. They sell the best lime green color--it's called citrus. At Paper Mart, I order the poly ribbon. At both sites, I also order their curling ribbon. The prices may seem high, but the quantity is huge! It really is more economical to buy these large rolls. The gift wrap and the ribbon both last a long time. I bought only one roll of Christmas gift wrap when I ordered my ribbon. I wanted more!! but I think that the one new roll along with what I have left from years past will be enough for this year.

I just slide the metal rods up and out of the end to hang a new roll of ribbon. Some of the holes in the center of the rolls are not large enough to fit on the rods, so Jimmy drills them out a little bigger. Isn't this the neatest thing?

Reading

The children and I eat ALL of our meals together. Jimmy joins us for supper if he gets home in time and on his days off. Since we spend so much time together throughout the day, I don't feel like I have to make meal time "family time"......you know where you enjoy your meal with meaningful conversation....we have conversation all day long! So, for most breakfasts and lunches, the older children read while they eat. Other times they quiz each other using our placemats and sometimes we do have mealtime conversation, but mostly they like to read (books, catalogs, magazines, etc.). Sam has picked up on this and yesterday morning I found him "reading" a running magazine while he was eating. He was very serious about this reading!

Leah likes to "read" to Sam. On this particular occasion, she was reading to him about the animals in this book, quizzing him to see if he knew their names. They also discussed whether each animal was "scary"! They sat here for quite a while, and Sam even "read" some books aloud too. I love my little readers!

Menus

Two mothers at cross country practice today asked me to post my 2 week menu. I will subsitute crock pot soups and stews for some of the meals when the weather gets cold.

Breakfast
Week 1
pancakes
sausage muffins
egg sandwiches
frozen waffles
muffins
cinnamon rolls
ham and cheese eggs, toast
Week 2
eggs, bacon, biscuits
pig in the blankets
oatmeal, cereal
toast—PB, cinnamon, cheese
repeat above menu

Lunch
Week 1
chicken strips, mac and cheese
sandwiches, chips
frozen pizza
baked potatoes
chicken quesadillas
frozen raviolies with spaghetti sauce
leftovers, PBJ
Week 2
repeat week 1

Supper
Week 1
poppy seed chicken, brown rice, peas
homemade pizza
pork roast, baked beans, slaw, potato salad or stuffed eggs
chicken and dumplings, butterbeans
baked fish, steamed broccoli, baked sweet potatoes
spaghetti, salad
pasta salad, fruit salad
Week 2
chicken tetrazinni, green beans
roast, carrots, potatoes, peas
BBQ chicken salad
chicken tacos and nachos
shrimp scampi, salad
crescent roll chicken, green beans
grilled chicken, ranch potatoes, green peas

Two New Blogging Friends

My friend, Liesa, whose son is on the homeschool cross country team with Olivia, Julie, and Clay, recently started a blog. Also, Heather, the cross country coach (who does a super job by the way) asked me today before practice about setting up a blog on blogspot. I told her that it could be done in just minutes. The next thing I new she was pulling her laptop out of her van! In the 10 minutes before practice began, I walked her through the set up and there you go...a new blogger! I put the cute background up for her tonight, and now all she needs to do is POST! I look forward to reading all about the lives of Liesa and Heather.

Chick-Fil-A 5K

Labor Day was the Chick-Fil-A 5K race in Memphis. This race, which had 976 participants, is one of our favorites. It begins in downtown Memphis, goes down to the river, runs along the river for a while, back up a huge hill on Beale Street, and finally finishes inside the Redbird Stadium. Since I was pushing the stroller, I began near the back with the walkers and slow joggers. I actually jogged the entire race except for the hill on Beale. A really nice man helped me push the stroller up that steep hill. I have begun to enjoy racing with the stroller (still not my favorite thing to do, but I have learned to make the best of it!), because of all of the nice people I visit with while running. When I am running alone I am always trying to run my personal best. I listen to my iPod, and I am focusing on running. When I am running with the stroller, I have no chance to even come close to a decent time, so I leave the iPod at home and talk to Sam and Leah during the race, pointing out landmarks to them and waving at the policemen and people on the sideline cheering us on. People who are running this pace are usually very friendly. We have short conversations along the way. And of course, most of them have to comment on my pushing two children while running. What if they knew I had FIVE CHILDREN! I can only imagine their comments then :) Anyway, these people are very encouraging to each other, and it makes the race fun.

The results:

Jimmy--4th place

Olivia--3rd place

Julie--1st place

Clay--5th place

Me--30th out of 63!!

Here are some pictures from the day:

Leah
Julie and Jimmy
Sam--he slept during and after the race
Peek-a-boo Clay!!
Olivia with her medal