Mom's Brunch

Yesterday, the area homeschool group had a mom's brunch. Several moms were assigned a different topic and asked to speak for about 5 minutes.

Tong Hui reminded us that love must be our motivation in seeking the Lord. She also reminded us that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him, and our reward is being filled with the Holy Spirit. As we spend time with the Lord and seek the Lord, He fills us. When our hearts are not full, they can't overflow... if our hearts are not overflowing, we are not able to minister to others the way we would wish.

Ginger talked about hospitality. Her definition of hospitality was entertaining guests in a friendly and generous manner, and she stressed making people feel welcome and comfortable. Using 1 Peter 4:8-11, she gave an encouraging talk about hospitality- using your given abilities, allowing people to see Christ in you, and enjoying the "good part" as Mary did.

Roan talked about making children's birthdays special. She had some great ideas about setting the table using things from home, sources for getting great wrapping paper and ribbon, and my kids' favorite... no chores on birthdays! She also spoke about social opportunities for our children, and I need to do a better job of having some times set up for kids to come play.

Yonnea's talk about menu planning was very helpful. I am one of the people she described as, "Would rather eat a bowl of cereal or go hungry than cook dinner." It is very unfortunate, I know... It's not that I despise cooking, it's just that I can think of about ten million things around the house that I would RATHER do than stop everything and cook dinner.

I have done a good job of menu planning and grocery shopping in the past, but I need to do a better job coordinating meals with days that I know are going to be crazy. The trouble is, it seems like every day is crazy... and I have practice every afternoon! I need to follow her advice and gather a good solid list of easy, quick fix meals and a list of my favorite crock pot meals.

Kitchen tip of the day: Did you know that you can brown ground beef overnight in the crock pot? You can also do this with chicken, but you need to add broth to prevent drying out. In the morning, you can allow it to cool and then package it in freezable portions!

I would love some comments or emails about super fast dinner ideas (other than taco salad, spaghetti, and regular salad... we are in a rut!)

Easter Pictures

Will and his friend Ben outside the church
Hannah and I after service
Josh and Scott
Sarah and her good friend, Ruth
Josh wore his first tie! He looked so handsome!

I know that I am lately WAY behind the times with my posts and pictures... bear with me, and maybe I will get my time management skills figured out one day!

However late, I wanted to post some pictures from this Easter Sunday.