Misty mentioned on the facebook page that she has missed the menu posts. Her comment was so sweet, I decided to just carve out some time to make it happen, at least for this week.
Thanks for your prayers for Copper. He had an unusually long lithotripsy procedure on Friday afternoon, and it looks like it was successful. He’s feeling much better and is, mostly, pain free. I am so thankful! He has a follow up next Friday, which will involve another short procedure, and then we are hoping to put this latest kidney stone incident behind us.
Dani is spending at least part of every Sunday an hour or so from home, as she and Sean enjoy some pre-marital counseling sessions with his pastor and continue to plan for their new life together. He took a box of her books home with him when he visited earlier this week, and she packed up some of her collected kitchen things to take down this afternoon. The boys are teasing her, of course, about which one of them will move into her room when she’s married, but they will both miss her terribly. We all will, but it’s such a joyful time, too.
In the middle of all of that, the dry wells for our septic system failed. We’re expecting a crew tomorrow morning out to begin trenching and digging to install the new dry wells. With all of this happening at the same time, we just have to laugh!
With all of the wedding, septic and medical stuff that’s been going on, it’s been a relief knowing that our dinners are planned every night. We have sort of a weekly routine here for breakfasts (Monday waffles, Tuesday cereal, Wednesday toast, etc.), so that continues; and Dani is our lunch lady and more than capable of coming up with a week’s worth of healthy lunches for us without any prompting from me. I’m happy for that. Dinners, though, need to be planned or things fall apart pretty quickly.
That said, here’s our dinner menu for the next week!
Monday – Chicken and Rice Salad with Peanut Sauce with savory crackers on the side
Tuesday – Nutty Turkey Slices, Cheddar Potato Strips, Roasted Broccoli
Wednesday – It’s Dani’s night to cook. I know she’s making Orange Chicken, but I don’t know what sides she has planned.
Thursday – Spaghetti with Meat Sauce, Garlic Bread, Green Salad
Friday – French Canadian Meat Pie (This recipe makes two pies, so I’ll have one for the freezer!), mixed vegetables, fruit
Saturday – Nachos
Sunday – Twice Baked Potatoes
Be sure to visit On The Menu Monday and Menu Plan Monday for more menu ideas.
Today is Copper’s Day off. In fact, he has been home from work for about a week, and he will be home through next weekend. The poor guy has been dealing with kidney stones. We’ve travelled this road before and often, though it’s been awhile since his last episode. It’s been several years since he’s had stones large enough to require surgery, but one of his stones this time around is 8mm.
When I first saw that 8mm number on the radiology report, I thought it was a typo. Then I saw the scan with a 7.9mm stone clearly marked on the screen. Wow. Just wow. Copper had a surgical procedure last week on Tuesday, and he’s scheduled for Lithotripsy this Friday. I’m praying that the Lithotripsy will be successful in smashing that ginormous boulder stone to smithereens.
 The wedding response cards are so much fun to read and re-read. Wedding planning is progressing well, though at a pretty frantic pace. We eagerly check the mailbox every day for response cards, and have had fun opening them to see who will be there to share in Sean and Dani’s special day on December 29.
My closet is filling quickly with suits for my two boys, who will both be groomsmen, three flower girl dresses, a mother of the bride dress, and, very soon, a wedding gown. Dani chose to wear my wedding gown, and we expect to pick it up from the alterations lady in the next few days. She will be such a beautiful bride!
 tick, tick, tick, tick, tick Copper’s retirement clock continues its countdown, too. It won’t be long until almost every day will be Copper’s day off!
Dani was making phone calls early this morning.
Her first phone call was to her older sister, Corin. Looks like happy news, doesn’t it?
She wasn’t the only one making happy calls to family in the front yard early this morning, though.
There was a man in the front yard, too, and he was doing the same thing. The smiles were pretty contagious.
He asked. She said, “yes”. Copper and I couldn’t be happier for them.
Dani and Sean
Today was Copper’s day off, and what a full day it has been!
 Loaded baked potatoes for a working lunch. We are in full retirement planning mode here. After more than thirty years in law enforcement, my husband has decided to retire in March. Our budget will be getting a bit of an overhaul and we have a lot of paperwork to gather and file. The next six months will be busy, but we are more than ready for him to retire. I ate lunch at my desk today, reviewing what we’ve already done and planning our next step.
 Driving home after passing his driver’s test. (Photo from Copper’s iPhone) Our budget overhaul involves more than just planning for retirement, though. We added a newly licensed driver to our policy today. Eighteen year old boys are not cheap. They eat a ton of food, and their auto insurance rates are ridiculously high, but they’re also a huge blessing. Gosh, I love this kid! He’s worth every penny!
 Back porch ice cream! Dani made two batches of homemade ice cream today. Our favorite recipe for homemade chocolate ice cream is Schoolhouse Chocolate Ice Cream. For the Moose Tracks Ice Cream, Dani used this vanilla ice cream base and added a homemade chocolate syrup swirl and chopped miniature peanut butter cup candies.
Pending retirement, teen drivers and ice cream. What a great day!
Fall will arrive, officially, on September 22. Though it was 90° this afternoon, there was a decided “fall” feel to the afternoon breeze. I filled my arms with a few projects and headed outside to work at the picnic table in the front yard. It was pleasant in the shade, and I was able to get quite a bit done, including some fall menu planning. I love our country road this time of year as harvesting equipment of all shapes and sizes (but mostly huge!) pass by the house all day long. Dixie, our sweet lab mix, enjoyed being out front with me and she chased trucks and tractors to her heart’s content all along our front fence line.
 Summer weather continues in our neck of the woods.
One of the things I worked on was adding some new, fall dishes to my “Recipes to Try (Fall)” folder on Evernote. I already have a fairly lengthy list of recipes saved in that folder, but I love to cook and I especially love trying new recipes. Today I chose recipes from two of my favorite sources for new recipes, the current issue of Taste of Home (August/September 2012) and the fall section of Six O’Clock Scramble to the Rescue .
I like doing this sort of advance work for menu planning. The I time spent today, saving some new fall recipes to my Evernote folder (complete with pictures in most cases), added to my list of new recipes that I can quickly scan, choose from, and then drop into my weekly menu plan in the coming weeks. Because the entire recipe is included, I don’t need to open up cookbooks or retrieve a magazine when I plan my menu and/or make my shopping list. The time I enjoyed outside this afternoon will save me oodles of time in the season ahead.
 My Evernote “Recipes to try (fall)” folder.
The only problem I encountered was the fact that, as the dinner hour approached, more and more recipes were making their way onto my list of recipes to try. It didn’t help that the aroma of the Chicken Enchiladas that Dani was making for dinner was wafting out into the front yard!
Copper wasn’t off today. He worked a twelve hour overtime shift and then texted me on his way home to ask me out to the movies this evening. The boys were coerced by their sister happily volunteered to take care of the kitchen for me so I could go. Date night!
Taking the time to create a “bank” of new, fall recipes to choose from, as we plan our menus in the weeks ahead, is one way that we can all look well to the ways of our households.
Looking for menu planning help? Click the button below to be taken to my Menu Planning Series.
Three drivers, two cars, one husband working regular shifts plus overtime shifts, three kids with various activities taking them in three different directions at once, and the price of gas at almost $4 per gallon have all conspired to make meal times in my home a bit chaotic for the last few weeks. September is here, homeschool has begun and my budget and heart are both crying out, “Enough!”.
Our schedule is still filled with baseball games, craft show business, a birthday, and church activities for one or another of us, and, at times, it’s all overlapping. However, a menu plan is now in place for the days that I know we’ll be home, and even for some of the days that we’ll be away for all or part of the day. I’m not planning many of our lunches this week, but we’ve plenty in the pantry, fridge and freezer for Dani to pull together good lunches for us this week.
I’m hoping that the next couple of weeks will allow me to begin planning more completely, but in the meantime, I’m reclaiming my practice of weekly menu planning.
MONDAY
Breakfast – Waffles
Dinner – Chicken Enchiladas, Southwest Chopped Salad
TUESDAY
Breakfast – Cereal
Dinner – Salisbury Steak, Mashed Potatoes, Green Beans
WEDNESDAY
Breakfast - Cinnamon Raisin Toast
Dinner – Will has an evening game “under the lights” (woohoo!), and it’s Dani’s birthday. The plan is to go out for a late dinner after the game.
THURSDAY
Breakast – Hot Cereal
Dinner – Greek Pasta and Beef, Green Salad (made in the morning before Corin and my grandkids arrive, popped into the oven late in the day, ready to eat before we leave for youth group in the evening)
FRIDAY
Breakfast – Pancakes
Dinner – Conga Lime Pork, Corn Muffins, Mango-Broccoli Slaw (crockpot meal – I double the slaw recipe and serve it as a salad)
SATURDAY
Breakfast – Fried Eggs & Toast (Before the double header but after helping Dani set up at the craft show)
Lunch – Pizza with the team in the park between games
Dinner – Nachos (late, after picked Dani up from the craft show)
SUNDAY
Breakfast – Chocolate Swirl Coffee Cake
Lunch – Out after church
Dinner – Wild Dinner – our every man for himself Sunday evening free-for-all
Need help getting started with menu planning? Looking for some ideas to liven up your menu plan? Click the button below for help!
The S-A-T-U-R-D-A-Y Acrostic.
Sharing my week, as captured in eight photos and eight words, in an acrostic format.
 This praying mantis is spending his days under my front porch rail. Sheltered
 Back to school All Stars for me. All Stars
 A catcher must be able to accurately throw from home plate to second base, a distance of 127.279 feet! Throwing
 The printer ran out of ink in the middle of printing worksheets for school. Ugh!
 Dixie loves that our homeschool is back in session. Reading
 My two year old grandson looking out my parlor window and saying, “Daaaaaddy”! Daaaaaaddy
 Working together to get the job done. Alliance
 My sweet five year old granddaughter holding her new baby brother. Young-uns
If you’d like to post your own Saturday Acrostic, you’re welcome to do so! Choose eight photographs that depict the week in review, or just a special Saturday. Then, use one word in your post to title each photo using the letters S-A-T-U-R-D-A-Y. Let me know that you’ve posted your own Saturday Acrostic by linking to your Saturday Acrostic post in the comments below. Be sure to post the URL of your actual Saturday Acrostic post and not just a link to your blog. Please do me the favor of including a link back to this Saturday Acrostic post in the post on your blog.
Thanks! Have fun!
The Saturday Acrostic ©Cheryl Linebarger 2010, 2011, 2012
I’ve been trying to write a review of this book for more than a week. I loved the book. I recommended it over and over again (to the same friend), and yet, I couldn’t find the words to write the review.
Then it dawned on me. The Lord had shown me so much through the book, it was just too personal to share. My copy is highlighted extensively! Because He Loves Me: How Christ Transforms Our Daily Life will soon go on the shelf with all of the other books that I intend to read again and again.
Elyse Fitzpatrick’s writing style is warm and filled with charity. She constantly refers to the Scriptures, keeping her readers focus on the Lord rather than on the world. Her constant theme is God’s love and how that love works to transform our identity and our lives. Note that it’s His work that transforms, and not anything we can do on our own.
“Although God does discipline or train us as the Master Teacher he is (Heb. 12:5 ff), his work in our lives is never punitive; it is always redemptive. This means that he doesn’t punish us for our sin; but rather that, because of his great love, he gently and lovingly frees us from the lies, misconceptions, and idolatries that captivate and enslave our hearts. He never punishes us in wrath because he has no wrath left. Every drop of his wrath was all poured out on his Son.”
Beautiful, yes? Here’s another little snippet.
“Employ his promise that the days of weeping and “gnashing of teeth” for you will indeed end. Your enemy and your faithless heart are lying when they tell you that your circumstances will never change. An endless day of joy is coming and nothing can avert its dawning. You could as easily stop the revolution of the earth around the sun as you could stop the dawning of that day!”
 My copy of Because He Loves Me. I shared another wonderful quote from Because He Loves Me on the Facebook page several days ago because it was such a great reminder for us as we remember to hold our plans loosely. With that theme in mind, I’d like to share just one more quote from this wonderful book.
“…..I can prepare my heart by thanking God that I accomplished all he had for me that day, even if I wasn’t as productive as I would have liked; I can offer my day and all my work to him and ask him to use it for his glory;….”
Elyse Fitzpatrick’s Because He Loves Me: How Christ Transforms Our Daily Life is an easy read, but it’s best read slowly, taking plenty of time to ponder what you’ve just read before moving on. There are a few questions included at the end of each chapter to help you with that, if you care to use them.
Reading this book was an intensely personal thing for me. It touched me deeply, and I’m still going back and rereading sections of it. Because He Loves Me: How Christ Transforms Our Daily Life is a book I would recommend highly to all of you.
Remember, I think it is very, very important for you to read, and for you to read as broadly as you can. Please, ladies (and you fellas, too), don’t shortchange yourselves. Read! Need some inspiration? The books I’m currently reading can be found here, and the books I’ve read so far this year are listed here.
The Republican National Convention met in Tampa, Florida last week, and the Democratic National Convention will convene in Charlotte, North Carolina this week. Election season is in full swing, but do your kids understand the election process? Do you?
America has a fairly unique process for electing her presidents. Campaigns, primaries, caucuses, party conventions and debates can create a confusing picture. Several years ago I discovered Woodrow for President: A Tail of Voting, Campaigns, and Elections by Peter and Cheryl Barnes. This book, told as the story of a young mouse who grows up to become president, does a terrific job of explaining the election process. In fact, it covers all aspects of a presidential election except for the Electoral College. I’ll cover that aspect of the presidential election in just a moment.
The full color, whimsical illustrations are very appealing. The clever, rhyming text makes this a suitable read aloud for even the youngest children, while still delivering plenty of information for your older, independent readers, too. The book is non-partisan, but does mention several of the most popular parties of the past and present. Adults may find that some of the fictional issues mentioned bear a very close resemblance to the actual issues we wrestle with today. The book ends with a note for parents and teachers concerning what the U.S. Constitution says about the election process, and emphasizing the importance of being active in your community and participating in the election process.
Woodrow for President: A Tail of Voting, Campaigns, and Elections is a valuable part of our Heritage Library.
The Electoral College is often a very confusing part of the presidential election process. Many adults don’t understand how it works, so it shouldn’t be surprising that so many of our children don’t have a clue about it. The Electoral College is a fabulous little book. In just forty-one pages, Michael Burgan gives us the history of the Electoral College system and gives us a clear picture of what it is and how it works. Beginning with the controversy surrounding the presidential election of 2000, the author explains what happened in Florida and why the man with the higher number of individual votes did not become president. There have been a couple of other controversial elections in America’s past, and I found the stories behind those elections fascinating.
The Electoral College has undergone some changes since it was originally put in place in 1787. Throughout its history, and continuing even today, many have questioned whether or not we should abolish the Electoral College and elect our President by the popular vote. Mr. Burgan does a fine job of showing the pros and cons of both positions, allowing the reader to come to his own, personal opinion on the matter.
The Electoral Collegewould be suitable for independent readers, about third grade and up, but I wouldn’t hesitate to put this book into the hands of a high school student, or even an adult, who does not understand how the electoral college works. The book is filled with many drawings, photographs and reprints of paintings to help tell its story, and it’s an enjoyable read. The Electoral College, by Michael Burgan, has a permanent home on the Civics shelf in our home - Heritage Library.
One other book is worthy of mention. The Electoral College , by Christopher Henry also presents a clear picture of the electoral college system. This particular book, though more widely available than Burgan’s, is older, and published well before the highly controversial 2000 presidential election, making it slightly outdated. Though the information regarding the history and workings of the electoral college is presented accurately and thoroughly, the author allows his own bias against the electoral college to be known several times in the latter portion of the book. Running just under sixty pages in length, Henry’s book would be appropriate for independent readers of about fourth grade and up. There are plenty of photographs, illustrations and diagrams included for the reader’s information and pleasure, but the book reads a bit like a text book.
While I’m talking about the presidential election process, I don’t want to fail to mention that the authors of Woodrow for President have also written a great trio of books explaining the three branches of government. These are written in the same style and with the same lovely illustrations as Woodrow for President, but each title corresponds to each of the three branches of government.
 
 
 
I really do appreciate overtime shifts, and I appreciate that my husband so willingly works them. I was really glad today, though, that the phone didn’t ring way too early in the morning and that my husband was able to enjoy this holiday Monday at home.
Most of you know that Will enjoyed his very first season ever of Cal Ripken Little League last spring. We all enjoyed it. In fact, we enjoyed it so much, we decided to sign up for a quick little four week “summer ball” season hosted by the Cal Ripken League. Despite the heat, we had a blast. Will’s team had eleven wins and only one loss during the month-long season. We thought we were done until spring.
 The boy behind home plate. We may be crazy, but at the very last minute, while Copper and I were away for our anniversary, we made the decision to sign Will up to play “Fall Ball” through the Babe Ruth league so he could gain some experience on the full sized diamond and continue his season just a few weeks longer.
If that’s not crazy enough, he was very excited to be given a chance to try out for the catcher’s position. Turns out, he wasn’t bad. He wasn’t great, but he wasn’t bad. Unfortunately, the league’s catcher’s gear is sized for a more “average” sized thirteen year old, and wasn’t adequate for our 5′ 11″ boy.
 Lots of new skills to learn! Catcher’s gear has been purchased, adjusted, tried out, and readjusted. Copper and Aaron have been practicing with Will for the last couple of days getting him ready for a couple of practices this week and his first game on Saturday. He’s hoping to do well enough at practice to be allowed to catch at least a couple of innings in Saturday’s game. We’ll see.
 Copper pitches, while Aaron waits to catch balls as a second baseman. Call us crazy, but we think it’s great that our first baseball year is running from late February right on through October!
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About Copperswife 
I'm Cheryl Linebarger, and I've been Copper's wife for 34 years. I have two grown daughters, two teen sons, two wonderful sons-in-love and seven grandchildren, 11 years old and under. Copperswife is a place to find encouragement as you joyfully look well to the ways of your own household.
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The First Five Years of Copperswife The majority of the posts from the first five years of Copperswife can be found in these archives. |
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