Kegley Review

We tried some new Pinterest recipes this past week...and I have a "project" to review. 

First the recipes:

1.  Mexican Stuffed Shells = uhmmmm they were ok, but I make too many other Mexican dishes that make this one so not worth it...final vote...NO.

2.  oven-roasted-sausages-potatoes-and-peppers = AWESOME!  This one was a hit!  (Except for one who doesn't like that kind of sausage...only b/c it kind of makes him sick)  But this was GOOD!  TIP:  Cut potatoes small...or they will take too long to bake...LOL :)

3.  spinach-and-cheese-lasagna-rolls = These were really good.  David and I liked them.  I think the boys thought I was looking for a different lasagna and they was worried that I wouldn't make "my" lasagna...and of course they claim they didn't like them...but I think it was just b/c they knew what the "green stuff" was. ;)  I will be making these again.

4.  slow-cooker-cheesy-chicken-and-rice = OH MY GOODNESS!!!  I absolutely LOVED this!  Will definitely make again.  Loved the yellow rice!  Some of my family liked the one from last week better, but I will keep both!  TIP:  For Sunday Dinner, go ahead and precook rice day before, then just heat it up before you add it to the chicken mix.  Of course I used my Kitchen aid to shred the chicken.

Now for the Project:


I took this ladies idea and modified my own.  I am an organize freak, and sometimes my "to do lists" are in more than one place.  I love how it is all right here.  All I have to do is grab my binder and here we go.

Chalk label on outside, to highlight the months "important dates". 

Pocket on inside for "supplies" and post it notes for well...notes.

Month at a glance...all appts...etc.

 

Back cover...;)

 

I have a "master" to do list in the front, and I have a "weekly" calendar after each Monthly calendar for the daily to do lists.  Items from the master list get added to the daily list as we accomplish things.  I am loving this so far.  I have tweaked some of it to accommodate my, my personality, and our needs.  :)  I even have a tab for "blog notes/ideas" ;)

 

There is my update for this week. Hope you enjoy this. :)

 

We are still,

 



Do you ever wonder?

If your children REALLY are listening to ANYTHING you are saying?  Do they really care?  Or do they just "endure" your "talks"? 

Well, I do!  And sometimes it deeply concerns me.  Do they even care at all that I really do care about them, about their futures, about their choices, about their hopes and dreams, their desires, their fears, their everything, their spirituality.

Spirituality...now THAT is MY number one care and concern.  I do care about ALL of the rest very much, but I care more about their souls, and where ALL the rest of it, their futures-choices-hopes-dreams-desires-fears-everything, lead their souls...for their final destination.

I have told each one of my boys, that I really don't care what profession in life they choose, what career choice they make and that I will support whatever path they choose, so long as it is morally sound.  I will support your decision so long as it is approved by God.  Now if I feel that it would affect you spiritually I will fight you tooth and toenail about it.  I will hound you, I will pray for you, I will beg God to change your mind, but otherwise, I will support you.  I want my boys to seek God about all their decisions...allow Him to lead their life path.  One thing I have stressed to them, is to choose a career they would enjoy.  To me it seems like the silliest thing to have a job you absolutely hate.  You live life one time, ENJOY as much of it as you can.  And you will spend a large part of your time at work, so choose something you enjoy.  If you hate your job it will affect everything and everyone around you.

That being said, and this all really does tie together...My dear oldest is a senior, and he has been trying to settle on "what he wants to be when he grows up".  He thought he had settled it.  The path he thought he was going to take, I was a little uncomfortable with it, but I thought part of that was just the "mother" in me.  But there was one thing that I was concerned about and I did talk to him about it.  I realize that God may/will need some of His people in certain positions, if our world keeps going the way it is going.  But I felt the need to address it with my son.  If things keep on the way they are, I can see some treacherous times ahead for the Christians.  So I "created" an incident that COULD happen with the career path that my son was deciding on...and asked him, "If THIS happens, what would you do?"  I just felt that he needed to be aware of what he may have to do.  And I left it at that.  Because, I don't know what God's plan is for him...I left it with him and just prayed for him.

Well, it was getting down to the wire.  He had taken his ACT test, and scored a 31 on it!  and for the college he was looking at he wanted to meet the early consideration deadline.  But the closer it came, the more stressed he became, and he was somewhat irritable.  Finally, one day he came to me and said, "Mom, I was looking into '-------------'.  I just haven't felt good for a while about the 'other'."  (I am inside rejoicing!  THANK YOU GOD!)  And after a certain situation that had happened it kind of sealed that choice for him.  "But I want to feel like I am making a difference, I want to help people."  He is now pursuing his choice, and although it could be dangerous (just about any job really could be).  I am ok with it.  And honestly it probably makes more money than the other anyway.  I don't care if he scored a 36 on his test, I am not going to push my child to get a 4 year degree, just for the sake of going to college.  If he needs to go to college to get where he wants to be, fine.  If not then what's the point?  He does not need a 4 year degree to get where he wants to be and honestly I feel a bit relieved.  College could be detrimental to a soul.

So back to my original question.  Do we ever wonder if they listen?  I was so happy and thankful, because him coming to me and saying "I just wasn't feeling good about it."  Was so encouraging to me.  He really does care what God wants from him.  I felt he did, but I sometimes worry that they want something more than what God wants.  It was a ray of hope I needed during a particularly dark week.  Then for him to look at me and say, "I really want to make a difference, I want to help people."  What more can a mother say?  What more could a mother want?  Yes, I realize that you can help people and not be a Christian, but he's on the right track.   (He is saved, by the way, I don't mean to make that impression.  Just sometimes you wonder what is really going on in their minds.)  So I don't know what God's plan is for his life, but I will keep praying for him...praying for him to follow God's plan.  I am proud of him.  I am proud of the wonderful, handsome young man he is becoming!

I have my days when I just want to cry.  I can't believe my oldest son is a senior.  How did we get here?  How did he become a man?  How did he grow up so fast?!  Sometimes, It's exciting, sometimes it is scary.  I just hope and pray I don't well enough...amidst all my failures...in instilling enough in him to seek after God for his life's direction.  So seek God first.  Because, "I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in the TRUTH." (3 John 1:4)

We are Still,

 

Walking in a Winter Wonderland Wednesday!

We interrupt the regularly scheduled blog post for ...
                                            BREAKING NEWS!


October 23, 2013...and THIS is what I woke up too!

 

Immediately I thought of my precious mother!  She would have been so super excited!  You see, we have always heard that if it snows in October, whatever date it snows on that is how many snows you will get that winter.  Of course we ALWAYS hoped it would be on the 31st, but at least in the 20's.  So, today the 23rd, we got our October snow!  I am going to try to keep track and see how many we actually do get! 

 

Mom will not be forgotten by her children or grandchildren...and especially when it snows.  You cannot have snow without thinking of her and her love for the beautiful white stuff!  Mom also taught us (at least me anyway) do not complain about the weather.  God knows what we need and when and why.  So please don't complain about the weather, or the snow.  You are complaining on God, and he is the best artist in the world!  You HAVE to admit it sure is beautiful...much prettier than the drab brown!  So if it's going to be cold....let it snow let it snow let it snow! ;)

 

 

Putting on the boots to keep,



Pinterest Review

I think, Tuesdays are going to be a Pinterest review day.  I will try to review any projects and/or recipes that I tried the previous week from Pinterest. 

Today I have a couple of recipes to review.  I do have a Kegley Recipe Review Board.  Now keep in mind when we try a new recipe at our house everyone gets to vote.  In the case that it's close dad's vote counts twice. 

First Recipe:  Breakfast Enchiladas

Vote:  They were "ok"...kind of bland.  I would not make them again...but IF I did I would definitely doctor them up...they "need" something.

Second Recipe:  Cheesy Enchilada Casserole

Vote:  Again...kind of bland...(apparently a lot of people don't cook with a lot of spices...)  Could be dr'd up, but we decided it wasn't worth it.  So again...the vote is "no"

Third Recipe:  (and no, I did not do all these last week, but just giving you several we have tried in the last several weeks.)  Veggie Spiral

Vote:  LOVE LOVE LOVE!!!!!  This recipe got moved to my Cookbook/tried and keeping board

Fourth Recipe:  Roasted Asparagus

Vote:  We absolutely love this asparagus...now mind you...we do not put the sugar on it.  We tried it that way the first time, but we did not care for it that way.  But Roasted Asparagus has become one of our (David and Mine's anyway...lol...) favorite veggies.  The boys are still kind of scared of "that green stuff".  so the vote was "YES"

Fifth Recipe:  Smores Dip

Vote:  A-W-E-S-O-M-E!!!  Need I say more?

Sixth Recipe:  Crock pot Bacon Cheeseburger Soup

Vote:  This was really good. My family thinks it would be super good with smoked cheddar in it...Will definitely do again!

Seventh Recipe:  Crock pot Cheesy Chicken Spaghetti

Vote:  NASTY!!!  And we are not a picky bunch!  We ended up pulling leftovers out...we just couldn't do this one!

Eighth Recipe:  Baked Apples

Vote:  Did not make the house smell...and they really were kind of bland...needed more brown sugar and cinnamon at least...or melt red hot candies...that would be good! I'll stick with apple dumplings. :)

Ninth Recipe:  Panera Bread Broccoli Cheese Soup

Vote:  Naaaaa...did not taste like Panera's at all!

Tenth Recipe:  Cheesy Potato Soup

Vote:  Once again, we like my loaded potato soup better...I feel like I keep leaving "negative" comments, guess I should fix something that I don't make similar LOL It wasn't gross though. :)

Eleventh Recipe:  Creamy Chicken and Broccoli over Rice

Vote:  HIT!  This stuff is AMAZING!  YUMMY!  :)  I also use This amazing Kitchen Aid tip for shredding chicken...someone was a genius to come up with that tip!  One of my favorite Kitchen tips of all!

Twelfth Recipe:  Last but not least  Avocado Fries

Vote:  These were really good...at least I liked them! :) I kind of liked dippig them in ranch better, but the sauce was still good.

Final tally...6-NO'S  and 4-YES'S...not too bad I guess!  I think that pretty much catches you up on the recipes I've tried anyway.  I guess my "couple" turned in to about a dozen.  LOL  Hope you all enjoy!  Thanks for stopping by!

Still,

Getting there...

I am working on getting here...honestly I am.  "Life" has interrupted our normal, daily routine and I have struggled to keep some semblance of structure/schedule since the end of July.  Hopefully someday soon I will be able to divulge that part of our life, as that is what the intent of this blog is to be...about our lives. 

David's and mine...
         our experiences,
               our hurdles,
                     our battles,
                           our victories,
                                 our lessons...

But some of them have to be told AFTER they are won...to keep others from killing us by "helping" to cut the cocoon that God has created for us to fight our way out of.  THIS is just one such battle.  But "Help is on the Way".  God gave me that and I am clinging to it.  I remind myself...and God almost daily...I'm holding on...help is on the way! 

I have ideas and goals for this blog...and I am currently working on each of them.  I hope to have a somewhat "daily theme".  I am working on all of it. 

I have a goal for this week.  Today is "catch up from a crazy week" day...I had extra children last week, trying to help out a dear friend.  Most of the week I had 5 children...Saturday I had 9!  I learned a lot!  LOL  One lesson...I do not want 9 children!  haha!  But we had a good time overall.  I was exhausted, but so rewarding knowing that the whole reason for doing it was accomplished!  THAT is what mattered in the end!  I am so glad I was able to be a help.  Isn't that why we are here anyway?  To help each other?  To be there for each other? 

 

My goal:  I am determined to get a routine/schedule back in place in this Kegley household!  Today I am "recouping" (Which I actually feel pretty good today.)  Then starting first thing tomorrow morning...boot camp...we are getting our schedule back!  This nonsense of not starting school until noon...that's over!  We are getting back on track!  I also need my exercise routine back.  I feel so tired and non energetic anymore...I hate that feeling!  That's my goal for this week! 

Hopefully that will also incorporate the blogging routine I hope to have.  Blogging will also double as my journal.  I just might write a book someday.  I have had several ask me to.  We shall see...What the Lord says about it.  :) 

But for now...

We are still,

Hold on a little longer, Help is on the way!

This has been one of the craziest years of our lives.  I'm not sure I can remember one being this crazy!  Almost started on January 1st!  So as to not take away from "this" post I will have to "update" later.  But I will say I we have had every cord ripped out from under us in the last 2 years...with a lot of them happening this year. 

I feel I have done pretty well in keeping myself encouraged, especially of late.  But almost two weeks ago on Monday-Wednesday I was really fighting a battle.  I was having a really hard time keeping my head above water.  The devil was trying to take away the ground I had gained.  Trying to make me feel alone and abandoned!

The faithfulness of God is SOOOO beautiful!  Went to church on Wed. night and our pastor brought a beautiful message that spoke right to my heart.  "How long Lord?"  "Until the end!"  His grace is sufficient!  Wear your White Robe of Grace.  I was laying in bed meditating/praying about the message and God brought to mind an incident that had happened to me a little over a year ago...July 15, 2012 to be exact.

Son #1 wanted to go tubing for his 16th birthday.  We took another family...friends...of ours along with us.  Everyone took a turn tubing except the 2 mommas.  Everyone kept begging us moms to go...  Mind you, I am petrified of water, I do not know how to swim...it was a miracle they even got me on the boat...but was that enough?  NOOOOO  They just HAD to get me on the tube!  I finally looked at "her" and said, "I'll go if you go."  I really didn't think she would go.  Well guess what!?  Yep!  SHE WENT!  NOOOO DON'T DO THAT TO ME!!!!  Well, after she went, then I HAD to go!  I was scared to death!  I got on that tube and off they went.   

(From here I am going to give you the parallels/analogy italicized that God gave me as I explain.)

When they sped up the boat I was jerked back and felt like I was falling off the back of the tube.  I tried to pull myself up towards the front of the tube.  Well, when I done that the front of the tube started going under water.  I knew immediately that this was not going to be a good thing.  All of a sudden we are "jerked" back into a dark murky trial.  How many times, even though we are hanging on, do we feel like we are going to fall and try to "jerk" ourselves ahead of God?  When we do, we start to go under.  We must be patient and wait on Him!  There is a lesson to be learned and we must learn it.  Sure enough, the front of the tube went under water and I flipped off.  I was petrified, but I WAS NOT letting go of that tube!   We may have messed up, but can't afford to let go of our hope!  or we just may simply be in the thick of the battle, but we cannot afford to let go of our hope...our lifeline!

Everyone on the boat was yelling, "Let go of the tube, let go of the tube."  But I knew if I let go of the tube I would panic...most likely drown.  I had on a life jacket but I did not feel it was doing me any good.  Friends/family may mean well, and give wrong advice (not saying that letting go of the tube is normally bad advice, but for the sake of MY LESSON it was) but you HAVE to do what you know in your heart is right even if that means standing alone!  There was no way in the world I could let go of that tube...it was my life line!  I KNEW I HAD to hold on...I could not let go!  Jesus is our lifeline!!!  THANK GOD!!!!  You CANNOT let Him go!  You just can't!  You have to hold on for dear life!  I HAD to cling to Him!  I just HAVE too!

The tube: the situation:  If I had gotten "under" the tube, I would have drowned...I had to at least keep my head above it!  I could use the tube to push my head up.  We cannot get under our situations.  We MUST remain above them!  Use them if we must to pull ourselves up, but do not get under them.  They can either help us or hurt us...it is up to us.  All in how we handle/look at it! 

I was scared to death and telling myself...don't panic, don't panic.  I was so on the verge of panic...I could feel it.  Then I looked up, and seen my husband standing on the boat.   I made eye contact with him. I said, "Help me!" He seen me!  He knew I needed him, and I suddenly knew everything would be ok, that he would come help me.  I knew I would be ok! He is going to come to my rescue!  I knew he wouldn't leave me out there!  Oh I think this is my absolute favorite part of the comparison!  We may feel like we just CANNOT go on, we are slipping, we are not going to make it.  Then I "look up" and realize, God sees me!  He KNOWS I'm struggling, He knows I am here, exactly where I am and at any moment He is going to come to my rescue!  He sees me and He is going to come help me!  All I can utter is "Help me!"  He is on His way!  OH PRAISE THE LIVING GOD!  He is so faithful!  Any moment He is jumping in that water!

Sure enough!  About that time my handsome husband jumps into the water...HE IS COMING TO HELP ME/RESCUE ME!  Take me back to the boat!  Back to dry ground!  Any moment now God is going to jump into the water, He is going to come to my rescue!  I will make it, I will be OK! 

I just laid in bed and cried!  The song "Hold On A Little Longer, Help is on the Way" came to me about this time and it just keeps going over and over in my mind!  I cannot get this parallel out of my mind! I don't WANT to get this parallel out of my mind!  Oh God is sooo good to us!  SO Faithful!  Even our everyday situations that we go through God can/will use again.  I never even considered that that tubing incident would ever help to aid me through another situation in life.  One that is so dark and scary.  But EVERYTHING happens for a reason!  You will probably never get me on a tube again, but NOW I wouldn't change that experience for the world! 


We are still in the thick of it, but I know that at any moment God is going to come to my rescue!  He sees me!  He knows where I am and what I'm going through!  Oh I cannot express it like I feel it!  God is so SO wonderful!  Just keep trusting in Him and He will not fail us!

HELP IS ON THE WAY

Squire Parsons

To the weary, weary traveler walkin' down life's road
To the one who's heavy laden tryin' to bear the load
To the soldier who's been wounded in the battle for the Lord
Lift up the blood stain banner and don't lay down the sword

Hold on a little longer, help is on the way
Hold on a little longer, you'll find strength today
Walk on a little farther, His holy Word obey
Hold on a little longer for help is on the way

Any moment you're gonna look up and see through your tears
Any second you're gonna realize there's a holy presence near
And you'll witness all the strongholds of the enemy fall down
Hold on a little longer, soon you'll hear sweet victory's sound

Hold on a little longer, help is on the way
Hold on a little longer, you'll find strength today
Walk on a little farther, His holy Word obey
Hold on a little longer for help is on the way

 

Praise God!

Thank you for taking time to check in with us!

We are still,