Monday, July 28, 2008

Friday, July 25, 2008

Hair Cuts

Today is an exciting day in the Benge home. #2 got his hair cut and #3 got her first hair cut. That's right, I said her first!

I know she is over 4 years old but I just couldn't bring myself to cut her hair before. It was such long pretty hair! Well, she saw a picture of #1 with short hair and bangs and decided she wanted her hair like that too. It's so cute! I did do the Mommy thing and put some hair in an envelope to put in her baby box and took pictures. #3 just loves Miss Amanda and was so very good while Miss Amanda cut her hair. #2 is happy with his cut as well because it means he can spike his hair again. Now if I would just buy some blue washable dye, he would be very happy.

We'll see when that happens!

Saturday, July 19, 2008

Vacation Bible School

Last week we had VBS at our church. The kids had a great time learning about God's Unshakeable Truth at Outrigger Island. They had a blast singing the songs, learning the verses, even playing games as part of the lessons. Here are a few pictures of the kids singing on stage.

Baseball

On one of our trips to visit Dad in Kentucky we were able to visit the Louisville Slugger Museum. We learned how to make baseball bats and saw the different designs that the major league players like. We each got a small bat to take home and took a round in the batting cage.

We went to a Baltimore Orioles game this week and saw them use the bats that we saw made at the museum. We even saw one bat break! We had a lot of fun and the kids got some neat facepainting. We had a friend join us for the game and she had a good time too.

Wednesday, July 16, 2008

Who has time to cook dinner?

Just because I'm an at-home mom doesn't mean I have all the time in the world. Until a month ago I would get busy playing with the kids, cleaning the house, or running errands and I would completely forget to cook dinner. I found myself taking the kids out to eat or resorting to frozen waffles more often than not.

I went on a ladies retreat in May and took a class on Once-A-Month Cooking. I was sitting with several ladies from my church and when the class was finished they all turned to me and said, "When are you scheduling the cooking day?". WHAT? When did I get elected to host? After a hysterically funny intervention from the teacher of the class, I agreed to be the hostess for our church. So on June 7th, I ventured into this new world.

The week prior to June 7th was crazy. Out of everything, this was the most difficult part. You have to buy 30 days worth of food and separate it into the 30 meals. You also have to pre-chop veggies, pre-cook some of the meat (others are left raw), and label everything. The prep-work sounds scary but really it's only scary the first time. But isn't everything?

Cooking day was a blast. 3 ladies came over and we started cooking. I only made 8 of the meals but I have 30 in my freezer. The plan is simple. I took a recipe, took every one's ingredients and made 4 pans of that meal. I sealed it up, labeled it with the serving day cooking instructions, and moved on to the next meal.

You may say, "I don't have room in my freezer" or "I can't afford buying 30 days of meals at once". I was shocked when all 30 meals fit in my freezer, I had to take the ice machine out to get them in but they fit. As for the 30 days of food, thankfully that first time for me I had just received my tax refund. But you don't have to cook all 30, maybe one week of food works for you or 2 weeks. Any way you choose to cook is saving you time. One Saturday of preparation for me has given me 30 days of meals that I just pop one out of the freezer, defrost it, and stick it in the oven or crock pot. It's so cool!

I'm never going back to cooking each day. Maybe once or twice I might make a special meal, but for everyday cooking, I'm sticking to this. In fact my next cooking day is coming up and I've included my meal list. If this sounds good to you and you would like more information, send me a note.

1. Baked Chicken Pecan
2. Dijon Pork Chops
3. Mexican Lasagna
4. Chicken Capri
5. Almond Chicken
6. Honey Pepper Pork
7. Orange Glazed Chicken
8. Pineapple Glazed Chicken
9. Teriyaki Chicken
10. Stromboli
11. Beef BBQ Sandwiches
12. Macaroni and Cheese
13. Pesto Chicken Packets
14. Goulash
15. Chicken Tucson
16. Roasted Turkey Breast
17. Turkey Meatloaf
18. Chicken Pie
19. Broccoli-Ham Bake
20. Black Beans and Rice
21. Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme Chicken
22. Marinated Flank Steak
23. Chili Hamburgers
24. Farmers Casserole
25. Crab Shells
26. Ham and Swiss Pastry Bake
27. Sausage and Rice
28. Lemon Chicken
29. Grilled Fish
30. Chicken Manicotti

Monday, July 14, 2008

Istanbul, Turkey



Dad came home from Istanbul, Turkey at 4:00 this morning. He was attending a NATO conference for military officers. Here are some pictures from his trip. Dad's spent the day working around the house and catching up on email. One thing we haven't done today is laundry. Dad made it on the plane but unfortunately his luggage didn't.