"To-Do" Lists

I'm a planner. One of my first tasks of the day is to sit down with my coffee and make my daily "To-Do" list. My "To-Do" list for today reads as follows:

1. Split up pork loin in fridge; freeze half.
2. Pay bills.
3. Pinnacle Bank: deposit missions check.
4. Call Vanderbilt regarding bill.
5. Pick up Daniel's meds at Kroger.
6. Library.
7. Dinner: Red beans & Rice.

Blah blah blah blah blah. To anyone else this list is utterly meaningless, but to me, without it, our bills wouldn't get paid on time, the meat would spoil in the fridge, Daniel would not have his medicine, and, well, I would just be lost and panicky. I can't survive without my "To-Do" lists, especially with "Mommy brain." Yet, as I sit and contemplate my list I wonder: "Really how important are these items on my list?" Surely not everything I need to do today is on this list.

As I sit here and think about the other things not on my list but that I hope to accomplish--time with God, cleaning the bathroom, playing with Kate, sewing--I am immediately struck by that first one. Time with God. Wow! The Creator of the Universe didn't even make it to my "To-Do" list. Instead, He has been relegated to a mental "To-Do" list that I can't physically check off and that, if I don't get to, I don't feel too guilty about. I wonder how this makes Him feel.

In Matthew 6:33 Jesus tells us: "But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things [what I will eat, drink, wear (i.e. all those things on my "To-Do" lists)] will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own."

God, not bills or meat or library books, needs to come first. My time with Him each day should be the top priority, not simply something I will do if there is an extra fifteen minutes in my day. When I set aside my "To-Do" list and focus on Him, He will meet all my needs.

Lord, help me to put YOU at the top of my "To-Do" list each day and to turn the events of my day over to You. Let me commit my day to You by meeting first with You and then making my "To-Do" list. Amen.

Sisterly Love

When my brother and I were growing up, I can recall only a handful of times when we actually played together; we were usually fighting or I was trying to convince Brian to play school or read books with me. Of course, if you know Brian you would know that did NOT work! He is not one to sit down and read but preferred to blow up his Ghostbuster figures or run around outside. Perhaps personality has something to do with it, but I think our gender differences played a far greater role.

As the mother of two little girls, I can already see personality differences between Kate and Cora: Kate is stubborn, too smart for her own good, energetic, and easily frustrated when she isn't able to do things on her own, and Cora, though only 3 months old, is much more mellow, laid back, and generally very happy. Kate sits on Cora and "smothers" her all the time, but Cora never makes a peep; she doesn't seem to mind anything as long as she eats and sleeps when she needs to. Kate, on the other hand, was a pretty fussy baby.

Yet, despite these differences in personality, Cora already adores her big sister and laughs and smiles at Kate whenever she hears her big sister talking. Kate also loves her little sissy dearly. Kate reminds me so much of myself, trying to teach my little brother. She sits with Cora and reads books to her, and Cora appears to hang on to every word. I know Cora is already learning so much from her big sister. Who knows if Cora will still sit and listen to Kate when she is mobile but for now she is definitely interested?

What a blessing for Kate to have a little sister to love, teach, and take care of! I always thought I would have a boy and a girl, like my Mom, because that is what I was accustomed to growing up. But I certainly see the beauty of sisterly love already in my two girls, and it makes me very happy!

A Snow Day: Snow Angels, Snow Cream, & A Snow Man

This morning we had a pleasant surprise when we awoke to about 4 inches of snow outside. Yes, I know the weather people had predicted snow but I am always a skeptic, especially when it comes to snow. Needless to say, Daniel wasn't able to go to work so we made the most of our snow day, complete with hot cocoa, homemade chocolate-chip pecan cookies (courtesy of Daddy), and lots of fun outside playing in the snow. Poor Cora was asleep and missed out on all the fun.

Here are some pictures for your viewing pleasure:






Can't you tell we ate healthy today? Guess we have already broke our New Year's resolutions with all the sugar, but we sure had fun! And an extra day with Daddy home is always a treat! What a blessing a snow day is!

Motherhood

As a new mom of two, I have found that the hours (or rather minutes) in the day that are exclusively mine are few and far between. Naptimes and bedtime are really the only opportunities that I have to myself, and yet those times are usually spent cleaning up the kitchen, folding laundry, or tidying up. And at night when Daniel is home, I enjoy spending a few moments with him before crawling into bed.

Yet, I crave more: More time to read, to write, to try out new recipes, to learn how to sew, even just to think. I miss graduate school because of the interaction with other grown-ups and the reading and studying of great literature that I love. However, while I do hope to return to my scholarly pursuits one day, right now I am blessed to be a part of two incredible Bible studies with friends who can empathize, advise, laugh and cry with me as I detail my current struggles with Kate's stubbornness or Cora's crying at night. And I know that all too soon Kate will be going to kindergarten and Cora won't be too far behind her, and then I'll be so lonely that I will actually wish one of them would come into the bathroom and ask, "Mama, what are you doing?"

A New Year, Some New Changes & Our Menu Plan

Last year I worked on minimizing our use of white flour, substituting whole grain brown rice and pasta and whole wheat bread for all the white stuff we'd been using. Mission accomplished. I also attempted to remove most of the preservatives in our diet by eliminating foods with nitrates, artificial colors and flavors, MSG, and other ingredients I can't pronounce. We did pretty well in that area although Daniel refuses to relinquish his pepperoni and I haven't found an affordable alternative.

This year my goal is to minimize our red meat intake so that we are only eating beef and pork twice a week and bringing in more fish, seafood, chicken, beans, and whole grains. The purpose is to improve our overall health by reducing our saturated fat and cholesterol consumption and increasing the fiber and antioxidants in our diet. Daniel agreed as long as I stopped fixing sweets! Whoa! What a minute! How will I survive without cake and icecream?! But I agreed. We don't need all the fat, excess sugar and calories, so instead we are going to try to eat more fruits and naturally sweet foods. This will be quite a challenge for me! I have also discovered that I don't have a lot of cookbooks with good recipes for beans, lentils and other whole grains so I am going to have to do some researching to find some that we like. As I found out last night, some recipes just aren't very good!

Here is our menu for this week:

Sunday: Taco salad with ground beef

Monday: Chicken parmesan with whole grain penne pasta, broccoli, and a sugar snap and carrot medley

Tuesday: Quinoa with cinnamon, feta, and cranberries (This crockpot recipe was DISGUSTING! I had to throw it out, which was disappointing because I like quinoa.) We ended up eating salad with spinach, hard boiled eggs, carrots, mushrooms, and beets and baked potatoes.

Wednesday: White beans, kale, and cornbread

Thursday: Breakfast Burritos from The Pioneer Woman's cookbook but minus the burrito shells [Eggs, hashbrowns, sausage] and biscuits and jelly

Friday: Pizza Night! A family tradition [Instead of pepperoni, I plan to use some sweet Italian chicken sausage for my lovely husband who HAS to have some meat on his pizza.]


I don't know how long I can keep up the menu plan each week but I've found that when I plan for the week, I am much less stressed and save a lot more money than if I'm trying to decide at 4:00 what we'll be having for dinner that night.

I've got some yogurt in the slow cooker for tomorrow's breakfast that I need to check on and Cora should be waking up soon.

Family Fun at Christmas

It seems like only yesterday that I was stressing about Christmas and now we are into January and a brand new year! This holiday season was the first time in which Kate really understood Santa and although she didn't necessarily enjoy opening her presents (she got way too much stuff!), she did thoroughly enjoy all the trips to Mops and Pops' and Gram Gram and Papa's houses and all her visits with her cousins. I think I had as much fun on Christmas morning as she did. Watching her go through her stocking and open her gifts made me even more excited about how much fun future Christmases will be when Cora is bigger.

We spent Christmas Eve at Gram Gram and Papa's with Brian, Jen and the kids, including our newest addition, little Holly Garner Mayes. What a doll!



Here are some pictures of our time with my family:









Some pictures at home Christmas morning:







Some pictures at Mops and Pops' house:





Speaking of little Cora (or Cora Jane as her big sister affectionately calls her), she is growing into quite a "chunky monkey." Kate gets very upset when I call her my "skinny Minnie" and Cora my "chunky monkey" but I'm sorry, honey, but there is nothing chunky about you. Here are some pictures of my Chunky Monkey:





As you can see, we have been richly blessed this year with material gifts and more importantly, with the wonderful gift of a precious new little girl. Happy New Year to you!!

Merry Christmas: Pass the Cakes and Candies and Cookies Please!

This holiday season has been a very busy but exciting one. Kate has been learning about Santa Claus and Christmas trees and all the goodies that go along with the season at her preschool and she LOVES to point out all the snowmen and Santas she sees on TV or at the stores. Santa came to her school last week, and because he gave her candy and a book, she thinks that is all he brings. So, when I asked her what she wants Santa to bring, she says, "Book and candy." However, she has also requested a bee Pillow Pet.

We have been baking a lot this season and this year Kate has helped me. Her favorite part though is licking the batter or eating the sugar that falls on the table. I have ruined her! We have made fudge and peanut butter balls and chocolate cookies with peppermint kisses and peanut butter cookies with chocolate kisses and sugar cookies cut out and iced and a pumpkin roll. I think I have to bake excessively to instill a sense of Christmas in the house. Even though first thing in the morning we turn on the Christmas tree lights and move the star on our Countdown to Christmas calendar, there's something about creating special Christmas treats that only come once a year that really gets me in the spirit.

Tomorrow we will go to the mountain for the Mayes family Christmas, and all I can think about is eating Mema Jean's candies and Mom's red velvet cake. Now the cake is not a tradition. Actually, I think this will be the first time I have ever eaten Mom's red velvet cake, yet anything and everything my Mom bakes is delicious. But Mema Jean ALWAYS makes candy at Christmas and I am ALWAYS eager to help in the eating of them.

And so I am picking up on a theme here: Food. Perhaps that is what I most associate with Christmas. The strawberry cake my Mema Garner used to make and that my Mom now fixes every year; the tea rings my Mom labors over every year, which were a recipe from our dear friend Miss Mary Jane; the candies that my Mema Jean always makes.

Perhaps it isn't the food that I most love about Christmas but rather the people who have prepared them and who, after passing on, have also passed down their recipes to us. The memories of the strawberry and coconut cakes my Mema Garner would make and set out on the enclosed porch along with the myriad other desserts that I would sneak bites from when no adult was watching. Memories of eating Miss Mary Jane's tea ring on Christmas morning after opening presents and years later still enjoying them with my family though now prepared by my mother. Memories of making peanut butter balls with my Mema Jean and eating most of them myself.

Maybe that is why I have found myself baking a lot this holiday season: I want to reconnect with family members who are no longer with us or who I don't see as often as I should. I want to carry on the tradition of baking and enjoying holiday treats. But I also want to emulate my grandmothers and mother who are not only extraordinary cooks but true servants, and I want to teach my daughters the joy of preparing food to share with others. Those are some really big shoes to fill I know!

Merry Christmas!!