Happy Halloween!!

I hope you have a fantastically fun Halloween! :-)

Our Menu For 10/31/11 Through 11/06/11

Monday~Our annual holiday meal of Sloppy Joes, and with it we will have Kraft Halloween Macaroni & Cheese. Kraft found a sucker in me! ;-)
Tuesday~Meghan's birthday dinner...Pancakes
Wednesday~Chicken Burgers and Homemade French Fries
Thursday~Mustgoes
Friday~Pot Roast and Mashed Potatoes
Saturday~Chicken & Dressing Casserole with Green Beans
Sunday~Mustgoes

Friday Fill-Ins

1. Beware of little children that eat way too much candy. They get hyper, and sometimes they even vomit. Ugh!

2. I am not ready for snow. I will officially be ready the day after Thanksgiving, so please let it hold off until then.

3. And since we never get trick-or-treaters, I haven't bought any candy. Okay, we usually get at least 20 kids, so I will make sure to have enough for them.

4. Evil spirits? No thanks!

5. Where has this year gone? It has flown by too fast!

6. Soup and grilled cheese is one of my favorite meals when it's cold out.

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to taking the kids to the Witches Walk, tomorrow my plans include doing some odds 'n ends at my mom's old house and later enjoying a family movie night at our house and Sunday, I want to go to church, relax, and carve our pumpkins!

Our Menu For 10/24/11 Through 10/30/11

I am going to try real hard to stick to this menu, but I make absolutely no guarantees. Life has been crazy-busy around here, and on top of that craziness I have been sick. Sure do hope I stick with it though, since everything sounds tasty to me. ;-)

Monday~Hamburger Chop Suey over Sticky Rice
Tuesday~Baked Panko Crusted Chicken, Stuffing and Maple Glazed Green Beans
Wednesday~Chili with Cornbread
Thursday~Mustgoes
Friday~Chili-Cheese Dogs with French Fries
Saturday~Chicken Burgers, Corn and Fried Potatoes
Sunday~Beef Stroganoff over Egg Noodles

Juggling Life Without Guilt

Do you ever feel like life is eating you alive? Swallowing you whole? Consuming you to the point of no return? I have been feeling like that for some time.

Don't get me wrong. I love my life! It's just that sometimes it is so busy I can't figure out which way is up. Being a mom leaves you busy all the time. You have to take care of a house, the children, the family pet, and life doesn't stop there because you are more than just a mom. You are a child of God, a wife, a daughter, a sister, a friend, and so on. I love being all of these things, but sometimes I can't figure out how to juggle it all without losing myself or upsetting someone.

Lately, I have been working on scaling back, and simplifying my life. I can't say that I excel at this yet, but I am trying, and that is a start. The other day I called my good friend, who also happens to be my small group leader. I took a few weeks off of small group, but I was scheduled to go back last Tuesday. I let her know that I am taking more time off, possibly the whole year.

My evenings really need to be family focused at this time. My two oldest have scouts on Monday nights. Thankfully not every Monday. My oldest has piano on Wednesday afternoon. Then on Thursday my girls and I are at the dance/tumbling studio from 6-8. Don't forget that we also have to work in dinner, homework, reading, and baths.

Do I feel guilty backing out of small group? You betcha! Our church is big on the 3 vital involvements, which are 1) attending church on Sunday, 2) attending a small group during the week, and 3) serving God in ministry. I have gotten better about attending church regularly on Sunday. I volunteer to help in the children's ministry once-a-month, and I am very active in our Mom's Life ministry. So, backing out of small group makes me feel like a bit of a failure. Now, I do attend a discipleship group on Wednesday mornings, but I doubt that the church counts that.

I don't want to start back up at small group just to find that I am stressed out and stretched too thin again. However, I am sure at some point my guilt will get the best of me. That just seems wrong, doesn't it?

How do you juggle life? Do you have any advice? I would love to hear some, so do share! :-)