Weekly Meal Plan and Our Saturday Evening....

Here's what the Friesen Family will be eating this week....in case you're wondering!

Monday, April 25, 2011
Eating (already ate) supper with Community Life Council at church

Tuesday, April 26, 2011
Chicken Enchiladas
Fruit

Wednesday, April 27, 2011
BBQ Meatballs
Cheesy Potatoes

Thursday, April 28, 2011
Fish and Fries (a.k.a. Fish and Chips)

Friday, April 29, 2011
Tortellini with Tomato-Cream Sauce

(This recipe is one of our favorites; however, I've modified it a bit. I use spaghetti instead of tortellini, and per Marc's request, I use chicken instead of spinach. It's quite YUMMY!)

Saturday, April 30, 2011
Lunch: Rummage

Supper: Grilled Burgers, Beans, Fries

Sunday, May 1, 2011
Lunch: Rummage

Supper: Jimmy Dean Breakfast Sandwiches, Tater Tots

*****

This past Saturday night, it was mine and Marc's DATE NIGHT. Luke hung out with one of Papas and Grandmas (my parents).

Marc took me to a local "dive" or "hole in the wall." (whatever your preferred word is)

One of his coworkers introduced it to him. It would never be a place we'd ordinarily go. It's old, and because they only allow customers over the age of 21, smoking is allowed.

Fortunately, we went early. Nobody else was there, and it wasn't smokey at all!

It's called The Annex Lounge....VERY YUMMY burgers!

Sorry for the slight blurriness....It was taken with my phone.



We then spent time eating ice cream....



AND while eating that ice cream, we worked on a Family Spiritual Plan.

We have a rough draft. I'm not prepared to show it on this blog yet, but when I am, I will....Hopefully, it'll generate some ideas.

Jesus Died on the Cross....

Many of you have seen, have used, or do own Resurrection Eggs -- by Family Life...and organization I just happened also mention in my PREVIOUS POST.

Resurrection Eggs is a set of 12 plastic eggs. Each egg contains a small object which represents part of the Easter story. The eggs are placed in order of the story. One can use each egg and the respective object in each egg to tell the Easter story to children.

Examples: One egg contains 3 coins. The 3 coins remind us of the 30 pieces of silver Judas received for betrayin Jesus into the hands of the Jewish leaders.

Another egg contains a small leather strip -- which reminds us of teh whip used to give Jesus 39 lashes after His trial by Pilate.

My experience with Resurrection Eggs begins roughly 10 years ago.

I spent 7-8 years in my 20s teaching 3rd grade Sunday School with a delightful older woman named Sondra. Sondra was retired and had grown kids, and she absolutely ADORED her grandchildren. She has such a LOVE for the Lord and was very passionate in sharing that with children.

Sondra introduced me to Resurrection Eggs. She wanted to use them on Easter Sunday in our Sunday School class. Her passion for teaching children about Christ as well as her stage in life allowed her to purchase a set of Resurrection Eggs for each child in our Sunday School class. The kids were to receive them on Easter Sunday.

Knowing there would be visitors and a fairly large class that day, I think I recall her purchasing 25 sets or so.

*****

My Resurrection Eggs have been in my closet(s) since that time. Honestly, I think I've looked at them once since that time.

Well....this year, I KNEW I needed to pull them out since Luke is now to an age where he can start understanding important truths -- namely, why we celebrate Easter....NOT for the Easter bunny (though it's a fun part) BUT for the absolute truth that we are all sinners (Romans 3:23), that God sent His only Son to save us from those sins (John 3:16), that Jesus saved us from our sins by dying on the cross (Matthew 27), and that Jesus CONQUERED the GRAVE by rising on the 3rd day (Matthew 28).

Soooooo, here are my 10-year old (or so) Resurrection Eggs -- complete with a booklet, describing the contents of each egg.









Because Luke is young yet for these eggs, this has been a VERY SUPERVISED activity. I have merely been letting him explore each egg and the object inside.

Each time he opens an egg, I've been explaining, to the best of my ability in 2 year-old terms, what the object represents.









And, though I KNOW Luke doesn't understand nor can he repeat the entire story, I did learn this afternoon, before his nap, that he did indeed pick up on the KEY MESSAGE of Easter -- (and I quote Luke)...."Jesus died on the cross."

He said this after going through eggs several times. It's amazing what kids do pick up on, and for right now, that's the message I want him to get.

However, just before he made that statement, I asked him who rode on a donkey.

Luke simply replied, "Papa."

I'm thinking that Papa (my dad) didn't ride into Jerusalem on a donkey.

Very Miscellaneous....

Remember back in February and March -- I took a MAJOR blogging break.

For the most part, I've kept up again and am enjoying it (blogging) again.

But, for today, I'm out of ideas. So, I was searching through some photos, and I came across some miscellaneous photos from early March to share....

Here goes....

1) March 1 was my BIG 35th birthday. For some reason, turning 35 was a big deal to me. 30 didn't bother me AT ALL....And, I'm around quite a few people who are really dreading 30....those of you whom I'm talking about -- Turning 30 is just fine. You'll make it through. I actually enjoyed it and looked forward to it.

Turning 35 was also fine....I have an advantage of living where I do -- most people have children younger than when I did (32). Therefore, since I only currently have one child and he's only 2, MOST are surprised that I did turn 35.

But yes, my birth certificate proves it. I was born in 1976.

And now, I'm closer to 40 than 30....

Anyways, Marc surprised me a few days before and told me he was going to take the day off from work so we could all hang out as a family. I was THRILLED!

We kept it low key....just how I like it.

Luke was surprised when he got up that morning to find Daddy at home....that meant hanging out with Daddy in bed, eating cereal and watching TV.







We went to Red Robin for lunch....a) We like it. b) It's a great place to take a kid. c) I had a "free" lunch for my birthday since I joined their "E Club."

(Sorry -- no photos to prove we were there....You'll just have to believe me).

Then, we all came home and took naps :)

And overall, I had the opportunity to just keep a day "low key" and hang out with my guys. What could get better than that?





*****

The weekend right after my big ol' 35th birthday (March 4 - 6), Marc and I went away for the weekend -- to Wichita (yep, we really traveled far, didn't we?)....

My loving parents came to our home and stayed with Luke for the weekend.

I have ZERO photos from the weekend, but my dad did send me this photo of Luke and their dog, Anna....Luke LOVES Anna, and admittedly, this photo was very cute -- watching Luke lie on the floor with Anna before bed.



We went away for the weekend to a Family Life Weekend to Remember marriage conference.

We went to the same conference three years ago -- when I was pregnant with Luke. We enjoyed it and wanted to go again.

It's amazing what 3 more years into a marriage as well as having a child does!

We had some different things to discuss and talk about.

It was EXCELLENT and very needed.

We were EXTREMELY pleased to find out one of our speakers that weekend was Dr. Tim Kimmel.

Dr. Kimmel is the founder of THIS MINISTRY.

We first heard about Dr. Kimmel in November, 2009 -- upon purchasing our Christmas Tree.

We have grown to appreciate and overall like his parenting/family books.

Then, over the course of this past semester, we've seen him in a DVD series in our Sunday School class.

SOOOOOOOO -- when we arrived at the conference and he was one of the main speakers, we were truly THRILLED!

And, I have to say (and I'm sure Marc would agree) -- his speaking is as great as his writing!

That's the end of miscellaneous! Thanks for reading!

Weekly Meal Plan and a Couple of Photos....

It's Monday....that means, it's time for this Wife and Mama to M.E.A.L. P.L.A.N....

Monday, April 18, 2011
Spicy Italian Sausage Pomodoro

(I cheated -- it's a frozen Macaroni Grill meal -- we'll see how it is).

Tuesday, April 19, 2011
Speedy South Seas Chicken (a recipe from my friend, Lisa)
Fruit

Wednesday, April 20, 2011
Homemade Pizza

Thursday, April 21, 2011
Jimmy Dean Breakfast Sandwiches
Tater Tots

(Breakfast sandwiches are left over from our weekend at Kanopolis State Park).

Friday, April 22, 2011
**Will be eating at a birthday party!

**But, I will be making supper for some friends of our's who just welcomed their third child into the family. Here's what they will be eating!

BBQ Meatballs
Cheesy Potatoes
Strawberry Salad
No Bake Cookies

Saturday, April 23, 2011
Lunch: Rummage

Supper: DATE NIGHT!

Sunday, April 24, 2011
Lunch: Rummage

Supper: Beef Stroganoff, Greek Salad, Croissants

*****

This past Friday, I made THIS POST about Luke now being in a Big Boy Bed.

I forgot to include this photo of Luke napping....I walked in on him, thinking he was awake. He wasn't. Fortunately, when I took this photo, he didn't even wake up.

Too sweet....



Also, 1-2 mornings a week, Luke's friend, Lily, comes over while her mom teaches a Pre-K class.

Lily is 5 1/2 months younger than Luke -- yep, they're close in age.

Sometimes, they antagonize each other. They seem to take turns doing just that.

But, this particular moment, I caught them sitting on the couch together, reading....

VERY CUTE....

A Milestone for Luke -- The Big Boy Bed....

If you happened to see THIS POST, THIS POST, or THIS POST on our weekend trip to Kanopolis State Park, you might have noticed in the middle post (Our Weekend, Part 2) that Luke's bed in the cabin was NOT a Pack 'N Play nor did it have any rails.

That would be because Luke is officially in a Big Boy Bed now -- or at least he has the front part of his convertible crib removed!

I realize there are MANY different "schools of thought" regarding when to change a child over from a crib to a bigger bed, but we were in no hurry to do it.

a) Luke was perfectly content in his crib.

b) Luke had never tried to crawl out.

So, originally, we were going to leave him in there for awhile -- possibly until he was 3.

But, we decided to take this weekend trip to a cabin. We knew there wouldn't be a crib, and we also knew he was a tad too big for the Pack 'N Play.

A week before we went to the cabin, we made the switch for Luke. We weren't sure how it was going to go.

So, here are some pics -- documenting the process.

Marc....Looking at the crib and the disassembly needed....



Then, the official disassemble....



We had talked about it with Luke, quite a bit, but we also knew he didn't fully understand what we meant. So, Luke just watched Marc disassemble his bed -- complete with the blanket and thumb.



Luke, for quite awhile, has liked stuffed animals and blankets in his crib. So, when the front was removed, we kept it virtually the same. Luke was THRILLED at this point!



He promptly crawled into his "new bed," and it was an instant HIT!





It's now been close to 3 weeks since Luke's been in his "Big Boy Bed," and he hasn't gotten up once. AND, he's still been taking naps.

Now, I realize that won't continue forever, but hopefully, we can encourage staying in bed for awhile.

For now, each time he lies down, we tell him, "Don't get up until Mommy comes and gets you."

Luke then repeats it.

So far -- it's worked!

And, most importantly -- Luke LOVES it, and he thinks he's BIG STUFF in it. Whenever somebody comes over, he immediately wants to show them his "Big Boy Bed."

Our Weekend, Part 3....

This post will actually finalize our weekend of April 1 - 3....

If you want to read the first two parts, click HERE for Part 1 or HERE for part 2.

*****

So....after blowing bubbles, we decided to head to the race finish line to see what what was going on AND to see if Marc was halfway finished with his 50-mile jaunt.

We went to the race finish site. Marc was not yet half way finished, but another runner told me he was coming (the race finish is also the "little over halfway point" for the 50-milers).

We hadn't even been there 5 minutes when we all of a sudden saw Marc coming.

I showed Luke, and he took off running toward Marc.

(These next three photos are some of my new favorite photos of all time)....



Luke then took Marc's hand....



And, one of Marc's favorite things -- Luke crossed the finish line with Marc.

LOVE IT!!!!!



What a treat for both Marc and Luke -- to finish together.

This particular day, it was in the 80s (above normal for KS this time of year), and it was VERY windy.

Marc's legs were shot.

At that point, Marc decided to just finish with the marathon (a little over 26 miles) and NOT do the 50-mile.

Quite a few other runners did the same. The weather was not great for 50 miles.

Secretly, hoping to not be discouraging to Marc (something I've done in regards to Marc's running in the past), I was glad he made that decision. It was just an "ugly" day for running.

So, we all headed back to the cabin for lunch and for Luke's nap.

Luke decided to nap that day -- I guess it's O.K. to nap in the cabin. Yay!

*****

After Luke's nap, we all 3 headed back to the race finish to see the remaining 50-milers come in.

We had taken Luke's 4-wheeler along on this trip. Luke LOVED having it there.



And, in this photo, there are port-a-johns in the background -- LOVELY! But, I'm not going to "edit" the photo. Part of ultra-running is indeed port-a-johns. Honestly, they make the weekend true to what it was.

I'm leaving them in the photo -- even with our cute little guy in it.



And, as a special treat for the weekend -- Luke got to drink some pop out of his own cup. Usually, he only gets sips of our's.

Luke was a happy camper about that one.



After awhile, it started getting somewhat chilly outside as well as dark.

So, we headed back to the cabin for our last night away from home.

The next morning (Sunday), we leisurely got ready to leave ("leisurely" is nice sometimes).

We headed back toward home -- taking some side roads rather than the interstate.

We went to lunch at one of Marc's and Luke's favorite places (I like it as well)....Arby's.

This Week's Meals and a Couple of Photos....

Here's what I'm currently planning on our family eating this week....

Monday, April 11, 2011
Steak Fajitas

Tuesday, April 12, 2011
Scoops Diner in Hesston, KS

**Also, it's my turn to take breakfast to our Tuesday morning Young Moms/Wives' Bible Study -- will be taking THIS EGG CASSEROLE.

Wednesday, April 13, 2011
Barbecued Short Ribs
Mashed Potatoes
Salad

Thursday, April 14, 2011
Pigs in a Blanket
Fries

(Have some leftover hot dogs from last week's Pigs in a Blanket)

Friday, April 15, 2011
Spaghetti & Meatballs
Bread Sticks
Salad

Saturday, April 16, 2011
Lunch: Rummage

Supper: Grilled Burgers, Baked Beans, Tater Tots

Sunday, April 17, 2011
Lunch: Rummage

Supper: Having "Breakfast" with our Community Life Group from church

**Will be providing waffles, bacon, and sausage (we're meeting at our home)

*******

Last year (as in, the last school year), I watched Oliver & Lily 1-2 mornings per week....This year, Oliver grew up and went off to preschool; however, Lily still comes over some.

This past Friday (April 8), I had the privilege of having both Oliver & Lily at my house (I've missed Oliver's conversations this year)....

So, I captured a photo of Luke, Oliver, and Lily at our kitchen table (photo was taken on my phone)....having their juice and snacks. Sorry -- Oliver's back is toward the camera.



Oliver's always been a good, healthy eater. Last year, nearly every single time he came to our house, he brought his oatmeal for breakfast, and I secretly thought it was VERY CUTE.

So, I was secretly hoping he'd bring his oatmeal to our house this past Friday.

He didn't. He told me he had already eaten it.

I told Marc that Oliver didn't bring his oatmeal.

Marc then texted me a photo of his "oatmeal."

For those of you who know Marc well -- this photo is GREAT for him....Marc's healthy "oatmeal" is Pepsi and potato chips at his desk at work.

Surprised?

Our Weekend, Part 2....

This post is a continuation of MY PREVIOUS POST about this past weekend.

First -- a couple of housekeeping items....

1) If you read my comments from the previous post, you might have noticed that our friend, Debby, had a question....about the price of these cabins...

Click HERE to find the answer.

2) Three of the photos towards the end of the previous post were "small." They were taken by Ross -- see THIS SITE for details.

*****

So, the first morning of our weekend (Saturday, the 2nd of April), Marc got up REALLY early to run a race....I barely remember when he left since I was still striving to get some sleep. Luke was sleeping at this point :)

But, I must post a view from our cabin deck....not bad for the middle of Kansas.



Since Luke was up earlier than normal (you know, not his normal bed and all), Luke spent some time....

1) Continuously playing with his bedroom door in the cabin (and for those of you who know Luke personally and his INTENSE fascination for doors -- this should come as NO surprise to you)....



2) Working to "jump" on his "Cabin Big Boy Bed...." (I had to monitor this closely because a fall off of the bed would've been BAD since the floor is VERY HARD)....Fortunately, no accidents occurred.



3) Eating breakfast, of course....Luke didn't want to sit at the table (I didn't mind -- we were on "vacation"). He wanted to eat his breakfast standing up, while his food sat on the chairs.



*****

After awhile, Luke and I headed out for an almost 4-mile walk around the state park.



We went to the shore of the lake....Luke enjoyed simply sitting at the table while drinking his morning juice.





And then, we headed to the amphitheater area of the park -- where church services are held each Sunday during the summer vacation season....It would be great to worship outside in this quiet park!



Across from the amphitheater is a "kids' pond...." I assume it's used as a smaller and "safer" area for kids to swim. Obviously, the water's still a bit too cold to swim right now.



After our nice walk, we, at Luke's request, headed back to the cabin -- Luke LOVED this cabin (I can't emphasize this fact enough).

Luke wanted to, once again, blow bubbles. Again, it was WINDY. Luke had bubbles, thankfully.





And now, this post is long enough for right now....

There will be MORE TO COME (including the finale of the race) next week!

In my next post, my new favorite pics will be shared!

Have a fabulous weekend!

Our Weekend, Part 1....

As I mentioned in MY PREVIOUS POST, we (as in all three of us) spent this past weekend HERE....



We went to Kanopolis State Park because Marc was signed up to run in a 50-mile race (YEP -- 50 miles) called Rockin' K. Rockin' K is a race that is sponsored and "put on" by the Kansas Ultrarunners' Society -- of which Marc is the treasurer.

The race was on Saturday, but we arrived on Friday afternoon to get ourselves moved into and Luke napping in this cabin....



Luke ecstatic as he rode in the car there.



In the afternoon, during Luke's very non-existent nap (I tried, though), Marc went and helped the race organizers, Phil & Stacy. So, after Luke's non-existent nap, I went for a walk around the state park with our jogging stroller -- which we took along (and store on the cabin's deck -- locked up).



The stroller proved to be a very good thing to have along -- Luke napped briefly in it on Friday afternoon, and Luke and I used it on Saturday (more on Saturday in a future post).

But, moving on....to our Friday evening....

Luke played with bubbles quite a bit outside the cabin....The VERY STRONG Kansas winds we had this past weekend proved helpful to Luke and bubbles; otherwise, I'm not sure he would've gotten any bubbles.





Phil & Stacy (the race organizers) have a pre-race supper for the runners and their families. Stacy makes homemade meatballs (over 1,000 of them) to have spaghetti/meatballs, salad, and bread. YUMMY!!!!

Everybody gathers to eat at one of the shelters in the park.







And, to end this post....here are some photos of our family....

Luke -- sitting in the shelter before supper.



My two favorite guys (Marc & Luke) -- also in the shelter before supper.



Luke -- hanging out after supper -- outside!



And, how about Luke and his Mama after supper -- again, outside!



And -- our latest family pic....



Stay turned for the "rest of the weekend" post -- coming soon!