A moment...

I'm excited that I have a few free moments to sit down and blog and check email. The baby is asleep and my oldest is having "rest time", although I don't know if much rest is involved. A few minutes ago I heard her knocking on the door from the inside of her room. She said, "Mom....Mom...it's me, Mom." Cracked me up. I said, "Hey, Sophie. You still have to stay in your room." She didn't care for that, but she did stay in there. Last week was a tough week. Both kids were sick, Soph being the sickest. High fevers and throwing up. Spend the day after in the doctor's office or the hospital trying to rule out what was going on with her. We have it resolved now, but it was a rough day for Mamma. Carting two kids that aren't feeling well in and out of offices and the car and back again wasn't too fun. I'm thankful for the double stroller, that's for sure! The weekend was nice, even though I could feel a cold coming on. I did get to have some fun time with my mom and sister. We went to the movies, got some popcorn and coke, ate some chocolate, and had a great time. Saturday I actually got to go to Target by myself, walk around, look at everything, and got a few deals in the process. It was so nice.

Even though we had a toughie last week, I still see God's blessings in the middle of it. One God moment was while I was at the hospital. Soph had to get a chest x-ray...her first...and I couldn't go in the room with her. I had forgotten my cell phone at home, so I wasn't able to call the hubby and update him on what was going on. While I was standing in the hall, there goes my hubby, walking right past us! I couldn't believe it! I knew God had set that up, because I really needed some encouragement. I also didn't realize that it was lunch time. So we all got to eat lunch together and I was able to have a breather. I was so thankful to God for that. I have also been very encouraged about some changes that Joe and I are going to make this year. We've got a plan to work on our budget and are going to start implementing it. I think this will honor the Lord and help me to have some good boundaries for spending. I am excited about it. I think God is going to do a work through it. I am also encouraged because I've been losing weight! Yay! So far I've lost about 16 lbs. It's encouraging to see the numbers go down. I'm highly motivated and I pray that this year I'll really get a handle on it and get where I want to be weight-wise. I know God is helping me do this! I am also very encouraged by the support and prayers of friends around the world! God is good!

One last thing...I wanted to share a quick recipe that I did last week. It was a hit! But I will say that it's one of those where you put a little bit of this and a little of that...so there's not a lot of exact measurements. Hope you're able to enjoy it!

My Mom's Easy Meatloaf

• 1 lb ground beef
• 1 egg
• oats (about 1/4 cup for 1lb beef)
• minced onion
• salt/pepper
• sauce--ketchup, brown sugar, Worchestershire sauce (or soy sauce)

Set your oven to 350. Put your defrosted meat in a bowl. Add your egg, oats, and sprinkle desired amount of minced onion, salt, and pepper and mix it up (I used my hands). I like minced onion, so I put in a pretty good bit. I formed about 5 round, individual meatloaf patties and put them in a pan (about the size of a round hamburger pattie or, for children, a little larger than an egg). I used a cake pan, or you could use a cookie sheet that had raised sides. Bake for about 30 min. While it's cooking, mix some ketchup, about 1/4 cup brown sugar (give or take), and some Worchestershire sauce. I didn't have any of that, so I just substituted soy sauce and it was very good, too. Mix it up. When the patties are almost done, take them out, drain off the liquid that's in the bottom of the pan, and put your sauce on top. Cook for an additional 10 min.

Sophie LOVED this! And the portion was just her size. Cooking it in this pattie form also allows it to cook faster than if it were in a loaf pan. Hope you enjoy!

Blessings!