THE PETERSENS

Birthday card for a family member

Just for a friend

We have so many people to be thankful for!

Another for a friend

I love how scraps of cardstock and a few stickers can turn into card creations for the important people in our lives.  Do you like to make cards?  Where do you get your ideas from?

Sunday
Breakfast: Cereal and Yogurt
Lunch: EATING OUT
Dinner: Leftovers
Snack: Crackers

Monday
Breakfast: Baked Oatmeal
Lunch: Cheese Quesadillas on Whole-Wheat Tortillas and Yogurt
Dinner: Leftovers
Snack: Graham Crackers

Tuesday
Breakfast: Leftover Baked Oatmeal
Lunch: Grilled Cheese on Homemade Wheat Bread and Tomato Soup
Dinner: Chicken-Broccoli Casserole with Brown Rice
Snack: Bananas

Wednesday
Breakfast: Wildberry Muffins and Applesauce
Lunch: BBQ Chicken Wraps on Whole-Wheat Tortillas and Peas
Dinner with Community Group: Lentil Soup
Snack: Pear Slices

Thursday
Breakfast: Sunshine Toast and Fresh Pineapple
Lunch: Baked Mac n’ Cheese and Fresh Mango
Dinner: At a friend’s house
Snack: Homemade Banana Bread

Friday
Breakfast: Cereal and Yogurt
Lunch: PB&Js on Homemade Wheat Bread and Corn
Dinner: At Friday Fun, Food and Fellowship with Community Group ladies
Snack: Graham crackers

Saturday
Breakfast: Homemade Whole-Wheat Pancakes (from Joy of Cooking)
Lunch: Leftovers
Dinner: Beef and Asparagus Stir-Fry with Jasmine White Rice
Snack: Bananas

I am happy to say that our household is finally recovering from all the sickness we have been enduring for the past few weeks.  It has been hard, but the Lord has sustained us.

You will be hearing more from us now.  The absence of blog posts was due to my own coming down with the flu.  When I wasn’t resting or sleeping, I was still trying to keep up with taking care of my husband and kids and accomplishing a minimal amount of housework.  Hopefully you will be hearing more from me, but maybe not as much since I am trying to get caught up on everything else that fell by the wayside.

Thank you to those who were praying for us and loving on us by bringing us meals and just calling.  We are so blessed to be surrounded by people from our church who are so quick to serve.

Anyway, a few updates…

• February was a short month, so we were able to come in under our $175/month food budget.  I am hoping that this will the be first of many months we can do this!
• One of our new financial goals for this year was to aggressively pay off my student loans totaling $10,000.  We have been able to cut that in half!  Praise be to God who has blessed us with a hefty tax return and side-job opportunities for my hubby.  We’ve been able to throw that extra income toward our school debt.
• Our house is actually FOR REAL being built now, so we are looking to move into our first home in about 90 days.
• Ben has been juggling his many responsibilities well and even managed to get Google Analytics-certified amidst his crazy schedule.  Yay, husband!
• Homeschooling has been going well for Joshua Lee and I.  He is now able to read most of his board books out loud and is eager to tackle hard words like “extinguisher” and “xylophone.”  My oldest loves to read!
• Caleb is becoming more and more verbal.  A few new words he says are: “ight” for “light”, “moo” for “moon”, “nana” for “banana”, and  “di-pah” for “diaper”.  He is such a little ham and he loves to be funny.
• We have lots of visitors lined up who are flying in to visit with us starting in mid-March through the beginning of May.  The Mellings, my mom and my brother, my sister and then my dad…we love it!

That’s it for now.  Come back soon for more blog posts of my grocery shopping trips, meal plans, pictures of my coupon binder, etc.