New Button!

Do *you* like my new button???

Back along the way, my friend, Joy had a "welcome to my new home" giveaway over on her blog when she switched over to her own server.  The giveaway had a first and second prize to it. Well I won the second prize, which was a button for my blog!  

I love the button because it really shows the real concept behind this blog!  The real concept being that I want to be a light for Christ!  Even though I talk about frugal living, homeschooling, recipes, and more I want to be encouragement to others. I want to shine for Christ!

A little sidenote story...back in college I was on a team that did street evangelism, every Friday night we would go into the inner city of Cincinnati and talk with people and actually developed friendships with some of the homeless. One of the homeless people that I developed a relationship with started calling me "Sunshine" because every week I would come down there with a smile on my face.  Well the nickname stuck with me and the rest of my team even started calling me "Sunshine".  Also in college is when I started chatting on the internet bulletin boards(back when they were DOS based bulletin boards and not chatrooms) as well and I decided to use my nickname as my screen name.  The name "Sunshine" was already taken so I changed the "u" to an "o"to show others that I shine with God's Son's (Christ's) love and God's grace. 

So back to the button...I really think that Joy did an awesome job!  It will reside in my right sidebar for you to cut and paste and place on your blog if you would like! 

Thanks again Joy for your hard work!

Math Around the House

Are you finding the kids (and maybe you for that matter!) are still not wanting to crack open the school books just yet? Instead of fretting or getting frustrated over them not wanting to hit the books yet, use it to your advantage and involve them in tasks around the house that involve math concepts!

Looking for some ideas as to what tasks you could do with your kids, head over to Happy to be at Home and read the rest of my article, Teaching Math Around the House!  

Also take the time to check out some of the other articles that were written by a couple of the other contributing writers.

Menu Plan Monday 1/4-1/10

**It is the first full week of the New Year, which means that it is back to the regular routine! The regular routine being we are going back to our school schedule and hubby goes back to work! It was fun having the time off to do fun things together as a family along with getting some much needed projects done around the house. ALL the Christmas goodies are either in the freezer for later consumption or have been consumed! Going back to the regular schedule means going back to the lower sugar consumption as well!

Last week's menu plan got a little sticky towards the end of the week as I didn’t have meals planned out so those days were a bit stressful trying to figure out what sounded good with what I had on hand! We ended up eating at home one night and going to Steak N Shake the other night!

Well this shopping trip helped to finish last week’s menus and was enough to start menus for this week, however; it will not be able to finish off the week! Thankfully, there is still grocery money to use from hubby’s paycheck so I will be grocery shopping today to finish off this week’s menus!

There isn’t much to this week’s menus because I like to do my shopping first before I plan so I have planned the meals that I have the supplies for and the rest of the menu plan will immerge after my grocery shopping trip!

Lunches listed are for the kids & me. Unless we are having leftovers, our lunches are served with apple slices or baby carrots along with fruit juice or water. Hubby usually takes a dinner leftover for his work lunch.

A special thanks to Laura-Organizing Junkie for hosting Menu Plan Monday! Need help with your menus; go check the over 200 other delicious meal plans that have been linked at Laura-Organizing Junkie's site or look down in my right sidebar for my menu suggestion lists! **

Sunday (1-4)
Breakfast: eggs, sausage, hash browns, and cinnamon rolls
Lunch: sandwiches
Dinner: creamy chicken over egg noodles and a choice of peas or green beans for a side.
Snack: snack basket

Monday (1-5)
Breakfast: french toast (from freezer!) and orange juice
Lunch: leftover burger sandwiches and chips
Dinner: Your choice of bbq pork sandwiches or sloppy joes served with fries and carrots
Snack: snack basket

Tuesday (1-6)
Breakfast: cereal & toast
Lunch: sandwiches and chips
Dinner: ?? probably hamburger helper(from a box) served with a some kind of veggie on the side. (I found a couple of HH boxed meals in my pantry that need to be used due to the best buy dates)
Snack: cookies & milk

Wednesday (1-7)
Breakfast: bagels and cereal
Lunch: leftover spaghetti
Dinner: homemade chicken nuggets served with mashed potatoes and corn
Snack: snack basket

Thursday (1-8)
Breakfast: waffles
Lunch: bagel bites
Dinner: ???
Snack: snack basket

Friday (1-9)
Breakfast: cereal and toaster strudel
Lunch: sandwiches & chips
Dinner: Your choice of burgers or hotdogs served with seasoned fries and corn
Snack: ice cream night

Saturday (1-10)
Breakfast: “Cook’s Choice”
Lunch: ??? probably leftovers
Dinner: homemade pizza
Snack: snack basket or popcorn

Singing Sunday

How Great is Your Love

by MercyMe

My heart is steadfast of God
And I will sing
With all my heart and soul
Music for the King
And I will awake the dawn
With my praise to you O Lord

[CHORUS:]
How great is Your love
So much higher than the heavens
With faithfulness that reaches the sky
How great is Your love
So much higher than the heavens
With faithfulness that reaches the sky
O how great is Your love

Praise the Lord O my soul
And glory to the King
Forever You are robed with majesty
We come to you O Lord
And Lay our praise at your feet

[CHORUS]

[BRIDGE:]
Be exalted O God and let Your glory reign
Be exalted O God and let Your glory reign
Let it reign
Let it reign
Let it reign
Let it reign
Let it reign
Let it reign

[CHORUS]

Scrumptious Sunday-Chicken Parmesan

Easy Chicken Parmesan

5 boneless/skinless chicken breasts

1/2 cup flour

2 TBSP. italian seasoning

2 tsp. garlic powder

1 TBSP. onion powder

4 TBSP. margarine or butter

4 TBSP grated parmesan cheese

8 oz. mozzerella cheese, shredded

1 jar Ragu pasta sauce (I used traditional style)

Combine flour, italian seasoning, garlic powder, onion powder, and parmesan cheese in a bowl or bag.  Dip the chicken in the flour mixture.  Place in a 9x13 pan. Put little pads of margarine or butter on the chicken. Place in the oven at 400° for 50 minutes.  Take out of the oven pour the jar of pasta sauce over and around the chicken. Place back in the oven until the sauce is bubbly(about 10 minutes). Take the chicken back out of oven and sprinkle with mozzerella cheese. It should be hot enough for the cheese to melt without placing back in the oven. However, it might need to go back in for about 5 minutes to melt the cheese. 

Serve with spaghetti noodles and a green salad! 

For more scrumptious recipes; head over to Happy To be at Home!