At least it's Friday

5:15 am - I am awakened by the sound of the kids bedroom door slamming.

Ugh. Silas is awake. (He's the only one that slams the door and he only does it when he wakes up during the night. Go figure)

From the hallway he starts yelling "Mommy, where are you?" I'm here... in my bed. Like normal people.

I call out to him several times but he's not listening. I realize that Graham is still in bed beside me. It must be real early. I get out of bed to retrieve the boy.

I set him on my bed and pick up my cell phone.

5:20.

"Uh, Graham... it's almost 5:30." He should have been headed to work already.

I guess that's what happens when you come home from work & nap on the couch all evening and then wake up after the kids are in bed and get on the computer till 11:30.

Graham hopped up and started getting ready to go. Silas fell back asleep on Graham's pillow.

And now I am wide awake.

I lay there for a bit trying desperately to find that oh-so-sweet sleep, but no. It doesn't come.

So I get up and grabbing a mug of hot cocoa I make my way to the living room.

It's 6:15.

Ugh.

Kids Eat Free

We eat out A LOT. Way more than we should and probably more than most families, especially with lots of kids. We are trying to eat at home more and because of the current stages of our littles we find that take-out is a better option...for now. But when we do eat out it's always great to have a deal. Helps make things a little more affordable.

All of these are found in the DFW area.  Unless specifically mentioned by location remember that participation may vary so call your location before visiting, and deals are changing all the time. In most cases a kids meal refers to a child 12 and under unless noted.  If you know of any that should be added to the list let me know…. I always love a free meal :)

Applebees -  Monday or Tuesday Nights (varies by location) -1 free kids meal per adult - additional kids are only $1.00.

Black Eyed Pea - Tuesday - 5 pm till close- 1 free kids meal with the purchase of an adult meal

Blue Mesa Grill - Sunday     9am-3pm - Free kids brunch  (6 and under) with purchase of adult brunch

Boston's The Gourmet Pizza - Tuesday, all day -  Kids eat free with adult entree purchase

Buffalo Wild Wings - Wednesday  - Dine-in only - .99 kids meals with adult meal purchase

Cafe Brazil - West Berry Street - Sunday thru Thursday, 5pm-10pm - 1 free kids meal per adult meal purchase. 

Cici’s Pizza – Kids 3 and under eat free 7 days a week.

Cowtown Diner - Mon- Thurs 5pm-close - 1 free kids meal per adult entree purchase. 5pm-close

Denny's - South Freeway (Hulen) - Tuesday & Saturday 4-10pm - Up to 2 free kids (10 and under) entrees from kids menu per 1 regularly priced adult entree purchase

Dickey’s Barbecue Pit – Sundays - 1 free kids meal w/ purchase of adult meal

Firehouse Subs – Wednesdays & Sundays - Kids 12 and under eat free from 4-9pm - 1 per purchase of medium adult combo

Fuddruckers – (not free but cheap) 12 and under can eat for .99 (drink is included) from 4-9pm on Mondays and Tuesdays.

Garden's Restaurant (in the Ft. Worth Botanic Garden) - Sunday 11am-2:30pm - Free kids (8 & under) buffet with adult brunch

Golden Corral – Kids eat free on Tuesday Nights.

Habanero's Fresh Mex - Basswood Blvd - Sunday, All day  - Free kids meal with adult entrée purchase  

IHOP – Kids eat free everyday during certain promotions. They usually have some kind of signage in the window.

Luby's Cafeteria  - Wednesday - 1 free kids meal per adult entree purchase. After 4:30pm.

Phil's Philly Grill (Hulen Mall) - Tuesday, all day - Buy any large Philly Combo and get a Kids Meal for free    

Pizza Hut – Kids eat free on Tuesday Evenings

Pizzaria UNOs - kids eat free Tuesdays. 1 free kids meal per purchase of adult meal.

Qdoba Mexican Grill – Kids eat free at Wednesdays (some locations) and Sundays (some locations) .

Simply Fondue - Sundance Square - Sunday, all day - Free kid's fondue with adult fondue purchase

Souper! Salad! – Kids 4 and under at free and kids 5-12 eat for $2.49 on  Sunday.

Steak n’ Shake – Saturday & Sunday, all day - Kids can eat free (12 & under) with a purchase of an adult entree valued at $8 or more.

Sweet Tomatoes-Kids under 2 eat free

Texas Roadhouse – Mondays or Tuesdays (check your location) kids 12 and under eat free.

Texas Land & Cattle – Kids 12 and under eat free on Saturdays from 11am – 4pm. 2 free kid’s meals for each adult entree.

Tres Jose’s - Sunday - 1 free kids meal with the purchase of an adult meal


For deals in other areas check out: http://www.outtoeatwithkids.com . They also have an app for Apple & Android devices which would be great for when you’re traveling or just out and about and need to eat :). One of our favorites from the list is Tres Jose’s but I can‘t wait to add Café Brazil and Qdoba to the rotation!

We've also found some great deals on Restaurants.com. Sometimes they, or deal sites like Groupon, will run a special where you can get a $25 gift certificate for only $2-$3. Last time I did this I purchased a $25 gc for $2 and at checkout they offered an additional $50 gift certificate for only $5 more. So for $7 I got $75 in gift certificates. Now, most of these are amounts off of a purchase. For example, I got 2 Yucatan Taco Stand gc where we will get $25 off a purchase of $40. We love this place and would eat there anyway and with our large crowd it not hard to spend $40 especially if everyone gets a beverage. So essentially $15 for a $40 meal. Not bad in my book.

Consider Rack, Shack, & Benny

My kids have never watched much Veggie Tales for a myriad of reasons but my younger siblings did back in the day and I think of ‘Rack, Shack, & Benny’ whenever I read or hear the story of these three brave lads.

A few weeks ago at our women’s community group my mom read a passage from a book we’d received at our last Ladies retreat*. It’s called “Evidence Not Seen” by Darlene Deibler Rose and is her retelling of her time as a newlywed missionary in the jungles of New Guinea during WWII. She was placed in a Japanese prison camp and ultimately lost her husband. She had been able to hang on to one personal item from her life before the war but she’d just lost that last treasure as well when she says this:

“One by one He pulled scripture passages out of the storehouse of my memory, to remind me that they had been hidden there for just a time as this. ‘ I have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction’ (Isaiah 48:10). This verse called to remembrance my Lord in a blazing furnace with three young Hebrew men. There was something so poignant, so intimate about the privilege that was theirs, of “walking around in the fire” with their Lord. Because of the testimony, the faith, and the courage of three young men, the king and a crowd of people caught a glimpse of Jesus. When they emerged from the furnace, there was no acrid, caustic scent of fire upon them - just the fragrance that emanated from three young people who had been walking with their Lord in the furnace of affliction.

That is very important, isn’t it, Lord? I pray that, if I come out of this war alive, I may be ‘sweet-smelling’ - not bitter or cynical, but like a sweet-smelling, fragrant incense unto You. “

I pondered this for awhile and the story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. I desire their bold faith for my own children, Darlene’s view of walking through trials and coming out the other side being sweet-smelling to our Savior, and pray that God would grant it. In attempting to name our unnamed child I am thinking constantly about names and what they mean. These young lads had strong character. An amazing legacy. And for the same reasons I wouldn’t name my daughter Candy or Bambi, I want to name my son something with great meaning, a foretaste of what God might do through him. We go back and forth, and I am finding it increasingly difficult to settle on one. Poor Graham has wanted to name him since the day we knew we were expecting. So in reflecting, and searching for a perfect name I decided to look up the meanings of the names of these three brave Hebrews. This is what I found:

Shadrach means "command of Aku". (Aku was the Babylonian moon god).
Abednego means "servant of Nabu" (Nabu was the Assyrian and Babylonian god of wisdom and writing)
Meshach means “guest of a king.”

So the men were faithful servants of the one true God, despite their given names. An excellent reminder that God is sovereign and has a purpose for my children, regardless of what I name them… Phewf.

*The past few retreats we’ve received awesome books, usually gifts from our elders. So thankful for ‘good’ books and those who take the time to share them.

Thoughts to ponder

• Are you Pro-life?
  
  
• A new Gallup Poll, conducted May 7-10, finds 51% of Americans calling themselves "pro-life" on the issue of abortion and 42% "pro-choice." This is the first time a majority of U.S. adults have identified themselves as pro-life since Gallup began asking this question in 1995.
  
  
• The Bible tells us we are “fearfully and wonderfully made” - Psalm 139:14
  
  
• "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations." - Jeremiah 1:5 – This would convey to most that even a life in the womb has great value.
  
  
• Nearly half of pregnancies among American women are unintended, and four in 10 of these are terminated by abortion.
  
  
• Twenty-two percent of all pregnancies (excluding miscarriages) end in abortion.
  
  
• In 2005, 1.21 million abortions were performed, down from 1.31 million in 2000. From 1973 through 2005, more than 45 million legal abortions occurred.
  
  
• Each year, two percent of women aged 15-44 have an abortion; half have had at least one previous abortion.
  
  
• At least half of American women will experience an unintended pregnancy by age 45, and, at current rates, about one-third will have had an abortion.
  
  
• This year marks the 50th anniversary of “The Pill”
  
  
• Margaret Sanger was an American birth control activist and the founder of the American Birth Control League. She led the fight to legalize birth control for married couples in America.

• This is an excerpt from her work Women and the New Race -
  
  

  “THE MOST serious evil of our times is that of encouraging the bringing into the world of large families. The most immoral practice of the day is breeding too many children.”
  
  

  “The most merciful thing that the large family does to one of its infant members is to kill it.”

• Sanger pushed eugenics but claimed her views thus broke from those proposing Nazi eugenics—an aggressive, and lethal, program. She wrote in a 1933 letter:
  
  

  "All the news from Germany is sad & horrible, and to me more dangerous than any other war going on any where because it has so many good people who applaud the atrocities & claim its right. The sudden antagonism in Germany against the Jews & the vitriolic hatred of them is spreading underground here & is far more dangerous than the aggressive policy of the Japanese in Manchuria...” It sounds to me like Ms. Sanger is contradicting herself. Jewish life is valuable but an infant’s is not?

• There are 62 million U.S. women in their childbearing years (15–44).
  
  
• Seven in 10 women of reproductive age (43 million women) are sexually active and do not want to become pregnant, but could become pregnant if they and their partners fail to use a contraceptive method.
  
  
• The typical U.S. woman wants only two children. To achieve this goal, she must use contraceptives for roughly three decades.
  
  
• Virtually all women (more than 99%) aged 15–44 who have ever had sexual intercourse have used at least one contraceptive method.
  
  
• Overall, 62% of the 62 million women aged 15–44 are currently using a method.
  
  
• Almost one-third (31%) of these 62 million women do not need a method because they are infertile; are pregnant, postpartum or trying to become pregnant; have never had intercourse; or are not sexually active.
  
  
• Thus, only 7% of women aged 15–44 are at risk for unintended pregnancy but are not using contraceptives.
  
  
• Among the 43 million fertile, sexually active women who do not want to become pregnant, 89% are practicing contraception.

• What does the Bible say about children?
  
  

  Ps 127: Behold, children are a heritage from the LORD, the fruit of the womb a reward.Like arrows in the hand of a warrior are the children of one’s youth. Blessed is the man who fills his quiver with them! He shall not be put to shame when he speaks with his enemies in the gate.
  
  

  Many times we are given the command to be ‘fruitful and multiply’
  
  

  Over and over in Genesis we find being fruitful is used as a blessing. To Noah in chapter 9, Abraham and Ishmael in chapter. 17. Jacob in chapter 28.

• Is God Sovereign?
  
  
• Do you trust him to provide for all of your needs?
  
  
• If he chooses to give you more children would he not also provide a way to care for them?
  
  
• Do YOU use birth control?

Thoughts to ponder……

Additional reading:

Side Effect: How the Pill Altered America’s Moral Intelligence


100+ Reasons to have Children

Notes:
Abortion statistics from here

Birth Control Stats from here

Read the full excerpt Women and the New Race