Little Greenie Levels Up

The End

2011-04-06T09:31:00.000-07:00

After experiencing what it was like to be a mom for three full months, I remember asking a mother of two, "What was it that I did all day before my son came along? Was I lazy?"
She wisely said that it's not that you were lazy, but that your priorities have changed. The time you spent doing one thing gets dropped and moved to your new activity, in my case, being a mom. When something as important as being a mom comes along, you may not even miss all the things that that activity replaced.

As time has gone on, I've become more and more busy. I'm finding myself choosing between activites, and "changing my priorities." (This whole week I was watching two extra children. Phew. That made for some major rearranging.)

I've long been considering the idea of "dropping" my blog. I think it is something that must be. I've become busy enough living life that writing about it has become less of a priority. I have enjoyed blogging, but unfortunately it has become more of a "to do" on the great big list of daily tasks. I plan to leave my site up, for at least a little while.

I will not competely drop off the blogosphere, however. I plan on reading and haunting my favorite authors with my comments (hopefully more often than when I was having to spend time writing posts myself), and I will be keeping my personal blog about my family: Satopia. This blog is just the small things that happen in our lives being retold for the benefit of family members far away (particularly my parents). I admit they are not always the most entertaining of posts, but my parents adore them so I enjoy them too. If you have followed this site you are more than welcome to follow that one as well, since that is the one I will keep writing.
There's so much I wanted to say in this post, but that kind of defeats the purpose of my decision. :) For now, I have laundry calling my name.
Thanks for reading. :)
~Anna

Meditation: A Joyful Heart is Good Medicine

2011-02-17T07:07:00.000-08:00

A joyful heart is good medicine,
but a crushed spirit dries up the bones.
Proverbs 17:22

Recently I've been working on not complaining. I feel like I've come some distance when it comes to keeping my mouth from complaining about the things around me that I consider "bad."

But in the past couple days I've been learning that my mouth hasn't been sinning through complaining as much as it used to, but my heart has been sinning just as much, if not more.

My heart is the real battle zone. Before I was guarding my lips, but the sin of complaining was still destroying me from the inside out. My attitude has been "drying up [my] bones." I feel tired and overworked regularly. After reading this verse I believe I am to blame for my fatigue. I've told myself over and over that my circumstances are terrible, that I have to do more work than I deserve, etc. If I'm telling myself this all the time, it's no wonder that I feel worn out and depressed.

In the past couple days the Lord has been teaching me that I am to praise Him at all times. He is sovereign. He gives the good and the "bad." Who are we to question Him? Especially since He brings about good from the bad (Rom. 8:28). If we take this perspective and look at things from God's point of view, we will have joyful hearts and that joyful heart will spread to every circumstance.

What can I be joyful about? God and His mercy. God and His promises. God and His blessings. What is there not to be joyful about?

Forgive me God for complaining against You. Give me a joyful heart that will be good medicine for myself and for others. Amen.

Television Worth Watching?

2011-02-16T11:51:00.000-08:00

Recently I've been sucked into a tv show. And! I'm convinced that this tv show is actually beneficial for me to be watching. How can that be possible? It's a tv show about a Christian, homeschooling family.

So far I've seen two seasons of the show 17 Kids and Counting. Well, the first season is 17 and the second season is 18. I know that there are 4 seasons now and that the last one is 19 Kids and Counting. It is a show on the The Learning Channel, but I don't have cable so I've been able to watch it on Netflix. I'm still waiting for the second two seasons to come to Netflix.

I'm hooked. Have you ever seen a tv show, never mind a reality tv show, where a family or group of people are actually nice to each other? This is it.

Many people have heard of the Duggar family. They have 19 children. Most people look down on them and talk discouragingly about them and their large family, but after watching this show I am convinced that the Duggars are very much trying to honor the Lord with their lives. I know people talk discouragingly about them because every time I say I watch or like this show someone always says something against them, even Christians. It's unfortunate for them because they are missing out on watching an edifying show and they are missing out on an opportunity to support Christians and Christian television.

The Duggars talk encouragingly to each other and are never angry (in the seasons I've seen). They quote scripture and show the cameramen how they raise their children in the fear of the Lord. I've been highly encouraged when watching this show because I can see a family that can serve as a role model for me and my family.

I don't agree with several of the Duggar's beliefs, but I do believe that it is far better to have too much fear of the Lord than not enough. For example, it's better to live a life without any dancing than to have dancing lead you into temptation and sin. It's better to be too modest than not modest enough. Etc.

They are a homeschooling family and they share many great resources on their website.

They have their house rules.

A Character Sheet to help teach character traits in light of the scripture. You can download the pdf file too.

They also share where they purchase many of the products that they use in their home for organization, education, etc.

I hope other people can enjoy this show too and that more Christians will be able to come out and be better role models to the world.

Spice Organization - Spice Mixes

2011-02-09T11:35:00.000-08:00

Phew! I've been helping out a lot of friends and family by watching extra children all this week and my goodness! am I worn out.

I've been meaning to organize my spice cabinet lately and managed to come up with a simple system for certain meals.

Nice, small jars save lots of space and there's no fear of writing on them since they're re purposed.

Ok. The picture isn't so great. I had some extra baby food jars so I put some of my spice mixes inside them and then wrote the recipe for the mix on the back of the jar.
No more searching for the recipe. Just pre-mix the ingredients and have them on hand and ready to go for the next couple of meals and then mix up some more from the recipe on the back of the jar.

You can always jazz it up later by printing out and/or decorating a label and gluing it on the bottle, but this is a fast and effective method for busy mamas. (Can you believe that my husband does graphic design at work and this is what he comes home to? lol)

This weekend my husband is taking me to a garden show and I'm hoping to get some great tips and tricks for growing and preserving veggies! I'll try to take notes and share anything useful.

Monday Is Only Possible Because Of Sunday

2011-01-31T18:39:00.000-08:00

Monday! A dreaded day? Not for me. I love my job as homemaker, wife, and mama. I love Monday. It's a wonderful day to get back into the groove of things and to start fresh.
I'm rejuvinated.
I'm motivated.
I'm ready!

Why? Because Sunday is such a blessed day. "O day of rest and gladness, O day of joy and light." God knew what He was doing when He created a day of rest. It is a wonderful thing to have a day to rest the body and the mind of the tasks that go on throughout the rest of the week. On Sundays I may throw something together in the crockpot in the morning, but from then on I don't do any cooking, dishwashing, or anything else. It's the best thing ever. By the end of Sunday my house looks horrible. But then Monday comes along and I have the renewed energy to work and not only get things back in order, but also to take on more challenges and tasks for the week.

Most importantly, Sunday is a day of spiritual renewal for me. I hear the beautiful words of the scripture preached and the encouragement of the pastor to keep on living a life for the Lord. My battle with sin continues after a pep talk from the company leader. I'm reminded of the life I strive for and the type of living we will experience in heaven with our almighty Father. We will have perfect lives structured entirely around our purpose: Worshipping and glorifying Him.
After a Sunday like this, I'm ready to get back to my prayer journal, to avoid temptation, to try again to read from the word of God by myself, with my husband, and with my son. Sunday reminds me that my sins are forgiven and that I need to work again to live a life of purity in speech, thoughts, and actions. I'm renewed to spend more time thinking of my Lord.

Sunday is my Monday motivation, my reminder of what is to come.

Caring for Yourself - Part IV - Relaxation/Hobbies/Education

2011-01-24T06:00:00.000-08:00

Relaxing
Taking a nice, hot shower is wonderful to me. It helps improve my mood in ways I do not even comprehend. It's like hitting the 'restart' button. It's truly a blessing.

Maybe hot showers aren't your thing, but something else is. My mom loves to have a cup of tea every night. Other people read before falling asleep. All kinds of things work for different people. Find the things that rejuvenate you and make a list to fall back on when times are tough and/or plan to enjoy one at least once a day.

Hobbies
Reading, sewing, crafts, cooking... you name it. Having an activity all your own can give you energy and purpose that help revitalize a weary woman. I've heard that hobbies can be defined as something you seek to learn more about and practice. My mom said she didn't have any hobbies, but my dad said, after hearing this definition and watching her behaviors, that coffees and teas were her hobbies. She learns about them, tries new ones, and just enjoys everything about them. Cooking is most likely my biggest hobby. I am constantly online learning about new recipes. If we subscribed to the food channel I would probably be glued to it. It's getting more and more difficult to squeeze the spices into my spice cabinet and I just can't think of which ones I would get rid of because I love them all!
Another hobby of mine is education. I'm nerdy like that. I love to plan lessons and think of books and things to teach my kids about. I just get giddy and energetic thinking about it.

Education
Self improvement through learning. You can learn about something you need to know, like to know, or something you are passionate about. It can be encouraging to learn new things or it may enable you to do something better. When I was working at schools I used to both love and hate when teachers would say that they wanted to inspire their students to be "lifelong learners." I think I didn't like it because of the subjects they wanted students to learn about were not really worthy of learning. However, learning is something we are meant to do all our lives. The longer I live the more I want to know. Reading, researching, and learning from more experienced people (maybe through relationships or even through taking classes) are great ways to grow and keep yourself motivated to continue giving to others.

These are some of my goals and tricks for taking better care of myself in the new year so that I can give back to my family and others without suffering from burnout (Lord willing). :)

Do you have tricks that help give you a kick start?

Puzzle Art

2011-01-20T13:24:00.000-08:00

I recently started a new adventure of using puzzles as "art" in my home. I admire them in other homes but rarely find one I like enough to put up in my own home. Well, while living in California my husband and I were looking for a souvenir from Disneyland that didn't break the bank but was still a special memory. We found this puzzle for less than $10.

It's a map of the park we frequently visited when we had a pass. I'm hoping to finish it up, frame it, and put it up in our "fun" room (the current spare room of our home that houses our movies, games, etc.) While this adventure doesn't have anything to do with my new goal of putting up more scripture on my walls, it will be nice to have some memories of past adventures up in our house (living in the L.A. area was a big "adventure" to us).

I love the detail of this puzzle.

Join in new adventures at Alicia's Homemaking.

2 Ways to Cut the Grocery Budget

2011-01-20T07:54:00.000-08:00

One way I have recently been able to cut some money from our grocery budget is to buy whole chickens.

I've always known that this was the cheapest way to buy chicken, but it is an intimidating process to the inexperienced (me).

One way to make this step a little easier is to buy a cooked rotisserie chicken at the grocery store. This has been a great transition step that has helped me jump into using a whole chicken. Instead of having to start from scratch and cook a whole raw chicken, you have a fully cooked bird to start off using right away.

How to do it:

After taking the chicken home I can get at least two dinners out of a small rotisserie chicken by cutting it up and using the meat in different ways.
Then, I put the entirety of what is left in a stock pot, add a bunch of water, and boil it for a few hours. All the liquid becomes chicken stock. I pull out a colander and pour the liquid through it and allow all the chicken pieces to be sifted into the colander. Save all your chicken stock for soups and recipes. If you put it in the refrigerator a layer of fat solidifies on the top and you can skim off the extra fat before using up the stock. (When I have stock int he fridge my husband always looks at it and asks if I am saving chicken fat in the fridge again. I don't think he's ever called it chicken stock, only chicken fat.)
The boiling process causes the rest of the meat on the chicken to practically fall off. I take a bowl and put it next to my colander and pick through the skin, bones, etc. and find all the rest of the meat that I have missed. Getting all the meat off this way is a lot easier and faster than I ever thought it would be. (I have a very strange fear of eating things with bones in them. Cutting into or biting into something with a bone is like nails on a chalkboard to me. However, boiling off the meat makes it very easy to make sure you aren't getting any bones in your chicken. I will often not work very hard at cutting up the chicken before boiling it because it's so much easier to get the meat once it's been boiled.)

Chicken pieces picked off after boiling the chicken

To break down how I use one small chicken:

Dinner one: We usually cut up some of the meat and eat it with some yummy sides
Dinner two: Use smaller pieces of chicken in a dish that calls for cubed pieces, etc. Usually this meal is a stir fry.
Dinner three: Use the chicken stock and any leftover chicken pieces to make a delicious soup. The stock makes a wonderful and easy base.

This cuts down on using expensive frozen chicken breasts. I have been having a hard time finding good sales on chicken lately so the frozen breasts have been my "go to." If you purchase chicken stock for recipes or for soups you'll never have to do that again.

Some more options:

Freeze leftover chicken stock to use later. (I haven't tried this yet, but will try it this week since I have a lot of chicken stock in my fridge right now).
Add extra veggies and other items (potatoes, onions, carrots, celery, etc.) to your chicken while you are boiling it to make a more complete chicken stock.

Now that I feel comfortable with using a whole chicken I'm moving on to purchasing a raw chicken and cooking it myself.
I got a lot of helpful info here: Passionate Homemaking (She uses a bigger chicken than I get so she is able to make it stretch much farther).

If you're a beginner like me, I hope this helps you cut your budget a little bit too.
Do you have any tips for saving money at the grocery store?

Adorn Our Homes with the Word of God

2011-01-17T11:25:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I was really struck by this passage:

Deuteronomy 6:5-9

You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. 6And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. 7You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. 8You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. 9You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.

"You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates."

Our pastor quoted this verse and talked about teaching your children diligently of the ways of the Lord. It was an inspiring message, but the part that really struck me was when he said we should "adorn our homes with the word of God."

How true! We have some friends that we visited recently who have beautiful prints and art on their walls that have verses written on them. It made their home such a welcome and wonderful place. Their home is serving as an example to me of what I want my home to begin to look like.

I have a brother who is an unbeliever and he uses all his spare time to suppress the truth of God (Rom 1:18). It has become his hobby and purpose in life. It makes my heart so incredibly sad, but it also stirs and energizes me to work to declare the truth all the more, especially in my home and to my son.

After hearing this yesterday, I decided to make it my goal to adorn my home as much as possible with the wonderful words of truth in the Bible. A little more than a year ago we moved into our home and we still only have a couple objects on our walls (haha. Does this tell you how lazy I am or what?). I have almost a blank canvas to work with.

Do you want to join me in my goal of adorning our homes with scripture? Do you have any pieces up in your home currently that share verses? What is your favorite way to show scripture in your home? What is your favorite verse to have up in your home?

Caring for Yourself - Part III - Body Care

2011-01-15T08:00:00.000-08:00

After having a baby I realized that yes, I do have to take care of my body. HA! I guess that means my youth is over.

Drinking plenty of water.
You hear it over and over again. This year it is actually hitting home with me. Maybe it's all the nursing, but whatever the reason, I have found that I need to drink almost a gallon a day. My body just seems to function better when I've had lots of water.

Eating a balanced diet.
Due to some odd happenings with my health and my son's health, I decided to stop eating wheat until I'm done nursing. The first couple weeks after making this decision I missed out on eating the amount of grains I should have been eating. Although I didn't miss it or notice any real difference, when I finally started to eat other kinds of bread products and grains again I noticed a huge change. My body missed grains. From this experience I learned that no matter what people say, nothing beats a well balanced diet.
My biggest challenges in this area are
eating enough wholesome grains
and
eating enough fruits and veggies.

SLEEP, beautiful sleep
Another huge challenge in my life! Recently my son has been sick and teething. Last week he was waking up constantly in the middle of the night. Taking naps and sleeping in are no longer options for me to catch up on my zzz's so I'm left with the option of going to bed early. I don't like it, but I'm finding out that I need it.

When I'm not getting enough sleep things spiral out of control. The more sleep you get, the easier it is to stay asleep and fall asleep when you need it. Your mood and concentration also benefit greatly from sleep.

When I'm getting sleep and eating well, my days are more productive, I feel better and my mood and attitude towards others benefits.

Well, the challenge is on to take better care of my body.

Any tips for taking better care of my body so I can better serve others?

Caring for Yourself - Part II - Prayer Journal

2011-01-14T14:49:00.000-08:00

Alright, one very sick baby and a trip across the country later, I'm back. I flirt with the idea of discontinuing my blog sometimes but then I get geared up and decide to start at it again. I see all the help I have received from other blogs and decide that if this blog helps anyone (even if it's just me) then it's worth the effort to keep going. So here goes nothing. :)

Part II - Prayer Journal

I've had prayer journals recommended to me over and over again and I've decided to start one for myself.

I did an Internet search on the topic to get an idea of what I would like to do with mine and didn't come up with too much (I didn't really look for very long though).

I did find this link where a mother describes her prayer journal and how she utilizes it daily. It is very inspiring. I love her goals list.

My Prayer Journal attempt:
I picked an old journal with some extra pages in it. It's nothing I love but it's a good place to start and I can invest money in one later if I feel the urge to make it more lovely. I normally like the idea of picking something aesthetically pleasing because it makes it more of a joy to use, but right now money is tight and unnecessary items go to the back burner.

Petitions
I. I made a numbered list of things I would like to pray for on a regular basis.
1. Family
2. Local church
3. Pastor
4. Elders
5. Deacons
6. Different divisions of our government, etc.
...and so on. These numbers will help me rotate through topics that I always want to pray for and then forget. On day one I'll pray for certain family members, day two will be my local church, etc.

II. I also made a list of "temporary" requests. This list consists of people in need of jobs, urgent health situations, people going through tough times, etc. I also numbered these, but kept them separate from the above list. As these prayers are answered I can check them off and write the date or any other information relating to the answered prayer. The numbering of these will work as a rotation just like the one above.

Praises
I may choose to make a list of praises to pray through regularly like the lists above, but for now I am just leaving a spot to list praises and thankfulness each day.

Confession
This is important. While searching the Internet for examples of prayer journals I noticed that confession was never mentioned. Oh yes. This is the dirty part of prayer. This is the hard part of prayer. This is also one of the most important parts of prayer. It helps me remember my place and God's place. He is high and I am low. I am listing at least one item of confession in this section of my prayer journal. I may not be specific on paper, but my goal is to be specific about it with my Savior.

Personal
I made a list of spiritual goals for myself that I need to work on. So often I get caught up in all the things I need spiritually and forget to pray for other items. However, personal growth and sanctification are important too and shouldn't be forgotten. This is an opportunity to list out things and return later to see God's goodness in my life.

My goal is, no matter how busy I get, to list out and pray for at least one item in each of these categories. From here on out I expect this journal with adapt and change, but this is my starting point.

Do you keep a prayer journal?

How do you organize it?

Caring for Yourself - Part I

2010-12-29T11:13:00.000-08:00

The busier my days are the more I realize how much time I need to put into myself. I run around all day and find myself overtired and getting short of patience with the smallest of things. It seems selfish to spend time on oneself, but I'm finding that it really is essential.
As the new year comes in I have made a goal of taking care of myself more this year so that I can do a better job of taking care of others.
Here is my list of things to do for myself.

1. Spending time with my Savior - Reading and Praying

How can I give what I do not receive?
Feeling a need for...
wisdom?
peace?
guidance?
forgiveness?
love?
knowledge?
purpose?
Where do I find these? In Christ.

How can I give these qualities to others if I'm not going to my Father's throne daily and receiving these from Him? How can I tell others about Christ when I'm not growing in knowledge about Him? Remember too that what knowledge you don't use, you lose (use it or lose it). :)

I love when my pastor prays during the service and asks God to give us calloused knees and when he says that we should always return to our Lord each night to confess the sins of the day and allow Him to wipe our slates clean. How wonderful is the gift of prayer! What an amazing tool for us to use to speak to our Savior.

Part II - tomorrow, Lord willing. ;)

Apple Crisp Recipe

2010-12-22T08:11:00.000-08:00

I think I posted an apple crisp recipe a while back, but totally ignore that one and do this one this week! It's amazing and super easy. This recipe is crunchy on the top, soft in the middle, and apple-y on the bottom. YUM!

Crockpot Mayhem

2010-12-17T07:35:00.000-08:00

Monday through Wednesday is more chaotic for me since I have a 6 and a 3 month old to take care of. My son is an early to bed kinda guy (5:30-6pm if he didn't take a third nap), my niece is more cranky in the afternoon, and I need to make sure she is ready to go when my brother-in-law comes to pick her up. From 4-6 in the afternoon I feel like I'm running around in circles trying to take care of two babies. Needless to say cooking dinner during these times is becoming impossible. When my husband comes home at 6:15ish, my niece has just left, our son has just gone down for the night, and I'm in an anxious rush trying to make dinner still (if I'm not in a heap on the couch).

As a result, I've decided to try out more crockpot meals for these days of the week. Morning nap times are overlapping enough that I can do my devotions while both sleep and cook while my son is awake and playing.

Yesterday I started looking over recipes online and found a few to try out this week.

This Crockpot Chipotle Chicken recipe is going to be my first victim.
Then maybe a variation of this one...Italian Tomato Chicken
My last recipe will simply be bbq pork chops, shredded up and served on rolls

I'll post the recipes on my Recipe Box site, if they turn out to be keepers, along with a picture of the final product.

Have any great slow cooker recipes that I could try out?

Memorizing the Word: Part II

2010-12-16T12:17:00.000-08:00

I have a bad memory, how can I memorize scripture?

1. Reading it over and over again! The Bible study I'm involved in suggested reading whatever passage you would like to memorize 3 times in the morning, 3 times at noon, and 3 times at night until you have it down.

2. Write it out several times a day. Some people learn by "doing." This is the method that seems to work best for me.

3. You could write out a test for yourself too. Write out the passage or verse leaving certain words out. Then, after studying or reading it for a couple days come back and see if you can say the whole verse filling in all the blanks. Switch up the blanks until you have the whole thing memorized.

4. Write out the passage and put it where you will see it most: above the sink, on the mirror, in a plastic sleeve in the shower, etc.

5. Read it OUT LOUD every time to see it.

6. Draw pictures of what the verses talk about or visualize it.

7. Set the verse to music. This is the only way I was able to memorize the books of the Bible as a kid. The names have no meaningful order so putting them to music gives the order.

8. Write the verses on a card and take it with you everywhere.

9. Record the verses yourself or find a recording of them and listen to them over and over again. This might be better when you are memorizing a huge chunk of scripture.

10. Do it as a family or with a friend for help, encouragement, or accountability.

11. Add verses on after you've memorized one. For example, I was working on memorizing a passage for my Bible study that I pretty much had memorized already. Then I realized that I had memorized them as a kid one verse at a time until I had all five or so verses down pat. To be more specific, I was in a kids program that would have me memorize Philippians 2:5-6 one year, and then the next year I would have to memorize Philippians 2:5-7, and so on until I had all the way up to verse 11. This may be a great way to work with kids through years of homeschooling. Come up with a bunch of passages and start out with just one verse of each one each year. By 6th grade your child could have a few passages memorized, and, having worked on the same ones year after year, he or she will know them very well.

12. Explain it to someone. The best way to learn something is to teach it.

13. Make up games surrounding memorization (like in #3). Make it fun for your kids. Jump rope games, hand movements, etc. Think of all those rhymes, songs, and games you remember from your childhood because they were fun to do over and over again?

What are some more tips we can add to the list?

Memorizing the Word

2010-12-15T08:10:00.000-08:00

Why?

You'll have it with you always for comfort, for exhortation, and for correcting yourself, etc.
You can speak it to anyone at the drop of a hat, whether it is a stranger questioning your faith or your children needing correction or encouragement
So you can pray it. As someone who struggles deeply with prayer this is an amazing help. The scripture tells us over and over and over again what we are to do...just pray it back to God. For example: Philippians 1:9-10 "Lord, Cause my love to abound more and more in knowledge and all discernment so that I may approve of the things that are excellent, so that I may be sincere and blameless until the day of Christ." When you pray it back you meditate on it, you can ask God to show you what it means to be blameless and sincere, and you learn about the passage more and more.

What are other great reasons to memorize scripture? Tomorrow, some tips on how to memorize scripture.

2 Christmas Links to Share

2010-12-10T13:27:00.000-08:00

Although I'm finished with my Christmas shopping I loved this blog post and want to keep this list as inspiration for next year. :)

9 Gift ideas around cooking, etc. - The cookbook idea is one I'm looking into doing for my mom for either mothers day or for next year. Although it's a little expensive shutterfly does have a cookbook style format that you can get printed from their site.

I took the second link off because the blogger snuck in some bad language in the post. I'll just summarize it for you. She hung a long, green garland across her dining room wall and hung all her breakable ornaments that she and her husband had collected from their trips to foreign countries. High up on the garland they were out of the reach of her toddler.

My Cold Weather Top Ten

2010-12-07T06:15:00.000-08:00

Well, it's 17 degrees outside and this girl from the desert needs to remind herself about all the good things about cold weather from time to time. So here's my list:

Cold Weather is for

Baking! 10 bonus points for this being an activity that also heats up the house!
Soups! Ditto on the bonus points for extra warmth!
Candles
Warm hearted movies: It's a Wonderful Life, Elf, and The Nativity Story are some of my favorite Christmas movies.
Cuddle time with my husband
Sweaters, warm socks, slippers, and throw blankets
Inside activities you have been putting off or new hobbies: For me this means sewing. It's been years and I've been too scared to pick it up again. This year I'm going to do it! Mrs. Hansen (my high school sewing teacher, I hope I spelled her name right), this year I will make you proud! :) But, under this category you could put scrapbooking, additional cooking, puzzles, reading, and many more things that have to/could be done indoors.
Hosting and attending fun events - Christmas parties, Valentine dinners, etc. Or just host a get-together for no reason. Most of ours are for no reason.
Warm or seasonal drinks. Teas, Hot Cocoa, Coffees, Apple Cider, and even a little bit of eggnog. ;)
Going to bed early and getting more rest. Dark, cold weather encourages me to go to bed a little early (like at the time I should)

What are your favorite cold weather things?

See all the Top Ten Tuesday lists visit OhAmanda!

What do you do all day?

2010-12-02T18:56:00.000-08:00

"What do you do all day?"

Recently I was asked this question. Actually, I was asked this question by two different individuals on two different occasions.

Let me tell you about the first time it happened.

My first reaction:
Shock! I was so taken aback by the question and that it came from another woman (a mother of two no less!). To be honest, I don't think on my feet well at all, so even though I could have come up with a good description of what I've been up to, I could not think of a good response. After a few minutes I came up with at least one thing, but I never did recover from the shock of being asked this until after my guest had left.

My second reaction:
Taking offense. After she left, I thought through the conversation and started to really take offense at the question. I have to admit, I'm a sinner and I did get frustrated that anyone would ask me this. "How could she not know what goes into running a house, being a mother, and being a faithful wife? It's a lot of work!"

My third reaction:
Justification. Of course, what comes after taking offense but justification! I have to justify and explain why I am so frustrated and why I am sinning! Justifying our actions is what sinners do best. "I work hard." "Everyday I do _____, _____, ____, ____, and ______!"

My fourth reaction:
Humility. This didn't really come right away, but after thinking over my reactions I realized it. Yep, I realized I had sinned. I'm sure there was no ill will or bad feelings that caused the woman to ask me this. She was probably genuinely curious. When I thought about her life I became even more humble. She is a working mom of two currently on her extended maternity leave. Every single minute of her day is probably accounted for: Working for her employer, picking up her kids, or taking care of all her family at the end of the day. She most likely has no idea what it's like to have time like I have it.

My fifth reaction:
Determination. Maybe determination isn't the exact word I'm looking for, but I did feel a sudden urge to make sure that all my time is meaningful. I was determined to make better use of my time so that none slips away ~~unaccounted for~~ without being used for good. Not just for my good and for what I want to do, but also what others would need. I have this blessing of being able to stay at home and be not only a homemaker, but also a stay at home mom. The Lord has given me the gift of time...how am I using it? Wisely? Or foolishly? On things that will last? Or on frivolous pursuits? For myself? Or for others? Wow, that really hit home. Especially as I am just now taking in my little, 3 month old niece to watch during the day. Instead of seeing her presence as an inconvenience, I can see it for what it really is...an act of service for her parents who have to use their time to work for their employers.

So, what about the second time I was faced with this question?

My sixth reaction:
Humor.
I'm sorry to say that I still didn't have a great response. This time it came from one of my brothers who happened to be staying with me over the holiday weekend. Again, I just wasn't expecting it (especially as I was rushing around the kitchen preparing Thanksgiving dinner). But, I felt much more comfortable with just laughing the question off (in my head) as something that a single guy might ask. ;)

Living in Fear

2010-11-19T09:38:00.000-08:00

Fear. Fear and lots of it. I feel like wherever I turn I find messages of fear being spoken from every side, Christians and the world alike.

Don't eat processed foods...
Don't use shampoo...
Don't eat the sea food at the grocery store...
Is that turkey injected with hormones?
Don't get your children vaccinated, because they'll get autism...
Don't have a hospital birth...
Don't trust doctors...
If you have money in a bank it's not safe...
Never use a credit/debit card...
Purchase everything in cash...
Make sure you have at least a year's worth of food stored away, and six months worth of money, in case of emergencies.
Make sure you get your flu shot.
No matter what don't get your flu shot.
Never eat margarine...
Butter isn't good for you...

The list could go on for a mile. It makes me want to pull my hair out.
I love to read and listen to different people and different sides, but the more I do the more I notice that there's no love, forgiveness, or acceptance for people on the other side. If you live the all natural life style people think your crazy and if you don't live like that then your ignorant and unhealthy. I'm terrified of both sides of the aisle. If I invite "so and so" over to dinner will they judge the fact that my food is not entirely all natural or that because it's such a large group I use paper plates because I don't have enough real ones? Or will "so and so" make fun of me when they leave because I don't buy this or that product anymore. Or will they be offended that I can't go and eat at this restaurant or that anymore because the MSG they use in everything gives me headaches the next day?
The more I learn about being a housewife the more I tend to learn toward the "green" side of things. Not necessarily because I'm convinced of every little thing from that side of the fence, but simply because it's cheaper or simpler to do it. The more I cook the less I tend to use processed foods sometimes because it bothers my stomach and sometimes it's simply because it's cheaper and easier. This tends to put me smack dab in the middle of everything.

Either way, I've decided I'm not going to live in fear.
Proverbs 29:25
The fear of man lays a snare, but whoever trusts in the Lord is safe.

I would add in this: the fear of what man does

I can't be afraid of people. I can't be afraid of what they think. And I can't be afraid of what people do (or what they do to food). This Thanksgiving I'm going to trust in the Lord and thank Him for His care over everything, especially the things I cannot control. I can worry forever about what people think or whether I'm eating pesticides on my potato, or... I can trust in the One who is stronger than all.

Cheesy Potato Bake

2010-11-12T10:53:00.000-08:00

Visit my Cheesy Potato Bake recipe at my Recipe Box Blog!

Top Ten Reasons I Could Use Some Advice on Cloth Diapers

2010-11-09T07:06:00.000-08:00

Let me give some background information:
My son is 5 1/2 months old and is exclusively breastfed still. He wakes up about every four hours to eat right now (big boys need lots of milk), but I have a feeling he might be real close to dropping the middle of the night feeding (or at least stretching it out), especially once he starts solids. I'm expecting him to weigh in at about 20-21 lbs at his 6 month check up. He's also a tummy sleeper since he learned to roll over. I recently purchased some Fuzzibunz, one size pocket diapers for him to use at night.

Ten Reasons I need help with my cloth diapers...
1. Number 1 is just that (pardon my pun): He leaks every night if I don't change his diaper sometime in the middle of the night (disposable or cloth). He goes down at about 8 and wakes up at 4:30 soaking wet if I don't change him when he wakes up to eat in the middle of the night.
2. I'm a new mom and inexperienced. Yep I admit my knowledge of just about everything is on the low side.
3. I'm totally new to cloth diapers. I've been interested, but hesitant to use any due to the high investment, my limited experience, my difficult washing location (in the basement which has an entrance through the garage), etc.
4. I don't personally know anyone who uses cloth diapers, so I have no friends to ask for advice. Thus, the need for this post. :)
5. I know there is a learning curve to cloth diapers, and that "user error" could be at play. I'm working on figuring out the right snaps to snap and the right sizes to use.
6. It looks like the diaper's waistline really pokes into his tummy. I pulled up the soft inside so that it rested between the elastic outside and his skin to help ease the "cutting effect" of the elastic, but I think it might need to be even tighter, which makes me feel bad for his little tummy rolls.
7. Looking at the fuzzibunz I used last night, it looks like he really filled it up and that, even if I could have fit it to him better, he wouldn't have made it to morning.
8. So, should I put a second absorbent pad in the diaper at night? or is that a crazy thought?
9. When he starts to eat solids and is able to drop that middle of the night feeding will this problem get better since he won't have as much liquids in his system?
10. Any advice for me? I'm at that point where I'd really like to have a diaper that could go 8 hours through the night without leaking, no matter what brand, disposable or cloth.

To see all the Top Ten Tuesday lists visit ohAmanda.

Thank you, in advance, for leaving comments and advice! :)

Mini Cheesecakes

2010-11-05T10:30:00.000-07:00

My EASY Mini Cheesecake recipe is on my recipe box site.

Cutting Corners is Not Always a Good Plan

2010-11-03T14:34:00.000-07:00

I found out that I can't always cut corners...

Someone once said that they saved time by washing, drying, and hanging clothes wrong side out if that's how they were tossed in the hamper. She felt she saved time by not "right siding" them before hanging them up. She said that it could be done by each family member when they were getting dressed.

Well...

I tried it out. One day my husband came home and told me he drove to all the way to work and after being there for an hour, he realized his shirt was inside out. (That's what happens when it's still dark out when you're getting dressed.)

Ok. I learned my lesson. No more cutting corners.

3 Smiles

2010-11-03T14:24:00.000-07:00

Three things that made me smile today:

Cute Thanksgiving bib that my cousin sent for my son.

The label I made for my baking soda jar a year ago. Smeared = well used. Note: It's just a spaghetti jar.

Baby room hooks

The things needed to take a baby out and about get to be a hassle. You need a lot! Diaper bag, warm clothes, baby sling/carrier, and everything inside the diaper bag. And when you're home and don't need any of these things, where do they go? Mine ended up on the floor. This Drove Me Nuts! Even when the nursery was clean it felt dirty. So, I began to think about purchasing a wooden coat peg piece to go on the wall. To my surprise they are outrageously expensive. Then I realized I had these Command hooks that someone had given me years ago. Thank goodness I kept them because...
*stick *stick *stick *stick
Done! I had coat pegs to hold all the needed items up off the floor! Yay! An absolutely free solution to my storage dilemma! No holes in the wall and they can be moved with no chaos because they come off so clean and come with extra stickies. :)

Mexican Lasagna

2010-10-29T10:11:00.000-07:00

Simple Mexican Lasagna recipe is up on my recipe box! Great recipe! You know you want to click on it.... :)

Joyful Parenting

2010-10-27T14:12:00.000-07:00

Joyful Parenting

I can't remember if I've posted this link before or not. I really like how the author acknowledges that all stages of parenting are difficult. Older adults keep telling me, "There will be a day when you wish that was all you had to deal with." While that's probably true, I think there will be hard things to handle in every stage of my kids' lives. Infancy included.

Anyways, I keep this link on hand to read during weeks like this one. :) I should probably get it printed and framed in every room.

Enjoy!

Disciplining my 5 Month Old

2010-10-26T13:50:00.000-07:00

Am I really disciplining my 5 month old son? You bet.

What is discipline? In a word: Correction.

Does my son really need correction right now? He sure does.

My son's finger has become infected because he's been chewing on it while he's been teething. You'd think he'd avoid chewing on this finger since it's been hurting, but no. This is where I've found out I need to step in with my loving correction. Today my mellow version of discipline has consisted of saying "No" while pulling his hand out of his mouth.

Next we're going to have to start correcting him when he's pulling on hair. I never thought that disciplining a child started quite so young, but when you think about situations like these you realize it must. (I have to say though, I did read a book on nursing that said you have to give your babies a tap/flick on the cheek to teach them not to bite while nursing. Even in this secular book you find discipline.) And yes, it's a must for the rest of the foreseeable future! Here we go!

Mr. Hat Hair in the shirt that Grandma bought him.

He may look cute, but inside he has a devilish desire to eat himself.

Submission: Help with "how to"

2010-10-22T08:13:00.000-07:00

I told a friend recently that I wanted to do more open and honest posts. Here's one of those opportunities.

I struggle with submission. I could say I struggle with this part of it or that part of it, but in reality I struggle with all of it.

We own two books on strengthening your marriage, but both of these books had what I consider a "weak" chapter on submission. I think as Christians we give weak answers on submission because we're scared to take a strong stance because the effects of the feminism movement have reached into the church as well. It breaks my heart to say it, but I really believe it is true.

Recently, however, I found some great help from a book. This book wasn't about marriage at all; it was a book about parenting. While I believe that the relationship between husband and wife is very different than the relationship between parent and child, submission is required in both and so, there can be lessons learned and applied from a parenting book to the husband/wife relationship.

The book I am thinking of is Shepherding a Child's Heart by Tedd Trip (my son is currently holding it and trying to chew on it right now). I haven't finished it yet, but I can already say I'm not really in love with this book simply because Tripp is a bit long winded and explains some simple ideas at great length. But! I am in love with Chapter 14 (Infancy to Childhood: Training Objectives). This book is worth buying and it's worth rereading certain sections as a reminder to be strong your goals and objectives in parenting. And now, I can add that I will be rereading this chapter for myself as a wife as well.

Submission is a no nonsense thing. It means obedience. As Tripp says in this chapter,
obedience must be:

"without challenge,
without excuse,
without delay."

We women have no wiggle room, do we? I admit that sometimes I feel so restricted by our command to submit.

There are blessing/advantages to this system that God established (of course there are or He wouldn't have made it as it is!)

One advantage is that when we obey, our husbands have every reason to trust us. Proverbs 31:11 says, "The heart of her husband trusts in her, and he will have no lack of gain." Who does not want to be trust worthy and be a woman whose husband safely trusts her?
Another advantage is that our husbands can better care for us when we obey them. Think of the relationship between parent and child. There is a love, responsibility, and sense of protection in the commands that a parent gives to a child. They do not (or at least, are not supposed to) give commands without reason. They do it for our protection. Are husbands perfect? No. Which means that every command and request of a wife will not be perfect. But! hang in there and keep reading because there is a safe way for us to help our husbands see and change a command or request if we think it may not be "best."

The Process of Appeal
As Tripp lays out in his book, children who obey may have the right to appeal a command given by a parent. There are rules and conditions for this process and these are crucial to making it work, both in the parent/child relationship and in the husband/wife relationship. (This process will most likely be very different in a marriage because the relationship is very different, but bear with me please.)

Begin to obey immediately, not after the appeal is made -(I will add that the "immediacy" may depend on the situation both in parent/child relationships and in husband/wife. For example, if you tell a child who happens to be coloring to go to bed, it doesn't make sense for him to clean up all his supplies and then make his appeal to quickly finish his picture before going to bed. I, personally, would want the appeal to come before obedience in this case, as long as his attitude is correct.)
Be prepared to obey either way
Appeal in a respectful manner
Accept the result of the appeal in a gracious manner

The problem in my relationship ~~was~~ is that I never appeal to my husband when he makes a decision I do not like. Instead, I argue, make excuses, or challenge his authority. What a way to break down my husband! The process of appeal gives me such freedom. It makes me an equal with my husband without contradicting the fact that he is an authority in my life.

A husband who loves his wife WANTS to listen and do things for his wife. My husband has every desire to let me do things I desire and to allow me what I want. But! How can he graciously give these things to me when I do not graciously ask for them? How can he allow me these things when he can't trust me because I choose not to obey so frequently? Why would he want to give me things when I argue with him and challenge his position in our family? Attitude is everything.

Hopefully I presented the thoughts above coherently. If this helps even one other woman in her quest to perfect her obedience and respect for her husband, then it was definitely worth typing up on this Friday morning. Do you agree or disagree with the ideas above? Do you have sources or suggestions for making submission more "do-able" in your life?

My visual Recipe Box

2010-10-19T12:17:00.000-07:00

I decided to make a separate blog and use it as my visual "recipe box." It's a great place for me to store all my recipes (along with a picture or two) and still be able to share them with friends and family. Since I have family that eat a gluten free diet, all the recipes will be gluten free or adaptable to be gluten free. If you don't eat gluten free or don't know what that even is, then just ignore it and enjoy the site! :)

Check out my new recipe for Enchiladas at my Recipe Box site.

Mom: The Last Real Superhero

2010-10-19T06:49:00.000-07:00

Has anyone else noticed that Moms are a little bit like superheroes?

Snot, pee, poop and vomit don't scare me (Fear of nothing)
Bring on the pain. I've already endured the worst. (Inhuman ability to endure pain)
Sleep? What's sleep? (Not subject to human physical needs)
Battle of the wills: I will win. (The Power of determination - ok, I made that superpower up)
I see through lies. (X-ray Vision)
I fly to the rescue (Flying)
Healing abilities? Check. (Healing powers)
You probably think there's more than one of me too. (Power of duplication or speedster abilities)
I might have been in the other room, but oh yes, I did hear that. (Super hearing)
And we all know the rumor about the extra set of eyes.... (Omnipresence, or #9 and #10 could just be super scenses)

So, let's break these down:

Fear of nothing
Inhuman ability to endure pain
Not subject to human physical needs
The Power of Determination
X-ray vision
Flying
Healing
Speedster or power of duplication
Superhearing
omnipresence (or 9 and 10 can be super senses)

I think I have earned the right to wake up in the morning and say, "I Am Mommy, Hear Me Roar."
Visit all the Top Ten lists at OhAmanda.

Monday Motivation

2010-10-18T10:00:00.000-07:00

Getting going on ~~a Monday~~ any day can be difficult. But! I found one thing that helps motivate me. Yes, it's my funky red and yellow "house" shoes. I wear these around the house (I know...you may scream if wearing shoes in the house is a crime to you) and it makes me feel empowered to take on tasks. I think it's the red color and the fact that I go down to the basement without looking for, and putting on, a pair of sneakers. These are slip on/slip off, comfy, action shoes. As silly as it sounds...these are my motivators for today. What motivates you?

Cream of Mushroom Soup and Other Cream Soups

2010-10-12T11:26:00.000-07:00

Cream of Mushroom Soup

I had been looking for a cream of mushroom soup recipe for a while so that I could still make recipes I liked and not have to buy those horrible cans of it. Most recipes I found looked too difficult and used ingredients I wasn't interested in purchasing or eating. BUT! I finally found one that works well for me. No more buying those nasty and expensive, little cans.

I got the recipe from the Gluten Free Homemaker (and she got it somewhere else) and I haven't changed it, but to save time I'm going to write it out. Please visit her site though, because she has a lot of good stuff there, especially if you know people who have to live without gluten.

Cream Soup
(makes one can worth)
1 cup cold milk
2 T cornstarch
2 T butter
1 tsp chicken bouillon or other flavoring - {You could really get creative here}
1/2 tsp salt - {oops! I lied! I omit this because I don't like adding salt to stuff.}
Pepper to taste

Whisk cornstarch into cold milk. Add remaining ingredients and bring to a boil in saucepan, whisking frequently. Reduce heat and simmer about 1 minute until it thickens.

As you can see from the picture above, I added mushrooms to mine and it came out perfect. You can add whatever you like to make it how you prefer it: celery, chicken, etc. Hurray for casseroles!

Top Ten Reasons I'm Not Wearing Make Up Today

2010-10-05T06:09:00.000-07:00

Visit all the wonderful top ten lists at OhAmanda

I have nothing against make up. In fact, I really like to wear it, but some days I really prefer to go without. Some reasons why I'm not wearing any today:

My masquera will not run today! That's a great reason in and of itself!
All natural! My face doesn't feel covered in icky (yes I used "icky" as a noun). Except for maybe some lotion.
God given! This is the face God gave me! I'm going to rejoice and be glad that He saw fit to give me every good and "bad" part. God has ordained all my wrinkles and bags.
I like to tell myself that the make up blocks my face from absorbing vitamin D. Not sure if it's true but I like it!
I have naturally rosy cheeks! Why paint over them with foundation and then have to paint them back on?
Less prep time in the morning!
If I forget to wash my face before I go to bed (again) it won't be that big a deal.
Seriously! Who am I trying to impress? (see number 10)
I won't use up my make up as quickly if I don't use it every day.
My husband doesn't notice whether I'm wearing make up or not. He thinks I'm just as beautiful without it. :)

Bathroom Storage Solution

2010-10-04T08:55:00.000-07:00

A Storage Solution
I have deep storage cupboard for my linen closet and I'm constantly trying to think of ways to make it more efficient so that I don't have to put something behind something else and then go digging for it in the back. Here's one idea I had:

I had an extra plastic storage container that we weren't using anymore so I put it in this closet lengthwise and rolled my bath towels into a cylinder shape and they fit perfectly in it. The storage container holds them in place and keeps them from unrolling.

Then, since there was an open space above this I slid a hanging basket above it. This one is made to slide on a shelf. I purchased it at Walmart a long time ago to make the most of my small apartment kitchen. It was very inexpensive (if I remember right). I put my wash cloths and hand towels in it:

I absolutely love how the stack can't fall over because the basket supports and keeps it contained.

...and Tada!

(I wish I had a little eraser so you could ignore the blue baby bathtub above and the other objects on the shelf below, but eh, it's fine as is.)

I just snuggly fit bath towels, hand towels, and wash cloths all on half of the shelf. Nothing falls over or moves from where it has been placed. It's very efficient and you can see everything at all times. It may not be the most beautiful thing in the world, as far as organization goes, but it works and everything is ready to go at all times.

Now to conquer the rest of the space!

Top Ten + and - of being easily distracted

2010-09-28T10:56:00.000-07:00

Join in top ten at ohamanda!

Recently my husband and I were thinking about how I must have adult A.D.D. (attention deficit disorder). You'll see why we think this after reading over my top ten list below. It's funny because I don't think I had this as a kid at all. There are definitely some advantages (+) and disadvantages (-) to being this way.

- Trouble completing tasks - Pour myself a drink, see laundry basket and realize it's time to do laundry. Forget all about drinking my water. I might even have a record for how long I leave things out of the fridge (very bad habit) because I get distracted from putting them away.
- Reading is more difficult - Sitting down and reading is such a task for me! Every time I sit to do it I think of something I need to get up and do. I love reading to know more about things, but will remain stupid forever if I can't get through a book. When I do make it through one, it's a real accomplishment.
+ Multitasking - I used to be slow and methodical in the way I cooked. Now I'll wash a dish, chop an onion, stir the pot, put another pot on the stove, and walk around the corner to look at the news (because I've been listening to it from the kitchen while I cook) all in the matter of a minute. Does this sound as dangerous to you as it is to me, now that it's in written form? Heat, knives, and a easily distracted woman? Bad combo.
+ Listening while I work - I almost always have to have something to listen to while I'm doing something else. I may listen to a sermon on sermonaudio.com, a podcast, talk radio, or music. Or sometimes a book on tape.
+ Less satisfied with TV - I like to watch tv in the evenings with my hubby, but I am so distracted that I will often think of something I need to do and get up and do it. I can only really sit and listen or sit and watch something if I have something I can do in my hands. I often crochet or pick up a cross stitch project for those times I need to sit still and listen.
+ Taking Notes - This is probably the best way for me to listen to a sermon preached because I'm busy while I listen. Big plus for being able to go back and look it over! I haven't been a big note taker since my son was born though since he's always being squirmy or needing to be taken out of the service.
- Not focusing on people. I'm such a "go go go" person and my husband simply isn't. I need to just stop and focus on him. Spending time with him in the way he likes to spend his time shouldn't be a chore. It should be my delight.
+ and - I always have a to do list going. I am constantly thinking of things I have to do or want to do and so it grows and grows and grows.
- Having great ideas and then losing them. I get these great thoughts for posts or great ideas and then get distracted so easily I forget them just as quickly. Or...maybe this is just an excuse for you to think I'm really a genius without ever having to prove it. I guess we'll never know.
--- (I purposely chose three negatives so that they didn't cancel eachother out.) I get distracted so easily in prayer. Forgive me God! Thankfully He knows the rest of the sentence I was meaning to finish. Some ways I have coped with this is writing out my prayer on paper (try it, it's not as crazy as it sounds) or praying out loud.

Well, that's a little preview into crazy me. Any advice for me? Do you struggle with any of these (or all of these) too?

Organizing Baby Bibs

2010-09-27T10:20:00.000-07:00

I have lots and lots of bibs for my little guy! We haven't used too many of them yet since he isn't eating solids yet, but they've still been driving me nuts. Almost every outfit I was given at my shower came with a bib and storing them has been a pain.

I finally figured out where to put them.

Where will they be used and needed? Not in the baby's room. So, here's the solution:

Store them near the highchair!

I have the space saving high chair that sits on top of a dining chair. The chair is always pushed against the wall or against the corner of the room. You never see the back. So...

I tied a piece of yarn on the back of the chair and started putting the bibs on it. Now they have a space close to where they will be used without becoming an eye sore or a nuisance. **Note that the strand of yarn is not tied to the high chair because I didn't want it to be anywhere near where my son might be able to reach and play with it because of the danger that could bring. You could attach the bibs to the strap of the high chair because the baby wouldn't be able to reach that either. However, I wanted a string that I could pick up (that's why there is so much slack on it) so I don't have to bend down or move the chair every time I wanted to get one out.

Top Ten Tuesday: 10 Ways My Son Challenges Me Spiritually

2010-09-21T08:54:00.000-07:00

Top Ten Ways My 4 Month Old Son is challenging me Spiritually

I've never made a top ten list before, but I had to check it out since more than one blog I read has them frequently. :) Here goes it!
To visit them all visit Oh Amanda.

1. To teach him about the Lord I have to know more about Him too.
I'm participating in daily Bible reading, Bible Studies, and reading extra books about the Word and about the Lord.
2. To teach him prayer I have to be a praying person too.
I'm praying daily, reading about prayer from great sources, and hoping to do a Bible study on prayer.
3. I'm ditching bad habits.
As we talked about getting married, my husband decided that he needed to live a more pure life for my sake. Before the big day he dumped all the movies and shows that he thought did not help him keep our home pure. While we've kept this going to the best of our abilities, I'm dumping other things that aren't up to the standard I'd like to set. I choose not to watch any tv during the day until 5pm when the news comes on (which I mostly watch for politics and the weather).
4. I'm replacing bad with good.
Instead of watching tv, I'm listening to podcasts of sermons and radio broadcasts by godly individuals. I'm trying to read more as well.
5. I'm reading the Bible and Praying with my son. Three different sources I respect have suggested that reading the book of Proverbs, even if it's only a few verses a day, helps teach children how to live uprightly and honor God with their lives.
6. Thinking about what I sing to my son - Instead of singing regular lullabies, I've chosen a hymn to memorize and sing as my little guy is falling asleep. I hope to choose a special one for each of my kids. Now that I know the one I picked out for him, I hope to add some more in the mix.
7. I'm working on the example I set for him in my words. Less complaining, more kind words, and no more raising my voice.
8. Attending worship with our son. The example of attending church as often as it is open for worship. It's easy to think that we can skip a service and it's no big deal, but it is. It is for ourselves and for our children. Every opportunity to learn more about and worship our Lord is the ideal way to redeem our time on earth. If that isn't enough, I did hear someone say that children will, typically, attend church one less time per week when they are grown adults than when they were children. It's sad, but true for a lot of kids I've seen grow up. The ones that I knew who went to church 2 or more times will often only go to the Sunday morning service. Children I knew who had parents who only went one time per week, are often not attending church at all.
9. I'm planning on memorizing more scripture. How do you address certain situations that arise in a biblical way? By reading the scripture that addresses it. Even better if you know exactly where to find it or can recite it.
10. Being thankful. I am so thankful to the Lord for my son. Staying at home with him is my dream job.

What is Love?

2010-09-20T08:32:00.000-07:00

Love is self sacrifice.

Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends. John 15:13

Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Philippians 2:5-8

Jesus is our greatest example of love.

What sacrifices am I ready to make for the one I love?

-Am I willing to throw away any and all bits of complaining?
Replace with:
Thankful comments and kind words. (What would my life look like if only kind words came out of my mouth?)

-Am I willing to toss out my ideals/wants? ( For example: my desire to be on time or early to church and other events may (does) cause stress and unkind words in our home).
Replace with:
Being flexible and willing to serve my husband/family as God gives me opportunities each minute. Focusing on what God wants for me to accomplish in that minute and not what I want to.

-Am I willing to take the blame/responsibility for extra things?
Replace with:
Owning my wrongs, confessing my sins, and seeking to make more righteous decisions next time (for example, helping out or completing a task instead of complaining it wasn't accomplished the way I wanted, OR being thankful it was completed as it was).

Scottish Oat Scones

2010-09-16T11:21:00.000-07:00

Scottish Oat Scones

Original Recipe is here. If you scroll down to comments on the allrecipes.com site you'll find the changes I did suggested by others and you'll find a wheat flour/applesauce version. There is even an apple version that I am hoping to try next. Here's my go at it:

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups quick oats - because that's all I had today
1/4 cup white sugar
4 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup frozen blueberries
1 egg, beaten
1/2 cup butter, melted
1/3 cup milk

Sugar and cinnamon to dust the tops with before throwing it in the oven.

1.Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C). Lightly grease a baking sheet.
2.In a large bowl, mix the flour, oats, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Make a well in the center. In a small bowl, beat egg until frothy, and stir in melted butter and milk. Pour into the well, and mix to create a soft dough. Mix in blueberries. Pat dough into two 1/2 inch thick circles. Place on the prepared baking sheet. Score 8 wedges into each circle of dough. Sprinkle with sugar and cinnamon.
3.Bake 15 minutes in the preheated oven, until risen and browned. Split wedges, and serve warm.

YUMMY!

Hijacked!

2010-09-07T19:20:00.000-07:00

My computer has been hijacked!

My hubby and has been bringing it to work with him for the past two weeks. Hopefully next week I'll have it back so I can use it during the day when I have time to blog. I have two great recipes I need to type up! :)

In the mean time, I'll just say that I'm getting absolutely giddy about my ladies' Bible study starting up tomorrow night. We're studying the book of Philippians and I'm really needing the accountability to study the word of God in depth again.

Also, I read this post today and had to share. Enjoy!
Great teaching tool - scrabble pieces! I absolutely love the ideas Angel came up with!

What's For Dinner - Crockpot Fajitas

2010-08-25T11:44:00.000-07:00

So I am continuing to work new recipes into our menu every week or close to every week and it's becoming a way of life now. I am WAY behind in blogging about these recipes though. I am finding that the more I pick out new recipes the better I get at being able to pick good ones and the better I get at changing them to be perfect for us.

Crockpot Fajitas is a big hit in our family. I couple it with the Mexican rice recipe we love. This is what I made for our whole family after Logan's baptism (13 people).

Crockpot Fajitas

(^uncooked in the crockpot - gorgeous!^)

1 large green bell pepper, sliced

1-1 1/2 lbs chicken, sliced

1/2 -1 onion sliced

1/4 cup water

Fajita seasoning

Cumin

Black Pepper

Red Pepper

Garlic Salt

Oregano

(I sprinkle in the amounts I like but if you like amounts you can click here for a seasoning recipe.

Cover and cook in crockpot for 5-6 hours on low.

To create the rest:

Tortillas

Tomatoes

Lettuce

Green Onions

Cheese (your choice)

Sour Cream

Salsa

Mexican Rice

Black Beans

YUM YUM!

Redeeming my Time - Stay At Home Mom

2010-08-09T11:10:00.000-07:00

Ephesians 5:15-16
See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil.

"I hope that my child, looking back on today
Will remember a mother who had time to play;
Because children grow up while you're not looking,
There are years ahead for cleaning and cooking.
So, quiet now cobwebs, dust go to sleep.
I'm rocking my baby, and babies don't keep."

I count it a tremendous blessing to be at home with my son. I have been thinking on this time as I watch my him grow so fast. Soon he'll be a man and I'll look back and wonder where the time went. I don't want to waste this blessing and gift at all. I've been meditating on how to best use this time that God has given me as a stay at home mom. These can apply to all parents whether they stay at home or not.

10 ways to redeem my time as a stay at home mom

(in no particular order)

1. Time with my kids - Am I cleaning and cooking, organizing and seeking to please myself or am I spending my time with my little ones? Where is my attention/focus?

2. Time to teach from the Word - I have extra time with my children that other mothers do not have, am I using it for what is most important? Raising my son to know and love the Lord is my top priority in staying at home with him.

3. Time for what kids love - Spending time with my kids in ways that they love and in ways other kids and mothers wish they could spend their time: playing games, going to the park, field trips, special outings (taking kids to lunch once in a while - I just remember how special this activity with my mom was when I was a kid)

4. Time to do what's good for my kids: Home cooked, healthier food is one example.

5. Time to teach my children - I have the opportunity and the blessing of homeschooling my kids

6. Time for special things for your kids - Shows and movies always portray moms who make costumes for their kids for their school plays, etc. It's a special picture that still exists in media of a mom who has time for her children and what they care about. Remember the phrase "Kids spell 'love': T-I-M-E"

7. More time to pray for your kids - Pray, pray, and pray some more. Thanking the Lord for this special blessing that has been given to me. Asking God for the guidance to raise this child for Him. Asking for the Lord to save my child and change his heart to repent and believe in Him for complete salvation from his sins.

8. Time for laughs, giggles, smiles, joy, and memories. More time spent with your children means more time to make it special and enjoyable.

9. Time to show your children what is right. This also means more time for you to focus and work on your sanctification because you are the example your child will see and look to for what a believer looks like.

10. Time to worship as a family. Reading from the word together at home, praying together, discussing the word, and, very importantly, attending worship services together as a family.

Song for a Fifth Child
By Ruth Hulburt Hamilton

Mother, O Mother, come shake out your cloth,
Empty the dustpan, poison the moth,
Hang out the washing, make up the bed,
Sew on a button and butter the bread.

Where is the mother whose house is so shocking?
She's up in the nursery, blissfully rocking.

Oh, I've grown as shiftless as Little Boy Blue,
Lullabye, rockabye, lullabye loo.
Dishes are waiting and bills are past due,
Pat-a-cake, darling, and peek, peekaboo.

The shopping's not done and there's nothing for stew
And out in the yard there's a hullabaloo
But I'm playing Kanga and this is my Roo
Look! Aren't his eyes the most wonderful hue?
Lullabye, rockabye, lullabye loo.

The cleaning and scrubbing can wait till tomorrow
But children grow up as I've learned to my sorrow.
So quiet down cobwebs; Dust go to sleep!
I'm rocking my baby and babies don't keep.

What's For Dinner - Mexican Rice

2010-08-04T13:21:00.000-07:00

While Mexican Rice isn't an actual meal, it definitely spices up a meal. I guess you could add chicken and veggies and make it a great meal. Yum, sounds good.

I give this 5 out of 5 stars for being just plain good.

The first time I made it I thought it was too salty, but the next time I just used vegetable broth for half the portion of broth and it helped. I bet you could do vegetable broth for the whole amount and it would be great. I could also have just done garlic powder instead of garlic salt I suppose.

Here it goes:

Mexican Rice
(from allrecipes.com)

1 cup uncooked rice

3 Tblsp olive oil

1 tsp garlic salt

1/2 tsp ground cumin

1/4 cup chopped onion

1/2 cup tomato sauce

2 cups chicken broth (or veggie)

Heat oil and add rice. Cook, stir constantly until golden. Sprinkle with garlic salt and cumin. Stir in onions and cook until "tender." Stir in tomato sauce and chicken broth. Bring to a boil. Reduce to low, cover and simmer for 20 minutes or more (20 minutes didn't cut it for me so I just watched until it looked right - you know, like rice is supposed to look). Fluff with fork.

I tend to make this in advance for a meal and refrigerate and reheat later in the evening. I have to admit I've never made just one cup at any time. I've made 2, 3, and 4 cups, so I've doubled, tripled, and quadrupled according to how many guests I've had (13 guests = 4 cups rice, but gives some leftovers, just in case you were wondering, lol).

Preschool Activities: Create a Grocery List Together

2010-08-03T08:51:00.000-07:00

I have my three year old nephew during the day for two more weeks. Here's something we've been doing. You don't always need curriculum and you don't need to do anything fancy with print outs and cut outs to get a great activity. Any parent can do this.

You can practice so many different concepts with a preschooler by making a grocery list together. I made a fake grocery list with my nephew each day this week (because he asks to make one each day) and then he pretends to go to the store and buy the items on it. This is a great activity to do together and it’s something I could see being done in a public school kindergarten classroom. The list looks almost the same from day to day and that's ok because he will get better at making it each day. He'll know the letters a little better each day, for example.

You can either number the items you need (1,2,3,4...) or ask the child how many of each item he thinks he needs. We did the latter and this is the result:

Skills we used:
1. Drawing pictures - Talking about the shapes/colors of what you are drawing - “tomatoes are round like a circle and red. They have a stem that is green.” You can also use higher level language if you want like “cylinder,” “sphere,” etc. It all depends on your child and what you and he/she is comfortable with. Just like all other language, if you use it they don't have to understand it fully now. They'll just pick it up quicker later on when they have to learn it.
2. Creating lists - a skill needed in life and usually taught at a later age in curriculum I’ve seen
3. Writing the words - You sounding out the word as you write it demonstrates that letters make sounds. As the child learns sounds you can start asking him to give you the first letter of the word as you make the sounds for that letter, and as he does better, you can ask the last letter too. You should fill in the middle ones because that’s more difficult. -This is a kindergarten activity (first and last letter recognition) so you don’t have to push this at all.
4. “Reading” - After we were done making the list I asked my nephew to “read” it to me. This gives him confidence to read things and seeing pictures next to the word is one way that schools teach sight reading. I prefer phonics, but sight is a big part of reading as well.
5. Number recognition - “reading” numbers
6. Counting/One-to-one correlation - If the child says he wants to buy five bananas then draw five bananas and count them using a finger to touch them as you count them. This teaches a child that each banana is/stands for one banana as opposed to counting the bananas and coming up with the number 8 when there are only five bananas shown.

In this case, my nephew does not like to draw pictures so I try to encourage him by drawing it on my paper (shown above) and then he would draw it on his own paper (below) by following the way that I drew it (a red circle for the apple and a green leaf). Here is his paper:

As he gets better/feels more comfortable, he could draw the pictures by himself and I could simply write the words. Either way you do it, he has a lot of ownership in this because he told me what to write, helped me with the letters and pictures, and he can read it by himself.

Homemaking Notebooks - links and resources

2010-08-02T06:38:00.000-07:00

Many women use notebooks to keep their home running smoothly. When I discovered some of these I was so excited to make one that would help me out. I love the idea (maybe it's the teacher in me). I love seeing the different kinds and ideas that women use and what they choose to include in theirs.
Currently I'm working on developing one of my own through trial and error to see what works best. I'm learning a lot about myself through this too. For example, I am not a calendar/planner kind of person. I'm more of a "to do" list kind of person. From this image below you can also see that I have learned that I am not a three-ring notebook type of person (epic fail). I'm too lazy/don't have the patience to open the rings all the time and hole punch everything that goes in it. Plus, not everything in life is the same size as the notebook rings.

Important aspects I'm learning:

-When you start out, leave room or have extra supplies ready to add things in when you figure out they should go in your notebook. I'm still figuring out what type of categories I need and might add or change things as I go. Of course, now that I think about it, as your family changes so will your notebook so even if you know what you want you'll probably need this anyways.

- It must work for you. Obviously, just because everyone else has a three-ring notebook doesn't mean it's going to work for me. I read a post someone wrote that totally criticized another woman's notebook because the woman wasn't living a "simple" life because she needed all these different categories to organize her complex life. Well, although I thought the woman's notebook had a few of categories that seemed silly to me, it seemed like it was something she needed to clear her head and help her think simply. I know sometimes you just need to have a place to write something down so that you don't have to carry it around in your head all day. In my opinion, living simply is overrated and completely up to the individual's standard of simplicity. Ok, that's for another post I guess.

-Aesthetically pleasing! I've seen notebooks that would give me headaches because they have too many different colors and patterns on them for my taste. But! I've also seen some bland ones that make me feel very bored. I like mine to have some color and some "pop" but nothing that will make me dizzy. It should be a pleasure, not a curse, to use it. But again! It's completely up to you to make what works for you.

Alright, here are some very interesting links for you to look at if this is something you're interested in as well:

Resources for a notebook:
About Homemaking Notebooks
What goes into a notebook
printable checklists and here too - not my cup of tea but some need them

Sample Books:

Passionate Homemaking 's notebook

This is the first one I saw - I like it because I'm an idea person too, but it's a bit big for me

I like this one - I can't find part II for it, but I really like her homeschool section. Lesson planning and keeping them is a really great idea for your homeschool family so that if someone ever came into your home you might need to show them what you have been doing on any given day.

Is this a tool you use or would use? What do you think about them? Do you have categories or ideas for me as I make mine?

Good Reads

2010-08-01T13:24:00.000-07:00

It's been a little while since I put any links up. Here are some good reads for your weekend and Monday:

The Working Moms and the Dual Income Trap - Staying at home really does pay

Training up Our Children - Beautifully written reminders for mothers, but it applies to wives and all others as well

Timely Meals: Momma Isn't Falling Down on the Food

2010-07-27T12:33:00.000-07:00

One large goal of mine since the baby has been born is to continue to focus on my husband and make sure that our children do not come first before him.
Of course one of his favorite things is good food and/or food that’s ready when he gets home and is “super hungry.” Needless to say, babies make cooking a little more challenging.

The challenges:

1. Dinner Time -Since Logan arrived I’ve noticed that he gets fussy around the time dinner is supposed to be made or eaten.
2. Sunday Lunch - On Sundays, I try not to feed him at church so that I can be a part of the service as much as possible. However, this just leads to me having to feed him right as I get home from church when I used to start cooking lunch.
3. Packed Lunches - If I’ve been up on and off all night, and baby finally is just going down when Anthony is getting up and leaving for work it’s very difficult to find time to make his lunch.

The solutions:

Get a head start/start early - Logan does not have a regular sleeping pattern during the day. We just started to work on it this week (ok, I have to admit I’m not a babywise mom. I haven’t even read it). So I try to make dinner, or at least get a head start, whenever he is sleeping or being good enough that I can get away. It takes a little extra planning and motivation, but it’s worth it. I did figure this one out on my own, but a wise woman at church also suggested it because she had a similar situation when her kids were young.

Crock pot -On Saturdays I make a crock pot meal for us for Sundays. I mix/add it all together on Saturday and then toss it in the fridge overnight and set the crock pot up in the morning. This keeps my husband from feeling like he needs to cook every Sunday when we get home. Unfortunately again, this takes more planning and makes Saturdays a more tiring. I call some of my Saturdays “marathon days” because I also do the shopping and we often have events to attend that require food as well.

Pre-frozen meals - Freezing meals ahead of time can also fall into both of these categories/solve both problems.

Timed Oven - My mom has a newer oven that can be timed (AWESOME!), but I don’t. I’ll put this on my wish list I guess for when our very reliable oven dies (will probably be a long time. :) )

Meals that "save me" - I try to have some meals that are 20 minute wonders and I keep the ingredients on hand for days when everything falls apart and I have no other things I can make or make in time. These are also great for after softball games. These meals are not necessarily the healthiest on our menu nor the fanciest, but they’re done when they need to be

Portioned Leftovers - Since packing lunches in the morning is getting more difficult and Anthony has to leave early, and usually, very quickly, I’ve been portioning out leftovers for lunches. Instead of packing leftovers in larger containers in the fridge and then scooping it out later for a lunch, I put all my leftovers for every meal into lunch-sized, portable containers that Anthony takes to work. If I’m up, I can sleepily grab one and put it into his lunch box or he can do it as he’s running out the door. Also, because I have multiple meals all in portions, he can choose last second which one he wants, and then either he or I can have it in the lunch box in seconds. Pretty nice if I do say so myself. :)

None of these are “new” ideas necessarily, but they are tricks I’ve discovered to make life just a little smoother and happier for every one. Do you have any tips that help your family/life run smoother throughout the day?

My Mondays...

2010-07-26T08:11:00.000-07:00

I would post images, but I'm far too embarrassed.

After the weekend:

Dirty dishes are everywhere

The bed is unmade

Dirty clothes/socks are on the floor (and not just on the bedroom floor)

The diaper bag is empty of supplies

Weekend projects are left out all over the house

Saturday mail is on the table

Laundry is dirty

etc.

Well, this is Monday at my house (yes, just about every Monday looks like this). The weekends turn my house upside down. It's totally my fault since I do special events and choose to rest on the weekends. But it was so worth it. I'm refreshed and ready to tackle the mess of the weekend. Then I'll tackle the new projects of the week.

Mondays are good...yay for Mondays!

What's For Dinner - Last Minute Greek?

2010-07-20T08:02:00.000-07:00

Well, I'm back! At least for now. Summer is so busy and beautiful that it's been harder to post and read other blogs. I think winter will be my stronger blogging season when I'm stuck indoors. I think it will be my time to learn how to sew too. Anyways....

Last night I made a recipe! woohoo! My husband helped me tweak it, but it was good both how I made it originally and how he added to it.

I'm still looking for a name for it so PLEASE help me out with that. For now I'm calling it "Last Minute Greek."

Last Minute Greek

Corn tortillas - (pitas would make it more Greek, but more expensive/difficult too)

Mozzarella cheese

Breakfast sausage, cooked

Tomatoes, sliced

Spinach, cooked or raw, however you like it

Mushrooms

Cucumbers

Italian dressing

Feta Cheese (or Parmesan cheese if you are like us and don't have Feta around the house)

Lettuce, shredded

I put down corn tortillas on a baking sheet, covered them in cheese, mushrooms, spinach, cooked sausage, and tomatoes. I put them in the oven long enough for it to get hot and the cheese to melt. I husband threw on cut up cucumbers as they came out. I rolled it up like a taco and ate them like that and they were delicious, but Anthony also added a little Italian dressing, Parmesan cheese, and shredded lettuce to the top. I had a bite of his and it tasted amazing.

Help us name this creation of ours, or tweak it to make it even better!

Buying in Bulk and Freezing Food to save a buck

2010-07-08T08:32:00.000-07:00

I'm always surprised about how much money I can save by buying certain items in bulk quantities. Of course this isn't the case all the time. There are great meat sales at the local grocery store that beat the bulk store prices all the time and seasonal produce can have great sales as well or you may have a farmers market nearby.

Buying in bulk and freezing the excess

Advantages:
*Shop less often

*Have items on hand more often (I love this - knowing I have something on hand all the time is almost priceless)
*Save money

*A full freezer is more efficient

*Preparing more things in advance makes the dinner hour a little faster and more efficient

Disadvantages/Challenges to overcome:
*Not everything can be frozen or kept for long periods of time (i.e. milk, bananas, etc.)

*Dropping more money at one time in the store

*My bulk store doesn't always carry the things I'll need

*Storing what you buy - my freezer can't hold any more right now, unfortunately

Foods I Freeze:
***It's super important to freeze anything in the amount you'll use for a future serving/recipe. This is very important since many things that are frozen stick together and are impossible to get apart unless you thaw the whole amount.

1. Fresh Green Peppers - I cleaned, cut, and froze them in portions I'd use in recipes

2. Meats, all kinds - divided according to portions I'd use in recipes (usually about 1 lb).

3. Potatoes - I cubed them and blanched them for about 5 minutes before freezing. (I'd rather not freeze or refrigerate potatoes since it's not as good for you this way, but long story short - I had to buy a bigger bag than I had wanted and I can just keep these for the recipes that call for frozen hash browns)

4. Tortillas - some sources say place a wet paper towel or wax paper down in between when reheating them in the microwave. These also stay fresher longer in the fridge.

5. Blueberries/Other small fruits - washed and placed on a cookie sheet all separate so that they don't freeze together. Once frozen you can throw them in a baggie or container and they won't stick together and you can measure according to what you need. Some freeze them unwashed and then wash them when they take them out of the freezer. This way they don't stick and then you are thawing them under the water.

I prefer not to freeze bread because it's not as good out of the freezer (in my opinion). I think I'd rather keep ingredients on hand, which I can buy in bulk, and then bake it when needed.

**Every time I think of an item I'd like to buy in large quantities or have on hand more often I look into whether I can freeze it by putting it into google. Many people have great advice out there.

Have any great advice for me? What items do you freeze?

Lasagna Gardening - Never Till Again

2010-06-28T07:46:00.000-07:00

Part I: The method that didn't work

This is my attempt with the black plastic mentioned below...didn't work.
So, this year I tried a "no till" method for gardening where you put down a black plastic surface on top of the areas you want to plant in and let the sun cook the grass/weeds etc. to enrich the soil and provide soft, ready-to-go soil for planting. Well, it did NOT work. When I pulled up the black surface all I had was brown grass. Plus, putting down plastic keeps the soil from receiving moisture and you never know what the plastic might leave in the soil.

Part II: The method that did work
Well, since I was still determined to plant in that spot I tried something else. I noticed that the places where I had raked and left leaves on the ground had killed the grass and left nicer soil underneath than the black plastic method. Hmm.... So when we cleaned up the leaves this spring (during the fall we were so busy pulling up the carpet and painting before we moved in we never got to the leaves) Anthony put the mulched up leaves and first grass clippings over the area I desired to plant in later. The result was amazing! Anthony put a minimal amount of top soil on top and I planted with almost no effort! This was most likely the only way I was going to be able to garden this year since I was in my third trimester by the time I needed to plant. I could not have pulled up all that grass and tilled the soil. I found sooo many earthworms in the bed that had loosened the soil up for me and eaten all that yummy organic matter. I did have some weeding to do, but it was nothing compared to what I would have had to do without using this method.

While waiting for one of my appointments with the doctor I picked up a magazine and found an article on LASAGNA GARDENING. I guess we were doing this unintentionally!

Here are some resources on lasagna gardening:
About.com article

Thrifty Fun article - I've been exploring the Thrifty Fun site and have been finding lots of inspiring material for the kitchen too (just fyi - check it out!)

The general gist (most of this taken from the about.com article from above):

Layers:
1. Three or more layers of newspaper or one layer of cardboard - wet this down
2. Compost - layers of brown/green/brown/green (layers of brown should be twice as thick as the green layers)
3. Put finished compost on top

--Your goal: A two foot tall layered bed that will cook down over time providing a weed free organic masterpiece for gardening. :)

--Plant seedling and mulch to hold in moisture

--As the resources say, you can do this in the fall for the following spring or complete in the spring and top with more topsoil or compost and plant soon after (like we did this year).

MY GOAL: I'm planning on making lots and lots of compost now in order to lasagna garden all over the yard in the fall for the following spring. I'd like to make beds around the house as well as expand my veggie garden. Maybe I'll try a few pots too. :)

We also hope to extend our veggie garden all the way to the pavement so I can plant more! :o)

My First Veggies and Notes for NextYear

2010-06-22T11:00:00.000-07:00

Wow it's hot outside! But I can't stay inside since I'm starting to see the harvest of my plants! It's beautiful! I have to cut back my weeding because it's just too hot to be out for very long during a heat advisory day. Things are looking more and more jungle like along the sides and corners of the yard, but I'm learning better how to start out next spring because of all the small "mistakes" I'm making this year.
My first zucchini was very small but this one is a good medium sized one. I'll take it! Next year I'll do better at fertilizing and hope for bigger ones, but I'm so happy just to see real produce that I've planted and God has nurtured, make it to my table!

Some notes for next year:

--I have to map out what plants are in my backyard now so that when spring comes around I can make sure I don't pluck out the beautiful plants that the previous owner of our home planted.

--Allow more room for zucchini plants! Wow they're big!

--Compost, compost, compost! My husband just surprised me with a wonderful composter he found on sale so that I can have a real compost bin! It still needs to be put together and then I'll be using it like crazy.

--Start out early! Start pepper plants out much, much earlier (Jan or Feb) and keep them potted for longer. These are the only plants that seem to be affected by hungry bugs/animals (thankfully Mr. Rabbit doesn't seem too interested in my plants). They're too close to the ground/too small to produce much, if anything this year so I've learned my lesson.

--Look into getting a drip hose/drip line for watering.

--Put down mulch to save water.

--If I plant lettuces and other such greens I'll have to protect them from Mr. Rabbit better than these plants.

--Plant more! More variety of plants! I'm learning how to better use vegetables in the kitchen just because I have them on hand. I added my first zucchini to our Indian curry dish and it was great and now I want to add more vegetable variety to that dish and others. I guess there's no better way to learn about a vegetable than to grow it and have it on hand because you have to think of ways to use it up!

I'm super excited about my garden, as humble as it is! :)

My Baby Activity List - Bonding with Baby

2010-06-14T13:11:00.000-07:00

My favorite time of bonding with Logan has been at church when I can hold him while we are singing hymns. The old familiar words take on a whole new meaning when I feel like I'm singing them to him.

After this special time I came home and decided that I wanted to list down activities that I am able to do with Logan so that I'll remember and have it as a resource for our other children. I'm always thinking about the fact that oldest children get special treatment that doesn't always carry over to other kids later on. For example, many oldest children have multiple baby pictures and a baby book while their siblings do not. My husband and I want to try to keep this from happening as much as possible in our family. I'd rather do less for our first baby but be able to do whatever it was I did for each child after. (I'm actually an oldest and saw this in my family and always felt bad for my younger brothers).

Anyways, to get back to topic...

This week I made a list of:

1. The baby lullabies I've been singing to my son

2. The projects I did for him (his frog bib and cross stitch pattern - still working on the cross stitch though)

3. Praying for him while I nurse him in the morning and listening to the Bible read online in the afternoon at librivox.org (free public domain books on mp3)

4. Walgreens.com - I've uploaded pictures, paid for them, and had them printed in stores in my home state so my mom could simply pick them up. The site can take the pictures you've uploaded and make a collage in an 8x10 size to frame. It looks great and it takes almost no time.

Lullabies and Hymns we like:

Baby Mine (click on the link to reach the site where you can hear it)

Baby mine, don't you cry
Baby mine, dry your eyes
Rest your head close to my heart
Never to part, baby of mine
Little one when you play
Don't you mind what they say
Let those eyes sparkle and shine
Never a tear, baby of mine
From your head to your toes
You're so sweet, goodness knows
You are so precious to me
Cute as can be, baby of mine

Hushabye Mountain (click on the title to reach the site where you can hear it)

A gentle breeze from Hushabye Mountain
Softly blows o'er lullaby bay.
It fills the sails of boats that are waiting--
Waiting to sail your worries away.
It isn't far to Hushabye Mountain
And your boat waits down by the key.
The winds of night so softly are sighing--
Soon they will fly your troubles to sea.
So close your eyes on Hushabye Mountain.
Wave good-bye to cares of the day.
And watch your boat from Hushabye Mountain
Sail far away from lullaby bay.

Hymns:

Be Thou My Vision

God Moves in a Mysterious Way

Tell Me the Old, Old Story

Amazing Grace

...and I'll be adding to it.

Do you have any special activities that you did with your little ones that you loved?

Successes and To do's in my crazy life

2010-06-09T09:19:00.000-07:00

Well, my little baby is almost three weeks old! The time just flies by. Nursing has been keeping me really busy. No one ever says how difficult it can be. Maybe it's just me, but it isn't as easy as women make it seem.

So, every spare minute I'm trying to just keep up with things around the house.

Successes:

--Thank goodness for my laundry system! It was such a blessing to have gotten that under control before Logan was born. Laundry hasn't been a problem for me since (that is such a rare thing for me to say about anything).

--My garden is doing amazing! I have little cucumbers and little zucchinis already popping up. This is such a joy for me to see. I have to be honest in that I give myself a B in watering, an F in fertilizing (although there was a lot of organic material that I put in there before I planted so maybe that's making up for it), and a D in weeding. Ok, maybe a C in weeding because I've been doing better recently. God just made plants want to grow (at least in this climate). In other news I found a snake skin in the front yard! Yikes! I'm terrified now (even though it's just a garden snake) and must buy gardening gloves before I weed the front yard again.

So, I need some accountability so I'm posting my to do list:

--Training our stubborn dog (arg!)

--Buy two more tomato cages, replace my little shovel, buy garden sheers, and garden gloves, replant vine plant seed (last one so I can't kill this one)

--Wash curtains

--Clean up baby room which has become a small disaster after coming home from the hospital

--Keep up on laundry

--Catch up on homework and attend Bible study

--Look at printing Logan's baby pictures so I can finally get some frames up in our house!

--General catch up around the house with cleaning

Ok, I'm off to it while Logan is still sleeping!

Logan Fuji has come!

2010-05-27T11:48:00.000-07:00

Logan Fuji
was born Friday, May 21st, 2010 at 9:50pm
8lbs 1 oz
20 inches long

Mama and baby are perfectly healthy and enjoying our time together :)

Labor and Delivery (I tried not to be too specific about the details because family members read my satopia blog - I figured they might not want to know what I was dialated to and that I only had a couple stitches - Praise the Lord!)

Logan - peaceful sleeper, big eater

Just after birth

What's For Dinner - French Bread Pizza with potential for more

2010-05-18T12:16:00.000-07:00

Sorry about not blogging so much these days. I'm so distracted waiting for baby to come. Funny how this past little bit seems to take longer than any other part of pregnancy.

Anyways, maybe it's my hormones but I've been depressed about the lack of variety in dinners at our house. I feel like every time I try to make something new it just seems like an old recipe or it just doesn't quite cut it. I made a chicken casserole and it was a huge flop! The chicken was dry and the meal just didn't have any flavor. I think I'm gonna toss the recipe so I don't try to make it again, even with changes. Does any one else have extreme guilt over feeding a "flop" recipe to your family? I do.

Anyways, I was looking through my recipe notebook and found some notes about French Bread Pizza. I haven't made it in years and from memory (mine and my hubsand's) it was just "so so". Well, I had a lot of leftovers that would be great to use for this recipe so I got at it again.... Here is the much improved result:

French Bread Pizza
- Loaf of french bread or bread of your choosing (if you're cutting carbs maybe you could use a flat bread even)
- GarlicRed Pepper Flakes - if you like to live on the edge
- Tomato Sauce
- "Pizza Seasoning" - something I had in my spice rack that I had never opened before. I'm sure it's just oregano and other mixed Italian spices
- Mozzarella cheese
- Toppings of your choice - we had meatballs and pepperonis leftover from other things so I used them

Cut your french bread as you want it. I cut mine in huge thick pieces which gave a "Chicago-style" kind of edge to the pizza. Place it on a pan and toast it in the oven for a little bit so it doesn't get too soggy when you put the sauce on. Either spread minced garlic on with a knife or rub a clove of garlic on the toasted bread to give it a garlic flavor. It doesn't take much garlic to give it a lot of flavor so be careful if you're not a huge garlic fan. Sprinkle red pepper flakes on the bread after the garlic. Generously spread tomato sauce (great if you have leftovers already from another dish). Sprinkle "pizza seasoning" or other favorite Italian spices on the sauce. Top generously with cheese and toppings of your choice. Bake in the oven at 350 degrees until the cheese is melted and your toppings look cooked.

The result was fantastic! Spiced and flavorful - not bland at all.

The potential to change this recipe is actually what makes it so great. Next time I want to try spinach, cheese, and mushrooms instead of standard pizza sauce and toppings.

Do you have any ideas for what could make this recipe even more amazing/unique?

Oatmeal Cake

2010-05-14T06:29:00.000-07:00

My mom has a great cookbook with oatmeal recipes and (since my oven was recently broken and is now fixed) I've been in the mood for baking so...

I dug out my copy of a recipe and found some ingredients missing. Here is the one I found on the Internet that is the closest to my mom's:

Oatmeal Cake

Boil 1 1/4 cups of water

1 cup quick oats

Combine the boiling water and oats and allow to sit 20 minutes.

Once cooled, add and mix together:

1/2 cup shortening (I always use butter/margarine)

1 cup sugar

1 cup brown sugar

1 tsp vanilla

2 eggs

Separately mix together:

1 1/2 cups flour

1 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

3/4 tsp. cinnamon

1/4 tsp. nutmeg

Combine all ingredients together and bake in a 9x13 pan for 35 minutes at 350 degrees.

There are many different versions out there if you want to try them out (just google "oatmeal cake")...one might be a better match for you and the ingredients you have access to. I believe my mom's recipe also has a tsp. of baking powder and it cuts out the nutmeg, but includes a full teaspoon of cinnamon. It tastes pretty much the same to me (don't tell her :) ). There is a coconut topping that I never make because this recipe is so yummy as is...like a slice of banana bread. Very sweet and a little sticky (moist). Great with a glass of milk!

Week 39...

2010-05-13T16:02:00.000-07:00

Well, I'm approaching my due date. Graciously, God is teaching me about prayer from both my Bible study and from this great blog post on giving our small concerns to the Lord as well as our large ones. My pride keeps me from coming before the Lord so much. With one week to go things have been coming up that leave me slightly concerned and yet I still don't bring these worries before my Lord. Foolish me for trusting myself or circumstances so often!

Please read the linked post because it holds so many great quotes and passages to encourage your walk with the Lord! Have a great weekend!

Beautiful Bloggers

2010-05-07T08:00:00.000-07:00

This shows how bad a blogger I really am...I apologize. I received a beautiful blogger award in February (gasp...I know. It's ridiculous how long I've waited to post this). It really made my day when Sara at The Breathing Post sent this my way. Thanks so much Sara!

Part of the rules of this:

1.Thank and link to the person that gave you the award
2.Pass this award on to bloggers you've recently discovered & whom you think are fantastic
3.Contact said Blogs to let them know they've won
4.State 7 Things about yourself!

Well, I'm going to have to modify the rules a little bit (I feel really bad to do it, but I want to be completely honest). I don't recommend blogs lightly and I try not to add them to the list I'm following unless they bring me inspiration, encouragement, and help in pursuing the goals I am currently working on (Plus, I don't want to follow so many people that I can't keep up with them on a regular basis - something that's important to me). Because I'm so picky about the people I follow and read on a regular basis I didn't have a large number of bloggers that I've started following recently. Here are the ones that I'm new to that inspire me: (This also reminds me to update the people I follow on my side bar area - so if I follow you and you're not there right now it's just because I'm behind, not because I don't love you too!)

The Crafter's File Box - A "file box" full of ideas, tutorials, and great stuff for crafty people!

AngelNavyWife - Just flat-out great advice for wives/mothers. I love when she gives her notes on her readings so you can really understand the content of the book and keep her summary to help you remember reading it too.

Our Homeschool Journey - Oodles of resources shared

Sherrin at The Drew Patch - Another mom/wife/home educator/gardener who encourages me with her posts.

Amy at New Nostalgia - I just started exploring Amy's site and she definitely leaves me wanting to get up and work on the projects I have to do.

7 Things about Me:
1. I can't get enough of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches these days (not sure if this is a pregnancy thing or if it's just because they recommend not eating deli meats while pregnant so I have no other options).

2. I love gardens and gardening. I'm new to it (a couple years of growing out of containers, etc. in apartments) and I've just moved to an entirely new climate (again) which makes me feel even more "new" to gardening. We just bought our first house and I'm trying to grow some vegetables this year for the first time.

3. This past October I quit working and became a housewife and will be a stay-at-home mom. I love it. I always felt so bad when I was working that I couldn't do things for my husband and in my home that I wanted to. Now that we're expecting our first little one this month, it's a relief to my hubby and me that I can be at home during the day to make things easier for all of us. 4 days a week I'm also a stay-at-home auntie for my 3 year old nephew while his parents work.

4. I'm so bad at concentrating on one thing at a time - or in other words...I'm A.D.D. I would love to be an avid reader but as soon as I sit down to read I think of all the things I really should get up and do instead. This actually applies to everything in my life...as soon as I start one thing I want to go and do something else. It's just one of my crazy traits. 5. I grew up in Arizona and I love the desert. I currently live in the midwest and really love the green landscape but nothing beats a desert sunset and the mountains. I miss the mountains. :)6. My husband and I have moved through four states in four years of marriage. We're not military either. We've just moved wherever God offered my husband employment (God is good). We met and were married in Arizona, moved and lived in California for a year, then lived in Kansas on our way to buying a house in Missouri. At one point we had phone numbers from AZ (cell numbers), a license plate from CA, drivers' licenses from KS, and an address in MO. 7. My favorite color is orange. Ok. Now you know a bunch of random facts about me. :) Hope you all have a great weekend!

What's Growing this Monday Morning...

2010-05-03T22:24:00.000-07:00

When thinking and planning for my garden in my backyard there were so many things I didn't take into account (I'm learning so much after moving to an entirely different climate! :) ). One of the things I didn't think of at all is that the previous owners of our home were quite the gardeners themselves. This makes quite the difference when planning when and where to plant the veggie garden, etc. Things are popping up all over the place.

Here's a taste of what's growing in my backyard:

Lily of the Valley

I'm hoping this one in the front will turn into Chinese Lanterns (I saw a few last fall when we moved in).

Red Azalea

We have a small basketball court area in our backyard and since it's getting old there are some killer weeds coming up through the cracks:

(Before)

So...to get rid of them for good I poured boiling water on the weeds in the cracks and they shriveled up and died. This method will prevent anything from growing back so be careful about where you choose to do it. You can rub them out with your shoe or clean them up with the broom after they die. I think I'll need the broom because the trees left such a mess of "helicopter" seeds all over the place. :)
After we clear out the dead weeds and we can fill in the surface if we want to:

(After)

I have to question whether daffodils are worth the space they're taking up right now. I researched their care and found that I can't clean up the plants or trim them back at all until they turn brown. They are starting to look pretty bad. At the same point in time they are supposed to deter pests... hmm. I'll have to think about that one some more.

My veggie garden still has no images, but today I've got tomatoes, cucumbers, zucchini, and green peppers already in place. Next year I'll try to start my tomatoes a little earlier because they're still quite small and it's already May. We'll see about the rest.

Recent Resources I've found/used:

Find your gardening zone (US) - National Gardening Association website

Info on foundation planting - Planting near the foundation of our home is something I've been meaning to look into because 1)we have space to (especially in the front) and 2)it would be nice to have plants to hold down the soil that seems to drain away from the house over time.

Useful site

Organizing for Baby

2010-04-30T08:12:00.000-07:00

After my baby shower I was overwhelmed by the goodness and generosity of everyone at our church. I immediately went to work prewashing everything and organizing it so I would know what we had and would have it available for when we wanted it.
Here are a couple of the images of what I did:
Using the nooks and crannies of the room. I have a play mat, some foam numbers, and extra sheets in those plastic zip bags under the crib. There really isn't much room under the crib for storage so this is really all that will fit under there.

A shelf houses the receiving and bigger blankets given to us. Above that are all the children's books I've accumulated through the years.

Some extra Christmas tins are the home of pacifiers, wrist rattles, and other toys given to us. I'm still putting labels on them. Maybe I'll get around to making them look nice like this. For now...they are useful and ready to go! I have to remind myself as I see so many beautiful organization projects online, that done is better than perfect.

We are very blessed to have a room for our little one and this is one of the walls in the closet:
There are so many different and small items! I didn't have enough shelves for them all so I used the bags that some of the baby items came in (since they're made pretty well, clear -making it easy to see what's inside, and even have snaps on them). We have hats, socks, burp cloths, and swaddling blankets in different bags and they are all hanging on push pins. I'm sure we'll be losing lots of little socks over the years but I don't want to lose any before we even use them.
I wanted to label everything, not really for my sake, but for my husband or for when Grandma is over and is looking for something specific. If nothing else it will make it easy to have everything categorized if I had to pack a bag really fast.

I'll have to redo things as we use them and see if this system works well for after the baby comes, but for now I'm thankful to have everything set out and pretty much ready to go. Do you have any tricks or organizing tools for keeping your little one's belongings ready to go? I've heard baskets are great to have all your diapering, nursing, and bathtime supplies in so you can just grab and go and have everything with you when you can't get up and get it. I think this might be my next project.

Friend Making Monday - 5 Things you Love

2010-04-26T09:02:00.000-07:00

Alright, I'm getting back into blogging a little bit more so I'm up to participating in Friend Making Monday hosted by Amber. Thank you Amber for hosting!

Today she asked about 5 things you love.

So here it goes:

(Click on the images to find their sources if you love these things too)

1. Organized spaces (and doing it in creative and frugal ways)

2. Gardening and plantlife of all kinds
3. Diving in to study the word of God in depth

4. The Desert

5. Eating Delicious Fruit! :)

Laundry System

2010-04-21T08:59:00.000-07:00

I've been trying to come up with a laundry system that will work for me. I think I might have found it...at least for the time being. :0)

I had some problems (excuses) to overcome:

1. The laundry machines are in the basement: To get there you must go out the two heavy kitchen doors (one closes on you while you are trying to walk through it), through the garage (messy with car parts while my hubby works on the car), down the stairs, through another door, turn on the lights (always dark) and finally you're there! *phew

2. big baskets are heavy/awkward to carry that far and impossible to carry with belly and trying to open doors.

3. It's cold in the garage and basement in the winter. :(

4. Once it's done - you have to bring it back up!

5. If you forget something you have to go all the way upstairs to get it

6. Bringing a little one along is difficult. Because you have to go through the garage and into an unfinished basement shoes are a must and this gets difficult when you have to put on the two- year-old's shoes over and over again.

7. You can't hear the machines when they finish a cycle. It's difficult to "check" on the laundry to see if it's finished or if the dryer needs more time.

Advantages (working on the positive and thankful thoughts):

1. Lots of space downstairs! - I can put out my leftover boxes to help separate my laundry
No worries about storage of laundry supplies because there's lots of space

So...How am I working it out?

1. I had to switch up the basket I use. BIG DIFFERENCE! The hip hugging baskets don't fit through doorways very well, never mind the doorways with doors that are closing on you. They also require two hands or everything falls out. So I switched to a taller basket that I can hold with one hand while I open doors and I don't fill it to the tippity top so it's not quite as heavy and things don't fall out as easily. (I found that my poor pregnant back started to hurt after a day of laundry lugging so a half full basket is now the only way I can do it).

2. "Laundry day" every day! - or most days. Doing all my laundry on one day was nice (because I did it on the day when my nephew wasn't here) but it took too long and made me very tired. Also, I'm now going to the doctor every week on that day so that cuts into my laundry time. Instead I've decided to take the basket down every day or every other day (when it gets half full) and do a load or two (depending on my needs that day).

3. Let some laundry sit - I've put boxes down in my basement since I have so much space and I separate my laundry into the boxes. I have a box for whites, darks, towels, baby clothes, and large/special items that need to be washed separately (red table cloths, rugs, etc). If I had a normal laundry room this would not be possible so I'm going to live it up while I have the space. I really don't have that many whites in a week so it's good to be able to let them sit until I have a whole load of them. I'll mix categories together when I don't have a full load of one but seeing the different boxes helps me see what needs to get done (It really helps me see what needs to get done - "Hubby has lots of clothes so I don't have to do a dark load today.").

4. When my husband asks for one thing to be washed it's no big deal - When you do laundry on one day a week it's a hassle to wash something on a different day. Now it's no big deal to throw the dirty jeans in while I do a load of towels or something on the weekend. This has been helpful for our relationship because it makes me a better wife and I have a better attitude about doing that extra chore for my hubby.

5. Sometimes let things sit in the dryer (gasp!) - I have such guilt about letting things sit in the dryer and get wrinkly after the dryer is done. Separating the laundry helps me plan out the loads better so that I can leave a load in the dryer until the next day if I need to. Whites (socks, underwear, etc), baby clothes, towels, sheets, etc. can sit and get wrinkled and it's no big deal! The only loads I really need to go pick up fresh from the dryer are the dark loads with work clothes, etc. So if I'm doing two loads in a day this load gets done first and the next load will usually sit until I go down to start a new load the next day. Yay! Less work and no more guilt!

Do you have a laundry system that works well for you? Do you do laundry on one/two days or spread it out throughout the week?

Baby Wash Cloth Storage

2010-04-19T14:46:00.000-07:00

I've been prewashing all my precious baby gifts from my shower and I noticed I have a lot of baby wash cloths. I decided to keep them and not return any to the store because we're hoping to have a big family and we'll eventually use them all to shreds. However, I was thinking as I folded and stacked them that these are going to get messy (fall over, get lost) in the linen closet real fast so I decided to put them in a box like tissues so they'll be contained, yet easy to grab.

Here's the result:
(Not super cute because I didn't want to spend too much time on it until I knew it was going to be practical while washing baby)

Made from a box like this one that I painted before I folded and placed the cloths inside:

Garden Inspiration and Resources

2010-04-15T00:01:00.000-07:00

I love wooden trellises

Bringing the outside beauty in

Garden decorations that add color and texture variety

Johnny Jump Ups - Anthony bought these seeds for me two years ago. They were beautiful!

How to keep raccoons out of your garden -video

How to keep squirrels out of the garden - video

How to keep unused seeds for next year - video

How to keep out rabbits - videos

How to keep raccoons out of your garden - article

After reading this article I plan on spreading my dog's dropping around the outside of my garden (sorry, not a pretty topic!)

Catching up - What's been going on

2010-04-13T10:22:00.000-07:00

Well, this week has been quite a whirlwind for me. So much has been happening.
My parents came into town on Wednesday as a surprise. They were able to stay with us from Wednesday until Sunday after church and my mom was able to attend my baby shower at our church on Saturday. Here are a few pictures of the weekend.

My mom, Me, and my mother-in-law (I don't even look pregnant in this picture! haha)

Anthony, me, my mom and dad after church on Sunday (Trust me! I'm less than six weeks away from my due date. My belly isn't photogenic)

I'm so excited for this little rocker. It's actually quite small and will fit in our bedroom for the baby to sleep in at night toward the beginning and it is so easy to move around the house during the day so the baby can be with me as I am doing other things. I'm hoping this can take the place of a swing in our lives because a swing is just so large and can't be used at night. (Can you see all the wonderful gift bags and baby things that were given to us! I feel so loved by our church family!)

Here's our beautiful crib! My parents spoiled us by buying this for us while they were here. Now it's covered in baby things for me to go through and find places for in the room.

Now, I'm trying to catch up on all the things that I've neglected during my parents' visit. Bible study homework is a big one! My husband finished up our taxes (yes, super duper late, but still on time according to the due date) and found out just how crazy our lives were last year! We held five different jobs (six if you count watching my nephew), we lived in three different states, and worked out of two of them. We sound like crazy people, but really God was providing for us in amazing ways during a time when work was hard to find. This made for some nasty tax work for Anthony to fill out. If nothing changes this year...we'll only have one W2 next year instead of five. What a change! My poor husband has also been trying to fix our car for some time. He's fixing multiple things to save time and money, but it's been a lot of work.

My garden has been put on the back burner just a little bit. My brother-in-law has given me advice from time to time and seems to be indicating that I'm doing everything all wrong and that nothing will grow in my backyard since it faces north. Well, I'm ok with failure if that's what this year means. This is my first time growing anythng edible. I believe I picked a good sunny spot that should get six hours of sunlight in a day and since it's on the side of our backyard it's actually getting quite a bit of sunlight from the south. I'm trying to go off my research and some advice and trying not worry too much about failing or getting things perfect.

This morning I planted my first few seedlings outside. Some sources say it's too early and my brother-in-law is saying I'm too late. Either way, I'm way more worried about the giant rabbit I saw run past my leg while I was planting. Time to get that chicken wire!

What's for Dinner - Taco Salad

2010-04-02T09:37:00.000-07:00

It's been one of those weeks. The peanut butter cookie recipe I tried last week I can't fairly say I "tried." In my pregnant state of mind I totally forgot to add the egg. Although, for forgetting the egg they still came out pretty good so I'd say they'd probably been even better with it.
Yesterday I dropped the stirring spoon while I was cooking and although I thought it had hit me on it's way down I didn't see any food on my shirt. Well, when my husband walked in the room he claimed that I had hit the baby in the head with it. The whole under side of my belly was covered in sauce. So, I've realized I have a "blind spot" on the front of my body now that I can't even see!

I haven't been very energetic about trying out new recipes recently, but I did manage to "manipulate" one that my mom made when I was a kid.

Taco Salad
I'd give this one a 5 out of 5 because it's healthy, delicious, and extremely easy!

Lettuce of your choice as a base (we used mixed lettuce that was leftover from a fancier salad that we had when company came over. Two gold stars for "fancy" and "using leftovers up" at the same time!)

Tomatoes

Can of Black beans

Cheese

1 lb Chicken cut into cubes

Chili seasoning or Mexican seasoning of your choice

Sour Cream (optional)

Salsa

Black Olives (optional)

Tortilla Chips (very small amount to be broken into pieces on top)

I started with about a pound of chicken and cooked it in chili seasoning (I used a store bought kind this time from Sam's Club but here is my homemade chili seasoning. The homemade one has a lot of salt in it and I don't put that much in there anymore). I'm not sure exactly how much seasoning I used since I just sprinkled it on until I was satisfied. I heated up some black beans and put the rest of the ingredients out so that my husband and I could make our salads how we enjoyed them most. Mine was lettuce, beans, cheese, chicken, and just a tad of sour cream and tortilla chips. YUM!

It really hit the spot and took very little time to make. Cutting out the small amount of tortilla chips and the sour cream makes it even healthier and it would still be delicious!

*The leftover chicken made a great addition to the soup we had for lunch today.

What kind of variations could you see for this recipe? I'm sure there are a million!

Nature brought indoors

2010-03-30T16:07:00.000-07:00

Romans 1:20
For His invisible attributes, namely, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made.

Paper Pots

2010-03-30T10:10:00.000-07:00

I'm in a little bit of a blogging funk right now. I've started several posts and just not finished them up. So, for the time being I'll share what I'm spending my time on today.

Like he said this is good for plants that are not supposed to be transplanted because of the roots. I have some seeds that fall in this category. The packets say to plant directly in the ground. I used half of the packet or less in this way so if they all die I'll still have plenty of seeds to plant directly in the ground later.

What's For Dinner - Freezer Recipes and Tips

2010-03-20T14:38:00.000-07:00

Fatigue...wow. I'm just worn out recently. Normally I'm a person who hates naps with a passion, but... lately I'm indulging in nap time. I knew that the third trimester was difficult, but things are different for everyone, right? So far not this one. Anyways...my point is that I'm taking the week off from a new dinner recipe. We've been having tons of people over to our home (8+ at a time). Between now and our next party, I've decided to just try this peanut butter oatmeal cookie recipe -as is, except I'm not going to make sandwhiches out of them - just cookies. I'll let you know how they turn out.

Looking ahead for when the baby is born I'm trying to gather up some meals that will freeze well. Here are some of the useful sources I've found:

I found these tips for freezing meals.
Also, I remember reading a long time ago about using foil to line a pan (especially square and rectangular ones) to help you pop the meal out of the pan after it's frozen so you can use the pan in the meantime. Then, when you're ready to cook it again, you find the appropriate sized pan again to pop the frozen meal into to defrost and cook in. This method also leaves you with square/rectangle shaped things in your freezer which stack easily (as apposed to bags of frozen food that flop over and can't stack).

Long list of what freezes well and how to do it.

"Golden rules" for freezing

Recipes I've found that claim to freeze well: (I haven't tried any of these yet, frozen or not, so I'll have to let you know which ones are good)

Green enchiladas - adapt as needed.
Ham and Cheese Ziti - This might be great to use up leftover Easter ham! (note to self: add veggie, cut recipe in half)
Broccoli Chicken - (note to self: one hour might be too long in oven)

Here's some of the sites I used to find these recipes:

Mom's budget.com - I still haven't gone though all these so I'm sure there are some more in there to explore. Click on this link to get the long list.

30 meals in one day

Do you have dinner recipes that freeze well? Any tips that will help me out as I try this for the first time?

What's for Dinner - Last Minute Quiche

2010-03-15T11:30:00.000-07:00

Here's the original recipe from allrecipes.com

Last Minute Quiche
I have to admit that when I started making new recipes each week I had at least two failures right off the bat so for me to have three "successes", or "keepers" as we call them, in a row is surprising to me.

The week I made this we were super busy and didn't really end up shopping for groceries. We had just picked up milk that week so I was running out of supplies for meals very fast. I happened to have all the ingredients for this recipe on hand and no particular purpose in mind for any of them.

This recipe gets 4 out of 5 stars again. Very yummy and pretty easy to make! I added the spinach and mushrooms to help make it a little more nutritious since the rest are more fattening ingredients. I have to say that in the middle of eating this my husband and I both started craving toast...lol. So we added toast to our quiche dinner to satisfy that desire. :) I guess that's what happens when you have breakfast foods for dinner!

Ingredients
8 slices bacon
4 ounces shredded Swiss cheese (I used whatever cheese I had - I think it was colby jack or something) I didn't measure the amount - just sprinkled the desired amount
2 tablespoons butter, melted
5 eggs, beaten
1/4 cup finely chopped onion
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups milk
4 ounces mushrooms
spinach to your liking (I used some leftover in the freezer)

Directions
Place bacon in a large, deep skillet. Cook over medium high heat until evenly brown. Drain, crumble and set aside.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease a 9 inch pie pan.
Line bottom of pie plate with cheese and crumbled bacon. Combine eggs, butter, onion, salt, flour and milk; whisk together until smooth; pour into pie pan.
Bake in preheated oven for 45+ minutes (original recipes says 35 so watch carefully), until set. Serve hot.

Enjoy!

My Garden "Progress"

2010-03-11T09:26:00.000-08:00

Monday was a beautiful warm, sunny day! I ended up in the front yard trying to weed out the bed near the front door. Phew! quite a job! Our house was owned by an elderly woman before we moved in and from what the neighbors say, she moved out a while before the house even went on the market, so the weeds were getting bad.
I didn't really have a plan for the front yard, which is good, because there are numerous bulbs all around the yard that are popping up the same plant...maybe tulips? I'm not certain yet about what they are and I'm new to this climate so I don't know much about the plants that grow well here.

I ended up weeding such a small area near the door and being completely exhausted afterwards. I realized I might need to step back my plans for this summer just a bit because weeding in the third trimester is a little difficult and the job is so big this year because it hasn't been weeded/planted in 2 or so years or more.

I'm still determined to have my vegetable garden though! It's just going to be smaller than I thought.
*********

This is the "flower bed" in our front yard. Quite a disaster.

Here's some of the progress I made weeding on Monday before I became completely exhausted. I moved two different kinds of bulbs. The bigger one in front and the little ones in the bigger back section. I moved the big ones carefully but just tossed the little ones into the bed on the left side since we need to add dirt against the side of our house anyways to help the water flow away from the house. We might not see these ones until next year.
The bigger bulbs in the front area...still have many more to move once the weather gets better.
My Johnny Jump Ups that will grow in the planter box from the "cut and place seeds" Anthony bought me.

******

I'm testing something I found to help out on the weeding. This no till method looks a little too good to be true, but there's only one way to find out if it will work for me or not. My husband and I put down the black plastic just before it started to rain this week. Hopefully the sun will come out and heat the area enough.

I'll let you know if this method works well or not!

*****

What's for Dinner - Slow Cooker Chicken Alfredo Stew

2010-03-08T12:00:00.000-08:00

Link to Original Slow Cooker Chicken Alfredo Stew

Slow Cooker Chicken Alfredo Stew
I would give this 3 out of 5 stars. It's pretty easy. The only precooked item is the potatoes, everything else just gets tossed in, so it's pretty easy. It tasted good, but I felt like it needed more zing to it, but I'd have to think about it more because I can't put my finger on what it needs exactly. My hubby said it was good but it could use more sauce (he says that for just about any recipe because he loves sauces of all kinds). It smells great while it cooks. This one might also be a great recipe to top with some bacon bits to add that little crunch. It was a great meal to bring to our church potluck (I actually broke the rule about not trying new recipes for potlucks and guests, oops!).

1 jar (16 oz) Alfredo pasta sauce
1 cup water
1/2 teaspoon dried basil leaves
5 small to medium sized potatoes, cooked and cut into small chunks
1 small onion, chopped
1 lb boneless, skinless chicken meat cut into strips or chunks
1 bag (1 lb) frozen mixed vegetables

1. In small bowl, mix pasta sauce, water, and basil.
2. In cooker, layer half each of the potatoes, chicken strips, frozen vegetables and pasta sauce. Repeat layers ending with pasta sauce.
3. Cover; cook on Low heat setting 4-5 hours.

Do you have any great slow cooker recipes?

Cleaning Schedule

2010-03-02T08:00:00.000-08:00

I recently posted that I found a relaxed cleaning schedule I really liked from another blogger. Here was the link to the post. To summarize: make a list of all the jobs that need to get done by room and then put aside a half an hour each day. Mon and Fri complete the weekly jobs that need to get done (like dusting, etc.) and then the other three days spend working on deep cleaning tasks so you don't have to work yourself to a bone once or twice a year doing "spring cleaning." I hate summarizing it for you because the post is definitely worth going over and reading for yourself. I'm making a couple of quick changes to accomodate my schedule and place in life, but overall I love this idea.

After reading this post I made my daily cleaning list, my weekly cleaning list, and my deep cleaning list by room. I put them all in a google document together and then loaded them on to scrbd.com here if you're interested in seeing it. It's pretty much a simple Excel document that lists all my jobs. I will probably be adding to it regularly (I'm already thinking of things to add as I type).

I plan to print it out and highlight the deep cleaning projects as I get them done. Since my schedule varies I simply make sure that the daily and weekly jobs get done before my hubby comes home and use extra time here and there, as God allows, to accomplish deep cleaning tasks.

It would most likely be more prodcutive to stick to one room until all the jobs within that room are accomplished (whether it takes one day or five), but I've been bouncing from job to job, room to room as I feel like it. Part of this is to keep my interest and part is that I really feel like being in whatever room is the sunniest/warmest at the moment.

I'm finding that I tend to deep clean at odd times anyways, I just simply tend to not deep clean the WHOLE house. My focus is too scattered and I tend to avoid or forget certain jobs. Having a list like this will help me focus on what jobs I tend to leave out (especially as I check or highlight them off the list). Hopefully I will get to each job before it gets unreasonably neglected. One idea I did have is to write the date of the last time you completed the task to help you decide how often a job needs to be accomplished.

What do you think of this cleaning method? Do you have any advice or see any needed fine tuning?

What's for Dinner - Sweet and Sour Chicken and Sauce

2010-03-01T08:00:00.000-08:00

This is a recipe that is more rare for me to make because of the amount of work that goes into it. Here are the original links to the recipes if you're interested.

Sweet and Sour Chicken recipe

and

Sauce Recipe

Sweet and Sour Chicken and Sauce
I would give these recipes 4 out of 5 stars again because it was very yummy. As far as time goes, it took a little longer to make than I'd like and I don't normally EVER fry anything. I hate frying! I'm still wondering what made me choose to try this recipe. Surprisingly though, the breaded chicken tasted amazing! There are ways around frying it though - you can always use chicken that you've baked, etc. I will use baked next time.
The sauce, however, is really what makes the meal. The sauce did taste like restaurant quality sweet and sour sauce! When I originally read the recipe I decided from the beginning that the sugar amount was too much and ended up cutting it (see below) and will most likely cut out even more next time.

SAUCE RECIPE

Ingredients
2 cups water
2/3 cup distilled white vinegar
1 cup white sugar (original called for one and a half and I think I'd do less than one next time)
1 (6 ounce) can tomato paste
1 (8 ounce) can pineapple tidbits (I couldn't find "tidbits" so I used 8 oz crushed)
3 tablespoons cornstarch
Directions
1.In a medium saucepan over medium heat, mix together water,
distilled white vinegar, white sugar, tomato paste, pineapple tidbits
and cornstarch. Cook, stirring occasionally, 15 minutes (I cooked mine for longer while I was working on cooking the chicken),
or until mixture reaches desired color and consistency.

Chicken and Veggies

1 cup Original Bisquick® mix
1/2 teaspoon pepper
2 eggs
1 lb boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into cubes
1/4 cup vegetable oil (I didn't measure out oil - instead I only drizzled as much as I needed)
1 medium green bell pepper, cut into strips (1 cup)
1 small onion, thinly sliced, separated into rings (1/3 cup)
1 can (20 oz) pineapple chunks, drained
1/2 cup sweet-and-sour sauce
Cooked rice, if desired

(I ended up adding frozen mixed veggies for more variety and I forgot to buy the 20 oz can of pineapple that the recipe calls for- oops! Fortunately the crushed pineapple in the sauce seemed to make up for it. I most likely won't add it next time because it just adds to the cost of the meal and you get some pineapple in the sauce anyways.)

1. In large resealable food-storage plastic bag, mix Bisquick mix and pepper.
2. In medium bowl, beat eggs slightly. Stir in chicken until coated.
Using slotted spoon, remove chicken from eggs;
place in bag with Bisquick mix. Seal bag; shake bag until chicken is coated. (I just did it in a bowl)
3. In 12-inch skillet, heat little bit of oil over medium-high heat.
Add veggies; cook 2 minutes, stirring frequently. Remove from skillet.
4. In same skillet, heat remaining 3 tablespoons oil. Add chicken; cook, stirring frequently, until golden brown on outside and no longer pink in center. Add vegetables; cook about 2 minutes, stirring frequently, until hot. Stir in pineapple (if you remembered to buy it) and sweet-and-sour sauce; cook until hot. Serve over cooked rice.

Enjoy!

Craft Projects for Our Baby

2010-02-25T11:17:00.000-08:00

This week has been a good week for me to start accomplishing some of my goals that I have set up for myself. I picked up yarn and a cross stitch pattern to work on for our baby. I'm starting out small and simple by making a frog bib and working on a more simplistic cross stitch pattern. I can always do more later, but I'd rather not set up unrealistic expectations for myself, especially if I try to do the same for our other kids later.

The bib pattern is free. Just click on the link above to be brought to the Lion Brand Yarn site.

What projects and/or goals are you working on?

What's for Dinner - Impossibly Easy Chicken Pot Pie

2010-02-22T14:05:00.001-08:00

So...I've been trying at least one new recipe each week and have had some successes and failures. I think I'll start sharing more of these with you all. I'll try to take pictures when I get a chance too. My philosophy on recipes is that if there are too many ingredients I won't make it because it's going to be too expensive and will take too much time. A recipe is a good recipe if it consists of things I buy on a regular basis or often have on hand anyways. Healthier recipes are better and will be made more often, but I'm not opposed to just plain yummy ones from time to time. ;)

Impossibly Easy Chicken Pot Pie
Made about 3-4 servings - I give it a 4 out of 5 stars! Not too heavy, not too complex, easy to manipulate if you have leftover veggies/meats, better for you than almost any other pot pie, and hit the spot!
Next time: I would like to add chunks of potatoes to it or serve scalloped potatoes on the side.

1 2/3 cups (I added a little more) frozen mixed vegetables
1 cup cut-up cooked chicken (again, I think I had a little more)
1 can (10 3/4 ounces) condensed cream of chicken soup
1 cup Original Bisquick® mix
1/2 cup milk
1 egg

1. Heat oven to 400ºF. Mix vegetables, chicken and soup in ungreased pie pan (I used a larger casserole dish)
2. Stir together remaining ingredients with fork until blended. Pour into pie plate.
3. Bake 30 minutes or until golden brown.

If you have a variation, recommendation, or idea for this recipe please leave a comment! What meals are you trying out? If you're working on adding new recipes let me know if you'd be interested in linking up in later posts.

Next week: Sweet and Sour Chicken and sauce

Containerizing

2010-02-18T09:04:00.000-08:00

OrgJunkie wrote this article about containerizing and why it is important and I have to admit that it has motivated me to "divide and conquer," as she says. You should really read her article because it's great.

I've recently become aware of the biggest plus to containerizing:

Once the container overflows you know it's time to get rid of the excess! Things don't get as out of control when they have to fit in a container. Using containters doesn't necessarily just make room for more things. Rather, you learn when it's time to get rid of the excess stuff.

This is great for my basket under the bed.
Things in the bedroom get thrown in the basket under the bed to keep surfaces clean and clear, and when it gets full or too cluttered I return those things to the places they belong in or throw them out (depends why they are in there). Books that we finish reading get put away, cords for chargers get sorted, papers get thrown away, etc.

I also have a basket for under my coffee table. It's too full now and needs to be sorted and purged. It's a great place to toss remote controls, magazines, books, unimportant mail, etc. especially when company is coming over or you need to quickly clear off this table.

I have a toy box in the hall closet for my nephew's toys. This box has been nice to keep in the closet to have it centralized in the house, separate from any toys that we have been given for our new baby, and because it's an ugly, cardboard box and it's nice to have it placed out of sight. It's on the floor so he can always access it and put his own belongings away when he's done with them.

The next place to divide and conquer: The bathroom/linen closet!

Here I give you the before picture (try not to scream...too loud):

During nap time today I took everything out and sorted with like things then placed every like item in a basket or container of some kind together.

Here's the after:

It doesn't look super pretty, but it's much more efficient. Everyday use items go in a basket together, hair items in another, lotion and perfume together, bath items together, jewlery together, etc. We happen to have absolutely zero counter space in our bathroom so this deep storage space needs to have things we use most near the front for easy access (hence the daily use baskets for me and my hubby).

I need to follow OrgJunkie's advice and collect more cheap containers with lids for this space. Right now some things are in bags which isn't as clean as I'd like. It would be nice if things could stack a little better near the back and have labels. That will be my next goal. :)

Dinner for Eleven...

2010-02-17T08:07:00.000-08:00

I recently had all of my in-laws over for Sunday dinner. (ahh!)

This is a total of 11 people...6 adults, 2 teens, 2 kids, and a toddler. I've never cooked for this many people before so the challenge was on.

I voted on making something that would be READY AS SOON AS POSSIBLE after church. (Especially when there are kids involved, complaining starts pretty fast after church. Although in this case it started before we left church from some of the adults! I never heard one "I'm hungry now" complaint from any of the kids! Way to go kids!)

Also, the last thing you want to be known for is the "hostess who can't pull off dinner until ridiculously late into the afternoon." This title has been given to one of my aunts by my husband. :)

With this criteria in mind I voted on doing a crock pot meal of some kind. However, I really don't like soups and stews...and I couldn't find any good recipes for the crock pot at such late notice!

So...

I decided to make tacos.

I shredded a bunch of chicken and smothered (and I mean smothered) it in salsa, then threw it in the fridge overnight to marinate. I then chopped lettuce, tomatoes and anything else I could chop up ahead of time for the toppings and threw them in my pyrex bowls with the lids.
In the morning all I had to do was put the shredded chicken on low in the crockpot. When we came back I put out chips and salsa for people to munch on, heated up some beans, put out all the bowls, and made guacamole. Walaa!

I served it as buffet style...because food doesn't fit on the table very well when people are sitting there and people could get up and make themselves more at any time without having to ask for everything to be passed across other people.

When it came to clean up...it was a snap because I had to use paper plates because I just don't have the number of plates for that many people and all the topping bowls had lids already so I just snapped them on again if there were leftovers and put them back in the fridge.

Thank goodness for two lifesavers! First, my hubby was wonderful at helping me! Second, I only had enough silverware for one time through so I was very grateful to only need spoons and not forks for dessert. If I had needed forks I would have had to wash them all before dessert! *sigh of relief

All the different kinds of toppings made the meal look more fancy, especially in the nice glass serving bowls that I have accumulated over time. I had hard and soft shells to put out and the two hot items (shredded chicken and beans) on one counter and the cold items on another counter to help space people out and move them along in the line.

Also, the chicken looked so fancy when I picked out chunkier styled salsas. One was a spicy salsa with jalapeno pieces, etc. and the other was a bean and corn salsa. After cooking it looked like I had added a bunch of different ingredients into the crockpot, but really I had just added the two jars of salsa and a bunch of chicken!

So...

One large family gathering is under my belt! I feel more confident to have a large crowd again (and I know I will be soon since we're somewhat running our adults and young couples group from the church. Any advice?).

Do you have any tips or tricks for entertaining/hosting large crowds? Any stories or victories to share?

Methods For Keeping the House Clean

2010-02-16T14:32:00.000-08:00

Some resources for getting a schedule for cleaning your home and teaching your kids chores.

Housecleaning the Easy Way - I have to say that I like this woman's method best, but would need to "tweek" it here and there for me. Especially so because I'm in a different stage in my life (no kids to help, etc.). Plus, unless I missed it, she didn't go over when and how she gets daily chores done.

Household Organization: Setting up a System that Works Gloriously - a wonderful resource to help you map out your responsibilities and where they might fit into your day.

Flylady.org - which I've mentioned before.

Chore charts for kids - from simple mom.

Another Way to Study the Word

2010-02-09T14:16:00.000-08:00

My Wednesday night Ladies' Bible Study is going through the book

Lord, Teach Me to Study the Bible in 28 Days by Kay Arthur.

Do not be deceived by the title as I was...

This is a book I would never pick up, mainly because of the title of it. How can anyone learn to study the Bible in 28 days? But, Kay Arthur does a great job teaching you how to use the Inductive Method of study within that time frame.

Personally I love this method of studying the Word and I have grown immensely since I learned how to do it over the summer.

I highly recommend this book to anyone who longs to understand what the Bible says and not how someone else interprets it.

Get to work right away...

This book doesn't teach you the method alone. Rather Arthur turns you loose within the scriptures and guides you to see what is truly within the passage simply by asking you questions about it. After finishing this book you will have used the inductive method to study the book of Jonah and the book of Jude as well as several other Old Testament passages. Besides studying the Word she guides you to meaningful prayer over it and application of it in your life by asking you questions.

Is this method for you?

This method is very detailed, and causes you to look at each word within the text very carefully. It focuses on context and observation so that your interpretations do not stray from the truth. Also, if you like to use colors while you study, this is a book for you. :) While it seems kind of juvenile to color the text (I print out the passage on a separate piece of paper so I'm not coloring in my regular Bible), it will open your eyes to the truths that are sitting right before your eyes, especially when you see it repeated over and over.

I hope this book can help other people in their walks with the Lord as it has helped and encouraged me.

Two week meal plan

2010-02-03T08:16:00.000-08:00

I've recently tried to work off a two week meal plan to see if this might help us save money, get to the store less, give more variety, and less stress to our meal times. Here's what I'm learning so far:

The Ups:
1. Much less thinking about what is for dinner! I have a big list to choose from (at least toward the beginning). I have even managed to save some of my "easy" and quick meals for later on.
2. Flexible - The bigger list gives more flexibility because you can choose the meal that works best for that night given the circumstances.
3. Leftovers - A real easy one that can be moved around according to how much is sitting in the fridge.
4. Cheaper - Well, right now I'm still getting into the swing of it but I'm hoping that the results will help cut down on costs. Buying in bulk helps cut costs and also, ideally, you'll be in the store less often so the temptation to get things you don't need will lessen.
5. Be in the store less often! FREEDOM! Just kidding. I just hate going. Even the idea of picking up just three things the following week is a nice thought.

6. Save the two week long list and reuse it - Less brain work later!

The Downs:

1. It's very difficult to plan for all your needs for two weeks - It takes a lot of planning and experience. (I had a difficult time remembering bathroom and other supplies that would be needed within the next two weeks because I was so focused on the food items). Also, items that are used for multiple meals will need to be purchased in greater quantities. I had a hard time with this one because I forgot that I was using cheese for so many meals that I would need to buy 2-3 times what I usually buy. All I was thinking was "buy cheese." Thank goodness my hubby secretly added some to the cart when I wasn't looking.
2. Certain fresh items are still need weekly - (for us, milk, bananas, and some other produce/dairy items are weekly items that just won't last two weeks).
3. Dropping more money at one time at the store - although hopefully the next week you won't be spending much or maybe nothing. Still this can be difficult if money is tight.
4. Maybe missing good sale items the following week after you shop. Although, if you still need fresh items you can always browse the ads and pick up the best deals and incorporate them into the next meal plan.
5. Wouldn't work as well if you plan around what's on sale each week. I have a harder time doing this because the best deals seem to be on junk or snack foods and I don't get any ads in the mail so it takes more work to look online for all the deals.

Daily Scheduling

2010-01-28T10:24:00.001-08:00

I hope great minds really do think alike because I found two great posts today that tackle the subject of daily scheduling and the ways to start one.

Here's Five Reasons Why You Need Steady Routines @ Steady Mom

and she has a link that leads you to this one (below) as well (although I already follow both ladies because they both give good advice).

Here's Create Daily Schedules and Routines @ Organizing Your Way.

Decorating for Valentines Day

2010-01-25T14:37:00.000-08:00

Besides Christmas I really haven't ever decorated for a holiday. Maybe living in a state with actual seasons and staying at home has motivated me for this seasonal and happy change. I didn't realize until I started scrounging just how many red and lovely objects I have. Some are from my sewing class in high school and some are from my wedding (red was one of our colors). I love the idea of changing the look of our home every now and again to refresh us!
Do you decorate for the seasons and other holidays?

A day in the life...

2010-01-21T12:17:00.000-08:00

Although I haven't started my cleaning schedule, or even tried to write one out (yikes!), I have started to incorporate things into my day in a scheduled manner that has helped me start forming good habits!

So, I thought I'd share what my day is starting to look like these days (just because I'm happy with the progress God is granting me).

I tend to "chunk" out my day, so these are how the "chunks" end up:

Morning Routine
1. Wake up and help hubby get ready in the morning: Make his lunch and his breakfast
2. Take vitamins (I'm so bad at this so this is a huge accomplishment for me! yay!)
3. Quiet time with the Lord - I'm learning inductive Bible study and I am being blessed immensely from what I am learning. I'm so grateful to be getting better at having this be the start of my day each day.
4. Have or finish my breakfast
5. Time for cleaning, making the bed and any general project that my nephew can tag along on (since he is usually dropped off around the time I'm in the middle of my quiet time).

Afternoon Routine
1. Lunch
2. Get ready for nap time
3. Reading time - as we're settling down for nap time I read my book and my nephew reads his books. This is another great thing for me because I'm horrible about sitting down and reading. I feel so lazy when I sit and read so having this scheduled time is great for me. I have a requirement for myself to read at least one chapter in a sitting and I'm getting through my first book of the new year! yay!
4. Nap time
5. My independent time - Anything I can get done while the little guy is sleeping. Sometimes this is shower time and sometimes this is my nap time too. :) This time is NEVER LONG ENOUGH! :)
6. Another chunk of time for cleaning and getting things done with someone in tow.
7. Clean up all toys, start making dinner - thankfully, my nephew loves to watch me cook
8. Nephew pickup and Husband comes home! Usually this is around 5:45
*phew it's been a long day :)

My victories:

Bible time in the morning

Making the bed early on in the day

Taking my vitamins

Adding in reading time

Notice I don't have any tv time in there! woohoo! The only time I'm turning on the tv these days is for the national nightly news. This is big for me because I really enjoy the "company" - I hate silence. Lately I just turn on the radio.

What does your day look like? Are you trying to form good habits in your schedule too?

Garden Plan

2010-01-18T13:08:00.000-08:00

Recently I began to get an itch to plant again. Since it's still too far away to actually plant anything I began to gather and plan. Check out the bottom of this post for some useful links for a free magazine!

1. I gathered inspiration images/ideas. I looked through many of my gardening books and a couple magazines that I kept for ideas. I'm actually still in the process of doing this. Many of the ideas I loved I couldn't try out for myself because I didn't have a backyard at the time so I'm ready! Hopefully I'll get my scanner set up and start scanning in the ideas and images and post them all for you to see soon! Stay tuned!

2. I drew a picture of my backyard to help me plan. I started by drawing just what was there. I didn't use graph paper and nothing is perfect to scale, but I did my best free hand. I was planning to be stumped and have to come back to it later but I immediately started to come up with ideas. This is also a good time to think about your needs. For example, do you want a flower garden, a vegetable garden, or are you trying to hide something that is unsightly? We have a short, chain style fence that is shared with all our neighbors so I have to think of privacy and how to create it as well as how to make sure my plants don't cross the fence and start migrating into their yards.

3. Think/Draw what you would like in the space. I'm sure that what I'm imagining is far from how it will turn out, but I have high hopes for now. I am the type to constantly go out and change things as I go so this is just an "idea plan" for the time being since I can't really do much else right now.

4. I made a list of supplies that will be needed for each idea. I can sit down with my husband and talk about the practicality of each idea and the expense of the supplies.

5. Gather supplies! I like this part. Looking for sales but also finding cheap tricks helps a lot when starting out your seeds inside. I'm starting to gather my egg cartons, jello and yogurt cups, and also the plastic containers that strawberries and other fruits come in. I've tried all of these and they all work very well. I have to say that the egg cartons were the most difficult because they can dry out the fastest because they are so shallow. However, too deep/big and the plant can have a harder time as well for the same reason. Plastic containers do seem to hold in moisture very well to help keep the environment just right. Also, folding newspaper into pots sounds cool too but the link I had for it no longer works. :(

**If your interested, whether you have a backyard, no backyard, or even a porch you can grow a garden too! I have a great book on container gardening. This book doesn't have a lot of useful info but has amazing pictures that keep you thinking about the amazing potential pots actually hold. Highly inspiring.

!!!Money Saving Mom had a post about a free subscription for a Lowes' Home and Garden Ideas magazine. See the link and sign up too!

!!!!After signing up for my free subscription I explored their site a little more and found advice based on your growing region. Since my move I hadn't even looked up what my new region was! haha! So that was useful for me in my planning. After clicking on my region (Region 3), I was lead to what to do in your garden during the month of January!

Friend Making Monday: Projects!

2010-01-18T10:53:00.000-08:00

Friend Making Monday is hosted at Amber's site here.
Projects!
I always seem to have a project in mind. This will give me an opportunity to organize them for myself.

1. Reading up on biblical motherhood: Being a wise and godly mother. Learning how to raise my children to love and know the Lord. I saw a book at the church library about raising boys that I'll have to check out. I'm also reading great things about the book Steady Days by Jamie C. Martin. Anything I learn in this department will be shared under my quotes and reading label on the right of my blog. Any other suggestions for my reading list?

2. Get my house organized! I'm still kinda unpacking. Mostly I'm unpacked but many things are not where I'd like them permanently or maybe they're out of the box but not anywhere other than the floor. :) (When someone wakes up from a nap you have to stop unpacking exactly where you are at that moment).

3. Get Financially organized! Knowing where our money is going, having a plan together for using our money wisely, and making it all work in the best way possible for us. I started out by doing this. I think I will make a new label for these kinds of projects to add to the right hand side of my blog.

4. Baby projects! I have made cross stitch and crochet projects in the past for other people's babies so I'm excited to do this for my own kids now. :) I think I'm going to save some of these for when I'm feeling uncomfortably large and having a harder time doing other things. Any posts on these will be in the crafts and projects label. Any suggestions for cute crochet patterns?

5. My garden! I have a huge and beautiful backyard ready to be planted this summer! Now is a good time to organize my plan, decide what to plant, how much I'm willing to spend, etc. I think I'll be sharing my progress on this as I go. I will post these in my gardening label. What are some great things to plant?

6. Making a schedule to keep me on top of tasks! I'm planning on posting on this soon. Any posts on this will be in the organizing and cleaning label.

Stay tuned for all my "progress" in these areas! Hopefully we can call them progress when I'm posting on them. :) What are some of your projects? Share with us!

Organizing our Finances: Utility Payments

2010-01-15T14:41:00.000-08:00

I made a quick word document to keep all my info on our utility payments. I use it to store all our account info and the company phone numbers. If there is an emergency with the power or gas I have all the info I could possibly need to tell them over the phone right here without having to search for the last bill or get on the computer.

My favorite part of this is that I have the account info to pay online and then I marked whether that is how I want to pay. My gas company charges and extra $3.50 to pay online! Crazy! I would much rather pay for the stamp on that one, but for others I can save my stamps. Every penny counts!

It's not fancy, but it's a good start to getting all the info in one place!

You can see it and download it here. You may have to make free scribd account, but then you can use all that the website has to offer.

Make Your Own Food Pantry

2010-01-14T08:17:00.000-08:00

What do you do when you move into a house without a food pantry? Well, our house had enough space to create one. Here's the result:

Before we owned a dresser we used these shoe holders from Ikea to house our folded clothes in the closet. Now that we own a dresser I had these kicking around. I knew they would come in handy later. This one fits perfectly into a little niche in our closet. My husband drilled spots for the screws and then I tied the shoe holder into place on the screws. My husband then cut some leftover cardboard to reinforce the "shelves" and make them a little sturdier. And Voila! I put all our light weight food supplies in the shoe holder. Nothing is on, or near, the floor and only the heavy food (like cans) are left in my cupboards now. Yay!
The added bonus is that everything is easier to see this way than in the deep kitchen cabinet where it was...and nothing is low to the ground where it's more attractive to pests and where it's more difficult for me to squat down and reach as I get bigger. :)

We have another one of these that might be able to fit under this one but I don't think I have enough light weight foods to fill it. Maybe my husband can build some wooden shelves for the heavy stuff later.

Progress in the Unpacking?

2010-01-06T07:50:00.000-08:00

So yesterday I had a day off from watching my nephew so I decided to further tackle our bedroom. This room is only 10x11 feet so I want it neat and organized for maximum living space. I cleaned, emptied what things were not supposed to be in there in the first place, and tried to find a place for all the things that are supposed to stay in the room. I also took off more of the painter's tape from when we painted it. Here's the results so far: The doggy wouldn't move the whole time I was making the bed and taking pictures. :) Our bed is still on floor because we haven't put the frame together yet (so you might see some bed frame pieces in these pictures). Hopefully we'll get to that before I get so big that it's hard to get out of a low bed. We chose a "Chipotle" color (as my husband calls it) but I like to think of it as a wine red color. We're doing an "Asian" theme for this room so I gathered all of our Asian decorations and put them in here.
My Japanese paper lamp and our fancy, new clock radio on my side of the bed.

The dresser is across from the bed and just right of the door as you walk in. My goal is to keep this clear and pretty looking. I still have to get a nice pot and drip catcher for the plant on the left. We're hoping to get a small wall shelf later to place a couple extra things on and I'll probably move one of the plants over to it to even out the green. I love having plants in the bedroom and we finally have enough sunlight (although not today) coming through the two windows to keep some in our bedroom. Very exciting for me!

I wanted to keep the room as open as possible so I placed the laundry basket inside the closet. On the floor on the other side is a box with our seasonal and less used shoes (so many sandals). The shoes we wear most are in the shoe holder in the hall closet with all our coats, etc.

These will be on our wall eventually. They are Japanese prints that I printed from the computer and then framed with shish kabob sticks that I colored brown with a marker.

A poster we purchased long ago of Hiroshige's Four Seasons and then on the bottom is a colored pencil drawing of a popular Japanese print. My husband created and gave this to me when we were dating. I'm planning on getting frames for both of these. The orange bottle is a bath oil bottle with a bamboo design on the glass. I might fill it with something of another color to match the room but I might leave it as it is.

One of two candle holders we purchased in an Asian store.

The frame on our dresser of us on our wedding day.

My mirror that needs to be put up on the wall still. :)

The dog has his own bed and then to solve some organization problems I got a basket as a Christmas present that I plan on putting all our extra junk in (like the books we read before bed, etc.) and then we can slip it under the bed (once the bed frame is up). The basket is sitting on top of pieces from the bed frame. So ideally we will have less clutter but still keep the things we want on hand!

The dog toys needed a home too so they ended up in a shoe box that will be put under the bed too. This is the first time that the dog toys actually have a home.

You can see some of the painter's tape I'm still working on getting off the baseboards. :)

Hope you enjoyed seeing a piece of my house. There's more to come as I finish each room (a very slow process for me right now).

Homemaking Goals

2010-01-04T10:47:00.000-08:00

Setting Down some

Homemaking Goals

I am not really into New Year's resolutions, but I always have goals for myself. Most consist of me being a better follower of Christ, wife, homemaker, and we'll add "mommy" to the list now too.

Here are some of my homemaker goals for right now. These will take some time to accomplish but I am determined! :)

Get financially organized! This is more than just for me. My husband and I do financial planning and paying together and sometimes that makes things difficult. BUT! I'm determined that we will find a system that works well for both of us. Our latest attempt is going to be an application that my husband downloaded for his ipod touch. This will enable him to put all money in and out of our bank account on record in the ipod as we spend it. We'll see how it goes. I want to couple this with having all the information for our accounts in one place for emergencies. For example, my husband pays certain bills online (which requires passwords and usernames) and I pay the rest in this way or that way. What if something happened to one of us and the other one didn't know how to pay all the bills alone? Well, I want to make sure both of us can do this if something happens. This is a big project but I'll have to post how it's going as it gets accomplished!

Get a cleaning schedule! I want to make sure that daily, weekly, and monthly jobs do not get put off longer than they are supposed to. Now that I am a stay-at-home wife I have to get a schedule going to keep productivity in this area as I'd like it. When I was working everything became a Saturday catch up job but now I can spread things out and make sure everything is conquered.

Know where everything is! It drives me crazy when I don't know exactly where something is right away. I want to know exactly where it is without looking. :)

Do you have homemaking goals too? Any advice to help me on my quest? Things to add?

Keeping Organized in the New Year

2009-12-29T08:36:00.000-08:00

I'm currently exploring a tool my sister-in-law told me about that helps you keep your house organized and clean.

Flylady.org is a step by step process website that helps you take your messy and chaotic house and slowly turn it into a clean one. I haven't looked at this site too much but I was intrigued because my sister-in-law said she liked it so much.

Here's the link that brings you to the day-by-day instructions. I have to say that I am motivated to clean my sink now!

Back to Normal (?)

2009-12-29T07:17:00.000-08:00

Wow. I have to admit that I feel so guilty for falling off the face of the blogging world. Usually I at least read other blogs even if I am having a hard time keeping up on mine, but this time I have just not been on at all so I apologize.

Since October things have been changing so much for us. We purchased our house then worked on it for a month straight. We took down the wall paper in every single room of the house, painted, and then Anthony pulled up the rug and refinished the wood floor. The result is a gorgeous house that we are really proud of. We are so thankful to the Lord for the blessings we've been given.

Now, however, we're running on burnout. Moving in has been the slowest process for me. :) I'm starting to get motivated to do more unpacking but Anthony is also on burnout from all the work he did so the furniture that needs to be put together is still sitting around the house.

I was able to quit my job and I started to watch our 2 1/2 year old nephew during the days. This has been an adventure! He's a good kid but when you put him together with my dog I feel like I have two kids who love to get into trouble. They love to wrestle. One seems to always get too rough for the other one so I feel like I'm constantly correcting one or the other. They are very funny together.

I visited my parents for a week right before Christmas and got back to Kansas City just in time for a foot of snow to drop on us. I was so thankful to get back home before it all hit. I could have easily spent Christmas in the airport waiting for a flight. God is good.

I'm also getting used to this new and wonderful thing called pregnancy! Wow that has been an adventure too! I'm right around 20 weeks this week and my ultrasound was moved up to tomorrow.

Well, I thought I'd run an update on my life and I'll start posting more often (Lord willing). Hope everyone is well and all had a Merry Christmas!

sorry, sorry, sorry

2009-11-28T09:31:00.001-08:00

ok. I can't post the pictures of the bread yet because we're in the middle of moving. I'll start blogging again when we're all settled into our new house. sorry for the delay!

Oatmeal Bread - so yummy!

2009-11-24T08:36:00.000-08:00

Oatmeal Bread - 2 loaves.
This recipe is a little confusing so if you have any questions plz ask. I tried to make it more straight forward so hopefully it's clear.

Combine:
1 cup quick oats
1/2 cup whole wheat flour (I have always used regular flour because that's all I buy)
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 Tablespoon salt
2 T margarine

2 cups boiling water
Pour the boiling water over the above combination of ingredients (This cooks the quick oats). Stir together to combine.

In a separate bowl dissolve:
1 pkg dry yeast
1/2 cup warm water

When the batter is cooled to luke warm, add the yeast mixture.

Stir in:
5 cups white flour (*I used less flour than this and it looked fine-about 4 and a half cups? Although my mom insisted that 5 is necessary)

When dough is stiff enough to handle, turn onto floured board and knead for 5-10 minutes. Place in greased bowl, cover, and let rise until doubled (1-1 1/2 hours)
Punch down
Shape into 2 loaves; place in greased 9x5x3" loaf pans. Let rise a half hour in pans.
Bake at 350 degrees for 30-40 minutes. Rub or brush top of loaves with margarine/butter when they come out of the oven for the golden look. :)

*I changed the recipe above to give better results than my bread pictured here. The recipe called for it to rise in the middle but I changed it to rise the second time in the pan and that makes a fuller looking loaf - although the taste is the same: amazing! :) Happy Baking!

Friend Making Monday: Thanksgiving

2009-11-23T10:56:00.000-08:00

Friend Making Monday questions about Thanksgiving.

This is my favorite holiday so I couldn't resist.

1. Turkey or Ham? TURKEY! it's Thanksgiving!

2. Favorite side dish? Stuffing, cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes and gravy, mom's homemade oatmeal bread (I'm going to have to post that recipe)

3. Favorite dessert? Chocolate pudding pie

4. Black Friday? I might hit some sales, not expecting to get much but my hubby is all over it.

5. If so, what's at the top of your list? nothing...if I see something I might go for it but I never get my hopes up about anything specific because it will probably be gone by the time you get there.

6. Out of town or in town? At the in-laws in town.

7. Hosting or Helping? Helping: bringing fudge for dessert and homemade bread

8. One Family Tradition? We watch "It's a Wonderful Life" just about every year. :)

9. What do you do after dinner? Watch the above movie or whatever...

10. What are you most thankful for this year? Always: God's plan of salvation and my hubby, but this year: we're very thankful for baby who is coming in May.

A Few of My Favorite Cleaning Things...

2009-11-19T11:35:00.000-08:00

Yay! I'm posting again! This is day 1 of Week 14 in my pregnancy and I'm feeling amazing today! woohoo. So I decided to post (since I never know what tomorrow will bring)!

I'm always on a quest to find better ways to clean things at home. I decided to share some of my favorite cleaning tools and products to have on hand and how I use them and I'd love to hear from any one else on how they do things at their house. I'm really into any laundry tips too since I now own my own washer/dryer, so if you have any please share! Has any one really tried the tennis ball in the dryer?

The List: (Left to Right)
1. Spray bottle with Water
2. Glass cleaner
3. Old sock
4. Lift Off
5. Vinegar and Water mix
6. Sponge with scrubby on back
7. CLR
8. Comet or something like it
9. Tide pens
10. Furniture markers (That's my name for them)
11. Measuring or pouring cup
12. Kitchen Scrubby
13. Old Toothbrush (not pictured)

1. Spray Bottle with Water - I use this for all kinds of jobs but mainly for spraying wrinkles out of laundry when it comes out of the dryer just a little wrinkled but doesn't quite need to be ironed. Just hang on a hanger, spray, and brush out the wrinkles with your hand and allow to dry on the hanger. It doesn't work for all materials but for t-shirts and thicker stuff that's not worth ironing it does wonders.
2. Glass Cleaner - I can't get away from it. I need it for windows and mirrors and some other shiny surfaces. Just a must have.
3. Old Sock - I use old socks for cleaning some surfaces because paper towels can be expensive to use all the time (I have to use paper towels for those icky jobs though. Some stuff just needs to be thrown away after cleaning). Also, these can just fit on your hand for easy use.
4. Lift Off - My husband picked this product up at Home Depot one time to get a sticky mess up (and it works well for that) but this little bottle came with the big bottle. This one (the little bottle) is for all kinds of stuff and it is safe for clothing, etc. I used it once when I had cooking oil stained into my favorite skirt and nothing else worked to get it out. I used this product once and it came out immediately even though I had washed it several times previously. I hardly ever use it but when cooking oil strikes I want this on hand for it.
5. Vinegar and Water Mix - This is a green cleaner that is becoming very popular and I'm hearing about it everywhere so I tried it and it works pretty well. Being 50/50 vinegar and water it can't hurt you so I started using it where I thought my dog might be licking/smelling after I clean. I keep mine in an old spaghetti sauce jar right now until I buy a spray bottle. I heard it's a great green way to disinfect your kitchen of harmful germs! This is great for me because I've been contemplating picking up some disinfecting cloths for the kitchen but thinking that I didn't necessarily want the harmful cleaners where I make food. Perfect fix for my problem because vinegar kills germs and it's safe for consumption! :)
6. Sponge with a scrubby surface on the back - I use this for dishes but recently was tipped off that old scrubby sponges are great to use for cleaning the tub too! My friend Diane wrote a wonderful post on how to clean the tub and I used it recently to clean mine and it cut the effort of doing it in half. The scrubby part was a huge help in getting those small areas that a scrub brush can't and it helped get soap scum off without much work. Perfect.
7. CLR - I have to admit that I love this product. With all the hard water build up on faucets and around any place where water sits this is a must for me. It gets calcium build-up that I would think could never come off and gets the faucet shinier than any other product that I've used. I typically use an old toothbrush for rubbing it in cracks on the faucet and between the handles.
8. Comet - I really only use this for inside the toilet and inside the tub. But again, read Diane's post for how to use it in the tub.
9. Tide pens - These are great for when you are out and can't wash a stain right away. They work wonderfully for getting some part of lunch out of your shirt for the rest of the day. I carry one with me everywhere! (Plus, who can't love the talking stain commercial?)
10. Furniture Markers - I don't really know what these are called but mine are called Guardsman Touch-Up pens. I've seen them on the cleaning aisle at Walmart. They come in a three pack that look like brown markers but they are used for nicks and scratches in wood furniture, etc. around your home. We've actually purchased discount furniture or been given things with marks in the wood and they are easily covered up with these markers. It's not perfect but it helps make it far less noticeable to guests and when you are sitting across the room.
11. Measuring or pouring cup - I use this only for water to rinse things. When I'm done cleaning my tub and there's soap or cleaning agent in the back of the tub or along the wall and the faucet or shower can't really reach it to hose it off I fill that baby and just wash it down. Saves time and water. Also, I use it to rinse off the dog when I'm washing him. Big help.
12. Kitchen Scrubby - I use this to clean things in my kitchen that I prefer not to get stuck in my sponge. For example, I know if I scrub that egg off the frying pan with the back of my scrubby sponge the egg will be stuck in there for who knows how long. And that's just gross!!!!!!! So I use this for getting those kinds of mess because the mess rinses out of the bristles much easier than out of a sponge. yay!
13. Old Toothbrush - just good for scrubbing those small places. :)

Friend Making Monday: Recipes!

2009-11-16T08:03:00.001-08:00

Ok. I'm excited to share some recipes for Friend Making Monday hosted by Amber Filkins at her site. I'm also excited to read up on all those who are sharing over there.

As I promised Diane I was going to post my mom's carrot cake recipe. This is my favorite version of carrot cake because I grew up on it and my mom has a variation of this that is gluten free that tastes exactly the same as the original (which is amazing that she was able to do that).
Anyways...

Carrot Cake
2 c flour
2 c sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
3 c shredded carrots
1 cup oil
4 eggs
1/2 cup nuts (optional)

Mix dry ingredients together and wet together, then gradually add together and mix (I always use a hand mixer - it's not really a science, just get it all in there and mix it all well). Bake in greased and floured cake pan (9x13") at 325 degrees for 50-60 minutes.

Once cake is out and cooled, you can add your cream cheese frosting...

Cream Cheese Frosting

4 oz cream cheese
1/2 stick of margarine (1/4 cup)
1 tsp vanilla
2 cups powdered sugar
Soften and mash cream cheese and margarine, add vanilla and stir in sugar in parts

My husband has also been asking for my mom's fudge recently...

Marshmallow Cream Fudge

1 jar marshmallow cream (7 oz)

1 1/2 cups sugar

2/3 cup evaporated milk (from the can)

1/4 cup margarine

1/4 tsp salt

12 oz semi sweet morsels

1 tsp vanilla

1/2 cup chopped nuts (optional)

In sauce pan, combine marshmallow, sugar, evaporated milk, margarine, and salt. Bring to full boil, stirring constantly. Remove from heat, add semi sweet morsels. Stir until morsels melt and mixture is smooth, stir in nuts and vanilla (you might want to do this quickly as it cools really fast). Pour into aluminum foil (for easier removal later) lined 8" or 9" square pan. Chill until firm (about 2 hours).

My Favorite homemade gift ideas for Christmas

2009-10-15T09:26:00.000-07:00

Make your own Christmas gifts:

Make a wordle. This is awesome.

Terrariums- Not sure I could do this but it's beautiful to look at.

Button Curtains - This one could be done in many different ways depending on the fabric you choose.

Fancy Hot Cocoa mix - the presentation of it is the best part

Patchwork Joural cover

Martha Stewart ideas:

Cinnamon Chrismas candle I'm definitely doing this one this year

Homemade bath salts

Cute Scarf Stocking

Fancy Candy Jars

Fabric Covered Frames