God's Still Small Voice

Pardon my absence! I've been neglecting everything else in my life so I could work in the garden. I'm excited to say that, with the help of my sister, it's all in and mulched (ok, I have a little bit more to mulch, but it's basically finished). Does anybody NOT love this time of year? Yesterday my kids ate our first red strawberry and today there's a gentle thunderstorm outside; giving me a break from the garden, giving the garden a nice drink, giving my husband an excuse to skip yard work and putz in the garage, and giving my kids some wet fun outside. Besides sunny days in the hammock, this is the best kind of summer day.

I have to share an unfortunate event that just happened though. We lost a couple chickens this past week to predators. We live quite a way from the nearest wooded area so we've never had a problem with raccoons and such, but this last week we lost one chicken one night and one chick the next. (Sad face).

One night I went outside to close the girls in—they had been free ranging that day—and I had a feeling that I needed to slide their sliding back door closed, in addition to the fence gate and front door to the coop. I hesitated, though, siting to myself that we've never had a problem with predators before. Why worry? And I didn't close the small sliding door. The next morning my son discovered that our broody hen had been killed. I felt horrible! I thought I should've closed the back door, and I didn't. I had to admit to the children that day that I had ignored God's still small voice, and it resulted in a dead chicken.

Have you ever heard God's still small voice? Have you ever felt a prick in your spirit or a gentle nudge or reminder to do something? If you feel like it's a god guiding you, or the universe enlightening you, let me encourage you to consider the idea that it's the God of the universe. The Creator of all things, the Creator of you, knows what has happened and what will happen. Even more amazing than that is the fact that God loves us unconditionally and He only wants the very best for us! And because of those two facts, God doesn't sit back and watch the world happen, He steps down and interacts in it for our benefit. He nudges, He guides, He whispers quietly to our inner-most parts, 

“you better do this”, 

“check on that”, 

“call her”, 

“did you turn the iron off before leaving for church?” 

(ok, maybe this last one's paranoia, but you know what I mean).

God wants to protect us and those we love, but His voice is still and small. In order to hear it we must be tuned in, listening, and still ourselves.

My Favorite Blog to Follow

I will openly admit that I'm still learning.  I'm still figuring out just what works and what doesn't for this family of mine.  And, as you all know, once I have that figured out it changes on me.  But I'm figuring that out too.  I'm learning how to roll with the punches.  I'm realizing that less is more.  And that simple really is better, because with a family of six you can never really have "boring" anyway.  

My absolute favorite blog to follow is Little House in the Suburbs.  As of late she has written a lot about simplifying your summer schedule, and also how to simplify your DIY projects!  I didn't even realize that needed to be done!  But she's so right.  Read some of the most recent posts and you will be enlightened as to how to really get a hold of some of the hectic in your life and tame it into manageable simplicity.  I just love it!

Happy Reading

Foodie or Mommy?

I'm a foodie. I love to cook, I adore baking, and eating is one of my favorite past-times. The Food Network is one of my favorite TV channels to watch and I have an addiction to “Cupcake Wars”. I just can't help it. Food is yummy, tasty, fun to eat with friends, fun to make with kids (most of the time...OK, sometimes) and an important part of family bonding.

There is something that I have learned, though. After my brain first caught a glimmer of this truth, I panicked. I ignored it. I did not want to accept this truth! You see, I love being in the kitchen. It is one of my deepest burning desires in life to someday open a bakery. I enjoy new recipes. Grocery shopping? Not so much. But everything else surrounding food? YES! The truth I was avoiding was that dinner must be simple. With four children ages 7 years down to 10 months I simply don't have two hours every afternoon to experiment and prepare exciting new recipes. Besides that, with four children ages 7 years down to 10 months I don't have the money to prepare new exciting recipes! We just can't afford swordfish or tuna steaks (seriously? tuna comes in steak form? I thought it only came in a can!). Speaking of steaks, I don't remember the last time we bought steaks. You know the big juicy kind to throw on a charcoal grill? Mmmm, my mouth is watering just thinking about it! Yeah, those...we don't buy 'em!

Instead I've adopted a very simple system that is pasted on the side of the fridge. It goes like this. Monday = meatless; Tuesday = chicken; Wednesday = pasta; Thursday = beef; Friday = soup or casserole; Saturday = crockpot; Sunday = leftovers. I don't meal plan; I don't have time! If we're hankering for something special I'll buy ingredients for it, but otherwise I buy pantry essentials, meat that is on sale, and we go off the weekly chart. Meals are simple (my kids don't love asparagus, steak with au pauvre sauce or chicken in white wine sauce anyway). We're sticking pretty much to kid-friendly basics like tuna noodle casserole, spaghetti and meatloaf in this household. Do you know what I've discovered? Kid-friendly, simple and inexpensive meals all go hand-in-hand. Less adventurous? Yes. Less fun? Maybe. Easier, quicker and less stressful? Totally. And those requirements are pretty high up on the priority list lately.

What are your favorite frugal, kid-friendly meals?  Leave recipes, if you can.  We'll all benefit!  

Dandelion Jelly...Yummy in my Tummy!

There's just something satisfying about making something out of nothing, or creating something out of “junk” around your house to fill a need, instead of running to the store to buy something new. There's also something satisfying about carrying on a tradition or doing something you know your Grandmother or Great-Grandmother did generations ago. My Monday morning project was satisfying. I made dandelion jelly! It was a project that used weeds from our yard (free!), and made them into something new and yummy. It also reminded me of my Grandma. I know she probably made dandelion jelly for the same reason I wanted to make it...dandelions are abundant and free, and with her 5 sons (God bless her!) she needed inexpensive food...and lots of it.

First canning jars of the season.

A quick rabbit trail:

My sister and I spent one or two weeks every summer at my Grandparents' house. We loved it. Grandma taught us both to do cross-stitch, sew and crochet. We loved the time at Grandma and Grandpa's house and I feel so blessed now to have gotten the time with them. I'm also blessed to know the things Grandma taught us. As we got older we brought along friends and Grandma taught them how to sew and crochet too.

Back to golden, delicious dandelion jelly. First we picked the dandelions. I read that the flower heads freeze well and I still have two Wal-Mart bags of dandelions in our deep freeze. Whether I use them for more jelly or not is yet to be determined.

Then, the worst, most pain-staking part of the jelly making process: separating the yellow flower from any bit of bitter green! I don't know how long it took me, but I picked apart enough flowers to equal 8 cups of yellow fluffy stuff. I never wanted to see or touch another dandelion as long as I lived.

                       

Next I boiled the flowers in 2 quarts of water for 10 minutes. As the flowers were boiling they smelled like cooked squash. 

Now we're boiling!

I strained the flowers out...   

                      

and re-strained the “juice” through a coffee filter. 

Dandelion tea, anyone?

 

Pollen, I guess?

The Help

To the flowery water I added lemon juice, a touch of yellow food coloring, and pectin, then brought the mixture to a boil. Then I added sugar (and a whole lot of it), stirred and boiled the mixture hard for 1.5 minutes.

Skim the top, pour into sterile, hot jars and put the lids on. Then listen for the sweet popping sound of your jar lids, meaning you've got a perfect seal and something pretty to place on your shelf to enjoy at a later time.

Yikes!

                                                

An unfortunate spill gives us a first taste!

From this amount of dandelions I got 13 half-pint jars of jelly. It tastes delicious and sweet...just like honey. I can't wait to try it on a peanut butter sandwich!

Find my Dandelion Jelly recipe on "My Mommy Recipes" by clicking on the link at the top of the page.

Simple Beauty

My Life Today

Country Beautiful

Multi-tasking

Shall we talk about multi-tasking? There's no other way to get all the things done in a day that need to get done. We absolutely must get multiple things going at the same time. The book Men are like Waffles, Women are like Spaghetti explains perfectly the male and female brains. Men have little compartments that look like the little squares in a waffle. Nothing can cross from one square to the next. They can only think about, process, one thing at a time. Women, on the other hand, are like spaghetti. Our noodles are like noodles, all intertwined and tangled together, and all covered in sauce. You can't tell where one thought ends and the other begins. It's this noodley mess that makes our husbands scratch their hair and cock their heads slightly when we've finished an (extended) train of thought, as they try to compute what we've just said...where the first thought began and how it possibly changed into the last thought out of our mouths.

Once my brother-in-law was visiting us. He decided to take over the kitchen for dinner and give me a night off (yay!). There was only one problem. He started filling the kitchen sink with hot water to get dishes soaking before he was done working at the stove. Perfect idea in theory. A Mom at home with many kids probably could've pulled this off easy-peasy. But said brother-in-law could not. As the sink was filling and he switched his focus back to the dinner on the stove the sink overflowed with hot, sudsy water. It was a huge mess, and incredibly humorous (to me anyway).

I always compare this instance with one I had with a tiny babe and a potty training toddler (and one more in between there! Oy! I'm not sure how I survived). I was nursing my tiny babe, on the phone, and my toddler needed his sweet little bottom wiped, sitting on the toilet. Did I do all three at once? I did! I didn't drop the babe in the toilet. I didn't drop the phone in the toilet, keeping it perfectly scrunched between my ear and my shoulder, and I'm pretty sure the person on the line didn't even know of the acrobatic feat I was completing all while carrying on a perfectly normal conversation!

We have laundry and dishes to wash, noses and bottoms to wipe, meals to plan, toilets to scrub. In the midst of that we nurse wee ones, teach the older ones and, if we're lucky, chat for a few precious moments on the phone to a girlfriend (who might just be nursing a babe and wiping a bottom at the same time). Sometimes at night my head is spinning long after my body has stopped moving! It reminds me of this oh-so-perfectly true poem:

If You Give A Mom A Muffin

If you give a mom a muffin, She’ll want a cup of coffee to go with it.

She’ll pour herself some. Her three-year-old will spill the coffee.

She’ll wipe it up.

Wiping the floor, she’ll find dirty socks. She’ll remember she has to do laundry.

When she puts the laundry in the washer, She’ll trip over boots and bump into the freezer.

Bumping into the freezer will remind her she has to plan for supper.

She will get out a pound of hamburger.

She’ll look for her cookbook (“101 Things To Do With a Pound of Hamburger”).

The cookbook is sitting under a pile of mail.

She will see the phone bill, which is due tomorrow.

She will look for her checkbook.

The check book is in her purse that is being dumped out by her two-year-old.

She’ll smell something funny. She’ll change the two year old’s diaper.

While she is changing the diaper, the phone will ring.

Her five-year-old will answer and hang up.

She’ll remember she wants to phone a friend for coffee.

Thinking of coffee will remind her that she was going to have a cup.

And chances are…

If she has a cup of coffee,

Her kids will have eaten the muffin that went with it.

Does anybody else feel like this about sums it up??? 

Summer Schedule

We have successfully made it into our “summer schedule”. What does our summer schedule look like? Wiiiiiide open. Why do I say it like it's an accomplishment? Because towards the end of Winter and into Early Spring we all began to feel like we were riding a merry-go-round that kept picking up speed and we were hanging on for dear life. I LOVE that our kids were in AWANA. I'm happy that my husband was in a men's leadership group. I double-love the families in our small group bible study. I really enjoyed playing women's volleyball! But I rejoiced inside when all of it ended.

For some reason I kept thinking that I wasn't doing anything this last Fall and Winter. So I kept signing up to do more! Pretty soon we were double booked on Sunday evenings, booked Monday, Wednesday and Thursday evenings, and I do believe we went months without a “free” weekend. So, yes, I am so very glad to be into our “summer schedule”.

I keep remembering Ecclesiastes as I shift into summer mode. “There's a time for everything”. This summer is my time for nothing! It's not that we won't ever do anything, but we will be free to pick and choose what we do, and when. We have some camping planned, I'm working on having a Pampered Chef party with a friend (Yay!), I have a garden all planned out just waiting for warm enough soil to plant. All these things I can do at my leisure, with no weekly commitments, and I intend to do just that!

If you've been too busy, is this summer a good season for you to plan some nothingness into your schedule? If you've been cabin fever-y and bored, is it a good season for learning a new hobby? If you've been inside, it is a good season for getting outside, riding a bike, hiking. If you've been mourning, I pray the sunny days will boost you into a season of joy.

In my life, the season is changing into a time for rest. I see lazy mornings with a cup of coffee on the porch. I see kids playing in a plastic pool in the lawn. I see myself swinging, ever so gently, in our hammock while the kids ride their bikes in the driveway. And I can't wait.

Crafty Craft Center

Hello all (or should I say 'hello you two'?),

I won't have too many pictures of awesome crafts that I do at home. I'm simply not that creative. However, here is a project I'm a little proud of. My mother-in-law gave us two hand-me-down drawing tables for the kids. I love things given to us from when my husband and I were kids! They're the best quality products, having lasted for...(ahem)...30 or so years. Here's a picture of what they were:

Pretty cool little doo-dad, right?

I (without waiting for my husband to do a nice, meticulous, wood-worker quality job, because I was antsy and wanted it done right now) cut the legs so it would sit level. Originally the table top was angled for drawing.

Then I spray primed and painted it. Extremely boring color, I know. It was all I had at home and I didn't want to buy something new for the project. Remember, I was antsy and wanted it done right now? Plus, I'm cheap.

Ta-da!

What I did buy was a lazy Susan from Wal-Mart. I thought I was very clever, buying a “double decker” model. I thought I was getting two for the price of one, but no, only the bottom level had the rotating plate on it. The second level just clipped onto the bottom. Makes sense when you really think about it, no? That was $6 (gotta love Wal-Mart prices!).

I then saved my aluminum cans. I have a fancy Pampered Chef can opener that leaves a smooth, safe edge on the top of the opened can. I saved these on my kitchen counter top until my husband could stand it no longer, and I felt I had an adequate amount of cans to choose from in creating my new craft center.

Can't you just picture this in action?

Then I glued the lazy Susan and aluminum cans onto the table top with epoxy, creating a new, organized craft center. Waddya think? I can't wait to get it filled with brand new crayons, markers and paints for next school year!

I'm sure you could make one of these yourselves, using an old serving tray or TV tray, basket or bucket or small end table. Be creative! You just might love the results.

Happy crafting!

Confessions from this Life at Home Mom!

I have a confession to make. It's really quite embarrassing. I do it at home. I've even done it at someone else's house. Here it is: I regularly back up over things as I'm pulling out of a driveway. It's horrible. Do you know you can't see toys or bikes in the rear-view mirror when they're parked directly behind a mini-van? It's true! Did you also know that underneath the black exterior on a Radio Flyer tricycle's wheels are white wheels? I know this because I've backed over one, cracking the black wheel covers. We now own a red tricycle with three white wheels. I've also backed over my oldest son's bike helmet. I'm just lucky he wasn't wearing it when I ran it over. Last night I backed into our toddler's four wheeler. My Mom and Dad bought it for our oldest when he was one. Now he's almost 8. I'm not sure how it's lasted this long!

They're setting me up for failure!  Like those white trike tires?

Before the four-wheeler incident I was leaving a friend's house. We had just gotten done saying our good-byes. We were waving from the van windows, slowly backing down the drive-way when I heard that tell-tale crunch, followed by an eerie metal sound like we were dragging something. I pulled forward slightly, only to realize we were still dragging something. It was stuck. I was mortified. I hesitantly got out of the van and walked around to the back to realize I had wedged someone's little pink bike up under my rear bumper. It came out with a good hard jerk and, luckily, the only harm done was a slightly crooked training wheel.

I've learned something. It doesn't mean I won't back into something every once in a while, but I'm getting better. I've learned that looking in the rear view mirror does me no good. In driving and in life. I must deliberately clear away the things behind me (preferably before I've gotten everyone in the van and buckled and I've thrown my purse in, buckled myself and started the van).

In my life I must decide every day to clear the things that are behind me out of my way and move forward. It's a conscious decision, done in preparation of going somewhere. In fact, we can't move forward unless we've cleared what's behind (unless we “never really liked that toy anyway”).  

Summer Projects

This is on our fridge.  It's a summer list.  As you will notice, there is no "go to water park/Sea World/Disney World" on the list.  With children ranging in age from 7 down to 10 months, doing those kinds of things is not fun for myself or hubby.  Maybe it's our personalities, but keeping constant watch over four little ones in a crowded park is not our idea of fun.  For me, when they get older...yes.  For Dad, when they get older...probably still a no!  We have camping trips planned, but that's it in the way of attractions.  


Besides camping these are the around-the-house projects we'd like to play with.  It's a list that we all sat down together to make.  My thinking is that it will give us something to do at home.  It will be self-paced, educational and keep us (aka the kids) from getting too incredibly bored this summer.  If you're a parent, you know how booooored kids can get!  (Please tell me my kids aren't the only ones to live on 6 acres, have 14 chickens and two cats and get bored)!

Sibling Bond

One of the things I love most about homeschooling is the bond I see forming between my children. I have friends whose children never play together and I can't understand it. I can lose my kids to their bedrooms for hours at a time while they play “family” or “house” or legos together. This is not to say that there are not times they all do their best to annoy, irritate and otherwise drive their siblings (and Mom) nuts, but it is to say that, in my opinion, the good times outweigh the bad; if not in number of minutes, in quality. The good is really, really good and the bad is liveable.

Earlier this year when I was having a rough time homeschooling and debating sending everyone to public school I was standing at the kitchen window and saw my 5 year old son run by and his 7 year old brother and 4 year old sister run by hand-in-hand. In that instant, I knew that what I'm giving them is good. It is something special. It is something worth fighting for.

In the same way, the kids have been dying to have a “slumber party”. Said slumber party was to consist of my 4 year old daughter sleeping on her brothers' bedroom floor with her 5 year old brother. Our 7 year old has reached the age where he realized his bed was softer than the floor so he stayed put for the night, however, that was it! They didn't want popcorn and a movie. They didn't want doughnuts for breakfast or chips and boardgames to play till all hours of the night. They just wanted to sleep together in the same room! 

We obliged their request on a Friday night and they had a blast! They did the giggle-and-whisper-and-goof-around routine for a while. Our 4 year old came down after the boys had fallen asleep grinning from ear to ear telling of her joyful insomnia. We chuckled and put her back on her brothers' floor. It was a blessing to me to know that they wanted to have a slumber party together which consisted of nothing more than time together. Wouldn't we all be so blessed if that was enough for us??

As I said, this is not to say my kids get along swimmingly 24/7. We certainly have our moments! How do your children get along together? In what areas do they struggle?

Feature: Mommy Music

Hello all,  I hope to be interviewing and featuring some extremely talented Mommy's in the future of this blog.  Tonight I'd like to bless you with my first feature!  This is an amazing Mommy song called "Did I Really Live".  It was written first by my Aunt's Mother as a poem, and my Aunt has put it to music.  Aunt Cherie is extremely talented musically.  Please listen and be blessed!                                    

Eating off the Floor

My 10-month-old daughter is eating food off the floor right now as I type. Is this a problem? I don't know. I vacuumed and steamed the floors a couple days ago and we sweep up after each meal. She threw the food off her high chair at breakfast when she was done with it and I haven't gotten around to cleaning it up yet. We started reading books. We brushed our teeth. The older kids showed me their latest lego creations. Life was happening all around me in a massive hustle and bustle and the cream cheese covered toast that fell to the floor fell extremely low on the priority list.

The food was good enough for her to eat a couple hours ago at breakfast, so I'm going to decide that it's good enough for her to eat right now...ummm...off the...cough...floor!

Do I even need to clarify that she is my fourth child? If this same thing would've happened with my first, I would just be disgusted and feel so embarrassed and ashamed. Now, I'm sharing it with the world! What changed? I guess one thing that has changed is that I've realized that my kids are going to be just fine. None of the “normal” everyday occurrences I've experienced in the last 8 years have caused much trauma to any of my kids. We've had bumps, bruises, spills, falls, even a broken bone, and at the end of the day, they are fine. They are strong. They are resilient.

Of course I still want to protect them. I don't let them run around outside barefoot (OK, I do...but not if there's glass) and I don't allow my 4- or 5-year-olds to check the mail across our country road. I still snuggle them and kiss their owies. We tuck them in bed each night and feed them nourishing meals. And I've realized that all of those things are what count in life and parenthood. Nurturing, loving, learning with, growing together, family time. Those things make a child healthy and happy. Not whether or not they've ever eaten dog food, gone to bed with dirty knees or eaten a couple innocent food scraps off the kitchen floor, (we're not even going to mention litter boxes here). All we as Moms can do is love them and give the rest over to the Lord. And maybe sweep the floor at the next available opportunity. But I won't tell anyone if you don't! 

MY Life at Home

I am a stay-at-home Mom. I have been for almost 8 years now. My children are 7 year old “A”, 5 year old “B”, 4 year old “G” and 10 month old “C”. We have a first-born son and a second-born son, a first-born daughter and a second-born daughter. The Lord has blessed us indeed.

I'm inspired by and truly prefer simple living and sustainability. I homeschool, garden, keep chickens for eggs, try to save money every way possible and give everything I do up to God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit who loves me for who I am and has saved me for eternity. I'm learning as I go.

Currently my mantra is, “I can only do what I can do and that's all that I can do!” This, I've learned, is good enough for family, friends, and God, but has never been good enough for myself. I'm a perfectionistic, chronic people-pleaser. I'm working on that as we speak. Growth is a process, but I'm confident that God will produce good things in me that He can and will use when His time is right.

Right now we rent an old farmhouse on 6 acres. We have two barn cats and 14 chickens. I would love to get honey bees and pigs in the future, but I'm breaking my husband in to my country-girl ways slowly! I've never been able to do all these fun country living things before and he's just not ready to dive in full bore like I am. Slowly but surely I plan to bring out his inner hippie, though I have a feeling it might be buried deep...I WILL find it though.

My life might seem boring to some, blessed to others, hectic to some, worthless to others. It is a life I've grown to appreciate. This is my life. Maybe you can relate!