Abundance of the Heart

Around

2011-06-07T07:11:00.003-06:00

Well I did say that it would be sporadic here for awhile...

Ok so summer is here! It's hot! Things are still busy, but not in the same way.

There is still baseball, although that is coming to an end. Then we start swimming lessons, but that is just for a week. This past weekend we had a big beach birthday party for my two oldest girls. It was a lot of work, sort of expensive and only 1 of the girls came that we invited!!!! So that really took it out of us!

Mainly, I had just gotten so used to not using the computer that I forget to check the blog and write on it. My plan is to remember though!

Another thing is my camera is not doing so hot, and part of blogging for me is using pictures. So I forget that too. And sometimes you just don't have much to say.

But I do have some things to say now :) However I hear some children whining so I have to go for now...

Just Thinking

2011-05-20T07:22:00.011-06:00

I have been absent a lot. I know, sorry....you all understand though.

You know there are times when you are filled to overflowing with stuff to talk about and need to get it out. Then there are times when you are busy pondering and thinking and praying about things that you keep hidden inside for awhile before it's ready to come out.

That's where I've been.

The last few weeks I've been introduced to some ideas that just seemed weird at first, but the more I looked into it, the more it really resonated with me. So I've been using my computer time to research it and think about it, talk with my husband about it and pray about it.

Also, I had a major injury last Saturday. I did not break my foot, but a shelf from a bookcase fell on it and it has been BADLY swollen and bruised all week. I have not been able to do much at all. We have had a major lowering of standards :) But this has taught me something; for one, I am not so tired when I am spending more time doing things slowly, doing less things and resting more. Duh.

The other thing is that some things really aren't that important. I may have only 5 things on my to do list, but it is a challenge to actually do them. I am so slow! Working in the kitchen and making the bed is difficult!

This brings me back to the interesting ideas I've been pondering. For the past year I've been so drawn to the blog SouleMama. Their way of life looks so meaningful and simple, and while I don't know if they are Christians, their life is one to be modeled. So I started searching some of the things they do which brought me to something called Waldorf.

Not the hotel :) But a method of teaching children and a way of living. The man who created it has some beliefs that I don't agree with, but he spent his life studying children and how they learn. What he developed is that children are spiritual beings (duh) and should be treated as such. Of course I don't believe in reincarnation or anything at all, but the truth is we are spirits that live in physical bodies.

So the way a child is handled and taught is a lot different than mainstream society. Not only that, but the people I've been reading talk a lot about rhythms, like routines, that construct the day and week and year. The idea is that little ones depend on a daily rhythm or flow to learn and grow and be at peace. Seasons and marking special days during the changing of seasons helps to differentiate the year to them.

There is also an emphasis on natural things. Natural simple and few toys, natural fibers for clothes, no screen time at all (tv or computer etc.) and simple whole foods diet is recommended. In fact, if you send your children to a Waldorf school, you have to agree that there will be no TV watching for them or loud rock music at home. Thought that was sort of funny since rock was the only thing that calmed my second daughter.

There is much much more to it, but that's the basics. I have found a lot of Christians who also use this method of education and home life and that really helps me see it from that perspective. What are some things I want to do?

Well, I've been really deeply purging out stuff. Most of the girls' toys will be leaving. These will be replaced with handmade and more natural toys from various online shops and from Etsy.com There are some really neat things out there. My girls just don't play with loads of toys anyways and it sure makes cleaning difficult. We are keeping the Barbies, although they will be pared down. Sarah just loves them too much :)

I plan to work in a lot of nature into our rooms including a nature table, which is the norm for Waldorf families/schools. I sort of already do this anyways.

Mainly though, is creating a family rhythm that flows well and accomplishes all it needs to. Waldorf education emphasizes the need for children to do practical work, called meaningful work. But it is not done in a hurried or grudging way. It is taken slowly, to enjoy the process. My goal for the beginning of the summer is to teach the girls how to wash dishes after each meal, how to make their beds pretty, how to lovingly take care of everyone's clothes and things and how to do some cooking. This likely will take a lot of time. We have other things coming that will be worked in, such as swimming lessons, a family vacation at some point, fun outings, ball games, I will have a few cakes to make and so on.

But, I also want to work in lots of crafts and projects, such as dying yarn, watercolor painting, trying something called needlefelting and a little hand sewing.

It is my personal belief that time is very short before Jesus comes. I want to quit messing around and do what I a called to do. I don't want to part of the herd, but willing to do something different to accomplish eternal work. That first work is my children. So what if things are left undone and messy? I want them to know that they are the most important, and that I love them enough to teach them.

This does not mean we are going to homeschool. At this point that is not the right path for us. Mixing all of these things should be interesting, but that's ok. The point is we do what we are led to do.

I am sure I will be talking more about this soon, there's just so much floating around in the head right now. I have pages and pages of thoughts written in my notebook on it!

Today I will be working on the Angry Birds cake for a little boy. Angry birds is an iphone game that is quite popular. It consists of slingshotting some angry birds to hit some green pigs inside a structure. Here's a picture :

I am making a cake to look like the iphone- flat rectangle- with the stuff standing on top in a 3d look. You'll just have to see it later! I can't explain it well.

I am back

2011-05-12T12:31:00.000-06:00

Hi everyone. Of course when I make the decision to blog again I don't show up for a few weeks.

It's just out of my routine and it has been pretty busy. Children in sports is a new thing for us and it is time consuming! Our other home is the baseball field, and, there have been lots of birthdays (including mine...) and stuff going on as well.

Yes, I am 29 now :) To many that seems really young, which it is I guess, it's just weird when YOU finally hit that number. I have also been keeping myself busy working on projects like sewing clothes and knitting. There is always something that needs to be done, however I am working real hard to slow down.

One of the things I am badly in need of is a catching up on my sleep. I have not been goo d to myself that last oh, 2 years?! No matter what, it is always hard to get to bed at a decent hour, and then I really regret it the next morning.

I am in a real homemaking slump as well. I seem to have lost all motivation. Things are undone that should be, and one of the reasons is I'm just too worn out. That's bad.

Which is another reason I have not made an appearance here.

On a good note, my combined birthday/Mother's Day gift was a Blackberry phone. I have been on the fence on whether I wanted a fancy phone or not, because it seemed rather unnecessary. Plus, I get really mad at people that are always messing with their phones. But my husband felt I needed to update, so he got me one. I really like it because it has the actual keyboard buttons instead of a touch screen. Plus I can take better pictures and keep track of important dates better! AND, I can talk to my husband without actually talking- texting :)

Also, we have chickens. (did I say that before?) Six of them and they are growing fast! I'll be glad when they can go outside because we have a multitude of baby grasshoppers that need to get eaten before they eat my garden. I need to put up new pictures of the garden as well.

What am I doing right now?
I am dying loads of wool yarn with koolaid- one batch on the stove and one in the crockpot. I did this last winter and it came out awesome! We'll see how this one goes...It's like playing with watercolor painting. Or tie dye, but I have never done that myself. Plan to soon though.

There is much more floating around in my head, but I need to chill for awhile since the baby is finally taking a much needed nap!

Monday!

2011-04-25T11:40:00.003-06:00

Happy Post-Easter!

We had a great weekend...well, everyone else did. I was TERRIBLY SICK!!!! From Friday night to Sunday morning I was ill with a cold/sinus infection/allergies/flu- whatever it was- it was NOT fun. It all came to a head in the wee hours of Easter morning, I had been laying in pain for hours, everything on my face hurt. None of the medicine I had taken helped. I had very little to work with naturally and no energy to anyways. I finally woke up my husband and he came to the rescue :) After applying a heating pad to my back, vapor rub to my chest, setting up humidifier right by my head, and massaging the nerve endings of my sinuses (in my feet!) the pain went away and I fell asleep. For about 3 hours...then the children arrived exclaiming at what was in their baskets :) More on that later.

Anyways, I know this was a total attack of Satan. I had NO symptoms at all, and then this thing just jumped on me full swing, no warning at all. I did name and claim my healing, and while it was very very hard to watch my mouth and speak God's Word only, I want to say that I am almost full recovered. By last evening, even though I was pretty weak from not eating and sleeping, I was able to cook dinner and do some light housekeeping. We took communion in church yesterday, and I just took my healing by faith. I got it. Thank you Jesus for those stripes you bore for me!

This morning I recovered the house. Well, now, after we got home from church and dinner at Granna's, my husband had the girls clean up the house, he got the laundry going and did the dishes. WOW! Super dude! So, anyways, there was still plastic Easter grass and candy wrappers all over the house! And remnants of plastic eggs. After drinking some very hot tea and resting on the couch a little this morning, I did the dishes and mopped the kitchen; picked up the main rooms, vacuumed, mopped the entry area, did some laundry, got the baby to bed and sat down with more tea to knit. I did quite well considering.

I am very thankful to be able bodied. For awhile I really wondered if the pain, congestion and terrible sore throat would ever go away. The Lord did sort of convict me though. If I had been taking better care of myself, I wouldn't have been so run down in the first place. I must learn this lesson! I need to get regular sleep, eat well enough and not overload myself- duh!

Well, I have some cute pictures to add later, but now I need to start a pot of soup and reboot the laundry...again...

My week

2011-04-22T08:40:00.005-06:00

Big Sigh here....

Wow, life has been very busy.

My daughters that are playing ball this year have had scrimmages and practices and are going to start games next week. My t-baller has 3 games next week! The other one has a game and a practice....some of their future games are at the same time! So, it starts.

Also, my husband and I celebrated our 10th anniversary yesterday. Ten years! Hard to believe it.

We had always wanted to return to our honeymoon cabin for our 10th, but it didn't work out. So, he made me a Japanese meal complete with sitting on the floor and chopsticks, and the green tea ceremony from the movie Karate Kid II. (well, it was similar) Don't forget to turn my music off on the right hand sidebar. He also got me some pearl/diamond earrings, because he gave me a pearl necklace when we got married. Awww....

Karate Kid 2 Tea Ceremony by oldmansnots

So, the next thing is getting ready for all the Easter family gatherings this weekend. Coloring eggs, finishing the sewing, did some shopping for shoes etc. and some cooking. Wow.

Anyways, my posting here may be sporadic in the coming weeks. Probably after school is out it'll be easier because we won't have to go anywhere but the baseball field and the store!

Happy Easter!

Busy

2011-04-20T15:56:00.001-06:00

It's been a very busy week.

Lots of sewing, t-balling, cleaning and preparing for the holiday. Hopefully soon I can do a real post :)

Everything Post

2011-04-14T11:19:00.012-06:00

During my baby-is-finally-napping time, this is what I did. I sure did need some down time!

Doesn't it look scary? It took me awhile to figure out how to use double pointed needles, but I decided to try making some socks after Christmas and finally got the hang of it. I still don't love it, but I can do it easily now. I decided to try making Samantha a wool diaper cover in the round, which means you knit it in a tube so there's no seams to sew. I've come a long way on it since....

This is what Sarah was doing. She is obsessed with Barbies- loves loves loves it. Samantha was asleep, and that's where the massive Barbie mansion is, so she moved into the living room.

My living room looks like this a lot of the time. Not necessarily Barbies, but definitely random shrapnel that everyone has scattered, usually the baby.

Did I mention that my two middle girls are playing t-ball this year? This is the first time we've ever done anything "extracurricular". Wow these people are disorganized! I've gotten at least 3-4 'surprise' calls about practice being in like an hour from the call! Most of it is my husband's fault because they send him text messages and he is so busy he forgets to tell me. But sometime the coaches just spring it on us. They've been practicing 3-4 weeks now, and so far we have no schedule of future games/scrimmages, no uniforms (although they did both get sponsors so we don't have to buy them) and like, no numbers of people to contact. We spent $140 to put them in baseball, then we spent like $150 on equipment- helmets, gloves, bats and cleats. Dang!

When I was a kid all we had to provide was shoes and gloves. Maybe we bought the uniform, I don't remember. Still...Sarah's team is called the Rangerettes and Alexa's team has the dumbest name ever!!!! The Diamond Dolls- stick finger down throat here. How does that relate to baseball?

Anyways, what I was knitting is a wool diaper soaker for the baby. I haven't been using cloth diapers because I only had newborn sized and toddler sizes. But I think we're going to get back into it soon. I'm getting closer to the finish line!

Also, I took some pictures of cooking yesterday. I usually make my bread in the bread machine, as in I have it mix up the dough and then I shape it and bake it. I needed to make a larger amount of dough this time, so I did it by hand, and I had a helper! I realized it is nice to have a machine to do the work for me, but it really doesn't take a long time to do it yourself, and it's a nice change. And Samantha really enjoyed it as well :)

This dough was great. I wanted to make pizza rolls and cinnamon rolls, so I just found a dinner roll recipe and added some extra ingredients. I didn't get pictures of the end result because they are GONE!!! I made mini cinnamon rolls, very cute, easier for the girls to eat and they are gone. I made at least 24 of them! I'll have to post the recipe sometime.
Anyways, today I'm going to browse around looking for fabric for dresses. Time to go!

My Garden

2011-04-14T10:55:00.015-06:00

This past winter I started learning about something the French have called Potager gardens. Basically, they are functional gardens that are pretty to look at :) You grow your pretties, veggies and herbs all together in an eye pleasing way.

Here are some of my inspirational pictures:

In my dreams!!

So, anyways, we had to move our garden plot from last year because we figured out it was right on top of the septic system :( There were still many trees to clear in the back before we could set up a garden back there, so we chose this spot right next to the house.

Still, um, in the planning phase here.

So, we have sand. This makes things a bit harder. Our plants just haven't grown as fast as we thought they should. So what are we growing?

We have two english pea trellises. The right side bed has cabbages, lettuces and Red Swiss Chard.

The other rectangle has medicinal herbs- chamomile, horehound, lavender, echinacea and some eggplants :)

We have a large area for a variety of tomatoes and lots of herbs for cooking. We just planted most of them a week or so ago, so they're still small.

We now have a berry patch, two blueberry bushes and my mom's strawberry plants in between They look like there will be lots of berries this year.

Then there are different kinds of squash in this bed. I can't remember what they are!

We also have lots of decorative elements in the works. My husband is planning to build a lattice covered seating area between these rose bushes. (it'll go where the wood stakes are)

We plan to covered the dirt paths with rocks or stepping stones. There will be a picket fence and arches covered with something that climbs. I plan to put my peppermint in large pots so it doesn't take over. (it WILL!) Anyways, in the middle, where that circular spot was, we want to get a stone bird bath and put some potted plants around it. So, lots of future plans that may change. Last night we were able to pick a pea pod and eat the peas out of it- sugary sweet!

Most of the plants have been grown from seeds, which we buy online here. They are heirloom varieties that are guaranteed NOT genetically modified. We have had great success with these seeds.

Way out in the woods, my husband finally got some trees cleared and the dirt plowed up. Now we have rows and rows of corn, hot peppers, potatoes, green beans and cucumbers. I want to put cukes in my garden too, after the peas get done. Phew, that's a lot of growing plants! I better start stocking up on canning jars and ziploc baggies.

Getting some understanding

2011-04-12T14:34:00.003-06:00

So, getting back into blogging is still becoming a habit for me. I probably will not do it everyday of course. Yesterday I took pictures of my garden, so that will be an upcoming post all by itself.

Today I took Sarah, my five year old to the dentist. She was so excited! And, it really is a neat place with a cool hippie like doctor :) After that I went by my husband's new office. I got the tour of the place and he showed off part of his family :) (no he didn't get a new job, they just moved to a new building)

It was later as I was driving home I got a revelation. The last several months I've been in kind of a homemaking/housewife lull. After doing it for close to a decade, it's lost its luster sort of. I'm just much more lackadaisical about my duties, which isn't necessarily terrible. But still, it has been devalued in my mind.

However I've read all the books you know, Fascinating Womanhood and Created to be His Helpmeet. For a time, when dh and I were going through some difficulties, I was tempted to call those books a lie. It just seemed like even though I did everything right, the desired outcome did not happen. Anyways, all the Christian homemakers talk a lot about our husbands going into the world and wanting to come home to a safe, clean happy haven. I thought I understood that, but I think my understanding was skewed.

After taking the tour of the offices where dh works, I realized something. Yes, he does go somewhere everyday and interacts with a lot more adults than I do. But the place he has to spend all day in is not home. Nor is it homey in any sense. It is sterile and computers and cords and white boards and screens and ringing phones and big meeting rooms. You might go to a clean and well decorated hotel, but it still ain't home.

My husband would tell me not to worry if the house wasn't picked up or there was undone laundry and dishes. Or even if I didn't make dinner, he would say it's ok. I didn't understand why, but now I do. When he comes home, it's a sigh of relief, to finally be in his own world. He knows that I am here, for him, and the girls, working at home to keep it up the best I can, stretch our dollars, do creative work and so on. I've decorated according to my tastes, so it's very personalized to what we like. It's comforting to come home and feel like it is a home.

I am free to do what I want basically. Everyday, I can choose what is most important. My only boss is the Lord. That's very special. I can manage our home and family in whatever way I desire. Sometimes it's daunting, but I am free to do what needs to be done. I have plenty of time to think and pray, though sometimes I feel somewhat lonely for adult conversation and get tired of meddling babies, still, I am able to listen to the still small voice a lot easier than dh.

Perfection isn't required, just some X's and O's (xoxoxo) and the promise of food is all that's needed really. It can be difficult to be in a good mood at that crazy time of day, but I will certainly work a lot harder on that one. My husband gives all his effort doing a job that isn't always fun, and he should at least have a joyful wife and time to chill when he gets home. Now I understand why he works so hard outside on the weekends- it's where he really really wants to be when he has to be at a computer instead!

I am very thankful that he is so willing to give me help. A lot of men would feel justified not doing anything when they get home, but Matt goes the extra mile. Maybe because I have made efforts to go the extra mile for him. I am constantly amazed that simply bringing someone a drink means a lot!

Kindness and consideration...sometimes overlooked in our homes with each other. I'm so glad I realized this now, and I sure do plan to do better on it in the future.

Anyways, just sharing my thoughts!

Cake!

2011-04-08T20:56:00.009-06:00

For awhile I've felt like I needed to post pictures of my cakes somewhere, but didn't want to do much about it :) I guess now is the time. I am curious about other people's opinions, because I am very critical of my work. I've only charged for one cake so far, simply because I'm always afraid it will get screwed up!

Anyways, we'll go backwards just for fun! This is the most recent cake, my niece who turned 4 last weekend. She wanted Dora, and I could NOT find any Dora figures! So we just did all of her favorite things on the cake instead.

This was the biggest one I've ever done! It was like a wedding cake size. This was for a friend's little girl who turned 6. She wanted a Fancy Nancy themed cake. It was HUGE!!!

The week before this one was my daughter Sarah's birthday. She wanted a blue princess party, which of course would be Cinderella!

The Cake

The Birthday Decor

Lots of balloons and streamers you can't see.

The Birthday Girl

(yes I was nuts and made that dress too!)

Alright enough of that! Couldn't help it though....

These were all done in the month of March :) Busy...each cake takes me like a week because I have to break it up in small chunks of work.

Apparently I have lost a bunch of pictures that I took of various cakes. I've been looking for them and I only found a few. I guess that's why I should have posted them already!
Before this one was a boy baby shower cake, two hunting themed cakes, a bejeweled butterfly cake, a zebra print cake with pink flowers and bows, a Star Wars cake (very hard!), a sculpted real looking Eagle cake (hubby did that one), a rose cake for my mom, a fishing cake for someone else, and the original castle cake. There's probably more than that...to be continued....
This will be a to be continued post...

Changing for Spring

2011-04-08T11:42:00.011-06:00

Back in the fall, or well, actually the beginning of September (not really considered fall here it's still so hot!) we painted our living room a lovely golden hue. Well, that's what we wanted. It turned out to be more the hue of THE SURFACE OF THE SUN :) Or marigold, sunflower, turmeric, yellow mustard...and so on. VERY yellow.

Since cooler weather was supposed to be on its way sometime in the next few months, I chose deeper colors. Deep shimmery green on the windows, red and brown and gold everywhere else. It worked really well, even during Christmas when things could have clashed. (it's a big living room and it really is THE living room where we all are all the time, so it needs to be nice on the eyes)

I've been wanting to trade off those colored things, while I liked them, for something more fresh. Ample supplies of money I didn't have and the need to do something now was something I couldn't squelch any longer. Also, the littlest one needed to have some special place to play in this big room, so we needed to do some rearranging. Well, I did anyways.

So, before on this table I had a large iron piece hanging on the wall, a large vase of green hydrangeas, my rooster and a basket of seashells. I loved it, but found a cute little aqua ceramic vase at a flea market the other day, and it didn't fit. So I started playing in this corner with things I had and this what I came up with.

Believe it or not, the cloth on the table is a curtain! I just started digging around in some boxes that I keep home decorations in, or in this case I took a fruit basket filled with a bag of oranges (yes they're real and on sale) and a terra cotta pot thingie from the porch. I put a tea light candle in there with the seashells- very pretty. Our anniversary is this month so I put our wedding picture there. I stripped fall decorations off the wreath and grabbed a piece of ecru lace from my sewing basket, and voila. I really like the colors. I am more and more impressed at how versatile this wall color is.

Moving on....above the TV. I had a large basket of sunflowers and the two candlesticks from the above picture sitting on it. Here it is now:

Different I know. I had a random piece of heavy fabric that I didn't know what to do with. So I put it on top of the armoire. I have an abundance of sticks outside since many trees have been cut down. You know those Easter ornament trees they sell? This is kind of what I was going for. I clipped some glittery butterflies left from a cake I did to the branches and there is one easter eggs up there. I knitted the entire thing in an hour this morning- stuffed and ready to go! FUN! I had a lovely bunch of orange and yellow tulips, but no vase that really worked with the whole bunch. However, I did have a supply of bud vases, so I split the flowers up and they add great pops of color all around.

As anyone knows with a curious toddler, objects on the coffee table are often a battle ground. I decided to test it out again and put something out that she wants and that I don't mind her playing with. (the sea shells) A simple coffee table arrangement, with plenty of room to set things on:

Again, just pretty much shopped around my house, and I don't have many knick knacks.

Here is the new play area behind this here loveseat. It's working out great- very happy with it.

The tea table...which we did have tea and super awesome Lindt chocolates at yesterday.

And back to the front of the room, my new knitting area. I moved those big hydrangeas over here- I really need to actually trim them and make an arrangement, but this will do for now. I also made a "remote" bed- I put some quilt batting in the basket and covered it with a piece of fabric. I don't know, just thought it would be cute. It can also hold my knitting pieces in a hurry.

My grandmother made the afghan on the chair. I would have gotten shots of the rest of the room, but we'll do that another time. Today was just a peak into the corners of my home :)

It was a fun challenge, changing the look of things just recycling things around. I am so pleased with the colors too. When all is tidied and quiet, it is very peaceful and serene, especially with the lit candles. Even when it's on the loud and messy side, the room still feels peaceful. YAY for that!

Returned,...

2011-04-08T10:44:00.003-06:00

In a split moment, I've decided to return to this original space on the web. Taking a break was really what I needed at the time, and I feel ready to start again.

I really have no agenda or 'point' for this space. It's just me, like it always was!

I am pretty much the same as before, with of course some growth in all areas of my life, as we tend to do.

Currently, my youngest little girl is 20 months and super smart and super busy! My third daughter just turned 5 years old and is so excited about starting school next year. My 7 year old is reading and spelling and doing math with lightening speed! My oldest, who has some special needs, is doing AMAZING!!!! She is writing her name and other words by herself and communicating much better.

Currently, we are in the midst of gardening- planting and weeding and watering and praying over our little plants. We will be getting our first flock of chickens soon, upon completion of the coop, and that will be, um, fun?

I have made about 20 cakes for people since I left you all. I have learned much and am getting more comfortable with doing it. Where it will take me I know not. I have become an avid KNITTER!!! Since I last posted I've made several pairs of fingerless mitts, socks, 4 sweaters, numerous hats, booties and this morning just knitted an adorable Easter egg! Knitting is perfect for me and I do love it.

I still bake our bread weekly, cook mostly from scratch and seek out natural things, BUT I am no longer the Nourishing Traditions freak that I was. Too much stress and time involved. Instead I focus on local high quality foods, prepared the best way I can, and don't stress so much about properly preparing grains, sourdough, fermenting etc. It's fun to do, when you have the time. My time is spent elsewhere now. However I am simmering some beans on the stove that I actually remembered to soak last night! My husband will thank me :)

My husband and I will soon celebrate our 10th anniversary on the 21st. SO HARD TO BELIEVE!!!! I will turn 29 on my next birthday, again, SO HARD TO BELIEVE!!!!! Wasn't I just 18 years old the other day?

Anyways, there will be more to come of course, and hopefully today I will get some pictures up of our home. Sort of a spur of the moment, look how I redecorated with stuff I already had, tour.

2010-01-04T05:12:00.004-06:00

Hey everyone.

I've decided that this blog is done. I've begun a new one and will be moving over the info I wish to keep in the next several days/weeks. This one will not be deleted, but I will update on the new one.

See ya there!

The New Blog

A Long One

2009-12-28T10:14:00.002-06:00

Well, hello there :)

I'm back into the blog world again. I hope everyone had a great Christmas. We did, but we had some difficulties. I won't go into details, but we were all sick with a cold or virus or flu, however much of it lifted by Christmas Day. We had to call off the Swedish smorgasbord because my 85 yer old grandmother ended up having pneumonia, and need to be hospitalized!

But, all in all, we had a lovely Christmas. My sweet husband made savory crepes Christmas Eve, it SNOWED!!!!!!!!!!! That never has happened in my entire 27 years of life! I made the house as pretty as I could, we ate, drank sparkling grape juice in wine goblets (big treat for the kiddies), opened their 1 present (pajamas) and took pictures in them, hung stockings, set out cookies and milk, and after they went to bed Santa Clause came :)

What did I get? Well, I got a BEAUTIFUL amplified Bible. I really wanted one. I really like studying the Hebrew/Greek of the scriptures, but don't always have the time to do it on my own. The amplified does some of the work for you. Last night I was laying on my bed with that Bible and the King James, just looking up favorite passages.

I also got my own little toolbox! Great idea Matt, and we have used it a lot already. It's a small lightweight one, filled with wire cutters, a flashlight, a small hammer, screwdrivers (both kinds and in two sizes each) and some nails so I'll hopefully ditch the thumbtacks! I also got Samantha's birthstone girl to add to my necklace- I'll I have to take a picture of that one.

Oh, there was also a 25lb bag of wheat under the tree...hmmm....this was explained later at my mom's house. She got me a grain mill! I've been wanting one forEVER! This is the kind that fits onto the kitchenaid mixer. I used it this morning and even on the finest setting, the flour is more coarse, but I can mix it with unbleached flour.

My girls also got their own radio flyer scooter and they're doing great with them. The fold up easily, are lightweight, and they can use them in the house without driving me nuts :)

Saturday was Alexa's 6th birthday. We spent it eating McDonald's for lunch, going to see the movie Alvin and the Chipmunks Squeakel, getting ice cream and bringing flowers to my sick grandmother.

It's always kind of sad to me when Christmas is over. The build up is for over a month, and then just like that, it's done. My favorite part is Christmas Eve- the anticipation and making everything special. Yes I do enjoy the opening presents part too, but still, now it's done! I am going to take down some of the decor, but leave most of it because I am still having the smorgasbord for New Years.

Okie doke, I just wanted to say that my blog is going to take a different turn for awhile. I happened on some information about diet and health (yes still Nourishing Traditions) and I'm going to a deeper level here.

In the future I will post the links of where I got all the info, but for a quick overview here, this is what I found.

The whole basis of Nourishing Traditions is off the work of Dr. Weston A. Price, a dentist in the early 1900s. He traveled the globe searching for people who had never had much contact or any contact with civilized man. He found healthy, robust people with straight teeth!

One of the groups of people were the Inuits, or Eskimos. Well, what did they eat? Seal oil. Fish. Wild game. FAT! And, he noted, that during the winter, especially the women, ate a lot of food and yet they hardly moved at all. You'd think that someone eating all those calories and not burning them off would be fat. But he said they were almost to the point of being too thin.

Wow. So there was some more research done by another man I'll tell you about later, and basically this is the thing. More people exercise now, in their free time, than back in the 70s, yet we as a people are like 40% fatter than we were. Why aren't we thinner? It's all about diet. We now consume more sugar, processed oils, and corn products than in that time. Read labels! Corn syrup is everywhere!!

So, it's not that I lay around and eat all day that I'm on the fat side. Cuz I'm usually running! The last week I've barely been eating for lack of appetite. I'm not gorging. It's the quality of food!

So, this is what I'm going to do. I'm going to eat a lot of good fat and see what happens. I'm ordering some fermented fish oil (supposedly much more nutrient dense), buying raw milk, making butter from it, buying the best meat I can find and am going to have at it.

In the beginning, I won't be able to be perfect in this. I don't have grassfed beef and free range chicken yet. I'll get there eventually. Yes it costs a little more, but I have an article and a chart that costed out the regular food and this food and it wasn't much more at all if not less than typical supermarket food!

I created a meal plan that will work for us and that will be my focus for awhile. Food, clothes, dishes, kids and family, God. Not in that order :) I can't explain how relieved and excited I was to see that it wasn't totally my fault that I was overweight. My only fault was pregnancy and being on bedrest and all the food went to me not baby, then we kept having babies...honestly, that's the truth. My body has just stayed where it is for some reason.

There will more info and science to back this up, but that's what I'm doing. I did this before, but it's getting kicked up to a new level. I didn't worry so much about the quality of meat and fat and stuff before, now I realize that's very important.

Gotta go!

2009-12-23T08:57:00.002-06:00

REally fast...

Fixin' to make gingersnaps, cherry thumbprint cookies, rolled sugar cookies, peanut butter ritz chocolate candies, white chocolate fruit bark, homemade crackers and Swedish limpa rye bread! Oh, and wrap the rest of the presents, finish whatever shopping that needs done, and somehow clean the house!!

Christmas Plans

2009-12-21T10:22:00.003-06:00

Merry Christmas early!

I am so happy it's finally down to the last few days before Christmas. That's when it gets exciting and we get to do all the fun stuff. All the school parties and extended family things are DONE and I can concentrate on my family now.

Last week I mentioned something about our Christmas Eve tradition. Well, I am working on making it a tradition. My husband, Matt, is half Swedish. His father is full blood and his great-great grandfather came from Sweden in the 19th century. I think this is absolutely wonderful because 1. being Swedish is uncommon and cool and 2. I have no idea what my family's heritage is. The records got burned up in the Civil War and we just have no idea. I do know there is some Native American and German mixed in, but that's all.

So I have thoroughly latched on to his family heritage and have made it my own :) I want the girls to know where they came from as well. Swedes have some really neat Christmas traditions and I have tried to replicate that here in Texas. Our real Christmas tree, as pictured below, is decortated with handmade traditional straw ornaments from Sweden, plus the ones I made in the colors of red and white. In Sweden you don't put the tree up till Christmas Eve, but they celebrate Christmas far into January.

Also, they have the Christmas Eve Smorgasbord, which is the massive FEAST they like to have at all celebrations. The Christmas one is the biggest though. A typical menu is mammoth in size, but I will make ours VERY simple. They also like lots of pickled fish and tongue, and well, uh, that's definitely not on the menu here :)

So, our much simplified plan is this:

homemade rye bread
homemade crackers (hardtack or knackkebrod)
assorted cheeses
sardines (for my dad)
chicken liver pate (I am experimenting with this one)
smoked salmon (if I can find it) and dill sauce
swedish meatballs
small red potatoes, boiled and served with melted butter and chopped onions
pickled beets (storebought)
dilled cucumbers
pickles

rice pudding with an almond hidden inside
ginger cookies
sugar cookies
coffee and glogg- spiced wine

Now, I tend to get freaked out and try to make everything perfect. I was going to do a ham, but unless I find an amazing deal I'm cutting that one out. I was also going to cook my own beets, but now I'm not. Anyways, hopefully today I can make the bread and crackers and freeze them, then the day before I can do cookies, mix up the meatballs and do the pate.

We'll see..

Also, I am doing an experiment that I'm really excited about and plan to blog about this week if possible. It has to do with diet and weightloss.

Maybe I'll post some recipes as I'm cooking them too :) But you know how that goes with me...

Speechless...and laughing.

2009-12-16T16:39:00.002-06:00

Normal lady is back

2009-12-16T15:36:00.013-06:00

Well, since we're being honest here, Scrooge left. Part of my problem is I am like a little kid when it comes to Christmas- I want the last week before Christmas to get here and not have to go through the whole month before we get to the good part :) Those last few days before Christmas Day are the best and most anticipatory :)

Also, Aunt Flo, or our monthly friend did come and it's like a big sigh of relief in my body. Being a woman is HARD! I am in no way wishing the season to be over at all. The contrary- I want to prolong it because it's flying by. I did manage to get some presents wrapped today. I planned out the Christmas Eve smorgasbord menu, which we'll get to in another post. I'm a little nervous that I have no presents for my husband, niece and nephews or my parents. But I know that dh doesn't have any for me yet either :)

I snapped these the other day, but didn't get to it yet. Yes, here are our decked out halls. I wanted a more natural look this year. Decorating is very important to me. I can't explain it exactly, except that it has to do with the memory of being a child and being enthralled with all the Christmas decor and being SO excited. I try to generate the same thing into my daughters. I guess I think everyone is like me :) My grandparents were so crafty, so that's where I get that from, because I spent SO much time with them.

Here is the front door. A fake wreath, a cheap red bow, some pinecones and red berries from the woods.

Here is our real tree with mostly homemade ornaments. It smells wonderful.

The back wall. This was a grapevine wreath that I just stuck cedar twigs and red berries from the dogwood trees on it.

The snowman collection that someone started for me :) Somehow I keep getting snowmen. They aren't my favorite, but they make it out every year.

This is the Christmas village my grandmother gave me. It certainly could look better, but I can't keep little hands from rearranging :)

My kitchen. I couldn't get a good picture, but there are lights up above the cabinets and I nested cedar branches in among them.

The kitchen tree :)

The window above the kitchen sink.

The stockings I made, but haven't hung up yet.

Feelin' like Scrooge

2009-12-15T10:36:00.002-06:00

I've been avoiding the blog.

Yes, because I can't seem to NOT write about my honest feelings or NOT be real and write fluffy stuff when I don't feel fluffy.

So, what do you do when the thing you want to happen isn't, and the things you DON'T want to happen, is happening? You feel disappointed and maybe guilty.

My situation is December is flying by. I did NOT want our holidays to be so crammed with activities and events and just stuff to do that it was a burden. The one main thing I wanted to do was put out lots of lights outside in our front yard.

Didn't happen. It rained for three weekends. The whole month of December got filled up by the the 4th! I feel obligated to do these things, because a lot of it is family, yet it feels unfair. I didn't hardly get to enjoy decorating our home because it was so rushed. I had zero time before Thanksgiving to do any Christmas prep as far as decor and gifts go, because I was hosting Thanksgiving and family. Then before you know it, there it is and now we're on December 15th. So much for making that Advent calendar!

Now, I have a child that has to stay home from school and miss all her fun stuff until Thursday because she came down with strep throat and bronchitis. I have two parties to attend and bring food and gifts to, make presents for teachers, make the rest of the homemade presents, make at least two more shopping trips and somehow get my children to see Santa Clause because they REALLY want to. This isn't what I wanted.

What did I want? More TIME! Time to make those neat cinnamon/applesauce ornaments I've been wanting to do for years. Time to make an advent calendar so that instead of asking every day when Santa Clause is coming, they can look at how many days are left on the calendar. I wanted time to enjoy carefully and slowly decorating the house and tree, time to enjoy making crafts and presents, and time to plan ahead with the baking and cooking. Time to read the Christmas stories, watch the Christmas shows and spend time with the kiddies.

I wanted all the other daily chores to do themselves so I could focus on other things :) Who wants to do laundry and plan meals when there are so many other things to do? Yet, here I am in the middle of a PILE of kid laundry, needing to make a pot of soup for the sick one, figuring out how to find time to bake cupcakes for school and just overall feeling bad because I don't want Christmas to be suddenly over before I'm ready.

Then I wonder, why do I feel like I have to make things perfect. Why do I feel that no one will be happy with a good try? I can't remember if the house was clean or the laundry done on Christmas morning. I don't remember if there was clutter or paper piles or if the floor was vacuumed or if the bedrooms were in order. I don't remember casting a judgmental eye at my mom for not looking or doing things perfect or spending time making crafts and gingerbread houses. In my eyes, they way it was, WAS perfect. It couldn't get any better- we had the BEST Christmases in my opinion.

So how do you make yourself chill? I don't know...I get into this mode and haven't figured out a way to let it go yet. I guess I need to prioritize better and make sure the most important things are covered and not sweat the rest. Maybe I'm just tired and dealing with hormones. Maybe I need a drink, ha,ha :)

Maybe it's because I don't think there are many Christmases left before Jesus returns, and I want to make the most of the ones we have. I don't want to be remembered in my children's eyes that mom was mean and stressed at Christmas.

I wish I could start December over.

Cool easy crafts

2009-12-10T17:22:00.006-06:00

My little brain is about to pop! I have stumbled across such NEAT ideas for making toys etc. for children that I want to do it ALL!!! But, realistically, I can't spend the next two weeks at the sewing machine or in a constant state of creating something. There are chores to do you know... they have been rather neglected lately however.

I just made a CUTE tutu. Yeah, no sewing involved. It took me less than 45 minutes too.

I got my directions at www.makeitandloveit.com This lady has some awesome ideas, many of which I plan to try later.

I'm also in the process of making 5 crayon rolls. What's a crayon roll? Here's a picture from the blog, www.skiptomylou.org

EASY hair barrettes! Here

Baby shoe pattern...

Homemade baby toys

And more to come !

Snapshots of the Wild Weekend

2009-12-08T07:58:00.017-06:00

Still working on the house pics/video...but here are some from the weekend.

The hayride to get the tree.

Trying the get the perfect picture in front of the perfect tree. Sarah isn't wanting to cooperate.

She just needed a good tickling.

Better..

Still better...

Great! oh, we're missing some kids...Alexa took this picture! (she's almost 6- wow)

The most popular guest at the Christmas party.

Dessert! That's their friend Shelbi.

Samantha loving Granna's glittery snowman.

Twirling Sunday morning in their fancy dresses.

Christmas plans

2009-12-07T08:04:00.003-06:00

Thanks so much for the nice comments about my weight. Most of the time I'm ok, but occasionally I get really down about it because it seems SO many things are against me. I have thought the same thing about the people on the TV show The Biggest Loser- some of them are so pretty/nice looking even though they're heavy. For me, I want to be able to buy normal clothes and not have to go to the 'woman's department'. Or even just find something second hand that will fit.

I had an outrageously busy weekend, and have been snapping pictures of my home and such, but, I'm not done and I have my niece today AND I'm doing birthday stuff for my best friend. SO, it will be later rather than sooner. I made all the stockings and they turned out very cute. I still have some decorating to do, then I MIGHT, might, MIGHT do a video :) Don't hold yer breath though.

Saturday morning was the coldest morning of the year so far. We got everyone bundled up and headed to the town Christmas parade. It was ok, nothing wonderful. The kids got some candy and saw Santa. Then we drove to the Christmas tree farm and picked out the perfect, expensive tree :) They are all approximately $40, so we went ahead and got a big one :) We drank hot chocolate while they got the tree ready, then stopped at a store to get gift bags for the Christmas party and some extension cords, came home, made lunch, got the girls down for naps, got the tree up and partially decorated (this is MY tree, they have one with all of their things on it, therefore I did most of the decorating with this tree because I wanted it to look a certain way)the tree, then got everyone GUSSIED UP for the church Christmas party, drove to our old town to a restaurant, got there late, had dinner and a fun gift game, went to walmart to get some necessities, came home, got everyone un-decked out and in bed by 9:30, Samantha was wired up, so I laid on the bed and played with her while dh picked out some Christmas music and played it on the guitar. She finally went out!

Sunday, we got everyone dressed up in their new Christmas outfits, including myself, got to church, took pictures at my mom's house, ate lunch there and visited, came home and cleaned up the house, Matt made dinner, we ate and got the girls bathed and in jammies, made homemade popcorn and hot chocolate and watched The Polar Express! After that, and after the girls went to bed, we stayed up and looked at Christmas present ideas on the computer.

WOW- that was the long version, hope it didn't tire you out.

This month is filling up FAST with lots of stuff to do. It was frustrating me at first, but then, I have 4 children and family and friends who love to get together- Christmas is bound to be busy. I'm going to do my best and not stress about perfection and just go with the flow.

This weekend is a birthday party and we still have outdoor lights to put up, next week is a special week dedicated just to my second daughter, called Marvelous Me, in which I have to make a poster of pictures of her, provide snacks, and provide cupcakes for the class for her birthday which will be over the break. They both have Christmas parties with gift exchanges next week, and I'm supposed to make a gift for the teachers :) Then, there is family gathering a few hours away, plus the Christmas shopping and gift wrapping and card making and mailing and going to the mall to see Santa Clause, and making the Swedish smorgasbord...after Christmas, my two oldest daughters have birthdays!

It's the most wonderful rushed time of year huh?

Well, I'll be around.

Thanks

2009-12-03T19:55:00.002-06:00

Aww, thanks for the sweet comment from everyone.

I admit, I did hit a low last night. It's difficult because I've wanted to get back to what I was for about 8 years now, and it just seems so far beyond my reach! I do realize that 1) I just had a baby, 2) it's holiday time, 3) life is much busier because we have 4 children and all the stuff that goes with family.

I'm just SO ready to get there! Slow and steady isn't what I want, instantaneous is what I want :) Don't we all?

Well, I am taking pictures of my revamped Christmas decor. Yes I already had it up during Thanksgiving because we were doing Christmas presents with the grandparents because they live so far away and won't be here. I knew we would be getting it all out in a week anyways, so we just went ahead :)

The month of December is filling up FAST!!! There aren't a lot of free weekends...this one is full of going to the tree farm, putting up house lights and then the first Christmas party of the year :) Now that I have school children, there's all kinds of projects, activities and parties coming. I've tried to simplify it as best I can, but the best thing is just to accept that this time of year is busy and go with it.

Gotta go- bed time for girls.

Pictures

2009-12-02T16:02:00.007-06:00

Thanksgiving Day at our house with my family and Matt's parents. See the fatness??

Me working with baby- my sister and brother-in-law were visiting. Major fat pic!

Ouch! Wake up call now...

New baby Samantha pictures...she is about 4 months old now, trying to sit by herself, prefers to stand but also loves her playpen, is eating much better from the bottle and is loving food from the spoon as well. She really resembles my husband in these pictures, but then she looks different too. Hard to tell who she looks like the most.

It's working

2009-12-02T14:10:00.002-06:00

Yesterday went very well too. I drank some herbal tea with coconut oil in it (weird, but tastes fine) and it seemed to keep my energy and mood even. For dinner I ate about 1/2 cup soaked cooked brown rice with stir fried veggies and natural soy sauce. Wow it tasted good! I ate a large salad and then ate some more veggies.

Oh, I stole a bite of pumpkin pie, just to see if it was still good. It was, so I fed the rest of it to my daughters for a bedtime snack and threw the rest out :)

Today I ate fruit this morning, and since I was out shopping and it's freezing, I drove through McDonald's and got two grilled chicken wraps. My plan now is to make wise choices (grilled vs. fried), portion control, and confuse my metabolism. See, I ate a very low amount of calories for 2.5 days, so it's like what the hey? This evening I'll eat some chicken and potatoes and salad, and really confuse it! Tomorrow I plan to fast till dinner, which will make it confused again. It doesn't have time to get used to a certain amount of calories so it'll end up burning more.

Long term plan? 6 small meals a day of well combined protein, carb and fat, focusing the carbs on vegetables and fruits and one big ole cheat day.

I believe in good fats and animal foods, but for someone like me, I need to moderate it until I lose enough. I'll post some recent pictures soon.

The good news is I lost between 3-5lbs (scale isn't too good) and my shirt is looser.

Crazy to do during the holidays but this is the exact time period I did it before, a whole 8 years ago!!!! I made it then and lost around 35lbs, so I'm sure I can do it again.

How it went

2009-12-01T10:57:00.003-06:00

Yesterday went really, really well.

I really didn't feel hungry in the morning, but I ate an apple and some grapes, lots of water and pure cranberry juice.

At lunch I had a salad with homemade dressing (oil and vinegar) and a banana later in the afternoon.

Supper was a salad with a homemade ranch type dressing and straight vegetable soup.

I did cave a little at night and ate the inside of a tart apple pie and some tea, but I really just wanted the apples! Oh well...

The verdict: this was easy. I had no cravings at all, not even for coffee! This morning the UTI was in full force! But I CANNOT take antibiotics- no way.

The only bad thing that happened was last evening around 6pm, it had been awhile since I ate anything, and I was in a mental FOG trying to make dinner. It was like my body was in slow motion and couldn't concentrate. I also had a sudden feeling of fear- fear that I had done so well, but what if I couldn't keep it up? What if I just stayed fat forever? Silly, but it passed after about 15 minutes. I actually preferred the taste of my salad than the cooked soup. The soup was tasty, but the salad tasted better.

Today I didn't crave anything at all. I didn't even get hungry feeling till 11 am. First thing I was drinking loads of water and cranberry juice because of the pain of the UTI. Later I ate half a grapefruit, a few grapes, and later an apple.

Lunch was a large salad with avocado, tomatoes, green onions, carrots and 1 boiled egg and homemade dressing. The egg didn't taste as good as I thought it would. Bummer.

I will probably have some fruit this afternoon, and supper will be stir fried veggies (carrots, bell peppers, onion, broccoli and Bragg's Liquid aminos instead of soy sauce) brown rice and a salad. I may slice up some leftover steak and add it to the stir fry so it isn't wasted.

I'm not sure how I will proceed. I'm just kind of going with how I feel. The hard part is that it's cold today and I am cold and want something hot. I may heat up some leftover soup later.
My husband is doing this with me and the kids are doing fine too. They didn't seem to mind just eating simple vegetable soup and salad and some crackers. We'll see how they do with tonight's supper. I am considering starting my weightloss blog again with pictures (yikes!).

I am getting lots of inspiration from youtube- there are many people that post their weightloss journeys on there with pictures. Also I watch the Biggest Loser program. I could be on there- that's how bad it has gotten. I would be on the small side, but still.

On to Christmas stuff- I am planning to try making some pomanders and the ornaments you make with applesauce and cinnamon and bake. Hopefully I can sew some stockings too- time we all had one that looked similar instead of random mis matched ones, especially since our family is 'done' :)

Cleaning out

2009-11-30T10:12:00.002-06:00

What a week!

Everything went very well, excluding the fact that Wednesday morning I woke up with allergy or sinus problems and a UTI! Guess I should have resisted the Dr. Pepper in the checkout aisle Tuesday night, eh? (yeah I've been around Yoopers and the 'eh' creeps in)

I pushed on and we got everything ready and I got everything cooked and the food was good. Still, I was quite miserable and Friday was even worse because of 3 days of little sleep, lots of work, a house full of people and the lingering symptoms of the allergies and bladder problems.

I ate LOTS! And guess what, I have gained like 10 lbs since birth!!!!!!!!!!!!

So, do you know what is happening today?

DIET!!!!

Actually, I am cleaning out, and it is going extremely well. I am eating raw fruits and veggies, water and cranberry juice, and some cooked veggies today. I have been literally addicted to coffee for weeks, and today I didn't even miss it. All the while, like for 2 months, I have felt in my gut that I should clean out my body just from pregnancy itself and I didn't want to listen.

I'm listening and doing now :) I plan to add some brown rice tomorrow evening, a potato the next day, then on Thursday I am planning to fast from sundown to sundown. (just liquids- water) I'm not sure how I will proceed after that. It's more of 'resetting' time for my body. I have GOT to get rid of the extra body fat. I will need to lose almost 60lbs to get below 200. I don't look terribly heavy, but apparently I am!

Anyone hit the stores last Friday? We went to walmart for a few things and it was pretty busy. Many people had their carts mound over with stuff! I didn't have the money for that :)

Getting ready for Christmas now...I am thinking of getting rid of almost all my Christmas decor and starting over with more natural things. If I don't love it, why keep it?

So anyways, I am waist deep in piled up laundry needing to be folded, everything needs to be put back in order and the floor is atrocious. I'm taking a break though, because with the cleaning out of my body, I don't want to overtax the system.

Well, time to do the next thing :)

Thanksgiving Menu again and recipes

2009-11-24T08:27:00.003-06:00

I should be doing something else, but I need a little break :) I am posting my menu again, but with recipes this time.

Ok, we found a great deal on ham and turkey. So, we bought two turkeys and 1 spiral sliced ham. I"m just going to use the glaze the ham came with and heat it up.

The turkey- saw this on TV and looks good. (blogger did something weird with my words being in all CAPS, but I don't have time to fix it.)

Herb Roasted Turkey

1 onion
1 head garlic
1 bunch fresh thyme
butter and more herbs (whatever I can find- sage, thyme, rosemary)
White cooking wine

SPRINKLE SALT AND PEPPER INSIDE THE CAVITY OF THE BIRD. CUT ONION INTO QUARTERS AND THE HEAD OF GARLIC IN HALF, then PUT INSIDE THE TURKEY> ALSO STUFF THE THYME IN THERE> TIE UP LEGS>

MIX YOUR CHOPPED HERBS AND BUTTER AND RUB IT ALL UNDERNEATH THE SKIN OF THE TURKEY AND THEN ALL OVER THE OUTSIDE> SPRINKLE WITH SALT AND PEPPER> place in roasting pan and poor the wine in the bottom> Cook at 325 degrees 15 minutes per pound of turkey. Baste every half hour until the last 30 minutes so the skin can get crispy.

Sausage Apple Stuffing

Stale bread
1lb cooked sausage
2 granny smith apples
1 large onion
2-3 stalks celery
dried cranberries
chicken broth
seasonings

Cube the bread and toast in oven till very dry. Cook apples, onion and celery in half a stick of butter till softened. Cook the sausage in another pan, crumbling well. Throw everything together in a bowl and add the broth/stock until desired wetness is achieved. Poor into a baking pan and bake at 350 for about 30 minutes.

Jamaican Cranberry Sauce

1 package fresh cranberries
1 orange, juice and zest
1/2 to 1 cup of brown sugar
1 cinnamon stick
2 inches of grated fresh ginger root

Wash cranberries and discard any bad ones. Put in saucepan with all ingredients, adding extra water to cover the berries if needed. Cook on medium-low heat until simmering, then turn down to slow simmer. Cook till berries pop and create a thick sauce. Taste for tartness/sweetness and add more sugar if needed. Chill overnight for flavors to develop.

Homemade Green Bean casserole

Humming Bird Cake

We will also have mashed potatoes and gravy, sweet potato casserole with marshmallows on top, pickles and olives, possibly deviled eggs, pecan pie, pumpkin pie and maybe a cranberry raisin one....umm, I think that's it!

I will add that I grew up eating cornbread dressing, not bread stuffing. I am from the south and almost no one uses bread for the 'dressing'- it's cornbread. However, my dear husband is from the north and so are his folks and they prefer the bread kind, so that's what we'll do :) Should be fun to experiment.

I may sound frazzled in my post from yesterday, but I am delighted to host Thanksgiving. I love having 'control' over what food we eat and love preparing it. Yes there is a lot of components and I have small children and YES I get stressed when I've got many things to do with lots of people underfoot. But, I'm not dreading it. I just pray my body will hold up!!!

Martha, Martha, Martha in my brain!!!!

2009-11-23T09:59:00.002-06:00

UGGGHH!!!

I'm trying to rearrange this house to fit in the Christmas tree! We are so packed in here! I am working so hard to make it look like we're NOT using every inch of available space to store things. As soon as we get our money for buying a house (you know, the govt. is giving up to $8000 for those who are buying a house this year) we are buying our OWN storage building!!!!!

The way our living room is, it is so hard to arrange it where there's room to walk through. Yet, there really isn't anything we can get rid of, like for good. We need to store it!

Why am I doing Christmas stuff so early? Because we'll be getting it out in about a week anyways, and we're doing 'Christmas' with my husband's family Friday.

I still have to get the froze solid turkey into the fridge, clean out the fridge, do laundry, puree the pumpkins I cooked, make bread, go to the store for formula, and continue shuffling stuff around to make it look like we are perfectly organized, LOL :)

"Ok, Martha, slow down and learn the lesson from Mary. Quit hustling and bustling about to make life perfect and sit at the Savior's feet awhile. And lay off the coffee."

Sorry...

2009-11-20T08:20:00.003-06:00

Alrighty, dear readers, the inevitable has come.

I gotta stop the blog...

Well, not stop it or shut it down, but I have to be released from it. It's weighing me down because I know you all are interested in things but I'm pressed on every side right now, and I don't have the ability to make my blog what I want it to be.

I want to do videos, and pictures, and how tos and all kinds of stuff. But, it's not happening.

This doesn't mean that I will never post, it just means that I'm not obligated to post. It means that I can post when I have the time and have something good to say and not because I feel I'm failing 'my people' LOL!

I am thinking that after Christmas I should be able to post regularly again. Since I am hosting Thanksgiving, there's a lot going on. I have MUCHO yard work, housework, cooking etc. to do, plus help my mom clean her house. (remember she's crippled right now) I've also somehow sprained my lower back, so it's very sore from the chiropractic adjustments and I have to ice it a few times a day.

I am sure you all understand. As wives and moms our work is NEVER complete. As Samantha grows and becomes more independent, I will be freed up a bit more. I already feel overwhelmed because I am constantly looking back at my old self and how capable I was. I have to accept my new self and adjust!! Still though, in my mind, I get worked up about it.

SO, today, I have to do SEVERAL loads of laundry, re-sort the toys yet again, pick up around the house the things that are out of place, bake 3 pumpkins, make 4-6 loaves of bread, other kitchen stuff, AND finish the sewing. Hmmm, maybe I should have started last night and just not slept...oh wait, I was exhausted because baby hasn't slept well a few nights in a row. No, sleep was essential.

Oh but last night we ALL went to the grocery store to buy food for next week. My husband kept telling me how it would be fine for us to ALL go. Well, let's just say it felt like we were in that store for 4 hrs, but it was only 1! Anyhow, there were a few spankings (in the bathroom), several bouts of crying, a few bathroom trips (for actual using the bathroom) lots of deliberating over prices (dh and me) lots of multitasking (me feeding the baby, pushing the cart, holding my list and crossing things off and directing the kids with the miniature shopping carts all at the same time), I got my ankles slammed into 3-4 times, then I rolled the cart over Alexa's toes (not on purpose!) AND, we bought everything, including a spiral sliced ham and TWO turkeys for $111.

How? If you bought an outrageously priced spiral cut ham you got a turkey for free, and you can get a second turkey for .79 cents a pound, AND, lots of stuff was on sale, AND I had a 20% off coupon. Cool huh? I still have to make a lot from scratch, like bread and stuffing and pie crusts and my own pumpkin, but oh well, that's the fun part!

Alright, it's GO time. I'll be around.

from the Abundance of my heart

2009-11-17T11:45:00.002-06:00

Hello.

Been having some computer issues and camera issues and emotional issues.

Computer had to be reformatted completely, which meant we had to copy everything we wanted to keep to the other computer, then wipe this one out and reload it all back. That took some time.

The camera is...I can't remember, but something on it won't close right so my husband has to figure that one out.

Emotionally...well, since I can't help but be brutally honest on here, it was 'time' for my 'monthly friend' and it didn't come when I thought it should and it freaked me out because I thought I was the 1-3/1000 women whose tubals failed and oh my gosh! I'm going to have a baby in July!!!!

No. It didn't fail as of last evening :) But the ENTIRE weekend, I was crampy and achy and on the emotional roller coaster, and cravings were INSANE! Poor, poor hubby.

But I found out something this weekend. I married one of the best men in the world. After the initial outburst and argument, he 'got it'. He was loving and patient and sweet and encouraging and has decided that from now on, every Saturday morning, we as a family would clean the house- every part of it including projects and the outside. He also decided that every Sunday evening we would buy groceries together.

Wow. This man also, yesterday, did NOT wake me up early enough, and when I did get up, he had finished programming the computer, gotten himself and the school girls dressed, lunches made, breakfast made (homemade oatmeal that I had soaked the night before) girls' hair fixed, bags packed... and they were ready to walk out the door.

Wow. This man could SO NOT multi-task things when we first married. This is the same man, who I can be having a conversation with, and then 10 minutes into it, look over at me and say ' what?' Um, yeah, he didn't hear a thing.

I can see what marriage and children have done for him. It basically made him a man. He went from a 29 year old young adult type to being a man. This transformation occurred over the span of 5 years. It technically didn't start until after our second one was born. There were many hard times. But each time we hit a low point, there was growth.

Now I understand one of the reasons why we get married and have children. It's not just for our joy and fulfillment, but it is to mold us into what God has planned for us to be. He can see us many years ahead, what we will become, and guides our way so that we become that. Neat huh?
We would not be who we are now if we were without children. My goodness- what journey!

Anyways, sorry to get off topic or whatever. Just letting you know, that things have not been normal. In fact last night somehow I pulled something in my back and could hardly move! Even this morning I was prepared to go to the chiropractor first thing, but 3 advil took care of it :) Oh, and of course, our prayers.

I have been SEWING!! Finally!!! It's been, oh, 4 months? I am making all the girls a soft and cozy flannel nightgown. I'm doing two at a time, and have just the sleeves and hem on two of them left. Hopefully, you'll get a picture of that :)

Baby's awake!

Frugal Thanksgiving

2009-11-15T14:55:00.002-06:00

This year I am hosting the Thanksgiving meal for my family and my husband's parents. Typically for holidays, my inner Martha Stewart comes out and I go overboard on everything, including spending money on food and other things.

This year we are trying to save some extra money for Christmas, so I'm challenging myself to trim down Thanksgiving.

1. Do you really need 10 side dishes? No! Pick your favorites and make plenty of it for the day and some leftovers.

2. Do you really need 6 desserts? Baking can get pricey, especially if you choose something with nuts like pecans- oh my-or chocolate etc.

3. If cooking a turkey, they are usually a good price, so you could get one bigger than you need to have leftovers to freeze.

4. Instead of buying premade pie crusts and rolls/bread, make some ahead and freeze them. Flour is cheap, butter isn't necessarily cheap, but in our case we prefer not to use margarine or shortening, which is usually in the premade crusts. Yeast rolls would come out pretty cheap cost wise too.

5. Frugal doesn't necessarily mean cheap to me. Frugal means, getting the best I can for the least amount of money. This year I plan to make a homemade green bean casserole. This will likely cost a little more than the usual canned green beans with cream of mushroom soup, but it would be healthier.

So what is my menu plan?

Roasted turkey, I may brine it the night before to flavor it and make it juicy
stuffing made from homemade bread (I use apple, onion and celery in mine)
mashed potatoes and gravy
sweet potatoes with marshmallows on top (the kid fave- and from fresh potatoes)
homemade green bean casserole
rolls
my homemade spicy/citrusy cranberry sauce
*deviled eggs
ice tea

pumpkin pie, cranberry raisin pie, pecan pie if on sale if not, mini cheesecakes

Seems like plenty to me. I might also throw in a fresh salad or a jello fruit salad if I fancy it at the time. But I'm not planning it. The deviled eggs may or may not make it either, we'll see.

Mom song

2009-11-12T21:10:00.001-06:00

So many topics to blog!

2009-11-11T17:25:00.005-06:00

Ok everyone, I have SO many things I want to blog about! Yet, it's been another busy week. I have to be out of the house today, tomorrow, and Friday, and yesterday I had guests for part of the day. My laundry is PILED on my bed so I will be forced to do it before I can go to bed. Well, that's the idea. Dh has been known to just rake it off on the floor...

I have so been wanting to do a video but haven't settled down to do it.

I have been thinking about Thanksgiving and Christmas and getting all excited about it. I have decided that we will deck out the front of our house and have been previewing what the stores have in yard ornaments and lights. (I don't want to spend $300 on it you know)

Every year I promise myself I will not go overboard on presents, and just about every year I do it anyways. As a parent, I want to give my children things that will make them happy. And I don't usually just buy them toys, maybe occasionally, AND my two oldest daughters' birthdays are right around Christmas. But again, when I think on it, a lot of the stuff we get them breaks or is lost pretty soon after Christmas.

While I want them to have fun receiving presents, and yes we do the dreaded Santa Clause for fun, I want to focus on the other parts of Christmas. Making things festive and beautiful, going to cut down the tree, the music, the traditions of making everyone's favorite candy (mine would be peanut butter filled ritz crackers dipped in chocolate), Christmas crafts, being with family, and ultimately, that the whole purpose behind it is celebrating the Savior's birth.

My husband and I are at a place now where we could really care less about getting gifts- we just want to give it all to the kids and others. I plan to share some of our Christmas traditions in the coming weeks along with recipes. I am planning to make some gifts this year, but I better get on the ball if that's going to happen. These days I really think most people would be satisfied with something simple and homemade.

One of the things I want to do for the children was this, in fact I went and bought the exact fabric she used for it.

Also, Crystal from the Homemaking Homestead on the left sidebar has some good ideas. Bags filled with rice that you can heat or freeze and use as cold/hot packs, clothespin bags,potholders...personally, my pot holders are in some SAD shape right now.

Anyways, my goal is to not get stressed and to not go overboard, but to just enjoy every minute because it only comes once a year. Sometimes I get all Martha Stewart-ish and try to make everything perfect, but I'm human with 4 little ones who ain't gonna remember the many details that I can get stuck on.

Which reminds me, baby Samantha is three months old today. She is trying to SIT UP! If I lay her back at an angle, she pulls herself up. She is starting baby talk, loves to be talked to, and knows and loves her family. She is eating MUCH better, and has started taking 6oz in her bottles- remember, for awhile I could only get her to take 1-2oz. God just healed her, because I never even used the medicine. She continues to eat cereal and some baby foods and is doing really well, but it's more of a supplement now rather than a mainstay of her diet.

I hope to get her back on the NT formula after Christmas. She'll be 5 months old then and should tolerate it much better.

I tried a new recipe today and am about to go take a picture of the final project. See you tomorrow.

Herbs- rather long

2009-11-09T08:15:00.006-06:00

Herbs work.

I found that out about 5 years ago when they were the only thing helping me get healthier. I was using products from Dr. Schulze. They are amazing- the best you can buy I believe.

But, they are pricey, and for my ' large' family, we can't afford to get much. However, over the years I've been researching homemade herbal products and just never got around to it. This year though, I felt the push and decided I really could handle it.

And, it was very simple. First though, you have to know all about the herbs. There are so many! There are many that have the same result, but may function a little different. Sometimes one herb may not work, so you try another. Over the years I have learned about various herbs, but the best resource I found was an ebook written by a self taught mommy. If you go the left sidebar, and click on Fields and Gardens, the lady has an ebook called "The Kitchen Apothecary". There is a lot of good info, and it's not overwhelming. It's very easy to understand and it only cost me around $8.

Another good free resource is going to www.bulkherbstore.com. Not only do they sell the herbs, but they have LOADS of articles and information on what to use and how. I am very thankful that they provide it for free.

So, I took what I knew, and decided what herbs I wanted to buy. At the time I bought it, I had a very large lemon balm bush, peppermint bush and a big thyme plant. My intent was to uproot them and dry the leaves when we moved. Then, something started eating them! They dried up before I could do anything. Oh, well, we'll improvise.

For my immune booster tincture, I chose to use the recipe in the ebook.

2 parts echinacea tops
2 parts echinacea roots
1 part yarrow
1 part elderberries

I used enough to fill a quart mason jar half way. Then you just cover it with alcohol, I used vodka, and allow to sit. You are supposed to shake up the jar each day, but mine is more like each week. I am planning to check on it this week, as it will mark 3-4 weeks since I started them.

I also made a sleepy time or calming tincture.

1 part catnip
1 part passionflower
1 part stress buster tea blend (from the website)
I think I threw in some peppermint tea bags too, will double check

This is good for times of major stress or insomnia. Or using that instead of benadryl when the kids won't calm down. Just kidding! (I've only done that once, ok, and we'd been in the car for 24hrs...the child would NOT sleep!!!)

The herbs I chose and why: (info excerpted from www.bulkherbstore.com)

Echinacea is often put in combinations with other herbs. It is an excellent infection fighter and is used as a powerful natural antibiotic.

Especially good in glandular infections and problems. A good cleanser for glands and the lymphatic system.
One of the best herbs for helping enlargements and weakness of the prostrate gland.
Used in ear aches, strep throat, and lymph glands.
Effective blood purifier. Used for blood poisoning and poisonous spider and snake bites.
Used in combination with goldenseal, Yarrow and Cayenne to form a powerhouse infection fighting formula.

Recent studies show Echinacea to have immuno stimulant, antiviral, antiexudative, anti-inflammatory, bacteriostatic, and fungistatic properties. In practical use today, Echinacea is used primarily to build resistance to infections of the respiratory and digestive tracts.

The proven actions of Echinacea are due to water-soluble polysaccharides. They act by sequestering the attacks of various microbes and allow the body to heal itself. Upon reaching an infected area, the polysaccharides have an immunostimulant effect, which results in the production of leucocytes (white blood cells). The resulting phagocytic action of the leucocytes effectively eradicates a number of infectious organisms.

Echinacea is a contact healer. It can be used for a variety of inflammatory conditions externally. As such, it is a good idea to have some on hand in emergencies and know how to use it.

Unlike most herbs, Echinacea should only be used when you know you have a need, rather than on a regular basis as a supplement.

Elderberries~
Elderberries are tasty flu fighters. They contain compounds that inhibit the enzyme flu viruses from penetrating our cell membranes and also prevent the virus from invading respiratory tract cells. Taken early enough, as a tea or tincture, you may be able to head off an upcoming illness before it becomes a full-blown flu. They are especially good for bronchitis, colds, coughing, and influenza. Also contains substances that ease inflammation and pain and soothe the intestines, thus making them useful in all inflammatory bowel diseases. It is known to have a gentle laxative action, and their mild tonic action helps to arrest diarrhea.

Yarrow ~

Yarrow is an important herb to have in storage in your home. The comment was made that it would be one of the only things that work against the coming plagues, which would be flu type diseases. Yarrow is unsurpassed for flu and fevers.

Used abundantly at the beginning of a cold it will usually break it up within 24 hours.
Especially good for fevers-produces perspiration. Opens pores and has relaxing action on skin.
For fever must be drunk warm or take capsules with warm water or peppermint tea. Yarrow tea is bitter to the taste, but effective.
Good for all childhood diseases. A yarrow ointment or tea is used for sores, including chicken pox and smallpox, also old wounds.
Helping to glandular system. Regulates and tones liver.
Relieves kidney and bladder problems, infections and mucus discharge from bladder.
Equalizes circulation.
Used in fomentations for external hemorrhoids or inject one ounce of tea in a retention enema for internal hemorrhoids.
Corrects diarrhea in infants.
Healing and soothing to all mucous membranes.
Benefits respiratory problems, including bleeding from lungs.
Combined with sage, it is good for profuse or irregular menstruation.

Has been used in the following:

Chicken pox	Colds
Female problems	Fever
Flu-influenza	Menstruation, profuse, irregular
Mucous membranes	Pleurisy
Pneumonia	Urinary problems
Urine, suppressed

Passionflower ~

Herbalists have had great success using it to treat imbalances of the nervous system including insomnia, nervous tension and stress headaches. Besides being an excellent herbal sedative, Passion Flower relieves smooth muscle spasms. This makes it useful for treating spasmodic dysmenorrhea, colic, diarrhea, hemorrhoids, blood pressure, and epilepsy.

Passion Flower also has an antifungal principle called passicol that shows intermediate killing power on candida species.

Passion Flower is high or very high on the following nutrients:

Chromium	Magnesium
Niacin	Phosphorus
Potassium	Protein
Vitamin A

Indicated Usages - Internal:

Anxiety	Convulsions
Cough	Headache
Hiccough	High blood pressure
Hyperactivity	Insomnia
Muscle tension, spasms, twitches	Stress
Neuralgia	Parkinson’s
Restlessness	Sciatica
Seizures	Tachycardia

Catnip ~ (have you ever seen a cat on catnip? HILARIOUS!)

is one of the traditional cold and flu remedies. It is an excellent diaphoretic, and its ability to induce sleep while producing perspiration without increasing the heat of the system makes it a valuable drink in any case of fever. Owing to its gentle nature, catnip is highly prized in the treatment of children's ailments.

Catnip is one of the traditional cold and flu remedies. It is an excellent diaphoretic, and its ability to induce sleep while producing perspiration without increasing the heat of the system makes it a valuable drink in every case of fever.

As a carminative with antispasmodic properties, the herb also eases any stomach upsets, dyspepsia, flatulence, and colic. Its sedative action on the nerves adds to its generally relaxing properties.

Owing to its gentle nature, catnip is highly prized in the treatment of children's ailments. It is good in colic, anxiety, and nervousness, and is used as a mild nervine. Catnip is an ideal remedy for the treatment of diarrhea in children.

Indicated Usages - Internal:

Anxiety, Nervousness	Bronchitis
Colds, Flu	Colic
Diarrhea	Fever
Gas, Bloating	Headache
Indigestion	Insomnia
Menstrual Difficulty	Morning Sickness
Stomach cramps	Toothache

Stress Buster Tea blend ~

Contains: St. John's Wort, Ginkgo leaf, Siberian ginseng root, Green Tea, Jasmine flowers, peppermint leaf, raspberry leaf, and stevia leaves.

Stress-Buster Tea is a mix of herbs that aid the circulatory, immune, glandular, digestive, and respiratory system. Simplified, this combination of herbs relaxes the muscles, feeds the brain, and strengthens the body.

I also ordered mullein for this reason :

As an aid for chronic lung and respiratory problems, mullein was universally recognized by European, Asian, and Native American herbalists. Oil extracts of the flowers were considered excellent in soothing and healing any inflamed surface, and for easing ear problems. A decoction of its roots was used to alleviate a toothache, and thought to be good for cramps and convulsions. An early morning draught of the distilled water of the flowers was often recommended for gout.

In more recent times, one of mullein's greatest advocates was Dr. John Christopher. He states, "It is the only herb known to man that has remarkable narcotic properties without being poisonous or harmful. It is a great herbal pain killer and nervous soporific, calming and quieting all inflamed and irritated nerves. In wasting diseases (such as tuberculosis or consumption), the weight steadily increases, expectoration becomes easy, cough calms, and the general condition is improved. Mullein soothes and strengthens the bowels and renal system, and is one of the most important for the glands and serous and mucous membranes. It stops the escape of fluids from ruptured vessels, and eliminates toxins."

Mullein's gentle nature makes it one of the very best herbs for use with children's health problems. It combines wonderfully with chamomile, catnip and lemon balm where appropriate, and can be used to address a wide variety of childhood diseases.

**In times past, my oldest daughter Leiah would seem like, overnight develop major chest congestion. She gets gagged very easily, and coughing up the mucus would cause vomiting. So, I decided to order some of this rather than used the children's mucinex for a month. I am not expecting her to get sick, because we believe in God's protection, but it is there nonetheless, and we can give it to others if they need it. It is very bitter though!

I think that's all I ordered this time. I had ordered some mother's milk tea, which worked awesome-ly!!! I sent to another lady who needed it more than me, since nursing didn't continue with Samantha. I wanted to order everything! I would need to create my own herb shop though :) I hope to get a few more soon, especially since my peppermint died...

Menus

2009-11-05T15:58:00.002-06:00

I'm nosy and like to know what other people are eating, so, I'll post what our menu is for the week, starting this past Monday. (just dinners, breakfasts aren't consistent or that interesting)

Monday: "Goulash"- ground meat, veggies, tomato sauce, pasta
salad

Tuesday: Italian ham and bean soup (onion, celery, carrot, garlic, white beans, ham, chicken broth, tomato paste, basil, finely chopped spinach and tiny pasta called ditalini)
More salad with homemade ranch dressing
cornbread and butter

Wednesday: "Sloppy Cornbread" (sloppy joe mix with cornbread on top)
cole slaw
sour cream apple pie

Thursday: Crockpot roasted chicken
brown rice pilaf and chicken gravy
bacon green beans

Friday: homemade baked macaroni and cheese
homemade baked beans
cole slaw
possibly homemade chocolate ice cream

Saturday: bean and beef burritos with fixings

Sunday: leftovers or sandwiches/eggs and toast

Monday: chicken curry
brown rice and ginger carrot salad

Tuesday: Awesome salmon patties (the recipe is here somewhere)
mashed potatoes
corn

Wednesday: spaghetti, garlic bread, salad

BUSY

2009-11-05T08:39:00.002-06:00

Just letting you all know I am still here- just too busy!

I finished my project Tuesday, but didn't have time to take pictures.

Wednesday I ran errands ALL morning, then cooked for my mom, came home and got my other girls from school and unloaded groceries, then went back to my mom's to finish dinner, then back here and WORE OUT!

Today I am going to the Discovery Science Place with a new mom I met whose husband is in the military and gone right now. I'm tired, but I must go and force myself to have fun :)

Tomorrow is an at home day. See you then if not before!

An Everything Post

2009-11-02T13:39:00.011-06:00

This is going to a bit of everything post today. Mainly because if I don't do it all now, it may not get done later :)

First off, we had a fun weekend. Like I said, we don't really 'do' Halloween, but our pastor hosts a "weiner roast" every year and we allow the girls to dress up. Or in this case, get covered in makeup. This is our ATTEMPT to paint them like cats. I say attempt because, well, we didn't decide to do this until 30 minutes before we had to leave!!!

Our cats:

Oh well. They thought it was fun :)

The next morning, Sunday, I dressed them in casual but new clothes. Sometimes I just don't feel like getting them all frilly with tights and all that- especially when it's cold out. I haven't put pictures of the older girls up in awhile, so here they are.

They sure are growing! One could certainly go broke trying to keep them in clothes that fit and look nice :)

Next topic- recipes!

This is me and my husband's new favorite meal. I watch the cooking show "Nigella Feasts" on Saturday mornings, and her recipes are fabulous. This is one I tried and have been craving it every week- great for fall and winter.

Cornbread topped Chili

2lbs ground beef
1 large onion
1 red or green bell pepper
1 T red pepper flakes, or less if you wish
1 T ground cumin
(I add) 2-3 T chili powder
1 T garlic powder
1 T cocoa powder
salt and pepper
1 small can tomato paste
1/2 cup ketchup
1 14oz can diced tomatoes
1-2 cans kidney beans or other beans (the second time I used pinto beans I had cooked and frozen)
Some water if needed to cover.

Just saute the onion and pepper in olive oil, then add meat and spices. When meat is cooked add everything else and let simmer at least 30-45 minutes. Transfer to oven safe dish. Make cornbread topping:

1/2 cup cornmeal
1/2 cup flour
1 T baking powder
1/2 t baking soda
2 T sugar
1 t salt
1 egg
1/4 cup oil or butter
1/2-1 cup milk

Mix dry ingredients together then add wet ingredients making a smooth batter. Spoon on top of chili and an even layer. Put into preheated oven (400 degrees) and cook approximately 20-25 minutes or until top is golden brown.

I serve with grated cheddar cheese, sour cream, guacamole if possible, and salad. (we mix the salad with the chili- must be a southern thing) You can also serve corn chips with it. YUM! I plan to make it this week for my mom and dad- mom is having surgery to fix her broken foot that she's been walking on for over two weeks!

Since we're in the kitchen, I am going to reveal my worst um, procrastination. I hate cleaning the fridge. I mean, I hate emptying out leftovers that no one ate that are now expired. The problem is I put it off for WAY too long, and by then things start growing fuzz. Today was THE day to fix it- lovely. Here is the aftermath- be glad you didn't see what was in these dishes.

The sink and counter are piled with dishes that had been living in the fridge for weeks. Yack!

So what is your dirty homemaking procrastination secret? Anyone got any?

One more thing- last week I was cleaning out toys. The girls' bedroom is quite blank. We just didn't have the time to paint it or anything before we moved in. I was really wishing I had one of those nets you can hang in the corner of the room to hold stuffed animals and dolls. And then an idea came to me. This is what it looked like.

Notice the animals are 'suspended' on the wall? I used pink ribbon, tied it around their necks and then hung them with a push pin.

I also found a calendar I'd had since 2004! So I cut the pictures out and used my trusty clear push pins to hang them. I AM the thumb tack/ push pin queen. You should see what I can do with them :)

I have another project going that hopefully I can get done today. We'll see...but it's just using what you have to decorate.

Anyways, that's that. Enjoy the drive by posting :)

An Angel sent to Leiah

2009-10-29T15:44:00.015-06:00

I mentioned the other day that I was going to write about something special regarding my oldest daughter Leiah.

We moved to this town two weeks before Samantha was born because the previous school district would not allow her to go regular ed kindergarten. They basically tried to make me think that their school was so advanced that Leiah could not possibly keep up, that no one was capable of assisting a child in the bathroom (teachers I mean), that all the children would be mean and pick on her because she was different and that she absolutely would NOT get an aid to help her.

So, it was a challenge to find a house, get a loan, and close on it in two months. But, by the power of God and our faith in action, we got it.

So many things have pointed to us that we did indeed hear from the Lord and we were meant to be here. We have wonderful neighbors, some which we already knew before we moved. The school is absolutely wonderful and they love Leiah and have made it a point to tell me so.

Back in September, on Grandparents' Day my mom went to school to eat lunch with my girls. When she saw Leiah's class coming, Leiah was walking down the hall with a group of girls surrounding her and holding her hand. Leiah's aid pointed out a little girl named Chloe that loved Leiah and was always holding her hand and helping her with everything.

After lunch, the little girl came to my mom and said that Leiah was her very best friend!

We all cried over that one. So the next day was Open House and I met her and her family. The NEXT day, I went to Target way far away and lady asked me if I was Leiah's mom. I said yes, and then I recognized that she was Chloe's mom. We talked and exchanged phone numbers and have been getting to know each other. I told her how much I loved her little girl for proving that Leiah can be in regular society without being ridiculed. Not only that, Chloe broke her arm shortly after that, but she still continuously holds Leiah's hand with that arm, and always has her arm around Leiah.

Last week they went to the Pumpkin Patch farm and I got to see Leiah's class and little Chloe in action. She is an angel. Here are some pictures and I'll point her out when I get there.

The main little 'auditorium' where they did a little skit and talk about the pumpkins.

Part of the farm.

The skit about growing pumpkins. The little blonde girl with flower petals on her head is Chloe.

Pickin' Punkins!

Now are the pictures of Leiah and Chloe. Getting arranged for the picture... (they're on the left)

Give me your hand Leiah...

Isn't so sweet?! Thank you for loving Leiah Chloe! There were other little girls that were quite possessive of Leiah. Yeah, she's a freak no one likes huh?

Kitchen Happenings

2009-10-27T09:20:00.013-06:00

So what's been going on in my kitchen lately? I actually took some pictures last night!!

We had homemade chicken noodle soup- super for immune boosting.

And delicious whole milk yogurt topped with this berry sauce- raspberries, blueberries and blackberries sweetened with sucanat and thickened with arrowroot powder.

Here's my brewing cupboard- an every growing kombucha mushroom that I need to pull out of there and make a new batch of! And a jar of kefir, almost ready to refrigerate.

I have 2 cups of steel cut Scottish Oatmeal soaking in water and whey for today's breakfast. Yum. No comparison to regular rolled oats.

Here are my herbal brews! I finally got them going! I have two large jars of immune booster and 1 of sleepy time. I'll give the recipes later.

I also made a large pitcher of herbal tea since the tinctures aren't ready yet. This is a mix of elderberries, echinacea tops and roots, yarrow, mullein and catnip. I HIGHLY recommend buying herbs from www.bulkherbstore.com You get a LOT of herbs for the price. I was absolutely floored when I saw how much I got in each bag!!!

And here is a kitchen tip. When I open a bag that doesn't have resealable thingie, I use clothespins! Works great- much better than the little twist ties and cheaper than buying 'Chip Clips'. I do also save the twisties from bread packages as well.

And I must close the post with a baby picture :)

And maybe another....

Unexpected Break

2009-10-26T14:13:00.002-06:00

Apparently I took a blogging break!

Unintentionally.

Samantha hasn't been eating well and I've been really busy with that. She's going to try another medicine to see if it helps block acid from coming up the esophagus. I was gone on a field trip Wednesday, Thursday I had lots of housework to catch up on, I was out all day Friday, Saturday and Sunday then this morning Leiah woke up vomiting and I had Samantha's 2 month check up! Praise the Lord Leiah is fine now- it only lasted about 3-4hrs thanks to God answering our prayers. Samantha got some shots and is a little fussy, poor thing.

Baby has also been waking again in the early morning (4-5am) so I'm a bit sleep deprived as well. My eyelids are very heavy right now :)

Some day I will be a better blogger again. Right now things are just too busy.

I do have a new recipe to share- that's one thing I can do- COOK! I also have a very neat thing to share about my oldest daughter, Leiah's school experience. God totally brought us here.

So, I need to go get the crying baby quieted and at some point I'll be back to talk some more :)

Love you all!

A Recipe and organization

2009-10-20T07:16:00.004-06:00

What lovely wonderful fall weather we are getting! Such a huge blessing! The mornings and evenings are cool enough we need to turn the heat on, but by midday it's in the 70s. Last night the kids were outside playing in the dark while their daddy was burning some trash-cool out, but not cold.

For us autumn doesn't really feel real until late October and November. I know in more northern states it might even start in September. We're still getting summer heat then!

Last week I bought some fresh fall veggies and wasn't sure what I was going to do with them. Well, boy did I come up with a winner of a recipe! I don't really just love butternut squash and sweet potatoes, but when I cooked them this time I LOVED it. This is what I did:

I cubed 1/2 a medium peeled butternut squash (my veggie peeler was sharp enough to get the strong hide off it), 2 medium sweet potatoes, 2 green apples and 1 large onion. I tossed them in a large baking dish and seasoned them with dried rosemary, dried thyme, a sprinkle of cayenne, a sprinkle of nutmeg and ginger, garlic powder, salt and pepper and olive oil. I had a whole chicken that I nestled in the middle and covered the chicken with the same spices and a drizzle of balsamic vinegar. THEN, I poured about 1/3 cup of apple cider vinegar and 2/3c real apple cider of all of it and roasted it.
WOW!! I served it with some saffron flavored rice (yeah from a package). The veggies got slightly blackened around the edges, so I turned the temp. from 425 to 350. I cooked them for a total of about 45 minutes-1 hour. It was so good I wished I would have made it for my mom's birthday party. Which, by the way, went very well, I was just too busy to take any pictures. I made the chocolate layer cake and the girls decorated it with candy corn, candy pumpkins and 'halloween' sprinkles. (orange black and purple)

I have the rest of the squash and a sweet potato left this week, so I will either make it into a smooth and creamy soup or baby food :)

Organization

I mentioned I was working on a new binder. I will take pictures of it in a bit. I just bought a little skinny one and built like the control journals on the Fly Lady website. Basically all I have in there now are my daily routines, a weekly plan, a few things about cleaning and my girls' daily routines and my menu plans/master grocery list.

It's helped me out a lot.

The Weekly Plan is like this:

Monday- some cleaning (vacuum, dust, sweep and mop) and laundry (clothes from the weekend, sheets if I can manage it) Plus just regain the house from the crazy weekend.

Tuesday- Projects, towel laundry and whatever else needs washing. Today I have lots of towels and I MUST wash my clothes. A project would be sewing, decluttering something, decorating something, deep cleaning...Today I plan to cut out some fleece into a cape/poncho for Leiah. Should be quick to sew, and she needs a jacket!

Wednesday- Errands/shopping; wash diapers
you know, groceries, library etc. However tomorrow is the pumpkin patch field trip with the girls' school, so I'm going to that and will try to do my grocery shopping tonight.

Thursday- food preps : baking bread and granola and whatever else, soaking beans, grains etc., culturing kefir and kombucha, maybe cooking some meat for the freezer, washing produce....and possibly clean something in the kitchen like the microwave, bleach the sinke etc. (since it's white)

Friday- more cleaning and laundry- windex screens and mirrors, bathrooms, change trash, febreeze furniture and finish up the laundry for the week. (except more diapers on Saturday)

Yesterday I was able to do all my day's tasks and my routines pretty well, without feeling overwhelmed and overworked and my head wasn't spinning with all that needed doing. I didn't have to worry about baking because that is scheduled on Thursday and if I need something before then, then I have license to buy it :)

Of course I will rearrange things as needed, but it really helps me a lot to have a set day for certain things. It's not so jumbled up in my head. Also, my daily routines aren't set in stone. For example, in the morning this is on my list of things to do:

make bed and tidy room
wipe down bathroom
(get dressed of course)
begin laundry
unload dishwasher
make breakfast and lunches

However, this morning went something like this: Matt wakes me up telling me it's 7 am (Samantha got way off schedule yesterday and woke up at 3:30 to eat and then stayed awake awhile). I get out of bed, barely conscious and make lunches. Then I fix the girls' hair, make a pot of coffee, make Samantha's bottle (must stay on schedule today!) and feed her. Then I change her diaper, tidy up a bit, make myself some breakfast and sit down at the computer. My bed is not made, my room is not tidied, the washing machine isn't going yet and I am not dressed! As long as I get to it by 11am, that's still considered morning :)

I have an afternoon routine in which I put away laundry, make sure the dishwasher is started so I can unload it for dinner, make snacks, check the girls' folders when they get home, start dinner and clean up etc.

My before bed routine includes tidying the house, finishing dishes and cleaning the sink, prepping for breakfast and next day's dinner, prepare bottles and set out clothes, take bath/shower etc.

Last night I forgot to turn the dishwasher on, and there were a few things not put away or bottles made (dh needed some quality time with me, so those got put aside) but overall I did everything else. And the main thing, it wasn't HARD! I don't know about you all, but the time between dinner and girls' bedtime can be a real challenge. My energy is lower, the baby is usually a little cranky, the kids needs baths and to clean up their messes and they're tired and don't want to. My husband is usually wiped out too, yet we both gotta keep going. Hopefully this will change soon as I create chore charts for the girls' so they can keep track of what needs doing and if they get stickers for doing it, they'll be excited! I also learned something new about boosting energy for us that I'll blog about soon.

So, things are coming together a bit better. Samantha is adorable is you can see on the video, but I still get a bit stressed about the feedings. I'm going to keep her on the medication until her well baby check up next week. Hopefully the doctor will listen to me then and we can figure out if she even needs the medicine.

Time to go and do what I'm talking about :)

My Sunshine Baby

2009-10-17T14:07:00.002-06:00

Hi everyone! Here is a video of Samantha. She is really starting to smile and notice things around her alot.

Guilt and Perfectionism

2009-10-16T07:45:00.002-06:00

We homemakers and mommies are in a precarious position. Especially those of us who blog and read blogs. I think the majority of us greatly desire to be the best we can in all areas. Yet being the best doesn't always look the same in each family.

I have always struggled with a fear of failing. I don't want the bad grade on my job. I don't want to fall short in any area of my life. Well, this sets me up for failure because I am human. If I start slipping in some area, then I begin comparing myself to others, or even worse, my PAST self!

" I wish I could do _______ like I did before the baby."

" I used to do _______ and __________ but now I just don't have time."

I remember reading a post on another blog, describing a woman like this:

This particular lady grinds her own wheat and bakes all the bread, has 8 children, breastfeeds them all, homeschools, keeps her house spotless, sews all the clothes for her family, raises chickens and milks her own cows, makes her own butter....Yet how would you feel about the lady if you knew she was an unbeliever? Suddenly it doesn't look so attractive does it?

The most important thing we can have for our families is a heart that is sold to the Lord. When our goal is to shine His light everyday in every way, then that is more important than that list of accomplishments up there.

Still, I get into the 'perfectionist' trap and then feel guilt. When the laundry is backed up again, the floor has junk all over it, the kids' rooms are a disaster, the dishes get piled up, the fridge is stinky, the windows are all smudged, the yard is littered and the kids are half naked when daddy gets home, I feel some GUILT! Big huge time guilt. I also get to feeling guilty for not being able to focus on my husband and the lack of time/ability to exercise and lose weight. Yet, it can't be helped right now.

And when I find myself getting stressed because the throw pillows aren't in the right place, or the cooking utensils are in the wrong drawer, then Miss Perfectionist has taken residence. Where is the balance?!

I don't know! I do know that having a plan each day helps. But then the to do list can sometimes mock you when you've worked hard all day and not ONE single thing got done on that list. I also know that if you get up earlier, things go so much better. I am in the process of creating a new home management binder. It's smaller, or skinnier, as I am leaving my recipes in the older big one. Basically I am working on daily routines for myself and a weekly plan, because I have lost track of things a lot lately. Life will go much smoother if I can focus on these things. And then one day, suddenly things will get easier, and there will be more time for those things.

And then, I'll think wistfully upon my baby's newborn days, my three year old's cuteness, and be sad that it's gone :) Why do things work this way?!?

Anyways, if I am doing my absolute best, then I shouldn't have anything to feel guilty about. If I do, then I need to go to God's Word and read what He thinks about me, and resist the enemy. He'll leave if you resist and take the guilt with him.

Have a wonderful weekend!!!

I'm back to my old self again!

2009-10-14T21:50:00.005-06:00

Posting here is hit and miss, eh? (That's my yooper coming out)

Well it has been an exceptionally busy week with extra appointments and stuff. Stuff like me deciding I should throw my mom a birthday party on Friday night. I decided it Sunday :)

So, my mom is such a giving person, and never expects anything for her birthday or Christmas nor acts like she wants anything- EVER! Because she has been such a huge blessing to me the last several months I really wanted to do something nice for her.

Friday night my sister's family will be here as well, so 6 adults and 7 kids will be piled in our home. The weather is supposed to cool down quite a bit, so I decided to make Ina Garten's cheddar corn chowder, sausage dogs with creamy mustard sauce, a cheese ball with crackers and apple slices, mulled cider (crockpot) and an insane chocolate layer cake decorated with candy corns and pumpkins.

And if you know me, there will be a fall tablecloth, pretty little pumpkins and mums, birthday candles on the cake and possible balloons and streamers.

Thoughts on Halloween

2009-10-11T20:58:00.002-06:00

I was very staunch about absolutely no Halloween anything for our family. I am amazed that people get so excited about it! I mean honestly, let's compare it to Christmas.

Halloween- celebrate ghosts, monsters, skeletons, DEATH!!! Nasty, evil things like witchcraft, blood and guts, and just plain horror.

Christmas- hope, love, giving, joy, light...

The only thing in common is candy and the seasonal movies that come on TV.

So, we don't do Halloween. However, we love fall and decorating for it. My girls adore dressing up in beautiful dresses and anything princess/fairy related. And for some reason, I really like Jack-o-lanterns, even though he isn't totally innocent either...I still like them though.

I also dislike them getting lots of candy. They just do not understand moderation or sugar crashes.

Dilemma! So, I do allow costumes. In fact I really wish I could make them some this year, but it probably isn't going to happen. I did let them go 'trick-or-treating' last year to our surrounding neighbors' homes. Lucky for us, this year, our annual church hot dog roast is on Halloween, so we don't have to do anything regarding trick or treat. Still, they will be decked out in their princess rig unless it's cold. I admit, I was glad we didn't celebrate Halloween as a child (well we did until my mom found out the origins), but I did wish I could dress up and get candy.

So, because we take joy in giving our children joy, they will get costumes and a moderate amount of candy provided by the church I'm sure. If we did celebrate Halloween and get all into the scary stuff, we would have an awesome place for a haunted house/woods thing. Saturday I finally explored the rest of our property, and it's like a little forest back there! There's lots of low hanging branches and vines that would probably look pretty creepy done right.

But, we don't, so instead we'll clear the back out, and I have Christmas light plans for the little forest in the front yard! So exciting :)

Healthy and tasty Bread, plus other stuff

2009-10-09T09:00:00.004-06:00

I am so excited! Yesterday I experimented with making 100% whole wheat bread and it turned out perfect! I tried it last week, but used the bread machine to mix it, and it turned into a brick :(

I got the original recipe from Heavenly Homemakers blog. Here is the original:

Honey Whole Wheat Bread

6 cups whole wheat flour, divided
1 ¾ cups warm water, divided
1/3 cup honey
1 pkg. active dry yeast (2 1/4 teaspoon)
1 t. sea salt
3 T. melted butter

You soak half the flour in almost all the water for 30 minutes, activate the yeast in the rest of the water, then combine all ingredients, adding the rest of the flour to get a good dough, then knead till smooth and elastic, set to rise for an hour or so. You know how to do bread, most everyone I think.

Well, if you know me, you know I altered the recipe, of course :)

I didn't have honey, so I substituted molasses. I upped the salt to 1 Tablespoon, upped the yeast to 1 Tablespoon, added 1 T wheat gluten and 1 T soy lecithin, and while I was adding the rest of the flour to make a dough, Samantha woke up wanting to eat, so I tried entertaining her in the bouncy seat while I hurriedly kneaded the dough. Finally she wasn't waiting any longer so I just covered it and left it. After about 1.5 hours, it had risen, but I had to go somewhere. So I punched it down,kneaded it better this time, made into a pretty ball, put it back in the bowl and covered it, then stuck in the fridge. When I got back and hour later, it had risen perfectly. I shaped it into loaves, put them in oiled pans and let rise, almost 2 hours till risen enough.

It baked up nicely, not too high, and it's soft and the crumb is nice and even all throughout the loaf. By the way, the soy lecithin helps keep the bread soft, like storebought bread soft, and is a natural dough conditioner. The gluten helps the whole wheat rise better. Oh and the pre-soaking of flour also activates and breaks down the gluten.

So, to recap the recipe:

6 cups whole wheat flour

1-2 cups water, I had to use more

1/4 cup honey or molasses

1 T sea salt

1 T wheat gluten (I'll add more next time, but that was all that was left)

1 T soy lecithin

1 T yeast

3 T butter, melted

Soak cups flour in 1.5 cups ore more of warm water. Let sit for 3o minutes. Combine remaining water, sweetener and yeast and allow to stand 5-10 minutes or until foamy. Melt the butter, and add it along with the lecithin and salt to liquids, then add to soaking flour. Sprinkle on the gluten and add enough flour to create a soft dough. Knead 5-10 minutes until smooth and elastic, cover and let rise till doubled in size.

Punch down dough, knead a few minutes, shape into ball, allow to rise again till doubled.

Butter/oil two loaf pans. Shape dough into loaves, put in pans and allow to rise until the top of dough is level or slightly above loaf pan. Bake at 350 degrees 30-35 minutes.

Cool, then slice. I wrap one loaf in plastic wrap and freeze it and keep the other out.

Because it takes awhile to rise, the prolonged soaking time helps to break down the whole grain and make the nutrients more available. If I used buttermilk or something similar, that would make it even more nutritious.

Let me tell ya, I have made so many whole wheat bricks in my past I could fill the deep freezer! Dough enhancers are awesome!

I am still struggling with organization. I am backed up on the laundry again and the floors are looking pretty sad. Yes, I put baking above cleaning. But it makes me feel good, and it's productive. I'll get to it :)

I haven't started my eating plan yet. I've barely had time to read the book since my husband has been working late so much, there's no extra hands to help with other stuff.

Alright, since I can't help but be real and honest on my blog, there is something going on. Sunday we prayed over the baby, as it appeared she had reflux. She started doing better. Well, on Tuesday I noticed her not wanting to eat and it was really a struggle to get more than 2 oz of milk down her gullet. So, I decided to call the doctor and let him know how the soy stuff went and how she was doing. He felt we should try zantac.

So, here's the deal, I am sitting in the chair trying to feed her and she's resisting it. In my heart, I just felt I should do what the doctor says and am at peace about it. I called my husband and we both agreed to give her the medicine. At least then we would know for sure.

Did God fail us? Hardly. Sometimes when we are standing and believing on several things, we get stretched thin, and it's hard to remain strong. In this instance, God wants us to use medicine. We're fine with that. When my husband was sick, he used medicine while we were believing for his healing. Using medicine isn't in place of the healing, in some instances, it's the catalyst to healing. There are Christian doctors out there (which hers is an awesome one) that God uses to help people. A lady at church was diagnosed with advanced cancer. Her and her husband prayed about the right course of action, and God told them to do the treatments. She did and at first was very ill, but then it got better and better and finally it was gone. But they stood firm on what they were led to do by the Lord. It's not always the same every time.

So, I also felt totally released in my spirit from making her formula. Before I felt like it was so vital and that if I didn't do it I was a bad mom. But, that moment, I instantly felt calm and that it would be fine.

Samantha is taking 1ml of zantac three times a day, is using Carnation good start formula with probiotics, the Dr. Brown bottles and rice cereal twice a day. (to weight the formula and help it not slosh in her belly) She spends a lot of time upright- in the bouncy seats, the swing, the carseat and we elevated the mattress in her cradle. She is happy and smiley and adorable. She has days where she's really hungry and times when not interested. I just monitor how much she eats in a day, and if we're lacking, I spoon feed some cereal and sometimes she'll want the rest of the bottle. It may take a few weeks for the zantac to work- it helps the acid from coming up into her esophagus and keep the sphincter closed so it isn't coming back into her throat.

So, there ya go. I might get a lot of flack for one, not breastfeeding for long, and 2, for giving medicine, and 3, for feeding solids early. Do not judge lest you be judged is all I have to say :-) You gotta do what works, even if it isn't popluar.

Better?

2009-10-08T08:04:00.001-06:00

Much better don't you think? I loved the other background, but the text part was just too dark I think. This is much easier on the eyes :)

New Eating Plan

2009-10-07T07:13:00.004-06:00

Last week I blogged about all the confusion I was in regarding how to eat to lose the extra weight I've been carrying around for several years. I wanted to do something that worked without compromising my standards of food quality.

Well, I found it! I don't even know how I got there- it was a complete accident or miracle. I choose to believe God led me to it since I've been praying about it for awhile. Anyways, oddly enough, the plan is written by a body builder and it's called The Truth about Abs.

It's an ebook detailing basically how to lose belly fat and make your ab muscles stand out. While that's good and all, I just want to get rid of the fat for now! So, I paid approximately $4 for the 21 day trial and read as much as I could. I was SO impressed! His 'diet' is filled with raw milk, quality fats and meats, real food! Yea!!! So many of these types of people do not eat very healthfully. I know I've checked into several.

He also gives lots of tips on how to find your best metabolic rate, as in maximizing how fast you burn food and target it. Half the book is pictures of him showing the exercises, which I am delighted to learn that I do not have to go to a gym or run myself ragged doing aerobics hours each week. No, all I need are some dumbells and 30-45 minutes three times a week. Wow!

I was really impressed with the sincereity and honesty he presents, not to just make money, but to really help people. To find out more you can google the title of the book, The Truth about Abs.

So, basically I am supposed to eat 5-6 meals a day, balancing the amounts of protein, fat and carbs. If I want to lose really fast, then most of my carbs should be fruits and veggies. But it's not required, it's up to me. I get to eat real eggs with the yolks, real whole fat yogurt and fruit, and it's even recommended to drink tea! This is great!

Anyways, I haven't started it yet because we are out of food and that's what I'm doing today. I will get stocked up and prep as much as I can in advance so it's easy for me to eat on time. I'll let yall know how it goes. I m-i-g-h-t take a picture and chart the progress. That's scary though, although I did write an email and tell them that if I get a tight waist they'll want to put me on the cover of the book! Brave huh?

Ok, gotta get the girls ready and get out the door!

P.S. Samantha is sleeping all night now. At the age of 8 weeks, and really, more like when she was 6-7 weeks. Babywise works again for the 4th time!

Feeding Issues

2009-10-05T07:56:00.003-06:00

I have been so busy with our little baby. The past week she started decreasing the amount of food she was eating. Then she starting fussing through feedings, get really burpy and gassy, spit up more, and finally just started totally refusing to eat. She eat about 1-2oz, then cry when we burped her and tried to give her more. She didn't fuss afterward, just looked around and smiled and such. It was really a puzzle.

I took her off the homemade stuff and tried a commerical formula with a lot less lactose and broken down whey protein. She did a little better, but then did worse. Finally, after going all night with only about an ounce of formula and then refusing to eat early that morning, I called the doctor. They wanted to check her out.

She was gaining weight well, she was 10lbs 1 oz, and fairly happy. No sore throat or anything, but based on what I described the doctor felt she had reflux. He gave me SOY formula. I didn't want to give it to her, but I wanted her to eat! So I did and she started eating better. I researched reflux in infants all day Saturday and she had all the symptoms and had had it for awhile I just didn't recognize it. She was doing better with the soy that day too. (wow that stuff stinks!)

Well, here is where my faith comes in. See I was praying all throughout the pregnancy that she would not have any digestive issues. So, this was really a surprise. I was stressing out about it and what to do because I didn't feel right about the soy. All night Saturday night I was stressing about it. And then I was like, duh! Do what you've been preaching to everyone woman! So we prayed over her and began standing on the Word for her healing. I felt that we should have our church anoint her with oil and pray as well, just to support me and because the Bible says that'... if any two agree in my name it shall be done." ( I'll have to find the reference later)

She didn't eat very well at all the rest of the day. So, I felt in my heart that I should act as if she was completely healed. I got a few ingredients for making a slightly modified formula, a Dr. Brown's bottle, came home, made it up and fed it to her and she loved it. She ended up drinking 3 bottles worth in 4 hours time!( 6pm, 8pm, 10:30 pm) No spitting or fussing or lots of burping. A sweet happy baby enjoying her food is what we have.

I praise God and give Him the glory. It wasn't enough for us to manage her symptoms so she didn't have to take medicine. I didn't want to have to try all different formulas or put lots of rice cereal in her bottle. I had already tried almost all the types of bottles and nipples at the store. (except Dr. Brown!) I wanted her complete and whole just the way I had been praying and believing. I wanted the best, and I can have it because His Word says I can. She slept all night, woke up at 6am and drank 4oz happily, no spit up, and laid down next to me and went back to sleep.

Big relief!

My girls are out of school today for a teacher thing, so we're all at home together and it's cloudy, rainy and wet outside. We're all in the jammies and they're watching Diego :) We'll get around here in a minute and get dressed etc. Maybe I'll get some pictures!

Going Deeper, Topic 2

2009-10-01T07:08:00.005-06:00

I have been rather silent on my blog the last week or so. It's not entirely because of lack of time, but rather, I've been putting my time into something else. I just don't know exactly how to put it all into words.

For long time 'readers', you know my stance on the Bible. We are told we must walk by faith and not by sight. We must look at what is unseen and call things that be not as though they were. I believe that the bad things that happen are from Satan, not a tool God uses to teach us things.

The Lord has been bringing me deeper and deeper into understanding faith and His Word. More and more is being illuminated to me and it's awesome. I had no idea how much fear I dealt with, because it was so subtle! Fear is the opposite of faith- fear drives it away.

I also believe in our words and the power they have. I did a study on this down in the left hand column called "Faith and Words". I don't have a lot of time to review, but basically Jesus says we can have what we say. How many people have you seen talking about something, like when they were a kid that they were going to be someone special or live somewhere particular someday, and they did! It's because they spoke it over and over again, and drove towards it, and they got it.

Mainly I want to talk about fear and the authority we have. Many times I have tried to stand in faith about something like healing, but still felt a lot of fear or anxiety inside. The fear was because in my mind I was honestly thinking, " I hope it works." or " What if God doesn't do it?" This is so off. What we have to realize is that God already did it.

In this verse that we know so well, everything we ever needed has already been taken care of.

" For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever should believe in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. " John 3:16-17

Saved in Greek is " sozo"~ Definition of sozo: to save, keep safe and sound, to rescue from danger or destruction

a) one (from injury or peril)

1) to save a suffering one (from perishing), i.e. one suffering from disease, to make well, heal, restore to health

1) to preserve one who is in danger of destruction, to save or rescue

b) to save in the technical biblical sense

a) to deliver from the penalties of the Messianic judgment

b) to save from the evils which obstruct the reception of the Messianic deliverance

Other words for " be saved" ~ 'save, make whole, heal, be whole'

So, Jesus already made us whole and healthy. It's a matter of continually standing on that and being fully persuaded that we are healed until the enemy runs off. If we keep it in our head that we already know the ending, he is already defeated, and we are filled with the same Spirit that raised Christ from the dead. What can he do to us?

Many think, well that was Jesus, He was God. That's why He was never sick or poor etc.

"Behold, I give you the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you." Luke 10:19

"... assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there,' and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you." Matthew 17: 20

Sounds like Jesus empowered us with the same that He had.

So anyways, God has really been opening my eyes to a lot of little things I say or think that are a hindrance. And like I said before, I didn't realize how much of it was rooted in fear! Just in the last week, I have been miraculously healed from a burn, back pain and a bladder infection. I'm talking searing excruciating pain one minute and gone with no visible effects a few minutes later. All because I remembered what Jesus already did, prayed it and praised Him for it until it was gone.

Another thing we've dealt with is pests- mosquitoes and we heard that scorpions are bad around here. Well, Jesus gave us authority over those. We prayed in faith and not one person got a mosquito bite and there are no scorpions.

So what about finances and the current economic situation? First of all, we're in God's family if we are believers.

"The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have [it] more abundantly." John 10:10

Abundant~exceeding some number or measure or rank or need

a) over and above, more than is necessary

1) exceeding abundantly, supremely

2) something further, more, much more than all, more plainly

b) superior, extraordinary, surpassing, uncommon

1) pre-eminence, superiority, advantage, more eminent, more remarkable, more excellent

How can we have a more excellent life if we are poor?

"...that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints..." Ephesians 1:18

Riches~ riches, wealth

a) abundance of external possessions

b) fulness, abundance, plenitude

c) a good i.e. that with which one is enriched

Another important factor is the giving of your tithe to the Lord. God doesn't need the money, but He wants us to show Him that we completely depend on Him in everything. And what is the reward for acknowledging that He is our source?

" Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the LORD of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that [there shall] not [be room] enough [to receive it]." Malachi 3:10

We have lived in exceeding abundance the last few months. We bought a house! We had literally no budget. Now we do, but, God has opened up several things that will flood it all in again soon. And we aren't the only ones!

I honestly believe that time is very very short. I know there is to be a great GREAT awakening before Jesus comes for His bride. If I was chosen to live in this hour and this day, then I don't want to miss out. I don't want to be on the sidelines watching, I want to be at the front. It's going to take people who understand how faith works to do this. We cannot go by what we see in the world, or feel. I admit I get awful sad when I hear about what's going on in Washington, but then I remember, he was meant to be there. No longer can we depend on our government to do what it was designed to do, our dependency now is on God. The President doesn't save America, what America needs is an awakening to God. So I don't let it bother me, because my Saviour is Jesus, my home is heaven. My work here isn't done and how WONDERFUL to get to be a part of this!

The early church began it, and we get to finish it. Isn't that so special? We could have lived in any time on the earth, but we were chosen to live NOW. God is creating an army, a real army of faith that can destroy the strongholds the enemy has created. An army that has more faith in the unseen than what is seen, and is unafraid. Why should we be afraid? If we walk with God we are protected, healed, delivered, whole, saved...we have power and authority like Jesus did.

I know this is a lot of info, and you may think I'm a weird radical, but Jesus was considered a radical! I have so so much pouring out of me right now, so if this doesn't flow well or make a lot of sense, it's because there's so much and not enough time to write it!

It's time for the church to kick it up a notch. I believe that many are. What do you think?

Topic One

2009-09-29T06:57:00.002-06:00

Oh the things rolling through my head! Not enough time to write it all though, so I will concentrate on one topic.

Weightloss. Ugh.

It has been 7 years since I could shop in the misses department. It's been 7 years since I felt good about how I looked. Over these years I have learned more and more about health, and made lots of changes. However, for whatever reason, I still didn't lose much weight.

Since I follow the Nourishing Traditions principles, we do eat fat, but not excessive. (although I did actually put some butter on my delicious roast beef already laced with its own fat- I didn't realize it though, as soon as I did it I asked my husband "Did I just butter my meat?" And he said, "It's probably going to taste pretty good!") LOL. Still, for someone needing to lose, it's probably important to watch fat better than I do.

Still, there are SO many things I could do, but it's really hard for me to accomplish more than just basics on a daily basis, so I can't do something really intensive.

Here's one idea I got from a magazine- alternate days- for one 24 hr period you really cut calories, then the next day you don't, and alternate back and forth. That way your metabolism never has a chance to get used to what you're eating and burn it faster, plus you have days where you are 'allowed to cheat' or whatever. One day I could cut out all sugar and starchy carbs, then the next day allow some.

Then, there's the other diet I tried almost a year ago, which did work. I ate 6 little meals a day in balanced protein/carb proportions- all whole foods, no sugar or processed foods.

Many people I know are taking a diet pill made from herbs. I tried one last week, a HALF of one, and it still made me feel like I had a coffee buzz. That way I wouldn't have to change what I eat a lot, just eat much less of it. My own mom and several people from church are using it with good success and no side effects. (except in the beginning, you get that buzz feeling then it goes away)

What did I do before I had children to lose the weight? Ate mostly raw foods, absolutely NO processed anything except on my free day, and properly combined protein/ carb foods. Kinda hard right now.

Then my sister is doing the 6 week Total Body Makeover and is losing fast! She is the same size as me, but 6 foot tall, so she looks thinner.

My main obstacle is that I so love to bake. Even though I make changes to the recipes to make them healthier, I still like to eat them. Every time I have baby, the hormone changes make me crave sugar and lots of food in general. Thankfully I've only gained a few pounds back since I had the baby, but I sure have been eating a lot! I didn't care about food while pregnant, but I'm loving it now! I've even managed to get some weight on my little husband- took 8.5 years, but I finally did it!!! He's so funny, he doesn't know what to think about his first roll of fat :)

Even if I make the healthiest treats possible, it's still tempting to eat way more than necessary. But I want my girls to have yummies to eat, especially since it will keep them from getting processed junk. And bread...how I love making and eating homemade bread....

So all of this is in my head right now. Oh and there's the topic of exercise! I know it's better to lift weights and develop muscle because muscle burns fat even at rest, but I have no equipment and don't want to go to a gym even though we have one close by that I can afford that care of children. I just don't wanna go right now. I can walk in my neighborhood though, but I need shoes first...I can't use my exercise tapes because my VCR isn't working!!! SEE!!! Guess I can run in place on the carpet :)

Welcome to my brain :) Hope it's not too scary.

2009-09-28T13:39:00.001-06:00

Yall I'm sorry I've been away. I just have a hard time finding computer time! There's so much I need/want to get done, and in the evening Samantha has a fussier time so I'm busy with her or spending time with my husband. I'll be back I promise!

Melting Pot of topics

2009-09-24T07:39:00.008-06:00

More than likely I will not finish this post in one sitting. It may get written in spurts.

First off, be sure to go back down and look at my post from Tuesday. I updated it with the recipe and pictures. I didn't really get to enjoy the process because I was trying to throw it together since I had my littlest girls and my niece clamoring for my attention :)

Second, life has been busy this week and I don't like it! I mean, I don't like everyone being in a rush trying to get out the door or me scrambling around to get my chores done etc. Part of it is because of doctor appointments etc, which can't be helped. And part of it is because I'm never sure when Samantha will wake up to eat or be fussy or if she's going to sleep at night or not. I've been trying to put together a plan to help calm things down a bit, so far, no good.

I have certain things I do each day, maybe not always at the same time. I think another problem is I get sort of 'anal' (sorry if that's offensive) about the house because, I'm the one doing it all. It just dawned on me that my children are perfectly able to do some stuff around here now. They are going on 7, 6 and 4 years old. Many times it's just faster for me to do it rather than try to get them to do it. Hmmm, how to get them motivated?

I think I'll make a chart of chores, and if they do it without complaining/crying they get something. Nothing major, just a sticker on the chart, then if they get 7 in a row or something, then they get something special. Think it'll work? There's no point in me working myself ragged just so they can destroy it again, and I want a tidy house. Should be possible huh?

So I am changing my goals. The hardest part of the day is the afternoon when everyone gets home from school. They're hungry, want to get all the toys out, usually start fighting a bit etc. Meanwhile I am tired as well, trying to finish up laundry and dishes and cooking etc. and trying to keep the house from being destroyed. I need to be checking their folders and making the next day's lunches but I usually don't get to it till later.

Now, early in the day, I am going to get the hard stuff out of the way. For me that is dinner, the clean up, and laundry. I don't mind starting and switching the laundry, but I do not particularly enjoy folding and put away. I have 4 girls who go through many clothes. It's very daunting at times when a large laundry basket is mounded over with clean clothes to be folded and put away. I also must do the daily food preps, such as making formula, separating cream from milk, making whey for the formula...this doesn't take too long, but it MUST be done.

That way, if nothing else happens, the important stuff is done :)

I mentioned last Saturday that I was alone with the kiddies. Leiah had an assignment to complete for Monday making a 'face' of her. She also had to make a poster with things on it about her. So, just to show you that I am fun sometimes and allow big messes (or in this case, sticky glue ones) here are some pictures.

Forgot to take a pic of the finished project. It was really cute with button eyes, yarn hair and my attempt at drawing the rest of the face :)

I had no idea, but in this area, all the schools have had an H1N1 flu epidemic! They even closed one school down. However, our school is taking great precautions such as cleaning all the buses everyday, sanitizing doorknobs and desks TWICE a day etc. It's not a big deal, I think the main symptoms are a fever and cough for a few days, but it can get serious if you have health problems to begin with.

I am not worried, because we already took our flu shot- when we got born again it's no longer I who live but Christ in me, therefore I've had a blood transfusion :) Jesus was never sick, and His Word says ' A thousand may fall at your side and ten thousand at your right hand, but it shall not come near you.' So long as you dwell in His secret place. Psalms 91

And so, I must conclude this post with a plethora of Samantha pictures, and then get moving on today's work, which is large and must get done early because tonight is Open House at the school.

Can you believe she is 6 weeks old? She looks just like daddy here! Notice the reddish hair-just like her sister Alexa! Matt has dark hair on his head, but his facial hair is red, that Swedish blood coming out I guess.

Look how chubby and squishy she's getting! I haven't weighed her yet, but she sure is getting heavier!

This is how I feed her when I need my hands. I use the playtex drop in bottles, so I can push all the air out. Baby can still drink the bottle even if it's not tilted upright. So, I propped it with some blankets and she held onto it! I just make sure she doesn't lose it and burp her when she needs it. I've only done this twice so far, but it sure does help when you've got pasta boiling needing to be drained or something needs to come out of the oven.

2009-09-23T23:01:00.002-06:00

Yesterday I baked Sour Cream Spice Cake. Tomorrow I'll get the picture and recipe up. Life has been CRAZY the last three days- good grief!!! I have not had any time online at all. I never know what Little Miss is going to do in the evenings, so I don't even have that time to blog. So bear with me everyone- recipes tomorrow- I plan to try another one out as well.

It's after midnight- why am I up when the baby is asleep??

Goodies to Come!

2009-09-22T07:08:00.005-06:00

Sorry I've been missing. I had all four children by myself Friday and Saturday and have had zero time on the computer since then as well. At 5am this morning, while feeding the baby by candlelight, (power went out) I thought up a blog post!

My mom went on a shopping trip this weekend and of course, instead of buying something for herself, she buys for all the grandkids and kids, which includes me :) This is what she got for me:

I am loving this book. Not only are there loads of great looking recipes, and they're from generations of women passed down, but they're based on basic pantry ingredients. There are recipes in there from the Great Depression, War time, the turn of the century, late 1800s etc. The recipes can be made with staples- flour, sugar, eggs, butter, leavening, cocoa powder etc. and sometimes nuts or chocolate. Many times I will want to make something, but it calls for stuff I don't keep on hand or is a little expensive. (like marshmallows or evaporated milk or butterscotch chips)

So, in order to properly use this book, I think I will start a weekly blog post of a new recipe to try and how it came out. That way you can have the recipes for 'free' :) I am actually thinking of doing a 'virtual' tea party as well with some treats someday. Fun idea huh? Stay tuned to see what I'm going to try out today, which will be from the pantry since I'm getting low on ingredients.

*********************************************************************************

Okie doke, I'm finally updating here. The day I wrote the post was crazy, but I managed to bake a cake and some bread somewhere in there. I just made my regular bread recipe, which I have missed, and it turned out great! See!

I always forget to slash the loaves before baking, then they rise really high and rip open a bit. Makes it hard to slice.

So, I made the Sour Cream Spice Cake recipe from my new book. It was easy and relatively frugal. However, it's not really a cake, but more like a quickbread. It wasn't the best for dessert, but it was wonderful for breakfast the next morning! Just the right amount of sweetness, and if I'd used healthier ingredients, it would be a great breakfast 'cake'.

Just out of the oven, no sugar.

After it cooled, dusted with powdered sugar and ready to serve to the fam.

The Fam awaiting their treat :)

The Recipe for Sour Cream Spice Cake

Ingredients:
2 cups of flour, divided
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 t nutmeg
1 t cloves
1 t allspice
1 t baking soda
1 cup raisins (I used golden)
1/2 c butter
1 egg
1 t vanilla
1 cup sour cream (I used homemade cream cheese from yogurt)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees with rack in the middle of the oven. Line the bottom of a loaf pan with wax paper and grease with butter or vegetable spray. Dust pan with flour and tap out excess. (I forgot this step and it was ok)

Sift together 1 3/4 cups of flour, the spices and baking soda. Toss 1/4 cup flour with the raisins. Cream together butter and sugar until soft and fluffy. Add egg and vanilla mixing well. Add the dry ingredients alternately with sour cream. Fold in raisins and 'plop' batter into pan.
Bake approximately 1 hour or until the a knife or toothpick tested in the center of the cake comes out clean.

This would be great with some sweetened cream cheese spread on the slices. I was going to do that, but we ate it all before I could!!

How to stretch a tough piece of meat

2009-09-17T13:03:00.004-06:00

Before I had the baby, I thought I was getting a great deal on some roasts. It was buy one get one for 1 penny! Who could resist that? The first one I did in the crockpot with the traditional onions, carrots and potatoes. A little tough much....

So, I finally defrosted the other one this week to do something with. I was going to cut it up and do beef stew or stroganoff, but I just really wanted something different. Then I remembered when I did the Jewish Feast meal at my church, the first time, I used beef instead of lamb because I couldn't get it, and did a middle east spice rub. Hmmm, that sounds interesting. That's what I did and it was yummy!

Here's the recipe:

Blend together approximately a tablespoon of garlic powder, paprika, cumin, salt, pepper, a splash of cayenne pepper, powdered ginger, 1/2 t cinnamon and I guess that's it. Rub on the meat, heat a large pot on medium high, add 3 T olive oil and sear meat on both sides.

Chop some onions and carrots while the meat is searing, then add to the pan. Dice about 1/3c dried apricots and add that to the pot with a handful of golden raisins. Add enough liquid to come up half way up the meat. I used a combo of water and chicken stock that I had. Cover and simmer a few hours. Since this meat was so tough I sliced it after awhile and then added it back to the pot to simmer until it would shred easily with a fork. We ate this on brown rice garnished with chopped cilantro.

So, this was so good I ate just meat when the rice was gone :) Anyways, there was still a good bit of meat left, around 2 cups, and I decided it would work well for chili. I had frozen cooked beans in the freezer and a brand new container of chili powder, why not?

This morning I chopped more onions and some bell pepper, threw that in the pot with extra garlic powder, cumin and chili powder, then added 1 small can of tomato paste and probably two cups of cooked pinto beans. Then I added the liquid- water and chicken stock and started cooking it. I just had a taste and it was really good. I will serve it with sour cream, cheese, chopped tomatoes and avocado and tortilla chips.

On another note, I was super woman this morning! I cleaned the ENTIRE house- not just basics- the dusting, windex, vacuum all rooms, sweep and mop all hard floors, bathrooms, trash, changed sheets/bedding, refilled soap dispensers, bleached the kitchen sink, AND, did kid laundry AND baked cookies. Oh, that includes the usual make beds, tidy up, give Sarah a bath because she covered herself in diaper rash cream and feed baby Samantha several times. Wow- amazing what some coffee and a vitamin and a real breakfast will do. Well, honestly, it was God, because it's a miracle.

Samantha slept all night Tuesday! She went from 11pm to 6am without feeding! She did wake up last night, but I couldn't get her to take a full feeding at 10:30, so that could be why. Sure was nice to have continuous sleep.

Sorry there are no pictures- I didn't think of writing this post until after I started the chili. Maybe I can take one later...don't hold yer breath!

A Matrix Fan

2009-09-16T13:17:00.002-06:00

My husband and I really like the first movie in the The Matrix series. We're both dumbfounded with the concept and how they did it. Yes, it was one of the things that connected us in the beginning of our courtship. Anyways, my friend showed me this video yesterday and I thought it was really neat.

Laugh it up

2009-09-16T13:01:00.005-06:00

This video so describes me and my husband. I guess we're nerds! You are learning about my sense of humor. I've noticed that people have very different ideas on what is funny. I guess it depends on your background and where you're from. Generally, if I'm watching a movie, I want it to be funny or have lots of funny in it. That is a relief for me, to laugh. Life is serious enough, so I want some funny! Stuff i watch: Saturday Night Live ( the old ones from the early 90s), Seinfeld, Monty Python, Cosby Show, Andy Griffith, The Three Stooges, we used to watch Family Guy until they started making lots of bad jokes about God.

Favorite movies: The Princess Bride, Dumb and Dumber, Without a Paddle, The Matrix (not funny, but good), Facing the Giants (faith building!), Ace Ventura, Monty Python and the Holy Grail, Army of Darkness (very slapstick comedy), Happy Gilmore, Tommy Boy, Wayne's World and so on...got an idea of my funny side yet?? And of course, I know lots of Weird Al's songs :)

This is part of the attraction between my husband and I. Most girls that I know do not find these shows/movies interesting or funny. I'm one of the few that does. Our sense of humor connected which actually began our courtship--- when Matt came over one day and I was watching Monty Python, it was like the choir of angels sang for him I guess. He knew if I found that funny, then I was likely the girl for him! LOL!

So here's the video, can't get it out of my head! Thanks a lot Amanda! (my friend who passed the video to me)

Oops, I can't embed the video on my blog. You'll have to go to youtube and watch it, sorry.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lp6eswhgOKk

*******Edited to Add- I actually intended to take this post down because the video I linked to is rather PG-13, which I forgot until I watched it again and I didn't want to offend anyone. That's why I put the Matrix one up, but duh, I forgot to take this one down. If no one is offended then I'll leave it.

My favorite day

2009-09-14T07:00:00.007-06:00

This is my favorite kind of day.

It's cloudy and a steady rain is pouring outside. I don't have to go anywhere, I have PLENTY to do inside. One task is making a large pot of soup, probably a Mexican-chicken type soup and some jazzed up cornbread. I'd love to bake up several things, but I must concentrate on the high priority stuff first :)

I like Mondays. Usually. The weekend is a nice break from the weekly 'grind', but then it seems everything I worked on during the week gets demolished in one day on the weekend. At one point of frustration I actually asked my husband, " Am I the maid?" He promptly got to work picking up after himself. Normally I wouldn't mind as much, but it has only been a month since I had a baby and surgery, and I am the primary caretaker of her. However, my beloved husband made all the meals this whole weekend, just because it seems the baby always needs to eat when I need to cook.

Back to Monday. I usually have the same work awaiting me on Monday morning. The girls' massive amounts of clothes need washing as do mine and dh's. It's probably not that much clothing, just that I have four girls to launder! I used to follow the clean schedule on Candy's blog, so on Monday's I would clean my stove and all appliances and do laundry. All those things need cleaning, but I didn't even put that on my list of MUST do's today.

I'm in the process of creating a new plan for us instead of just writing a daily list of tasks and keeping things afloat in my brain :) I'm still thinking on it...

About the baby wrap, I bought it. It's one LOOOONNGGG piece of stretchy soft fabric. After you tie it on and put the baby in, it sort of feels like the baby is inside your shirt. It's very comfortable and snug. For more info go to www.sleepywrap.com It cost $30 and there are lots of colors. I felt it was necessary because now that I have 4 children and only two hands, freeing them up when going out would be nice. I chose this green color in case we ended up with a boy and also if my husband wants to wear it.

The peanut butter cups! I got the recipe from the Nourishing Gourmet, click it on the left hand sidebar. I had to modify it though because something WEIRD happened to my chocolate the first time. This is what I did:

I used 1 cup all natural peanut butter- melt it with 1/4 coconut oil and about 1/4 c raw honey. I also added a pinch of sea salt because I love the salty with the chocolate. I had to melt it in a double boiler to get it mixed because my peanut butter was old :( Once smoothed out, I spooned it into a mini muffin pan. Then you put this in the freezer till solid, around 30-45 minutes.
The recipe calls 4oz unsweetened baking chocolate that you sweeten with the honey, but, mine seized up into a brick! Luckily I had some semi sweet chocolate chips, so I melted those and and spread it on the top of the little cups. Pop it back into the freezer. To eat, just use a butter knife to pop them out. You can let it thaw a minute or so, or start licking on it like a popsicle :)

I LOVE peanut butter anything, and Reese's are my absolute favorite candy with Snickers a close second. At Christmas I adore making the ritz crackers filled with peanut butter and dipped in chocolate- salty, chocolaty and peanut butter!!! So, I am very glad to have a healthy dessert to keep around for those cravings. I'll try to just keep a good quality dark chocolate on hand for this though instead of the baking chocolate. I'll reserve that for, baking!

Ok, I'm really getting the itch to cover my home in fall colors! Every time I need to run to the store I have to go drool over the fall decor. I did buy a tablecloth last week, so this week I'll try to get some candles and some flowers and whatever else I can fit into the budget :)

Also, I would like to have an 'Open House' discussion. What I mean is, I need to 'cozy up' my kitchen and make it more homey. I might take a closer video of it to put up here and see what you all can contribute to give me some ideas. It feels pretty sterile right now because I have a huge blank white wall and fluorescent lights. Whatever I do it needs to be simple- no major painting or wallpaper- since my time is needed elsewhere right now.

Just some pictures

2009-09-12T15:42:00.006-06:00

I meant to put this one up the other day- me and the baby all wrapped up! I love this thing and so does she.

All the kids with smiles!

A dark shot of my post partum body.

This special meatloaf I made for my husband- he loves meatloaf. This is Tyler Florence's ultimate meatloaf, complete with a specially made pepper and tomato relish inside and on top of the meat and topped with bacon! Dee-lish! And huge!

We had mashed potatoes, green beans and homemade 'Reese's Peanut butter cups', but they were actually healthy! I forgot to take a picture though...maybe later, there are still some left.

And one MUST conclude with a picture of the baby, awww, how sweet!

Goofy morning

2009-09-11T08:27:00.004-06:00

Hey everyone! Guess what? It's 9:30 am, I'm still wearing my nightgown and all I've done so far is feed the baby and eat breakfast myself. And I think I have terrible bed head, LOL! Sarah, the three year old, has nothing on but panties.

Ok, so I'm not on top of it today. But I worked super hard the last couple of days and have been battling headaches and a sore throat. I am SO glad it's Friday. During the week life is routine, but harder than the weekend because I'm by myself. Yesterday evening before my husband got home was WILD!

Anyways, I'm sorry my background is too dark. The only way to change it is totally re-do the template. But if it's too dark, there were some others I liked so I can change it. Maybe is there a way to brighten your computer screen? I can press the Function key and F8 and it brightens the screen. But if it's a big problem I'll change it-let me know.

Aren't yall excited that fall is coming? I sure am...by now all us Southerners are whining because we are TIRED of being HOT! The air conditioning ain't cheap either, and it's not like you can cut down on that, at least I won't! I made a pan full of cinnamon apples as a side dish yesterday and the children gobbled them up...ok,so I gobbled them up too. Yes it's time to burn the pumpkin spice and mulled cider candles, bake pumpkin and apple goodies, put the mums and scarecrows and pie pumpkins out on the porch and BURN. Is that weird? To me, when I smell someone's pile of burning leaves it instantly speaks fall to me. I think of weinie roasts on Halloween and all the burning my mom loved to do in the cooler weather. Yes, my mom likes to burn stuff a little too much, but she's never lost control of the fire but one time, and we didn't want that tree anyways, lol! Just kidding, we saved the tree.

Goof ball this morning huh? I was going to post how I've changed my philosophy on meal planning and scheduling, but I can't seem to get my brain to go that direction and now I'm getting nervous about not being dressed yet in case someone were to come over, which no one usually does, but you never know. Not to mention I have laundry to do, always, dishes to do, I'm sure there is something that needs to be soaked or cultured, my bed needs making, the bathrooms need a cleaning, the floor needs moppin', the house needs dustin' and just about every glass surface in the house is totally smudged up.

Guess I should go huh? I need to put more pictures up- maybe can I do that today. Of course when I usually say that on my blog, I almost never get to it, so don't hold yer breath. I love you all! You're all so sweet!!! Have a good Friday!

I'm beat...

2009-09-09T15:51:00.003-06:00

Sorry, no post today. I am just plain ole worn out. Sleep deprivation is really, really taking its toll on me. That combined with going from pregnant to not, and then recovering from surgery...plus I'm really fighting my inclination to be a perfectionist- this is why schedules don't work for me. I get to involved in completing everything regardless of if my body is telling me to quit.

I have the best husband- last night he did all the night duty so I got a full night's sleep for the first time in like 2-3 months :) Super-husband!

Anyways, as usual I probably over-did-it so I'm bushed again!
!

Oh, and Robyn, can I be invited to read your blogs?? I've been looking for you for a long time! I loved your blog.

Answer to a question and a recipe

2009-09-08T06:56:00.005-06:00

To Joy Comes in the Morning~

Having researched the homemade formula for awhile, cost was an important factor. I have a local source of raw Jersey cow milk for $6 per gallon. There is another farm that is selling it for $5 a gallon as well. If baby goes through two per week, well gee that's only $12. A large container of Enfamil cost me around $25.

Now the extra ingredients are expensive the first time you buy. If you buy the kit on the radiant life website, it's over $100. However it averages out to about $4 a day. Similac costs $4 a day. I got around the large amount by purchasing as much as I could locally, and then order what I couldn't find.

So, $12 + $28 (7 days x $4) = $40 a week. Considering the superior nutrition she is getting, this isn't bad. Plus, I don't buy disposable diapers every week. In fact I've only bought one package so far because we use cloth and she is really starting to fit in them good. I do use some for outings and occasionally at night though. Eventually when she starts drinking more (like this morning, she drank a 4oz bottle and still acted hungry and drank 2 more oz!) she'll go through the milk faster. But then it won't be long before she starts eating some solid foods and that will cut down the milk consumption a little.

For three days in the evening Samantha would gulp down her bottle (7-8pmish) then immediately start crying off and on for several hours. We usually didn't get her back to sleep till midnight or so. It was her tummy or gas because she wanted to eat but would start crying, then burp tons, calm down a minute, then start up again. I didn't have all the ingredients for the formula yet, but I had about half of it. I really felt like I should go ahead and mix up what I had and then combine it with the Enfamil. She has done so much better- no crying jag because of gas.

It made me feel really good to listen to what I was being told (by the Holy Spirit) and act on it. I admit I did feel a little nervous about making the formula, because of all we've been conditioned to believe about milk etc. But after reading many articles from www. westonaprice.org about it and the testimonies from other parents, I felt it was the right thing to do.

When the rest of the stuff gets here this week, she'll be on the homemade 100%. I haven't figure out how I'll travel with it yet, I guess I'll just need to pack it with ice packs or something. Anyways, I look forward to seeing how she does in the coming weeks and will be sure to update. By the way, she is 4 weeks old today! Wow...

I didn't get a chance to make any home remedies yesterday or take pictures- I was just plain ole busy with other stuff and didn't get to it.

However, I will share a recipe I tried yesterday for salmon cakes. The only problem with them is I didn't make enough! Next time I need to double it :)

Salmon Cakes

1 can of wild Alaskan salmon
1 medium baked potato, peeled and smashed with a fork
1 egg
1/3 cup of mayonnaise
1 t dijon mustard
1/2 t sugar (I forgot this)
1/4 c of chopped onion
zest of 1 lemon
salt and pepper

1/2 cup breadcrumbs
1/4 cup or more of grated parmesan cheese
oil for frying (I used coconut oil)

Just mix everything up in a bowl from the top list with a fork. Spread the breadcrumbs and cheese in a shallow dish (like a pie plate). Scoop the salmon mixture with an ice cream scoop, pat it into patties in your hand, then roll in the cheese/crumb mixture. Heat enough oil to cover the bottom of a large skillet and cook the patties 2-3 minutes on each side or till browned.

My family literally gobbled these up, with ketchup of course. I served it with a macaroni salad with a homemade creamy dressing, steamed and buttered broccoli and raw milk.

I'm back on the normal computer!

2009-09-07T08:59:00.003-06:00

Hey everybody!

I finally am back on the nice FAST computer and had time to look at everyone's blogs. You all are have made such pretty updates! Great job. I especially love the fall looks that everyone is doing. I am greatly looking forward to fall myself, but have run into a big problem- I have no idea where my decorations are! I think they are somewhere in the storage building...but, it's not gonna be easy to get to. Plus, for me, I don't do fall decor until closer to October. That's when it really starts looking and feeling like Autumn here.

I need to do some work on this blog. I need to make links for all the videos I've done and add labels to many of my posts and change the background. I'd also like to make it easier to access certain posts as well. Hang with me!

I am starting to feel more normal now, thank the Lord! I still experience some incision pain, but not very often. See, it takes a month or more just to feel somewhat healed. This is why I did NOT want the c-section. I am hoping to get myself organized on paper soon- yes, the Home Management Binder is going to get an overhaul!

Today I am finally going to dig into my herbs and make some homemade elderberry syrup. You can buy this stuff at the health food store for about $8 per 3-4 oz. I have enough to make a quart I think for $10! Maybe I can take pictures. I might be able to get my husband (since he's off today) to fix a clothesline for me. I'd love to hang out the cute diapers on it! See, I told ya I'd be back to my self soon :)

Saturday I trekked to the dairy and bought lots of raw milk. I am going to make Samantha's formula this week from this recipe:

MILK-BASED FORMULA

Makes 36 ounces

Our milk-based formula takes account of the fact that human milk is richer in whey, lactose, vitamin C, niacin, and long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids compared to cow's milk but leaner in casein (milk protein). The addition of gelatin to cow's milk formula will make it more digestible for the infant. Use only truly expeller-expressed oils in the formula recipes, otherwise they may lack vitamin E.

The ideal milk for baby, if he cannot be breastfed, is clean, whole raw milk from old-fashioned cows, certified free of disease, that feed on green pasture. For sources of good quality milk, see www.realmilk.com or contact a local chapter of the Weston A. Price Foundation.

If the only choice available to you is commercial milk, choose whole milk, preferably organic and unhomogenized, and culture it with a piima or kefir culture to restore enzymes (available from G.E.M. Cultures 253-588-2922 or http://www.gemcultures.com).

2 cups whole milk, preferably unprocessed milk from pasture-fed cows
1/4 cup homemade liquid whey (See recipe for whey, below) Note: Do NOT use whey from making cheese--it will cause the formula to curdle. Use only homemade whey made from yoghurt, kefir or separated raw milk.
4 tablespoons lactose*
1/4 teaspoon bifidobacterium infantis**
2 or more tablespoons good quality cream (not ultrapasteurized), more if you are using milk from Holstein cows
1 teaspoon regular dose cod liver oil or 1/2 teaspoon high-vitamin cod liver oil*
1 teaspoon expeller-expressed sunflower oil*
1 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil*
2 teaspoons coconut oil*
2 teaspoons Frontier brand nutritional yeast flakes*
2 teaspoons gelatin*
1 7/8 cups filtered water
1/4 teaspoon acerola powder*

*Available from Radiant Life 888-593-8333, www.radiantlifecatalog.com
**Available from Natren 866-462-8736, www.natren.com, or Radiant Life 888-593-8333, www.radiantlifecatalog.com. Also, please note earlier versions of this web page called for 1 tsp of bifidobacterium infantis--this was a typo.

Add gelatin to water and heat gently until gelatin is dissolved. Place all ingredients in a very clean glass or stainless steel container and mix well. To serve, pour 6 to 8 ounces into a very clean glass bottle, attach nipple and set in a pan of simmering water. Heat until warm but not hot to the touch, shake bottle well and feed baby. (Never, never heat formula in a microwave oven!) Note: If you are using the Lact-Aid, mix all ingredients well in a blender.)

I have most of the ingredients and am waiting on the rest to come in the mail. I am going to make some up today and combine with commercial formula to gradually switch her over. I am looking forward to see how well she does with the whole food, nutritionally superior formula!

Some Pictures

2009-09-04T15:38:00.005-06:00

Samantha in her dot dress...
The cute diaper cover from Thirsties....

The tiny newborn diaper with a snappi....

Back to the Budget

2009-09-02T14:38:00.003-06:00

The last few months we've had a surplus in our account for various reasons and I have literally been living with no budget. Very weird but nice :)

Now that we have used up the extra money when purchasing our home, having a baby and all kinds of other expenses, we are now back to having a regular budget :) Don't get the wrong idea, we're not scrimping and are certainly blessed, but it just means I have a certain amount of money to work with now.

The main area I can help with this is in meals. I cooked so many beans and rice meals when we were scrimping that I came to loathe them while pregnant. So I have virtually cooked almost no beans and little rice in the last 9-10months. We just got burned out I suppose. Looking back I'm pretty amazed at how I stretched our food budget. The grace of God huh?

Yesterday I worked pretty hard and was able to buy our food, including things from the health food store for about $130. That sounds like a lot huh? I used to have to keep it under $100 or much less at times. I'm getting better that I was though. I'm trying to get back into making things from scratch, which definitely cuts the food bill.

Our menu, not including breakfast and lunch:

Monday- you saw that, chicken, rice, raw veggie salad
Tuesday- homemade sloppy joe on sprouted wheat buns, fresh corn on the cob and cole slaw
Wednesday- sprouted lentil/veggie soup, cheddar biscuits and jello salad
Thursday- shepherd's pie, salad, green beans
Friday- bbq chicken legs, oven fries, leftover slaw
Saturday- pizza and salad
Sunday- leftovers or ramen
Monday- salmon cakes, rice, broccoli
Tuesday- spaghetti and meatballs (frozen meatballs I bought awhile back) salad, garlic bread

Breakfast choices are: yogurt with homemade granola, homemade banana muffins, instant oatmeal packets or microwaveable sausage biscuits

Lunch is hit and miss right now...working on it- the girls generally take a sandwich on whole wheat bread, some raw veggies or fruit, something crunchy and salty or a sweet treat like a granola bar and a juice box.

So I bought 2+lbs of ground beef, 1lb ground turkey, and 1 large package of chicken legs, plus 1 can of salmon and a package of breakfast sausage links for my dh. I will make this for breakfast Saturday with eggs and stuff. Being the man he is he really likes a hefty breakfast when we have time, and since he's the only man in the house, I must honor that one thing and have mercy on him, lol.

I'm actually looking forward to using beans again and trying new things. I miss being a good innovative cook- she's been hibernating for a looooooooong time :) My husband will be happy too.

A Day in my life Part 3

2009-09-01T08:04:00.009-06:00

I've had to do this in parts because of the computer :) Very slow...also I was never able to get a pic of me feeding the baby- at about 8:30 the baby changed her schedule on me and then I just got really tired and didn't do anything else worth taking pictures of.

Ok so while I was working on the cooking the girls headed outside to play with Daddy for awhile. He just put their swing set back together Saturday.

Then I toasted some oats, coconut and almonds for the granola bars I plan to make. Next, time to make up some bottles for later.

Alexa burned her chin on the pan because she was snooping around in the kitchen, so we had to tend to that first before we could eat.

We ate dinner, here is a picture of dessert. Matt and I skipped it for now.

Next I had the girls clean up the house while I got Samantha's bath ready and got her cleaned up.

I guess this disturbed her pattern because she stayed awake till her next feeding, which ended up being early. Oh well, no big deal, just rearrange things a bit.

Then it was PJ's, brush teeth, get stuff ready for the next day, prayers and hit the sack. No pics sorry. I spent the next hour holding the baby trying to get her to sleep, then fed her and she was fast asleep after that of course. Then I just went ahead and put my gown on and sat on the couch with my husband and we just talked and watched Andy Griffith till time for the 11pm feeding and bed.

No pictures of this of course :) Certainly none of the 2:30 feeding or the 5 am feeding :)

That's it. Pretty good for 3 weeks post partum huh? Today I gotta go buy groceries and stuff. Later!

A Day in my Life Part 2

2009-08-31T16:17:00.008-06:00

Well, that didn't last long :) Sleepy time again. Then I worked on the toy situation. Hopefully I got rid of a lot of small pieces that have been traveling throughout the house.

Next I did the dishes, switched laundry, defrosted some chicken and started some banana muffins.

I also planned to bake granola bars, but I don't have honey, so I may try subsituting corn syrup later. My husband called to tell me he wasn't feeling well and was coming home. (He is better now) We ate a quick lunch- corn dogs and sanwiches :) Sarah decided to help Daddy feel better by giving him her Barbies :)

Next it was Sarah's nap time and time for baby to eat again. You'll notice I follow a pattern- eat, wake, sleep over and over again. If she doesn't wake up after three hours from her last feeding, I wake her to eat. This helps set her internal clock to be more awake during the day and sleep longer at night. She is doing wonderfully since I switched her formula to something more substantial.

Then I sat down to work on uploading some pictures. Baby is awake, but sleepy, and I can hear her grunting in her bassinet. I've been watching her sleep cues- yawning, drowsy eyes, slightly fussing...and then I lay her in the bed, give her the pacifier if she wants it and cover her with a loose weave soft baby afghan. She has been putting herself to sleep pretty well lately. As much as I would love to rock or hold her to get her to sleep, it's just not possible for me to do that every time. In the long run, both our lives will be better if I help her to get herself to sleep now :)

Next, I was tired and managed to fall asleep for quite awhile! I hate that feeling of waking up, not expecting to fall asleep, and trying to remember what happened! Time for baby to eat! Leiah was due home then, and soon after Alexa. My husband took a video of that instead of pictures. Then they had snacks and played while I started dinner.

We are having lemon rosemary chicken, a Greek type salad and seasoned yellow rice. Plus we have leftover carrot cake :)
Playing tea party and watching a movie.

A Day in my Life Part 1

2009-08-31T12:20:00.008-06:00

Yes, you are going to see a 'typical' day in my life. There is no typical right now- it just is what it is. When I decided to do this all was normal, but all morning things have been going crazy! But I'll do the best I can, probably in parts.

I had a long to do list today. I actually got close to a full night of sleep and felt normal. SoI felt ambitious.

My List:

several piles of laundry to do
straighten the whole house
wipe down bathrooms
empty all trashes
rotate toys
bake muffins and granola bars
plus the daily dishes and meals and baby feeding/care

Samantha woke up at around 5:45 am. She ate and burped and I changed her, then laid her in my spot on the bed. I got up and made school lunches, coffee, and started breakfast. Then I helped the older girls get dressed for school. Baby was awake still so I brought her to the living room and sat her in the swing.

Various craziness happened then, in which I hurriedly threw on a dress and shoes to drive the girls to school, but then I didn't have to. Baby went to sleep while I sat down with some coffee. I decided to turn the computer on but it wouldn't work. My husband came back home after dropping off the girls to hook up this one.

While he did that, I worked on this room.

Then I put some clothes in the washing machine.

Then I worked on tidying up and trying to figure out how to resize a picture on this computer :) By the way, Sarah has been eating breakfast and watching her favorite Tom and Jerry during all of this.

Then my phone started ringing with calls regarding my uncle who passed away this morning. I needed to wake the baby to feed her- approximately 9am now. All done and time to change diaper and clothes. Now she's ready to be awake awhile.

Special post coming

2009-08-31T07:43:00.004-06:00

Keep watch- I have a surprise coming. Well, nothing major, just a more involved post than the last several weeks. I am using our old desktop computer from 1997 because our laptop is having issues, so it may take longer.

Check back!

School

2009-08-28T07:18:00.002-06:00

My girls have almost completed their first week of school. My oldest, Leiah, is used to the routine of school. Remember she started the special program when she was 3! We are continually amazed at how great this school is. It is obvious that we were directed by the Lord to move here. The attitude towards Leiah and informing me about things is completely the opposite of the other school. I actually know what's going on!

Alexa, the 5 year old, this is her first year. She is doing well. She doesn't talk a lot about it when she gets home, I ask her a few questions, but later when we're eating at the table she shares more about school. So far she can't remember any of the kids' names! She's doing great though and has adapted to the new schedule well.

I know there are a lot of people with very different strong opinions regarding public schools. I would certainly agree that the majority of public schools are not the best place for children to learn good morals and values. Having gone to this school myself, I know that this school is very open with Christians. In fact, I think they say a prayer in the morning over the intercom. There is a church on every street in this town and they even play Christian music in the grocery store. I have no doubt that there are bad things as well, but overall, they are in a great environment.

I think homeschool is great. For me it's not a matter of being able to teach my kids, it's more about controlling them. Honestly, I have been in the dark with how to get my girls to be obedient every time and to coexist peacefully. A lot of it has to do with the fact that the oldest is like the three year old, and in her frustration at not being able to talk, she retaliates by force. (pinching or scratching or biting) The second child is very spirited- extreme in her highs and lows and somewhat strong willed. She has been a challenge for me. After many years of work and much prayer, she is doing much better now.

The three year old has been sort of 'lost in the crowd' and I am now seeing a lot of behaviors I don't like now that she is alone with me. So, homeschooling just seems like a nightmare to me! I just don't get excited about it like other people do. I like school and always wanted to teach, but I never wanted to teach little ones. It's very hard for me to stay on that level for long,lol.

So, I wholeheartedly condone homeschool. I think kids who are homeschooled are generally more adjusted to real life and smarter than others who have been in public school their whole lives. I hope to get there some day. But for this time we will do public school. I do plan to work with Sarah on preschool things as I can. I need for the baby to get on a more predictable schedule! I've never had one that wanted to eat all the time!

Gaining and Losing

2009-08-27T07:07:00.002-06:00

What a crazy week! Today I finally get to just be at home. Good thing too, because there are some things needing attention around here. Thanks so much for all the 'recipes' and links to blogs and more recipes. I greatly appreciate it. I've had to pray for my appetite to come back for the sake of my family- nothing sounded good to me, but they're hungry!

Speaking of which, I went for a quick check of my incision yesterday and I've lost over 20lbs in two weeks! I didn't even gain 20lbs during the pregnancy. That's what a lack of appetite will do for ya I guess. I'm exploring various weightloss options right now. I'd like to do it on my own rather than pay for a program or something. I'll have to wait the full 6 weeks before I can start walking very far, but I hope to work on the eating soon.

Baby girl however is gaining. At her appointment she had gained a full pound since she went home from the hospital and grew two inches. She's already getting too long for the newborn sleepers. She is a chow hound though :)

I am so thankful and blessed for the weather we've been having. Generally at this point, us Texans are just SICK of the heat. August is in the 100s daily with loads of humidity. However, it has been cool and breezy in the mornings, and slowly warms up. By the afternoon it is HOT, but at least it's sort of like fall.

We're so ready for fall too. I can't wait to get all the pretty fall decorations out and light up the spicy candles. That is if I can find it all, LOL. Moving sure does misplace stuff. I look forward to fall as well because then it will be cooler and we can work on getting the outside of our home looking nice. We have lots of trees to clear out and I've been planning what plants to put where. We've never had the opportunity to do this before because we rented. Now it's our own place.

Oh and I just wanted to say that I have not forgotten about my herbal medicine making videos. I have all the herbs and jars ready, I just have to make a trip to a, ahem, 'wet' county to get the needed 80 proof alcohol to make the stuff. And, we just haven't had time for that yet. I do think about it a lot though and am looking forward to getting to a point to where I can do it! I need to get it going soon huh? I just have to slowly work into being able to do things I used to do, like sewing and bread baking, which I miss a lot! Right now it's all about covering the basics and holding that baby!

Rambled enough here...time to get the coffee!

2009-08-24T12:20:00.002-06:00

I'm still here!

I guess from now on my life will be somewhat chaotic. I have to admit, I sure do wish August was over! We've done so much in such a short time, I'm ready to get things into a rhythm :)

Today was the first day of school for my older two girls. They will be arriving home in the next hour and I'm very interested to see how it went for Alexa since this her first time going to school. I can tell you what, I can't believe how tired I am. Baby will have some good nights and not so good ones. Naturally last night wasn't too good. She wasn't crying or anything, just hungry and not settling back down to sleep. My eyes were literally red around the rims! I had to plaster on some makeup so I didn't look so bad...

My husband and I took the girls to their classes and it is so neat. This is such a great school- they make it seem like Disney World with their enthusiasm. I am in the process of creating a good schedule for the family so things run smoothly. This will be an experimental week. Of course, nothing is set in stone with the baby. She is still unpredictable, but soon we'll get into a more definite schedule.

I have no idea when I'll be blogging. I will be around of course, but I hadn't been online since Saturday as things are quite busy. I'm sure you all understand :)

I want to ask you all, since you're such lovely readers, to please give me your favorite crockpot meal or quick meal recipes. I need to come up with a menu for us and I'm totally and completely blank! I would greatly appreciate help :)

Also, I was wondering if you could put some links of your favorite blogs. I've gotten kind of limited on what blogs I read because many of them stopped blogging and I haven't really found new places to 'go' yet :) Thanks in advance for the ideas, recipes and links. You're all wonderful and I wish I could give real hugs and smiles to you all.

Time to go...be back soon!

No looking back

2009-08-22T10:27:00.002-06:00

There hasn't been much time for blogging lately. My second daughter became ill the other night, and our new baby kept me up for most of that night too just being cute and awake :) My head is definitely spinning with everything that is happening right now. I don't feel like myself yet.

My mind keeps going back to what my 'old self' was, like before I was pregnant and we lived in that rent house by the swimming pool. (there are pictures of that house somewhere on the blog) I was super lady! Strong, healthy, in control, juggled many projects like making quilts etc. I tend to want that back.

But God has been reminding me not to look back. That was a good time- a faith building season of our lives that He used us in other people's lives directly. But that time is over and we are in a new place. We have literally started over.

We live in a new town, in a new house that is our own now. We have a new baby, our oldest children will be attending school, and little Sarah is really growing up too. Nothing is the same as it was and won't be. We're like a new family now. For awhile my main focus will be just trying to keep up with basics- meals, cleaning, laundry, getting everyone to the right places, baby care, not to mention continuing on with unpacking things that I haven't gotten to yet and organizing it all.

I had to be extremely frugal in my super lady days- everything from scratch. Now I don't, and frankly, not a lot I cook these days is from scratch. I will do better, and I really really miss cooking right. I look forward to sourdough bread again and homemade sauerkraut and raw milk :) We will be getting chickens in the future, and you can be sure we'll have a big garden next year.

I can look back fondly and wish I could be that person again, but that's not what God wants for me. He wants me to embrace the new and allow Him to take me through whatever process to grow more. It's better to not be Martha, serving the Lord but needing everything to be perfect. It's better to have a little dirt on the floor and some sticky surfaces and some overflowing dishes and laundry, so you can spend time in the presence of God.

For someone seriously sleep deprived, I still have some good thoughts huh? LOL! It's all God- in times that I feel really stretched and stressed, He puts new songs in my head of praise to Him and victory and that He's taking care of us. Or bring someone by that can uplift and encourage me, or I'll find something on the Christian channels that perfectly speak to me.

Baby Samantha is getting pudgy! She has lost that newborn wrinkled look and is filling out. I guess if I were eating a full meal every two hours and sleeping all day I'd get chubby too! She is so sweet and so cute. When she's awake she just looks around and tries to eat whatever is close to her mouth. Yesterday I had her resting on my shoulder while I was getting her bottle, and she started sucking on my cheek! Funny girl...new pictures to come.

Turned a corner...finally!

2009-08-19T12:18:00.003-06:00

If you would have told me a week ago that I would be almost pain free, I probably couldn't have believed it. All the prayers being prayed for me are working because I'm amazingly better. Today is my first day going it alone. I was able to get dressed, make my bed, do some laundry, do the dishes, vacuum the living room, thaw dinner, feed, change and hold baby...oh and someone needed a swat in there...LOL. I can actually walk normally too. This is huge because for months I've been waddling since my hip/groin area was hurting so much.

By the end of the month, I might be able to wear something with a waist! Incidentally, I've been wearing a belly binder some. I can't wear it constantly because I get sore. But it does help 'hold things together' and kind of supports the unfortunate loose skin above my incision. Too much info I'm sure. WISH I would have known about those things years ago.

Samantha did much better last night. She had a 4 hour gap between feedings at one point, so I was able to get at least 5 hours of sleep, possibly 6, can't remember. Sleep makes a difference! Looking at her I can't help but grieve for all the would-be parents of aborted babies. They will never ever know the wonder of holding a brand new life that came from them. My husband and I didn't really do a whole lot in the process of her getting here, and here she is, perfect and complete and innocent and pure, a brand new person that's never existed before. I find myself randomly crying because I don't feel worthy at times to do this. I just feel incredibly blessed to have another sweet baby.

Of course I randomly cry about once a day...anyways...

Next week school begins, and thus another change for us. Just when we sort of get used to one thing, another new thing comes in and changes the family dynamic. I've planned for my children to ride the bus because I'm not sure how to coordinate everything at this point. However, that may change. Amazingly, the lady who is in charge of the buses is my neighbor! There are also several special needs children in our neighborhood who will be in Leiah's class! More and more things keep pointing to the fact that it is no accident that we are here now. We were meant to be here.

Somehow, I will have to get up and get everyone ready before 7am. This may be a huge challenge with the lack of sleep. I may have to go to bed at 9! I look forward to our life settling into a daily rhythm...many uncertainties the last few weeks and months!

Time to stop rambling! Sorry yall!

1 Week since birth!

2009-08-18T13:23:00.003-06:00

Well, if you're looking for inspirational homemaking tips, this isn't the place to get it. Nor is it the place to learn about frugal living, great recipes, child training tips etc. Right now it's all about survival.

The past several days have been filled with feeding and changing, burping and pooping or not pooping, pain medications, pumping, messy rooms, piles of stuff from moving etc. So, I have nothing to offer at the moment for anyone needing inspiration.

I can however, update you on how it's going. I'm MUCH better. I have some incision pain and some gas pains, but I'm off the powerful pain pills. Good thing too, because I was having some unpleasant side effects. I can do a few things now, like start a load of laundry, hand wash the dishes, pick up around the house etc. Mostly I'm feeding the baby, burping the baby, holding the baby and changing the baby. Today is my first day to be alone with all 4 children. So far it's ok because my mom was here for the morning and they're all supposed to be napping.

Little Samantha wanted to eat every 2 hours last night, and the night before didn't even go to sleep till 3am, so I'm ready for a nap myself and my husband is struggling to stay awake at work. Pumping breastmilk has ceased. Why? She prefers the formula...after all of that! Plus, as I got to researching it, there is just no way I can commit to exclusively pumping. I do not have the time. So, I will be doing a homemade formula with raw milk soon, once I can drive again and we get a little more organized.

I took a post baby picture yesterday, but have yet to get it on the computer. Just thought it would be interesting to compare my stomach with the other pictures. I don't know how much weight I've lost yet. My appetite hasn't been good- just haven't been all that interested in food yet. I hope to get myself eating healthier and hopefully start walking the neighborhood in a few weeks.

Here is a video of my three year old daughter Sarah singing to her baby sister. I'm not real sure what she's saying, but it's really cute. (Sarah rarely ever wears clothes at home. We're lucky she had underwear!)

Various things

2009-08-16T09:38:00.002-06:00

Home alone here. The rest of the family is at church. I am actually glad to have some time alone in peace :) Today is my husband's birthday. He took the early morning feeding for Samantha and I got a little more sleep, so I felt like making him breakfast this morning. That's a major thing, because at 5:30am I was crying from incision pain. I finally broke down and took double the pain medication. Sure did help!

I was about to give up on the whole pumping breastmilk thing. I did it Friday with NOTHING but a drop! Plus I somehow broke the skin on one side and it was bleeding. I drank a whole quart of mother's milk tea that day. Yesterday things were hurting in that area, and late that afternoon it dawned on me that the milk was 'in'. So I decided to try the pump again and low and behold, we had almost an ounce to give to baby. Now I'm trying to figure out how often I need to do this and how will I do it once I'm alone with the 4 children... Baby is eating quite a bit now, so I don't know if I can be her only source of food, but at least some is better than none.

I tried a cloth diaper on the baby this morning. She was wriggling something awful!! She likes to keep her legs drawn in to her body right now, but eventually she'll stretch back out. I finally got it on her and it's so cute! The covers are pretty big though, but that doesn't matter as long as the diaper is on good. I'll try to take a picture at some point.

The other girls are still loving her and getting used to her. Alexa wants to hold her everyday and talks about how sweet she is. Sarah sang her a lullaby yesterday that melted my heart! I got it on video and need to upload it. Overall we're doing good. It feels like it's been weeks since we had her. It hasn't even been a whole week yet! My life has changed so much in just a few days I'm losing track of time.

I was getting very depressed because of being in so much pain for so long. Even before she was born I was in a lot of pain in my hip area. It's starting to ease up though and I'll just have to keep the medicine flowing for awhile. I hate that, but I have to do something. I'm very glad this was the last one. I can't imagine being compelled to do this again. She is so sweet and beautiful, but, she is IT :)

Have a nice Sunday everyone.

Samantha Faith is Here

2009-08-14T08:15:00.007-06:00

I've been thinking about you all- we had no internet access at the hospital, thus the reason no updates or pictures.

Thanks so much for all your prayers. I really felt them. We arrived EARLY Tuesday morning to the hospital and they started getting me ready. I was doing ok, not too nervous. I would just focus on getting the next thing done- IV in place, blood drawn, spinal in etc.

They took me to the OR around 10:15am and began numbing me and getting ready. This is always a challenge because I have scoliosis, a very curved spinal cord. I for some reason was very worried about the anesthesia wearing off too soon. I was focusing on not getting panicked. Anyways, at 10:42 Samantha made her appearance. My husband and I were so amazed that we were there yet again having another little girl. She was 6lbs 12.5oz and 19 inches long.

They gave her to daddy and we both were crying- so perfect and tiny. They took her to the nursery and got me finished. I went to recovery and was doing pretty well. About an hour later I got back to my room and was finally allowed some water :) Unfortunately I began to feel pain, and their method of pain relief is shots in the leg of demerol and then phenergan to combat nausea. This medicine makes you very sleepy. So by the time I got to hold the baby for the first time, I was a total fruit loop- I was so mad.

Anyways, my pain got away from me unfortunately, and by that evening I was a wreck. I had nursed the baby a few times, but finally consented to letting the nursery feed her because I was not capable. Right now she is drinking formula, but I had planned to start pumping last night. Well, Sarah ended vomiting all evening and that got put off. Yeah, what a welcome home!!

I am still very sore, but very glad to be home and have this over with. I have a sweet beautiful little baby to take care of :) She was worth all the pain and discomfort :)

Last Pregnant Post

2009-08-09T15:01:00.002-06:00

I'm still pregnant. Not exactly surprising, but I was hoping maybe something would happen over the weekend :)

I really need to be working on stuff right now, but thought I'd pause a moment here, because I don't know for sure when I'll be back. I have several boxes to unpack, as we did some more moving yesterday, along with doing laundry, working on my freezer cooking, and getting the house cleaned up. Tomorrow I have to do school stuff for the girls as well.

So, the big day is Tuesday around 10:30. (central time) I have to be at the hospital at 5:30am!! Which means that I have to leave the house by 4:30am, thereby I have to GET UP by 4 at the latest. Wow. Guess I better have everything done so I can get to bed early. My poor parents have to come to my house then too to stay with my other children and then bring them later. I hope that the girls understand that mom is ok even though I'm hooked up to various things.

Yesterday I was treated to a very nice pedicure and watched the movie Julie and Julia at the theater. I loved the movie- very well done, although it is PG-13. I am definitely going to get Julia Child's cookbook now.

If the hospital has wireless internet, my husband will be able to post pictures for me. If not it may be a few days- I should be home Thursday at some point. It's hard to believe I've come to the end. The last several weeks have been difficult, but when I look back to when I first found out I was pregnant, it seems to have flown by now. I don't feel ready mentally- I've been so preoccupied with everything else, that it's hard for me to settle down and think of life with a newborn and 4 children. I'm nervous about the changes my body will go through and pray it looks ok afterwards.

But overall, no matter the obstacles, it will all be worth it when I get to hold my prize. Thanks so much for your thoughts and prayers and kind words of encouragement. You'll all get to see her soon!

Being Healthy

2009-08-07T13:48:00.003-06:00

I've had lots of thoughts about this rolling around in my head lately. I've been on quite a health journey the last few years. I went from eating only perfect whole foods with the majority of it being raw, to eating a standard American diet again, then to Nourishing Traditions, then back to the SAD one again.

When I made 'the change' the first time, my health improved greatly! It worked well and seemed so easy after I got used to it. I was sure I could do it for life. Then morning sickness hit, and well, it got to where I ate what didn't nauseate me. This started a pattern so that after the baby came, I wasn't too excited about getting back on the stringent diet plan. And so goes the inability to lose weight since then.

After my second child I developed major health problems. It was over a year before I investigated them and began learning more about nutrition and natural healing. We started some good supplements and I ate more protein for our new growing baby and I did much better. After she was born, I took the plunge and ordered this book I'd been hearing a lot about called Nourishing Traditions. It was a good 6-8 months before I was able to really implement some of the practices in there. But, once I got going, it became easier. We did that full blast for at least 2 years, closer to 3.

Since I became preggo, that was out. At least the first three months and the last two months it has. In between we ate really well for awhile. What has my experience been? Well, um, actually, I've been fine. My digestive system has been much MUCH calmer, though we've been eating worse. Odd since I do have a full term baby inside. The children have been more, er, crazy, as in hyped up etc. But they did that on days they didn't have any sugar too. My husband has suffered the most, but probably because his workload is so much and has more stress than I do.

So, I'm wondering, could it be that not thinking about it at all takes the pressure off and allows my body to work right? I read an article once about healthy people trying to get healthier, but instead got sicker. They became obsessed with do everything perfect that they're bodies got worse and worse. You know what else? Every time I find out one thing is good, I'll read the complete opposite somewhere else. So which one is it? I think sometimes those of us who do NT cooking sort of put ourselves on a pedestal, that oh you might be healthy because you use organic and whole grains, but I'm really healthy because I soak and ferment them.At least, that entered my mind many times.

My conclusions: we all know what to do really. We know it's better to eat foods that grow naturally in nature. We know that eating chemically laden false foods does us no good, because we are literally what we eat. We know that there are super-germs out there now and our bodies need to be filled with healthy bacterias to fight them. We know taking drugs may only mask the symptoms and it's a good idea to get to the bottom of the problem rather than cover it up.

Once I get things rolling again, I will go back to our healthier ways. Most likely I'll stop buying instant oatmeal packets and microwave breakfast sandwiches and corn dogs and frozen pizzas. The kool-aid will go out with the cheetos and popsicles. Fast food will occur less. (we've already eaten it 3 times this week!!!!)

But I think I'm done with soaking things. I don't notice much difference except beans and oatmeal. I just like the flavor of sourdough bread, but the other stuff isn't too special. Plus, in one place I read phytates are bad, then in another that they're good, so which is it?! If my children won't eat soaked sourdough bread, then why am I making it? If they will gladly eat homemade whole wheat yeasted bread, then shouldn't I do that?

Another thing I enjoy making is fermented veggies. Honestly, the sauerkraut was tasty. I'm not sure how to get children to like it, but dh and I liked it, and neither of us like commercial kraut. They love kefir and yogurt though, so I will continue with that. I think eating basic whole foods, as much organic as we can, really is the best you can do. If your body has the basics, then I think that's the most important.

And really, we shortchange the power of God's Word. Sometimes we are in a place where we just can't eat perfect, yet are obeying His voice. Don't we believe He will take care of it? If He tells us to go somewhere that is only serving junk food, then I'm sure it will be ok. All things are possible with Him. Eating perfect isn't the end all be all, or a religion, it's part of being a good steward of the temple of the Holy Spirit. Part of it mind you. Jesus Himself said it's not what goes into a man's body that defiles him, but what comes out. (not, er, bodily functions, but what comes from within our heart)

So, many thanks dear Lord for preserving our health in this crazy busy season. Our eating has not been ideal, but You have kept us strong.

Just another hormonal day

2009-08-07T12:32:00.002-06:00

Ugghh...this morning I did NOT even want to get out of bed. I started crying before I made it to the bathroom! Anticipating surgery is really doing a number on me- I fell asleep last night praying for my water to break or something.

I'm supposed to be cooking today. I went to the very busy store with my three busy girls and my large sore body and bought all the rest of what I needed. When I got home I discovered that my water is cut off. So, um, that kind of rules out boiling chicken (I have stove now) and washing things. Lovely.

I cried again. However, my mom called and she set up an appointment for me tomorrow to have a pedicure, very unexpected and nice. My mother has been such a support for me, I don't know how to thank her. She is also wanting me and my sister and her to go watch the new movie about Julia Child tomorrow.

So, even though things aren't perfect right now, I am very blessed. I am really enjoying new home. It's me- I'm not pretentious nor do I care about surfaces, I am a down and dirty real life person that prefers more humble things :) I'd rather have something that is worn and old that has a story or history behind than something beautiful and brand new.

Gotta go- cookies are done!

This and That

2009-08-06T12:36:00.003-06:00

Wow, it took me 4 hours to go to my dr. appointment! Crazy...nothing major- he didn't check to see if I was dialated or anything and I'd really rather not know. Now I'm back home and very sleepy- I will be taking a nap soon.

Thanks so much for all the nice comments about our house. I am not super woman, I have superman as a husband. Literally, he is working constantly either at work or home for me. Last night he found a stovetop in stock at Lowe's and installed it-by midnight! It's a black flat top one- he cooked eggs on it this morning but I have to try it.

When I got home this afternoon my new bedding had arrived. It is so pretty-can't wait to try it out. Again, I will need dear hubby's help with the dust ruffle. I did reward him with an early birthday present though- some badly needed clothes!! I wish I could think of some other way to bless him- he tells me he enjoys working on the house, but still, get some rest boy, you're gonna need it for next week!

I was asked about my sewing area. Well, I'm not sure where it will be, probably on top of that desk in my bedroom. My 'stuff' is in my closet- carefully sorted and labeled. I don't know that I'll be sewing for awhile yet anyways, so I have some time to think on it.

I have to say in all honesty I'm getting very nervous. I am very upset that I have to do c-sections. I am very upset that while I'm laying there getting put back together, everyone else gets to see and hold my baby. I'm sorry, but I did most of the work and I want her first! With this one, I've not had any ultrasound pictures of her profile or anything, and have no idea what she looks like. She almost doesn't seem real to me yet. I'm nervous about breastfeeding and the pain I'll be in and all the extra stuff I have to do...(no food till the bowels are working again, which means I have to get up and move around hours after the surgery) It just seems very unfair. I don't have peace about it at all and just want to get it over with.

I don't have any of my books from before about breastfeeding and all that, and haven't been able to take any TIME to refresh myself on it. I've found info online and some videos on youtube...there are literally NO stores around here that sell nursing bras or gowns- I might can find some at the maternity store in the mall. It makes just not even want to try, but then I'll feel guilty for not trying...

What a ball of emotions! I have so much to do and it's unsettling! This is what all there is left to do:
Finish getting all paperwork filled out and take it to the school
organize all the kids' clothes and shoes etc. for ease of grandma and daddy
buy the rest of the groceries
cook and freeze the food
fix the refrigerator ice thingie
organize my bulk purchases (repackage in smaller containers and store)
hang curtains in my room
buy the rest of what is needed for baby (some disposables and wipes, a few bottles, bath stuff...)
CLEAN- house is getting dirty
go to old house and get everything that's left OUT, then figure out where to put it
make a trip to the city for the special items (bra, baby outfit for going home etc.)
clean car, put carseat in
wash all laundry
pack up my stuff
assemble cradle

In the midst of that there is the cooking of daily meals, baths, laundry, church, dh's birthday dinner...feel like I'm forgetting something here...

5 days to do it too...maybe I should skip the nap...nah!

New House

2009-08-05T16:04:00.002-06:00

Make an on-line slideshow at www.OneTrueMedia.com

2009-08-05T15:45:00.002-06:00

For your information, I am waiting and WAITING for my video to upload...should be up soon.

I AM BEAT! I walked for three hours this morning shopping- shopping for good shoes for the kiddies for school and various other things, then making a trip to Sam's-WOW. Amazing how you can spend so much money in there and get so little in return. I actually did pretty good, but I still need to go to the regular grocery store for other things. Not everything in bulk is a good deal.

Anyways, time to figure out dinner. (organized aren't I?)I'll be back in a bit to post the show, lol.

Old style parenting

2009-08-04T21:20:00.000-06:00

The second half of this is the best- this is what my day was like today, minus the beating with a yard stick. I'm sorry if this is offensive, but it's just hilarious to me. Certainly makes me smile when I really feel like hurting something.

via videosift.com

Food Prep

2009-08-04T12:36:00.002-06:00

Made the video, just gotta get it uploaded.

Since that generally takes forever I thought I'd post about something else.

Freezer cooking. Who all does it? I don't personally know anyone that does it, but I hear of a lot of ladies online who do it regularly.

I had hoped to be moved in early enough to fill my deep freezer with loads of food, but alas, that was not to be. However, I think I can squeeze in some cooking ahead. I'll have Friday and Saturday to work on it and I think this is what I'll do.

Instead of making casseroles and soups and such, I'm going to just cook up the meat etc. and freeze it in smaller portions. Tomorrow I am visiting Sam's Club and will buy some pre-made casseroles as well as several other things in bulk. I could buy several whole chickens, put them in pots and boil them, take off all the meat and freeze it, then freeze the broth. I could get a big package of ground beef and cook it to have ready for meals.

This seems manageable. If possible I want to cook a few packages of rice and beans to freeze, make some quick breads/pizza dough to freeze too. If it doesn't happen, oh well, we'll work it out. I was blessed in that the last two babies I received meals from kind people in my MOPS groups and church. There hasn't been a lot of support this time around, so I ain't counting on nothing from anyone else. I need to do something though, because a c-section recovery is so much harder and so much will be happening. I don't want us living off of junk.

So, I am planning to freeze:
meat from 3 chickens
at least 5lbs of ground meat, cooked and seasoned
2lbs of beans, soaked, cooked and frozen
2lbs of brown rice ,cooked
4 loaves of quick bread (banana and pumpkin)
biscuit mix-homemade whole wheat
storebought bread to freeze-3 loaves
storebought tortillas to freeze
cheese for the freezer

What I plan to buy:(frozen)
pizza
lasagna
meatballs
waffles
veggies
chicken breasts

For the pantry, I will buy in bulk things like detergent, paper plates, canned items, some breakfast items, diapers...whatever

I think I can do it...I still don't have a stovetop, so I will have to do the meat at my mom's house. I can do the beans and rice in a crockpot I guess, we'll see. After a few days, it feels weird to me to not cook, so I may get in there and cook after the baby. However, I have no idea how it's going to be with 4 kids- my priorities will be a lot different. While I don't want us eating junk food all the time, I do have limitations :)

38 weeks, 7 days to go

2009-08-03T12:38:00.003-06:00

Did ya notice my ticker up there? I can hardly believe that I have a full term infant living inside me :) Technically, I only have 7 days left till birth day. Next Tuesday is the scheduled c-section, although I don't know what time yet.

How am I feeling? Well, surprisingly good. Baby seems to have shifted and my lower half isn't in quite so much pain. I've been having LOTS of Braxton Hicks contractions- more than I ever did with the others. But then, I've been on my feet a lot, doing lots of walking ( shopping, lol) and yes, even some lifting, shame on me! Yesterday was a low day though- I just felt so uncomfortable no matter what, had heartburn and headaches and was very emotionally agitated. Right now I'm sitting in the recliner with my feet up while the girls are napping.

I feel almost in a surreal state right now. I think back to a year ago- just 1 year ago I was living in a rent house in another town, the rent was very high and we were literally living by faith to get our bills paid, I was Miss Frugal, we were planning our fall garden and getting Leiah ready for school.

If you had told me then that I would be living in another town, in a house that we BOUGHT, and about to have another baby girl, I just don't think I could have believed it. I am very glad that we don't know the future- it would be too hard to accept if we did. I've been planning for so long, now that IT is here, I feel like I'm in a dream or something. This is my last week to be pregnant forever (getting the tubes tied), our last week as a family of 5, our last week to prepare for everything, our last week to have a hope of a full night's sleep...our lives will be forever changed.

However, I am anxious to get on with it :) I'm tired of thinking about it. After I rest, I am going to finish working on the house stuff I had planned for today, and hopefully, after the girls wake up and I can get them coloring, I'll do a video tour of the house. HOPEFULLY...

Creating a nice bedroom, finally!

2009-07-31T08:47:00.005-06:00

I finally found something for my bed- it was supposed to be my birthday present in May, but I kept forgetting to buy it! I just hope it gets here before the baby is born so I can have a nice room to be holed up in :)

I still need curtains and to hang my pictures up, but I think I've gotten rid of most of the visible boxes. So, when I finally find the camera, I'll take pictures :)

My children are having a time adjusting to the new house. They like it, but the changes are overwhelming them and boy are the fighting a lot! I managed to NOT pack their crayons and stuff either, so I haven't been able to divert their attentions too well. Hopefully everyone will get acclimated to the new environment soon.

Christmas in July

2009-07-29T16:07:00.003-06:00

Last night I happened on a website (don't know how I got there now) that I am really enjoying. Right now she is hosting a series on 'Christmas in July'. Basically she is just covering all different topics such as traditions, setting a Christmas budget etc. to help you get ahead before the rush starts.

Amazing that in our busy fast-paced lives, we have to start months ahead to have a peaceful Christmas! I think it's a good idea to think ahead though, because Christmas can be crazy. I personally had decided to downsize a lot this year and making the most of the season in simple ways. For instance I have way too many decorations that I don't really love. Yet I feel obligated to use them all every year :) And I always end up buying too much stuff that adds up to a lot and doesn't last- it gets lost or broken right away almost. And, I generally plan way too many things to bake and eat...need to condense it down a bit!

So, head on over there for great ideas.

I just got home actually! I spent the morning recovering my living room and buying groceries (my mom came to help) then rushed home to drive the 1.5hrs to my doctor appointment, wait there for an hour, spend 5 minutes with the doctor, drive 1.5 hours back home again. All with my kids and mom. I am resting with my feet up for awhile. I guess dinner will be hamburger helper in the electric skillet- glad I thought to buy some today.

We're Here

2009-07-28T07:22:00.003-06:00

Well, I'm moved. Mostly...Yesterday was a whirlwind. I wish I would have done a better job packing, but my body just gets tired out so fast. So I made it here without all the silverware, without some food, the camera and the rest of my clothes in the closet. But we're less than 20 minutes from the other house, so I can go back later and get it. It was so helpful to have a moving crew- they were fast! And, we've had heavy rainfall forecasted for the whole week, but our prayers were answered yesterday because it barely sprinkled until the middle of last night, plus it's not hot!! I have a brand new refrigerator that was 1/8 of an inch too large to fit in the space! So, we had to put in the spot we had our deep freezer in for now. Oh well, I have a fridge!

My living room is a mess. One half of it is full of boxes that I can't move yet because 1. they're too heavy, and 2. I have nowhere to place the stuff yet, we need to install the shelves first. Since hubby has to work now, whatever he can do will have to be done at night. I have to be patient...but hopefully I can get things looking good by the end of the week and do a video.

Today I need to rearrange my kitchen, get the bathroom stuff unpacked, get everyone's clothes in the right places and probably go to get some groceries. My body is very sore because I pushed so hard yesterday, but hopefully the medicine I took will kick in soon.

Also, I need some advice. I have no stove right now. I have an oven, a microwave, a crockpot and an electric skillet. What can I cook? I am not sure when I will have a stovetop either, hopefully in the next two weeks. Breakfast poses the hardest problem right now because we like to eat eggs, and unless I make a big breakfast casserole, that's out. Nor can I cook oatmeal and stuff on the stovetop...so, need some ideas please. Thanks!

Awake

2009-07-26T03:39:00.002-06:00

The typical waking up cycle has begun. I guess my body knows that soon it's going to be up several times a night, so it just goes ahead and gets me started before baby comes. The thing is when I wake up, I generally have to use the bathroom and then I get hungry...the uncomfortable extreme hungry feeling doesn't go away, so I lay awake thinking about whatever (in this case how to arrange my new kitchen) and then I just have to get up and eat.

The last two days have been too short. My body feels like it's just giving up on me. I want to keep going but I can't, and I'm no help to my husband who is hauling all the stuff in and out of the car :) But, oh well, he told me not to feel bad since I haul the baby around all the time :)

We've about finished all the cleaning etc. in the house. It had been vacant for a year, so there were quite a few things to clean. We have run into a problem with my stove- the house didn't come with a cooktop, so we were going to buy one. However I noticed that the microwave above the stovetop area will be hanging way too low for a large pot to fit. So now we have to remove the microwave as well and find a new place for it. Kind of a dumb set up.

My husband has been really into fixing up our bathroom and bedroom nice, a great benefit for me, because then I have permission to get what I want! I've been shopping online for home furnishings, but haven't settled on anything yet. We did get the crib set up with all the bedding and my three year old's new daybed set up, but that's it. Today I must pack all the rest of the kitchen, all bathroom/laundry room stuff and the clothes. Tomorrow the movers come and I need to be ready. In all the moves I've done, this is the first time we've hired professional help. We certainly need it since I'm fairly disabled :)

We've met some of the neighbors and they are very friendly. We also found out we have a lot more land than we previously thought. We have almost a whole acre, partially wooded, but we could easily have a nice big garden and some chickens etc. running around back there :)

Well that's enough of that...hopefully I can do a video or picture post after we get things set up next week. I only have two weeks till delivery date, unless she comes early on her own.

Might be Scarce

2009-07-24T20:48:00.002-06:00

Well we did close on our new house today. It has been a crazy day for sure! Dh and I have been cleaning and shopping and tomorrow we'll finish cleaning and setting things up. Monday we officially move.

So, I will not be around for awhile. We are supposed to have internet access Tuesday-maybe I can post then.

We'll see...finally, got things going on, no more waiting!

Believe you shall receive!

2009-07-23T12:54:00.003-06:00

You know what, when you pray for something, you should always believe it will happen. Because a lot of times, when you pray in faith, it does!

I prayed yesterday that they would get their act together and we'd be able to close this week. Well, we close tomorrow. Sometimes I just feel like a dork. Here I am preaching about standing on the Word of God and praying in faith no matter what the circumstances look like, and I go and fall to pieces when things look bad.

I guess my excuse is pregnancy huh?

Thanks for understanding and trying encourage me. In light of all that is happening, I have decided that this little girl's name shall be Samantha Faith. It is fitting.

A peek inside my selfishness

2009-07-23T09:20:00.003-06:00

I'm feeling really crummy today.

All night I was stewing about what in the world I'm going to do for the next several days. Because you know, I was supposed to be moving. I am so sick of this house. It has been void of anything decorative or personal for months. My bedroom is a blank sterile massive room with a tiny bathroom that I can barely fit into. The living rooms and kitchen are like a solid piece of wood with bad lighting. The house is so big it's such an effort just to get from on part to the other, at least for me.

I am uncomfortable and sore and can't do hardly anything. I can't climb up to stuff that's up high to pack or crawl around on the floor to get stuff. My children just trash the house so most of the time I'm busy trying to maintain some sort of decency. the bathrooms stink and need cleaning, the girls' room is a mess of toys that I had boxed up and they got back into, the extra living room is filled with boxes- packed and empty- and stacks of stuff for Goodwill. And I can't do anything about it!!!

I've tried asking for help, even paying someone for help, and they're just too busy. My husband is doing all he can poor thing, but what do I do? I ask myself that question all day long, what do I do now? My plan got ruined and not only that, no one knows anything about when we'll close, it's just all up in the air. If I just had the keys to this house, that would be something. I could at least clean it and bring lighter weight boxes over myself. I'm sure I would be more energetic then. Right now I just look around and instantly lose motivation to do anything.

Same thing, over and over again. Cook, do dishes, wipe stickies, stop fights, do laundry, wait, wait, wait, get hot, do more cooking and clean it up, wait some more...stop fights, stop fights! Wait, and wait, and wait...

I know what I should do...I should suck it up, take some pain medicine, clean up the house, re-box what they got out, and continue with packing what I can. But I'm just so mad still! I've been crying out to the Lord to help me get over it, but it's just so frustrating. It makes me nervous that I only have two weeks to move and get all the school stuff straightened out and prepare for a baby. I don't know how we're going to pull it off.

I just want someone to care about us. I feel like I'm screaming and no one hears or cares. We're just names on a piece of paper to those loan people. I'm just another patient to my doctor. The people that do care are too busy or too far away to do anything.

Stinks...

This has been rolling in my head all day...

2009-07-22T20:54:00.001-06:00

Reality of me

2009-07-22T07:58:00.003-06:00

Alright, to those of you who like reading about the real me, here's a reality post for ya. Yesterday was kind of a hard day- I wasn't as energetic and motivated to work on the house, I was hurting more and just tired of waiting to hear something about WHEN...will it be Wednesday or Thursday or what???

Plus, my children have been feeling it too and since I have many of their things boxed up, were kind of bored and driving me nuts too. In the midst of that dh calls and tells me we can't close on the house this week. I lost it. I completely and totally lost it. I started crying, shouting "I can't do this anymore! This is so unfair!" I hung up on dh, he kept calling back, I kept hanging up because he was trying to calm me down and I needed a moment to be angry.

I am so not proud of that moment, but I felt as stretched as I could get, and that broke me. The people who came to appraise the house for the insurance company somehow messed up the pictures, so they had to re-do them, and the loan company is a few days behind, so it may take till Friday to get everything approved, even though technically we've already been approved. Still, we already had a moving company lined up to move us on Friday, I've recruited others to help, boxed up many things that I could still be using...

The only reason I was able to calm down quickly was because I didn't want to stress the baby out. I was just absolutely furious. But, I recovered. I realize that what seems awful to me is nothing compared to what many people are going through right now. And it's not impossible for them to get it done quicker and possibly still close this week. It's rather embarrassing to write all this, but I'm human and make mistakes. No one has it all together.

I must remember that the Lord is ordering our path and that He knows what I'm feeling, what we're dealing with and will provide accordingly. He already has in many ways. One day I'll look back on this and think wow, how did we do that?? Power from God only!

Well, time to go to the doctor. I drive an hour one way for 10 minutes of doctor time...why do I have to go every week again??

Tell me what you want

2009-07-21T15:01:00.002-06:00

Just curious here, what kind of stuff are yall interested in reading? I've been thinking about how things might change in the next few weeks/months and am not sure what direction my blog will take. Right now I'm really not full of inspiration- there is simply TOO much going on in my head right now to write or think beyond the present circumstances.

I mean really, how many major life changes can we make at once? Think about it, I've been carrying a baby for 36 weeks...there are 52 weeks in a YEAR!!! I'm kind of getting ready to have my body back to normal. I've also been resisting the instinct to nest and prepare for months now because I know I'll live somewhere else when she's born. That's been hard.

I am in a constant, CONSTANT state of expectancy and waiting...I still don't know if we're going to close our house tomorrow or Thursday. There's always someone to wait on to get something else done so we can sign.

I also have to go through the necessary hoops to get my oldest daughters enrolled and registered for school etc. but can't until I have an address in that town. Everything hinges on the move. I also have to make sure and call Sears to get my fridge delivered in time, AND there is no cooktop/stove- we still have to buy that too :) Also our cat is missing...he's been with us through all the moves, so I hope he turns up soon. He's a GREAT hunter :)

However, when all of this passes over, my brain shall clear a bit and life should settle into a routine and I do plan to keep blogging. The main topics I tend to write about are:

food/nutrition
recipes
housekeeping
scheduling
daily struggles with whatever
mothering
do-it-yourself stuff
Faith/Bible
Sewing

What is the most enjoyable to read or most informative? Honestly, there are probably MANY blogs out there that say the same things I do or you can search for the same information yourself. There are times when I feel like I've said it all already, do you really want me to repeat it over and over???

So, just let me know, why do you keep stopping by? What initially drew you here and what do you like best? Thanks.

Silly Me

2009-07-20T08:33:00.003-06:00

The blessing of the Lord rains down on me now! You know why? Because it's only in the 70s right now! And, it's only supposed to get to 91 degrees at the hottest- like for the whole week! And, we're supposed to get rain for three days. And, we're moving this week so it won't be so horribly hot!

I'm in a rather goofy mood and am thinking of videoing parts of my day today. My house is a WRECK, and I don't care! I don't care because it doesn't matter anyways- I have to pack it up so it's not gonna get any better no matter what I do, which I means I don't have to clean house this week. I do want to clean the new house, and if everything goes to plan that is what I will do after closing Wednesday. Then I get to start moving, and if I remember, maybe I'll video some of that too.

I have officially started the 9th month today. I am also officially a grumpy complaining pregnant woman. But, I'm trying not to be. Just when the pain is bothering me a lot...

Anyways, I'll likely pop back on here later...need to go get dressed!

Well, no videos, but I'll post a picture. Yes I have grown, or rather the baby has. Everything is down low which is probably why my bones hurt!

Sewing Inspiration

2009-07-18T16:18:00.002-06:00

Just letting you all know, if you haven't read the posts from Lady Lydia at Homeliving helper, you should. They are so inspiring! She is doing a series on using paintings as inspiration for dressing. I love how she takes a basic pattern and makes all kinds of different styles from that one. She looks adorable too.

Go visit her here

I've been sorting through all my sewing stuff today- wow! So disorganized!! I have not been doing any more projects lately. Don't know if I'll be able too for awhile either. Once we get settled and my older girls get into the rhythm of school etc. and baby has regular naps, I should be able to start working time in for sewing. Hopefully I'll have something of a waist back by then and can try making some new clothes. I'm gonna be on the lookout for a basic pattern that can be dressed up in different ways.

Oh and I AM gonna take a picture of the belly soon- it is growing! I'll be 36 weeks Monday, so maybe then :) I was born at 36 weeks!! What if this one decides to come too?? Hopefully she'll wait...