An Everything Post

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

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

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

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

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

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

Guilt and Perfectionism

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!!!