It's Sunday...

a day of rest.  We went to church, and since then I've been leisurely hanging out in the living room working on "paperwork".  I spent some time correcting papers and working on entering 1st sememster grades into my high schooler's transcript.  Now I've been spending quite a bit of time on my menu plan and shopping list.  I normally do this on Friday, but this week I wasn't able to do my shopping until Monday morning, so I'm getting it done today.

Menu planning can be so complicated at times for various reasons. I'm working hard on trying to cut back on how much I spend each week, so I'm trying to make cheaper meals, but I also want good taste and variety. The meals need to be healthy.  We need to have lots of fresh fruits and veggies.  My husband can't have salt, my oldest daughter and I can't have gluten, and my youngest daughter is sensitive to sugar.  This presents a challenge with meal planning and money!  I also think it is prudent to keep a stocked pantry in case of hard times, so I factor that into my shopping list also.  So much to think about!

The kitchen work is going well!  We have the first coat of green paint on the walls, and hubby and I worked together yesterday putting the first coat of primer on the beams.  Ummmm...if you haven't been to my house, we live in an a-frame, and there are beams supporting the walls...and ceiling.  My hubby had the great idea to paint the beams white, and it is going to be soooo cute!  After that, the framing on the windows and doors will be painted white also.  White tile is going on the countertops and backsplash (whenever we happen to have the money for THAT, which may be never.  I am praying.  It's the only expense we have for the kitchen, as everything else we have gotten free.)  There is a square of entryway that is ugly right now and has nothing on it; that is going to be tile also.  It's leftover tile from a customer...honestly I don't know what it looks like but I don't care...welcome to remodeling when you're poor!

Here are some pictures of the work in progress.  KEEP IN MIND: this is during remodeling/painting AND mealtime, so that is why there is such a mess.  Normally I am neurotic about keeping a sparkling clean kitchen!:


The slanted wall on the right will have the green, and the beams will be white.



Facing the slanted wall that will be green...

Corner where the fridge is.

Here's my sweet baby covered with cheese, carrots, and applesauce.

Entryway where the tile will be.





Anyway, it's hard to tell from the pics, but it is going to be super cute when it's done!  I will post pictures again when it is complete, but it may be awhile.  I also will find some pictures of it before any work was done.

On another topic, Adam's accomplishments the past couple of days are: he is mostly walking as of yesterday, he got his second tooth today, and he is getting curl in his hair!  What a joy he is!

Well, I am off to finish my shopping list and partake of a cheap, healthy meal: split pea soup.  May God bless your week!

My Favorite Websites for Homeschooled Kids

I just thought I'd share the websites that we use around here sometimes, for supplementing school:

Starfall : Great for learning to read, calendar skills, etc.  Love this for the little ones!

Funbrain : We use this mostly for math facts, but there are language arts games on here as well.

Vocabulary and Spelling City : Definitely check this out!  You can supplement or do your whole spelling/vocabulary program on here.

Fun 4 The Brain : We use this mostly for math facts also, but there are some other things on here also. Fun games!

Multiplication.com : Great for multiplication facts!

Sheppard Software : Games for all subjects!  We love this for geography, especially for working on states and capitals.

Big Brainz :  Not exactly online games like the rest of them, but this is the BEST!  Absolutely the best game for multiplication facts, and they're finally developing games for the other three operations.  You can download the free version to try it out, and it is totally worth the money to buy the full version, especially if you have several children that it will go through.

I hope you enjoy these.  Happy homeschooling!!

This Week's Breakfast Menu

I mentioned in a previous post that I would share some more of my breakfast ideas, so here is our breakfast menu for this week:

Sunday--cereal, juice
Monday--waffles, bacon, hash browns, fruit, juice
Tuesday--fried eggs, toast, fruit, juice
Wednesday--overnight coffee cake, scrambled eggs, roasted potatoes, hot chocolate
Thursday--French toast, bacon, fruit, juice
Friday--cereal or oatmeal, muffins, fruit, juice
Saturday--Pancakes, scrambled eggs, bacon, hash browns, juice, hot chocolate

I would love to hear anyone's ideas for different breakfasts!  Sometimes I feel like we have the same old stuff all the time.  But a thankful heart is a happy heart, right? :)

Tweaking

I am going through my weekly chore lists, figuring out what is working and what isn't.  My chore list definitely needs some tweaking!  There are some jobs that I am struggling to find time for, and I just have to work them in.  The one that I am really trying to work into my routine is weekly baking.  In the past I had thought that Saturday was a great baking day, but now my Saturdays are way too full and there is just no time.  I use Saturdays to do some deep cleaning with my daughters, and then we grocery shop.  That is really all we can fit in.  On Saturdays, we:

• Thoroughly clean upstairs: vacuum, cobwebs, dust, clean bathroom.
• dust downstairs
• mop downstairs
• grocery shop
• plus all regular housework: meals, laundry, vacuuming, etc.

I just can't fit in anymore.  Then I thought...Sunday would be a great day for baking!  Ummm, nope.  Not going to work.  We have church, and I work on paperwork for the week...organizing school stuff and printing out schedules, etc, AND I have got to have some down time once a week!  That rules out Saturday and Sunday. 

Then there's Friday...that is a full day also.  We do a half day of school, and then it's "kitchen day".  I clean out the fridge, organize the pantry and freezer, make a shopping list, and menu plan.  I clean the kitchen cabinets, all the appliances (actually Abby usually does this), all the canisters, etc.  IF I am actually able to get all THAT done, there is certainly still no time for baking on Fridays.  SIGH.

So, my latest consideration of a plan is this:  Monday morning baking time.  I'm thinking that the girls and I will bake for the first half of the day on Mondays, then do academics in the afternoon.  I think it could work!  It'll be part of the school day; the girls will develop more baking skills, and I will get some work done.  I plan to try this soon.  I can't today, because I am purposely staying out of the kitchen so dear hubby can work on it--yay!!!  More cabinets being installed!

How do you all organize your weekly chores?  I will keep you posted on how my new idea works.  God bless you!!

"Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting; but a woman who fears the LORD is to be praised." Proverbs 31:30

The Candyland Cake

It's that time of year again...the time when Christmas is behind us, and the birthday madness begins!  My kids' birthdays fall all in a row: one in March, one in April, one in May, one in June.  (Hopefully the next child will land in January or July so I can keep up the pattern!)  First one up is my oldest daughter, Annamarie, who will be turning 13 in March.  Wait--did I just say 13?!?!?  Gosh where does time go?  Yikes.  Totally don't know how that happened!

Annamarie is busily planning her birthday already, and of course she is super excited.  This time, she says, she wants me to recreate the Candyland cake that I made for her 10th birthday.  However this time around, of course, it has to be gluten free. (She and I are gluten intolerant...visit my other blog for more info.)  I am a busy woman with a 9 month old boy who is into everything, so it sounds a bit exhausting, but I'm up for the challenge (I guess).  I'll let you know how it goes, along with the slumber party that is also being cooked up in my soon-to-be-teenager's brain. ;) (Ok, alright...I actually suggested the idea!)

Here is a picture of the last Candyland cake that I made.  What do you think?  Can I do it again, AND gluten free??? Stay tuned...

Isn't it beautiful???  :)

Meanwhile, our minor remodel on our kitchen is progressing sloooowly...and God is teaching me patience.  That's always a good thing, in the long run.

I was short on sleep last night, and so must get to bed early.  God bless!!

Passing the Vision on to our Daughters

Very good post at Raising Homemakers today!  Enjoy.

So excited!!

I am excited (in case you didn't catch that from the title of the post)!  As some of you know, we live in an old beater home, that my husband bought with the intention of remodeling. (Notice I say "my husband bought", because I wanted nothing to do with this house and moved in here kicking and screaming!)  After 7 years, we are finally improving the kitchen.  Now, Ted is a remodel contractor, and very good at this type of work, but unfortunately he has been out of work for over two years and so our remodel budget is basically $0.  We've been in a really rough place financially and he is out of work right now (so pray for us please).  This means more time to work on our house, but no money to do much.  The Lord blessed us with some free kitchen cabinets, so those have been installed, and I have plywood countertops until which time we have a little money to buy the tile that will go on top of it (I can't wait!).  A couple of days ago, I was finally able to peel the horribly ugly wallpaper off the kitchen wall, and soon we will be painting!  Hooray!!  It'll be kind of a sage-ish green, but probably a tad lighter, that matches my dish pattern that I've had for years, that has been waiting and waiting for a nicer kitchen to live in.  Pfaltzgraff Summer Breeze  I love, love, love this pattern!  Back in the day when we could afford it, dear hubby bought me a ton of different dishes from this pattern.  Praise the Lord for free paint for the kitchen!

Anyway, those of you reading this who know me personally, and have been in my kitchen, can truly appreciate what a big deal it is to have it fixed up.  It was really pretty bad.  Hardly any counter space, and just UGLY.  For a woman who spends probably 85% of her day in the kitchen, this is a really hard thing to deal with.  It has been a huge lesson in contentment.  I've had to take my discontentment to the Lord almost daily, and continually thank him that I have a roof over my head, and ask forgiveness for not being totally happy with the roof He has provided for me.  I still have to do that, as this house has plenty of other problems also.  But, I really am thankful.  God is good, and I can trust Him.

I just thought that I would share that little tidbit from my life.  I will post pictures eventually when the kitchen is finished, although "before" pictures may be hard, but I can find some pics with our kitchen in the background.  God bless you all, and thank you for peeking into a small window of my world!

Family Mealtimes

I am a firm believer that things should be as they were.  I am very, VERY traditional, because I see the traditional ways as God's ways.  I often feel like a woman from the 50's (or earlier) trapped in the 21st century.  Constantly going against the grain of the world...yes I am!

Feeding our families is very important.  Whoever told you that "you are what you eat" was right.  Food is our fuel to get us through our day.  It affects our energy, our performance, and our moods.....and...yep, our children's too!  Meals are not something to be put together half-heartedly.  They should be planned and thoughtfully constructed to best benefit those that we are responsible for.  Not only is the food important, but so is the time together as a family.  Regular family mealtimes also give a sense of order, and a schedule.  We have three consistent meals each day, with at least own two of them (breakfast and dinner) being a time that we all sit down together at the kitchen table and share a meal together. 

I don't know about you, but I just enjoy doing this so much!  It brings so much joy to my day.  I love pouring into my family...setting the table for breakfast in the morning, putting food such as eggs, bacon, toast, fruit, and juice (our breakfast this morning) on the table, and gathering together to say a prayer and eat a meal.  It is sad to me that this has been so lost to a lot of the world.  They are missing so much.  I praise God every day that I have my family at home with me, and that we can share these times together.  I hope that these are memories that my children cherish when they are grown.

I would like to encourage all of you to take Proverbs 31:27 to heart: "She looks well to the ways of her household and does not eat the bread of idleness."

Those two go hand in hand.  If you are looking well to the ways of your household, you are putting effort into it.  You're going the extra mile to do things well.  You'll look for ways to do a little extra something to make things special, such as getting up a little earlier to make an nice breakfast to bless your family with. You will have so many things that you can be doing, that you will have no desire to be idle, and you certainly will never be bored.  (Pet peeve of mine: stay at home moms who say they're BORED.  This should not be!  There is always, always something that can be done...a little extra effort in some aspect of the home.  If nothing else, you can always bake cookies!)

Proverbs 31:15 says: "She also rises while it is yet night, and provides food for her household, and a portion for her maidservants."  This virtuous woman/excellent wife makes providing food for her household VERY important, so important that she gets up early to do it.  I would like to encourage you to do the same.  This really works best if you make a menu plan ahead of time and shop for everything you need.  I plan all three meals for the week.  For breakfast planning, it really helps to grab a pack of bacon and/or sausage and fruit and juice, along with plenty of eggs.  Those are basic staples that can make many varieties of breakfasts.  I make pancakes and waffles from scratch, but there are mixes you can get that are quick to throw together, or if you're really pressed for time there's toaster waffles!  Another thing that I do, is to make sure there are often leftover baked potatoes in the fridge.  These are easy to shred in the morning and cook for hash browns.

I need to get going to bed, but I will post some of my breakfast menus in my next post.  I hope some of my ideas have been helpful to those of you who are desiring to bless your family with meals.  May the Lord bless each of your homes!

Creamy Herbed Pork Chops

Good evening, all you busy moms!  If you'd like an easy to prepare meal that tastes like you've been slaving over the stove all day, I've got one for you.  I prepared this for tonight's dinner, with a grumpy baby in the house.  As usual, I wanted to take a picture, but I just couldn't.  Dinner preparation time is busy, and the baby kept crying, so it came down to either taking a picture or comforting the baby. I need to keep my priorities straight!  So here you go:

Creamy Herbed Pork Chops: 

Melt 2 T. butter in a large skillet over medium heat.  Add 6 pork chops (mine were boneless but I don't think it matters), about 1/2" thick.  Sprinkle with salt and Mrs. Dash (or pepper), and cook for 5 minutes on each side.  Remove from skillet and keep warm.

To the drippings in the skillet, add:  2 tsp flour, 1/2 T. parsley, 1/2 tsp. basil, 1/2 tsp. beef boullion, 1/2 tsp. fresh pepper, and 2/3 cup cream.  Cook and stir until thickened and bubbly (this only took a minute or two), then stir in 2 T. white wine.  Return pork chops to pan, spoon sauce over the tops of chops, and heat through.

That's it!  SO yummy!  I baked potatoes and warmed up some frozen sweet corn to serve with this.