Laura, Author at Heavenly Homemakers

How I’m Using the Christian Living Bundle With My Family

March 25, 2021 by Laura Leave a Comment

This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see our disclosure policy.

This week, I’ve been sharing ways we try to keep God as center in our home. How we are making good changes for our kids, especially our teenager. How we love church, but know that our kids need more. Here’s how we make God a part of every day.

I’ve also shared about the Christian Living Bundle that is being offered this week. Today is the final day it is being offered, and I don’t want you to miss it. So I’m going to highlight some of the ways we’re using the resources with our family.

But do I really love it?

Ultimate Bundles are always good. Still, I only promote a couple of them a year, and only when I feel that they contain a worthwhile amount of content I can stand behind. The price of the bundles is always amazing considering the amount of resources we get. And because of the low price, even though the bundles contain dozens of materials, I can at least truthfully say something like:

Even if you just use 10 of these products, you’ll be getting your money’s worth!

But with this Christian Living Bundle that I’m sharing with you this week, I can actually say:

You’ll use almost all of the 50 resources in this bundle! Why? BECAUSE THESE MATERIALS ARE CENTERED AROUND OUR CHRISTIAN LIVES!!!!

And yes, that’s a lot of exclamation marks and maybe it sounds salesy and cheesy. That’s not my intent and you know I’m always honest with you.

I’m proclaiming all of this because I love that this bundle is all about Christian Living. This is what actually matters. Food and good health and productive homemaking matter. But what truly matters most is Jesus. And this bundle is all centered around Him!

It’s very hard to pass up such a great collection when the books and courses all point us Upward! These encourage us and teach us to pray more, to be in the Word more, to teach our kids about Jesus, to combat enemy lies, to love our spouses better…

Get it if you can. I plan to use almost all of these in our home. And I even created $21 worth of bonuses as a thank you to everyone who purchases through our links —>

The Christian Living Bundle Facts

Price: $29.99 + $10.00 cheat sheets
Value: 50 resources worth $1,182.78
Contents: 17 eCourses & 14 printable packs, 11 workbooks & 8 eBooks
Bonuses: $58
Laura’s Bonuses: $21

Want the math facts on this? The price divides up to each of these resources costing just $0.60 each! I think that’s fun, especially since many of my favorites in the bundle individually cost around $15 or more!

What I’m using for myself so far:

Candid Conversations – a wonderfully intriguing read filled with testimonies from over a dozen Christian women about their real struggles and ways God has helped them to overcome.
Every Thought Captive: Body-Mind-Spirit Exercises for Emotional Regulation – I love this!!! Many of the exercises described in this book are some that my Christian therapist uses. It’s great to have these as a resource to use on my own as needed. Get rid of the lies! Replace them with God’s truth! Take every thought captive and make it obedient to Christ!
Fruit of the Spirit Yoga Series – I actually haven’t started this yet. But I signed up and can start just as soon as I have a minute to myself (toddler naptime hopefully!).
Gospel Love: How to Apply 7 Key Teachings of Jesus to Live Your Best Marriage eCourse – These are great videos and materials that Matt and I can use to grow our own marriage and to mentor the young couples who come to us for encouragement and counseling.

See these, and everything else included, here.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

What I’m using so far with Brayden (age 7), Sister (age 5), Keith (age 2), and Brother (age 2):

Walking with God: Bible Lessons for Families – This is such a fun online series of lessons! They include great videos that are short and appealing to kids. Our kids are having so much fun learning the Bible stories through video. Then we talk about it, sing the songs, do some of the offered activities. So far, the kids have really been enjoying this!
Alphabet Maze + Bible Verse Superhero Activity Bundle – This includes mazes, coloring, games, and other educational activities infused with bible verses and faith-based activities to create hours of fun and learning for children. These are perfect for quiet time learning.
Children’s Easter Coloring Book – There are pages for adults to color too, so sometimes we sit down together and color and visit about Jesus’ love for us as he died, and His power as He defeated death and rose again!
Miracles and Parables: Read and Color Stories from the New Testament – I haven’t done it yet, but I’m planning to print these for the kids so we can make books to work through this summer to focus on learning miracles and parables of Jesus with these read and color printable storybooks.

See these, and everything else included, here.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

What I’m using with Malachi (our 16 year old)

We’ve either started these or plan to during the next weeks and months:

Intentional Living Through Prayer – prayer prompts for every day of the year. These offer such great cues and inspiration to walk teens (and all of us!) through praying intentionally.
30 Day Retreat With God – I love everything about this one! It helps us dig into learning more about who God is so we can love and serve better. It’s practical and simple to work through. A super helpful resource to give us topics to discuss and pray over.
A Grateful Heart Bible Study – It’s too easy to be negative and to complain. I look forward to going through this study with Malachi as we focus on God’s work in our lives.
James: Self Study Workbook – I wanted to read through James with Malachi anyway, and this book makes it so much better!

See these, and everything else included, here.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

In short, while I don’t always do this with every bundle, this time I downloaded everything! If I’m not using it now, I’ll use it later. What a gift to have access to all of these!

And don’t forget the bonuses I’m giving you!

I’m excited about these because they answer questions I get frequently. And they are items we use in our home too! When you buy the Christian Living Bundle through our links, we’ll thank you by sending you a file with these printable items:

Bible Reading Guide ($8.00)

I have been working on this resource because it very simply answers frequent questions I get about personal Bible study and about spending Bible time with family.

How to Start Reading Your Bible Regularly
Three-Step Guide to Make the Bible Meaningful
How to Read the Bible with Little Ones
Scripture to Read and Discuss with Your Teens

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

101 Scripture Focus Cards ($10.00)

I uploaded these to Walgreens and had them print this file onto 4×6 photo cards. We pull them out at mealtime and practice memorizing them as a family. These prompt great discussion too. I especially love this because everyone in our family, from age 2 to age 47, benefit from memorizing scripture!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Table Talk Cards ($3)

And speaking of great discussion, these cards have been great at mealtime too. All of us at our house, from age 5 to adult can answer the questions on these cards and share them around the table!

Get your Christian Living Bundle here, then email me your receipt so I can send you the bonuses. Start digging in with your family. Let God be a part of every moment in every day!

This offer ends at midnight, Thursday, March 25. Get it while you can. Let’s turn our focus to Jesus!

Heavenly Homemaker's Club Members: Access your homepage and all your fantastic resources here! Not a member yet? Please join us!

More Than Sunday Morning: How Our Family Focuses on God All Week Long

March 23, 2021 by Laura Leave a Comment

This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see our disclosure policy.

Today I want to share ways our family focuses on God every day.

I might be crying.

I need you to know that I’m writing this from a place of hardship and humility. Anything good that has come from our parenting has been because God is constantly pursuing us and our kids. He makes up for all of our shortcomings and this humbles me to lay down flat on the floor because we.can.not.do.this.alone.

We don’t read our Bibles and pray and go to church because “it’s the right thing to do.”

We spend so much time in the Word and in prayer personally and with our kids because we desperately need it. We do it because life is hard. We can’t do life without Jesus.

Most of the time I feel like I don’t know what I’m doing. I can try to parent through my own strength, but all I have to offer my kids is my weak but willing, loving heart with a side of scrambled eggs. When I parent with Jesus, everything is different. I’m different. I’m better.

And I still fail, which makes me mad. I want love to be enough. I want to be enough. And of course, it is and I am – when I parent through God’s love.

My human love is weak. My flesh fails. Sin wages war against us and I have to be in constant prayer to stand firm and help my kids stand firm.

So I’m sharing what we try to do in our home because I know that we aren’t alone in our struggle. Raising kids is a challenge and we have to do it with the help of the Holy Spirit. Raising kids and teens is incredibly difficult. Satan wants to win them and he works hard and I hate him. So now you know.

As I shared yesterday:

Our Kids Need So Much More Than Church.

If we expect our kids to grow up loving God and embracing Jesus and living life through the guidance of the Holy Spirit – but all we give them is an hour of church on a Sunday morning – we might be disappointed with the outcome.

First, our kids need parents who love Jesus and spend time constantly growing a relationship with the Father. So we grown-ups need to be intentionally focused on digging into the Word and letting God teach us His plans for us.

Then, as we grow, our kids grow. We talk about God in our homes constantly. We bring Truth into every situation. We read the Bible together, sing praises together, pray together, discuss Truth together.

Make no mistake: Church is good.

We very much value our church life. We love all that our kids are learning about God and His people when we join our church family on Sunday morning.

We worship together in song and in prayer as a body of believers.
We grow our relationships with other Christians through fellowship.
Our kids get to take part in Bible lessons in their classes.

Our kids learn a lot at church and have formed deep, life-long friendships with Christian peers. They have been mentored and loved by caring adults. Church life is huge!

But it isn’t all that our kids need. It’s not all that any of us need.

We all need 24-7 Jesus. All week Bible. Constant Holy Spirit guidance. A mind and heart that is always in prayer.

How Our Family Focuses on God All Week Long

Our practices at home have evolved through the years and through different seasons. Through each season, our Bible study, prayer life, and Jesus-teaching have been ever-evolving to meet the needs of everyone in our home.

I shared yesterday that one of our biggest challenges now is trying to teach so many little ones without watering it down so much that our 16-year old misses out on deeper study and deeper God-truths that he’s ready for. So we try to be intentional about giving him what he needs while teaching little ones too.

Here’s a gentle rundown of the practices we do daily in our home if possible:

We talk about God and His work in our lives all throughout the day. We make a real effort to make Him a part of everything and every conversation. We praise Him out loud for the nature we see around us, for the food we have on the table, and we bring Him into the discussion as we discipline or correct our kids. (i.e. “Jesus wants us to love each other and be kind. Are you being kind and loving to your sister right now?”)
We use mealtime to learn scripture with a tradition that has come to be known as “Repeat Afters.” Each of us takes turns saying a phrase of scripture and everyone else repeats the scripture phrase. It looks something like this:

Dad: As far as it depends on you…
Everyone Else: As far as it depends on you
Dad: …live at peace with everyone. Romans 12:18
Everyone else: …live at peace with everyone. Romans 12:18

After everyone has taken a turn being the leader, we have worked our way through five or more verses, depending on who is home at the time.
We have family “Singing and Prayer Time” as part of our little one’s bedtime routine. After the kids are jammied and brushed and pottied or diapered, we gather around the living room. We sing about six songs because we are a family who loves singing! Then everyone, from toddlers to parents, takes a turn saying a prayer.
Next, it’s Bible time. The little ones gather around Dad as he reads from our Jesus Storybook Bible before we head upstairs to tuck everyone in.
As we tuck in the little ones, we do what the kids have started to call “Jesus Loves!” We make a big deal of nighttime kisses saying to each one, “Jesus…loves…BRAYDEN!!!” “Jesus…loves…KEITH!!” and so on. The kids love this and usually giggle when it’s their turn!!!! And what a great reminder to each of them that Jesus loves them.
Finally, we read the entire chapter of Psalm 91 over them as a prayer of protection just before our final goodnight.

Beyond this, during the little one’s naptime many days, Malachi and I dig into the Word together so we can have more in-depth discussion about scripture and applying it to his/our lives. Matt tries to take him (and our college boys) to lunch from time to time so they can visit more individually about godly manhood.

Any college students who happen to be at our house during Singing and Prayer Time get to join us. The singing is amazing, the prayer time is rich. We love this so much!

Extras

Throughout the day or evening, we try to make the most of our video time or reading time. There’s a fun video series on Amazon Prime that we pull up every week. The kids have fun watching the animated version of a Bible story, then we all talk about it to make sure they understand the Truth they just watched.

Since I got the Christian Living Bundle, our 7, 5, and 2-year-olds are enjoying the videos and lessons in the Walking with God eCourse. I’ve also printed off some of the activities from other books in the bundle that are geared toward little ones. They give us a great opportunity to talk about God’s Word and His plans for us.

Malachi and I are enjoying the 30 Day Retreat with God eBook. We’ve been working through it as part of his school day during the toddler’s naptime.

I’ll share more tomorrow about our favorites from the bundle. They’ve been such great resources to add to our daily routines.

My Mornings

Maybe I should have started the post with this, seeing as do everything I can to start my day in the Word. This has become harder again now that we have a baby who doesn’t sleep through the night. But I crave this time in the morning with Jesus and need it so I find that it’s worth it to make myself crawl out of bed, sneak downstairs before the littles get up, fix a cup of coffee, and sit in my chair with Jesus for even a few minutes before starting the day.

God is faithful. He knows what we need. He knows our circumstances. He provides.

Before we started over with new little ones, I had hours of time every week to spend in the Word. Now, my time is more limited, but He sustains and brings scripture to mind even when I am not able to open the Book. I love Him. He is so good.

We are weak. He is strong!

The enemy attacks any way he can, and we find that we have to constantly stand firm in Truth, remembering that Jesus already won the battle. We fight against weaknesses and find that we have to especially be intentional with our teens. They fight raging battles and need us to fight alongside them.

But at the end of the day, we know that spending time in the Word and in prayer with our children as much as possible is incredibly beneficial to all of us.

When we hear our 5 and 7-year-olds praying at night, it is evident that they are hearing and digesting the Truths they are learning.
When we have hard discussions with our 16-year old, we hear that his heart is seeking good. His relationship with God is growing and we get to grow with him.
When our college kids come home from their dorm/apartment to throw in a load of laundry and they grab a cup of coffee and sit down for a chat, it is evident that God is so much more to them than a Sunday morning “thing we do.” Their relationship with their Father, their recognition of their need for Jesus as their Savior, and their reliance on the Holy Spirit as guide are beautiful to witness.
When our oldest makes his way west from his home in Lincoln to spend a few hours with us, and we hear all that he’s doing and all the ways God is working in his life – we marvel at our Savior and at the growth He gives.

THIS IS GOD AT WORK!!!

We realize how important it is and has been to be intentional about growing their relationship with God at home, from age 0 to age forever. No matter what we do and what it looks like, we must be intentional to do something. Our kids need church, but they need much more than church.

Resources to Help

The Bible, alone, is enough. We can open it and have all the help we need as we guide our families through life in Him.

But there are also great resources for us to use! Why reinvent the wheel when we can use so many great books, videos, classes, and printables available to us that have been created by people who have learned much and can teach us from what they have learned? I’m loving the resources from the Christian Living Bundle being offered this week, and want you to have it too. Truly, these books and courses are so practical and helpful. Get this and let it help you in your walk and as you guide your family!

QUICK FACTS about the Christian Living Bundle

Dates: Monday March 22nd at 8am EST to Thursday March 25th 11:59pm EST
Price: $29.99 + $10.00 cheat sheets
Value: 50 resources worth $1,182.78
Contents: 17 eCourses & 13 printable packs, 11 workbooks & 9 eBooks
Bonuses: $58

After you purchase, send me your receipt and I’ll send you a file with these free bonuses!

I’d love to hear about ways you and your family fill your home with God’s Truth! How do you spend time in the Word in the quiet? How do you teach your kids? What are some of your routines and traditions?

Heavenly Homemaker's Club Members: Access your homepage and all your fantastic resources here! Not a member yet? Please join us!

When You Need to Make Good Changes for Your Kids. (It’s Never Too Late!)

March 22, 2021 by Laura 2 Comments

This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see our disclosure policy.

He was our baby. He just turned 16 18. And somehow – well not somehow – but because of God’s power and plan, he’s now the oldest of ~~six~~ seven.

What and who am I talking about? I’m talking about this guy. Our baby. Or at least the one who used to be our baby.

Remember him?

He’s basically amazing. For 13.5 years he was the youngest of four boys.

Then in the spring of 2018 he suddenly – overnight – became an older brother to this guy:

What else? Well, while the days and the details are quite long and drawn out, it also feels like the rest all happened very suddenly too. In January 2019, a baby boy moved in. Then another baby boy a few months later. Then a baby girl in 2020. And then another girl, turning last year’s Christmas card into this beautiful collage:

Meanwhile, three of the oldest brothers all left home for college and beyond. So in the span of 2.5 years, Malachi went from youngest of four to oldest of six at home.

Just thinking about it makes me shed tears – of joy, of awe, of weariness, of amazement. I could also use a nap.

This kid, this young man, our Malachi? God has been doing amazing work in him to grow him into this role. He’s rocking it as big bro to all the littles who lovingly call him “Bubba.”

I could go on and on about God’s work in and for Malachi. But today I need to share this:

Matt and I want to make some changes for Malachi.

God helped Matt and me realize recently that with all that has happened in our lives during the past two-and-a-half years, and with all we are currently trying to juggle, we’ve neglected a thing or two.

We haven’t shoved Malachi aside by any means. But with nine kids in so many different stages of life, and with five of the kids demanding so much attention, it feels difficult to keep up with meeting so many needs.

Satan wants me to experience deep regret over all the ways I feel that I am lacking instead of recognizing God’s truth in the matter. God hasn’t neglected anything. God doesn’t have a hard time keeping up. And because we are in Him and He is in us, we have everything we need to parent all these kids.

With anything that might be lacking in our human parenting abilities, God has been working all along and always provides a way to restore.

It’s Never Too Late to Make Good Changes for Our Kids

So here we are. Back in the day when we “only had 4 kids” we did a pretty great job of spending time together in the Word. We read the Bible every morning at breakfast and through the years, we really covered a lot of ground. We practiced memorizing scripture together during dinner. We prayed together at night. As the boys got older, our spiritual time with them became deeper.

And now?

We continue to memorize scripture at dinnertime. We have nightly singing and prayer time and it is precious and amazing – and also sometimes loud and high maintenance because of the littlest babes – but always worth it. Then just before tucking in the little ones, they gather around Matt for Bible storytime. (I’ll share more specifics about our routines in another post tomorrow.)

But with all of this, we’ve begun to feel that Malachi has been, in some ways, lost in the shuffle. He doesn’t feel lost, and in fact, he recognizes the sacrifices we’ve all had to make with all the beautiful changes God has brought to our lives. It’s just that everything we’re doing spiritually for our family is pretty watered-down in an effort to teach so many little ones about Jesus.

Malachi needs more than “Bible storytime” from a children’s book and we haven’t been providing it for him. Who cares that our reasons or excuses are somewhat valid and understandable? God’s convicted us to make some changes, and we are grateful. And yes, our teen could be reading his Bible on his own, but we’ve found that he needs some guidance in order to do that effectively.

So now what?

Well, we started praying. Matt has been trying to set aside space in his day to spend intentional one-on-one time with Malachi at night after the littles go to bed. I had to ask God to show me what in the world I could possibly give up in my days so that I had more energy and time to spend with Malachi and for all that truly matters. My days are often beyond full, leaving no wiggle room for even sweeping the kitchen floor, much less having a Bible-filled conversation with my teenager.

Or so Satan wants me to believe.

I started praying for God to send help so that I would have more time and energy to give to Malachi (and other important people-focused needs). He has answered. I’ve hired some young girls to help with some of our daily chores. I bought a dishwasher that actually works. Small as these sound, these two things alone have truly freed up some time and energy in my day so that I can give more to Malachi. Praise God!

Some of this time is spent helping him with school work. That in-and-of-itself has been good because even time working through (those rotten) geometry problems together is character building and an opportunity for us to instill godly discipline.

But we’ve also been intentional about opening our Bibles together. Digging in. Talking through it. Discussing what God has to tell us through Scripture. It’s been pretty amazing to spend this time with Malachi, and I’m so grateful for God’s conviction and provision in this.

Right now we’re working our way through the book of Luke. We just finished reading and discussing the book of Galatians.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Our Kids Need So Much More Than Church

What I mean is that if we expect our kids to grow up loving God and embracing Jesus and living life through the guidance of the Holy Spirit – but all we give them is an hour of church on a Sunday morning – we might be disappointed with the outcome.

Are your kids not-so-little anymore?

It’s never too late. Start where you are. Start now. Have family prayer time, even if it feels awkward at first. Read the Bible together (See our Bible Reading Guide below).

Not sure when you’ll find the time? Oh, there’s time. God will see to that. Ask God to show you how and He will. I promise.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Need a Bible Reading Guide?

I have been working on this resource because it very simply answers frequent questions I get about personal Bible study and about spending Bible time with family.

How to Start Reading Your Bible Regularly
Three-Step Guide to Make the Bible Meaningful
How to Read the Bible with Little Ones
Scripture to Read and Discuss with Your Teens

I’m making this resource available to everyone, plus a couple more:

101 Scripture Focus Cards

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Table Talk Cards

And speaking of great discussion, these cards have been great at mealtime too. All of us at our house, from age 5 to adult can answer the questions on these cards and share them around the table!

Start digging in with your family. Let God be a part of every moment of every day!

Let this week be an inspiration to make good changes in your family.

Hopefully, you already have some wonderful spiritual routines and traditions in your home. I’d love to hear what you’re doing to fill your home and family with Jesus!

Grab our helpful resources here.

Or, join our Heavenly Homemakers Club where you can receive ALL of our downloadable products and much more for one very small monthly fee. I highly recommend this option as a way to save money on over $1,000 worth of amazing products!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Heavenly Homemaker's Club Members: Access your homepage and all your fantastic resources here! Not a member yet? Please join us!

Make Fun Candy-Free Easter Baskets Your Kids Will Love!

March 14, 2021 by Laura Leave a Comment

This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see our disclosure policy.

Here’s how I’m putting together candy-free Easter baskets that I know our kids will love!

Why candy-free? Well besides the obvious answer that candy isn’t good for us, I’m actually filling our baskets with fun practical items that I want our kids to have. I have no doubt that they will love what’s in their baskets! And don’t worry. They’ll still get plenty of sugar on Easter Sunday, and yes, even candy.

It’s hard to get all five littles in one picture!

Holidays at our house are so much fun right now! We’ve currently got five little ones in our home, plus Malachi (16) and we’ll have a houseful of college students join us for Easter dinner and an Easter egg hunt after church. It’s tradition. Hopefully, all of our older boys can join us for the day (and their girlfriends too!).

With five little ones though? Boy am I having fun putting together Easter baskets! Instead of filling individual baskets for every single kid, I’m just putting together two: a girl basket and a boy basket. And now let’s all pause a moment to reflect on this:

LAURA IS PUTTING TOGETHER A GIRL BASKET!

Yes. And also, for the first time in my mom-life, I bought Easter dresses and Easter bonnets. Was it fun? Oh was it fun!!

I’ve always had fun dressing all of our boys, and I still do! But right now I also get to dress little girls and fix their hair. You can bet there’s a lot of pink, a lot of bows, a lot of sparkle, and a lot of ruffles involved. :) :) :)

So back to the candy-free Easter baskets.

There were several items our kids needed, so I found fun versions of the following items (like toothbrushes featuring their favorite characters) and put them into the baskets. We go through lots of bubbles (the toddlers ask for them daily!) so of course, our baskets include bottles of bubbles.

Sky’s the limit on little items we can include in Easter baskets that will be fun and useful for the kids. Here are some ideas:

These fun Index Card Books (Use the code heavenly15 to get 15% off your order!)
Sunglasses
Hair Accessories (Sparkle. Bows. I’m a gonner.)
Fingernail Polish (Did I tell you that Justus – age 21 – has learned how to put fingernail polish on his little sisters?! He practiced first on his girlfriend. Mom sheds a tear…)
Hot Wheels (We’ve pretty much acquired new toy cars for the past 23 Easters.)
Bubbles (We can never have too many bubbles.)
Balloons
Fun Straws (Did you know smoothies taste better to kids when sipped through a straw? True story.)
Sidewalk Chalk
Umbrella
Sandals
Lip Balm
Toothbrush
Toothpaste
Nightlight
Flashlight
Wrist Watch (Our 5 and 7 year olds feel so grown up when they wear a watch. And I never have to wonder what time it is because they tell me every two minutes.)
Fun Socks
Card Games

Side Note: This year I purchased baskets that can be used year-round in the boys/girls’ rooms. I paid more for them than I would have paid for a simple Eastery-looking basket. But it was worth it because we’ll use these baskets to hold odds and ends in their rooms instead of having to store them away to only use on Easter each year.

Easter Baskets for Big Kids

I don’t always fill a basket for our adult/college age/teen kids. But when I do, it’s filled with things like:

Gum
Mints
Toothbrush
Toothpaste
Body Wash
Soap
Headbands for sports
Coffee (We love supporting Purple Door Coffee!)
Popcorn
Beef jerky
Other favorite snacks
Gift cards to use on outings with friends
Pens
Kitchen gadgets (because most of my big kids have their own kitchens now)
Flashlights
Decks of cards

So far, I haven’t filled a teen/adult girl Easter basket. ;) If and when I get to, I’m thinking I would add things like:

All of the above
Earrings
Lip Gloss
Hairbrush
Hair accessories
Necklace
Cute notebook and pen set
Fingernail polish
Journal

You all can help me out with adding to this list. And all the others too. :)

And what about Jesus?

For many weeks leading up to this holiday, we’ve been excitedly talking with the kids about the reason we celebrate Easter. I love how teaching our kids reminds us adults of the Truth: Jesus defeated death!! We are in Him so we get to stand in this victory with Him! Satan was defeated that day, once and for all. Praise God, we can live forever with Jesus!

I praise God for Easter and other holidays and events that give us an opportunity to reflect on the goodness God has provided for us all. His plans are perfect. He thought of everything. We get to celebrate this and live this daily!

Heavenly Homemaker's Club Members: Access your homepage and all your fantastic resources here! Not a member yet? Please join us!

How to Make Quiche for a Crowd

March 10, 2021 by Laura 7 Comments

This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see our disclosure policy.

Making quiche for a crowd is a great and easy meal option. I’ll show you all my tricks for making this as simple as possible!

Yum

On the particular day I chose to serve quiche to my family and a living room (I prefer to call it my loving room) full of college students, I took about half an hour to put together six quiches. Truly, that’s all the time it took!

Cut into eight pieces each, this makes 48 servings and in our case, fed about 13 people. (We had a couple of pies leftover.)

I loved how easy it was to make this meal, and all of our guests felt like I was serving them something extra special!

Now, if you don’t have your very own 2-year-old to help you crack all the eggs, I’m very sorry because this endeavor will be less of an adventure and much more predictable. Egg cracking is one of Keith’s greatest kitchen pleasures. Thankfully, only 1 out of 36 eggs landed on the floor on this particular day.

Along with a helpful two-year-old, I also utilized another fantastic resource: frozen pie crusts. From the store. Someday maybe I’ll make pie crust again. Though when making this many quiches at once {Laura pauses to look up if quiche is plural of quiche}, I may always enjoy the ready-made crusts that the store provides so that I can instead use my time to love people rather than floury countertops.

Here’s another trick I enjoyed: I put all the eggs into my Blendtec and let this appliance do the work (in 7 seconds, thank you very much) to whip all the eggs for me. This was extra helpful because once whipped, I could then easily pour the eggs from my blender into my prepared pie crusts. Oh! Because I’d already filled each crust with a variety of quiche ingredients. Then I added eggs and stirred it all around.

How did I fill my quiche? Quiches? (Turns out, either one works as a plural form of quiche. Ya learn something new every day, thank you Google.) I filled them with a variety of goodies to give our guests lots of options. Some were filled with veggies like broccoli, sweet peppers, and onions. Some had ham and cheese. Some just had cheese. All of them had salt, eggs, cheese, and cream.

But I loved that I could set the crusts all out like an assembly line and fill them quickly with whatever I intended to put in them. Then after the eggs were prepared, I poured it in and stirred it around, then boom. They were ready to bake!

How to Make Quiche for a Crowd

5.0 from 1 reviews

How to Make Quiche for a Crowd

Save Print

Author: Laura

Serves: 8 per pie

Ingredients

Per Quiche, which makes 8 pieces:
1 unbaked pie crust
6 eggs
⅓ cup heavy whipping cream
sea salt to taste
¾ cup shredded cheese
1½-2 cups other fillings like diced ham, cooked sausage, cooked bacon bits, broccoli, onion, sweet peppers, spinach leaves, etc)

Instructions

Place fillings into each pie crust.
Whip eggs, cream, and salt together in a bowl or blender.
Pour egg mixture over the pie fillings and stir.
Bake quiche in a 425 degree oven for 45-55 minutes or until a knife poked into the middle comes out clean.

Quiche is great served with a salad and fresh fruit. :)

Heavenly Homemaker's Club Members: Access your homepage and all your fantastic resources here! Not a member yet? Please join us!

How to Get Some Cool Spring Freebies from MadeOn (For our kids and/or for ourselves!)

March 7, 2021 by Laura Leave a Comment

This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see our disclosure policy.

Renee at MadeOn is one of the best people to work with! Basically, I told her that my little ones have chapped lips and chapped cheeks and chapped hands and that I bet after a winter like we just had – you all also probably have little ones who are all chappy-chappy. I asked if she’d give us all a fun deal to help us with our little chapped children, and here’s what she is offering (because she is AMAZING):

We can all get a FREE Lip Balm and a Pocket-Sized BeeSilk Jr!! These are the exact products we need right now as we head into spring! (We are going through these like crazy right now at our house!)

How it Works

The coupon code hhspring will take $19 off orders of $45 or more. It just so happens that the Lip Balm and a Pocket-Sized BeeSilk Jr cost $19 (thank you, Renee, for making them both free!). It also just so happens that we get free shipping when we spend $45.

So, we can head here and put $45 worth of goodies into our cart (I’m going with the Simply Shea Facial Emollient for my personal chapped cheeks and extra Lip Balms and BeeSilk Jr Pockets for backups). Then we can add a Lip Balm and a Pocket Sized BeeSilk Jr to our cart and the code hhspring will zap the cost of those off during checkout!

Or actually…

The coupon code will take $19 off of ANY $45 order, so you can get ANY products worth $19 for free that you like!! How ’bout that?! ($64 in your cart total before coupon.)

Okeedoke:

Head here to enjoy this wonderful offer!

Use the code hhspring to get $19 off plus free shipping!

Offer good through Friday, March 12.

Heavenly Homemaker's Club Members: Access your homepage and all your fantastic resources here! Not a member yet? Please join us!

Are Vanilla Bean Prices Going Down?

March 4, 2021 by Laura 2 Comments

This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see our disclosure policy.

Is it true? Are vanilla bean prices going down? After several years, I can finally tell you yes!

What happened to the vanilla bean prices?

Back in 2017, there was a major vanilla bean crop failure which caused a shortage of beans and a huge price spike. It was a big bummer for those of us who love to use vanilla extract for cooking and baking, but even more so for those of us who love to make our own vanilla.

Finally, about a year ago, I checked prices again and found that there was a little bit of a rebound. Prices were lower. Not low, mind you. But lower than they had been. So I did the math and began to again recommend that making vanilla would save you money. (Because the price of commercial vanilla had also gone way up! Making it at home saved money even though vanilla bean prices were still on the high side.)

{Bonus! Olive Nation gives us an extra 20% discount when we use the code home, so that helps even more!}

Then, just a few weeks ago, a reader emailed to clarify what kind of vanilla beans I usually buy. See, in this post I had said that you can buy 25 beans for $91 after our special 20% discount. But she saw the regular price for 25 beans listed at $62. Was she looking at the correct beans?

I didn’t read her email correctly at first, so I thought, “Oh no! Did the price go up again?” Haha, Laura. Read the email again. :) :) Not up, but down! The price went down!!!

You guys! This is all so exciting! We’ve waited a long time for this and we can all get vanilla beans at a much lower price and make vanilla extract again for huge money savings! Not to mention – homemade vanilla is amazing!!

Where I get my vanilla beans

I always buy from Olive Nation. I’ve worked with them for years and am always so happy with all they offer. Their prices are the best. Their quality is the best.

Side note: Once, a long time ago, I bought from another source and the beans were dry and shriveled. Never again. Olive Nation always now for me!

Because Olive Nation has worked with us here for so long, they really appreciate Heavenly Homemakers readers. They give us a forever discount because they want us to be extra happy with our purchase. They know we all love to save money as we care for our families well. So they’ve set up the code home and it gives us all a 20% discount on our vanilla bean orders! (Orders over $50 also receive free shipping so there’s that perk too!)

What kind of vanilla beans do I buy?

I currently purchase Olive Nations Papua New Guinean Beans. Why? Because they are the lowest in cost right now.

When the vanilla bean shortage made prices go up, Olive Nation started bringing in a supply of beans from several different countries. The prices from each range from $62-$172 for 25 beans from different areas around the globe. I’ve definitely found that the quality of the less expensive beans is still wonderful! So I go with the $62 bean package and have been very happy with what I get!

Another side note: I rarely only buy 25 beans at once. Usually, I buy two-four times that many. But I’m using that as an example because I’m guessing some of you don’t make homemade vanilla in such bulk quantities!

Is it hard to make Vanilla Extract?

Not even a little bit. It’s incredibly easy. Get all the details and see a full tutorial here. Or follow these simple instructions:

Are Vanilla Bean Prices Going Down?

Save Print

Author: Laura

Serves: ½ gallon

Ingredients

1.75 liters of inexpensive vodka
25 Vanilla Beans enter code HOME for a 20% discount on Vanilla Beans through Olive Nation!!

Instructions

Slice through each bean lengthwise, leaving about one inch at the top of each bean uncut so that it stays together.
Place all of your cut Vanilla Beans into a half-gallon jar.
Fill the jar with vodka.
Secure the lid and put the jar in a dark place (like in the back of a cabinet).
Allow it to sit and "extract" for 4-6 months.
Every few weeks during extracting time, shake the jar to mix it up a bit.

Bonus Resources:

Read this post to learn how to finish and strain your vanilla after 4-6 months.
You can purchase dark amber bottles here.
Order personalized vanilla stickers for bottles and gifts here.
Get your beans here, and use the code HOME to get 20% off!

Time to make vanilla again!

Enjoy this fun price dip and the discount we receive to go with it. Make some vanilla to enjoy in your kitchen – how fun!!

Heavenly Homemaker's Club Members: Access your homepage and all your fantastic resources here! Not a member yet? Please join us!

How Can a Mom Take Care of Herself?

February 28, 2021 by Laura 3 Comments

This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see our disclosure policy.

This is the question I’ve been asking myself for the past thirty-twelve years. With all her other responsibilities, how can a mom take care of herself?

Here’s what I know to do to take care of myself:

Eat nourishing food
Drink water
Exercise
Take some time alone
Go to the chiropractor and/or to get a deep muscle massage as needed
Take time with the hubby
Get enough sleep every night

But right now, I look at that great self-care list – and then I look at my five kids under seven, my high schooler and his needs and his friends, my two college kids and their needs and their friends, my adult kid and his girl that I don’t see nearly as often as I’d like, my husband who is busier than ever right now with huge work responsibilities – and I launch into that freakish laugh-cry thing moms do when the thing is not at all funny, so it kinda hits you funny, and then you cry because it’s not funny but there you are, still laughing. Bless.

I know what to do so that I can take good care of myself. Yet in reality, I find it very difficult to pull off right now. But awww, would you just look at all these beauties:

Silly but true: sometimes I’m jealous.

How silly that I would ever be jealous of anyone else, seeing as I love my life as mom! But if I’m not careful, I can see what other adults around me are doing – super extravagant things like going to the bathroom alone or reading books without pictures – and I start to feel a tad bit jealous. “Must be nice,” thinks me. After all, I have very few chances to head to the bathroom without toddlers following me to pull down toilet paper and squirt hand soap into their hair while I pee.

They look so innocent when they aren’t in the bathroom with me.

Fun fact: when my husband needs to go to the chiropractor, he simply calls and makes an appointment.

But I’m not jealous of this, of course, because I’m a super sweet wife who is always super sweet. I am truly very happy for him to go to the chiropractor when he needs to go. Because I am super sweet.

So you must be wondering…can I actually not go to the chiropractor? Can I not read a big girl book? Is everyone around me living their lives in total freedom while I, the mom, languish at home alone – though never, ever actually alone – need I remind you of all who accompany me to the bathroom?

The truth is that I can do any of the things I need to do to take care of myself. But I sometimes feel like I have to move a mountain or three to make them happen…

This seems like the right time to talk about the cookies.

Do you know why a usually reasonable and rational mom might sometimes grab cookies or chips instead of eating the salad she knows she should eat? I think the reasons are two-fold:

1) Because cookies and chips are faster than salad. Faster food is important while striving to keep toddlers from emptying glitter bottles into their mouths or smearing oatmeal all over themselves. And…

2) Because the days can feel long and hard and a mom may feel a little bit deprived. This may lead her to think that a cookie will help her to feel better. Maybe it will bring a little joy in the form of a chocolate chip, you know?

It’s a temporary fix, and as we all know, chocolate doesn’t actually bring true joy. “Only Jesus brings joy, amen,” says the healthy mom. But shucks if she doesn’t try again tomorrow to let the fulfillment come from a Dorito.

You thought I was kidding about the oatmeal…

…and the glitter.

I love my life!

There’s nothing I want to do on earth more than to be these kids’ mom, to be my husband’s wife, to be my friends’ friend, and to live this full, abundant life God gave me. So I’m not complaining – not even a little bit. I’m just sharing a little bit of my current motherhood reality. Basically, I need to make a chiropractor appointment, and I can’t figure out how. That is all. Thanks for listening.

So How Can a Mom Take Care of Herself?

Beats me.

Just kidding.

Heh.

Twenty-three plus years into this gig, I’ve learned that motherhood-self-care takes some doing. It doesn’t just happen. It really does seem easier to reach for a cookie than to get out the carrots and hummus. But this leads to a mama feeling sluggish and depleted, so don’t get sucked in to thinking that the chocolate chips will help. (Now, coffee on the other hand…)

Advocate for yo-self, sista

I’ve found that I have to recognize where I’m lacking. Where I’m feeling depleted. And I have to advocate for myself.

Why does a mom have to advocate for herself? Is it because no one respects her or cares about her needs? Nope. I think it’s the opposite! I think we are highly respected by all! And I think moms are really good at momming! In fact, we’re so good at it that it’s possible that our husbands or friends (or even our very own selves) don’t always realize that we might be one toddler-filled pee-break away from a freakish laugh-cry break-down.

On the outside, I can look like I’m doing great. The kids are clean(ish). The house is – well, it hasn’t quite fallen down around us. There’s food on (but also under) the table. I always smile hugely and beautifully when hubby comes home at the end of the day. (He thinks I’m just happy to see him. Well, sure I am. But the truth is that I AM SO HAPPY TO SEE HIM!!!!! Because he brought his arms home with him and now he can also hold one or two of the children.)

So moms? We have to advocate for ourselves. We have to recognize what we need and go ahead and move those mountains to make them happen.

Sometimes I don’t even know how to do this and therefore find it hard to reach out for help. This is not because I don’t like asking for help (being served by others is glorious!). But I’ve found that asking for help also takes effort. Effort that seems hard to come by when keeping everyone safe and happy until bedtime seems difficult enough each day.

But one or two texts sent out to friends? We can make that happen, right? We can say something like, “Hey, are you free to stay with the kids while I head to the chiro tomorrow morning?” See, that wasn’t so hard.

I think I may try this. I’ll let you know how it goes.

And how about you? Are you working to take care of yourself – even though it’s legitimately hard – though not impossible – to do?

When it comes to nourishment, you can do what I do and drink a salad every day. It goes down fast and easy and can be enjoyed even while children are hanging on your legs. They may even want to drink some too.

I don’t have much time to exercise right now (and winter doesn’t help) but I do run up and down the stairs carrying children or laundry baskets multiple times a day and I try to do some yoga-type stretches in the living room a few times each week. As soon as the weather is nice again, we’ll be doing what I call The-Best-Mom-Fitness-Program: loading kids up in strollers and bikes and taking long strolls which is super good for all the reasons – exercise, fresh air, sunshine, good conversation. But the best reason of all: IT WEARS THE KIDS OUT SO THEY TAKE BETTER AFTERNOON NAPS. This is for their own good. This is all I care about. The good of the kids. ;)

Let’s review and let’s do this!

Moms, we need to take care of ourselves, on purpose, for a purpose, because we are fantastic and wonderful and so very loved by so very many.
And speaking of love, I haven’t even mentioned God yet. Oh dear one, God loves us all so much. He wants so much good for us. He’s right there, daily providing for our every need, every minute.
Ask for help. There is no “Way to go, you did it all alone!” trophy. Who would even want one of those? I’d rather have a daily “You made it through the day because of your awesome community!” sticker. Sign me up. I want this. I have this, praise God.
Rest when you can. We really won’t be tired forever. I promise, because…
This season will turn into a different season. I’ve done this before so I know that it’s true. Eventually, everyone will be able to wipe his or her own bottom – true story. Eventually, the kids can unload the dishwasher and do their own laundry and STAY HOME ALONE WHILE MOM GOES TO THE CHIROPRACTOR. I am so serious. This season is temporary and so very precious.
See the good. I will never be that mom who says “enjoy them while they’re young because they grow up so fast yada yada blah blah” because I’ve been there and done that and I’m doing it again. WE MOMS ARE ENJOYING THEM WHILE THEY ARE YOUNG but we are also tired and covered in spit-up. Much of the day is hard, but much of the day is also oh-so-good. The sweet cheeks and squishy kisses, the way they say words wrong, the times they share with their sibling and giggle and have fun, the way they let us dress them in adorable outfits and don’t have opinions about their attire. I could go on and on. There is so much good in every day. God sees to that. Our job is to see what He sees to. <— Read that again. We can easily see all the good He provides when we are looking for it. It’s constant because He is God and He is good.

Motherhood-self-care looks different through the seasons. Eventually, it will actually be easier to do what we need to do for ourselves each day. But for today, let’s do what we can. Let’s drink the salad. Let’s make the stress-free simple meals. Let’s enjoy the fun books with pictures. Let’s take walks in the sunshine while pushing the stroller. Let’s have Jesus-discussions with our babes and be made aware all over again why Jesus called the children to him and told us to have hearts like them.

Let’s learn and grow from the place where we are. God provides. Always.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

P.S. I finished writing this article (thanks to babysitters, woohoo!), moved a few mountains (texted friends and asked for help), and I’m happy to report that I will be going to the chiropractor on Tuesday at 11:45.

P.P.S. Turns out, it wasn’t so hard to move that mountain so I moved a couple more. I’ll be getting my hair trimmed next Thursday at 1:00. And tomorrow afternoon I’m going to go see my therapist for a much-needed session in hopes of turning my currently too-frequent freakish laugh-cries into my more typical I-love-my-kids-so-much-laugh-cries.

P.P.P.S. Decided to send hubs a heart emoji and some words of encouragement because he works so many long, hard hours every day and still comes home with a smile and arms so willing to help his weary wife with the littles (and the bigs).

P.P.P.P.S. Your turn. Go move a mountain. You are so loved. :)

Heavenly Homemaker's Club Members: Access your homepage and all your fantastic resources here! Not a member yet? Please join us!

Club Member Exclusive Printable Pack for March

February 25, 2021 by Laura Leave a Comment

This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see our disclosure policy.

Winter has been brutal. This, of course, makes me think about tomatoes. You too? I thought so. ;)

What I mean is, I’m ready to get our garden plans in place for the year. Many of you have likely already started this and now that it’s almost March, it’s time to get serious!

Introducing our Heavenly Homemakers Club Member Exclusive Printable Pack for March!

Remember, along with all of our eBooks, eCurriculum, Simple Meals Plans, bonus articles, printables, and everything else included in our Membership Site – we are now offering an exclusive monthly printable that is only available for members.

This month it only seemed right to create a Garden Planner Pack for us all to enjoy! Current members can go download it now. Not a member yet? Please head over here to learn about all our members have access to. Then sign up to join us. You’ll be amazed at all you’ll get!

Heavenly Homemaker's Club Members: Access your homepage and all your fantastic resources here! Not a member yet? Please join us!

10 Easy Food Items You Didn’t Know You Could Make at Home (Save $$!)

February 24, 2021 by Laura 3 Comments

This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see our disclosure policy.

I bet you didn’t know you could make these food items at home! (Actually, if you’ve been reading here long, you probably do know about most of these, but act surprised anyway.) ;)

The old me used to make EVERYTHING from scratch. Some of you probably remember that girl. I made homemade ketchup, homemade tortillas, homemade grape nuts cereal, homemade hashbrowns, homemade tator tots… Wait. Homemade Tator Tots?? Yes. It was a reader request and I figured out how to do it! I was what one might call “an overachiever.” (Or “that really crazy heavenly homemaker lady.”)

Now I’m in a different season in life with a big houseful of littles and have decided that there are some food items that aren’t worth my time to make at home. Loving my people is more important than making Homemade Peanut Butter Captain Crunch. Oh my goodness yes. I even tried that too.

But today I want to share 10 food items that are easy to make at home, will save a lot of money, and are worth your time!