Laura, Author at Heavenly Homemakers

Women with a Mission: Prayer

January 28, 2009 by Laura 14 Comments

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I hope through the posts in this series so far, you’ve been able to see how much you ARE ministering to those around you simply by doing your everyday tasks of taking care of your family and going about your normal chores.

Today, let’s talk about prayer.

I don’t think I need to tell you that prayer is important. And that prayer is effective. And that prayer helps us connect with God in an incredible way. My guess is that you already know those things.

I just want to encourage you to focus on prayer as a ministry. A ministry you can participate in no matter where you are and what you are doing. Even if you are 110 years old, paralyzed, unable to hear or speak or do anything else…you can still participate in the ministry of prayer. I love how God has given us this tool that is so limitless in its use.

There’s a great book I read once, Lord, Please Meet me in the Laundry Room. The author is a mom of many…some of her children have special needs. She talks simply and practically about how sometimes the best place for a woman to have one-on-one time with God is in the laundry room. Or in the shower. Or where ever you are…doing all of the things you always do.

I remember some of my most precious prayer time occuring during the middle of the night while I was nursing a baby. With a newborn and other little ones at the time…I didn’t have much time for other ministries…but I sure could pray. (And yes, sometimes I would doze off…and that was okay too.)

A friend of mine told me a few months ago that as she drives by someone’s house on her way to run errands or drop off her kids somewhere…she prays for the people who live there. My response was, “Oh! Do you drive by my house very often?!” She said, “Yes, as a matter of fact I do.” How wonderful to know that when she drives by my house, she prays for my family. I’ve begun to make that a practice now too as I’m driving around.

I realize this is idea of prayer as a ministry something you probably do anyway…but today I still want to emphasize constant prayer and remind us and challenge us to make the best use of our time to talk to God. There are so many “no-brainer” tasks we do everyday (like washing dishes, kneading bread, throwing laundry into the machine, sweeping the floor, sitting in the car waiting for the light to turn green)…we really should be using our “brain power” while we do those “no brainer” tasks to pray for others.

Pray for your husband. Pray for your kids. Pray for your extended family. Pray for your friends. Pray for your church. Pray for your church leaders. Pray for your community. Pray for your country. Pray for the lost. Pray for the sick. Pray for thr hurting.

Pray specifically. Use names. Pray with care. Pray humbly. Pray confidently.

God will meet you wherever you are to listen as you talk to him. He’s waiting to hear from you.

Kinda makes me want to go do a load of laundry. :)

Where and when are your best prayer times? How can you be more consistent in your prayer life?

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The Not So Tricky…Coat Trick

January 27, 2009 by Laura

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Have you ever seen The Coat Trick? You’ve gotta see the coat trick! It’s the greatest way to help your littlest kids put their coats on all by themselves!!

I’m showing you how my four year old does it…but my kids have done it from the time they’re two…and maybe could have learned earlier.

First…lay down the coat with the outside part of the coat touching the floor. The neck of the coat should be facing your child. The child puts his arms into the sleeve holes of his coat…

And flips the coat over his head.

He adjusts his sleeves…or you adjust them for him.

Then he wipes his nose with his sleeve. (This step is optional.)

Tada! Coat is on.

Here’s a video, which is a much easier way to see how the Coat Trick works. Please be sure to admire Malachi’s silly face as he prepares to show you the Coat Trick on video. The silly face part of the Coat Trick is also optional. :)

Have any great tricks up your sleeves?

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Visit Rocks in my Dryer for more Works for me Wednesday tips.

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Gratituesday: It’s SO Cold!

January 26, 2009 by Laura 21 Comments

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I always tend to get a little bit whiny in January. It’s so, so cold! And it has been for three months. And it will be for a couple more months. And our house is old and big and drafty…and it’s hard to stay warm in the house unless you’re doing jumping jacks. By the fireplace. With five layers on.

So I decided that today for Gratituesday I need to take time to be grateful even while I’m cold. So here goes…

I have a fireplace and a furnace.
I have a husband who chops wood like crazy and four boys who bring wagon loads of wood up to the house for us to burn.
We have plenty of clothes so that I can layer us all up.
The change of seasons and the snow and the cold weather all show God’s power.
Icicles are beautiful.
There’s no better time to eat warm soup.
The boys love playing in the snow and have SO much fun.

I get to surprise the kids with hot cocoa.
Hot tea is so cozy.
We have plenty quilts and blankets and they are soft and warm.
Winter is less hectic than soccer season and we can all be home together most evenings.

Okay…I’m better now. Making that list warmed me up… :) God is good…every day of the year!
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What are you grateful for this Gratituesday? Write about it on your blog, then come link up with us here! If you don’t have a blog, please leave a comment sharing something you’re grateful!

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Feeding the Family: Getting it All Done

January 26, 2009 by Laura 25 Comments

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Today I wanted to answer these frequently asked questions regarding how I feed my family whole foods from scratch:

Are you in the kitchen ALL the time? How do you get all of this done? How do you keep up with all the dishes?

I am in the kitchen a lot…but I don’t live in there. (See, like right now I’m on the computer in the living room instead. :) ) Cooking from scratch and finding good sources for our food does take time…but here are some things I do to make my work simpler:

I plan our menus!!! I can not be efficient in the kitchen without a plan for the week. (Just ask my kids how last week was when our computer was down and I didn’t have access to my site for my menu plan. They’d say, “What’s for lunch?” (at 12:36) and I’d look at them with glossy eyes and say, “Uh…”) Menu plans are a must for me.
I cook simple meals…simple foods. I rarely cook anything that requires complicated steps or hard to work with ingredients. Meat, potatoes, rice, beans, veggies, fruits, grains, eggs, milk…it’s all just basic food put together into different yummy meals.
I wash dishes as I go. I really do dirty up a lot of dishes in a day…but I try (try) to keep up with them by washing them as I cook. Sometimes they pile up. Sometimes it’s hard to keep up. Sometimes they make me discouraged. But they get done. I have a dishwasher. I have boys old enough to help. I have ten minutes here and there to knock more out of the pile. I love having clean countertops.
I think ahead, plan ahead, cook ahead. This is one of my biggest cooking helps. I look at my menu plan and know what I’ll need for the week. If I can, I spend several hours on Friday night and Saturday cooking and baking for the week ahead. I’ll make up a double batch of tortillas, cook chicken for broth, bake four loaves of bread (sometimes making a couple of the loaves into cinnamon swirl bread like the picture at the top of this post), brown hamburger meat, cook rice, put together burritoes for the freezer, or any other foods that will make the week ahead run more smoothly. THEN, during the week…it’s like having convenience foods in the fridge or freezer!
I keep a running list of what I need to buy or order. Usually, I do this online on my co-op website. As I think of something I need to order, I enter it into my online invoice as soon as I can so I don’t forget. The website remembers my order for me and I can just keep adding to it until I submit my order each month.
I make tomorrow’s breakfast while I’m cooking tonight’s dinner. This doesn’t always work (like, I’m not going to scramble tomorrow’s eggs at 6:00 tonight…yuck), but if we’re having muffins for breakfast, I’ll mix them up and bake them while I’m in the kitchen cooking dinner. In the morning, I’ll re-warm them in the oven for a few minutes, or just serve them as is. Or, if I’m making biscuits tomorrow morning, I’ll mix the flour and buttermilk so they can soak overnight…and then just finish them up the next morning. I often make a double batch of waffles, let them cool, then freeze them. Then we have convenient, toaster waffles whenever we need them. LOVE it. I mix up turkey sausage, shape it into patties and stick them in the fridge for the morning.

Those are some of the things I do to keep myself organized and sane during the busy weeks of school work, computer work, laundry, and you know…Chutes and Ladders.

What are some of your best ways of staying organized while you’re cooking? Do you feel like you spend hours in your kitchen?

Visit Tammy’s Recipes for more kitchen tips.

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Menu Plan for the Week

January 25, 2009 by Laura 16 Comments

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Today we had a potluck after church. My boys filled their plates and stuffed themselves. Then we let them choose not one but TWO desserts.

We arrived home at 1:38 this afternoon. It took until precisely 1:58 for Elias to say, “Mom, I’m hungry. Can I have a pear?”

Good grief.

Anyhoo…here’s what I’ll be TRYING to fill my family with this week:

Sunday, Jan. 25
Oatmeal, toast, fruit
Church potluck: chicken and rice casserole, chocolate sheet cake
Leftovers

Monday, Jan. 26
Mini breakfast pizzas, clementines
Beefy vegetable soup, buttered toast
Hearty bean casserole, fruit salad

Tuesday, Jan. 27
Scrambled eggs, peaches
Homemade chicken nuggets and fries, carrot sticks
Lasagna casserole, tossed salad

Wednesday, Jan. 28
Chocolate chip muffins, bananas
Skillet meatballs, lima beans, potato wedges
Cheesy beef and rice, green beans

Thursday, Jan. 29
Whole wheat sourdough biscuits with butter and honey, pears
Bean dip with chips, fruit-kefir smoothies
Deer steak, mashed potatoes, gravy, peas

Friday, Jan. 30
Cinnamon swirl bread, applesauce
Potato wedges, peaches in cottage cheese
Whole wheat pancakes, turkey sausage, scrambled eggs

Saturday, Jan. 31
Mom is Great Breakfast Cake
Lentil soup, cornbread
Chicken fajitas

On the blogging menu this week:

*It’s Bloggy Giveaway Carnival time…be watching for a fun giveaway here!
*I’ll share with you some of my “tricks” for getting everything done in the kitchen, plus we’re going on a field trip in my Feeding the Family series.
*Malachi has a “trick” of his own to show you…if you have little ones or know someone who does, you’ll want to see it for sure!
*More encouragement for all of us in another post in the Women with a Mission series.

Hope to see you throughout the week! Visit Organizing Junkie for more menu ideas.

And tell me…can YOU keep your children full…or are yours eating all the time like mine are? I mean, twenty minutes after a potluck? And don’t say,
“Oh wait until they’re teenagers”…I do not want to have a panic attack.

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Feeding the Family: Breaking Down our 2009 Food Budget

January 22, 2009 by Laura 39 Comments

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I just had a break through moment. Don’t ask me why I didn’t think through our food budget more specifically before. Really…I think this is so cool. Keep reading.

I’ve mentioned that we don’t skimp on our food budget. I’ve told you how important we think it is to “invest in our bodies” and eat whole, healthy foods.

And I’ve told you that we’ve been spending about $500 a month for our family of six. Looking at our new 2009 budget…we are seriously not sure how we can keep it under $500 per month…and not really sure where we can pull another $50-$100 a month (go without shoes, perhaps? turn off the furnace in the winter, maybe?).

Anyway…when I look at that figure in our budget…and maybe when you look at this figure in my budget…$500 to $600 each month on food…that may seem like A LOT OF MONEY.

So, one night at dinner last week…I decided to break it down a little. In between bites of soup…I had the boys do some division (because doing division during dinner is wonderful for your digestion). :)

We went with the $550 figure. Here’s what we came up with and what I found remarkable. I really don’t know why I didn’t break this down sooner:

$550 divided by 6 people in our family = $92 per person for food each month

$92 per person each month divided by an average 30 day month = about $3.00 per day per person

$3.00 per day per person = $1.00 per meal per person

That’s it??? Our family eats a healthy, wholesome meal for $1.00 per person on average? How is that even possible? (btw, I’m sure breakfast is less and dinner is more…and Malachi is less and Matt is more…it’s just an average.)

Here are some ways we figured out that we are able to do this:

We have a big garden so I can and freeze a lot of food. We also mooch accept all kinds of extra produce others are trying to give away in the fall that I can and freeze.
We get a free deer each year from a hunting friend.
The raw milk and free range eggs we get from friends are insanely inexpensively priced. $4 a gallon for organic raw milk from a grass fed cow…that’s amazing. (The cost will soon be going up to $5 a gallon…which is STILL amazing!) And, $1.50 for a dozen free range organic eggs? Amazing. We’re very spoiled.
I make almost every thing we eat from scratch. Organic processed foods with more wholesome ingredients are so, so expensive…and not always that much better for you. Making our food from scratch is healthier and much less expensive.
We almost never eat cereal.
I go easy on the cheese. Cheese can be expensive…especially the raw, organic cheese we prefer. I sprinkle it lightly on pizza and casseroles…and you can’t even tell. I also know how to make my own mozzarella, so that saves money. (Oh my goodness…I’ve been promising forever to tell you how to do that, huh? I really, really will. Really.)

Here is a bit of our food budget break down for you for 2009:

Last year we bought a half of a cow…and I don’t know how it’s happened, because we haven’t been skimping, but we still have a bunch of steak and roast left. (I think it’s something like Elijah and the widow and how God made the widow’s little bit of oil and flour never run out! 1 Kings 17:7-24) Because of the extra steak and roast…I don’t think we’ll need to buy an entire half cow this year. At this point, I think we’ll just be ordering ground beef and stew meat from a farm about an hour away. They raise their cows on grass and organic hay. It is SUCH good meat! We also get our free range chickens from this same farm.

Our meat cost per month for beef and whole chicken should be about $70.00
Milk, 24 gallons/month: $96
Eggs, 12 dozen/month: $18
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Cost for milk, eggs and meat $184

That leaves $366 a month for everything else I need either from my food co-ops, my granaries, my online sources, the farmer’s market, and occasionally the grocery store or Wal-mart.

And for that, all six of us eat VERY WELL for about $1 per meal. God does provide, doesn’t he?! :)

I’m SO thankful that I took the time to break down our food budget further to examine how much it costs to feed our family good, wholesome meals. If you care to share…how much is your monthly food budget? Break it down and see how much it costs for each person to eat a meal! The number may surprise you! How do you feel about the quality of the food you are eating on your budget?

Now, I’ll start taking you shopping with me! I plan to take you to some farms, to my Azure Standard co-op pick up, to some online stores, to the grocery store. Aren’t field trips fun?! (You may want to pack a lunch.) :)

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Read about our 2015, houseful of teenage boys, grocery budget here (if you dare). :)

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I’m finding the BIGGEST grocery savings while following our Simple Meals plans. I love this so much. You must check it out!!

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Women With a Mission: Simple Encouragement for Everyday Life

January 21, 2009 by Laura 13 Comments

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Last week, we started this series by talking about how our number one mission as women is our families. By doing whatever it is that we need to do to take care of our husbands and children…we are fulfilling our number one mission.

Today I want to go to the next step…which is, of course…volunteering to be in charge of a state wide event for your church. KIDDING. I am SO TOTALLY KIDDING.

Seriously…the next important piece of our ministry (in my opinion) is simply working to be a light for Jesus to all those around us whenever we leave our homes. I think that sounds a bit cliche…but to me, this is the simplest form of ministry that I can be a part of outside of my home.

Let me tell you a story…but when you finish reading it you DO NOT get to say, “Oh Laura…you’re so wonderful.”..because this truly was all God and not Laura. Uh-K?

There is a grocery store close to my house where I sometimes shop. A few years ago I got in line to pay…and the gal helping me commented on how cute my baby was (that was Malachi) and oh my there are three more boys behind your cart and wow you have four boys…so we visited a while and I went home.

The next time I went to that store, I got back in this same gal’s line. She remembered me and we visited more. She was so, so sweet…and also maybe a little lonely. Her smile was contagious and I loved visiting with her. She seemed encouraged by our conversation.

Everytime I went to that store, I got in her line on purpose. We kinda became friends. Even when I’d see her around town in a location other than the grocery store, we’d visit and she was always SO excited to see me.

A year or so passed and I didn’t see her much…she wasn’t working at that grocery store anymore.

Then out of the blue one day I ran into her at Wal-mart. This time she had a man at her side and was sporting a pregnant belly. She saw me and REMEMBERED me!!! She hugged me like we were long lost friends…introduced me to her new husband and told me when their baby was due.

I ran into her a few more times here and there (yay, God)…and then guess where she showed up next?

I walked into our church building one Sunday and there she was with her husband and new baby…right in the back pew. I was so excited I ran right over to her…and she broke out in a big grin and hugged me and showed me her new baby and she was so proud. Our family sat with them…that Sunday…and several other Sundays after that…because they kept coming.

They came to our house for Thanksgiving last year. We went to their house for their son’s birthday party. They’ve had another baby since then. We’ve helped with their kids. We’ve taken them food.

I can’t think of Ernie and Melissa without either getting giddy or emotional.

They are one of the sweetest, most unassuming couples we know. They have lived rough lives. They don’t know all the churchy etiquette. They talk in full voice during a prayer saying things like, “Oh man, he’s got crud on the bottom of his shoe.” (Except they don’t say crud.) :)

Some of their friends are a rougher crowd. They’ve introduced us to some of their rougher crowd. Some of their friends said they might like to come to church too. Who knows what might happen?

ALL because I got into Melissa’s line at the grocery store…was kind…and had cute kids in my cart. God is so good.

So…mission number two:

When you go out…to the post office, to the grocery store, to the bank, to the dentist, to the library, to the where-ever…do your best to smile, be polite, and make other people feel loved.

This is kinda hard when you are tired or your kids are tired. Sometimes you feel like all you can do is just make sure no one gets lost and nobody falls out of the shopping cart. I get that. Just do your best.

Not everyone you smile at in the store is going to come to church and start asking you about Jesus. Good grief, they may not even smile back at you.

My encouragement today is simply just to recognize that God’s light can be seen in you when you are going about your daily tasks…and he can work through you…even in the most ordinary ways.

Because God’s ways are extraordinary.

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Giving Kids an Allowance…or Not

January 20, 2009 by Laura 26 Comments

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I mentioned here that our third son turned seven on Sunday. Turning seven at our house is pretty exciting. Not only do you usually have two front teeth missing, it’s the year you start receiving an allowance.

I know that not everyone agrees that giving your kids an allowance is a good idea. But let me explain our reasons, and how we handle allowance at our house. Then later, in the comments, I would love for you to share how you handle it (or plan to handle it) with your kids.

Matt and I want to teach our kids how to handle money, how to budget, and how to give. Before the age of about 10, our kids don’t have very many ways to earn money.

On the first day of each month we give our seven and eight year old boys $4 each. Yeah, that’s it. Four bucks a month. I know parents who give five times that per WEEK. Again, this is just something we’re giving them to help them learn a little bit about money.

We decided to give them their allowance monthly because in the “real world” they are likely to only be paid monthly. They need to learn how to manage that.

With their four dollars per month, the boys mostly learn to give and save. They get to figure out (with our help of course) how much goes in the collection plate each Sunday. They get to help buy birthday presents for each other and for their friends. I love watching them pull their money out of their pockets on Sunday morning as the collection plate comes around, or watching them carry their wallet into Wal-mart so they can pick out a hot wheel car for their buddy. They feel ownership – it is their money.

We discourage them to spend their money very often on little toys for themselves when we go to the store. It has surprised us to see that for the most part, the boys hardly ever ask to spend any of their money on a toy or trinket. Occasionally at a garage sale they’ll see something they want. Or sometimes they’ll save up to get something (often pooling their money together to get something they all want). But in general, the money in their wallet just grows.

Now that Asa, our oldest son, is 11, we’ve stopped giving him an allowance. He has had various ways of earning money in the past year or so…and the four dollars a month just isn’t necessary. He has done a great job putting money into a savings account we helped him open last summer. He gives generously each Sunday, and any other time he hears of a mission need or special collection at church. He’s learning to give and save, and we feel like his little four dollar allowance when he was smaller helped him get on the right track. :)

So, now that we are on our third seven year old, we’re finding that this $4/month system really works for us as we’re training our boys.

What works for you? Do you give your kids an allowance? How do you teach your kids at an early age to manage money (or how were you taught)?

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Gratituesday: Quite a Scare

January 19, 2009 by Laura 40 Comments

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Saturday night my dad called and said these words:

“Kevin and Michele and the kids were at a basketball game tonight at the juco and Renee fell through the bleachers. They were sitting at the top. They’re on their way to the hospital right now. I’ll call you when I know more.”

Whew. I felt sick to my stomach with fear. (Kevin is my brother…Renee is their two year old.) Matt, the boys and I prayed together then, and constantly over the next few hours.

Waiting for the next phone call was yucky (that’s the best word I can think of to describe it). I wanted the phone to ring so that I could hear how she was. I was afraid for the phone ring so that I could hear how she was. Yucky.

I told Matt that in a situation like this if you hear that she “broke her arm” it would actually be a relief.

We finally talked to my dad around 10:15 that night. Renee was okay. But she did fracture her skull. Her vitals looked good. There was no swelling on the brain. She was eating a popcycle. She was jabbering.

I’m pretty sure Renee’s jabbering sounded like beautiful music to Kevin and Michele. Just hearing the words, “She’s jabbering away” was enough to make me cry.

Here’s Renee in the hospital the morning after her fall.
I love how she’s smiling for the picture.

After a night in the ICU…she was allowed to go home. When I last talked to my brother, he said Renee is acting normal…running and playing. My question was, “Wow, does she not even have a headache? I’m pretty sure I’d have a headache.”

God is good. I’m SO GRATEFUL for His protection and that Renee is healthy and whole.
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What are you thankful for this Gratituesday? Read the guidelines here, then come link up and share how God is working in your life. If you don’t have a blog, please leave a comment letting us know what you’re thankful for!

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Freezer Meals Worth Sharing

January 19, 2009 by Laura 10 Comments

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Malachi is STILL putting the “th” sound into words that really only need the “f” sound. It’s so cute. I’ll never say the word “ditherent” the right way again. Hey, sometimes it’s good to be ditherent. God calls us to be ditherent, does he not?

Anyway…Lindsay is hosting a carnival where we can share nutritious meals that can easily be throzen, ehem, frozen. Check out her site today as a great resource for healthy meals we can make ahead of time, freeze, and pull out when we need something convenient to eat!

My two favorite freezer meals are:

Cheesy Beef and Rice

Yum

and

Beefy Enchilada Bake

Both are easy to make…both are family friendly…both are healthy and use whole ingredients. And now…I’m going over to Lindsay’s to see what everyone else has to share. Because I could use some new and ditherent ideas for threezer meals. :)

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