Heavenly Homemakers

Encouraging women in homemaking, healthy eating and parenting

Whipping the House Back into Shape…

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We arrived home last night after our quick weekend trip…unloaded the van and sort of put things in the rooms that they sort of go in.

We had SUCH a good time getting away and spending time with friends. 

Such a good time in fact, that when we pulled into our drive way…Elias (our 6 year old)…started crying and saying, “I miss Greg and Lisa!” (the friends we stayed with in Kansas City). 

And, I’m not kidding…he did not stop crying for an hour and a half when I finally got him to settle in and sleep. 

And when I’d say, “Come on, buddy, let’s get you to bed…you’re SO tired!” He’d wimper and sob and say, “I’m…not…tired…” (Uh-huh…me neither.)

So, we all had a great time visiting our friends and are refreshed from the visit…(we just miss them more now than we did before…)!

Now that we’re home…it’s time to whip this house back into shape! And get back into a good school routine (we took sort of a spring break last week to get ready for LTC…)!

This week I plan to be very focussed on getting my kids into the kitchen to cook all of our meals…and I’m looking forward to all of the memories (and the messes) we’ll make.

But right now…they’re still asleep (but…it’s not because they were tired or anything…).

So, I will go begin to tackle the laundry…and the cooler and water bottles from our trip…and the laundry…

Have a great Monday!!

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Kids in the Kitchen, pt. 8: Here’s What the Kids Are Cooking This Week!

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Lately, I’ve been working to get my kids in the kitchen more…and to encourage you to do the same! Read more on my Kids in the Kitchen series here.

Each day this week, I’ll be making a focused effort to pull my kids (ages 3, 6, 8 and 10) into the kitchen to help…(even when it will be easier to just send them out and do it myself!)…and I’ll be snapping pictures and blogging each day about what they are doing and learning. Hope you’ll join us this week to see how it all goes! I’d love to hear what you’re doing with your kids in the kitchen!!

Here’s our menu:

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Download your free pretty menu planners here!

More Menu Plan Monday…

Hope to see you back here this week…for more Kids in the Kitchen! I’ll be posting pictures, ideas, recipes…and about all the crazy fun we’re having together!! See ya tomorrow!

[tags]kids, kitchen, menu[/tags]

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To KC…for LTC…in our SUV

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Okay…we don’t have an SUV…

It just sounded cuter than “To KC…for LTC…in our little mini van filled with stuff”. 

We’ve been busy preparing…and now we’re almost ready to head out the door. 

We’re heading to Kansas City for the weekend.

(Okay, and I feel a little weird everytime I blog about going out of town… It’s like I’m saying to the world… “Okay everyone! We are not going to be home for two and one half days. Now is the time for you to come rob my house. If you do not want to be caught, please make sure you have done this and are out before 7 pm Sunday, as we should be arriving home around that time.”)

(And of course, if they are dedicated HeavenlyHomemakers blog readers, they will probably check in the freezer for some stashed cash…just in case…)  (Like I would do that twice…)

(Besides, I didn’t even get cash out for this trip…we’ll be paying for gas with our library cards…)

Anyway, we’re going to KC because our oldest son, Asa, is involved in LTC (Leadership Training for Christ), which is a big nationwide (I think) deal this weekend.

The theme this year for LTC is “Here I Am”  and is based on the book of 1 Samuel. 

Asa has been busy for months now working on his projects…. He wrote a children’s book, wrote a poem, has been studying fiercely for the Bible bowl which covers the entire book of 1 Samuel…he’s in a skit…and he’s in a puppet show. 

(Last year, he did about THREE times that much stuff….and it was a bit close to insanity to try to get it all done…. This year we pared it down.)

After we get home (on Sunday night around 7…don’t forget…), I’ll try to post the results of some of his activities. I REALLY want to try to show you his children’s book…it’s really good! (If I do say so myself…)

So there you have it…

The real question is… How will I possibly survive being away from my computer for 2 1/2 days?! What? I won’t have time to blog the WHOLE weekend?!

(I will be checking my email… We’re staying with some dear friends….and they have a computer…SURELY I can steal away for a couple minutes…)

Okay, I’m going to go finish pulling clean laundry out of the dryer so that I can finish packing. And then I’m going to pack about 12 sandwiches (hopefully, my family will survive a four hour trip with only 12 sandwiches…as long as I pack tons of other things to go with them…)

(Oh, and for anyone out there who does plan to rob my house this weekend…good luck with that. Everything  I have of value is going with me in my van…and the only thing you’ll find in my freezer is meat. You might check under the couch cushions and in the washing machine for some pennies and quarters…but you’ll probably only come up with plastic action figures. Oh, and would you mind running the vacuum while you’re here?)

Have a wonderful and blessed Easter weekend!!

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Learning About Laura…One Story at a Time: Frozen Cash

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Well, I set myself up for this…so there’s no reason for me to sit at the computer having panic attacks any longer. 

I’m sure none of you have slept a wink since reading the list of 13 surprising facts about me…as you are on the edge of your seat just dying to find out about how I could single-handedly burn down a huge barn…and you can not WAIT hear what word I shouted on the choir tour bus (trust me, you DON’T want to know…).

I’ll get to them all in time… (and as I muster up the courage to embarass myself all over the bloggy universe…).

Today though, I’ll be telling you about the day I put $350 dollars cash into the freezer…and forgot about it. 

Well, actually…I didn’t realize I was putting it into the freezer in the first place.

We were getting ready to go on a trip. I had a four year old, a one year old and I was pregnant with our third…(need I say more?).

I was running errands the day before we were to leave. You know, doing all that pre-trip stuff…buying snacks to take on the road…filling the car with gas…buying diapers to last us while we were gone…paying a few bills…returning library books…and getting cash out of the bank to take with us.

While I was out running errands, I found a great sale on something (I don’t remember now what was on sale…it was six years and many sales ago…but it was something good enough to take the time to stock up on while I was running around getting ready to leave the state.).

And it was something that needed to go in the freezer. (Do you see where this is going?)

So, I return home from all of that… with a hungry four year old and one year old… and was grabbing as much as I possibly could from the car so that I could make it in as few trips as possible. 

I threw stuff on the counter and ran to the freezer in our garage to put the frozen sale stuff in.

Blah, blah, blah…the day goes on…we pack…we do whatever else needs to be done to get ready for our trip…

And then that evening we went to church.

Right in the middle of Psalms and Proverbs (okay, I made that up…I don’t remember what we were studying)…anyway, right in the middle of our Bible study…

I suddenly thought…WHAT did I do with the CASH for our TRIP???!!! (Ever seen a pregnant lady panic in a pew?)

I then started mentally re-tracing my steps…going through the events of the afternoon ( so much for Psalms or Proverbs for me)…and I came up with…

Nothing.

No clue. No recollection of seeing or doing anything with the money once I pulled away from the bank.

And I felt sick. SICK…I tell you! 

I also really enjoyed telling Matt after church, “Great job teaching class tonight. Also… I got that $350 cash out of the bank today like we talked about…and I don’t have a clue where it is.”

As soon as we got home, we started looking everywhere and taking the car apart and the house apart and praying and asking the same questions over and over… (Did the lady at the bank actually hand me the money, or did I just ask for the cash and drive away? Noooo I’m sure she handed me the money…and then I…??? Fog…blank…nothing…)

(BTW, tearing your house and car apart is SO NOT what you want to be doing the night before you are leaving for a long road trip!

We finally gave up and decided to just let it turn up when it turned up, and  go get more cash out of the bank in the morning before we left… <gulp> (Do we even have that much more cash to pull out?).

SO we got the kids to bed and tried to put the house back together a little and I went to the freezer to get something for Matt to eat. While I was there, I saw that the stuff I had bought earlier that day was still in the bag because I had been in a hurry.

I decided to make the freezer look nicer…so I took the stuff out of the bag…and what do you know?

Out came a sweet little envelope full of green bills (ever seen what President Andrew Jackson looks like when he’s frozen?) 

(I’ve never been so happy to see that beautiful, frozen, smiling face!)

SHEW!!

Well now, of course we use our credit or debit card to swipe everywhere when we go on a trip…so we don’t need to take cash like that.

But then, that also explains why I am so used to whipping out my credit card everywhere I am…and why I keep handing it to my librarian when I check out books…

Okay, story number one has been told. It’s SO cool to tell people the air-headed things you’ve done. You should really try it. I’m feeling just so proud right now.

;)

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Thirteen Things You May (or May Not) Be Surprised to Hear About Me…

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Have I ever told you about….

1. How I burned down a huge barn on our family farm? (Yes, it’s true…)  :(

2. The fact that our third son was almost born in the doctor’s office? (Ever seen the look on the face of a panicked doctor?!)  (and his nurse?)

3. The time I had to smooch a guy in front of my entire school… (and my grandma?)  (I didn’t have to smooch my grandma…I had to smooch the guy in front of my grandma…)  (I totally would have rather smooched my grandma…)

4. The time I wore sweat pants to perform my high school music concert?…And I had a solo? (I think I chose my black “dress sweats” at least…)

5. The night I toilet papered the homes of two of my college professors?  (Oh wait, I think I did tell you about that…)

6. The first time I ever made gravy?… For Matt?  (And he married me anyway…)

7. The time I handed my Discover card to my librarian… so that I could check out books… And I felt SO silly…because she was the kind of librarian who has glasses at the end of her nose and her lips in a straight line… And then the next week I did it AGAIN!! (Good grief!)   (Too bad they won’t accept my library card at Walmart…)

8. The time I accidentally deleted my husbands research paper…the one that was due in two hours…? (Not my finest moment as a wife and help meet…)  (At least by then, I knew how to make gravy…)

9. How I shouted a REALLLLY BAD word on a bus filled with people on our college choir tour?  (I TOTALLY didn’t mean to!)  I’ve never lived that one down… I can’t even believe I just mentioned it… It is BY FAR the most embarrassing moment of my life. I’m sure you’re all curious about that one. I’ll try to muster up the courage to tell you about it. I still hyperventilate when I think about it. (Could someone please get me a paper bag?)  (And, quickly?)

10. How I found $350 cash in my freezer one day?  (and I’m the one who put it there?)  (Hey, it’s one way to make your money last longer…) 

11. How I made a lady slide on laundry detergent and fall down and hurt her knee at the store one day…?  Oh, the guilt…

12. The time I shop-lifted?  I SO didn’t mean to!

13. The time I caused a chemical reaction so strong in our house that we all had to vacate immediately… (You all know, don’t you, NOT to clean with comet and bleach?)  (At the same time?)  (Inhaling those fumes might help explain why I kept handing my Discover card to the librarian…)

Okay, so there you have it… 

Me…exposed…in all my glory…to everyone…<gulp>

If you want to know the full story on some of these…you’ll have to keep coming back. 

But I’m curious…which of these stories would you like to hear tomorrow?!

See ya then!

More Thursday Thirteen…

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Healthy Treat for Today: Whole Wheat Donuts

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My dad…whom my boys call, Papa, is famous around here for buying us donuts when he comes to town. It’s become a big deal…one that the boys won’t let Papa forget about. (“Hi Papa…did you bring us donuts?…oh, and we’re also glad you’re here…”)

One Saturday morning…I decided to make homemade (and healthier) donuts for the family. I got up early…ground wheat into flour…mixed up the dough, rolled them out, fried them up…and made a special hot fudge sauce to drizzle over them. I put them on a pretty platter…poured glasses of fresh milk…and called the boys down for breakfast.

I cheerfully and excitedly greeted them with flour on my face and my hair all frazzled from all the work of making these fresh off the stove donuts…

And my three year old lit up and said, “Oh!! Did Papa make us DONUTS?!”

Huh. I go to all this trouble…and Papa gets all the credit. 

sigh  :)

Well, they liked my donuts just as much Papa’s…and I loved that these were a pretty healthy treat!

(Papa really got a big kick out of that story, of course..)

I hope you’ll get a big kick out of this recipe!

Whole Wheat Cake Donuts (or should I call them, “Papa’s Special”?)!Yum

3 ¼ cup whole wheat flour
2 t. baking powder
½ t. cinnamon
¼ t. salt
¼ t. nutmeg
2/3 cup rapadura (dehydrated cane sugar juice) or sucanat
2 eggs
1 t. vanilla
2/3 cup milk
1/4 cup melted butter
Oil for frying (I use palm shortening or coconut oil)

Mix dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl. Stir in eggs, vanilla, milk and melted butter. Knead dough a few minutes to make sure all ingredients are mixed thoroughly.
On a floured surface, roll dough to ½ inch thickness. Cut with donut cutter, or biscuit cutter. Heat oil in skillet or electric skillet…enough to cover the bottom of the skillet about ¼ inch. Place donuts into the hot oil to fry for 2-3 minutes on each side. Remove from skillet and place on a paper towel lined plate. Sprinkle a mixture of rapadura and cinnamon, or sprinkle organic powdered sugar over the hot donuts. 

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Yum! Anytime I want a special breakfast treat for my family…these donuts work for me!

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Gratituesday: The In-Laws

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I know…How about that? 

I’m thankful for my in-laws. 

All of ’em. Even ‘ol Uncle Whatsisname…(Just kidding, I know your name, Uncle um Bob Bill er, Joel.) :)

Really…now that I’m married, I have the sisters that I always wanted…and a mother-in-law and a father-in-law that love me…and cool brothers-in-law…and tons of wonderful aunts and uncles and grandparents that all make me feel welcome and loved and appreciated. 

Sometimes, my father-in-law will call…and he and I will talk for an hour about what’s going on with the kids and school and whatever…and then I’ll finally realize that maybe he’d also like to talk to his own son while he’s on the line.

My mother-in-law is awesome about sending beautiful homemade cards to the boys (and to us!) for all kinds of special occasions….and I really have loved emailing back and forth with her. Love it.

And my sisters-in-law? Well, let’s just say that we have now made it a tradition to meet in CA once every two years for a short but sweet get-away…that has now affectionately been dubbed our, “Sister Symposium” in which we shop a lot, stamp a bunch, and sleep very little. It is always a time of refreshment and encouragement as we share our lives and cry and laugh and pray together. 

And while I’m on the subject of sisters-in-law…I HAVE to mention my brother’s wife…who is my Kansas sister-in-law. I am SO thankful for her. How awesome is it that my brother would marry someone who became such a good friend to me?!

So there you have it. I recognize that not everyone can talk like I can about their wonderful in-laws (and really mean it!). I often take them for granted…until I hear someone else tell me about their family strife and icky in-law stuff.

I’m grateful for all the wonderful people God put in my life when I married my husband.

So what are you grateful for? 

Please leave a comment, sharing something that you appreciate…. 

Or swipe the Gratituesday graphic and put it on your own blog today and blog about what you’re grateful for. Be sure to leave a comment back here, letting us all know the link to your blog so that we can come read and be encouraged by your post!

Let’s all spread the Gratituesday spirit…God is Good!!

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Kids in the Kitchen, pt. 7: Bake up a Surprise!

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Here’s a great way to get your kids excited about being in the kitchen! 

Pick a person or two to surprise with a special treat…bake up something yummy…download this free card…and deliver your goodies…along with a little springtime cheer!!

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My boys and I are going to bake some Orange Muffins and take them to two elderly couples we like to visit. 

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One of the biggest reasons for teaching my kids to cook…is so that they will learn to serve and minister to others. I want them to learn to love blessing others with food.

And this is a great way for them to bless somebunny…don’t you think?!

That’s my kitchen tip for today!

Hey, wanna share with us some special ways God has been working in your life? Come join in on Gratituesday at HeavenlyHomemakers!!

Also, be sure to sign up for my new Healthy Treats Recipe E-book Giveaway!!

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Kids in the Kitchen, pt. 6: Meal Planning With the Kids!

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My boys got to plan the meals this week! 

I showed them everything we had in the freezer and pantry and fridge…and they started coming up with meal suggestions left and right! We wrote them all down…then I helped them decide which day to have what…and reminded them to choose a fruit or veggie to go with the meals. 

They had SO much fun! And what a great way to teach them about balanced meal planning! 

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Now, I guess I get to go bake some cinnamon rolls… :)

Make your menu planning fun! You’ll find free downloadable menu planners here. 

More Menu Plan Monday here.

Want to win a free Healthy Treats Recipe e-book? Come check it out!!

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Soccer…With a Whistle

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I’m not sure I’ve ever mentioned this or not…

But at our house…we’re ALL about soccer! 

We have about 43 soccer balls of different sizes and quality. We have soccer uniforms from other countries…in several different sizes. We play soccer daily…if not in a field, then in the living room…or in the upstairs hallway…or somewhere in between math and history…

We love soccer.

Now me? I never even saw a soccer game until I was 18 years old and went to college. Once I got there, I would watch our college team play…and it was fun.

Then…I started dating one of the soccer players. 

The tall, cute, blond one.

And when the team played in the National Finals…that tall, cute blond guy I was dating scored the winning goal from like 25 yards out….an amazing shot! And people came up to me and said, “Was that your boyfriend that scored that goal?” And I would smile and proudly say, “Yeah!” 

I STILL remember the excitement of that day!

(And the excitement of the day that the tall, cute, blond soccer player asked me to marry him!)

I LOVE soccer right along with the rest of the tall…and short, cute blond soccer players in my house. 

Um, but I love it in a “Oh, I’ll just stand over here and watch and cheer for you…” sort of way. I’ve kicked a few soccer balls here and there…but I’m not really very athletic…and I have no doubt that my six year old would bust a move and score on me…while I would be left panting and gasping for air at about midfield. (uh, asthma, of course…)

So, during the spring and the fall…and sometimes in the winter (indoor soccer) we eat, drink and sleep soccer…between my husband’s coaching and playing…and with our three older boys all on different teams…it’s all I can do to keep up with washing uniforms and locating shin guards and filling water bottles and FEEDING PEOPLE WHO RUN ALL THE TIME AND WORK UP BIG APPETITES…

Well today…we enter a new era in which my husband experiences soccer from a different angle. One he said he would never do. But one he’s kind of a little bit excited to try.

Yes, today…Matt is picking up a whistle and a flag and putting on a brightly colored shirt and heading out to the field to referee his first soccer game.

Today he will be the one who decides when the player is “off sides” and when the ball is out of bounds…

And today…he gets to be the one who might be yelled at by a coach or a fan… (argh)

And today…he might be the one who whips out a yellow card…

So here we go…soccer in a new light. 

Might be fun! 

Now I’ll have me an eye on the tall, cute, blond referee…

[tags]family, fun, soccer[/tags]

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