Heavenly Homemakers

Encouraging women in homemaking, healthy eating and parenting

Our Family’s Favorite Games

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It happened again tonight when Justus (our 13 year old) was eating his potato soup. I started giggling for no reason. This happens to me occasionally when my family is around the table playing games. Tonight, we had to head out the door after dinner, so we were finishing our game and eating at the same time. Justus took a bite of soup, and it was outrageously funny. Except that it really wasn’t, even a little bit.

I admit it. I was getting loopy. We had been playing Settlers of Catan, the Cities and Knights version for way too long. We started it last night after church, took a turn at breakfast this morning, played a few more rounds after lunch, and by dinner, my brain was fried. The game is awesome, but it takes some thinking skills. And we had been playing in and around our regular day of school and work and life. Thus, the potato soup eating hilarity.

Ah, but this is what memories are made of. As our boys get older and are now able to gather around the table for “big kid games” we take advantage of every spare moment we have to spend time playing together. Their schedules are busy, so we have to be intentional to make it happen. Here are some of our favorite games:

Settlers of Catan, especially the Cities and Knights version

ticket to ride

Ticket to Ride

bohnanza

Bohnanza

Apples to Apples and Apples to Apples Junior

Manhattan

Uno Attack

 

Sequence

Farkle

 

Pass the Pigs

Disney Scene It

blink

Blink

headbandz

Headbandz

Don’t tell, but here’s the new one we’re getting this year for Christmas.

Now tell me about the games you and your family love to play!  (And do you ever get loopy after playing games just a little bit too long?!)

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A Freezer Cooking Pep Talk (Podcast #11)

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Too nervous to take on extra cooking? Feeling like you can’t possibly accomplish anything extra in the kitchen? Wondering how this Freezer Cooking thing works? I understand all of these hesitations, but I really want you to join me this week for my Freezer Cooking Challenge!!!

Therefore, in today’s podcast, I’m offering a nice, loving pep talk with lots of tips to encourage you to jump on board with me to get some extra food made to put into your freezer. Even if you just have a little bit of freezer space, you can put one or two extra items in there that are healthy and that will provide convenience for your busy days!

To go along with the podcast today, I have created a free, downloadable Freezer Cooking Pep Talk page for you to print off and smack onto your fridge. This is my list of freezer cooking tips that you can have at easy access in your kitchen to help keep you motivated!! C’mon…you can do this!!

Grab your Free, downloadable Freezer Cooking Pep Talk Page, full of tips and big bully encouragement from me. ;)

 

As mentioned in the podcast, here is my Make Ahead Meals link that you’ll want to be sure and look through. You’ll find all kinds of recipes and help in the Make Ahead Meal section of our site!

And now, I invite you to join me as I share my favorite tips for making Freezer Cooking easier!!

Freezer Cooking Pep Talking Podcast

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Teach Your Children Scripture – Podcast #10

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You get a big bonus during today’s podcast:  the WHOLE family joins in! Yup…I figured instead of me just talking about how we teach our kids scripture and memory verses…I’d let you listen to part of the process! :)

Months ago, I mentioned a little activity we do as a family called “Repeat-Afters” and several of you have asked for more details. “Repeat-Afters” have been a part of our family life since all of our kids were little bitty, as a way to help them learn scripture. We love this family tradition, which takes place usually during lunch or dinner time. 

I hope you enjoy this…especially listen for the nice “whistle by Malachi” at the end of our little family session. We almost edited that out, but what fun would that be? :)

Grab some laundry to fold or kick back for a few minutes while you enjoy our new podcast!

Heavenly Homemakers Podcast #10

Please share some of the things you do as a family to teach scripture to your children!

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Toys for Boys? Are Guns Okay? Podcast #9

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Ah, one of my favorite subjects. Through the years, we’ve been asked many times what we feel are the best toys for boys. Do we allow our boys to play with guns? As Christians, do we feel like this is okay? What about transformers? Swords? Is all that violence good for them?

These are the questions I address in this latest podcast. 

One thing I forgot to mention (probably because I was all wrapped up in talking about how many light sabers we have):  LEGOS! I was addressing other questions, so Legos just didn’t come up. But of all the favorite toys we have in our house…we just LOVE our Legos. They are well worth the investment and make wonderful gifts for our boys. 

But back to the guns and swords (which of course Legos can easily be built to resemble)…

Heavenly Homemakers Podcast Nine

Share your thoughts! Do you have boys? What do you let them play with?

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How to Lose Weight in a Healthy Way – Podcast #8

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If you’re looking to lose a few pounds and would like to hear my ideas about how I feel you can best lose weight while eating a whole foods diet, here you go: Twelve minutes of podcast in which I share my ramblings thoughts on this subject. I discuss questions like…can you eat a high fat diet and still lose weight or maintain a healthy weight? What do I recommend cutting out of your diet if you want to lose weight? 

I’d say, hey…grab a brownie and sit down while you listen to this podcast…but that may sort of contradict a thing or two that I share this time. So…how about a walk on the treadmill while you crank up the volume on this one? You’ll get twelve minutes of exercise while you listen…what do ya say?

Heavenly Homemakers Podcast Eight

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Teaching Little Ones About God? Podcast #7

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Did you wonder if I’d ever get around to recording another podcast? I have lots of excuses as for why it’s been weeks and weeks since recording. Maybe I’ll write those down for you in my spare time. ;)  But lookie what I got in the meantime! Char, my wonderful friend and talented designer, made me a pretty podcast graphic. I LOVE it!

If you’re new to the Heavenly Homemakers site and would like to check out my previous podcasts, you can find them all here. As always, I encourage you to grab some laundry to fold while you’re listening, hop on the treadmill, or do something else equally productive so that you can multi-task. For the record, I believe that sitting down and putting your feet up to rest and listen is very productive as well. Rest is a good thing.

The purpose of our podcasts is to encourage us all on our journey as Heavenly Homemakers while I answer some of the questions I receive from readers. Today’s question is regarding how to teach our teeny-tiny kids about God. I don’t have any teeny-tinies anymore (says the lady whose oldest son can almost look her directly in the eyes)…but I think it was just yesterday that I did. I share in the podcast some of the ways we talked to our kids about God from the time they were newborns.

I’ve gotta throw out a huge thank you to my husband Matt who does the majority of the work to make these podcasts happen. I record myself…then  he spends the time to splice in the music and make everything time out just right…and he is kind enough to edit out a ridiculous number of “ums” and “you knows” that I you know, don’t mean to um…say. You know?

Simply click on the link below to listen. This particular podcast lasts a little over seven minutes.

Heavenly Homemakers Podcast #7

I mentioned Songs for Saplings in the podcast so I thought I’d post the link here to make it easy for you to find if you’re interested! Also, I mentioned reading Bible books to your little ones. I love all of the Little Golden Books that are Bible related, so I’ve added that link too:  Children’s Little Golden Bible Books

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Trust Dr. Mercola? and Picky Husbands? Podcast #6

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Well, it’s been a few weeks, but we’ve finally got another podcast ready for you. I had “record a podcast” on my list for days…but never found a quiet moment to record. I can finally check that off my list, but then I’ll add it back on so that I can record Podcast #7 before Easter.

Today, I address a question about Dr. Mercola. Can he be trusted? Are his ideas and opinions valid?

Also, I offer a couple suggestions about switching “from white to brown” when your husband just really doesn’t enjoy those types of food. What to do, what to do?

To  listen to the podcast, simply click on the link below:

Heavenly Homemakers Podcast #6

I’d love for you all to share your thoughts about the information on Dr. Mercola’s Website. Plus, what ideas do you have about pleasing pickier husbands and kids? 

 

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Favorite Cookware and Bakeware? and Should We Eat Wheat? Podcast #5

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In today’s podcast, I address a question about my favorite types of cookware and bakeware…plus a question about whether or not wheat is even good for us.

I must warn you that because I don’t have a firm answer on the wheat eating issue…I ramble a little bit. YIKES! Sometimes it’s so much easier for me to write and edit, then write then delete… My apologies for the way I sort of stumble along answering this second question about wheat. It’s such a great question, with a bit of a blabby-blab answer. You are so excited to listen now, aren’t you? Don’t worry…the entire podcast only lasts about 11 minutes. At least I finally do bring my ramblings to a close…eventually.

Keep in mind that I am not an expert, both at understanding the whole picture of wheat…and at speaking in a podcast. I’m a just a mom who does her best to fix healthy meals…and every two weeks or so I work up a podcast for you. ;)

Heavenly Homemakers Podcast #5

Some links for topics or items I mentioned during the podcast:

If you feel like joining the confusion discussion, I’d love to hear what your feelings are about eating wheat.

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Meals to Take Others and Getting It All Done – Podcast #4

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Somehow in between drywall going up and all the other living room mess, I was able to find a quiet(ish) moment to record a podcast. And somewhere in between putting up the drywall, going to work and catching a few winks, Matt was able to put it all together for you. He is SO the greatest.

Several of you have requested that I upload my podcasts to iTunes and I think it’s a great idea. Unfortunately, after spending several hours the past two weeks trying to get that all set up for you, I have hit a brick wall. It’s either really, really hard to do this, or my gifts lie more in the area of chocolate, beef and homemade vanilla. I’m having a very hard time getting it figured out and the tutorials I’ve found to help me are NOT written in my language. And so, I will be calling for back up.  My podcasts WILL be on iTunes soon, but I don’t think it will be me getting them there. Maybe there’s something simple I’m missing? We’ll get back to you on that. Thanks for your patience! In the meantime, they are currently an mp3 file and hopefully most of you are able just to click the link and it will begin to play for you right away on your computer.

I’m not sure if I ever told you this or not, but we live very close to train tracks. If you didn’t know that before, you will definitely know that after listening to podcast #4. Two trains in 17 minutes.

Also, feel free to enjoy the irony of the moment when JUST as I am saying something like “we like to do everything as a family”, the door creaks open and in comes Malachi to poke me and try to get my attention (because apparently we even like to record podcasts as a family). I TOLD the kids that when Mama is recording, the door is SHUT and we do NOT interrupt her, but it would appear that he didn’t think that statement applied to him. It has now been reinforced to him that the statement does in fact apply to him, but shucks…won’t that be cute to listen to for years to come?

Today, I will be addressing a question regarding food/meals that are easy to take to families with young children…plus I’ll tell you just how I “get it all done”. Just in case you don’t catch it in the podcast, I never get it all done. Ever. And just wait until you hear what time I’ve been getting up in the mornings lately. :)

Heavenly Homemakers Podcast Four

Links referred to in the podcast:

If I forgot any links, please let me know and I’ll add them. Be sure to leave a comment suggesting questions for a future podcast!

So, what time do YOU get up every day?

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Hospitality Made Simple (ish) – Podcast #3

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Right this minute I have a houseful of company and I LOVE IT. While it can be hard work, there are some ways to keep hospitality simple so you can enjoy your guests.

You see, the key to relaxed hospitality is…

Oh wait, you’ll have to listen to the podcast to hear what I have to say. :) 

Heavenly Homemakers Podcast Three

Links I referred to in the podcast:

Please feel free to leave comments and suggestions concerning a future series on hospitality. Remember, it will probably take me a while to get around to writing this series…but your suggestions will help me know what to focus on when I DO get around to writing it!!

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