Heavenly Homemakers

Encouraging women in homemaking, healthy eating and parenting

Gratituesday: Pull Up a Chair

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I’m not good at just sitting. I love working hard and keeping busy, so it’s hard for me to just sit and do nothing. (As you can imagine, I am a joy to travel with. Cooped up in a car, seatbelt on, can’t cook, can’t exercise, can’t do anything but make long to-do lists for tasks that can’t be done anytime soon. It’s pretty.)

But lately, I have been learning that sitting doesn’t necessarily mean that I am doing nothing. I’ve been choosing to sit each morning (if possible) before I hit the day head on and take time to reflect and find refreshment in God’s word, simply by sitting still in His presence. If this doesn’t work in the mornings, I try to find time in the afternoon. 

With our official school schedule on pause for the summer, I have realized that the “extra” time this affords me must be spent in this way. And come August, when school and soccer season come back in full force, somehow I’ve got to continue finding time for this. My health and heart need this.

I am beginning to understand what Martin Luther said hundreds of years ago: “I have so much to do that if I didn’t spend at least three hours a day in prayer I would never get it all done.” I’ve never understood what he meant. But now I can say: Yes, yes, yes!

Three hours, you ask? Well, I can’t say that I’m sitting that long each day. :)  But taking time to stop, sit, be still, breathe, and listen to God absolutely does not take away from my work time or limit me in what I can accomplish the remainder of the day. On the contrary, it empowers me, energizes me, and allows me to more peacefully serve my family and others throughout the day. And in fact, I am finding that being more in tune with what God wants, the more I am able to wisely pick and choose how He’d like me to spend my time. God writes a much better “to-do” list for me than I can ever write for myself.

Having difficulty finding time to “get it all done” each day? Take time to sit with the Father. Ask Him how you should be spending your time. Listen for His answers. Breathe. Reflect. Pray. That’s the only way to tackle your to-do list. I am so grateful to be learning this.

Share how God is working in your life on your blog, then come link up with us here. If you don’t have a blog, be sure to leave a comment letting us know what you’re grateful for! Please read through the Gratituesday Guidelines so that you understand what kinds of posts you can link up to share here. Posts that are linked but do not fit our Gratituesday theme will be deleted.

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Menu Plan for the Week

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Here is what I said to my boys one morning last week:  “You are brothers. That means you are on the same team. Stop treating each other like enemies, be nice, and for Pete’s sake, stop all that ridiculous arguing!!!!!”

Oh wait. That is not the quote I meant to share. Goodness.  What I really wanted to tell you is that one morning last week, I was able to say this to my boys:

“To go with your breakfast, you can have cherries, blueberries, kiwi, apples, raspberries, pineapple, clementines, pears, strawberries, nectarines…or a banana.”

Yes, we actually had eleven different varieties of fresh fruit in our fridge or on our counter-top. Can you say spoiled?? (Our family – not the fruit.) It is unbelievable to me how blessed we are in America to have all of these wonderful choices. I love how many great fruits are in season right now – filling my kitchen with goodness. Truly, we are so, so blessed. 

And then, there are all the wonderful frozen fruits in my freezer:  strawberries, mango, pineapple, peaches, and blueberries. These Pineapple Mango Smoothies have been rocking my world. They are perfect on a warm afternoon when we all need a snack to hold us over until dinner.

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The fun is just beginning as fresh garden produce will begin making it’s way into our house. Ahhhh summertime. So much to love.

Here’s what our menu looks like this week:

Sunday, June 9
Easy breakfast casserole, nectarines
Grilled hamburgers and hotdogs, grapes, sweet peppers, baby carrots
Leftovers

Monday, June 10
Cranberry white chocolate chip breakfast cookies, apple slices
Black bean salsa, pineapple mango smoothies, baby carrots
Italian cream cheese chicken, asparagus, tossed salad

Tuesday, June 11
Honey cinnamon muffins, scrambled eggs, grapes
Chicken patty sandwiches with fresh spinach, and tomatoes, baby carrots, pears
Pizza boats, watermelon, tossed salad

Wednesday, June 12
Whole wheat waffles, blueberries, whipped cream
Chicken salad on homemade pitas with lettuce and tomatoes, strawberries
Cheesy salsa enchiladas, tossed salad, pineapple

Thursday, June 13
Almond flour muffins, fried eggs, kiwi, strawberries
BLTs, grapes, sweet peppers, baby carrots
Teriyaki chicken with rice and veggies (broccoli, asparagus, zucchini, and carrots)

Friday, June 14
Pancake sausage muffins, nectarines
Salmon patties, potato wedges, green beans, cherries
Homemade pizza, tossed salad

Saturday, June 15
Flaky cream cheese pastry, blueberries
Leftovers
Grilled marinated chicken breasts, baked potatoes, asparagus, sweet peppers, tossed salad

Have you been enjoying any sibling arguments fresh fruit lately?

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Our Family Service Trip Journal, Day 6: Rockies vs. Diamondbacks

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I just realized I’m behind in sharing the final days of our Colorado family service trip! Be sure to check out Day One: SEVENS Ministry, Day Two: Handing Out Food to 100 Families, Day Three: Purple Door Coffee and a Wedding, and Day Four: Church in Colorado Springs, Meet and Greet, and Garden of the Gods

You may have noticed that I went from Day 4 to Day 6. What happened to Day 5?  Not to worry – I will be sharing about that soon. :)  It was a very special day in which our family was able to meet face to face and work with the people behind a ministry all of our families can take part in. Details coming soon, I promise! There are some technical difficulties that are still not worked out that are causing delays in my ability to “reveal” it to you. 

For now, I’m going to share what we did on the final day of our trip. After several days of traveling, working, and visiting with many people – we were all happy but tired. We chose to take our final day off, spending several relaxing hours with our friends (that had been kind enough to let us stay with them for an entire week), hiking, and playing lawn games. 

Late that afternoon, we headed to a Rockies game. This had worked out so perfectly! We are friends with Brad Ziegler, a pitcher for the Arizona Diamondbacks. It just so happened that the two teams were playing against each other in Denver on the last day of our trip. It was a no-brainer. Tickets were purchased!

We arrived early to the game so that we could watch batting practice and try to catch Brad. 

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He was watching for us and came over for a short visit. He signed baseballs for the boys – always a fun treat!

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Since we still had time before the game started, we headed up to the “mile high” row of seats in the stadium.
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It was quite the trek. Matt and I decided to prove how difficult it is to breathe up there at such a high altitude.

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Okay, just kidding. We were really fine. (mostly)

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The game was a blast and we loved watching Brad pitch a perfect inning!

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Side note:  They should totally have a “visitors section” at the stadium. We felt like the only Diamondbacks fans in a sea of Rockies fans. Awkward.  ;) 

It was a perfect ending to a perfect trip. God blessed us so much as a family and we pray we were a blessing to everyone we visited with and ministered to.

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What to Do With Coconut Flour

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There’s been some conversation over on my facebook page about what to do with coconut flour. After all, if you take advantage of this great deal on coconut flour at Amazon, you may need a few recipes to go with it!

Coconut flour does not substitute one-for-one with wheat flour. Coconut flour is quite dry, therefore recipes usually require quite a bit more liquid (such as milk, water, or eggs) and less flour than you may be used to in wheat flour recipes. For instance, in my Coconut Flour Muffin recipe, I use just 1/2 cup of coconut flour to make 12 muffins. For a typical wheat flour muffin recipe that makes 12 muffins – I typically use 1 1/2 cups of flour. This means that even though coconut flour costs more than wheat flour, it will go much farther, keeping the overall cost quite similar! (Especially when you can get it for just $2.23 a pound. I am so thankful to know about this deal. Thanks again for your email, Heather!)

Here are the coconut flour recipes you’ll find here at Heavenly Homemakers:

And if you head over to the Tropical Traditions website, you’ll find tons and tons of recipes that include coconut flour.  From pancakes to chicken fingers to crepes to pizza crust – and everything in between. That page is a great resource. One more reason to love Tropical Traditions!

If you have any great recipes or links to recipes that use coconut flour, please share them in the comments of this post.  I’m excited to play with all of my coconut flour and to discover more great ways to eat it!

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Essentials for Your Kids’ School Trip

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The following is a guest post from Sara. Consideration was received for the editing and publishing of this article.  

School trips are a major part of your kids’ school life and something they deserve to have as not only a learning experience, but also as an essential good school memory.

A good bunch of friends, good management on the part of the school and an interesting place of visit may be the key ingredients in making the trip a success, but some other smaller bits and pieces might add to the trip being fun as well as safe.

These things depend on your part in the trip, which involves getting the essentials for your kids to take along. Here are some of the things you should consider getting them:

Travel Backpack

To carry most of the items you’re going to get your children, they need to have a travel backpack to stock the things. Travel backpacks are not much different in terms of design from the regular ones, but are bigger, have more space and compartments for keeping items safe and undamaged.

Children’s backpacks for trips are also designed with their height and weight carrying limit in mind. They are also bound to be useful for family trips, so it’s be a good investment for school use as well as for family excursions.

There are a variety of travel backpacks you can choose from and you also have the option to get one for your kids based on their favorite TV shows. For example, if your kids love watching Sesame Street, a backpack portraying its theme won’t be hard to find with so much Sesame gear available from online.

Snacks

Trips also involve a lot of walking and moving around. Lunch time is always fixed to a certain point, so with some snacks in their own backpack, your kids can just reach for a juice or a packet of crisps if they feel hungry or thirsty in between.

However, don’t pack in too many sweet things, especially candies and soft drinks. These are only likely to make them thirstier and nurture their sweet tooth rather than abating their hunger.

Umbrellas and Hats

Before you send children off to their school trip, remember to check the weather forecast for that day so you know what kind of gear they should keep at hand or wear to be comfortable.

If they’re going to go to a place where chances are it’s going to rain, get them an umbrella. You don’t have to worry about the space or the heaviness of the umbrella as there are plenty of folding umbrellas out there that are small in size and light in weight. Remember to instruct your child on how to use one.

On the other hand, if the weather report says it’s going to be quite sunny, you can give them hats for protecting the sun rays from making contact with their eyes. You can also go for a DIY hat for your kids. Another option is to get them sunglasses if they agree to wear them.

There is always something extra that you might want to pack in just in case, but don’t overburden your children’s backpacks so they spend more time trying to tug it around rather than having fun. Keep in mind the kind of trip it is, indoor or outdoor, overnight or day trip, and help them pack accordingly.

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Perfecting Peanut Butter Chocolate Granola

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I consider myself to be a pretty good cook. I’m not bragging. I’m simply stating that I really enjoy cooking, I can throw together meals and snacks quite efficiently, and when people eat my food, they often say, “Yum, this is good.”

But for the life of me, I can’t make a No-Bake Cookie. It’s the recipe most ten year olds can make and the cookie even those who hate cooking can create without issue. But me? I can’t get a No-Bake Cookie to turn out no matter what I try. I’ve turned that job over to our 16 year old because he has the method down pat and makes perfect No-Bake Cookies nine times out of ten (even though I think he’s really only made them six times in his life but who’s counting?).

So would you believe that last week, while I was making a batch of Peanut Butter Chocolate Granola – I turned out a perfect batch of No-Bake Cookies?! Yes. I cannot make them when I try, but when I’m trying to make something different, I actually master the blasted cookie. So let’s review:

1. I stink at making No-Bake Cookies. I have attempted making them at least 14 times in my life and have had success…never.

2. Asa is great at making No-Bake Cookies. The job is his.

3. A few weeks ago, Asa was making No-Bake Cookies but they got crumbly so we turned the mixture into Peanut Butter Chocolate Granola. That was his one time out of ten (or six or whatever) that he didn’t get them perfect. 

4. The granola was delicious, I reduced the sugar and posted the recipe because everyone needed to have access to it.

5. I then tried making the granola again, and turned out the best No-Bake Cookies ever.

Unbelievable. You’ve got to love the lame irony. But hey, we’re talking about peanut butter, chocolate, oats, butter, and vanilla – all favorite ingredients of mine. I’m not whining too loudly.

So just in case you want to make Peanut Butter Chocolate Granola, but end up with No-Bake Cookies, I will share with you how I solved my “problem.” I added a few extra oats to soak up the liquid (which did not help the mixture turn into granola – just really oaty cookies). Then I spread the mixture on a parchment paper-lined cookie sheet and baked it at 250° for one hour, stirring occasionally. The granola got nice and crispy (and made my house smell amazing).

I will now go edit the Peanut Butter Chocolate Granola recipe page to share these suggestions in case you too accidentally find yourself with No-Bake Cookies. If only all mistakes in the kitchen were this delicious. :)

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Yum

How are you at making No Bake Cookies?  I think I might be the only person on the planet who can’t make them. ;)

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How Much Media Time Do You Allow Your Kids?

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Media time. It was a topic that came up while several of us were visiting at the Colorado Springs Meet & Greet. I loved the discussion as it helped me figure out what would work well for our kids this summer!

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My boys are just like many kids: if given the freedom, they would get on the computer to play games – and never get off…ever. (I’ve never been able to figure out how they don’t at least need to get up and pee??! That’s an amazing distraction, the computer.)

We have to set guidelines for our kids – with the main goal of helping our kids set restrictions for themselves when it comes to media time. After all, it’s one thing for Mom to holler “time’s up!” when someone is on the computer at home, but once they get off on their own, what will they do when Mom isn’t there to help manage their time? Oh, so much training we must do as a parent… :)

Media Time for the Kids

Our kids get plenty of “screen time” during the school year as they do their math, spanish, and a variety of writing or typing projects on the computer each day. In addition, our boys love to create music and movies (Cake Boys, anyone?), so they use computers often as they write scripts, edit footage, and come up with songs on the special software we got them for this purpose. We love how the computer gives us so many options and so many educational opportunities! But after all of that, what about Netflix, computer games, and all the other fun to be had on the computer?

This is subject to change, but for now, each of our boys is given 45 minutes each day for “computer time” to be used however they like. Obviously, we are very aware of what they are playing or watching on the computer at all times and the computers are out in the open so that we can keep the boys safe.

As for this summer, we’ve told the boys, “No screen time (not even for creating music or movies) until 3:00 in the afternoon.” That way, they get up and start getting creative, play something active, jump on the trampoline, read, do chores, get together with friends – all sorts of activities! without getting sucked into the computer or TV screen at the beginning of the day. Often, 3:00 rolls around and they are too busy to notice.

Once their time is up, it is up, and it’s back to other activities. So far, this plan is working well for us.

I know each family has different ideas to make this work, and I’d love to hear them. I think it is so helpful to get ideas from all of you for what works for your kids and family’s situation.  What guidelines have you set for your kids when it comes to media? Do you have limits on computer/TV time? What works for you!?

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Learn Your Letters, Learn to Serve: Early Learners Curriculum Kit – New, Improved, and On Sale!

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I am so thankful to see how Learn Your Letters, Learn to Serve has come together. Working through this curriculum blessed our family so much when our boys were little, and I’ve heard from so many of you over the past 2 1/2 years that the curriculum has blessed your family too.

It is with great excitement that I now present this curriculum to you in a “new set of clothes.” The content is the same. The idea of teaching your kids to serve right along with teaching them academic basics is the same. But the look is new. The format is much improved. Overall, it looks much more professional.

Have you purchased Learn Your Letters, Learn to Serve in the past? Email me if you’d like a download link for the updated version. If you don’t yet have this curriculum, but have kids ages 2-7, I would love for you to look into this kit. With 26 complete lessons including recipes, crafts, Bible stories and memory work, writing practice, and so much more – along with loads of ideas of how to teach your kids to think of and serve others – this curriculum is a well rounded program for your whole family to enjoy together.

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Some of our family’s favorite memories include:  On “Jj week”, taking a Jar of Jelly beans to our “bigger” friend John (a great role model to our boys when they were little); Receiving a “Mmmm!” thank you note for the “marvelous, magnificent mini muffins” from Mr. and Mrs. Miller after our visit with them on “Mm week”; Surprising Daddy with Donuts on “Dd week”; Picking out a tiny toy for Tina on “Tt week” – not to mention how much fun we had brainstorming together for people to serve and what we might surprise them with that week! Our list goes on…the kids still talk about all we did with these ideas when they were little. 

You can read more about this curriculum kit here. The entire kit is 183 pages, loaded with ideas and information – plenty to keep you busy, yet flexible enough to work in any family situation. To get a feel for what this kit is like, help yourself to free Curriculum Sample Pages, including the lesson for LetterBb.

For one week, we are offering a “re-launch special” – knocking $10 off the price. We offer this curriculum in download form and printed form too – whichever works better for your family!

Downloadable Version
$45.00
$35.00

Add to Cart

Printed Version
$68.00
$58.00
(price includes entire 183 page color printed kit and shipping costs)
U.S. only. Contact me if you’re interested in having a book shipped outside the U.S.!

Add to Cart

Sale prices end Wednesday, June 12. Take advantage of these prices while you can!

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Gratituesday: Godly Men in the Making

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It’s what we have been praying for, working toward, and spending so much of our time on for the past (almost) 16 years. 

It was after God gave us “Boy Number Three” that we were suddenly struck with the realization that His intention wasn’t just for us to raise boys that were nice, clean, and well-behaved. It wasn’t just about surviving each day with a bunch of little ones – feeding them, stopping them from breaking a lamp as they jumped off the furniture, and keeping crust from forming under their noses.

“Boy Number Three”, which had followed “Boy Number One” and “Boy Number Two” (and who would be followed in a few years by “Boy Number Four”), seemed to come with a loud and clear announcement from God. Indeed, it was as though this child had a gift tag attached to his toe which read, “I have given you all these boys so that you can raise godly leaders for my church.”

At that point in our lives, I would have to say that my focus as a parent changed. God gives us all this purpose as we raise our children. I am so thankful He made this so clear to me that winter afternoon in 2002 while I was marveling at our newest baby boy.

Our four boys are far from perfect – a direct result of imperfect parenting. Without a doubt, the good I see in my children comes directly from the Lord, who loves them more than I – a fact that amazes me, seeing as I love them so much I can’t even breathe. I love seeing who our boys are becoming both because of our parenting choices and in spite of our parenting choices. (Thank you, God, for grace!)

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Here is Asa (all 6’2″ of him) among several in our church family who went on a mission trip last week.
They are posing in front of the house they painted. A job well done!

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Here is Justus painting a house during the mission trip last week.
It is great that our boys got such good practice since our house is in the middle of being painted too… :)

I am so thankful for the time God has given Matt and me to be with and to guide our boys. I’m thankful for our church family, for those who mentor our boys, and for their peers who offer meaningful friendship. My heart overflows tonight with who my boys are becoming. It is a joy to be a part of this journey.

Share how God is working in your life on your blog, then come link up with us here. If you don’t have a blog, be sure to leave a comment letting us know what you’re grateful for! Please read through the Gratituesday Guidelines so that you understand what kinds of posts you can link up to share here. Posts that are linked but do not fit our Gratituesday theme will be deleted.

If you are linking up a blog post for Gratituesday, please copy and paste the following sentence into your post! Thanks!

Join us for Gratituesday at Heavenly Homemakers!

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How Many Times a Day Do You Run Your Dishwasher?

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I know some of you don’t own a dishwasher (the electric kind with buttons that does the work for you). We didn’t own one for the first ten years of our marriage, and since I didn’t know the difference, I didn’t mind at all. Today, if our dishwasher were to break, I would go right ahead and do all of our dishes by hand and be just fine.

But I have to say, I am very thankful that I have a working dishwasher. I use that thing like crazy, and find that it saves me a lot of time. We do have to rinse our dishes before putting them in the dishwasher, but I’d have to do that before washing them too, so the dishwasher definitely saves me a step.

With the kids gone last week, I found that I only needed to run the dishwasher once every other day. Wow! That felt so strange to me. Why? Because I run it a minimum of twice a day on a regular basis, and if we have company or I’m doing extra cooking for the freezer, I sometimes need to run it a third time. And trust me, the dishwasher is crammed full each time I run it.

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Here it is this morning, ready for our boys to unload (and reload after breakfast!).

Plates, mixing bowls, stainless steel pots and pans, utensils, jars, casserole dishes, glasses – we go through a lot of dishes each day. It made me curious…how often do you run your dishwasher? 

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