Heavenly Homemakers

Encouraging women in homemaking, healthy eating and parenting

Favorite Field Trip? Question #72

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It has been one big week of field trips! No one should ever worry that homeschoolers don’t get out enough or get enough social interaction. (That is totally another post for another time.)  I can guarantee you that no homeschooler in my house is deprived of cool activities. I can also guarantee you that the mother of said homeschoolers is very much whipped from all the comings and goings of the week.

Yesterday, we spent the whole day at The Scarecrow Patch. (Okay, not the whole day. We left home a little earlier to get those basketball shoes I mentioned that he needed. I am happy to report that we were able to get a great deal on Niki High Tops at the FIRST store we went to, and we got the FIRST pair he tried on. Thank you God!)  Anyway, after we found the shoes, then we went to the The Scarecrow Patch. And you’d think that I’d have some great pictures, but indeed, right as I went to snap the first picture I found that our camera battery was dead. :(

Maybe you can just look at these pumpkin Patch pictures from two years ago and just imagine them all happening yesterday with my boys each being several inches taller and with Asa’s teenager hair being several inches longer. Oh my, look how little Malachi was. Aw, now I’m getting all weepy. My sweet babies.

I didn’t join my kids on the zip line this year like I have in years past. Not sure why. I guess I was having too much fun visiting with the other moms this year.

Oh yeah, there I am two years ago. It’s an awful shame you can’t see me very well in this picture.

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After spending the entire day at the The Scarecrow Patch yesterday, today we got to go to Wessels Farm, a local living history museum, where the younger boys were able to experience a school day in the 1920’s. It was SO cool. They even got to pack a lunch and carry it in a tin bucket. (Again, camera battery dead. This time because under all my dust and rubble I couldn’t find the charger.  sigh )  (I finally found it by the way, AFTER both field trips.)

Our older boys were taught all kinds of facts and information about Western Expansion and the Lousianna Territory and wow, Wessels Farm is a cool place!

Most weeks we don’t even have one field trip, much less two. But, since this was a heavy field trip week and field trips are on my mind, I thought I’d throw out a field trippy question:

What’s your favorite field trip memory, either with your kids…or from when you were a kid and went on a field trip?

I will say that I have very fond memories of my mom packing a Twinkie and a Grape Pop for me to drink with my field trip lunch. We NEVER got Twinkies except for field trips. Aw, too bad I know what Twinkies are made of now or I’d carry on the tradition. I guess I’ll just carry that memory forever in my heart. :)

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It’s About Time I Went Random On You

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It has been ages since I wrote a random post so tonight since I have a wide variety of thoughts running through my head, I thought I’d break out some randomness. 

~Malachi (5 1/2) has been having SUCH a hard time going to his Bible classes for the past several weeks. I know this is a normal phase – all my kids have gone through it at one time or another and all of them have gotten over it and have happily gone back to class without fear (and without kicking the teacher) eventually. But Malachi seems to be having a tougher time and nothing I’ve tried is helping. He said he wants to be with me forever and he’s too sad when he’s not with me and he’s never going to get married or go to Bible class ever again. You’d think after four kids I’d have this parenting thing all figured out.  If only.

~Just when we thought we got Asa’s shoes figured out (you remember that awesome deal we got right?)…we need to turn around and buy another pair of shoes. He’s decided to join our local Home school Basketball team this year and we’re excited to branch out of our soccer thing for a season…but shock upon shock, you are not allowed to wear soccer cleats on the basketball court. And so, on our way to the pumpkin patch field trip this week, we will be basketball shoe shopping. We’re making him pay half. I’m not sure if he’s buying the left shoe or the right shoe…I guess I’ll ask him which one he prefers. (That may have been one of the dorkiest jokes I’ve ever tried to write.)

~Never, ever, ever try to sort and reorganize your summer clothes and winter clothes in the middle of having company and putting insulation in your living room. I started the big clothing switch out (you know, that one you do every fall when you realize your kids need a sweatshirt instead of a swimsuit?), but then got busy getting ready for company and tearing apart our living room and all my organized piles got trampled. Then Legos got dumped into the piles. Yesterday, I decided to just close the door and walk away. I’ll figure it out eventually but for now I’m going to choose to be in denial about the insanity of that room.

I can’t even look at it.

~After I posted the initial pictures of our big living room insulation project, several of you commented about our beautiful window. You’re right…it’s old and antique and beautiful! But, Matt and I decided that maybe you’d better have a closer-up picture:

Nice huh?

One day several years ago, one of our boys was whacking a wooden sword on the couch directly in front of the window. The handle suddenly detached from the “blade”. The handle stayed in his hand. The blade flew up and banged against the window. I’m not sure if he was upset that he broke the window, but he sure was sad about the sword.

Yesterday, Matt finally took out the spider web window and took it in to be replaced.  I know…we should have done it long ago, but it was a part of that whole antique beveled glass window and we had a hard time doing it (we were able to leave the top part – the pretty part). Plus, it’s been a great conversation starter. You can never have enough broken window conversation starters, right?

The weird/sentimental part of me had a bit of a hard time parting with the broken window. I never got around to putting together baby books for my kids, so that window was a part of some baby boy memories for me. Really Laura, just get out the photo albums already.

It’s okay, I’m over it.

More pictures of the living room project to come, but let’s just say that I would not be surprised if some of the dust from our plastered walls (that are now all over our floor) may have reached as far as your home and settled there. If so, please accept my humble apologies. One hundred year old plaster really does stir up the dust.

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What My Husband Needs (I mean your husband, well…you know what I mean)

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help meet

You’ve read many of the books or heard much of the “good wife” advice that I’ve heard right? That advice that states that I need to greet my husband at the door each night when he comes home from work looking refreshed and lovely because otherwise I’m not showing my love for him. Apparently I’m supposed to be wearing the sweater he loves (always) and have my hair curled and pretty (at precisely 5:05)…the house is supposed to be clean and if I’m not mistaken, I am supposed to kiss my husband for a full minute (One Mississippi, Two Mississippi…) immediately when he walks in from his hard day at work. I also need to train my children to run in and greet him (what, in the middle of our kiss?!) so that they can show their Daddy how much he means to them.

But wait, there are other books that tell me that when a man comes home from work, he needs a good bit of time to wind down before he is to be bothered. He should be allowed to go “into his cave” all by himself with no one to touch him or ask him how his day went and I am certainly not to begin telling him how my day went until he has had exactly 47 minutes (or whatever) alone in his cave and is ready to give me his full attention.

I’m not sure if I’m supposed to kiss him in the cave or not. 

Is it just me, or is there a little bit of contradictory marriage advice out there? And while I think that so many of the aforementioned ideas are great and possibly valid, I can often feel overwhelmed with all of the “good advice” and feel like I just don’t measure up because I can’t do all of those things.

I would like to suggest that each of us, as wives, need to look at what our individual husband’s needs and desires are and focus on meeting those needs.

My husband personally doesn’t care if my hair is curled and lovely when he walks in the door. (Thank goodness, since as we all know, I rarely have time to curl my hair and you will often find a good bit of flour in the wisps falling into my face.)  He actually appreciates the fact that although I do care to keep myself clean and neat (flour in the hair being an exception), I don’t spend much time primping in front of a mirror every day. He doesn’t expect the house to be perfect and he doesn’t really have a cave. He would probably love it if I kissed him for 60 whole seconds (…Twenty-Four Mississippi…) when he walks in the door, but there are usually four loud and excited children who beat me to the door and if all I’m able to do is look up from my biscuit dough with a crooked smile…he still knows I love him.

Because I show him in ways that HE needs. 

It doesn’t matter what all the other husbands need.  All that matters to me is what MY husband needs. 

It’s good to listen to advice from Godly people and to read good Christian books on marriage. There are some fantastic words of wisdom to learn from. But take that advice and communicate with your husband about what he needs from you. Knowing that you’re doing just what your husband needs feels a whole lot better than trying to meet the needs defined in a book.

And now…just because I just really want to…I’m going to find my husband and practice the infamous 60-second kiss. (…Forty-Seven Mississippi…)

How about we call it “The Kississippi”?

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Gratituesday: Our Living Room Without Walls

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gratituesday

Never have I been so excited to see furniture in disarray, thick dust everywhere and junk all over the floor. 

Matt’s dad is here for a couple of weeks, helping us tear off our living room walls so that we can insulate them!!! Do you KNOW what this means??? This means that we will not freeze in our own home this winter. This means that we will not fight for space around the fireplace, since that typically is the only warm spot in the house. This means that I won’t feel like telling company to “Come on in…I’d encourage you to keep your coat on and would you also like a blanket?”

As Matt and his dad have torn off the lathe and plaster we were not surprised to see that there was NOTHING on the other side but the siding of our 100 year old house. NO WONDER we’ve been so cold. Woohoo, it’s going to be so nice this winter!!!

Here they are this morning in the very beginning stages.

During the next two weeks or so, we’ll be living in a mess. Matt will be working on the living room in every spare moment he’s home from work and Matt’s dad will certainly be earning his keep. I’ll do my best to feed him well.

Shucks, I guess there is no pressure right now to keep my house clean, huh? I do believe I’ll take the next couple of weeks off from housecleaning.  Sort of.  There are still the bathrooms and dishes.

This picture is a little dark, but take a look at that progress. 
Never before have ugly walls looked so beautiful to me!

I am so thankful that Matt’s dad was kind enough to make a trip here (from California I might add) to help us with this big project. The truth of the matter is…if he hadn’t come…we would not have been able to get this done. What a blessing!

I’ll try to post more pictures of our progress along the way if you’re interested.

What are you thankful for this Gratituesday? Write about it 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!

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High Five Recipes: Roasted Italian Potatoes

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High Five Recipes 2

It’s been months since I posted a High Five Recipe, so just in case you’re new around here…let me introduce you to this special recipe feature we have going on. Are you ready?

It is a fact that there are lots and lots of healthy recipes you can make which only take five or less (healthy) ingredients! I’m talking about REAL INGREDIENTS too…not just “add a packet of this and stir in a can of that”.

Real ingredients, real easy recipes. I LOVE High Five Recipes! You can scroll through all of these posts to see the other High Five Recipes I’ve posted so far!

This Roasted Italian Potatoes recipe comes courtesy of my friend Anne. Remember last year when I put some of my homemade Italian Dressing Mix in her stocking? What, you don’t remember? Yes, my friend Anne and I exchange Christmas stockings. Grown-ups needs stockings too ya know. And because she and I love to live on the wild side, we put items in each others stockings that are incredibly outlandish like paper clips, pot scrubbers…and yes…Italian Dressing Mix.

Yes indeed, Anne and I create one great big rowdy party when we come together.

Anyhoo…after Anne tried the Italian Dressing Mix I had given her, she fell in love with it and keeps coming up with yummy things to make with it. She is out to prove that Italian Dressing goes way beyond tossed salad. See? Told ya she was a crazy one.

Roasted Italian PotatoesYum

3 pounds red potatoes, scrubbed (or dirty, whichever way you like ’em)
1 Tablespoon olive oil
2 teaspoons Italian dressing mix

Cut potatoes into bite sized pieces. Toss ingredients together in a bowl until the potatoes are covered with olive oil and dressing mix. Pour potatoes into a baking dish. Bake uncovered in a 350° oven for 20-30 minutes or until potatoes are tender. If you like, you can broil them for a few minutes at the end of their baking time to brown them up a bit.

Now, I am creatively thinking about what I should put in her stocking this year. Maybe some other great ingredient so she can come up with another high five recipe? Perhaps something to do with, I don’t know…chocolate???

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Menu Plan For the Week

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We had a bunch of company all weekend long and I’m a little bit on the tired side. Do you ever have that “let down” feeling after you’ve looked forward to company and prepared for company and enjoyed the company….and then they leave and all you can do is stare into outer space and try as you might, you can’t remember your own name? Weird.

As a result, I was having SUCH a hard time coming up with a menu plan for this week. After all my planning and prep for last weekend, a part of me didn’t feel AT ALL like planning for this week. Ah, but people are still waking up hungry around here…go figure. This time so that I didn’t have to think very hard to plan our meals, I just opened up a window with my Bread and Breakfast recipe ideas….and opened up another window with my Main Dishes recipe ideas. Then I just grabbed ideas off of each page that looked good and would be well balanced. That worked very well for my slow moving brain. 

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Sunday, October 10
Oatmeal, apples
Chicken veggie quesadillas, applesauce
Homemade pizza, tossed salad

Monday, October 11
Simple Soaked Pancakes, raspberries
Taco Salad, peaches
Turkey & Biscuits, tossed salad

Tuesday, October 12
Sweet Potato Streusel Muffins, bananas
Chicken Tortilla Soup, raw veggies with ranch dip
Salmon Patties, peas, oven fries

Wednesday October 13
Peanut butter honey toast, applesauce
Lasagna Casserole, tossed salad
Whole wheat waffles, blueberries

Thursday, October 14
Breakfast Burritos, oranges
Spicy Avodado Dip, kettle chips, cantaloupe
Veggie Egg Scramble, strawberry milkshake

Friday, October 15
Pumpkin Pancakes, apples
Sloppy cornbread muffins, green beans
Tacos

Saturday, October 16
Fried eggs on toast, fruit
Leftovers
Swiss Steak with rice, steamed broccoli

Visit Organizing Junkie for more menu planning inspiration!

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Remember to download your free Fall Menu Planners here!

 

 

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Crumb Topping – Premade!

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I LOVED Christy’s comment/suggestion that she left on the Healthy Fruit Crisp post regarding how she makes a Crumb Topping ahead of time:

I melt the butter, then make a huge batch of crumb topping, pop it in a freezer bag, and stick it in the freezer. It is great to have on hand since a basic crumb topping will work for coffee cake, muffins, quick breads, and fruit crisp. I figure if I already have the crumb topping done, then I am half way to a great breakfast/dessert item!

Is she the smartest or what??!

Just in case you hadn’t read that comment, I wanted to make sure you all knew of that wonderful tip. When I was making Mini Apple Pies last week, I went ahead and made a big batch of crumb topping for future use. LOVE. IT.

Yum

Here again is how I make Crumb Topping:

1/2 cup rolled oats
1/3 cup sucanat or brown sugar
1/4 cup whole wheat flour
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon (optional)
1/4 cup butter (MELTED, if you recall)
1/4 cup chopped nuts or coconut flakes (also optional)

Mix together oats, sucanat, flour and cinnamon. Stir in melted butter and joy upon joy, it creates crumbs with little to no effort. Add nuts or coconut flakes.

Just double or triple or quadrupal…or whatever…the recipe and have it ready to go!

I’ve learned so many great ideas from so many of you. I sure am glad all of you are so smart!

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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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Cooking Ahead for October

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Why does it always feel funny writing the phrase “cooking ahead…”? Have I just lived with boys for too long, or does it sound like I’m actually cooking-a-head? Yuck. I promise I’m not.

Yes, I know you were all concerned about that.

Now that we got all that cleared up, I’ll show you some pictures of the progress I’ve made over the past few days getting food made up to have on hand for this month. Like I mentioned here, we will have a lot of company this month. In an effort to ENJOY my company, I’ve got the majority of our main dishes and a few miscellaneous food items all made up and ready to pull out when needed. (More about hospitality and enjoying company in my new podcast Friday!)

You are all aware that my house has been run over by an apple truck, right? About the time I think I’m finished making applesauce and apple pie filling…more apples fall from the sky. My fingers are all brown in their crevices. It’s attractive.  I went real nuts one day and made two pans of Mini Apple Pies, a big apple pie and some Apple Pie Pockets. Oh, these are SO well worth the effort!!

I made a triple batch of Sloppy Joe Meat as Sloppy Joes are a wonderful quick meal to feed company. As long as I remember to get the dish out of the freezer to thaw, of course.

Mmmm, fresh whole wheat tortillas. We ate half of these right off the skillet as tacos, then I put the rest in the fridge for a quick meal of quesadillas.

There is something VERY not cute about the following picture. Raw meat in a pot…not so appetizing. However, I’m showing it to you anyway because you NEED to know how wonderful it is to make up a huge batch of Turkey Sausage to have on hand for breakfast casseroles or sausage-egg scrambles, or especially now for these Pancake-Sausage Muffins. The thing is, making this Turkey Sausage is a little tedious because you have to get out about 40 herbs and spices (give or take). If I’m going to do it in the first place, I’d rather do a bunch…and all the work of emptying and reloading my spice cabinet is worth it.

There it is…all browned up. I did six pounds of Turkey Sausage, then froze it in ten different containers. TEN meals ALL ready to go. Oh yes, that was time well spent.

I used some of the cooked turkey sausage to make a double batch of Pancake-Sausage Muffins. I think we may be addicted to these little treasures. Only a few of them actually made it into the freezer…

I plan to serve several salads to my guests, so I made three jars of salad dressing:  Italian, Ranch and Thousand Island. Can I have three cheers for easy, healthy dressings that don’t contain any HFCS!!! But hey…what happened to all the  Italian?

Because having cookies on hand when you have company is a must…or simply because I wanted one…I made a batch of Whole Wheat Chocolate Chip Cookies.

I still have to finish putting together a lasagna. I have the meat browned, so all I have to do is layer it up and put it in the fridge. And I didn’t get Mudballs made like I had planned. I DID get a triple batch of BBQ Meatballs made, but the pictures turned out scary so I won’t post them.

Now, I need to go vacuum my ceilings and walls.

I wish I was kidding.

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Gratituesday: Miraculous Healing

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gratituesday

Two weeks ago Chip, a friend of ours from college, was found unconscious in his car, two hours after he’d suffered a heat stroke. His body temperature was over 107°. It was absolutely horrific and I didn’t think he was going to make it.

Oh me of little faith.

For several long days, it seemed that he might not wake up, and I was terrified for his family.

Oh me of little faith.

Even if he did wake up, I feared that he may not have brain function.

Oh me of little faith.

Even if he did have brain function, I feared that he might never be able to breathe on his own again.

Oh me of little faith.

Even if he could breathe on his own again, I feared that he may not be able to communicate.

Oh me of little faith.

Even if he could communicate again, I feared that he may not have his memory or even recognize his wife and little girl.

Oh me of little faith.

We don’t know what Chip’s future holds, but one thing is for sure:  God can work miracles and I absolutely believe He worked a miracle in our friend Chip. Every day  he makes wonderful progress. It truly is amazing (and I don’t use that word lightly). GOD is amazing.

Chip’s wife Lisa has been an absolute ROCK through this trial, completely relying on her Savior for comfort and hope. I have learned so much from Lisa during the past two weeks. I believe all of us who are blessed to be able to call Lisa our friend have learned something about strength through Jesus as we watch her cry out to Him and place her trust in Him.

I have cried and prayed over her facebook page every night as I check in to see how their day has gone. I have been so absolutely grateful to her local church family and friends who live close by and are feeding her, taking care of their little girl, holding her, praying with her, worshipping with her – doing what I can’t do physically because we live too far away. 

I continue to cry each time I check Lisa’s facebook page. But this time, the tears are tears of joy. My prayers are prayers of thanks and praise. God truly has worked a miracle in the lives of our friends.

I have once again been reminded that no matter what I might fear, God is bigger. I have seen once again that even if a situation looks impossible, with God all things are possible. My faith has been shaken. Shaken and stretched. Shaken and stretched and made stronger.

Today, I’m not sure what I’m more grateful for:  the fact that Chip is on his way to healing…or the fact that I now understand more about having faith that moves mountains.

Or how about I’m just extremely and humbly grateful for both?

What are you thankful for this Gratituesday? Write about it 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!

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

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