Heavenly Homemakers

Encouraging women in homemaking, healthy eating and parenting

Family Vacation, Part 2

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Stopping to pick blueberries on our way to the wedding in Michgan was so much fun that we decided to stop at another U-Pick farm on our way home. This time, we got to ride on a hay wagon to a huge orchard of peach trees!

Asa, the teenager, ate more than he picked. I think he couldn’t help it.

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Oh my, he’s still eating.

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Now he’s got his brother in on the act. (Malachi may not have wanted me to take this picure, what do you think?)

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We couldn’t resist having all the men stick their heads into the fruits/vegetables for a picture. I was laughing so hard I could hardly hold the camera still to take the picture. Something about seeing a corn cob with a goatee gave me the giggles.

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That apparently wasn’t funny enough…so we had to throw in silly faces.

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Good grief. Now the teenager is eating the watermelon made of wood. Wait Asa! Really, honey. Mama will get you something else to eat.

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We came away from this farm with a lovely basket of peaches…most of which are just now becoming ripe enough to eat!! Yes, I can be seen frequently standing at my kitchen sink with peach juice running down my chin. 

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So, let’s review. We went to a U-Pick Blueberry Farm. Then we went to a U-Pick Peach Farm.

Next up…a U-Pick Chocolate Farm?!  :)

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Cooking Ahead for August

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It’s coming…and I’m bracing myself. I’ve been doing everything I can to prepare and be organized so that I won’t be stressed and short tempered with my boys. Not that I would ever be short tempered with my boys. Ugh, I do try not to be short tempered with my precious angels who leave their stinky shoes in the middle of my kitchen floor so that I can stub my toe on them while I’m trying to cook and fill their constantly hungry bellies. I try.

So what’s coming, you ask? Just a very busy couple of months, that’s all. August and September are two months of very,very hard work while I do a lot of canning and preserving in the midst of beginning our school year and running to lots of soccer games. I absolutely love this time of year, but it can sometimes get hectic.

As soon as I finished writing and putting together Learn Your Letters, Learn to Serve Curriculum Kit, I saw that I had about three weeks before we were going to start our school year. (We like to start in early August at our house.)  I decided that during the last part of July, I would prepare a bunch of freezer foods, stock up on items like canned salmon and tuna for easy meals and order meat from our local farm source so that I’d have a full freezer and plenty of meal options. I even pulled out Do the Funky Kitchen and read it again so that I could get my kitchen organized an in order! Anything that I could do ahead of time to prepare for this busy season, I did. I think. I’m pretty sure I forgot a few things.

Anyway, my pantry and freezers are well stocked so that putting meals on the table during the next few weeks will be easy and quick. I am excited now to begin a new school year with the boys! (More details on our school year coming soon.)

Here are some pictures of the food I prepared and froze during the last part of July:

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Strawberry Bread – Pictured above is the unbaked version. Isn’t it a pretty pink?!

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Mini Pizzas, using this Pizza Pockets recipe…
I’ll be able to just pop a few of these into our toaster oven to bake up while we finish our morning school-work.

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Whole Wheat Waffles – ready to be re-heated in our toaster oven for a quick breakfast or dinner.

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Whole Wheat Sourdough Biscuits – I may use these for turkey/cheese melts…or I may grab some turkey sausage I have pre-made in the freezer to make some quick gravy to pour over them. NOBODY would complain if I made biscuits and gravy. :)

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Sloppy Joes and Meat and Cheese Burritos

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Whole Wheat and Honey Zucchini Bread

In addition, I’ve got these items stashed in my freezer:

I also started a new gallon sized batch of Homemade Vanilla, which as you can see, will be finished “extracting” in January! I didn’t get “carded” this time when I was buying my gallon of vodka. Sniff.  Do you think that means I look older than 21 now? ;)

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Call me a nerd (go ahead – you know you want to), but I purchased a whole bunch of canning lids and put all of my canning supplies into a basket and put the basket on top of my fridge. That way, I know where everything is and I have it all ready to go each time I’m ready to can a new batch of something. I may be one of the only people who think that canning supplies in a basket is…cute.

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Okay, so food (lots and lots of food)? Check.  Schoolbooks? Check. Canning supplies? Check.

Oh good grief…where are the soccer cleats?

I knew I forgot something.

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Family Vacation, Part 1

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I have quite a few pictures to share from our trip to Michigan. Here’s something funny:  We went to Michigan for a wedding. I took no pictures of the wedding. Sometimes I amaze myself. 

Matt and I decided that since we were taking the time off to travel so far, we would turn this trip into a vacation. We took our time on our way there and back, stopping along the way to make memories. 

One of the first things we did was stop just inside the state of Michigan to pick blueberries!!!!!

Pardon me for gushing like an idiot…but you have to realize that blueberries don’t really grow well in Nebraska. We’ve picked and eaten our fair share of fresh strawberries and raspberries. But blueberries? We’ve never even seen a blueberry bush before. 

I can NOT even tell you how much fun the six of us had. The weather was perfect. The kids all cooperated. The blueberries tasted fantastic!!

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After Malachi (age 5) got tired of picking berries, we handed him the camera. He took this picture…

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And this one…

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Matt and I had to tear ourselves away from the field. The whole time we were picking, I could NOT stop smiling. It was one of those family moments that is everything you dream of, you know? 

We finally stopped after we had no less than ten pounds of blueberries. Do you know how much all those berries cost? $17.00.  Are you KIDDING? I’ve paid $3.00 for a tiny half pint of blueberries before and the taste wasn’t even comparable!!! $17.00 for all those berries was the best deal ever!! 

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Cost for one of the most fun family moments ever? Priceless.

After we left the Blueberry Farm, we traveled a few more hours to spend some time with some friends we used to be in the ministry with in Colorado. We hadn’t seen each other for eight years and it was just wonderful to visit and catch up.

Oh, and you might be interested to know that on our drive to their house, we all sat in the van consuming blueberries like there was no tomorrow. We tried to stop eating…really we did. 

And then I dropped a blueberry on my seat. I looked and looked for that blueberry, both because I didn’t want to waste even one delicious blueberry…and because I really did not want to sit on said delicious blueberry. I never did find the silly thing.

Oh, until we pulled up to our friend’s house and I got out of the van. There was the blueberry squished all over the seat of my pants. Grrrr. It was so not cute.

Thankfully, our friends let me in anyway.

Here I am with my lovely friend Jill. Incidentally, she’s the lady who taught me how to make homemade vanilla!

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After a wonderful (but too short) visit, we got ready to leave. Ah, but wait! The boys discovered that our friends had a cool hanging-upside-down contraption and just had to try it out!

And yeah, they insisted that Mom try it too.

There I was all locked up and helpless…and Matt started clicking away on the camera. Stinker.

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Good thing you can’t see my squished blueberry stain.

Stop looking, you really can’t see it in this picture.

Coming up next…we visit a Peach Picking Farm!

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Gratituesday: A Real Vacation

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We are just pulling back into town after a five day (LONG) trip to Michigan! Matt performed the wedding ceremony for one of the sweetest couples on earth, which is what took us so far north.

I will admit it:  I was not looking forward to the trip. I was looking forward to the wedding and I was looking forward to staying with our friends in MI…otherwise…I was sort of dreading the getaway.

I don’t like spending money on gas and hotels. I don’t like sitting in a van for hours. I don’t like compromising what we like to eat for days on end. I just like being home. I’m a stick in the mud when it comes to travel…and this summer has been FULL of travel!

I now completely and totally take back everything I ever felt about traveling. Before we left, I talked myself into relaxing and calling this a “VACATION”. Why do I have to talk myself into these things? I pre-wrote posts and set them up to show up on my blog each day without me needing to be on the computer. I got the house clean, packed food, made an inexpensive hotel reservation for our stop on the way there. 

And then I relaxed.

You can’t see me right now…but my face is beaming. I just spent HOURS of car time talking with my husband. Do you know what hours of time talking to your husband will do for a gal’s disposition? We NEVER have enough time to just talk…and oh we just talked and talked. The boys were fabulous riders and only argued a little bit about whose turn it was for the laptop. ;)

We not only enjoyed a wonderful wedding, but we were able to spend time with people we haven’t seen in years. We stopped along the way and did some things we’ve never done. Wow, it was absolutely awesome!

I’ll tell you more about all the wonderful fun as soon as I unpack my camera. And catch up on laundry. Okay, I’ll share the fun before I catch up on laundry, because you’re likely to not want to wait that long. ;)

For now, I’ll just tell you how grateful I am for an incredible getaway filled with joy and memory-making for our family. It truly was a vacation.

(Ooh, and it just so happens that this Gratituesday is my birthday! Friends are coming over for lunch, which is a perfect welcome home for us!)

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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Healthy Beverages

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I’ve encouraged you to knock out the soda/pop/coke…whatever you call it. I’ve encouraged you to drink more water. But is there anything you can drink besides water that isn’t bad for you?!

First, I need to remind you that if I can kick my Pepsi habit…anyone can. I used to drink a ton of the stuff. While it’s super hard to give it up…I can testify that it is 100% worth it. 

Now I mostly just drink water or raw milk (more about raw milk eventually in this series!). But occasionally I do have a few other drinks that I consider to be treats:

  • Iced Green Tea   I don’t drink tea very often, but I love it as a treat if we ever eat out…or occasionally I’ll make it at home. I drink it straight…I am not a sweet tea kind of girl. I do like the occasional lemon wedge. (See, I just sometimes like to go ALL out, huh?)  If you do like your tea sweetened, you might try liquid stevia or honey as natural alternatives to sugar. Also, I’d think putting a little bit of 100% juice into the tea might be fun.

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  • Homemade Lemonade or Limeade  Ooh, this stuff is refreshing and SO delicious (uh, if I do say so myself). It can get a little pricey though since it’s sweetened with real maple syrup. We have this very infrequently…definitely not often enough according to my children.

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  • Mineral Water with 100% Juice   Okay, THIS is what gives me my “soda fix”. You know what I miss most about my Pepsi? The burn.  I just love the fizzy burn of soda. Loved. Past tense. I loved the burn of soda.  I miss the burn. Sometimes now I splurge on mineral water and put in just a shot of 100% juice (grape is my favorite). I usually mix about one part grape juice to 4 parts mineral water. Ooh, the burn is so good. If you’re used to drinking soda, this mixture will likely not taste at all sweet enough for you. However, if you haven’t had soda for a while, you may find that this is just the treat you’ve been looking for. I even find now that the less juice the better. Of course…I’m really just going for the burn. ;)

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  • Kombucha    I’ve just recently fallen in LOVE with kombucha! It kinda took a few weeks to make myself like it…but now I love it! It’s a little bit fizzy and really refreshing on a hot day. And it is a super healthy, probiotic drink! Right now, a friend of mine and I have a lovely arrangement worked out:  I buy the supplies…she makes the kombucha and shares it with me. We both win! Eventually (although I make no promises that it will be any time soon), I’ll try to go take pictures of her making it and share the process with you. It isn’t hard…I’ve done it before.

Now, I am excited to share a wonderful comment that my friend Serenity left on a post several months ago. I thought it was so awesome to read about how her husband gave up coffee…and to hear about how much BETTER HE FEELS!!! Here’s what Serentity had to say…

My husband is an RN and had a coffee addiction for YEARS. He finally quit this winter when he got the flu and I can not believe how it has changed him. First, he is no longer tired. He was drinking coffee to stay awake (he works nights) but he has found that without caffeine he is actually much more alert and less tired. Second, right after quitting coffee he felt so good that he started exercising. Now he runs 3 times a week for 4-5 miles and lifts weights twice a week. He looks AWESOME! For the first time in our marriage he jumps out of bed each morning ready to conquer the day. For the past ten years I had been bringing him a cup of coffee every morning to wake him up and I would have to coax him out of bed. I am loving my energetic, motivated husband :)

What are some of your favorite, healthier drinks?

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Menu Plan for the Week…sort of

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This is a very busy week, which means that I don’t have time to create a nice, detailed menu plan. Instead, here’s a list I came up with of food I’ll make whichever day I decide to make it!

I’ll probably try to get some bread baked this week so that we can sometimes have peanut butter-honey sandwiches!

Hopefully I’ll get my act in gear and create a better menu plan next week!

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Wedding Memories – Question #68

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This weekend, we are attending the wedding of a girl near and dear to our hearts. She is marrying a wonderful young man and we couldn’t be happier for both of them.

As I’ve been putting together our wedding clothes (Yikes! Do my boys have ANY nice pants without holes in them?!), my own wedding has been on my mind. Matt and I are going on 16 years (awwwww). All those wedding details were so important to me 16 years ago when I was planning my wedding and I knew I would never forget any of them. 

Yeah, I forgot. 

I can not remember the song playing when our grandparents walked down to the aisle. I can barely remember who was in attendance (um, if you happened to be one of the people that came, of course I remember that you were there). I can barely even remember who all was in our wedding party until I carefully look at the pictures. Good grief. 

What I do remember is the look on Matt’s face as I started walking down the aisle. And how my dad could hardly perform the ceremony because he was crying too much. And how Matt and I were also crying the entire time and we only had one sorry little kleenex to share between the two of us. 

I remember how beautiful my mom looked. And how beautiful her voice sounded when she sang (our family had pre-recorded many of the songs played during the ceremony). 

I remember that the best man seemed to have “misplaced” my ring in an effort to freak out the bride. I’ve mostly forgiven him. ;)

I remember how happy and excited I was when we were pronounced “Mr. and Mrs. Matt Coppinger”!!!!! 

I remember that our colors were navy blue and rose. I still love those colors.

So, I have a very simple question for you if you care to share:  What were the colors you used in your wedding? (Or if you aren’t married yet, what are the colors you might like to use someday?)  And…if you remember any other details about your wedding, we’d love to hear them!

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Inexpensive and Fun Summer Activities: A Guest Post

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Please welcome Jolene of A Random Woman’s Life. She has four boys and has some wonderful ideas to make summer time a blast!

Summer is here and I have the daunting but delightful task of entertaining 4 young boys day after day. My sons range in age from 3 – 9 years of age and their interests are just as varied. I often find myself struggling to find ways to engage and entertain all four at the same time, especially on rainy days. 

I know there are a multitude of craft type projects I could do and that would work for a little while. However, one thing I have learned about my boys is that their attention span for craft type projects is limited. They are boys…they need physical activity. They are not content with being motionless for very long. A Disney movie is about their limit and even then we don’t always make it through a whole film before we start to squirm and complain of boredom. I took them to one of those indoor inflatable playgrounds one day with some friends and their sons – 10 boys in total – and within an hour and a half my eldest was complaining of boredom. So what’s a mom to do? 

  Here are some of the frugal things I have found to do. See if similar events/specials are available in your area.

~    Visit the local nature center. There are usually a number of trails that you can walk on, some paved some not. Take pictures and put them in a special scrapbook.

~    Check out your local library for free playgroups, or reading program which challenges the children to read a designated amount of hours in order to earn some prizes.

~    I have found a number of free music nights and free movie nights in nearby parks. Some are weekly events, some are monthly but most allow you to bring your own treats and beverages so you can make an evening out of it. 

~    Try a monthly home movie night when a new family friendly movie is released on DVD. It helps if you can find someone who has already purchased the movie and borrow it from them for movie night. Make homemade pizza and popcorn, turn down the lights and off you go! 

~    Potluck play dates. Get a few of your friends with children together at a local park. Make it after lunchtime if possible then you only need to bring a snack to share and some beverages.

~    Join a local moms group. Most have a yearly cost around $20 – $30 for memberships. Many also have regular kids activities. A great way for your children and you to make some new friends. Two sites to start with to find a group(s) near you:  www.weplaygroup.com   &  http://moms.meetup.com

~    Try Letterboxing. LETTERBOXING is an intriguing pastime combining navigational skills and rubber stamp artistry in a charming “treasure hunt” style outdoor quest. A wide variety of adventures can be found to suit all ages and experience levels. Basically you get clues to find a box or container in your area in a public place such as a park. The containers usually have some goodies to look at as well as a place for you to place your own special family stamp and sign the book, putting it all back in place for the next group to find. A great place to get started is www.letterboxing.org  Your family can take a trip to your local craft store and pick out a great stamp & fun inkpad to use in your adventures!

~    Catch lightning bugs! Get a jar or two together and have your little ones catch them at dusk…pair that with making s’mores and you have a great and nearly free night of entertaining, just don’t forget to release the little bugs so you can catch them again another night!

~    Back yard camp. If the thought of going to a campground is not all that appealing, or if time is an issue, camp out for a night in your backyard! Cook out on the grill or fire pit, have a cooler full of drinks, grab your flashlights & sleeping bags and pitch the tent. You get the ambiance of camping with the comforts of home nearby in case they are needed.

With some imagination and input from your kids you are sure to find some fun, easy and frugal ways to entertain the entire family!

Be sure to visit Jolene at A Random Woman’s Life!

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Clean Air?

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When is the last time you changed the air filter in your heater/air conditioner? Can’t remember? Yes, I understand. We’ve been the same way. I can hear some of you right now. “You mean we’re supposed to CHANGE those?!” 

Yes, you see, nasty stuff gets pulled in through your duct work and the handy-dandy filter catches it before it gets to your heating/air system. If the filter gets too full of the nasty stuff, the system gets bogged down and is way less efficient. (I don’t know about you, but when I get bogged down, I am also way less efficient.)  ;)

Maybe some of you have some sort of plan in place to remember when it’s time to change the filter in your heating and air unit, but I’m guessing that the majority of us don’t. For us, it is hardly even on our radar of things to think about. There are SO MANY THINGS to think about every day, you know?

And then when we finally do think about it, we have to figure out what size filter we need and figure out who carries the filter we use, and it’s just sort of a headache. 

We’ve recently been in contact with Prime Time Filters.com. They are a fantastic company for many reasons, but the best one is that they take all of the brain cell usage out of changing your air filter! I don’t know about you, but I feel very maxed-out on my brain cell usage. Please, please don’t make me keep track of one more thing!!! Prime Time Filters becomes your brain when it comes to changing your air filter! Hallelujah!! 

Here’s how it works:  You create a subscription with Prime Time Filters. You let them know what variety of filter you need and how often you need to change your filter. You let them know the size you need. THEN, Prime Time Filters (your new air filter brain!) will automatically send you the filter at the designated time. It comes right to your door step without you having to order it or think or anything. Then, when the nice delivery man hands it to you, you realize that it is now time to change your air filter. You change it, and then you promptly forget all about air filters because, thanks to Prime Time Filters, you are now able to free your brain cells to remember other important facts (like the names of your children). You will not have to think about changing your air filter again until another one arrives on your door step a few months later according to the time frame you set up in your subscription with Prime Time Filters. What a lovely (and clean) concept!

Not only does Prime Time Filters make changing your air filter incredibly convenient, they are affordable. Ooh, and you know what else they do? They allow you to set up a subscription for someone else…like your parents or grandparents or an elderly neighbor who needs the service but might not be able to set it up themselves. 

I love that Prime Time Filters is a family owned and operated company. I’ve worked with them both via email and over the phone and they are kind, helpful and knowledgeable. We had a stink of a time figuring out what filter size we needed. They worked patiently with us and were finally able to figure out the exact size. These people know what they’re doing.

Here’s what the owner of the Prime Time Filters has to say:

The biggest reason people are signing up for the service is the convenience but they are quickly recognizing the benefits of cleaner air, less dust, lower utility bills and peace of mind because we’ve taken the headache out of this important task.

I highly recommend that you check out Prime Time Filters because on so many levels, they make it possible for you to breathe easier. ;)

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Gratituesday: REJOICE!!

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gratituesday

I know I just talked about Asa and how proud we are of him LAST Gratituesday…but he becomes the topic again this week. ;)

Asa came home from camp with a lot on his mind. He spent a lot of time talking one-on-one with Matt. He kept finding ways to just hang out with me in the kitchen. He had a lot to talk about. It’s a pretty awesome thing when your teenager wants to spend lots of time with you.

Asa was ready to make a commitment.

And so on Wednesday, with many of our family and friends there with us, Matt baptized Asa…

(It’s very hard to hear anything Matt is saying…but it sure is wonderful to watch!)

I’m not sure I ever wore a smile as big as the one I wore on Wednesday night. We are so proud of Asa and thankful for his commitment to being a part of God’s kingdom. It’s a great time for rejoicing!

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!

Join us for Gratituesday at Heavenly Homemakers!

Heavenly Homemaker's Club Members: Access your homepage and all your fantastic resources here! Not a member yet? Please join us!