Heavenly Homemakers

Encouraging women in homemaking, healthy eating and parenting

Gratituesday: It’s (almost) FINISHED!!! And I’m Giving One Away!

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I am SO excited to tell you that the project I’ve been working on for hours and hours lately is ALMOST (but not quite) finished!!! The only pieces left are the final tedious editing and perfecting of details. In the meantime, I’ve decided that I’m dedicating this Gratituesday to tell you about it because seriously, you have NO idea how excited and thankful I am to be almost finished with this project and to almost be able to offer it to you!

Many of you suggested that perhaps I was working on a book…not an ebook…but a book, book. Oh, how honored I was to hear you say that you’d be so excited if indeed I was working on a book! Thank you so much.  That’s not what I’ve been working on, but someday…someday. It is a goal of mine…one I’ve shared with only a few people. But others in my life have encouraged it…and now you are encouraging it…so yes…someday. When God tells me that the time is right and when He opens all the right doors. Thank you so much for your encouragement. You truly humble me.

What I HAVE been working on though is a little tool for you to use with your kids. And by little tool, I really mean a 240+ page tool. Not at all little, actually. I began this project back in 2008. I had the idea to share with you in ebook form something that had worked very well for us when we had a bunch of little preschool aged fellas running around. It was something that we came up with to help us teach our kids the preschool basics…but more importantly…it was something we did as a family to serve other families and individuals around the community.

We focused on one alphabet letter each week and did all kinds of fun activities centered around that particular letter. But our main focus each week was thinking about people or families we knew whose name began with the letter we were studying. Toward the end of the week, we had a special surprise for several people. For instance, during Mm week, we delivered Mini Muffins to the Millers, to our friend Mark and to Mrs. Moses. We included a nice card explaining that they were a part of our Alphabet Blessings project and thanked them for letting us serve them. Usually we were all able to sit down and enjoy a nice visit together for a few minutes.

It was a HUGE joy to do this as a family and we have so many wonderful memories of our years doing this with our little guys. It was, of course, also a wonderful way to help them learn their letters and letter sounds!

And so, in 2008, I began putting some of these ideas into an ebook for you. Within the past two years, the little ebook grew into something much more. So much more in fact, I got completely overwhelmed with it and felt like it was too huge to ever finish. I would work on it for a while, then put it aside feeling like I would NEVER be able to get it done. It had evolved from a small ebook idea into a complete comprehensive curriculum package full of ideas, worksheets, Bible work, picture tutorials…..oh so much.

My husband is the reason this project is almost finished.  He saw it for what it was…saw how many hours I had put into it…saw how close it was to being completed. He encouraged me to finish, he said he would help. And now here it is, with over 35 recipes, more than 65 crafts, experiments and other projects, Bible lessons and memory verses! It’s full of pictures and instructions. It’s full of games and challenges.  And most importantly, it’s loaded with ideas to inspire you and your young ones to serve others together.

learnyourletters

By God’s grace and with the help and encouragement of my family…this downloadable curriculum kit is almost complete.  I am overwhelmed with gratitude.  That is why I am sharing this on Gratituesday.

While I’ve never mixed Gratituesday with a Giveaway before…I’m so excited that today I’m breaking my rules!! :)  If you are interested in winning a Learn Your Letters, Learn To Serve Curriculum Kit, leave a comment letting me know of your interest! In addition, you are welcome to leave additional comments if you tweet, facebook or blog about this kit and the giveaway. 

Thank you all so much for your encouragement as I have plugged away at this project. The giveaway will end and the Curriculum Kit will be offered for sale in just a few days…just as soon as the final tweaking is completed. Can I just way…WOOHOOOOOOO!!!! Thank you Lord!

Just so you know, this curriculum kit is not just for homeschoolers. Not even close! My intent was to make it usable for any and every family with young children…or for teachers, grandparents…anyone! There are SO many more details to share…but I’ll wait and share them once it is all complete and in my shop! I’ll even be offering a small sampling of the kit for free, just so you can have a taste of what it’s like.

In addition to leaving comments for chances to win this giveaway, please do let me know what you’re grateful for either by commenting or by blogging and linking up with us here!

THIS GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED!! :)  YOU CAN PURCHASE THE CURRICULUM KIT HERE!

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That bad, huh?

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I’ve been on the computer almost non-stop for days. 

Must…finish…project…

I’m actually really (mostly) enjoying it, especially as I see how this project that I started almost two years ago and set aside, thinking that I never would get it done…is really and truly almost finished!!!!!  Thanks to Matt’s urging. He saw it for what it was…something that many of you could really use and appreciate.

So, sixteen hours a day times how many days equals way too much time on the computer at one time. 

Which leads me to this question:  What do you think this is?

too_much_writing

No, not the pencil…the other little thingy there beside the pencil?

It has something to do with how tired I was getting as I stared at the screen.

Here’s a closer-up picture (don’t question my grammar, I’ve been at the computer for WAY too long to come up with real words):

too_much_writing_two

Figure it out yet?

Yes, those are indeed the contact lenses I was wearing on the whichevereth day of being at the computer for too many hours. I just didn’t have the strength to get up out of my chair and go upstairs to take them out properly. And they could NOT stay in my eyeballs for one more minute.

I had Asa bring my glasses to me, and I just plucked those suckers out and tossed them on the table.

And then just I kept right on working.

I didn’t think a thing of it until several hours later when I was trying to clean up part of my mess. I was wiping off the table…and there they were…in all their blobby glory.

And then in my delirium, I got way too tickled and giggly over the fact that really…I had just grabbed my contacts out of my eyes in between typing words, threw them on the table beside my computer and just carried on with my life without blinking. Er, well…I would imagine that I did blink a time or two as I took them out…but you know what I mean.

Only a crazy woman would do this…and then later take a picture of them and share them with her blog reader friends. Welcome to my crazy world, people.

Well anyway, I’m pretty sure that I had given thought to the fact that this particular pair of contacts was on its last leg anyway and that I needed to get out a new pair. (I wear disposable, the kind that last two weeks.)  Right? Surely I was at least thinking clearly about that, wasn’t I? Because I think this particular pair of two week contacts was around three weeks old. 

And on that note…I do believe it’s time for me to turn off the computer for a day or two. I’ve accomplished much. I’ve pushed myself a little more toward insanity. And now I’m taking a break. 

The project is almost done anyway. :)

I’ll see ya Sunday. Or Monday. Or whenever I decide to put a new pair of contacts in.

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Tiny Tee Designs Giveaway

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Yes…or No? Do you think Malachi is proud of his Tiny Tee Shirt?

malachi_tshirt

Lindsy, who owns Tiny Tee Designs, sent it just for him…and yes…he is very proud of it. So proud in fact, he’s been very careful not to wipe his grimy hands on it during lunch. This is amazing.

Lindsy also sent a couple of her adorable baby onsies for me to have on hand for the next couple of baby showers I attend. I love them all…but just check out this one with the tie. Baby can look just like a tiny business man in that one!

These onsies and t-shirts are very reasonably priced and great quality. These aren’t the kind that shrink or look dingy after one wear! Malachi’s worn his several times and it still looks great! 

Did I mention that he’s proud of his shirt?

malachi_tshirt_2

Lindsy would like to give away any one item from her shop…anything you choose…even a custom design shirt! Head on over to Tiny Tee Designs and take a look around. Come on back here and let us know what you might be interested in! I’ll choose a random winner on Monday, July 5.

To enter the giveaway:

  • Leave a comment here letting us know what you would be interested in winning from Tiny Tee Designs.
  • Be a Facebook fan (or like or whatever) of Heavenly Homemakers and/or Tiny Tee Designs.
  • Blog about, tweet, or share on facebook about this giveaway…sharing the link to this post.

Leave a SEPARATE comment for each entry please!!

Now, go check out Tiny Tee Designs!

This giveaway is now closed…thanks!

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Freezer Cooking for July

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Um, first let me say that it felt very weird typing “July” just now. Really? July already? Weird.

Anyway, Freezer Cooking for July.

I’ll be doing a little extra cooking this week to try to stock pile some grab and eat foods.

Here’s a list of food I’m hoping to make and freeze (or eat) during the next few days:

It may take me a few days to get all of these foods made up. I just so happen to be in the middle of a huge, very big, gigantic, enormous project that I hope many of you will find interesting. If, that is, I EVER in my long leg-ged life get it finished! Matt is helping me. The boys are helping me. I’ve been getting very little else done but hours and hours of sitting at the computer…

I’m excited to tell you about it within the next few days if I can at least get one more tiny (big) thing finished enough to show you. 

But let’s just say that having some of the above foods prepared ahead would be a good idea so that as I’m working away on the computer, the boys have something besides watermelon chunks or bread crumbs to eat. 

Anyone care to take a guess about what I might be working on? I’ve mentioned it here before, but it’s been a while.  ;)

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Vanilla Stickers

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Lookie what came in the mail!!

I ordered some pretty stickers to put on my homemade vanilla extract bottles from Delight Design and I LOVE them!! Aren’t they pretty?!

vanilla

Be sure to check out Delight Design if you are in the process of making vanilla!

I, also, love these pretty labels that my friend makes! They are customizable, and come in several fun designs!

And now…I’m totally hungry for homemade vanilla ice cream. ;)

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Gratituesday: Oh, The Irony

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gratituesday

Whelp, just when I’ve blogged about cell phones and how I don’t need one…I am now devoting an entire Gratituesday post to the fact that I am very much, ever so thankful for my tracfone.

I have spent the past few hours of my life trying to connect my internet. It went out suddenly in the early evening, and I tried every trick I know to connect it again. When I picked up the phone to call my Internet provider, I realized that my phone was out too.

Many thoughts raced through my head at that point. First, that it wouldn’t be such a big deal to not put up a new post tonight…except that it’s Gratituesday and I didn’t want to leave you all hanging. Second, that I needed to somehow get ahold of someone with internet service so that I could borrow their computer and get a Gratituesday post up.

But oh yeah, I also didn’t have a vehicle. Matt’s truck is in the shop and he had the van at work.

So, no Internet, no phone, no vehicle.

I felt a few moments of panic. But only a few. Good grief, in the grand scheme of life, these things are merely silly inconveniences.

Still…it’s not a fun feeling that you have no way to get ahold of anyone. And of course dumb things went through my head like, what if someone cut my connection and they knew Matt was working late and, and… Yeah, dumb. Why does my imagination get the best of me sometimes? 

Then, I remembered that I had a tracfone. With it, I was able to call our phone/Internet company and talk to hundreds and hundreds of recordings. I used up a bunch of my pre-paid minutes pressing three to hear more options. But, within a few hours, repairs should be made (according to the recording I listened to after I pushed two, or was it four?). I never did talk to a live person, but those robot ladies talking to me in monotone sure were nice.

Anyway, I also called Matt and let him know the scoop. As soon as the restaurant closed, he came and picked us up and here I am on his computer while he does paperwork in the other room. The boys are hanging out enjoying bonus time with Daddy and the fact that they get to stay up super late tonight. 

I am very thankful that when I needed it, my tracfone  was there for me. That’s exactly why I got it, for times of desperation…and so that I could (for a long, long time) listen to computerized voices telling me to chose a number option.

If you’d like to leave a Gratituesday link of your own, press two now.

Just kidding. But, I really do hope that you write about what you’re grateful for and link up with 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!

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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Drink More Water!!

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simplesteps

Ah yes…we hear this one all the time. They say, “Each person needs at least eight – 8 ounce glasses of water each day.” I’m not sure who “they” is, but no matter. Drinking lots of water is essential for good health!

Some of you may not really enjoy drinking water, so you may not like my next statement:  I don’t agree with “they”. I don’t really think that eight – 8 ounce glasses of water is enough.  That’s ONLY two quarts. I drink that amount before 10 am. If I was only drinking two quarts of water each day, I think my body would be dehydrated. But what do I know? I just know what my body craves…I don’t know anything scientific. And by the way, I’m not really drinking the water because I feel thirsty. I just feel the need for water. I just feel better when I drink a lot of water.

If you don’t really like drinking water, can I just offer you a challenge to suck it up (literally) and drink it anyway? Water is so, so good for you. Your cells need hydration to function properly. There are toxins in your body that need to be flushed out. Your body craves water.

watersm

If you are feeling low on energy…it may be because you aren’t drinking enough water. Simple as that.

In my opinion, drinking lots of water is one of the simplest steps toward healthy eating. And the stinkin’ cheapest. If you’ve made the decision to eat a healthier diet and you’re working to add more fruits and vegetables in each day…try now to drink more water. Force yourself to do it if you have to at first. Before long, you won’t even have to try. Your body will beg for it and you’ll just do it.

Water is basically all I drink (with a few exceptions that I’ll talk about another time soon). I keep a full glass by the sink all day long and I chug the entire thing whenever the mood strikes me. I love it. And yes, I potty a lot. (whoa, too much information.)

Here are some tips for drinking more water:

  • I like drinking my water at room temperature (or just a little cooler than that…like cold tap water). If the water has been in the fridge, I tend to get brain freeze when it’s going down, which makes me not want to drink it.
  • Make sure it tastes good…or rather that it tastes like nothing. When we were out of town recently, I tried to chug down the water in the home I was staying. It tasted SO much like chemicals that I felt I needed to chew it before I swallowed it. I could NOT drink it. If your water isn’t good, get a good filter system. Do whatever you need to do to find a good source of clean water. (Not having done a ton of research on the matter because our water at home is pretty good…we just use a Brita water filter.)
  • If you put ice into your water, be sure the cubes are made from good tasting water. If you make your ice cubes with yucky tasting tap water, it will taint the flavor of your drinking water as it melts. Ick.
  • Squeeze a lemon or a lime into your drinking water. Slices of lemon or lime will make it look pretty and appealing, it will give your drinking water a little zing!
  • Drink water out of a glass. This is just a personally preference of mine, because I simply am not a big fan of plastic. Drinking from a plastic cup makes my water taste like plastic. Find a nice tall glass and fill ‘er up. (Yes, because a tall, pretty glass is a “her”.)

Coming up soon (eventually, someday, and whenever I actually get around to it):  Other beverage choices, what not to drink, how to replace pop and other liquidy type items of interest.

After reading through this water filled post, I just bet all of you need to go potty now.

Just curious, do you like drinking water, or find it hard to drink enough each day?

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Menu Plan for the Week

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It’s been a very soccer filled weekend for us. Between watching World Cup games together and running back and forth to Lincoln for Justus to play in a soccer tournament…we’ve been watching a LOT of games. At one point actually, we were watching Justus’ game from the van and listening to the remainder of the US vs. Ghana game on the radio. Ever watched one game and listened to another at the same time? It was a little bit interesting. I was never quite sure when to shout and when to cringe. Wow, are we a die hard soccer family, or what?

(I won’t even tell you about the great lengths we went to since we were out of town for the day and just HAD to watch US play Ghana. Hey, Matt and I have been to Ghana before. It is a special place to us. We were gonna see that game!)

Here’s our menu for this week:

Sunday, June 27
Oatmeal, pears
Lamb roast, potatoes, carrots, gravy
Leftovers

Monday, June 28
Honey whole wheat bagels, cantaloupe
Black Bean Taco Salad, watermelon
Cheesy beef and rice, green beans

Tuesday, June 29
Mini breakfast pizza, oranges
Corn dogs, applesauce, carrot sticks
Shepherds pie, tossed salad

Wednesday, June 30
Whole wheat and honey zucchini bread, bananas
Homemade pizza, grapes
Simple soaked pancakes, homemade peanut butter and maple syrup, bacon

Thursday, July 1
Scramble eggs, turkey sausage, peaches
Tuna salad on tomatoes, fresh pineapple, crispy cheese crackers
Tacos on homemade tortillas, watermelon

Friday, July 2
Giant breakfast cookies, cantaloupe
Sandwiches, carrots, apples
Going to a cookout

Saturday, July 3
Cinnamon rolls
Ham, potatoes, salad
Chicken sandwiches, fries, fruit

Snack Ideas:

Visit Organizing Junkie for more menu planning inspiration.

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Cell Phones for Kids – Question #66

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First of all let me say that this question is not intended to bring up any judgmental ugliness within the comments section. Not that you all tend to have judgmental ugliness within my comments section. But just in case our opinions on the matter bring out any fiesty-ness…just remember that it’s just a question and I’m just curious about the differing ideas out there. 

I’m interested to know your thoughts about allowing kids to have cell phones. 

My thirteen year old is pretty sure he is the only child on the face of this earth (except for his brothers of course) who still does not have his own cell phone. We haven’t given him his own phone yet because we ultimately feel like he would rarely need it, unless of course he is all the way upstairs and I am all the way downstairs and he needs to ask me where his clean t-shirts are, in which case he could just walk all the way downstairs and ask me.

In other words…are you kidding me?

I don’t even feel like I need a cell phone at this point in my life. I’m home most of the time and oh never mind…I’ve written about this already. 

I know cell phones are fun for kids and sometimes, depending on your family situation and circumstances, giving your child a cell phone can be very, very useful and helpful. If it is a matter of safety and a huge time saver in tracking down your kids, I think cell phones are one of the best things ever invented. But we personally don’t think our kids need them yet.

We’ll probably look into it quite extensively when they each begin to drive. That’s when we feel like cell phones for our boys would become more of a need, rather than just a want. And then of course there is the issue of who pays the monthly fees… Ah, we’ll figure that out later.

So what works for your family? Have you decided to let your kids have a cell phone? At what age do you feel like your kids need a phone?

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Ordering Our School Books

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I couldn’t help myself. I started looking through our curriculum catalog and ordering school books already.

I usually make myself wait until July to open the catalogs, because I KNOW that once I start looking at all the great books, I’ll want to order about 600 of them (and take a bath in them) and start school within the week. But I just couldn’t help it. I just threw my self imposed rule out the proverbial window and started looking through the beautiful catalogs, making lists, checking prices on Amazon…

I do have excuses for beginning so early. (Yes, because if you’re going to break a self imposed rule, you better have some good excuses to toss out there while you have an argument with yourself inside your head.)

My excuses mostly have to do with the fact that our summer is busy…and our fall is even busier. Right now our days are filled with travel and company. Hardly a day goes by (when we’re actually at home this summer) that we don’t have extra people at our house…some of them as live-ins. I LOVE this, because that means I get to feed more people and feeding people is what I love! But a girl has to be organized (and also a little bit crazy, but I’ve got that one down pat).

And so, all of our books have been ordered and most of them have arrived!!! Oh what fun it is to check the mail each day!!!

I always order books based on what Sonlight Curriculum suggests. I LOVE Sonlight in all of its literature based educational glory!!! We got a lovely box from Sonlight several days ago. Plus, I ordered as many books as I could from Amazon because used books don’t bother me and because books can often be less expensive this way and because I could use my saved up Amazon Gift Cards that I earned from Swagbucks. Yes, free school books. They’re even more fun to read when they’re free! (You can read more about how Swagbucks works here.)

Here’s what I did yesterday as I tried to sort through all of the books we will try to read this year:

sonlight_curriculum

No, I didn’t order ALL of those books this year. Some of them are ones I’ve used and saved from past years and get to re-use this year.

And yes, I am getting just a little bit of freaking out over the fact that Malachi is “starting school” this year, which means I will be juggling schoolwork with all of my children this year. And Asa is going to be an eighth grader which means I only have five years left to teach him a whole bunch of stuff before college. And since I’ll have an eighth grader, a fifth grader, a third grader and a kindergartener I can’t school them using all of the same books all at the same time because those gaps are just a little bit too broad.

It’s okay though. I tend to do a little bit of freaking out every year as I make our school plans. And then I pray a lot and lay everything out and spend a few hours making plans and getting organized. Then we start school and all the kinks work themselves out. God’s pretty cool like that.

During the next few weeks, I’ll share more with you about our plans and schedule…and about what each of the boys will be reading and studying this upcoming school year. Just as soon as I get it all figured out myself. :)

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