Heavenly Homemakers

Encouraging women in homemaking, healthy eating and parenting

Snuggle Time with Kingdom Parables

by 6 Comments

This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see our disclosure policy.

If I can brace myself for the stinky socks hiding under the beds and thirty-second-toot-tag…

(Explanation:  One boy toots and approximately thirty seconds later another one feels as though he’s been “tagged” to toot…and then thirty seconds later…yeah you get it. Four boys, remember? And NO I’m not feeding them sugar free ice cream.  Far from it.)

Anyway, if I can get over the hidden stinky socks and thirty-second-toot-tag…I love getting my boys all snuggled into their blankets at night and reading a chapter of our latest read-aloud book.

They love it. They beg for it. They actually hurry up and get their teeth brushed so that we’ll have time for it.

One of our favorite books…one that they ask for over and over…is this one:

kingdomparables

Kingdom Parables was a gift from a grandparent a few years ago and the boys just LOVE it. The author re-wrote several different parables of Jesus using animals as characters and understandable situations that kids can relate to. Then, the actual Biblical account is written at the end of each “story” so kids and parents can discuss the “real version”…and so that we can talk about how to apply Jesus’ teaching to our lives.

I love this book…and wanted to let you know about it in case you’ve never seen it before. Kingdom Parables…check it out. 

The beauty of this book and it’s stories overshadows the effect of Thirty-Second-Toot-Tag. That’s why I keep going back for more. That and the fact that even though my boys’ room smells like a boys’ room…there’s nothing much better than our nightly snuggle time.

So, what are your favorite read-aloud books?
———————————————————–

This post is linked to Works for me Wednesday.

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

Gratituesday: The Field House

by 14 Comments

This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see our disclosure policy.

gratituesdaynov09

It’s winter. It’s cold. It’s very, very cold. There’s snow all over the ground and the wind is trying to blow me from my driveway into the neighbor’s yard. But there’s snow in the neighbor’s yard too, and I’m not too keen on being blown into it.

Therefore, the boys and I have been cooped up in the house for weeks. While I very much love being at home and I get so much more done when I’m at home for long periods of time…there comes a time when I need to get out…and the boys just need to RUN long and hard for a long, long time.

During the winter, running usually just takes place inside the house…up and down stairs…and there are usually nerf guns involved. I’m okay with that…but after a few weeks…the walls start to creep in on a person. Not to mention that being hit with a nerf bullet while I’m trying to type can make me lose my train of thought.

This is why I am so thankful that my college town has a field house. The college owns it, but during certain parts of the day, it is open to the community. A few other ladies and I have been meeting there a couple times a week lately to take walks around the track. And the kids? They run. And they run and they run.

fieldhouse2smI wanted to get a shot of how big the place is so I backed way up…but do you see that little spot of yellow on the big green turf? That’s Justus running and running and running. Then look up a little and do you see a railing and two tiny little gray spots up there? That’s two of my friends walking. I’ll join them in a minute, but right now I’m taking a picture. 

fieldhouse1smHere’s Asa kicking a soccer ball in the baseball batting area. No, I didn’t put him in the cage to punish him. He wants to kick the ball as hard as he can and within the netting he can do that without having to chase it very far. And also, after he kicks the ball as hard as he can, it doesn’t have a chance of hitting someone (like me) in the face because the net keeps it in. Very cool.

These breaks from being cooped up at home have been so refreshing. The ladies and I have wonderful visits as we walk, not to mention we’re getting good exercise. The kids run and run and run, have fun their friends and get really, really tired. The stir crazy feeling we have at home goes away for a while. It’s wonderful! (Psst, local readers! If you want to join us sometime email me for details!)

I’m SO thankful that we have a field house available to us. We may just get through the winter in one piece!
—————————————————————

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 thankful for!

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

Becoming a Better Help Meet: Let’s Get Real

by 19 Comments

This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see our disclosure policy.

helpmeet

I loved all of your responses about how you are a helper to your husband. It was wonderful to establish that our role as wives is simply to be our husband’s helper. Thank you. I think we can all be encouraged to read how each of us work to meet our husband’s individual needs.

I’ve read a quite few marriage books, both from Christian and secular perspectives. 

They were all pretty good books…but after reading them and trying to apply them…I often felt guilt and frustration. Guilt because after studying and learning about how to be a great help meet…I STILL fall way short of perfection. Frustration because there were still parts about being a help meet described in the books that I just didn’t get. How do I do this again? Why can’t I do a better job of this? What is the matter with me?

Why can’t I smile at my husband adoringly every time he’s in the room? Why can’t I always meet him at the door when he gets home from work, throw my arms around him and give him a big affectionate kiss, hand him his slippers and the newspaper and massage his shoulders for thirty minutes on the sofa? Why do I STILL sometimes act irrationally about some of the  things he does that frustrate me? For that matter, why…when I’m trying to do all these wonderful things to be a good help meet to him does he still do some of the same things that frustrate me? Shouldn’t the way I’m being such a good help-meet make him change all his frustrating ways?

After much prayer and reflection sprinkled in with strong urges to kick, scream or break something, it has finally occurred to me that while I’m still striving toward being a perfect help-meet, I am never going to be perfect. My husband is never going to be perfect. Our marriage is never going to be perfect. We are two imperfect individuals, designed by God to be and to think very differently. 

Wives, some days we’re going to have sad hearts. Some days our husbands are really going to make us mad. Sometimes they will say something that hurts our feelings. Some days we will have given so much of ourselves to our home, work and children, we will feel like we have nothing to give to our husbands at the end of the day. 

The problem then is not in our emotions and feelings.  We will all continue to occasionally feel sad, tired, mad, hurt, frustrated, over-worked, annoyed, some of the above, all of the above. None of those feelings are wrong or sinful. They’re normal, because life and marriage are full of real moments and real hard work. 

The problem and sin comes in how we respond to those feelings and emotions.  We can say something ugly to our husbands. We can have a pity party for ourselves all day and sulk and pout. We can be short with our children. We can ignore our husbands or try to “punish” them. We can whine to a bunch of our friends about “men” and “just wait till I tell you what he did this time”. All of these responses are wrong and sinful. They may tend to be our natural responses…the easier responses…but, they are sinful.

Instead, get on your knees and beg God to show you how you can respond to your feelings with grace and mercy. Anything less will just throw us into a well of self-righteous pity. I’ve been there and done that. While choosing to be merciful is A MUCH HARDER DECISION, in the long run (and because we’re trying to let God help us do things His way) our marriages will be so much more peaceful when we choose what is right.

Share With Us:  Just like we did in this Real Mom post, let’s all reassure each other that none of us is perfect, nor do we have perfect husbands or perfect marriages. Leave a comment to let us know that you, your husband and your marriage are all real…with bumps and road blocks (and times of bliss and merriment too). This is NOT A MEN BASHING OPPORTUNITY.  This is a time to encourage each other and to let each other know that as Christian women, we are all in this together.

Challenge Yourself:  Think of some of the ways you respond to your husband when you are frustrated about something he’s done. Pray! – and start planning  NOW for how you can handle that these situations with mercy and grace. 

We’ll talk more soon about some specifics and “how-tos” of choosing mercy and peace in our moments of frustration. In the meantime…let’s all take a quick moment to share that we are all real so that none of us feels like we are the only ones in a real marriage.

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

Menu Plan for the Week

by 4 Comments

This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see our disclosure policy.

I often receive emails asking what my kids eat for snacks. To help answer that question and to give you more healthy snack ideas for your family, I’ll try to include a few snack ideas each week on my menu plan.

This week, we happen to have bunches of organic apples on hand (from Azure Standard, my health food co-op). We’ll probably be having apples with a side of apples for many of our snacks. And, as a treat for the boys some afternoon, I will probably make Caramel Apple Dip to go with them.

Also, it’s been a few weeks since I made Whole Wheat Vanilla Wafers. Maybe I’d better double this recipe though? 

If we get a hankering to “drink a brownie” I’ll make us all a mug of Warm Chocolate Soother. We are very likely to have a hankering to “drink a brownie”. Although we usually don’t use the word hankering. 

Beyond those ideas, we have a lot of raisins, clementines and apples. Lots and lots of apples. I LOVE having apples available for snacks when I can get my hands on them.

Here’s our menu for this week:

Sunday, January 24
Oatmeal, bananas
Venison roast, potatoes, carrots, gravy, cornbread muffins
Out to Southside Grille with our small group

Monday, January 25
Whole wheat waffles, blueberries
Chicken-vegetable soup, crispy cheese crackers
Chicken fried steak strips, mashed potatoes,gravy, steamed broccoli and cauliflower

Tuesday, January 26
Homemade crunchy oat cereal with dried raisins and cranberries (recipe found in Think Breakfast…Outside the Box ebook)
Beef and cheese burritoes, fresh pineapple
Garlic shrimp pasta, green beans

Wednesday, January 27
Simple sourdough biscuits with butter and honey, applesauce
Tuna casserole, peas
Chicken enchiladas, tossed salad

Thursday, January 28
Banana bread, pears
Popcorn chicken, fruit-kefir smoothies
Spaghetti, tossed salad, corn

Friday, January 29
Scrambled eggs, turkey bacon (that I bought with a KYOOPON), oranges
Homemade pizza pockets, peaches
Spinach pasta alfredo, fruit salad

Saturday, January 30
Whole wheat and honey zucchini bread
Leftover buffet
Cheddar ranch burgers, potato wedges, carrot sticks

A little housekeeping:

becomingachristian

This post is linked to Organizing Junkie.

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

Koopon or Kyoopon? Question #56

by 60 Comments

This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see our disclosure policy.

I’ll be telling you more about how I used to be “The Coupon Queen”, but first…let’s have a friendly little debate shall we?

I say that the word “coupon” is pronounced KYOOPON.

And I think I’m right.

But my husband says that the word is pronounced KOOPON.

And he thinks he’s right.

What with all the tragedy and hurt in the world, this is one issue that we apparently still feel is important enough to take up a portion of our time, energy and conversation. 

I finally looked the word up in the dictionary, and turns out…we’re both right. Both pronunciations are in there. Huh.

No matter, it’s continued to be a running “argument” for years. The kids get a huge kick out of listening to it.

Matt (surprised to see an item we wouldn’t normally buy):  “Hey, that looks good. Did you have a KOOPON for it?”

Laura:  “No I didn’t, but I did have a KYOOPON. Got us a pretty good deal.”

I am of the humble opinion that if I’m the one taking the time and making the effort to use the KYOOPON and saving us money with the KYOOPONS, then I am a little bit more right than he is. 

Regardless of who is more right (that would be me), I don’t know WHAT happened to me this week, but TWICE I said it wrong. Wrong I tell you. 

We had loved trying the V8 V-Fusion a few weeks ago and I found a KYOOPON for another bottle. So I splurged, used the KYOOPON and bought us another variety to try. 

The kids were so excited, Matt was so excited, I was so excited.

I poured a little into six glasses, one for each of us and we had it with our meal. I happily shared that I’d bought the treat because I had a KOOPON.

Asa (our oldest son, and the one who has the gift to ALWAYS catch mistakes) (and point them out) said, “Mom! Did you just say KOOPON?”

“No, of course not! I would never say that. I said KYOOPON. I bought it because I had a KYOOPON,”  I said firmly.

And then Justus (who often appears not to be listening, but usually IS listening) piped in with, “No Mom. I’m pretty sure you really said KOOPON.”

Matt was just sitting there with a smirk. “Yes, as a matter of fact, you did say KOOPON. Finally you said it right.”

I shook my head (and maybe threw a pea at someone who was smirking) and we carried on with our meal.

A few minutes later, Elias  randomly asked if we could have bacon sandwiches soon. I said, “Sure…I actually got some turkey bacon at the store yesterday with a KOOPON.”

And everyone burst out laughing.

I don’t really think bacon sandwiches are that funny, but whatever.

“Mom, you said KOOPON again.” (Asa, of course)

“For REAL? I said KOOPON?”

Matt (same smirky grin):  “Yep. KOO-PON.”

Bah. Just another example of me saying something and my family not hearing me correctly. Story of my life.

Or, maybe it is in fact that I’ve been around enough people who pronounce it KOOPON that I’m starting to say it wrong now. I’ve got to get my act together.

So…your turn to chime in. Which way do you say “coupon”?

KOOPON or KYOOPON?

(If you pronounce it KOOPON, I promise I won’t throw peas at you.)

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

Our Healthy Eating Journey, Pt. 3

by 23 Comments

This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see our disclosure policy.

healthyeatingjourney

If you missed them, you may want to go back and read Part One and Part Two.
——————————————

Okay, let’s see now. Where were we?

Oh yeah, it was 15 years ago, and I had just met and married a (really cute) soccer player from California.

Now that I was a newlywed…I had the MOST fun setting up my household and my very own kitchen!!! I LOVED having my very own kitchen! I had exactly one shelf in my little kitchen, for which I lovingly sewed a crooked little curtain. Crooked or not, I was so proud.

Matt and I were both college students for the first year of our married life. We didn’t have a lot of money, so of course I bought the cheapest food I could find at the store. I don’t remember using coupons in those days…just buying cheap canned and boxed foods. And low fat.  Don’t forget about my low fat thing. I baked a lot and loved experimenting with new recipes (surprise, surprise).

Most of our friends at the time were unmarried. We liked having company over and (surprise, surprise), I got a big kick out of feeding everyone. Our friends enjoyed home cooking since they were used to college cafeteria food…but I’ve gotta say…they sure did put up with a lot of goof-ups from me. Even though I had cooked a lot with my mom…I had mainly just helped her. I had A LOT to learn about cooking. (Like, leave a pancake on the griddle until it is bubbling very, very well…and then flip it. Otherwise the pancakes will be a doughy, gooey mess and…yuck. My company had fun trying to be polite about those that night.)

None of the above information has much to do with our journey to healthy eating…but it is, I suppose, all a part of my cooking journey. 

If you recall, I grew up on green beans, corn and peas (as well as the occasional salad or carrot). So, guess what I served my new husband at every meal?

Green beans, corn or peas (with the occasional salad or carrot).

After a few weeks of these side dishes, Matt lovingly suggested that maybe sometime we could try a different vegetable (you know, just for fun), like broccoli.

Broccoli?  Really? People eat that stuff? Huh.  How do they eat it? 

Steamed, Matt suggested. 

Ooh, we’d gotten a vegetable steamer as a wedding gift! I could try steaming some broccoli in my handy dandy steamer!

So I did, and it was good! Cool! 

Little by little, I ventured out of my fruit and vegetable comfort zone and tried a little more variety. I suppose that was our first, tiny step toward healthier eating.

Beyond that though, I was still preparing food with the least amount of fat as possible. We drank skim milk (white water, Matt called it), used margarine (since it was SO cheap), white flour, low fat cheeses and sour cream, fat free yogurt.

OH…and I’d also decided that real sugar wasn’t good for me…so I’d switched to diet pop and sugar free everything else. I started consuming ALL kinds of artificial sweeteners…mostly nutrisweet. Lots of it. (Remember, I LOVED drinking pop.)

Looking back at some of these diet trends and such…all I can say is, Thank You Matt for Putting Up With Me! He just ate or drank whatever I put in front of him. Even if it was “white water” and sugar-free, fat-free, flavor-free ice cream.

Did I mention that the sugar free, fat free ice cream gave me terrible gas? 

Did I seriously just share that?

Wo-ow, I think I just did.

It was a great way to start out your first year of marriage. We speak fondly (not really) of the sugar free ice cream days.

Okay, puh-lease, let’s move on from this subject….

After we’d been married for almost three years, our first son Asa was born. During his first year, I read The Weigh Down Diet, which was quite life changing for me. It taught me to “just eat when you’re hungry and stop eating when you’re full”. Wow, what a concept. I didn’t need to count calories or be obsessive about eating low fat or make my husband pass out because I had bad gas because of eating freaked out toxic ice cream? Nope, just eat regular food…but don’t over-eat.

So, I stopped buying everything “low fat” and “sugar free” and just started buying the cheapest food possible. When Asa was 15 months old, we moved to Colorado where there were lots of cool grocery stores. Thus began my days of being ” The Coupon Queen”.

To be continued….

(And also, I’d like to say a big thank you to you for coming back and still looking at me the same way after reading about…*the gas*.)  ;)
———————————————————

This post is linked to Frugal Friday.

 

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

Becoming a Better Help Meet: Empower Christian Wives

by 3 Comments

This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see our disclosure policy.

helpmeet

I’m so excited to share a WONDERFUL resource with you called Empower Christian Wives.

The site and all the material is written by Paul Moses, a Christian man, minister and counsellor. I know Paul personally and completely trust that he is driven by the Spirit to help empower Christian women to improve their marriages. He has helped save many marriages that were on the brink of divorce, and has improved the quality of many marriages that didn’t even know they needed improving!

A few weeks ago I had the privilege of interviewing Paul and his wife Helen. It was an amazing experience for me and I know that listening to what Paul has to say will bring you encouragement. 

 Ick, I don’t like listening to my own voice in a recording! Thankfully, all I do is ask the questions, so you’ll mostly hear what Paul has to say!

It’s simply audio (because hello, I would have had to do something with my hair otherwise). The recording is set to be on a Christian radio show in Kansas sometime soon…but we’re giving you a sneak peek listen at it! It’s about 27 minutes long, so I’d say grab some laundry to fold or get a cup of tea and put your feet up for a well deserved rest. 

Click here to listen!

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

Learn About Laura: Becoming a Christian

by 5 Comments

This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see our disclosure policy.

When I opened up the opportunity for you to ask questions of me, both Carmen and Barbara asked:  “I was wondering how and when you came to know Christ?”

For some reason I’ve been dragging my feet on answering this one…mostly because I don’t feel like my “Christianity Story” is very exciting.

But wait a second! Becoming a Christian, no matter what the events are that surround it, is VERY EXCITING!!!! 

Choosing salvation through Jesus…having Someone who is always ready to offer true comfort when I’m hurting…understanding that success in this world is NOT my ultimate goal (which is a huge relief because I fail…a lot).

Yes, my Christian story IS very exciting. 

I’ll share specifics of how I became a Christian next Thursday, January 28.

BUT, I want to know YOUR story too!!! If you are a Christian, please consider writing about how you came to know Christ. If you have a blog, share it there and then link up with us here on January 28. If you don’t have a blog, please plan to leave a comment that day to share your story.

If you aren’t a Christian or you’re searching for Truth, I hope you’ll consider sharing your struggles and where you are on your journey. 

No matter where you are on your Faith walk and what your story is…I know we will ALL be very encouraged to hear! 

Plan to join us next Thursday, January 28!

becomingachristian

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

Warm Chocolate Soother

by 74 Comments

This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see our disclosure policy.

Warm Chocolate Soother

So, chocolate…or vanilla? That is the question.

I’d almost always say “chocolate” and yet…depending on the day, the occasion or the item…I may want vanilla. I’d say just about nothing beats this Warm Vanilla Soother.

And yet, last week the boys asked if I could try making my Warm Vanilla Soother into a Warm Chocolate Soother, just for fun. The kids thought it sounded yummy and hey, who am I to argue when it comes to making something chocolatey?

This recipe is almost exactly like Warm Vanilla Soother…just a couple of ingredients added.

Warm Chocolate SootherYum

Warm Chocolate Soother
 
Save Print
Author:
Serves: 4-6
Ingredients
  • 3 cups whole milk
  • 4 egg yolks
  • ¼ cup real maple syrup
  • 3 Tablespoons brown sugar or sucanat
  • ¼ cup cocoa powder
  • 2 Tablespoons arrowroot powder or corn starch
  • 1 Tablespoon butter
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
  1. In a medium saucepan, whisk together milk, egg yolks, maple syrup, sucanat, cocoa and arrowroot powder.
  2. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly (I use a whisk) until mixture begins to thicken.
  3. Remove from heat and add butter and vanilla.
  4. Stir until creamy.
  5. Pour into mugs and serve warm.

 

Once this finally cooled down enough to drink, my eight year old proclaimed, “Mom!! It tastes just like you’re drinking a brownie!”

For real?!  Drinking a brownie?  I want to drink a brownie!!!

Mmmm, he was right!

This has the appearance of hot cocoa, but it’s thicker and heartier. Oh. My.

So chocolate…or vanilla? That is still the question.

Maybe we’ll assign days to flavors.

Monday, Wednesday, Friday and every other Sunday will be Warm Chocolate Soother days. Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday and every other Sunday will be Warm Vanilla Soother days.

Unless I have a hankering for vanilla on a Friday or feel a deep need for chocolate on a Tuesday, which I very well may. I’ll have to be flexible and leave the options open.

Let’s see, today is Tuesday. Which one are you gonna make?

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

Gratituesday: Precious Nana

by 10 Comments

This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see our disclosure policy.

gratituesdaynov09

Let me tell you a little bit about my Nana.

My Nana is 83 years old, but she acts like she’s 63. (I totally hope I have her genes!)  She can still get down on the floor and play with her great-grandkids, she goes out to lunch with her friends, she goes shopping…she’s so much fun!

withnanasmHere is my family with Nana
the summer of 2008 during a family reunion.

Lately, something really cool has been happening between my Nana and me.

Email. 

She lives in Arkansas, so we only see each other at family reunions every other year or so. Lately, we’ve been emailing back and forth. They are such treasured emails. I’ve been loving it! She writes of memories of me when I was born and she came to help my mom…she tells me sweet things I said to her when I was a little girl…she encourages me as I parent my boys.

It has been the neatest thing. I plan to save these emails from her in a folder because they are so wonderful to read.

One of Nana’s favorite words is “precious”. Nana has told me hundreds of times how precious I am and how precious Matt is and how precious my boys are.

And now we have these precious emails. 

I’m so thankful for my precious Nana. 
——————————————————–

What are you grateful 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!

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