Heavenly Homemakers

Encouraging women in homemaking, healthy eating and parenting

Menu Plan for the Week

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Last week I told you how I was taking care of chickens for my friend who was out of town, remember? And remember how I told you that I was nervous that I would do something wrong and kill a chicken? I am so very happy to report that I started out with 50 chickens…and there are still…as far as I know…50 chickens.

And two roosters.

Two mean roosters.

Yeah, I’d forgotten to tell you that part. My friend Susan was walking me through all of the elements of chicken care: “Here’s the feed…here’s the hose for water…”

“Oh,”  she says, “And if the roosters try to attack you, just whack them over the head with the feed bucket.”

If the what? The roosters might attack me? I’m supposed to what? With the feed bucket? Uh…oh…okay… That doesn’t make me scared or nervous at all. <cough>

Each day last week, the boys and I would go over to do chicken chores. The boys would gather the eggs while I would courageously feed and water the chickens. 

Each day I would scope out where the roosters were and make sure I stayed out of their way. ‘Cause I really didn’t want to have to whack a rooster over the head. Not even a little bit.

So, everything went fine and I had no rooster attacks to tell you about. 

Until Saturday. I made it all the way to Saturday.

I had kindly filled the water…thingy. I had sweetly filled the chicken feeder with feed. I even smiled (albeit nervously) at the roosters in appreciation for leaving me alone all week.

And then it happened.

Not one, but both roosters simultaneously charged at me…at the same time…together. 

But don’t you worry. I bravely  jumped into the air in shock and fear…and screamed something that sounded kind of like, “Aaahhhhhhh….aaahhhhhhh. Aaahh. Aah.” (‘Cause that will stop a rooster from charging.)

And I sorta swung my bucket and hit one of the roosters barely, which made him look at me like, “Seriously? Is that all you’ve got, lady?”

In which I answered, “Yeah, pretty much. B-bye.” And I hightailed it out of that chicken coop. 

It is a GOOD thing I’d already given those chickens feed and water, because I still haven’t gotten my heart rate back to a normal pace….and there is NO WAY I was going back in there that day. 

Anyway…I returned home unscathed…and I’m sure the roosters are now completely intimidated by my presence, what with my strong muscled bucket swinging and high pitched shouting. 

Yeah, whatever.

Okay, now to the menu. (Which just might include Roasted Rooster on a platter…)

Sunday, July 20
Oatmeal, orange slices
Lamb chops, corn on the cob, grapes
Nachos

Monday, July 21
Whole wheat waffles
Tuna salad, strawberry-peach slushies
Chicken and rice, carrots

Tuesday, July 22
Fried eggs on toast, bananas
Homemade macaroni and cheese, peas
Swiss steak, new potatoes, green beans (hopefully fresh from the garden!)

Wednesday, July 23
Chocolate swirl muffins, applesauce
Chicken tostadas, pineapple
Spaghetti, tossed salad, corn

Thursday, July 24
Scrambled eggs, fruit smoothies
Meat and cheese burritoes, pineapple-orange slushies
Pack snacks to take to Farmer’s Market

Friday, July 25
French toast
Turkey and cheese melts, carrot sticks, milk shakes
Biscuits and gravy, eggs, potatoes

Saturday, July 26
Breakfast cookies
Cheesy turkey sausage stromboli, mixed veggies
Tacos…or Roasted Rooster…depending on how the next few days go… :)

I’m kidding of course..about roasting a rooster. 

(I might make rooster soup instead.)

Check out more menu plans at Organizing Junkie!

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The Crazy Woman Who Cuts Her Own Hair

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Hold on just a second!

Before you read this post…you must sign this waiver:

I, ______________ , understand that Laura will be showing us pictures of her very own hair cutting procedure, such as it is. Some should not try this at home…or in anyone else’s home…or in any other location that is not a home. I recognize that Laura is slightly crazy and that if I cut my own hair I will also be considered slightly crazy. I acknowledge that if I do cut my own hair after reading this post, and I am not happy with the results…Laura @ HeavenlyHomemakers is in no way responsible and should therefore not receive pitiful emails from me. Furthermore, the following post shall reveal several embarrassing pictures of Laura, and I hitherto promise to only laugh a little bit and shall refrain from rolling upon the floor and receiving a side ache with the hilarity of the pictures. 

___________________________ (Your signature here)
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Okay, now that we’ve got that out of the way…we shall commence with the showing of the pictures and explanation of the hair cut.

I have no idea why I’m feeling brave enough to show you this. Oh, yes…I know why. Because last week I mentioned that I cut all of my boys hair and my husband’s hair and my own hair…and MANY of you wanted to know more about how I do my own….since it’s on my own head.

I thought about writing this explanation for how I cut my own hair: “Beats me.” Because really…I don’t have a clue what I’m doing. But then I figured surely I could give a little bit of a better explanation than that.

I started doing this about seven years ago when my first two boys were little bitty and I was pregnant with our third. Getting out of the house for a hair appointment was very hard…or maybe I was just too lazy to make it work. Either way…I just figured I could try doing it myself and that if I totally messed it up…then I could make it a priority to find someone to stay with the kids while I went in to have it fixed.

And so it’s been for seven years. Hey, where else can you have a hair cut at 10:00 at night in your pajamas? 

So, I’ve been needing to trim my hair for several weeks…and your response from last week’s post made me jump into gear and finally get it done.

Remember…I told you that really, I don’t know what I’m doing. I just play with it and have fun with it and see what I come up with. Obviously I don’t have too big of an obsession with having great hair, or this wouldn’t work for me. But, I figure as long as it is sorta decent and easy to fix…I’m okay.

But here’s the thing. In my excitement to cut my hair and show you pictures I got a bit carried away. Perhaps we could say that I gave myself a summer hair cut this time. Truly, I did have a lot of dead ends that needed to be taken off. But, um…I don’t think my hair has ever been this short. <ehem>  I don’t really like it this short…but hey, it’ll grow back, right?

Anyway…here are a few shots that I had Asa (bless his heart) take of me while I was cutting my hair a few days ago.

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Here, I had brushed it all forward in preparation for the cut. Asa says to me, “Really Mom? You want me to take THIS picture for your blog? With you looking like that?” I don’t know what his point was. I mean, I think it’s one of the best pictures I’ve ever seen of myself.

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I usually start with the bottom layers and then move “up”. So, I use a big clip to hold up the top part of my hair. In order to cut the back of my hair, I just pull it forward at my neck. It mostly, sorta works so that I can see what I’m doing. Again, Asa says, “Okay, a picture with your hair all up in that clip like that, with that weird piece all fuzzy at the top?” (And he shrugs and takes the picture…then takes another one closer up so that you can really see the piece of fuzzy at the top…see below.)

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After you’ve admired the fuzzy piece a while, you might notice that it looks like I’m chopping off a huge chunk of hair right at the top. I wasn’t though. I was actually just barely clipping it to kind of get a tapered look around my face. If only I was ambidextrous, that part would be much easier.

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I keep a trash can on top of the sink as I clip, in hopes of catching at least some of the hair in it while I cut. As you can see…I had a bit of cleaning up to do when I was finished. And I won’t even show you what the floor looked like.

Now, I will show you my finished hair cut. But seriously…I am NOT very photogenic and I was trying to take pictures of myself because no one else was available (except Malachi, and that wasn’t working either). So, I’m sorry if you take one look at this picture and gasp at my bug-eyedness and lack of make-up. And at how much hair I chopped off. Yikes!

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Yeah, after about 56 shots, that’s the best one I could come up with. I TOLD you I wasn’t very photogenic. (Which means…if this is the one I posted…you should have seen the 55 that I DIDN’T post.)

Anyway…I cut it shorter than I meant to, but it’ll grow back and be just about right in about a month and a half. 

And there you have it. A bit about how I cut my own hair. If you do decide to try this at home…remember that you signed the waiver. Don’t forget the waiver. I’m sure you’ll do great and I’m sure your “after picture” will be tons better than mine…but just in case you are not entirely pleased with your new “do”…I am not to be held responsible. (Although I would love to see your “after picture”.) 

Perhaps you’ll find some less crazy frugal ideas here?

;)

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Homeschool Hubbub at Our House

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Whether you homeschool or not at your house…I hope you won’t mind me sharing with you some of our hubbub! 

It’s the time of year again when we are getting all geared up for a new school year. Summer break is awesome, needed and refreshing…but by the end of July, we’re starting to think about getting back into our schooltime routine again. 

Because homeschooling is flexible (one of my favorite parts about it), we usually begin our school year the first week of August and end the beginning of May. This schedule has worked very well for us mainly because starting our school year in early August means that we get a great start before anything else we’re involved in begins. (Public school around here starts Aug. 16, by the way, so we’re not starting much earlier than everyone else!)  Soccer doesn’t start until the end of the month, nor do any of our homeschool group events. So, we have a few weeks to get established in our school routine without having to run here and there to soccer practice and field trips.

Okay…now that I’ve explained when we’re starting and why…can I just tell you a little about how excited we’re getting?!

I love this time of year! Beginning fresh with crisp, never-opened books, freshly sharpened pencils and new notebooks. (I get a little giddy with just the mention of the word, “supplies”. Ooh, school supplies? I love supplies. I think supplies is one of my favorite words…)

The boys are starting to ask more questions about what we’ll be learning this year, and I can see the excitement in their faces. (Okay, I LOVE that my boys get excited about learning!)

Here are a few of our homeschool hubbub highlights that I’ll share more about in upcoming posts:

1. I have made my curriculum list and am getting ready to check it twice. There are SO MANY great books out there, and while I’d like to buy $5,000 worth of books that look wonderful….I’ve decided that perhaps I’d better not. I’m working to fine-tune my list so that I can call in my order in the next couple of days. I’ll share my list as soon as I get it all figured out! Just in case you might want to know what we’ll be reading this year…

2. I always order just a couple of weeks before we want to start school. We get so excited when the books come in…which makes the boys motivated to get started reading and learning…and I don’t want to lose that momentum and excitement with the boys. If we start school just a few days after the books come it…the boys are pumped and ready. A few days after I order, we all start watching for the UPS truck. It is ONE EXCITING DAY when Mr. UPS Man brings our heavy box of books! 

3. I’ll make each boy a list of the school supplies (supplies!!!) he needs…then we’ll head off to Wal-mart where each boy gets to carry his own basket and pick out his notebook colors, get a new crayon box, etc. THIS is probably one of our FAVORITE days of the whole year. I can’t wait to share more about this day with you!

4. We always give our school room a thorough cleaning, and then we rearrange the desks and rugs and bookshelves so that we start our school year in a “new room”. The boys love this part too.

5. Each school year, Matt and I decide on a new “Godly Character Training” focus for the boys. We make a fun chart so that we can reinforce the behaviors we want to see in our kids. It seems that the beginning of a new school year is a good time to re-focus and begin fresh. The boys always anticipate finding out what new chart I’ll make for them! Here are the charts we’ve worked through in the past several years.  I am SUPER excited about the idea we came up with for this year. I’ll be designing it and showing it to you soon! I think the kids are going to love it. (By the way, we never use these charts as a reward system. All we have to say is something like, “Elias, you did what I asked without arguing or complaining. You are really shining like a star right now. Go put a star on your chart!” His face will light up and he’ll put a star on his chart and that’s it. We don’t give them anything for having a certain number of stars on their charts. The reward is just having Mama and Daddy notice that they are being like Jesus.)  Okay, I am super excited to get this years chart finished up!

6. We usually let the boys have one big “Before School Year Bash” where they can each invite one friend over for a little party. 

Okay…enough hubbub for now. I’ll have the camera ready so that I can share with you all of our special days of getting ready for school to start! Feel free to ask questions and I’ll try to answer them as I write these posts! 

I’m curious about any of the special before-school traditions you have (homeschool or not)! And also…does anyone else get excited about the word “SUPPLIES” like I do?! Just wondering!

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Getting Real With Food, Pt. 7: Where to Start

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If you’ve missed the other posts in this series…you can go back and read them here!

Today, I really just want to offer encouragement to all of you who want to eat healthier but don’t know where to start. Or to all of you who don’t want to eat healthier, but know that you should anyway. Or to all of you who are overwhelmed about changing your eating habits, but are trying very hard. Or to all of you who have picky eaters in your house. (Does that about cover everyone?)

I think that when many of us think about eating healthier…we feel like we have to give up all the yummy things we enjoy. We feel like we’re trading in rich ooey-gooey tasty foods for dry, bland rice-cakey fiber filled ickiness. 

Please believe me when I tell you that since we’ve started eating healthier foods…we’ve discovered truly how delicious food can be.

The food is delicious because we’re eating REAL FOOD!!!! Do you hear me? REAL FOOD I say!!

Just think for a second…Which sounds more delicious: A juicy pot roast cooked with carrots and potatoes, served with gravy…or a chicken nugget dumped out of a box? There is NO COMPARISON! Real food tastes SO GOOD! 

Here are a few ideas I will offer you to help you know where to start if you want to Get Real With Food:

1. Begin by thinking about what is a real, whole food and what isn’t. I’ll cover this in more depth in another post soon, but in the meantime, think back to the basics (meat, milk, grain, vegetable, fruit). All food starts out real…but some of it…by the time it goes through several machines to make it become whatever it is in a package…is nothing like it’s original form. (What in the world makes a piece of corn become a Cheeto anyway?) 

2. Start looking at the ingredients on a package. If you don’t recognize several of the ingredients….you may want to re-consider eating it. I’d so much rather eat something with the ingredients:  milk, eggs, vanilla….than something with the ingredients:  calcium and sodium stearoyl, lactylate, ethoxylated mono- and diglycerides… I have no idea what those last ingredients are. But one thing for sure…they are not food in it’s original form. They were produced from something to become something else.

3. Here are some small things you can change that are practically painless. (In fact…I bet you’ll find yourself really enjoying these changes because remember…real food tastes better!)

*Make brown rice instead of white.
*Use real butter instead of margarine.
*Make a transition from baking with white flour, to baking with whole wheat flour.
*Begin cooking a simple breakfast instead of opening a box of cereal or a box of poptarts. There are so many yummy breakfast foods that are….real.
*Drink more water instead of sugar-filled drinks.

Okay…I think that’s enough for today. Don’t feel overwhelmed…just pick even one thing and make a change. Any change is better than no change. I really want to help you see how delicious these changes can be!

You can do this! You can eat a healthy diet and serve healthy foods to your family!

I can’t wait to share more. I have loved all the emails and comments I’ve been receiving from all of you who are searching for a healthier lifestyle! Keep them coming. Bring on the questions! 

I’ll continue to share some ideas of small changes you can make in your diet to become more healthy…and I’ll share some of the reasons why you should make these changes. (Why is brown rice better than white anyway?! If I shouldn’t drink pop…what can I drink? I thought margarine had less cholesterol? Should I eat organic, or not?) (And oh, so much more…)

Please stay tuned… :)

More Works for me Wednesday here!

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Gratituesday: Everything Always Works Out

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Remember back in mid-June when we opened our Shaved Ice trailer? It’s been going well, and although cars and people haven’t been lining up for miles to buy shaved ice…business has been decent and all of our customers have enjoyed the shaved ice.

Then last week the city began doing road construction right in our area, making it very difficult for people to see our little business. For a couple of days, they blocked off one of the streets that gave people access into our lot. And then, to make matters worse…they began parking their big, huge equipment in our lot. Our lot. The one we are paying rent on.

We got very little business last week…and knew that this road construction would not be ending any time soon. Obviously, we were getting quite discouraged.

We spent a lot of time in prayer over the situation. Did God not want us to pursue this business after all? Was this not something we should be spending our time on? We’ve spent lots of time and a fair amount of money on our new venture…was it going to be all for nothing?

Did I mention we spent a lot of time in prayer?

We recalled that a few weeks back, some friends of ours had called and asked how things were going. They own a business right downtown and told us that if we ever needed to use their lot to park our trailer on and sell our shaved ice…they would be happy to share it with us. At the time they called…we appreciated their offer, but told them that we had already signed a lease and were paying rent for the other lot. 

Now, we decided that even though we were already paying rent on another lot…we really should take our friends up on their offer and move to their lot. At least people would be able to see us there, instead of only seeing big piles of dirt and gravel and huge machines.

And then guess what?! The very day we made the decision to move, the guy in charge of the construction project approached Matt and said, “If I pay for half of your rent, can I use half of your lot?” (Hey, if they were going to use it anyway…it was nice of him to offer to pay us for it.)  Then Matt said, “That would be fine…but would you rather have the whole lot?” And the guy said, “That would be great.” 

Soooooo, now we are in a lot that is open and does not have huge machinery blocking the way….AND our rent for the original lot is being paid for by the construction workers who are using it. What a huge financial relief (because we thought we’d need to move, but still pay the lease on the lot we weren’t using anymore…). AND how blessed we are to have friends who were pulling for us and willing to help us out by letting us use their lot. You’d better believe…they’ll get all the free shaved ice they want! (That’s a hint, Tanya…bring the kids on over!)

Again God has proven to us that He always works everything out. Always. :)

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How is God working in YOUR life? Blog about it, and come on over and link up with us!

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Could It Be Possible for us to LIKE Coleslaw?!

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I have never liked coleslaw. Ever.

And believe it or not…neither has Matt, my easy to please husband who eats everything.

But for some reason a few months ago, I had a cabbage that I needed to do something with…so I experimented making coleslaw.

And I REALLY liked it. A LOT!!

When Matt got home for lunch that day, I was telling him that I had made coleslaw and that I was so excited about it! He kinda gave me a lopsided smile and looked at me like, “Seriously? You made coleslaw? And you want me to eat it?!” 

But of course since he’s so nice, he did eat it. And guess what? He liked it too. 

So it seems that I have come up with a coleslaw recipe that we both like and will eat. We find it refreshing and great to eat with sloppy joes, hamburgers or BBQ chicken. 

Creamy ColeslawYum

½ medium sized cabbage
2 carrots
1 cup mayonnaise (I use Hain Safflower mayo)
2 T. red wine vinegar
1 T. honey
1 T. minced onion
sea salt, to taste

Place cabbage and carrots into food processor. Shred together. Pour cabbage and carrots into a mixing bowl. Set aside. In a small bowl, mix mayonnaise, vinegar, honey, minced onion and salt. Add mayonnaise mixture to cabbage and carrots. Stir until well combined and creamy.

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I hope that even if you don’t like coleslaw…you’ll give this recipe a try! It’s a really yummy way to eat more raw veggies! (And if Matt and I like it and eat it…that’s really saying something!)

Visit Tammy’s Recipes for more great kitchen tips!

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Menu Plan for the Week

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This week…we’ll be eating lots of eggs. 

Why, you ask? Because my friend with chickens is going out of town and she asked me to please feed and water their chickens while they are gone. And, I can keep all the eggs I collect each day. We’re talking about 50 chickens here. Which equals around 2 1/2 dozen eggs each day. Bring on the omelets!

Oh, and don’t think I’m not nervous about being in charge of 50 chickens for an entire week. (Remember how the guinea pig we were “guinea pig sitting” for a couple of weeks ago passed on while in our care?  Yikes! C’mon chickens…hang with me here…)

So here is our menu for the week….our eggstraordinary, eggsellent menu for the week. (I’m done cracking jokes now.)

Sunday, July 13
Oatmeal
Steak on the grill, steamed broccoli, watermelon
Sandwiches, southwest dip with blue corn chips, peaches

Monday, July 14
Pancakes
Sloppy Joes, cole slaw, devilled eggs
Spinach quiche, fruit salad

Tuesday, July 15
Scrambled eggs, oranges
Quesadillas, strawberry-peach slushies
Chicken alfredo, steamed carrots

Wednesday, July 16
Chocolate chip muffins, fried eggs
Bean dip with chips (sour cream and salsa), pears
BBQ meatballs, cheesy mashed potatoes, green beans

Thursday, July 17
Crepes with jelly, bananas
Tuna salad on lettuce and tomatoes, pineapple orange slushies
Grilled chicken breasts, broccoli, cantaloupe

Friday, July 18
Kefir-fruit smoothies
Homemade pizza, apple slices
Hamburgers on homemade buns, onion rings

Saturday, July 19
Breakfast cookies
Leftovers (if there are some)
Egg/veggie scramble, homemade turkey sausage, fruit

As for the blogging menu this week…I promised to start back up again with my Getting Real with Food series (perhaps I should share all of the wonderful attributes of eggs…). I’ll share some good starting places if you are trying to eat healthier. 

And…because we’ll be starting a new school year in just a few more weeks…which I’m  super excited about…I’ll begin sharing a bit about what all we’re gearing up for! 

See you soon! 

Get many more great menu ideas over at Organizing Junkie!
 

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More About What We Don’t Spend Money On

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Two weeks ago I shared with you some of the things we choose not to spend money on…therefore giving us the option of eating healthier. (Because we’ve decided that eating healthier…is NOT an option….but something we must do.)

I mentioned that we do not have cable TV or pets…and that we do not eat out or go out to movies and the like except for on rare occasions (or with gift certificates).

And that is where my list stopped, because I’d been sick and had no energy left to think.

But I’ve been thinking more…and I’ve come up with a longer list. (Now, that’s something exciting…I’ve been thinking and I came up with a long list. Bet you’re ready to snooze already.)

Okay, more of the list of ways we save so that we can put our money toward good, real food:

*I cut our hair myself. 

That includes all four boys, Matt and myself. I’m excited about that because that’s a lot of haircuts in one year…therefore saving us hundreds of dollars. However, I’m no expert at it..so don’t look too close. We aren’t fancy by any means. (Okay, but I do think the boys are awfully cute.)

*Clothes 

Almost every bit of clothing our boys wear is a hand me down. We’ve been blessed so much to be given some very nice clothing from friends. The boys love this and so do we. Matt and I don’t buy new clothes very often, and when we do, that’s when I get to have lots of fun shopping clearance sales. I LOVE finding awesome deals! 

*Travel/Motels

We don’t travel much, but when we do we stay with family if at all possible. It saves money, and has been wonderful for our relationships with our family members. (And thankfully none of them so far has been afraid of us bringing four boys into their home for the night!) 

*Stuff

We just don’t buy stuff. We try to just spend money on what we need, and that’s it. 

*Magazine Subscriptions

I’m not sure when we’d find the time to read them anyway! And, if we really want to read one, we can go to the library.

*Gifts

Gifts for birthdays and Christmas are usually simple and almost always practical. And guess what? Our boys still love birthdays and Christmas. How about that?

*Junk Food

It’s amazing how spending nothing on junk food and “snacky foods” really makes room for real food. 

Well, there must be more things that we don’t spend money on that I’m not thinking of…but since I don’t spend money on it…I don’t know what it is! :)

Please join me here as I continue with the Getting Real With Food series. You CAN afford to eat healthy!! Coming up next in the series….Figuring out Where to Start. 

Visit Biblical Womanhood for more Frugal Fridays.

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A Bit of Randomness

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I have a few completely random subjects running around in my head. I figured you would just love to hear all about it. :)

1. The very best part about being sick is feeling better afterward. And being incredibly joyful simply because you can put a load of clothes into the washing machine without feeling completely worn out when you’re done.

2. Along those same lines…because I was sick for the better part of two weeks, and then we went on a trip…I’m having a terrible time catching up on everything that needs to be done around here. I do not have a Funky Kitchen…and my Home doesn’t look the least bit Heavenly right now. ;)

3. It doesn’t help that my vacuum isn’t working. And hasn’t been for about a month. The last time I tried to vacuum…I felt pieces of dirt and other unknown objects HITTING my foot! My vacuum was BLOWING AIR OUT instead of sucking stuff in. What is THAT about? So, my vacuum is in the shop, and my floors just keep getting dirtier. Thankfully, most of my main floor is hard wood and we just sweep it…but upstairs is a different story. 

4. I have weeds taller than Justus outside in my garden. And he’s been growing like a weed. Now that’s scary.

5. I sent two of my boys outside yesterday to rinse out a couple of big jugs. 45 minutes later they came in soaking wet…the sidewalk had been watered very well…and the jugs were dirtier than they were to begin with. I’m pretty sure they had fun “helping me” though. 

6. Last week we killed our friend’s guinea pig. Not on purpose. We were guinea pig sitting and it just so happened that it was “Rosie’s” time to go. I was reminded of several years ago when I was bunny sitting…and the bunny didn’t make it either. You may not want to trust our family with your pets. Just saying.

7. Asa lost his last baby tooth last night. His very last one. I’ve got to stop being in denial about my kids getting older.

8. As I do every July…I’m starting to get REALLY excited about the upcoming school year. We always start in early August…and I’m excited to share more about our schedule and some of the things we do in our home school. You should see my awesome list of books that I want to order! Ooh, I’m getting so excited!!!

9. I’ve heard from several of you that you’re anxious to hear more in my Getting Real With Food series! I’m anxious to share too, now that I’m feeling better. Sorry I haven’t posted any of those for a while. Really and truly, I’ll get back with it next week. What I LOVE is hearing how many of you are working to eat healthier!!! That makes me so excited!

10. I’m baking today for the farmer’s market. I’m writing this as my pretzel dough is rising. My house is about to begin smelling really, really yummy.

11. I had a typo when I first wrote number 10 and wrote “My house is about to begin spelling really, really yummy.” I never knew I had such a smart house.

Okay, enough randomness….I’ve got to go get back to work in the kitchen. And, I do believe that I’ll call the vacuum place to see if my vacuum is almost ready to be picked up. 

What are you up to today? Hope you have a great one!

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Don’t Believe the Lies!

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Last weekend at our family reunion…two of my cousins and I were visiting and sharing about some of our recent struggles. 

We talked about how in the midst of our struggles….Satan is going to tell us lies.

Lies that he really wants us to believe. Lies that make us doubt what we know to be truth. Lies that cause us extreme pain. Lies that break our hearts and challenge our faith.

Even though we know God’s truth…when we’ve been hurt or when tragedy occurs in our lives…the lies can cover up the truth and take over our minds and hearts.

Which is exactly what Satan wants.

And we usually don’t even recognize it.

So my cousins and I talked about how we need to ask God to expose the lies. 

And then we need to listen.

Just listen…so that our eyes can be opened to see and understand what the lies are.

Because when we know what the lies are…we can re-learn what the truth is.

What God’s truth is.

We are whole. We are loved. We are taken care of. 

God never fails us. 

God IS truth.

And the Truth will set us free. 
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More Works for me Wednesday here.

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