Healthy Smoothies

Don't feel like eating a salad but need to get some more veggies in your diet? Picky kids won't eat their vegetables? Have a blender?

Blend well: 1 entire apple (minus stem), 1 ice cube tray of ice, few tablespoons honey, 1 1/2-2 cups plain yogurt, couple handfuls mixed salad (I used leftover salad from dinner last night: spinach, romaine, and shredded carrots). Tastes great and good for you! Add some frozen berries for color and extra flavor if green scares your kiddos. This can easily be adapted for breakfast by omitting the ice, apple, and honey, and instead using frozen berries, a banana or two, and some orange juice. I love making this as an easy lunch/breakfast for the children and I, served alongside a grain like buttered toast.

Does your family make these or a variation? If you have a favorite recipe that sneaks veggies into your diet, please share in a comment below! Have a blessed day, and please don't forget to talk to God today, He loves you!

Cloth Diapering...Yeah, It's Addictive

I popped into Hancock Fabrics today with cotton flannel on my mind. I wanted to get a cute print that I could sew up into large squares for flat diapers. I wanted something gender neutral and yet not boring.  Something that said "I'm a diaper" not "This kid's mom can't match his top and bottom clothes together." I first found a great diaper pin print; super cute with many colors. Downside: $7.00 a yard :-\  Another section of flannel prints was priced at $7.00 a yard, but was on sale for 50% off, which made it the cheapest flannel in the entire store. I found a print that fit my requirements, and purchased the remainder of the bolt (about 4 yards) for about $14.00. Yay!

I plan to start sewing tonight, then send my new dipes through a few hot wash cycles to fluff 'em up, and begin diapering Declan (14 months old, can you believe it!) with them tomorrow. I researched (extensively) online, and have decided on these dimensions for my flats: 31.5" by 31.5", which reportedly, should shrink down to approximately 28" by 28". I've cut into my fabric already, and I have enough flannel to make 6 flats and a few cloth wipes from the scraps. I don't have a serger (sigh...someday...) so I plan to zig zag AND straight stitch the edges to prevent them from fraying. I have yards and yards of edging to sew, so I better get to it, if I want to wash them tonight!

P.S. In case you were curious, I much prefer good ole' diaper pins to Snappies, and I will be using this fold with my flats. It turns out very trim around baby's legs and multi-layered up front, where it counts. More on flat folds and use in a later post!

Pancakes and Blogger Problems

I tried to post a great photo tutorial on a craft project the children and I just did, but I'm having problems with my mobile Blogger app. :-( I guess it will have to wait until I can sort things out on my home computer. That may be a while. So for a while, I'm stuck doing simple photo posts.

I am making freezer pancakes today. Here is the process I am following. This will be so convenient on hectic mornings; pull out kid-sized, homemade, whole wheat pancakes from the freezer, reheat and eat! Let me know if you try this!

Speaking of hectic mornings, if you are having one, don't forget to take a quick moment to talk to God and "give it all over" to him. Don't carry stress around; surrender your day to the Lord and trust me, it will be be a great one!

Banana Nut Oatmeal

Today's breakfast. Delicious! Scroll through the pics and you'll see that children approved as well :-)

Fall Is Full Of...

Our Fall is full of pumpkins and stews and colorful leaves.  And a young toddler learning to feed himself :-)

The Widow with the Two Mites

I read a devotional today from a weekly series on women of the Bible. Here is the wonderful lesson that I took away from it today:

Even if it doesn't seem like much, even if no one else knows...if you are giving your all, He sees and He is well pleased with you.

As a mother of several small children, it is easy to feel like no one knows or appreciates everything I do in a day. We young mothers have the privilege of training our children and keeping house all day, but at the end of the day, when daddy comes home, it often looks as though perhaps nothing productive was done at all. Take heart young mothers, that the Lord sees all that you do and knows the motives of your heart. He hears every story you read. He feels the gentle guidance of your hand as you assist in printing letters and cutting paper. He counts each time you:  sweep the floor, wash the dishes, change a diaper, wash someone else's hands, do a load of laundry, sing a cheerful song, kiss an owie, trip on something you didn't leave out, lol!  I think he overlooks:  your messy hair bun, the lipstick forgotten in your makeup bag, the baby drool on your shirt, your unmanicured nails, etc.

God sees all of the important things you do each day (yes, they are very important!), even when it may feel that no one knows your sacrifice. He loves you, His hard worker, and He says you are doing a great job!

I pray that you feel exceedingly blessed by Him today, and that you feel encouraged as you offer up your daily sacrifice to our Lord :-)

Creamy Beef and Cabbage over Noodles

Cook whole wheat pasta noodles of your choice until "al dente". Drain, set aside.

Brown some butter, then brown some lean ground beef in the butter. Add in desired amounts of cumin, Real Salt, freshly ground pepper, onion flakes or chopped onions, dried thyme, minced fresh garlic, and some chopped cabbage. Once cabbage has started to wilt slightly and looks glazed, turn off stove. Finely grate some extra sharp cheddar cheese into pot, then mix in desired amounts of sour cream, ranch dressing, mustard, and honey, until the beef and cabbage is coated by a nice creamy sauce.

Spoon some creamy beef and cabbage over each serving of pasta, and enjoy!

This was our dinner tonight, made up from ingredients on hand, and boy was it delicious! I wish there were leftovers for tomorrow's lunch, but we ate it all! Also, I'm sorry that there isn't a picture, but I wrote this post after dinner :-(

May the Lord richly bless your family as well, and I hope you all have/had a great dinner tonight!

We Moved In...Yeah Right

We have been in our new apartment for about 2 weeks now...officially. Unofficially, there are still A LOT of unpacked boxes around, and don't get me started on our dishes crisis (hey, this is my blog and I am going to be honest and real because that is life, right?) Anywho, between unpacking and settling in here, going back to the old apt to clean and make minor touch up repairs, and well, still living our lives with our 1, 2 1/2, and 4 year olds, things are a bit unorganized around. I guess that's to be expected, huh? 

Well, I sure have missed blogging and am glad to get a post in this morning. To all my fellow bloggers reading this, don't worry, I have kept up reading your lovely blogs, they are a great encouragement to me, and I think of and pray for your families throughout the day :-)

I am so glad we continued a relaxed school day during the summertime, because we are just picking up school again around here, after a 2 week break. We are totally loving the new books my Grandma Peggy ordered for us through Scholastic Books; we are so grateful for her support of our home education.  We are particularly enjoying "Chicka Chicka Boom Boom" by Bill Martin Jr. and John Archambault, which tells a cute story about the lower case alphabet letters racing each other to the top of a coconut tree, then falling down and being rescued by their upper case "mamas and papas". This book is a great resource for learning letters, since we point to each one, saying their name, as we go through the story. The entire alphabet (upper and lower case) is listed at the beginning and the end of the book, which allows us to get in "The ABC Song" twice during the book, for a grand total of 4x through the alphabet in one book! Another great alphabet book we are enjoing is "The Mixed Up Alphabet" by Steve Metzger. Also, a cute story, but a bit longer than "Chicka Chicka..." and  so it takes 2nd place since the littles have short attention spans.

Some books we are reading to build and reinforce math skills:

"Apple Countdown" by Joan Holub
"Hide!" by Jeff Foxworthy
"The Very Hungry Caterpillar" by Eric Carle

We love referring back to "The Very Hungry..." to reinforce healthy eating habits, since the caterpillar in the story feels ill after eating too much food (including sweets, which we point out), but feels much better the next day after munching a little on a leaf.

Aiden just turned 4 this month and enjoys drawing and using a pencil, so we are continuing with shape and letter practice. Another great gift from my Grandma Peggy were some Playskool (I am such a geek, that I can't stand writing that, knowing they've misspelled their company's name on purpose) preschool workbooks. Aiden started one last night and I have to say (proud mama speaking here) that he is a little smarty pants! He insisted on writing his name at the top, and referred to a printed alphabet when he wasn't sure how a letter was written.  I have a picture posted below of the pages he completed. This of course, was a very relaxed and fun activity, there was no pressure from me for him to complete any amount of work or achieve perfection, I simply encouraged him to do the parts he was interested in and helped with the parts he was frustrated with (mainly the diagonal line while writing the upper case "N".) I am very excited to see him continue to progress on this journey of lifelong learning!

Homeschool mamas, what books/activities are you enjoying with your littles right now?

May you be GREATLY blessed by Him today :-)

Where Does My Help Come From?

In a few days we will be moving. The floor of the kids' room is crowded by 2 toddler mattresses, 1 queen size mattress, 1 "pop-up" crib, and one chest of drawers.  Our "former" master bedroom is half full, floor to ceiling, with moving boxes and disassembled furniture.

My two oldest children (2 1/2 and 4yrs) have been ill since early yesterday afternoon with fevers and other unpleasant side effects of some sort of flu virus, I'm guessing. My baby (1yr) has been suffering terribly from the torments of teething, and I have to admit that my husband's and my sleep has been, as well.

Aiden's mattress borders with my side of the queen mattress and so we sleep inches away from each other. He loves being so close to me and sleeps so soundly this way.

With all that said, here are the events of my morning as they played out, after minimal hours of sleep:

I awaken to my poor Aiden, whimpering next to me on his mattress. I look over and offer words of comfort just before he starts getting sick. He is lying down, so I help him sit up. All of this commotion has woken the baby who was next to me in bed, and feels denied his morning nursing. Tim is awake now and tries to comfort the baby as I change Aiden's clothes and bedding and get him a drink of water. Declan (the baby) is nearing hysterics, as I (in my sleep-deprived stupor) take a ridiculously long time trying to find where I put the extra pillows. I finally settle Aiden back into his freshly made bed, and take the baby from my equally drowsy husband.

It is stuffy in "the bedroom" as we now call it, from the morning's events, so I bring Declan out to our recliner in the living room. I sit down next to the open sliding glass door and nurse my teething babe. It is cool and overcast outside (which I love) and the air smells heavy with the promise of rain. I open the web browser on my phone to my home page, biblegateway.com, and read their "verses of the day" selection, which are:

Psalm 121:1-3 (NASB)
The LORD the Keeper of Israel.
A Song of Ascents.
"I will lift up my eyes to the mountains;
From where shall my help come?
My help comes from the LORD,
Who made heaven and earth
He will not allow your foot to slip
He who keeps you will not slumber"

It begins to sprinkle lightly outside and the fragrance is Heavenly. Declan nurses contentedly and looks up at me, his comfort, his safety. My husband wanders in and plops into a stuffed chair facing me. We smile at each other and share my foot rest. I think of the passage I'd just read, and feel so blessed at how God has turned my morning around, and glad that I thought of looking to His Word, before anything else on this morning. And no matter what transpires today, sick children and all, I can look towards the Heavens; I know where my help comes from :-)

A Necklace for God

 
It so often feels this way, doesn't it mothers?
Such encouragement to know that, in this context, the Lord proudly wears the LONG string of beads that we are creating. He sees all that we do, and it is surely not in vain.
What kind of necklace are you fashioning for our Lord?  Are you hastily stringing beads on, quick as you can, feeling that you should meet some sort of "quota" for the day? Perhaps you are sluggishly adding them, one at a time, feeling that you'd rather be doing something else (perhaps napping which sounds Heavenly enough, after all!)

No.

Fellow mothers and homemakers, yes even you with several small children (this is me as well): Join me and let's carefully select the most beautiful beads to string for our God. Beads in the form of kind words and thoughtful actions. Of grace and selflessness and perseverance. Of love and gentle guidance, peace and contentment.
Let us create a lovely necklace that God, our Heavenly parent would be proud to show off to all!

You Promised!

I know. I did. A few weeks ago, I promised to post some photos from my brother's wedding. But, here's the thing: I was so moved by the lovely wedding that... I forgot to take pictures!

Here's the good side to this coin: Soon, the bride (my new and only sister-in-law) is going to give me a cd containing the proffesional photographs from the wedding and reception! Sweet! So, pretty soon, I should have some EXCELLENT wedding photos to share with you.

Also, I am attending a baby shower this Sunday for my new sister-in-law, who's making me a first time aunt at the end of the year! I have been having a great time sewing fun baby things for my new nephew, and I can't wait to give my sister a basket of home-sewn goodies! My hubby will be on Daddy-duty, so I *should* be able to get some lovely pictures of the baby shower, (since I won't be juggling any babies or toddlers) including the things I made!

Speaking of things I've made, I am going to make my famous "French Toast Casserole" to bring to the Baby Shower Brunch. It is a very simple breakfast that I came up with so that I could feed a big group a homemade breakfast, without spending all morning cooking it.  This time, I am addng an even simpler twist.

Mallorie's French Toast Casserole:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Farenheit.
Thickly grease a 9"x13" casserole dish with softened butter. Cube up enough cinnamon swirl bread (we love it from Trader's Joe's) to fill the dish 3/4 full. Beat well some eggs (around 1 dozen) by hand and pour them over the cubed bread (the eggs should come halfway up the bread cubes, so use more or less eggs as needed.) Drizzle a little melted butter over the top of the bread cubes, then sprinkle some brown sugar on top of that. Bake uncovered for 20-30 min or until the eggs are completely set. The top will appear golden brown and crisp when done, and the brown sugar will be slightly crunchy and carmalized. Allow to cool briefly, then serve in squares, pouring hot maple syrup over each serving. SO GOOD!

Have a blessed day!

MOVING!!!

We are packing up around here and moving to a better apartment on September 14th. We praise the Lord that we will have a yard for the children now, and FINALLY washer and dryer hookups!!! A safer neighborhood, closer to church, husband's workplace, family, shopping, and more. This is certainly a time of abundant blessings for our little family.

Eating Cookies and Coloring

Big Announcement Post coming soon :-)
For now, here is a simple picture of what we're doing right now. Have a wonderfully blessed day with Him!

Your Promises are True

Oh Lord, our Lord
How majestic is Your name
Your words are true
Your mercy does not change
All your promises are precious
Reviving our faith
Every one of them will be fullfilled one day

All Your promises are "Yes" and "Amen" Jesus
Your promises are true
All your promises are "Yes" and "Amen" Jesus
We'll keep running after You

I learned this song in my high school bible study group. (there might be more verses), and it popped into my head this morning. Isn't it wonderful to know that it's Truth? I forget where it's written in the Bible, but when I find it, I'll add the Scripture verses below.

Be abundantly blessed in Him today, and don't forget to talk with Him!

Here is a parting shot of Caitlin to brighten the day :-)

Freeze Those Imperfect Moments

Sometimes when life feels hard, I want a break for a while; a little getaway from reality and responsibility. Then there are times like right now: some dirty dishes in the sink, toys on the floor, me drinking coffee and still partially jammie-clad...and the children playing happily, quietly on the floor together. These moments I want to freeze and keep forever. No, they aren't perfect, but they're precious. And they'll never come again.

Months of the Year Books

This is what we are making today. What is your family creating? Is anyone gardening, crafting, or cooking? Please leave a comment below!

So Exciting!

Can you guess why we bought these shoes for my daughter? She's going to wear them in a few days at a very special event...

On Saturday, my brother and only sibling is getting married!!!

Caitlin will be one of two flower girls, and Aiden is sharing ring-bearer duty with the bride's little brother! So, a sweet white dress (with matching shoes as pictured) for Catie, and a sharp little suit for Aiden. I can't wait to see them wear their wedding apparel!

I will also finally be getting a sister :-D. So. Awesome. I will definately post pictures of the wedding next week, so look for those soon!

Sunflowers and Curls

I love having fresh flowers in my home, on my kitchen table. So beautiful and sweet smelling, they are one of God's loveliest creations. I saw many bouquets at the market yesterday, but couldn't justify the expense. During these tough economic times I, like many other Americans, am on a strict budget.

I was especially drawn to a bouquet of large sunflowers. They seemed to beam "summer".  I thought of how cheery they would look on my table, the yellow, brown, and green. But I said goodbye to those lovely flowers and proceeded to pay for my week's groceries.

Driving home, I thought of flowers again, and that maybe I could pick some more of the white roses which grew by the mailboxes in my apartment complex. They were wilting in the summer heat though, and paled in comparison to the fresh and lively selection at the grocery store. I had resolved to feel grateful that I had access to flowers at all and that any flowers would bring beauty to my home.

My drive home takes me through a county pocket with no sidewalks or curbs. I was passing through this section when something yellow and bright caught my eye. I almost couldn't believe it, it must be from the Lord.  On the side of the road, growing wild, were some beautiful sunflowers.

I'm sure you guessed that I turned off the road, and cut myself a bunch, fighting off aphids, red ants, and one rather large spider. They received a cold shower (to get rid of the remaining ants) and some trimming and arranging when I got home and now they smile up at me from my kitchen table. It really is true that God loves to bless His children with good gifts :-)

As for the curls, I put Caitlin's hair in pin curls after her bath last night, then tied on a head scarf. After lying down, she complained that the pins hurt her head, so I cut some small strips of cloth, removed the bobby pins, and wrapped each would-be curl around a cloth and tied them off. I don't know if this is how "rag curls" are made, but it turned out well! So, if you don't have any pins or curlers, you can still bless your daughter (or yourself!) with a head of beautiful curls. All you need is a spare bit of cloth and some scissors. If anyone tries this, or knows anything about old fashioned "rag curls" please leave a comment with your story or advice.

Be blessed in Him today!

Hello Again

I took quite a long hiatus from blogging. Have you missed me? Well, life has it's hard times and occasionaly they come in rather large doses and you have to cut out all the extra to focus on the important things: God, family, home, and so forth. I promise I've kept up with reading everyone else's lovely blogs and I'm excited to get back to writing mine. I'll try to play catch up for several posts for everyone who has missed and maybe wondered what's gone on in our home over the last year. My husband installed a Blogger application on my smart phone and I hope it will make posting often more feasible, since I most always have my phone about me.  May God bless you richly as He is blessing us.

Sorry about the sideways photo. Still trying to figure out how to upload pics to Blogger from my mobile phone.