Organization For Kid's Clean Laundry

It's a hang-up of mine for my kids to be in unmatched or messy clothes. Maybe it seems petty to some, but to me, it makes them look sloppy and unclean. I feel like it's important to teach the kids that, as Christians, we should always look our best to set an example. Besides that, studies have been done that show that your attitude and behaviour match your attire. I know if I'm sitting around in my pajamas, I will naturally feel lazy. But if I get up, get dressed, fix my hair, and get ready to start my day, even if I'm not going anywhere, I feel better about myself and I'm much more productive. That being said, every mother knows what a pain it is to pick out everybody's clothes every morning! Plus, when you have a child in the family like my Eli who thinks everytime he gets a drop of water on his pants they need to be changed, the end result is a dresser that's full of shirts, but no pants, 4 pair of unmatched socks, and that one odd glove! That makes it very hard to look your best! We also don't like to stifle their growing independence and individuality. Picking out their own clothes every morning is a big deal to little ones and makes them feel very grown up. We like for the kids to practice responsibility in all areas of life, including getting themselves ready for the day. So, where do you draw the line? How do you keep the kiddos looking sharp, but also allow them to be in charge of their own attire? Well, we've devised, what we think is a pretty good system in our house that allows the kids to get themselves dressed every morning, in clothes that actually match!! I thought I'd share our plan, using Eli as an example: When it's time to fold and put away his clean clothes, I match up the outfits: pants, a shirt, socks, and a pair underwear, and slip everything into a gallon zip lock bag. If I don't have enough bags, I use rubberbands, though we risk losing pieces that way, so I prefer the bags. Then we put his clothes into 3 drawers: The top drawer for "Day-time Clothes", the second drawer for "Outside Clothes", and the last drawer for pajamas. He knows which drawers are which (In the past we've added pictures to the drawers of the child who has a hard time remembering. Like a sun for daytime clothes, moon for pajamas, etc.). That way, every morning, he just goes to his top drawer, pulls out his bag, and he has everything he needs. Later, if he's going outside to help Daddy work on the car, I tell him to put on some of his outside clothes, and he knows just what to do. As the kids get older and start wanting to match up their own clothes, we sit together and match them up before they put them away. This may not seem like that big of a deal to some, but for me it saves so much time. With this plan and a few other simple routines to follow every morning, everything runs smoothly, allowing me to get up, get ready, and have breakfast done by the time everyone comes in. The kids know to wake up, make their beds, grab a bag of clothes to put on, brush their teeth, and meet at the table for breakfast. When the day starts out so smoothly, it sets the pace for the rest of the day. Now, if I could just find that match to that one odd glove...

Update on Baby Viggo!

I just wanted to post a few new pictures of Viggo. He's already changed so much! He's doing great. Sleeping good at night, nursing like a pro, spending a lot of time with wide eyes, learning all about his new family! Everyone else has adjusted well, too, and we are all thoroughly enjoying our new, soft little bundle!

Swaddling Blanket

Everyone knows that swaddling is the most effective way to calm and comfort a baby, but it wasn't until I received a set of extra large swaddling blankets from my aunt after Serenity was born that I realized how easy and snugly they could really be! I'm not sure just how big these blanket were, but they were much larger than your ordinary receiving blanket and made from super soft flannel. I used them so much with Serenity and she never out grew them, even though she was so chubby! I know, it sounds silly to be so in love with something as simple and ordinary as a receiving blanket, but once you've used an extra large one, you'll never go back! It makes it so much easier to swaddle and the wrap actually stays put! So, naturally, when Viggo was born, I started thinking about these blankets... how wonderful they are, how soft, and how they are so so PINK! Obviously, we can not wrap our sweet little bundle of boy in these pink blankets, even though I really was tempted to! So, since I can't do much of anything else right now anyway, I started the great on-line search for some larger swaddling blankets. I was in shock at what I found. A wide selection of fabric, all in to-die-for prints, with a very large price tag! I, personally, just cannot justify spending $40, or more, on a set of receiving blankets. I kept thinking there has to be another way. So I checked Ebay, Etsy, places like that, only to find that everyone was still charging much more than I was willing to pay. Finally it dawned on me, "I can sew!" Why I didn't think of this earlier, I do not know, we'll blame it on the postpartum Mommy brain! Jo Ann's happened to have their flannel on sale for $2.49 a yard this week. Add to that my teacher discount they give me (I'm a frequent shopper :)! ) and I was able to get super soft and funky flannel for a super-low cost! I cut each blanket to a perfect square: 44x44". From there I simply hemmed all four sides and Voila! I have extra large, super soft, and totally cute swaddling blankets that took me about 10-15 minutes per blanket to make (While wearing a baby in a sling!) and only cost about $2.50 each. It was simple enough that ANYONE could do it and the end result is fantastic! I get the tightest and best swaddle ever with these and Viggo drifts to sleep instantly. So, planning on attending a baby shower soon? These are a great gift idea!

Viggo's Birth

There are many reasons people choose to have a homebirth. For us, a lot of aspects come into play, many of which are a matter of personal preference and opinion, and are worthy of their own post for another day. :) This post is simply about Viggo. I'm not posting this to try and educate or sway anybody's opinion on the subject of homebirthing, but to share the awesome experience we had bringing this little baby into the world.
Viggo finally arrived on December 16, eleven days past his due date! I started having contractions the day before when I woke up. They were pretty consistently 5 minutes apart and continued that way until that evening with no real pain. The house was full of excitement as we were getting things ready, knowing tonight was going to be the night. The kids were so involved in the whole process and were more than happy to keep me company as I tried to relax and prepare for the labor.

Everyone was so full of snuggles as we anxiously awaited Baby Viggo!



Serenity sat with me while I labored on the birthing ball and drew me pictures!


The kids even got to help Daddy with the birthing pool!

Finally at about 10:00 pm I started feeling some pain with the contractions. Kevin started filling up the birthing pool that was set up in the dining room and I was in it by 11:00. It offered so much relief!


But by midnight, I was really in a lot of pain and feeling pretty discouraged. My water still hadn't broken and I was thinking if my contractions already hurt that bad, what were they going to feel like after my water broke! It was then that I started my pity party. :) Knowing I still needed my water to break and thinking there would be a couple of hours to go after that, I hit my breaking point, something every laboring mother does. It was a really emotional and difficult time. It was a time that, looking back, I see will forever be a part of who I am and who Kevin is. There was a certain amount of strength added to our relationship at that moment as I clung, sobbing, to him and he did something I'll never forget. He didn't tell me that I could do this because I was strong enough or good enough, because he knew that's not what I needed or wanted to hear. Instead he started to pray. So quietly, so calmly, asking the Lord to be with me and to give me the strength I needed. And He did. Within a matter of a few minutes, I felt Viggo's head transcending. My water didn't break until just as his head emerged. Within 2, maybe 3 pushes, he was here! It's comical to me, now, thinking of how discouraged I was just "knowing" I still had hours and hours of laboring left to go... only to see that he was delivered within minutes! But, I know it was hitting that wall, that brink of hysteria that caused me to break and become an open vessel for God's plan and His timing.

Viggo Abram was born at 12:45 am and he was perfect! 20.5" long and weighing 9lb 4oz with curly, dark hair! We were able to move straight from the birthing pool to our nice cozy bed where he nursed with such ease, was snuggled, and given a little check-up. It was such a wonderful experience for our family. Again we look at this baby and find ourselves amazed at the miracle of childbirth. We are so thankful for another opportunity to raise up a child for the Lord!





Ava loves her new baby brother!


Eli is fascinated with Viggo! He has been waiting a long time for his baby brother and says he's going to teach him to play baseball and sword fight. I have no doubts he is going to be a great big brother!




Serenity is having a hard time learning to give Viggo space. She loves him so much and can hardly stand to walk within arms reach of him and not kiss and touch!



We thank God for baby Viggo and for his safe delivery. We are so looking forward to watching him grow!

Vegetable Soup on a Budget

Sometimes we really have to stretch a dollar. Making homemade soups can really help you do that. A small amount of meat will go a long way in a pot of soup and feed a lot of people. Plus soups can easily be frozen for a quick and healthy meal down the road.
We make a lot of soup, but one of my favorites is the vegetable soup recipe listed below. Sometimes even vegetable soup can be one of the pricier soups to make by the time you buy the stew meat, but this recipe uses ground beef so it really cuts the cost down. If you'd like to cut costs even more, ground turkey is a great alternative. It's cheaper, lower in fat, and there are no growth hormones used in poultry like in beef.
So, put on a big pot of The Ultimate Comfort Food during one of the upcoming chilly afternoons ahead, reflect on the bucks you saved, and watch that smile creep onto your face! Enjoy!

1 pound ground beef or turkey
4 cups chicken broth
4 cups water
2 (1 ounce) packages dry onion soup mix
1 (15 ounce) can tomato sauce
2 stalks celery, chopped
1 onion, chopped
1 (16 ounce) package frozen mixed vegetables
3/4 cup elbow macaroni

In a saute pan, brown ground beef, over medium heat.
In a large stock pot, combine broth, water, onion soup mix, tomato sauce, celery, onion, frozen vegetables and macaroni. Bring to a boil and then simmer until macaroni is done.
Add browned ground beef, mix and serve.

20 free prints today only at Walgreens!

Hey, all! Today at Walgreens you can order 20 prints for free! No other purchase necessary. What a steal! That's a savings of about $3.80. Order on-line or in store. I just ordered mine on-line and it was a breeze. Just wanted to pass it along, have a nice day!

The First Egg...

For those of you who don't know, we started raising chickens a few months ago. I haven't really blogged about them because, unfortunately, up until now, there hasn't really been anything pleasant to report! We got our first batch of chickens back in April. 50 fuzzy little Rhode Island Red's that my children just adored. Because we live in town, Kevin built a coop and pen about 10 minutes away behind my Dad's shop for the chickens. (Tom How Welding Inc. for all your welding services! ;) Yeah!!) We were going to butcher half of them for our freezer this winter, and save the other half for eggs. But we never got that far. Sadly, the dogs down the street didn't like to stay in their fenced in pen so much, but they sure did like our chickens' pen! So by July we were down to one, lonely chicken. As my forlorn Eli would say, "Mine only chicken...". It was pure devastation. The poor kids took it so hard, especially Eli who adored his chickens. After that, we went through a string of other disappointments when we tried and tried to get some more chickens and it always fell through. Finally, Sunday night Kevin found someone on Craigslist that was selling some fancy chickens! He was so happy! He had been wanting some fancy ones for a while and this couple who were selling them happened to have the exact kind he wanted and they only live about 5 minutes away! So we picked up about 10 of them Monday morning. The kids (And Kevin, too!) were delighted at the sight of these goofy looking chickens and they have become the talk of our house for days. Tuesday morning we found our very first egg! The kids were so happy! Here are a few pictures:

This is the kids when they found the first egg. You would've thought it was a golden egg the way they squealed and giggled! Unfortunately, after we got home with it I DROPPED IT!! I felt just terrible, but they understood. They've dropped their fair share of eggs, too!

Here is one of the roosters we got. He's my favorite.

And here is Kevin's favorite. Isn't he so funny looking? A great source of entertainment for sure!

So there you have it. We're still looking to restock our chicken supply, but we've had a great few days relishing in the joy these silly little chickens and their one egg have brought us!

Dear weary parents...

What mother is not tired? I don't know one! We all get a bit overwhelmed from time to time with the duties of motherhood. When it comes down to it, all we can do is our best. I'm reading a wonderful book titled The Family by J.R. Miller. I highly recommend! As I was reading through it today I found the most wonderful piece about motherhood. It is so uplifting and encouraging that I couldn't keep it to myself! Here is what he had to say:

"There is an old picture which represents a woman who has fallen asleep at her spinning wheel, in very weariness, as she toils to fulfill her household duties, and the angels have come and are softly finishing her task while she sleeps. Let parents be faithful; let them do their best. The work may seem too great for them, and they may faint under its burdens and seem to fail. But what they cannot do the angels will come and finish while they sleep. Night by night they will come and correct the day's mistakes and if need be do all the poor, faulty work over again. Then at last when the parents sleep in death, dropping out of their hands the sacred work they have been doing for their children, again God's angels will come, take up the unfinished work and carry it on to completeness."

I found this to be a most encouraging thought, that if I'm doing my best to raise my children up in the Lord, in accordance with God's word, He will send His angels to see me through those times of weariness. How wonderful to remember that we're not alone in this. That we are doing the work of a most merciful God who wants us to succeed as parents and is always there to supply wisdom and gracious love, all we have to do is come to Him and ask.

Ava's room makeover

We all have those rooms that we've known for a while need some work, but we just keep putting it off. This was the case with Ava's room. We really haven't done anything to it since before she was born. I wish I would've taken a "before picture", though I'm not sure I would want proof of the ciaos! The carpeting was stained, nothing really matched, and in that small room she had a bed, a doll crib, a set of shelves, a dress up trunk, 2 dressers, a broken changing table, and to top it all off she was sharing a room with Serenity. The walls were basically lined with furniture and there was a real lack of organization. So, of course, because of that, it was ALWAYS messy!
A few years ago when we remodeled our house we went ahead and bought laminate flooring for the entire house. We did it all, but never got around to laying down new floor in Ava and Mackenzie's rooms. So last Monday Kevin casually suggested we redo the floors in Ava's room this weekend. He has now said he will never suggest anything again. That job turned into a full blown redecoration of her room. We layed new floors, painted, built a new bed, among many other things. So here's my pictures of how it turned out.
Here's the view from the door. The first thing we did was kick Serenity out and put her things into Mackenzie's room, which is empty half the time when Mackenzie's at her Mom's. That opened up a lot more room in Ava's room.
Here is the right corner of her room. Pretty simple, but I love her dress-up box. A good friend of mine made that for her when she was about a year old. I tried to leave the walls a little open to add more pictures later.

This is in the far right corner of her room. When the dresser was given to us it was white with purple sponge painting. We sanded that down and refinished it with brown. The only problem was that while the knobs were off and we were painting the kids lost one! Isn't that always how it goes? I bought a cheap mirror at Wal-Mart and used Rub Ons from Stampin' Up to decorate it.
The curtains on the windows are called window quilts and they are the greatest thing EVER! They are made with batting sandwiched between two pieces of cotton. Then I hand stitched the appliques on. These curtains are so thick that not only do they work like blackout curtains and block all the sunlight, they also block heat and cold from outside. I love them. They are so functional and they were my favorite project in this room because they were so much fun to make. Here's a close up picture and a picture of the one next to her bed.




This is the picture of her new bed. Kevin basically framed out under the bed like you would frame out a house, then he set the bed on top. My kids love "Cubby Holes" as we call them, like little hiding places, and they make them all the time. So we thought it would be nice for Ava to have one built into her room. So we made one underneath her bed. This is a quiet place she can go to read, draw, or just relax. Her radio is in her cubby hole so she can listen to her audio stories, too. The polka dot thing you see are her shelves. We turned them inward so the space could be a little more closed off, but the back of the shelves was the unsightly brown cardboard. So we painted it and Mod Podged cut out paper circles to the back. Then we Mod Podged over the whole thing twice and added two coats of varnish. This was so much fun to do and now I'm on the look out to find out what else I can Mod Podge around here! Lastly, the letters on her bed read "Sweet Dreams Ava". These were made with my sister's Big Shot and were applied the same way we did the back of the shelves.


Here's a picture of the top of the bed. Remember that old broken changing table? Well, since we never like to waste anything, we re-purposed it to make her canopy. I drew the shape I wanted and Kevin used the bandsaw to cut it out. Then he used a 15/64 drill bit to drill holes all the way through the board and a bigger bit, 23/64 to drill in those same holes, but only half way in. That way a Christmas light would fit perfectly. We think it turned out really well, though this project was not very well planned. As you can see from the picture, we didn't take into account that she has a ceiling fan! So now we have to cut down the fan blades so it will be functional again. Oops! We hung a large curtain rod behind that with sparkly tulle hanging from it to give her cubby hole some "doors" without making it too dark.

Finally we have the left corner where her closet is. Her doll crib that Kevin made her for Christmas fit perfectly there. The kids and I put our hand prints on the wall as a reminder to Ava of how much fun we had together when we painted her room. Kevin didn't get to help, but everybody else pitched in... Even Serenity!


We were able to finish in one weekend, but it wasn't easy! I have to thank Kevin because I can be hard to work with. I'm a perfectionist and a little bit stubborn, but he's always so patient and loving. Plus he went 33 hours with no sleep so we could get the floors done the first day! So, the kids watched way too many movies, we stayed up until the wee hours of the mornings, but it was so worth it. Ava couldn't have been happier. She came out Monday morning and said, "Mommy, I love my new room so much I don't ever want to come out!"
Stay tuned, as this coming weekend we conquer Mackenzie and Serenity's room!

Laundry Tips

A year ago I was feeling so overwhelmed with my family's laundry needs that I resented doing it. I felt like that's all I ever did and like it was never caught up. So I've been working this past year to solve this problem by organizing our laundry needs and cutting costs along the way. Here are some of the things I've learned:
First of all, it is now a rule to make sure what you put in the dirty clothes is actually dirty. I hate to say it, but I was just as bad as the kids at times. So we laid out some ground rules. For starters, we reuse our towels for a week at a time. This has saved me loads and loads of laundry. When we're finished with our baths each night, we each hang our towels in our rooms and by the next day they're dry and ready to use again. We also wear our pajamas for 2 or 3 nights before they get thrown into the hamper. Lastly, if we only wear something for a couple hours to church, unless it's visibly dirty, we hang it back up. Following just these simple rules has cut down on our amount of laundry each week quite a bit.
Next, I added organization and I feel like this has made the biggest difference of all. Here is our laundry schedule: Sunday- Mine and Kevin's dark clothes, Monday- Mine and Kevin's white clothes, Tuesday- Serenity, Wednesday- Ava, Thursday- Mackenzie and Dallas, Friday- Eli, Saturday- Towels and sheets. This has many advantages to it. I can usually get by with doing 1 load a day. This cuts down time on folding and putting away. Instead of having to sort out clothes for 7 different people every load, I know that each load belongs to one person. Also, all of the older kids can fold and put away their own laundry by doing it this way. Now, on any given day it may look like I'm behind on someones laundry, but keeping with this schedule has always insured everyone has clean clothes and it takes the guess work out of everything. Now the only room left for questioning is where I'm going to fit a new baby's laundry into that schedule! ;)
This next part involves washing the clothes. I was notorious for washing everything on hot or warm, but not anymore. Unless someones been sick on something or I'm washing the linens, I wash everything on cold. Washing the clothes on a hot cycle is responsible for 90% of your washing machine's energy usage. What a waste of money! You can add to the savings by making your own laundry soap. It costs us somewhere between $2 and $3 for a 10 gallon bucket of laundry detergent. For more on this check out this post.
Moving on to the dryer... and this is wear I may lose some of you. Kevin has recently installed a set of clothes line poles for me. I know, this seems like ancient work, right? But let me just tell you, I love it! Using the dryer adds 15% to the average family's monthly energy bill and when your family is larger than average, that really adds up. It seems like an unnecessary cost to me. If I can use the natural resources that God has given us like wind, heat, and light to dry my clothes, why would I willingly make such a negative impact on our environment and my electric bill by running my dryer all day? You would think it would take so much longer to dry clothes on the line, when in fact I've found that it's quicker. I can dry 2 loads of laundry at a time on my lines and in mid-day they dry in about an hour and 15 minutes. I hang most of the clothes upside down so they dry quicker, hang pairs of socks together, and hang outfits side by side, then when I'm ready to take them down I fold them as I go and they're ready to put away. I put a load in the washer the night before so I can go out first thing the next morning and hang them. Then before lunch is done I have my laundry done for the day. I've always enjoyed being outside, but sometimes in the hubbub of the day we don't make time for it. This way we head outside at least twice everyday and get some fresh air. The kids love it because it gives them a chance to run off some energy and keeps the cabin fever at bay, plus they love to run into the wet clothes and play in the "tents" that are made by the blankets and sheets. I love it because while I'm hanging up clothes and the kids are busy I can reflect on our day and finish a complete thought and prayer. Corny as it sounds, when we head inside, we're all in better spirits. To top it all off, the sun naturally bleaches the stains out of the whites, and your clothes have a crisp feel and smell.
Hopefully some of you will be able to incorporate some of these ideas into your laundry habits so laundry can become as enjoyable for you as it now is for us. Happy laundering!!

Easy Appliques

Okay, let me start by saying that I'm sorry I haven't posted for a while. This pregnancy really had me down and out, but I'm up and running again, almost back to normal! Granted, I forget what room I'm heading toward in the midst of walking there and I almost always lose something even though I KNOW that just 30 seconds ago I put it RIGHT THERE!! But, temporary brain loss is a significant side effect of pregnancy. ;)
So, I don't know if any of you have ever noticed, but it's very hard to find things to make for the MiniMan in your life. All I see are things for girls, or material that's a little too cheesy for my taste. So since Lijah Man gets left out of the sewing scene around here so often I figured I'd do my best to make him some new summer outfits. He was so excited at the thought! In the process I remembered how much I love appliques and wanted to pass along to you what I've picked up here and there over time. Here's a picture of him in his new outfit (I wish I could've gotten a close up of the shirt to post, but he wouldn't take it off, so he's sleeping in it. :), and below are step by step instructions on how fun and easy it is to personalize things with applique, even with no sewing machine!



So, the first thing to do is buy some of the amazing, can't-live-without, Pellon Wonder-Under Transfer Web. You can buy this wherever you buy your fabric and it's about $2 a yard, which goes a long way. It's like wax paper on one side with a rough surface on the other. You're going to need to decide how big you want your design first, then cut out a chunk of Wonder-Under a little bigger than that. For example, my big diamond was 4"x3" so I cut my square of Wonder-Under approximately 5"x4". It doesn't need to be exact. Then heat up your iron and when it's ready lay the ROUGH side of the paper on the back of your fabric. This is important, if you iron on the rough side your going to really mess up your iron and have a burned up sticky mess. Yes, I speak from experience. And if you iron this to the right side, or patterned side, of your fabric then you won't be able to use the fabric. So, after you're sure you've placed it right, iron the smooth side of the paper for 10-15 seconds. Now comes the fun part. You can draw whatever image you like right on the paper that's now temporarily glued to the back of your fabric. Remember this is the back of your fabric so letters should be drawn on backwards. It's fun to do different pictures, someones name, the options are endless. When you've drawn your image, cut it out. You'll be left with fabric on one side and paper on the other of a shape you've made. Then you peel off the wax paper. Now you have your fabric with a slick film on the back. Lay this piece exactly where you want it on another piece of fabric, slick side down, patterned side up. Then when you're sure it's perfect, iron it again until it looks like it's sticking. When that's finished you can embroidery around it if you're lucky enough to have an embroidery machine, or zig zag stitch around it if you're like me. Another option without a sewing machine is to use puff paint around the image. This step is to keep it from unraveling around the edges, but not necessary.
This may seem like a lot of work, but after you do it you'll see it's as easy as can be and so much fun! I've used this to personalize our puppet theater, a cape for my nephew, and a doggie toy for my... err... doggie-niece? Along with clothes and many other things. So go on and make some super cute matching Fourth of July shirts for your kids, you know you want to!! Then they can be as cute as him!

Oobleck

This is such a fun (and cheap!) activity for the kids to do. I can remember doing this when I was a kid and my kids love it just as much as I did. It's great to whip out when the kids are bored and Mommy needs to get some things done. This is also a great time to talk about how important patience is and to show how having patience pays off in the end. It would tie in great with a bible study on the subject or to demonstrate just what patience really is to a little one who is having a hard time grasping the concept. So, get out a bowl for each kid. In each bowl add 4 tablespoons of cornstarch, 3 tablespoons of water, and a few drops of food coloring. Then let the kids *slowly* mix everything up with their hands. If you touch the oobleck fast it is crumbly and hard, but when you slowly dig your hands into it, it melts and turns into an ooey, gooey SLIME!! Beware, you will have stained hands when all is said and done, but it's worth it!

Melt in Your Mouth Biscuits

This recipe puts Pillsbury to shame! I got it out of an old Amish cookbook, but made a few modifications along the way. If making homemade biscuits seems like too much work for you, here's a tip: When you make these, double, triple, or quadruple the recipe. Follow the instructions until it's time to bake them. Instead, lay them flat in a single layer on a baking sheet and put them in the freezer until they're frozen through. Then pop them off the baking sheet and stick them in a zip lock freezer bag and keep in the freezer until you're ready for some super yummy biscuits. Then, bake them for about 30 minutes. Homemade convenience food at it's best!

2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon cream of tarter
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons sugar
1/2 cup butter
2/3 cup milk
1 egg

Preheat oven to 450. In a large bowl combine dry ingredients. Cut in butter by using your fingers or a fork to smash the butter until the mixture is crumbly. Don't over do it, though. Having a few large lumps about the size of beans will ensure a flaky crust. So after that, add you milk and egg. Blend well. Roll the dough out to about 1/2 inch thick. It is very helpful to sandwich your dough between two pieces of wax paper to do this so you don't have to worry about it sticking to the table or adding too much flour which can make the biscuits taste bland. Use a round biscuit or cookie cutter or the open end of a glass. Transfer to a baking sheet and bake for 10-15 minutes.

Felt playfood

The past few weeks I've been working on some new playfood for the kids made out of felt. I have been so pleased with the results that I wanted to share with you all my new found love. Let me start by saying that we try to stay clear of plastic as much as possible. For those of you who think that sounds extreme... all I have to say is BPA. This chemical was deemed "safe" by the FDA for years and recently they have admitted that BPA is capable of seeping out of the plastic when heated, into your food or beverage, and then making it's way into your body. Now they're trying to weed out all things containing BPA so that plastic will again be "safe". That's great, but what next? What is safe now will be toxic tomorrow. That being said, we live in the real world and so we cannot completely boycott plastic. We do what we can. Playfood is not regulated any more than any other toy, but it has a huge tendency to end up in the mouths of babes, so we feel like we should take special precautions. Besides that, the texture of the felt food is so much more realistic, it cannot cause a concusion when Eli throws it and hits someone in the head like wooden play food, and the kids appreciate it so much more because they saw the amount of work that went into it. I used left over felt from diaper covers and here are some samples of what I've made thus far:



I started with my favorite kind of food... sweets! I know the egg looks out of place, that was Ava's addition. :) A quick google search will give you all kinds of tutorials, but I don't find it nessecary. The imagination works just as well. I have a huge list of more food to make and I can't wait to get it all done. Mark my words, once you start, you won't want to stop!

Healthier Chocolate Chip Cookies

Have you ever put in a google search for a healthy chocolate chip cookie recipe? There are so many recipes that pop up, none of which I would consider healthy. So after mixing and matching many different recipes and substituting here and there, I've come up with a recipe that's a little more on the healthy side. I recommend you follow these exact ingredients to get a healthier cookie, but I know that everyone might not have all of these things, so you can easily substitute them for whatever you have on hand.



3/4 cup rolled oats
1 1/4 cup whole-wheat flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon Celtic Seasalt
1/4 cup butter, softened
1/4 cup coconut oil
2/3 cup honey
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 325, let your butter soften, and melt your coconut oil. Start off by pouring your measured oats and salt (If it is still course) into a blender and blending it until you get a fine powder. After that mix your ground oats and salt, whole wheat flour, baking soda and baking powder together and set it aside. Mix your butter up until it's nice and fluffy. Add the oil, honey, egg, and vanilla and mix just until blended. Stir in your chocolate chips. Drop the batter by teaspoonfuls onto your baking stone and cook for about 13 minutes. Keep in mind that oven temperatures vary and using a baking pan instead of a stone will effect your cooking time. When the cookies are done, let them cool for a minute and then move them to a cooling rack and you're all done!

Mmm... Garlic!

Often referred to as 'Nature's Antibiotic', garlic is recorded being used for medicinal purposes even back while the Egyptian pyramids were being built. Medical studies have found that garlic can be used to help prevent and treat colds, it's full of antioxidants that combat free radicals (which are nasty little particles that are naturally found in the body and also get absorbed into the body through food and environmental toxins, then group together to cause a number of illnesses, including cancer), prevent heart disease, high blood pressure, and high cholesterol. It also has antiviral, antibacterial, and anti fungal properties. And you thought it was just for seasoning, right? Just another one of God's wonderful and perfect foods he has given.
So, the past week we've been feeling quite under the weather. We've really been battling a nasty cold that's passing through the house. Garlic has been a staple this week and has helped us so much that I had to pass on the information to you. We've put garlic in our baked potatoes, on toast with butter, and into pizza and spaghetti sauces. Any little bit helps. But this recipe I'm about to share is about the yummiest meal we've had this week and within 20 minutes of eating it we were feeling some relief. It's a little time consuming, but it's really worth it. I hope you enjoy it as much as we did!

Cream of Garlic Soup

2 garlic bulbs (This is the whole head of the garlic plant, not just a piece which is a clove.), peeled
3 tablespoons melted butter
3 1/2 cups chicken broth
2 1/2 cups milk
1 cup heavy whipping cream
1 cup peeled and cubed potatoes
salt and pepper to taste
2 tablespoons cornstarch or 4 tablespoons flour

Put all of your garlic and your melted butter into the blender and puree it for a minute or two. It doesn't have to be perfect. When you're finished put this garlic paste into a 2qt, or larger, pot over medium heat. This is going to toast your paste and really bring out the flavor. When the paste starts to brown add your chicken broth. Simmer this for 30 minutes, then add your milk, potatoes, and cream. Simmer this for another 30 minutes. When it's finished, add half of this mixture to your blender and blend for a few minutes. This will puree your potatoes and will whip up your whipping cream to give you a nice thick soup. It's important to mix your soup in smaller batches because it really fluffs up. WARNING!!! If you have the time to let your soup cool down a little bit before you do this, then it's wise to do so. Otherwise your blender fills with steam after you put the lid on and when you start the blender you will probably get splashed with scalding soup. I take that risk to have my soup as quickly as possible :). You can throw a towel over the top and that will help, but make sure you keep your hand on the lid. After the initial start up everything will be fine. So once everything is blended, put it all back into the pot, add your salt and pepper and cornstarch, and bring it back up to a simmer. Once this is reached, you're done. It will be so thick and, well, I think Serenity said is best... "Nummay, nummay, nummay!"

Come Thou Fount video

I think so often we forget about the truth and beauty of the old time hymns. The older I get, the more I enjoy them. While I used to consider them boring, they are now some of my favorite tunes to listen to. Come Thou Fount is at the top of my list. This song is packed with such biblical truth, every line saying something so inspiring that I can listen to it every day and still be moved by it. This is the song that's sang to Serenity every night as she doses off. It is very special to our family. I hope it blesses your day today!

Favorite line: "Prone to wonder, Lord I feel it. Prone to leave the God I love. Here's my heart, Lord, take and seal it. Seal it for Thy courts above." This should be our constant prayer.

Serenity's New Cloth Napkin Shirt

Oh, I am so excited! You see, about a year ago I found some really cute cloth napkins at the Dollar Tree for $1 a piece. I went ahead and grabbed a bunch, though I had no idea what to do with them. Today I finally found a use for a couple of them, and in the most unexpected place!

Serenity's little fat body has already outgrown my winter clothes supply for her. She is so short and so fat that I have a hard time finding clothes to fit and if they do, they're way too long. So today I set out to make her some new pants. I used a knit material so there would be some stretch and room to move for her. As I was on the last pair of pants I glanced down and saw my super cute napkins poking out of a drawer. The more I looked at them the more I realized how great they would look with these pants and what a time saver they would be! So I cut 1 strip from each long side of a napkin and sewed it to the bottom of the pants, gathering as I went. And for the shirt I folded each top corner of 2 napkins in 3x7 inches. Then I folded the top down about an inch and a half to make a casing for the elastic. After that I stitched the sides together, added elastic through the casing, and Voila! A brand new, so-stinkin'-cute, outfit! And the best part about it was that I didn't have to take the time to hem those pesky raw edges because the edges of the napkins were already hemmed. Of course, you could do this very easliy with some pants that may be too short for your little one or a plain pair that you want to dress up a little. So, with balancing a fussy baby, the whole thing took about an hour to make and only cost about $5. Here's the finished product. Sorry, she was not being photogentic!

My lesson learned?... The Dollar Tree may possible be bursting at the seams with thrifty crafting finds! I can't wait to go back!

Storage Tip...

How many sheet sets does one house really need? Taking a look at my supply of linens you'd think I was housing an army! I'm sure that many of you are like me and don't have room for unnecessary clutter. So we've recently cleaned out the linen closet and set aside 2 sheets for each bed: One set on the bed, one tucked under the mattress for easy and hidden storage. This clears out a lot of room for other, more purposeful things. The left over sheets can be donated to a grateful shelter of some sort or re-purposed into all sorts of things! I took an extra sheet, cut it up, and covered an old cork board to match the bedding for one of the girls' rooms. The possibilities are endless!

Snow Ice Cream

Oh what a fun couple of days we've had here! The kids have had so much fun playing out in the snow, but all Eli wanted to do was throw snow at Kevin! Here's a few pictures of them, just for fun. Make sure you scroll past that for my recipe for Snow Ice Cream, no ice cream maker neccessary!

Snow Ice Cream

Okay, this is what you need per serving:

1 large Ziplock bag

2 small Ziplock bags

6 tablespoons of salt

1/2 cup milk

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 tablespoons sugar

Start off by filling you large bags 1/2 full of snow. Add your salt and squeeze and mash this up for about 5 minutes. Some of the pieces will get really hard, but that's okay. Once you've squeezed enough set it aside and fill one of your small baggies with your milk, sugar, and vanilla. Close that bag and squeeze out enough air as possible. Place that baggie into the other small baggie, squeeze as much air out as possible, then close it. Now put that into your large, snow filled baggie. Again, squeeze out as much air as you can and seal it. Then start squeezing the big bag again. You'll have to do this for about 5 minutes. Be gentle and try to keep the snow around the smaller baggie. When the time is up, take out you small baggies, open them up, and slide your icecream into a bowl. Yummy!

$0.40 snack!

Here's a recipe called Indian Fried Bread. This is a great and healthy snack for the family for a very small price. The recipe calls for frying the bread, but if you want to choose a healthier approach you could bake the bread instead.
Okay, so start off by adding 2 cups of whole wheat flour (or half whole wheat/half white, or all white). Then add 1 teaspoon of baking powder and 1 teaspoon of salt, 1 tablespoon oil, and 3/4 cup water. Mix it all together with a fork until it forms a nice little dough ball. It may seem a bit dry and if it does just add some more water a tablespoon at a time. When you get your ball, divide it into 6 smaller balls. After you do this, start heating up your skillet with about an inch of oil on medium-high heat. Then go back to your dough and start rolling each ball out until it's about 1/8-1/4" thick. To do this very easily, tear off two pieces of wax paper. Place your ball of dough in between the two pieces and smash it down a little bit, then use your rolling pin to roll it out. This way you don't have to worry about it sticking to your pin or your counter. Check your oil. Do this by dropping just a sprinkle of flour in your skillet. If is sizzles then you're ready. If it doesn't then give it a few more minutes. Frying the bread when the oil isn't hot enough will cause your bread to be soggy, but if your pan is smoking then your oil is too hot. When your oil is ready drop in a rolled out piece of dough. Use your spatula to press it down in a few spots. Cook it on one side for a minute or so, then flip it over and do the other side. The dough will start to bubble up in some spots and if you press it with your spatula it may even whistle, which my children think is great fun! The bread should be browned on each side. When it is, lay it on a paper towel (or brown bag) lined plate and put the next one in the pan. While it's cooking, return to your finished bread, smear it with some butter, sprinkle on some cinnamon and sugar and hand it over to one of the eager children that have been under your feet this whole time! :)

If you choose to bake it instead, the only difference in taste is that the baked bread is a little more dry, but still very yummy! You'll follow the above instructions, but instead of frying it, you'll put in on a greased cookie sheet. Cook it at about 400 degrees for 8-10 minutes or until the edges start to brown. After it's done, prepare it just like the original version.

Bagels

I am a bagel fanatic. Given the opportunity, I will sit and eat a whole package of bagels, and don't even get me started on the Bread Company! But, I can't allow myself to pay that much for something when 1 package isn't even enough to feed us all breakfast. So here's my bagel recipe. It will cost you about $0.50-0.60 to make a dozen... That's a savings of about $5.50 (When compared to supermarket prices). And when you see how easy it is and how yummy they taste, you'll never go store bought again!


Bagels

2 cups WARM water
1/2 package OR 1 teaspoon of active dry yeast
3 tablespoons white sugar
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
6 cups all purpose flour OR half all purpose, half whole wheat
1 tablespoon salt
1 tablespoon white sugar

So, start off by dissolving your yeast in your warm water in a very large mixing bowl. If your water's too cool it won't activate your yeast, too hot and it will kill it. If you want to be precise, you're water should be about 110 degrees, but I just wing it. Once your yeast is dissolved and your water is looking very murky, add the sugar, oil, flour, and salt. Now start stirring. You're hands will get very tired. This is when I wash mine and dig in, mixing the dough with my hands until I have a cohesive ball. If it's too sticky, slowing add more flour throughout the kneading process. To knead, you will take the palm of your hand and smash it into your dough as deep as you can. Then fold it over and do it again. Repeat this until you get a smooth and elastic ball. It should be moist to the touch, but also be able to peel away from the counter fairly easily. It's usually done in about 10 minutes, but could take about 15. When you're finished, let your dough rest for a minute while you wash out your big mixing bowl. Dry the bowl, then add a teaspoon or two of oil. Smear it around to grease your bowl, then drop in your dough and turn it over once to coat it. Dampen a dishcloth and lay it over the top. This is when it will rise. Ideally, your dough should double in size. This will take about an hour to an hour in a half depending on how warm your house is. I like to turn on the oven light and put my bowl in there. This seems to be just the right temperature for the dough to rise quickly, but not so hot that it kills my yeast. Once your dough has risen all it can rise, punch it down by taking your fist and cramming it in the center of your dough. Knead it a few time to get rid of any extra air and put the dough on your counter. Here's the fun part! Roll your dough into one long, fairly even log. Cut this into thirds. Roll each piece into another log in the same fashion and divide that into 4 equal pieces. This will give you 12 pieces total. Take each piece roll it into a log that's about 3 inches longer than the width of your hand. Connect each piece to itself to form a "bagelish" circle shape by pinching and then reshaping the ends. Then put each bagel on a lightly greased baking sheet. These need to rise again, but this time it should only take about 20 minutes. While these are rising, pre-heat your oven to 450 degrees and start a large pot of boiling water. Your pot should be wide enough to hold at least two or more bagels comfortably. Add one tablespoon of sugar to your water to give your bagels a glossy look. Once your bagels have risen, slowly add as many as you can without them touching to the boiling water. Boil for a total of 1 minute, flipping them over half way through. Gently lift the bagels out with a slotted spoon or spatula and place them back on your baking sheets. When you have a sheet full place it on the middle rack in the oven. These should cook for about 15-20 minutes and if you can remember, flip them somewhere in the middle to keep the top from burning. Keep in mind that these bagels are not going to be uniform and perfect because they were not pumped out of some machine. But that's okay! They're still absolutely beautiful!
I also have a recipe for cream cheese that I've not yet been brave enough to try. But after I do I'll be sure post it.

Party time!

As we prepare for Serenity's 1st birthday party this week, it has reminded me of how happy I am to have children that are so willing to serve their family. Pulling a party off and keeping up with daily activities is straining to say the least! I can't imagine having 5 children who run off and leave Mom to do all the work. We are a family and as a family we serve each other and work together to maintain a home. I've heard it referred to as a baseball team. The role of the father, Kevin, is that of a manager. The manager controls all matters of team strategy and leadership. He makes the line-up and substitutions through-out the game. He hands out the orders and sometimes has to go out onto the field to get involved, but most of the time he delegates responsibility to the a coach. I am the coach, or as the bible states, my husband's helpmate. I handle things when he's not here and I execute his plans for him, taking time to work with the players individually and instruct them. The children are the baseball players. Each having their own area of expertise and when executed properly and as instructed, this makes for a fully functioning team, a reflection of good leadership. Last, but definitely not least, is the owner of the team. What would a team be without an owner? Nothing! They would have no existence. Thankfully, we can choose to have the best team owner in the universe... God! Sure you can try to leave him out, but why would you want to? Without his mercy and guidance, we would be lost.
So, when you add the responsibilities of everyone together, then mix in the love and compassion crucial for raising a family, you've got a winning team! Can you imagine a manger taking everything on without the help of an assistant? An assistant trying to be the manager? Or what happens when the shortstop catches a grounder and throws it to the 1st baseman for an out, but the 1st baseman's too busy waving to his fans? In order for a team, or family, to be successful, everyone has to chip in and do the part that God has created them to do. How blessed Kevin and I are to have such wonderful and loving "Team Members" in our family, all glory to God!