Modern Christian Homestead

Fall Birthdays

2011-12-11T22:56:00.001-05:00

Technically its still fall so I'm not too late to post these pictures!

We celebrated three birthdays this fall. My DH turned 40+ this September. My youngest turned 3 in October and my oldest turned 15 in November. I guess, also technically, my birthday is still officially fall but I consider it winter and it hasn't arrived yet and even if it had you would never see those pictures unless someone hacks my blog :) .

Camping at the rental cabin and playing ladder ball for John's Birthday!

The boy liked playing against his dad.

Taylor enjoyed being the ball girl.

Someone liked her birthday gift from big sister Reagan

The happy b-day girl with her cupcakes

The b-day girl in her birthday outfit from Grandma Schuh!

Seven's cake with the colors of her choosing

and with the candles of her choosing... no one can say she doesn't have her own unique style

blowing out 15 candles

At Frederick Meijer Gardens for Seven's b-day

Homeschool Art Appreciation

2011-09-22T13:50:00.001-04:00

We are very lucky to live in the Grand Rapids area. Every Sept. there is a huge art competition called Art Prize. Artists from around the world enter and their art is displayed all over the city. Thousands of entries! It is so fun to go downtown and stroll the venues. The kids get exposed to lots of art for the price of parking and the synthetic rubber on the bottom of their shoes. (Oh, and the obligatory ice cream treat after spending the day walking all over.) There are art pieces we marvel at, art pieces we "don't get" and of course the few "why do they think it is art?" pieces. But the large expanse of creativity is amazing. We do enjoy being "city people" for the day.

Ocean sculpture made from driftwood. This sculpture rotated and everywhere you looked there were sea creatures carved into the wood. We caught the whale on film.

Gotta love a large toy truck!

"A Conversation With Myself"

This was one of those "I don't get it" pieces.

Tree fish

Iron horse sculpture

Collage

Bowling pin penguins

This sculpture is not bronze but wooden.

Field of flowers made from recycled plastic water bottles.

Carving/sculpture from limestone

Chainsaw wooden bears put all over the fountain at the Gerald Ford Museum.

Electric lightning interactive picture. It changes colors!

Paper art

Who doesn't love a giant mousetrap? We didn't test it out though.

You might be a redneck if.... you love fry pan art. (I do!)

A huge children's sack lunch made entirely out of juice boxes.

I think this was my favorite. It is a picture of the skyline of downtown Grand Rapids but it is made out of....

thousands of post it notes! I wanted to run my hand over it very badly.

Homeschool Rocks...

2011-09-21T10:19:00.000-04:00

You might be a homeschooler if....

You have a giant periodic chart in progress on the kitchen table...

Coloring pages of frog lifecycles... also on the kitchen table

Short story illustrations in progress...

Studying Roman road building technology by creating our own stepping stones and placing them to form a pathway.

Make soap dishes from seashells for an unit study on oceans.

The Trees Come Down!

2011-09-20T17:15:00.001-04:00

Last week we had to cut our two front yard trees down due to septic issues. It was quite the excitement on the street. Our Pastor (Sam Hendrickson) heats his home with wood during the winter and is always on the look out for free wood. Our landlords said if he could take down our trees he could have the wood. So He and my DH had a very full day of "logging". In the picture above my DH and Pastor Sam assess the situation.

Why did the Pastor climb the tree? To cut it down for firewood, of course! Don't worry... he's a yooper. (That's someone from the Upper Penninsula of Michigan or the U.P.) They eat trees for breakfast up there.

The job in progress.

The job almost done!

What a mess!

My naked front yard. :(

Of course all those branches made for some cool fort building!

7 Is The New 16

2011-09-18T14:42:00.001-04:00

Reagan just had her 7th birthday a week ago. She's all little girl in someways and so growing up in others. The weather was fantastic and we were able to celebrate outside as well as take a trip to the mall to get her ears pierced and she also got her first pair of high heels. She really is thinking she's all grown up.

God's Plan For Us

2011-09-04T08:07:00.000-04:00

Give thanks to the Lord, call on His name; make known among the nations what He has done. Sing to Him, sing praise to him; tell of all His wonderful acts. 1st Chronicles 16: 8-9

Salsa Season!

2011-09-03T11:10:00.000-04:00

Tomatoes, onions, cilantro, peppers, garlic, salt, cumin, lime juice... mix it up and can it! Salsa! Yum!!

Last Days of Summer; First Days of School!

2011-09-02T23:22:00.000-04:00

Another summer comes to a close for the Lewis clan. We spent our last day before school with Dad. (He was off of work.) We drove up to Rockford, MI to visit a u-pick farm and purchase a 1/2 bushel of tomatoes for salsa making. Besides fruit and veges the Post Farm also grows flowers. They were so pretty, but swarming with bees so certain individuals- SEVEN- wouldn't go near them. After our produce purchase we went and found a little ice cream shop and enjoyed the warmth of the day.

Alas, the next day brought the return of school. I decided that starting on the 1st of September would be good and give us a short week to start with. Kind of an ease into school. I'm happy to report that it went really well- no major melt downs from the ones that don't really appreciate the school process.

I'm hoping the rest of year is like this!

My highschooler... in her "black" phase.

My second grader

My eighth grader

My fifth grader with his new glasses. (First pair ever!)

My "play" schooler. We aren't even to "pre" yet.

How to can 80 lbs of peaches!

2011-08-31T17:00:00.004-04:00

I didn't intend to take a blogging break but peaches and all the other activities of the past couple of weeks caught up with me. I spent the last few days recovering from busyness and getting the last of my ducks in a row for the new school year which starts tomorrow for us. At last I feel recovered enough and in control of my time enough to sit down and blog again.

So you wanna know how to can peaches? It isn't hard but it is a bit time consuming.

First you must acquire your peaches. There are many places to get them: At any grocery store, farmer's market, roadside stand, farm or my favorite... picking them yourself. I'm very blessed to live in a very bountiful region. U-picks for all sorts of delicious fruits and veges abound. The reason I like picking things myself? It's fun, cheap, a great family activity and I like my children to know where food really comes from.

Once the fruit is in your custody you must acquire a few more things. You will need: jars, rings, lids (widemouth is better for peaches), sugar, a water bath canner, a knife, hot pads, a towel and two handy dandy little utensils; A jar grabber and a magnetic lid catcher. (Okay, those are probably not their official names, but that's what our family calls them.) It doesn't hurt to have a Ball Blue Book Guide To Preserving on hand either. (A current version, not your great-grandmother's copy from the 1930's. The science of food preservation has come a long way.)

Jars in the dishwasher

Rings in the dishwasher

Lids boiling on the stove

The "jar grabber" and "lid grabber"... so you don't have to stick your fingers in boiling water!

Scald and peel a few peaches at a time. (Scalding helps the peels release from the fruit easier.) Cut peaches in halves or quarters (Discarding the pit with the peels- you can compost those.) and pack them into your clean and washed jars.

Next you must make a simple syrup to pour over the peaches. It is a combination of sugar and water. Check the Ball Blue Book for exact recipes. (www.freshpreserving.com also has great info.) Once the syrup is ready (It is hot and all the sugar is dissolved.) pour it over the peaches, leaving 1/2 inch of headspace in your jar. Put a lid on the jar and seal it with a ring. (Make sure to have boiled your lids- not just wash them- and make sure they are new. You can reuse jars and rings but the lids should be new each time to ensure a proper seal. Also check the rims of your jars for knicks or anything that might prevent a tight seal from forming.)

simple syrup

jar ready for hot water processing

the water bath canner

Once you get enough jars processed put them in your water bath canner and fill it up with water until the jars are totally covered. Bring this to a boil and then leave the peaches to process for 25 minutes. (Some people prefer to keep their jars hot, the syrup hot and put the jars straight into boiling water. But never put cold jars in hot water or hot jars in cold water.) After they are done, remove the jars and place them on a towel covered counter to cool. When they are cool, wipe them down so they aren't sticky and you are ready for the next batch. Also make sure to check the jars to make sure they sealed properly. If they didn't you can try processing in another waterbath or refridgerate and eat the contents of the jar promptly.)

This is what I do. Please check the links provided in this post and read up on canning before starting. Canning isn't hard but if not done right can make you very sick or even cause death.

The End Is Near!

2011-08-25T21:36:00.000-04:00

I apologize for missing a day but the peaches had overcome me. I am happy to say, though, that the bottom of the box is visible and I have my last 6 quarts processing as I type. I have a few left that I will need to be creative with. A friend told me about a wonderful peach bread recipe that I plan to investigate. If it is any good I will share it. Tomorrow should be the last day of peach processing. Then it is on to Salsa!

Picking Peaches Was The Fun Part!

2011-08-23T23:49:00.001-04:00

I love being out in the orchards picking fruit. I just go wild. Hence I picked over 80 lbs of peaches on Monday. It didn't take long. The trees were laden with fruit everywhere. Big, ripe, juicy peaches! Can I tell you how much I hate those 80lbs of peaches right now. A few went towards peaches and cream for dessert but the rest are in the process of being canned. I've canned 16 quarts and now at almost midnight I've still got 8 more quarts in a hot water bath. I canned peaches on Monday. I've canned peaches today, Tuesday, and I will can more tomorrow. Ohh... those evilly good peaches. I am so thankful that God created such a wonderful fruit and I'll be so thankful for all this canned goodness this winter but right now... I hate peaches!

A Pile Of Picked Peppers

2011-08-22T08:10:00.000-04:00

Waiting for a salsa canning session! I guess peppers like our sandy soil. I wish everything did.

God's Plan For Us

2011-08-21T08:28:00.000-04:00

Wives, submit to your husbands as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior. Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything. Ephesians 5:22-24

Got a lot of school planning done!

2011-08-20T18:56:00.001-04:00

The most wonderful thing about holding a garage sale and having to sit outside and mind the shop during it, is time to plan. I managed to get 1/2 the school year planned for my 5th grade son! It's a good feeling to be ahead of the game.

It is done...

2011-08-19T21:01:00.000-04:00

... and I am tired. Good bye garage sale. I'll see you next year.

Garage Sale Day Two

2011-08-18T21:32:00.000-04:00

About $40 more, bringing our total to $80'ish. Yeah! One more day! It's actually great fun to size customers up and then make up stories in your head about what they might do with their purchases. Like the Middle Aged Latino woman who bought an old meat cleaver. Hmmmm...

Garage Sale Day One....

2011-08-17T17:21:00.000-04:00

...Over! Made about $40 dollars not bad for a Wed. selling our junk. Now lets see how tomorrow goes.

End of Summer Rush

2011-08-16T09:15:00.000-04:00

Ack! Summer is almost over! All those things I wanted to do and put off (because there was plenty of time) need to happen. Potty training the almost 3 year-old, garage sale, homeschool planning and working on starting a new cottage biz. Oh, well... it's what I get for playing all summer and procrastinating.

1. Potty training... didn't fly yesterday... The kitchen, where I was going to train her, is the largest of the non-carpeted rooms. It also houses the washer and dryer. She was freaked out by the noises the machines were making and didn't want to go potty there. Sigh. Trying again today- without the machines going.

2. Garage Sale... Happens tomorrow, Thursday and Friday! Come on "BUY" if you are in the area. Spent yesterday (instead of potty training) sorting through our piles and pricing. Still have some more rooms to go through and purge. Most of our stuff is small and quarter/dollar stuff. Still anything I sell is less to cart off to Goodwill.

3. Homeschool Planning... I need to plan and organize 5 different bins of activities for Taylor, our pre-schooler. One for each day of the week to keep her busy during "school". My second grader is pretty much set. She is using workbooks, except for science and geography/history. So I only need to plan some reading assignments and activities for those two subjects. Most of our time will be spent perfecting her reading which isn't too hot yet. My fifth grader is moving away from workbooks this year, except for math, to get him ready for upcoming Jr. High. He's going to take the most planning as his Language Arts studies will be incorporated into science and history/geography. I use the "What Your ___ Grader Needs to Know" series for those two subjects and have him do the reading and make up assignments based on that. I really like tailoring assignments to each individual student. The books aren't "Christian World View" but I either have him skip sections that we don't agree with or we discuss the differences in world view and what the Bible says. I also supplement these subjects with a lot of documentaries and other learning tools from various homeschool sources and of course the library. My Jr. Higher and my Highschooler use the Far Above Rubies curriculum by Linda Coats. LOVE IT! It gives them a well-rounded education while emphasizing homemaking. It also helps you document everything for transcript purposes for any college bound student. F.A.R. is for girls but they also have Blessed is the Man for boys. That is what my son will use when he gets there. These programs are self-directed but I like to sit down with each child and help them choose their assignments. I'm also going to be teaching family art, music, and nutrition plus we have family Bible time in the morning and Biblical Character training and Spanish with Dad in the evenings. Oh, and family exercise. Our days are full.

4. Cottage biz... focusing on home arts... still forming in the head. Like my days aren't full enough...lol!

All this to say... sorry that the "homesteading" focus isn't very back to the land orientated right now. I'm focusing on my "home" and those in it.

Homestead Potty Training

2011-08-15T08:55:00.001-04:00

I've said I'm going to do it all summer and decided I can't put it off any longer. We have been "unofficially" potty training for a couple of months. That means when ever one of us has to use the bathroom we just take Tay in with us and have her sit on the potty chair. But today I start Official Day One of training.

Step 1: Choose an uncarpted room to plan to stay in most of the day.
Step 2: Put a variety of toys and activities in this room to keep your child occupied.
Step 3: Have lots of drink options and salty snacks on hand as well as rags to clean up accidents and changes of underclothing.
Step 4: Put child in panties/underwear and move potty chair into chosen room.
Step 5: Encourage child to drink (to fill up their bladder).
Step 6: Explain the process to child and ask often if they need to sit on the chair.
Step 7: When successful reward with M-n-M's.
Step 8: When misses come, and they will, get the child to the potty chair quickly and then clean up.

You will need to stay with your child and watch pretty close/not get distracted. This is an all day thing. (Or at least a few hours.) This way gets the child to learn and recognize when they need to go and most kids only need the one day of extensive training. There will be accidents after this...kids get distracted but the initial day of "wet underwear" they usually are well on their way.

Wish me "Good Training"!

God's Plan For Us

2011-08-14T08:14:00.001-04:00

A wife of noble character who can find? She is worth far more than rubies. Her husband has full confidence in her and lacks nothing of value.

Proverbs 31: 10-11

Moving!

2011-08-13T08:15:00.000-04:00

No... not me, us or this blog. We are just about out the door to help our fellow church member and missionary, Dr. Troy Manning, move into his new home. "Mr." Troy is a translator at Bibles International, based in Grand Rapids. He will live here in the States and travel as needed. We are excited to get to help him set up his new home!

Getting Ready For A Garage Sale

2011-08-12T08:27:00.000-04:00

I've been cleaning, sorting, purging the entire house. We have too much stuff. Garage sale time! Next week Wed.- Fri. 8am to 5pm. Stop by if you're in the area! You need my stuff!

New Fabric and Craft Blog!

2011-08-11T13:41:00.000-04:00

Check out my new blog. It's going to focus on fabric and crafts and artisan type things. STRAWBERRY MOON MARKET!

My Favorite Thing About Summer!

2011-08-11T08:36:00.001-04:00

God is so good! He gave us wonderful, tasty, sweet fruit! My favorites are berries but cherries and peaches are close behind. I love summer fruit picking and in my little area of West Michigan we have wonderful u-pick farms close by. Some day, when we have property, I'll to be able to grow my own. (Well, we do have a small strawberry patch- our landlords are awesome- they let us garden.) But for now I have to get my fix at the u-picks.

Strawberries and raspberries get picked at Beaver Creek Farm- they are organic growers and their prices are affordable! Besides yummy things like strawberry shortcake and homemade ice cream, we also freeze berries for year-round smoothies and make homemade Jam! So much better than store bought.

It is such a good feeling of accomplishment to see these pretty little jewels sitting on my counter!

Cherries come next. (About the time we are starting to get Zukes from the garden... see background.)

We can sweets for eating straight out of the jar and pitted sours for pies and other baking.

Blueberries at Dykstra's are next! Their farm is just right down the road. I can walk or bike to it.

I make some jam with the berries, but mostly freeze them for smoothies and baking.

Lastly, for us, come peaches... I'm sadly remiss of peach picking pictures... sigh... but we like to can them up for eating and also for pie making. Picking your own and canning/freezing is a great, affordable way to keep your family in fruit for the year.

You can check for farms and u-picks in your local area here.

How A Two-Year Old Keeps Busy

2011-08-10T08:58:00.000-04:00

I love two-year olds. They are so fun and amazing. If we don't end up having another child (Quite possible as I am nearing 42.) I hope my kids marry young and start having kids so I can enjoy grandbabies!

I was busy with a project the other day and left the two year old to entertain herself. When I was done I went to see what she had been doing. This is what I found...

One snake put to bed...

Flip flops stacked...

Tigger dressed...

Shoes on...

Shoes off and mothering triplets...

Shopping cart accident...

Geography studied...

And a blow kiss for Mom!

WHAT A BLESSING CHILDREN ARE!!!

The Lewis Men

2011-08-09T09:56:00.002-04:00

Yes, we have a t.v. And yes we are currently subscribed to cable. (That's up for possible change.) So what happens when the History Channel reruns season two of Top Shot, in order, all at once? The men sit glued to it and then have to go recreate it. Silly Boys.

They're doing this... when perhaps...

we should have been working on this!

And then they leave their gear out on my white comforter and heirloom quilts! Boys!

Lewis/Hall Vacation... Historic Village Time

2011-08-08T15:31:00.001-04:00

If there is a historical village in the area, the Lewis family will be there!

and since the children were literally climbing the walls... off we went...

Seven of the nine Hall and Lewis kids! Missing Will Hall and Seven Lewis.

I'm a sucker for a pretty garden

The General Store

Required picture of a spinning wheel for Grandma Lewis

Required outhouse picture

Aren't you all glad we don't all have to live in only one room?

Trapper's cabin

Church cemetery

Neither Bill nor Will Hall thought this grave marker very funny. Six year old Will asked his dad..."Am I dead?"

The little church

Would make a cute little wedding place

Bill and Heather keeping their marriage healthy

It was very hot and humid

I want this garden

The raspberries were so good and the corn tall

Relaxing in the shade

Lewis/Hall Camping Vacation!

2011-08-08T15:23:00.002-04:00

Three teens and a tween playing cards

Deep in the woods

Oh, the things you can do with rocks

I don't go anywhere without my sippy cup

Dutch oven meat loaf cooking

Morning fresh

Second Generation Soap Makers

2011-07-17T14:50:00.001-04:00

Autumn Hall (left) with Andi and Seven at the Jenison Farmer's Market (Reagan and

Taylor in the background)

I'm venturing back to the blogging world and with exciting news! My girls are now second generation soap makers. They have learned the craft and are selling their wares at a little local market! They call themselves Bamboo Falls Soap Co. (because Mom and Dad already had a great logo for them to use) and make lavender, mint, and bamboo soap. They may branch out to others if these sell well. So if you are looking for a great handcrafted soap, drop me a comment to ask for a sample and some info. They are working on getting literature, business cards, etc. together.

I'm hoping they do well as Seven has decided (for the time being) that she wants to attend Bob Jones University in Greenville, SC to major in clothing and textile design/arts. That is a hefty bit of money to come up with since we've suggested heavily not to go the debt route with loans.

Andi at this point doesn't desire any higher education after high school but she can save her earnings for (Mom hopes) a future wedding. She is also naturally gifted with drawing ability so I hope she will chose to get some additional art training in after high school.

Regardless of the future it is a good entreprenurial training experience.

Pictures and videos for the grandmas

2010-11-10T08:18:00.004-05:00

Taylor in Birthday outfit from Grandma Schuh!

God's Plan For Us

2010-08-01T08:01:00.003-04:00

1 Thessalonians 4:11-12

Make it your ambition to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business and to work with your hands, just as we told you, so that your daily life may win the respect of outsiders and so that you will not be dependent on anybody.

This is one of my favorite verses!

Where I've been

2010-07-31T11:22:00.005-04:00

Sand dune riding!

Spending time with visting Grandparents

Fighting disgusting tomato hornworms!

Doing ropes courses

Rock hounding

Camping

River swimming

Between vacation, my parents visiting, and regular day-to-day stuff my time has been occupied. We also had computer issues- I'm typing on a new lap top and the kids are currently playing on a new desk top- two new computers are OUCH on the budget. So that's where I've been. (I've been playing hookie this summer and just having fun.)

But now I'm getting back to normal life. The kids are starting homeschool on Monday and I'm back to homestead activities. (Read: cooking from scratch, prepping and planting for fall gardening, u-picking fruit etc. and preserving it and numerous other projects.)

My DH and I took a break from weight loss from the end of May to the end of July so we are starting back up on that. Back to daily exercise and kicking out the junk food. The good news is that during our "break", we didn't gain any weight- we just didn't lose any. (It's all that summer ice cream!) Expect blog posts on our progress.

Also on a back road country bike ride we found a very nice property that is up for sale. We would love to purchase it but we currently have too much debt to make the purchase. The good news on that is... it has kicked us in the rear end to get ourselves out of debt once and for all. Even the kids said they would stop "wanting" stuff if it means we could get into that or some like it. They and the DH and I are willing to cut way, way back and get frugal. So expect some blog posts on this effort.

Frugality is great but to hasten the mission of getting out of debt, the kids and I are going to be trying to make some $$ from home. So lots of posts about this are going to be coming soon too. I've got lots of ideas but right now I'm praying and seeing where the Lord leads in this regard.

So that's where I've been and where the Lewis clan will be heading. Barring any unforseen

happenings (which happen frequently when you five children) I hope to get back to daily posting. Comments really motivate me so please "talk" to me!

Earaches and Antibiotics

2010-05-20T23:27:00.003-04:00

My son has gotten himself a monster of an ear infection. We are living on a Motrin/Tylenol mix and I wish antibiotics but it turns out the doc wrote a script for horsepills of the non-chewable nature. My son doesn't do pills. So tomorrow I get to call the doc back and ask for a new script of liquid antibiotics. I really wished I had made sure at the office that I was getting liquid but I never thought he'd give a nine-year old horsepills.

I certainly hope tonight and tomorrow are better then the previous night and today. Crazy! Okay, I have to go try and get some sleep.

Who needs Toys-R-Us?

2010-05-19T20:21:00.003-04:00

We have mini cereal boxes in the house! Taylor had the best time taking each little box out of the big box. She looked at each one, shook it and then decided on the best place to put each one. Sometimes she built towers other times she dropped them behind the big box.

Besides cereal boxes she also like to build with toliet paper and paper towel rolls. She likes empty laundry baskets and boxes. And her favorite thing to do is go outside and pick up rocks. Woe to the sibling that steps outside and doesn't take her.

Isn't it nice to know that our children can have fun without painted plastic and batteries.

Impromptu School Lesson

2010-05-19T20:05:00.004-04:00

God brought us a change in our schedule today- a stop the workbooks kids and come see what the Lord hath made- moment.

My husband had the day off and was out mowing the lawn and came across a little bird who had fallen out of its nest. Luckily he saw it in time and was able to mow around it. He showed it to me and one by one I brought the kids out to see such a tiny, beautiful creature, making sure they knew not to touch it.

Of course we were all concerned about this cute little thing but we needn't have been. His momma new exactly where he was and from a distance we watched her bring food to her little one.

Hopefully it will learn to fly before it becomes some other animal's dinner or the neighborhood children kill it with kindness.

Homestead Bath Seltzers

2010-05-18T20:38:00.006-04:00

These little gems go by many names: Bath bombs, bath seltzers, bath fizzies... but no matter what you call them they are an easy, inexpensive way to help you enjoy a nice, relaxing bath.

Our Maiden's of Virtue Bible study lesson this week was on "the bath" and how God not only desires cleanliness in our hearts but also desires us to present ourselves clean on the outside as well. Usually after the lesson we scrapbook but since "bath" was the theme, and in a former life I ran a handcrafted bath and body care business, I thought I'd teach the girls to make bath seltzers. (They are solid bath salts that fizz and release color and scent into your bath water.)

Most of what you need to make these can be found in your kitchen or around the house. You can also find supplies at Micheal's or Hobby Lobby or through many suppliers on the internet. Nothing is overly expensive or hard to locate. The one exception might be Citric Acid as you usually can't just jaunt into the grocery store for it. But there are many bath and body suppliers on the web. Google handcrafted soap or bath products in your state and you'll find a good list to check out.

The process is easy and after a quick demo and some learning curve experience the girls were off and creating.

Since I used to have a small business making and selling these types of products I still had plenty of supplies on hand. I have lots of molds, scents and colorings. But something as simple as a muffin tin can serve as a mold, and food coloring for color or you can go colorless which can be simple and elegant. Synthetic colors are pretty but they are synthetic chemicals so who knows what you are exposing your skin and self to. As for scents you can get these online, at a health food store, some grocery stores or craft stores. Try to stick with essential oils which are natural vs. fragrance oils which are synthetic. NEVER use a fragrance oil that is not approved for skin. If you find it in the home fragrance or candle section of a store you do not want it for body products. Who really wants to bath in a chemical cocktail?

The process can be messy but clean up is pretty easy.

My son was fascinated by the creation process and so he got into the action the next night using a more manly scent, shape and color. The girls were able to teach him how to do it with out my help.

So go ahead and get your hands dirty so that you can get clean in the bath.

The resulting relaxation is well worth it.

You will need:

One cup baking soda

1/2 cup cornstarch

1/2 cup citric acid (this is what makes the fizz)

scent to liking

color to liking

Mix the baking soda, cornstarch and citric acid in a bowl. Carefully add scent and color a little at a time. (Too much liquid will activate the citric acid and make it bubble. So add small bits... you can always add more but you can't take it away.)

Once you have your color and scent added you will take a small spray bottle and lightly spritz the mixture until it holds it shape when squeezed in your hand. It's a lot like playing with playdough or wet sand. The learning curve comes from knowing what the right consistancy is. Too little water and your shape will fall apart. Too much water and it will fizz up and lose its shape.

After you are satisfied with the consistancy then you will press the mix into your mold. Pack the mold tight- just like brown sugar. Once the mold is entirely filled and packed tight you will turn it out on some cardboard covered with wax paper. Be gentle these puppies are fragile. Don't worry if your shape breaks in the process. You can just crumble it, spritz it again and shape it once more.

Let your seltzers dry overnight.

To use just drop into a drawn bath and relax.

One Jester and Four Maidens...

2010-05-17T23:13:00.004-04:00

For The Grandmas!

God's Plan For Us

2010-05-16T20:47:00.004-04:00

John 3:16

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life.

Salvation through Jesus Christ is God's ultimate plan for us!

A funny thing happened while curriculum browsing...

2010-05-15T19:57:00.008-04:00

A couple of years back I purchased a wonderful curriculum for my girls for them to use for Jr. High and High school. It is Far Above Rubies by Lynda Coats and focuses on preparing girls to become skilled homemakers. This fall is when we will start it with our oldest. While perusing it for the first real time, yesterday, we were making a list of things we need. One of the things was a book on writing style and grammer. I pulled out my old ones that I've had forever and my daughter started looking through them. Up till this point she was very excited for this new curriculum (self-directed unit study) but suddenly she looked glum. "Do I really have to read this book cover to cover?" she asked.

I started laughing! I thought she had realized that these were for reference. I quickly reassured her that she was not going to have read them like a book. Ugh! Cover to cover grammer? What a way to kill a love of learning. (For me at least. I'm sure there are people out there that eat, sleep and breathe grammer. Eats, Shoots and Leaves people.)

It's also time for her to start learning to properly type. Not just hunt and peck. I want a book for her to learn from, not a computer program so I went to the library to see if they had something. They had something alright! Something from 1985. (I took typing in school in 1981.)

I nearly split a gasket when I opened the book. It had pictures of typewriters and old, clunky word processors. The first lesson included learning to identify the parts of the typewriter and how to load and center your paper correctly. Ahhh... the good old days of pre- everyone owning a PC.

This book is just temporary to get her started while I search for something a little more current to purchase. (I've got 4 more- thus far- coming up behind her that need to learn too.) But I'll have to edit some of the lessons for her unless of course I want this to count as history too. Long live qwerty!

Planting early is a crap shoot!

2010-05-14T15:08:00.008-04:00

You know we aren't proponents of gambling so I don't know why we try and start plants before its really time in Michigan. It really is a gamble.

Lettuce doing great!

More lettuce doing great.

Spinach- not harmed by the freeze we had but not doing exceptionally well. We think the two year old seed is not good.

A different type of lettuce, not doing as good as the other two, but trying. This was new seed (at least we bought it this year).

My poor lemon balm. It was so pretty and then we had two nights of freezing weather. But all I have to do is trim off the blackened leaves and it will be just fine.

My lavender can't quite decide what to do. Most of it looks dead but there are some signs of green life.

Chives doing just great- They are about to blossom. I will cut off the blossoms and let them grow more. At the end of the growing season I let the blossoms go to seed and the chives replant themselves.

My beautiful tomatoes- all dead. The blueberries are fine though.

Corn- kaput!

Pumpkins and basil- kaput.

Cilantro barely hanging on.

Strawberries looking good.

New tomato plant being kept up on the deck for easy moving inside on any more cold nights.

Even the lilacs (My very favorite flower.) around the area bit it. They were flowering but not quite to full potential when the freeze happen. Lilac season abruptly ended.

Now most of the shrubs look like this.

I did find one still blooming quite nicely.

If you want to see some fine lilacs and get some ideas for using these edible flowers check out this. I don't have any lilacs in my yard but next year I will scavenge some from the sides of public roads to play with. (I see people doing this every year.) Unless of course I have land by then. If I do I'll plant plenty of bushes.

You might be a homeschooler if...

2010-05-13T19:59:00.006-04:00

Your front room is under marble run construction!

We have a magnetic front door, much to the delight of the children! Warning stepping into our house might lead to extended moments of creativity.

To make a marble run you will need to save up some paper towel tubes and toilet paper tubes.

Of course you will need various sized marbles, beads or other small, round ball type objects. Ohhh.... just thought of Magnetics balls. I wonder how they would work on a magnetic door with other magnets around too. Hmmm... more science experiments tomorrow!

You will also need some scissors, glue, and a roll of strip magnets that you can cut to size as needed. (You can find the magnets at a craft store.) Oh and crayons, markers, paint or colored paper for decorating the tubes.

Cut tubes to various sizes and make joints for easy transfer. There is no perfect way to do it other than trial and error. You can cut widows in the tubes, make half-pipes and be as creative as you desire.

Decorate your tubes and cut your magnet strips to match the size of your tubes and glue the magnets to the tubes.

Once the magnets are dried onto the tubes you can arrange the tubes any number of ways and drop your marbles in and watch the fun. Be sure to have a bucket or box of some sort at the bottom to catch the marbles. I imagine most people don't have magnetic doors so you can mount your tubes on kitchen appliances or a file cabnit or any other magnetic surface.

A post of tidbits

2010-05-12T15:47:00.004-04:00

Our friendly little ground squirrel is going to get aquainted with a new spice!

I've just read that squirrels don't like cayenne pepper. Guess who's going to go to Costco and buy a big ol' honkin' container. The heavy rain we've had has surely washed away the castor oil I tried and the neighbor's teen didn't have any luck with his BB gun. So cayenne pepper is next on the list. Apparently you sprinkle your garden plants and soil with it and it keeps the squirrels away. I'm pouring it right down the hole.

Also heard that the USDA is not going to persue the National Animal ID System. Yeah! Don't tread on me!

Remember the cigar box purses that were trendy a few years ago? Well now, you can make cowboy-boot purses. Actually they're quite cute! The how-to is in the June/July issue of Mary Jane's Farm magazine.

If you can sew and are looking for fun vintage style patterns check out FOLKWEAR. They have great vintage patterns from many different periods, countries and cultures. I found several I'd like to try once my sewing abilities improve.

Just today an idea for a children's picture book popped into my head. I've got great words but alas I have no artistic talent in the illustration department. Anyone know Johannah Bluedorn? She is the talented lady who illustrated Raising Maiden's of Virtue. Her drawings for that book are right in line with the pictures in my head. I'm going to write it and send a proposal off to Vision Forum. Actually, I'd like to publish it myself (not vanity publishing but actually start a publishing house) but I fret that the entire process might be a bit large for me. Anyone else ever thought of publishing? Any illustrators out there?

Finally, because of the excitement of building and having a greenhouse this spring we started lots of seeds. They were doing great and then we had two nights of freezing weather. Now we need to start at least half of what we had started over as they went caput. We lost pumpkins, tomatos, basil and corn. Also, my beautiful lemon balm turned brown and the leaves curled up. Thankfully, there is plenty of new green leaves already growing. So what did we learn? We need to keep rabbits in the green house to heat it to keep the plants alive. But how do we keep the rabbits warm in the winter? Anyone have knowledge on this. We'd want meat rabbits, both for their meat and for their skins (for fly tying.) Of course we would also need to learn to tan the hides as well as butcher the bunnies and I'm not sure the landlords would appreciate us processing rabbits in our garage. LOL!

Virtuous Scrapbooking frustrations and Homestead learning tools

2010-05-11T21:22:00.003-04:00

Here are my beautiful maidens. If you have been reading my blog recently you know that I've been leading a Bible Study on Raising Maidens of Virtue using Stacy McDonald's book by the same name. Using a suggestion at the back of the book we also have been scrapbooking the lessons.

I am not a scrapper booker. While it is fun, I just don't find it as relaxing as other crafts because the lay out and creativeness just doesn't come naturally to me. I worry too much about if my pictures are in the right place and if I've done the best layout I could. I've checked out books on scrapbooking from the library and the time and creativity people put into their pages is just amazing. I can come up with great quilt designs with no problem but for some reason scrap booking is just not my creative forte'. Any whoo how... I am trying to put together pages that go with the theme of each lesson. The pictures are easy enough to take and print out but finding the right embellishments is a bit frustrating.

I went to look for some tonight at a local scrap store. (A little local one, not a national chain craft store.) I wanted stickers that show modest fashion. Yes, I was naive enough to think that this little store in the Bible belt of Michigan, that is closed Sundays and plays Christian music over their sound system, might just have something in that category. At least something historical or even with a Parisian twist. Nope. I also wanted something that celebrated Godly feminity. Ahhh... nope. I mean I did find a few things that passed but they were more of a make do kind of thing and not what I really wanted. Most of the stuff in the store spoke worldly messages showing women as party going, shop happy, girlfriend celebrating, self-centered vixens. The girl selections were either cutesy ponies and lollipops or hot pink zebra designs shouting the virtues of rock star glam. I know this is what most people want and that the store is in the business to sell things but surely there are other people like me out there that desire something else. Can someone point me in the direction of a scrapbooking supplier/designer that caters to home-centered, Proverbs 31 women?

It was a relief to come home to the mailbox after scrapbook shopping to find some good rural reading and homestead how-to learning.

We have a free subscription to Living the Country Life and that came today. (John snatched it up to read first.)

Also our little local power company sends out a free country type magazine every month. That came today.

And at the Grocery store I noticed the new edition of Mary Jane's Farm was out, so I came home with it. Like I don't have enough reading. Mary Jane's Farm is a fun magazine to read with beautiful pictures but it does have a feminist bent to it. I get it to spur my homestead creativity (I like pretty and functional) and I filter out the "woman power" mumbo-jumbo. Contrary to public opinion these days life's not "all about me."

Please tell me I'm not the only one who feels this way!

Mom's Day recap!

2010-05-10T07:50:00.007-04:00

My DH and children made sure my Mother's Day was a good one. Above are my gifts (of which I didn't expect). A wonderful drink dispenser, lots of Lipton tea and green tea, three homemade cards and a photo album with the children's baby pictures put in it. Plus... I didn't have to cook.

My oldest made me "breakfast at table". She sprained her ankle the day before and couldn't move around too much but still managed to scramble eggs and pour milk. The rest of the family either took care of their own breakfasts or I poured cereal and milk. For lunch and dinner my DH cooked and the kids helped. Garlic chicken, salad, fresh lemonade and baked potato for lunch and steak, sun tea and salad for dinner. Since DH is losing weight we had no formal dessert (sigh) but I whipped out the hidden Nutter Butters for me and the kids. (Yes, I'm a bad mother/wife- I hide cookies.)

I also took the time to listen to a download of Victoria Botkin's Curriculum Advice Volume 1 and read more of Steve and Terri Maxwell's Keeping Our Children's Hearts. Though I did feel guilty about this. I listened to the download out on our picnic table so I could hear and concentrate on it without interruption and read on our deck in a lounge chair with the slider closed and my 1 1/2 year old tapping the glass and smiling at me every few seconds. We also spent part of the day watching TLC's 19 Kids and Counting marathon as well as the new 1 hour special they had on the Duggars. The Amazing Race finale was also on so that was watched as well. Our favorites, "The Cowboys", came in second. (My niece Katie and I plan on applying to be on The Amazing Race. The experience would be great!)

All in all a very nice day.

My wonderful drink dispenser sitting out on the deck working on heating up that sun tea! Yum!

God's plan for us...

2010-05-09T08:58:00.003-04:00

Titus 2:3-5

Likewise, teach the older women to be reverent in the way they live, not to be slanderers or addicted to much wine, but to teach what is good. Then they can train the younger women to love their husbands and children, to be self-controlled and pure, to be busy at home, to be kind and to be subject to their husbands so that no one will malign the word of God.

A little glimpse of Lewis "training" (homeschool)

2010-05-08T09:03:00.012-04:00

Learning can look like this...

this...

or even this.

Here's a look at our "scheduled" training or school-

These things happen daily (Monday- Friday):

1. PE 1hour (We bike, walk, exercise or play an active game)

2. Workbook (Language arts and math) 1 1/2 hour (We only need this much time if the kids are having a bad day or it's a new math concept they are learning.)

3. Family reading time 1/2 hour (I read to all the children.)

4. History/geography or science 1/2 hour (we alternate days between the two subjects)

5. Personal Bible Reading and prayer time (at least 15 min.)

These things happen once or more during the week:

1. Bible study with Mom- 3hours on Mondays (Time split between study and scrapbooking the study.)

2. Practical skills- around 6 "scheduled" hours throughout the week. This is where we learn quilting, sewing, woodworking etc.

3. Character Quality studies 1 1/2 hour during the week

4. Church Bible study- 2 hours on Wednesdays

5. Church 3 hours- Sundays

We are also working on adding a family Bible time for around 1/2 hour a day.

Here's a look at real life schooling:

While not officially "school" , we keep our children busy with chores, family projects and also limit their free time. (They do get free time but we are watchful to make sure the activity isn't wayward.) We plan hospitality and fellowship opportunities and also allow for some spontanious fellowship. We also frequently throw the schedule out to work on special things or enjoy a "field trip" or play day.

During spring we are gardening alot and working on the yard and other spring projects. In the winter we do a lot of hand made presents. The kids read a lot. We are very seldom apart and this makes each moment of everyday a teachable moment. It's hard to explain but learning/training in our house is never turned off. It just doesn't look like a government classroom. Camping in the woods turns into a time of learning to build fires, fish, identify nature and cook over an open flame. A rainy day at home turns into a baking day where the kids learn how yeast makes bread rise or the differences in different types of flours. Or maybe we spend a day running errands where the kids learn budgeting, time management and impulse control. (Mom is learning all the time too.)

We put an emphasis on practical skills over academics and we make our days fun but full of productive work and learning. Again I'm sure that I didn't do the subject justice or explain properly so feel free to comment and question.

A bit on homeschooling...

2010-05-07T09:42:00.008-04:00

This is Taylor's homeschooling station. She loves outside and will play nicely in her teepee, with some toys, out on the deck while we are "doing" school.

Here are the kids "doing" school at the kitchen table (the deck is in the background). This accounts for a very small portion of our day and often isn't how we school at all.

Kim C., over at Life in a Shoe, posted yesterday (along with three other moms) about homeschooling. Hearing how others approach schooling is informative and in my case (hearing Kim and the others) a relief. You see my children do not spend copious amounts of time in front of workbooks and text books and we don't currently use any set curricullum. We, like the Coughlans, use a "real life" approach to schooling.

When we first started schooling, I used Alpha/Omega's Horizons. I used the Kindergarten for my first three children but not my fourth. I used the first and second grades for my first two daughters but not for my son. For my oldest's third grade we tried Alpha/Omega's Switched on School House computer schooling. I know this is what the Duggar family uses and it works well for them but it did not work well for us. Thus ended our "official" curricullum usage and we moved to picking and choosing pieces of what works best for us. We also have moved away from from a formal school format to "real life". School is 24/7 all year round. Just because we aren't in front of a text book or sitting around "doing" school doesn't mean my children aren't learning.

I suppose I should state our purpose and goals for homeschooling. We want children that are 100% sold out for God. Children that think totally different from the world. We want our children to seek the Kingdom first and foremost: To be Godly men and women. We are not raising children to be rocket scientists or to contribute to the country's GNP. Our children are not being trained to be cogs in world's wheels but to be instruments of God. We are training our children that a simple family life is a noble goal. I guess it comes down to training over schooling. We are home training.

We are not expecting or even wanting our children to go to college. Going to college is something the world tells us we must do. If the Lord leads any of our children in that direction then we will follow but at this time regular college is not a concern. I do expect our children will choose further training in areas that interest them: Trade schools, internships, online classes or further practical home study etc. Our current direction for our girls (open to change from the Lord) is that they will first and formost be keepers of the home, help meets to their husbands, and mother's of Godly children.. Secondly that they will have the skills of a Proverbs 31 woman with an entreprenuerial mind and strong work ethic.

For our son we want him to be able to support his future family but not be a slave to the work world or corporate environment. We want him to think like an entreprenuer. We desire him to lead his family in a Godly manner with a strong work ethic. Wow, there is so much more. It really is impossible to get it all down. I'm not sure I'm doing it justice.

Currently we use a comprehensive curricullum work book (by school specialty publishing group) or Scholastic's success with grades series for language arts and math. (We pick these up at Costco around August. They are inexpensive and give us a general overview of basic skills) These provide our children with the basic knowledge they need but doesn't bog them down with useless busywork. I also use the "what your grader needs to know" series of books to help guide me through history/geography and science. These are guides not text books. We do use t.v. as a schooling tool. Something like the "Little Chocolatiers" inspired my children to learn to make candy and contemplate running a candy biz. We studied health codes, biz plans, took field trips to see how local candy shops are operated and made a lot of candy using cooking, math and science skills. Mostly we are teaching our children life skills and training them in the skills needed for adulthood not just school knowledge. I'm going to stop here for this post and follow up tomorrow with our "schedule" so you can see how school is a lifestyle.

I had so many thoughts in my head as I wrote this that I don't even know if it makes sense to any of you. Please leave me a comment and let me know your thoughts or concerns. It may be that I didn't touch on something or wasn't clear enough etc. and do follow the links in this post. Others have written more clearly on this matter.

Protecting the Homestead from Critters

2010-05-06T19:44:00.003-04:00

We have wasps something terrible in our area. Those nasty little critters try to build nests everywhere. Just this afternoon I had to chase two of them out of our mailbox and knock down the nest they had started.

We have read that having a honey bee colony in your immediate area will cut down the wasps because the honey bees will attack them. I hope to get our top bar hive up and running soon but in the mean time we have wasp traps up.

The other pesky critter we are battling currently is a ground squirrel. You can get rid of moles by putting castor oil in their holes and on the lawn. They will pick up and move somewhere else. They don't like the castor oil's smell, taste or how it feels on their fur. We are hoping it is the same for ground squirrels. I just had my son pour some down the newest hole tonight.

Dirty rotten little squirrel and its latest handiwork in our back yard. Not only is it an eyesore but it is dangerous. One wrong step and you've twisted your ankle- OR WORSE- lose your croquet ball.

You might not think that a ground squirrel would be anything to worry about. But this little guy burrowed this tunnel only feet from the garden area. Thanks, but no thanks. The garden is to feed me, not him. If the castor oil doesn't do the trick then the landlord's sons will. They sit up on the decks with pellet guns and hunt. Don't go all PETA on me. We have a huge field in the back and the little guy is more than welcome to live happily out there. But its closing time in my yard. He doesn't have to go home but he can't stay here.

Wear A Dress Day

2010-05-05T10:04:00.004-04:00

June 1st is Wear A Dress Day! Pass this along to every woman/girl you know. For men it is Wear A Suit Day. I've been intentionally wearing dresses/skirts more often with the eventual goal of all dresses/skirts (with a few practical exceptions: working out, fly fishing, swimming).

I'm moving all my girls in this direction. The older two are a little harder. They are eleven and thirteen and I want to have their hearts in this, so I'm moving them slowly. We have been going through the book Raising Maidens of Virtue (By Stacy McDonald) so they can understand why I want them to make this change. If I just make them wear dresses/skirts then the point is missed.

My five year old doesn't mind the change for the most part and since I still pick her outfits daily, it's pretty easy with her. My 1 1/2 year old will be easy. By the time she has an opinion she will just know dresses as a way of life for us.

I like the change and I know people have noticed it. It is a good opening to share the Gospel as I explain that I'm choosing to dress more like the woman God created me to be.

Have any of you made this type of change? I'd love to hear about your transitions.

Some of the most beautiful sights...

2010-05-04T10:11:00.005-04:00

A cloudless sky

Seeds sprouting

Thinning needed

Herbs green and growing

Herbs flowering

This is what happens...

2010-05-04T09:54:00.002-04:00

When you let your 9 1/2 year old son access to the camera.

About 40 pictures all like this. When watched in fast succession it is quite hilarious. In his defense I did tell him he couldn't take the camera out of the yard. I guess he was the most interesting thing in the yard to take pictures of.

Weekend fun on and off the homestead

2010-05-03T07:56:00.008-04:00

We spent a good portion of the weekend with our friends the Hall family. The DH and Mr. Hall work together at Costco. Our families are similar size, age, like the same things and have similar values and goals. We always have a good time together. Saturday we invited them over for a picnic and bonfire.

Butterfly watching

I saw a cute enamel tray at the store made for carrying picnic supplies and I almost bought it. Then the little budget angel sat on my shoulder and told me that surely I had something at home that would work. I did! My roasting pan! It's not white enamel but other than that they are almost identical.

Instead of buying campfire wood, we had the kids go out back into the field and scavenger for wood. You should have seen their faces when they came back dragging someone's old Christmas tree. They hit the mother load!

End of the night as the flames die down

We had brief periods of intermittent rain. But we had the umbrellas handy.

Even with the rain, we still had a beautiful sunset.

Costco had a family bowling party on Sunday night. We paid $6 (for shoes) for the entire family. Not bad for 3 games of bowling for 6 people, pizza, salad, dessert and soda. Costco treats its employees well. (I love how the littles are fascinated by the ball rack.)

Rem in action

Taylor sitting with Gabriella Hall. They were the littlest of our group. Gabriella is 3 and bowled. Taylor at 1 1/2 did not.

Andi being silly with Autumn Hall

Reagan in action

Andi, Autumn Hall, and Seven (our teen representitives)

John (the DH) in action

God's plan for us

2010-05-02T16:01:00.006-04:00

Exodus 20:8-11
Remember the sabbath day to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labour, and do all they work: But the seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is with in thy gates: For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day and and hallowed it.

Genesis 2:2-3
And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made. And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made.

Picnics, Neighbors, book review and more...

2010-05-01T08:58:00.007-04:00

We're having a picnic and bonfire tonight. Doesn't the weather look great?

It's raining and everything is wet.

But the weather people have promised it is going to get nice around noon and dry out! I hope so because microwave smores are just gross.

I just finished reading The Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan. I enjoyed it for the most part- especially the time the author spent with Joel Salatin. But parts of it were quite dry. (I got a lot bored with the technical bit about how corn or fungi reproduce.) But I still recommend it for reading IF you are a mature Christian who can filter out the humanist/evolutionary hoopla that infiltrates the author's worldview. It will make you want to change your eating habits and even reconsider if shopping at Whole Foods is a good thing. It really changed my mind about fast food. If you don't want to spend the time or money on this book then I recommend watching the documentry, FOOD INC. It is a film by Pollan and the guy that made Fast Food Nation and catches the highlights of Ominvore's Dilemma. If every American watched this film or read Pollan's books we'd be much closer to getting back to an agrarian way of life and maybe my neighbors wouldn't watch the family and I sweating away as we work on the garden plot and comment. "Are you all starting a farm?", "Wow, that sure is a big garden!", "Wow, you sure are working hard!" And you know all the while they're thinking in the back of their heads, "Why don't these silly people just go to the store and buy their food." Actually I have heard my kids verbalize this. "Why can't we just go to the store to buy food like everyone else?" Someday they'll thank me, right?

The next book I'm going to embark on is Keeping Our Children's Hearts by Steven and Teri Maxwell. I'm looking forward to it. A friend from church loaned it to me and I'm very familiar with the Maxwell family. I'm sure I will benefit greatly from this read as reaching and keeping my children's heart for God is my utmost priority.

Finally, I wanted to get a cute shot of the sweater outfit that Taylor is in today. (I must keep the Grandma's content with grandchildren fodder.) Clearly she didn't want her picture taken.

The Deliberate Agrarian... new post!

2010-05-01T08:35:00.005-04:00

Once a month Herrick Kimball posts on his blog, The Deliberate Agrarian. His post for April's end/May's beginning is up HERE.

Here are a few quotes to whet your appetite: "...agarian life is the historical norm. Industrial life is not."; "Agrarian-minded people choose the harder way, slower way, the simpler way, and content themselves with less."

As always I wait with baited breath for his monthly updates. And as always he doesn't disappoint. His site has a wealth of how to and why to info on it and a ton of inspiration. Check it out!

Craft break!

2010-04-30T22:33:00.004-04:00

Nothing very exciting happening garden wise today. We spent most of the day raking grass out of our newly tilled garden area. So I thought a craft post was in order. (A wheelbarrow full of sod and sand just doesn't inspire but Martha does.)

Martha Stewart's craft encylopedia has been out for a while but her new book on sewing and fabric arts is new. Costco is selling both for around $20 each. (A better price than other retailers.)

I'm hoping for some rainy spring and summer days to work on some of the great skills listed.

Even my son found some projects and skills he would like to learn. Crafting isn't just for girls. I'm hoping he gets good at tin punching and woodworking. I want a pie safe!

I also picked this little goody up at the store today. It's filled with a lot of fun projects to fill those long summer days with. My favorite type of quilting to do is hand applique. I love to sit outside in the shade of our maple tree and work on it.

Speaking of quilting... Coming in May... The Homestead Blessings ladies will add another DVD to their wonderful collection of Arts... THE ART OF QUILTING! I've already pre-ordered my copy. You can head on over to Franklin Springs Family Media to check out a preview and to pre-order.

Sorry for the late post today. I usually post in the morning before the day gets going but I needed to do other things this morning so I'm posting now that the day is over. My goal is to post everyday so even though it is late I'm still posting.

Vacation projects coming along

2010-04-29T07:30:00.005-04:00

Yesterday we got our cool weather crops planted. We have three different types of leaf lettuce growing in wine boxes on our back deck. We like to keep the lettuce up by the kitchen for easy access. (We are a family that eats a lot of salad.) We also like to keep the wild rabbits out of it and they won't come up on the deck.
The wine boxes are free: The DH brings them home from work when they're available. We use them for storage, decoration, book shelves, and when using them as planters we drill a few holes in the bottom, fill them with potting soil and they're good to go.

We also planted spinach in planters up on the deck. The big pot is from last year's Costco tomato plant. We've become very big on reusing things to keep gardening costs down. The strawberry pot in the background is still empty. Not sure what we're going to put in it. I do have some nasturiums that would work well there. We were going to outline the garden with nasturiums (they provide pest protection- I guess animals/bugs don't like the smell) but they need to be watered sparingly. We water by autotimer that gets the entire garden for a good length of time so I'm afraid the nasturiums would not be happy. But besides being a pest deterent, Nasturium flowers are also edible. They go great in salads, imparting a slightly peppery taste and brilliant color. Having them up on the deck would provide easy access for salad picking and provide a good show of color.

Here is our newly tilled expanded garden (complete with frost- which is why we have been starting seeds in the green house). We have an awesome neighbor who just invested in a bright, shiny red, brand spankin' new rotitiller. He was kind enough to offer to till our previous garden spot a couple of weeks ago and kind enough to let the DH borrow it last night to break the new ground for the expansion. THANKS JIM! Today we get to pull out all the sod, rake it and pile more compost (from the pile on our driveway) on the section. I mentioned up above the nasturiums that, now, won't be lining the garden but we still plan on planting radishes around the perimeter for animal determent and putting up Ivory soap on wooden dowels every couple feet or so around the perimeter. This works on keeping pests (deer) out of the garden. We don't want to spend money on a fence and found that the smell of the soap does indeed keep them away. (As evidenced by the eating of our squash and pumpkins last year that stopped once we put the soap "fence" up.)

Ahhh... here is my lovely new picnic table. My DH is one of those annoying types that can watch something done once and then go do it perfectly. He watched a woodworking show on building picnic tables and decided to build one. He watched the show, sketched a plan, wrote a supply list, bought the stuff and then built it. It took him all of three hours with basic tools. (Much to my DH's dismay we do not have a woodshop.) Guess who's eating lunch outside today! And Dinner! Still a little too cool in the morning for breakfast.

Okay, gotta start my chores for the day! Have a good one!

My Finished Greenhouse and more gardening

2010-04-28T09:04:00.005-04:00

We eat a lot of pistachios in our house. They are a healthy snack and if you buy them unshelled it takes a while to eat your snack so you can't just scarf them down. This helps stretch out your snack and help you with portion control. Afterward you can compost your shells or you can use them for pathways in your garden or do what we are doing and use them for flooring for our greenhouse. We will just put them in as we have them and cover up the dirt and grass.

Our garden getting layered with 3 cubic yards of compost. (A combination of manures, plant material and clay) We had it delivered from a little local nursery. It was much cheaper by the truck load then by bags. You might be wondering about the clay in the compost but we are very pleased with it. Our soil is essentially sand with a bit of dirt thrown in for color. The clay will help the garden area retain water rather than it just draining straight through the sand.

The start of our no dirt potato garden. The cardboard is down and we have the straw to put the potatoes into. I had already purchased some seed potatos and the DH picked up some more but with the increased size of our garden we need to pick up even more. I'm a firm believer that you can never have too many potatoes. We are big potato eaters and if stored properly they will last a very long time.

Our garden is in the backyard and there wasn't a way to get the delivery truck any closer to it then the front driveway. So here we are filling our little Red Flyer wagon (from when I was a child) with compost. One child would fill, one would travel the wagon back and forth and another would rake the compost out on the garden. I weeded while all this was going on, occasionally helping a tired child and the DH started a heck of a lot of seeds in the greenhouse.

Our neighbors helped us out by loaning us their "Big Blue" wheelbarrow after they came home from work. They had a good laugh watching us travel back and forth with the wagon. A wheelbarrow is on our list of things to obtain but we haven't got there yet. I'm hoping to find a good one at a yard sale.

This is what three cubic yard of compost looks like. Doesn't look like much until you start hauling it. I took my oldest with me to my youngest's well check just as the compost was being delivered. She was dismayed to find the pile still there when we returned, even though everyone had been working on it for the hour we were gone.

Here is a video of our finished greenhouse and the seeds and plants we have started!

Family Exercise

2010-04-27T08:49:00.003-04:00

Bikes, bikes and more bikes (and a trailer for the little girls)

Reagan and Taylor: along for the ride

Our family has gotten on the "health" band wagon. My husband got motivated to loose the extra weight he's been carrying around for years (89 lb loss so far) and to do that we've changed eating habits and added daily exercise to our routine.

Spring has been fun. Now that John and I have gotten bikes we go for a daily ride in the country. It burns calories and is wonderfully relaxing at the same time. I look forward to it and the kids really enjoy it too. We also plan on adding hiking to our exercise program and of course when Lake Michigan warms up- swimming.

The added bonus of this new lifestyle has been all the extra energy we have to work on homesteading projects. We are expanding our garden (leading to more canning, cooking and maybe a little extra to sell), built a top bar beehive to start working on keeping bees (which will lead to our own honey, beeswax, and candlemaking), built a greenhouse (great for seed starting and later seed saving), and the DH plans on building our own picnic table so we are able to say bye,bye to the indoors for the spring/summer and spend more time outside. Time to disconnect from the T.V. (Except for Biggest Loser- of course. Gotta keep the weight loss motivation going.)

Is it Lavender? Is it Sunflowers? NO! Its...

2010-04-26T08:20:00.005-04:00

BASIL!

Last year's lavender pot holding last season's spent basil plants- roots and all.

Harvesting seeds from the seed pods is delicate work. Especially for my husband's man hands.

Each one of these little pods holds at least 2 or 3 seeds.

And all those little seeds went into an old sunflower seed packet. I don't think we'll be confusing tiny basil seeds with large sunflower seeds.

We let our basil go to seed at the end of last year. The hope was that it would self seed. Well, it didn't. Those little seeds stayed locked up tight in their little pods. They needed coaxing out by hand.

I pulled out the plant material from the ground and plopped it in the first container I found that was big enough. (A lavender container.) And last night my DH patiently opened up each little pod and freed the basil seeds. (They are tiny little buggers.) Where did these seeds go? Well, we could have been all Martha Stewarty and make our own little seed packet but no- the DH poured them into a just emptied sunflower packet and relabled it.

Now all that's left to do it get the seeds in the ground. (Or a starter pot in the greenhouse.) I have the perfect spot for them in my little herb garden. Can't wait to start using it in my cooking. I might just have to drop by the local nursery and get an already started plant to tide me through.

I'm hoping these little seeds grow. It will be our first venture into seed "saving". Our chives just reseed themselves every year. We haven't had to do anything with them.

God's Plan For Us

2010-04-25T07:52:00.006-04:00

She watches over the affairs of her household and does not eat the bread of idleness.

Proverbs 31:27

She watches over the affairs of her household and does not eat the bread of idleness. Proverbs 31:27
I love that my "career" is serving my God, husband, family and home! What a blessed life- doing what God created me to do.

Healthy Homestead Lemonade!

2010-04-24T10:18:00.006-04:00

We buy our lemons in bulk from Costco

The Boy wants to be a chef so he's usually the first to volunteer for kitchen duty. We use a electric juicer but non-electric work just fine too.

With all this great spring weather we're having and all the yard work we've been doing it's nice to take a break and sip a tall, cool, glass of fresh, homemade lemonade. It's so easy to make that I have assigned the task to my children. It's yummy and there are no artificial colors or flavors.

16 oz of fresh squeezed lemon juice (about 6 lemons)
8 cups water
sugar to taste (we like to add about a cup)
Cut lemons in half, juice, strain, pour into pitcher
Add water and sugar, stir
add ice if desired and garnish with extra slices of lemon

You can also use limes in this recipe. Make limeade or lemon-limeade.

Gotta love other people's junk

2010-04-24T09:52:00.003-04:00

Garage sale season is so much fun. We scored at a neighbor's sale. I went over just for the heck of it on Thursday. (I'm a Nosie Nellie who always has to check out the neighbor's stuff.) I came home with two white ceramic mugs and a floor puzzle. ($2) Then the kids went over with their money and found three beanie babies. ($.30) Friday I sent the DH over to look at the bikes they had. We came home with one men's and one woman's bike. ($20) Today we went over to get a sprinkler they had and came home not only with it but with a beanbag and digital camera too. ($7 for all).

I'm very pleased with our purchases. I've been on the look out for a camera for my 13 year-old daughter for at least a year and we've been mulling over purchasing bikes for DH and I since October. If I had paid retail prices for everything we'd have spent around $350 so I think $30 was a darn good deal.

I'm a killer!

2010-04-23T08:32:00.004-04:00

A dandelion killer.

The DH asked the the kids and I to pick all the dandelions in the yard in an effort to stop their seeds spreading and erradicate the herb from our yard. Notice I said herb, not weed. I am personally pro-life when it comes to dandelions. They are a pretty and useful flower. I don't understand the suburban man's lawn fixation. Why must you only have one type of grass growing in your lawn and why in the world would you want to spread poison all over it to stop useful herbs from growing. Freedom for herbs!

Alas my DH is one of those men. He does not want anything but grass growing in his lawn. He cringes at the thought of ripping out the lawn and planting something as ridiculous as... food. Anywhoo... as a submissive wife... the kids and I went out and picked everylast flower and stem we could find. Luckily we did not have to dig up the roots- we'd still be digging when the first snow falls next winter.

After we were done I noticed my neighbor/landlord went out and spread chemical poison- ahhh- fertilizer over the yard. Sigh. Silly-minded men and their lawn egos.

If you want to read up on the GOOD that are dandelions go here.

Cooking For a Crowd- Inside Out Turkey Cheese Burgers!

2010-04-22T08:18:00.005-04:00

These are a great healthy option to serve at your next cook out.

Inside-out Turkey Cheese Burgers (Serves 6- enlarge as needed)

2 lbs of ground turkey

1/4 cup of ketchup

1 TBSP Dijon mustard

1 tsp garlic powder

1 oz slice of cheese per pattie

Options:

Homemade hamburger buns or other favorite hardy bread

Lettuce leaves

Tomato slices

Pickles

Onions

Any other topping you and yours enjoy!

Mix turkey, ketchup, mustard and garlic powder in a bowl until combined and press into 12 medium, thin patties. Place cheese on six of the patties and then top with remaining patties. Crimp patties shut. (Do this well so no cheese escapes when cooking.) Cook patties with desired method (We grill or pan saute) until cooked thoroughly- about 5 to 7 minutes per side.

This recipe is a family favorite. Everyone likes it! It is quick, easy and healthy. I have my ten year old son mix these up. We finish the meal with a great salad or vege platter and fresh squeezed, homemade lemonade!

Head on over to Life In A Shoe for more Cooking For A Crowd Ideas!

You might be a red-neck if...

2010-04-21T08:59:00.003-04:00

You pay your children one penny for every fly (in the house) they kill this spring and summer. (Body required for proof.)

You bowl with toliet paper tubes and a "model earth" ball. (Earth supplied by unfinished science lab experiment.)

The toiliet paper rolls still have scraps of t. paper on them.

Good times with the Lewis Clan.

Ooops...

2010-04-21T08:48:00.004-04:00

My son just spilled an entire large container of sugar all over the kitchen floor. I think he'll be scrubbing it today!

A Good Old-Fashioned Taffy Pull!

2010-04-20T09:54:00.006-04:00

The final products: Strawberry and Watermelon Taffy (With a few molded chocolates thrown in for good measure!)

Before that we had to cut and wrap the taffy.

And before that we had to pull taffy...

and nap...

and pull taffy...

and pull the taffy somemore!

We made taffy at our ladies Titus 2 meeting at church Saturday. We had a great time learning to boil the sugar to the right temp and cool it and color and flavor it and then pull it (twenty minutes of pulling) to the right texture. It was a great activity to bring all ages together.

Our church rents meeting space from a local Christian school and in order to use their commercial kitchen for candy making we needed to have a state certifide food safety person present. My husband happens to be certifide, through Costco, and volunteered not only to attend and be a presence but to help as well. He pulled a lot of taffy for us ladies. He even had blisters on his hands at the end.

The ladies were able to take home baggies of candy to share with the rest of their families to most of the men and boy's delight. The men like the fruits of our "practical homemaking" endevours.

We have these "Far Above Rubies" meetings every one to two months on Saturdays and hit different aspects of homemaking. We have studied gardening, bread making, cheese making, crafting,canning and frugality. We have picked strawberries and made jam, made pumpkin pie from pumpkins- not a can, and much more. Next month we are going to a farmer's market to see what's fresh and local in our area and learn to prepare meals from scratch with that abundance.

This is a good time of skill learning and Bible study. (It's great to learn skills but we also believe that the reason we learn this skills is to glorify God and so we learn his Word at these meetings too.) Woman of all ages are encouraged to come so we can train up our daughters in these skills that our Feministic culture tells us are worthless. If you have questions on how to start one of these groups up at your church, drop me a comment.

She speaks softly...

2010-04-20T09:48:00.002-04:00

...but carries a big stick!

This is Taylor's current favorite play thing: The stick we keep in the sliding glass door track.

86 lbs and counting!

2010-04-19T08:28:00.006-04:00

April 2010

September 2009

I am so proud of my husband, John. He started watching the Biggest Loser late last summer for the first time and he got motivated by it. He saw people his own weight (345 lbs at the time) losing weight through good old fashion diet and exercise. He decided that if they could do it, so could he. He knew he wouldn't drop the weight as fast as they do on the show (Where they have little else to do but exercise all day.) but he would do the same things at a pace his schedule allowed. I am proud to say that at this point (28 weeks since we started.) He has lost 86 lbs! On the "Ranch" on Biggest Loser a lot of people lose this in 14 weeks so I'm very proud that it only took him double.

John (and the rest of us- its a family thing) exercises about one hour a day, five times a week. In the fall we walked and did exercises in our yard (as a family), during the winter we bought three Biggest Loser work out videos and did those and now that it is spring we are walking, biking and jogging.

Diet wise... John avoids sweets and junk food/food with empty calories. He watches his fat intake and counts calories. He has learned to make healthy food choices and control his portions. We avoid fast food and most of the industrial stuff called "food" at the grocery store and opt for real food. Fruits, veges, chicken, turkey (instead of beef- it's leaner) fish, brown rice and whole wheat pasta, home made from scratch everything as much as possible. We eat well and he is never "starving". Grocery shopping is also quicker these days as I can skip almost all of the aisles in the store and just shop the perimeter.

I usually have some homebaked goodies for the kids and I (or Oreos... I'm weak, what can I say.) But if John wants something "snacky" he eats pistachios (the kind in the shell as it takes time to shell them and that slows down the eating and makes the snack last longer.) or he eats sugar free jello at only 10 calories a serving or chews sugar free gum at five calories a stick. We don't usually like to partake in sugar substitutes- they'll kill you quicker than the real stuff- but during his weight loss we allow those couple things.

The whole family is really enjoying our new healthy life style. The kids still complain about the exercise videos, though. We are looking forward to hiking and walking and maybe even rock climbing or other things we've never done before. We even included all our newly learned knowledge into homeschool lessons. The kids can look at a plate of food and know about how many calories they are putting in their bodies. This helps them to make right choices.

I'm sure there is more I can say but I'll let you all ask questions if you have any. (Oh... I've lost 23 lbs doing this and trimmed up my waist and built muscle. I actually look good in short sleeve shirts and have calf definition once more in my legs, not to mention having more energy.)

God's Plan For Us

2010-04-18T08:20:00.007-04:00

Genesis 2:15

The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it.

Isn't it interesting that what the Lord made for Adam was a garden- not a city or office cubicle. Notice too that God didn't put man in the garden to lounge about but to "work it and take care of it."

Off To Candy Making Class Today

2010-04-17T06:56:00.004-04:00

I'm busy gathering supplies for the candy making class I'm teaching today for my church's ladies group. Here's hoping nothing catches on fire! Just kidding! Anyway since I'm crunched for time this morning and morning is usually when I blog, I thought I would post a few pictures from this just past Easter. We celebrate Easter as the glorious ressurection of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, but the celebration does have its fair share of candy!

Just a sampling from one child's basket.

The family portrait where the BOY isn't doing something silly. (Death threats from Dad do wonders.)

Understand my son's personality?

Think you got that personality yet?

We spent Easter with family friends. Here is a mix of some of both family's kids. Notice the grass and lack of heavy clothing. It was super nice this year as opposed to the Easter we spent with them two years ago where everything was covered in 1/2 a foot of snow.

Moving pictures of our Spring endevours

2010-04-16T09:50:00.003-04:00

Alas, I don't think I'll be able to do chickens in the greenhouse. The plastic is too thin. I think they'd rip right through it. Rabbits would work though. We are thinking of raising them for meat and then using the pelts to start our own line of fly tieing materials for fly fishermen. (My DH is an avid fly fisher. He also ties his own flies. When we get acreage he wants to raise pheasants for their meat and feathers.)

Spring in the garden

2010-04-16T09:15:00.005-04:00

I think the danger of snow in our area has past, though it can frost through the end of May.

I get all excited going out each morning and looking at what is growing on its own. (I haven't planted anything in the ground yet as I should have protective row covers in case of frost and haven't procured them yet.)

I have lemon balm...

Rhubarb...

A surprise little spinach plant growing in the box on our porch where we had it planted last year.

A carrot that we missed harvesting last year in our vege garden. (Currently more of a grass garden... NEVER TILL YOUR GRASS INTO THE GROUND... remove it!)

We also missed this onion in last year's garden.

My greenhouse is "growing" too! The DH should finish it up Saturday.

I love spring!

A little glimpse of this "homestead"

2010-04-15T08:25:00.006-04:00

I really am lucky. My husband works as a senior manager for Costco and likes to not have to commute more than 25 minutes to work. In our current area of Grand Rapids, MI, that puts us just on the suburban/country line.

I must explain that my husband is climbing the management ladder and with every promotion (usually) a move is involved. Not just small moves but big ones like: Idaho to Texas or Texas to Michigan. So because of this we have chosen to rent rather then buy a home. In the general Grand Rapids area there are not a lot of single homes to rent. Duplexes abound. So we live on a street, on the last vestiges of suburbia, lined with rental duplexes. But the yard is big and we have a huge field behind us and woods at the edge of the field and we can leave suburbia behind by going for a less than mile walk.

We are also blessed to live right next door to very kind landlords who let us do many things. We have a herb garden and garden (some people on our street our not allowed this), we built our own shed, we are building a greenhouse off the shed, my son built a top bar bee hive for "dad" for a Christmas present so we will start keeping some bees this year. And, Lord willing, with the addition of the greenhouse we will have an area to overwinter some chickens and rabbits. We also are allowed to put up a clothes line for drying clothes. (Another thing some on our street would be prohibited to do. It just depends on the landlord and most of the houses have different ones.)

We don't have "acreage" but we have room and no fences. (Though sometimes fences do make good neighbors.) We would love to do more but since we could move at any time Costco deems and we are just renting, it is enough.

Hopefully with any upcoming moves we can keep in a country setting but I am prepared to farm/homestead in a suburban or urban area too, if that is where God puts us.

This is where I have strawberries planted, but you can't see them because I haven't weeded them yet this spring. The bed is about as big as the shadow from the shed. A little tip for all you readers starting a new garden area. DIG OUT AND REMOVE THE GRASS! DO NOT MERELY TILL IT IN. If you do not remove the grass/weeds totally, you will fight a never ending weeding fight. We learned our lesson good!

Here is my sad looking little herb patch. Six of the nine beds have been weeded. I still have to free my peppermint and my lavender and clear out the parsley/cilantro section from last year. The three sections on the left I weeded, cleared/transplanted so that my DH can build me a greenhouse using part of that space. So my little bed shrinks even more... sigh.

This is the back yard as viewed from our deck. Our "part" is from the left of the picture to shed on the right. The first tree line in the picture is the back of the yard. Behind that is a huge empty field. (Our tent trailer is stored out there.) Our vege garden is on the left in front of the swing set. We plan on enlarging it this year. My DH wants to experiment with growing some wheat.

Here is the shed my DH and son built AND the start of my greenhouse addition!

Dreaming of Property...still!

2010-04-14T08:00:00.006-04:00

I'm the type of person who while on her way to a city vacation, makes the family detour to an off beat place like Leman's in the Ohio countryside.

This was a great place to see...

But my heart desires this...

Not cement and stairs and streets...

While on a bike ride the other day, I found ten wooded acres for sale only a couple of miles from where we live now. I love it. I told my DH that I could live in a compound of wall tents until we had funds to build a house. I don't think he believed me. He fears the Michigan winter would be our undoing. We could put a wood burning stove in the outhouse. :)

Taylor's new shoes... she's such a ham!

2010-04-13T10:08:00.004-04:00

Video for the Grandma's of Taylor w/ special appearances by Reagan and Andi. Directed, filmed and narrated by Seven.

Oreo/Cream Cheese Truffles

2010-04-13T08:46:00.007-04:00

These little treats are easy to whip up and ohhh... so good. The recipe calls for one package (18 ounce) of Oreo cookies (We prefer the Double Stuff), 8 ounces softened cream cheese and 16 ounces semi-sweet or milk chocolate (melted). This makes around 42 truffles, approx. 1 inch each.

Line a baking sheet with wax paper, crush up the cookies, mix 3 cups of the crushed cookies with the cream cheese, roll/shape the mix into balls, dip the balls into the melted chocolate. (You can do this with your hands, a regular fork or a candy dipping fork.) Place the balls onto your sheet, sprinkle with remaining cookie crumbs, refrigerate for one hour and then enjoy!

You can store leftovers in a sealed container in the fridge.

Mixing the cream cheese and Oreo crumbs

My favorite industrial processed food!

Crushing the cookies. We use a cutting board, Ziploc gallon freezer bag and a meat tenderizer mallet. The kids love participating in this step the most.

The finished product.

Melted chocolate... We use the stove top, double boiler method. We prefer this to the microwave as the chocolate doesn't get as hot. Becareful when dipping- the chocolate can burn you. I recommend using a dipping fork.

Should have done this a long time ago...

2010-04-12T07:31:00.004-04:00

My babies

My oldest makes fleece blankets. Want one?

Pies from our National Pie Day celebration

Costco toilet paper makes great frugal building blocks

Crazy Momma

Sometimes life just takes over. I have wanted to blog almost every day. But life just took over. So Mother Hen tells me, "It just takes 10 minutes." Okay, Okay... So here is my I'm back post. Short and sweet with some pictures. Then the first post is done and I can actually post more interesting stuff that requires a bit more thought.

Book Review: When Love Blooms

2009-06-16T06:39:00.004-04:00

I am very super stoked to announce that I get to be a blog book reviewer for Zondervan! Some women go gaga over shoes or clothes or make-up... for me... it's books. I can spend a better part of a day in any bookstore and I'd survive just fine on a desserted island with food, water, shelter and books. No volleyball needed.

My first set of books Zondervan sent me consisted of a romance novel, a suspense novel and non-fiction book. Hmmmm... what did the hopeless romantic pick up first, yup that's right- the suspen... oh, wait! HaHa, just kidding. It was the romance novel When Love Blooms by prolific writer, Robin Lee Hatcher. (One of my favorite authors.)

The premise for the book: The main character, Miss Harris, takes a job as a governess for two little girls in the remote Stanley Basin of Idaho in the late 1800's. Unbeknowst to her, the girls mother, Dru, is dying and is desperately hoping that Miss Harris and Dru's husband, Gavin, will fall in love so that her girls have a new mother in place when she is gone.

If you are looking for a light read and don't want to dwell in deep thought then this is a very enjoyable book. However, I felt the characters were flat and underdeveloped, the story line too entirely predictable, and some of the situations forced upon the characters by the author. This is not Hatcher's best book. I will say, spending two years living in Boise, Idaho, that the author caught the magic of the Stanley Basin, which truly is one of the most beautiful (and harsh in winter) places in the world. Putting me into the late 1800's Stanley Basin made the read entirely worthwhile. On a scale of one to ten, I would rate it a 5 and given Hatcher's track record I wouldn't hesitate to pick up another of her novels.

What the first born has been up to...

2009-06-08T07:12:00.004-04:00

Making a cloth ball for her little sister! 20 hexagons and 12 pentagons- each from a different piece of fabric. She persevered and worked hard. Her little sis loves it.

Selling cookies and lemonade!

Helping little sisters climb trees.

AND.... starting to blog! Check out her new project at http://simplysevenlewis.blogspot.com/ !
Leave her a comment... you know we all live for those! Oh... and try and guess what her favorite color is.

What a busy month!

2009-06-05T07:45:00.010-04:00

The cherry tree really blossomed in May.

Taylor's personality blossomed as well!

Tay has learned to pick up and eat cereal.

Tay is mastering sitting!

Tay has learned to sit in her chair at the table.

We had our first trip to the park and our first swing experience!

So many things filled last month. It just whizzed by! I expect June to be just as busy. The funny thing is we aren't busy with worldly activities but just the addition of a garden seems to have taken up any spare time. I guess I have two babies... one human and one plant based.

(The human baby is seven months old now and likes to sit on momma's lap and "help" type.) Just wait till we add a few chickens next spring.

Sorry for the false post below

2009-06-02T08:09:00.002-04:00

Everyhouse needs a super hero!

I know, I know... I got you all excited by posting... but it wasn't an actual post. I sat down to write a post and got interupted. (Which is why I haven't been able to write lately.) Anywhoo... I thought I deleted it and saved it to draft but nooooo.... I did delete it, but it posted- a big post of nothing. Sigh.... I have so much to post but my day time runs out. Anyway... sorry to get your hopes up.

2009-06-01T18:32:00.002-04:00

The Subversive In Me...

2009-05-02T08:31:00.004-04:00

I was watching the news this morning. Some bright bulb got himself pulled over and arrested. He had a "rolling" meth lab in the back of his van. As I was shaking my head over this man's stupidity, a funny thought came to me... my big thing, currently, is wanting to be able to have access to raw milk- legally, of course. But I thought of, in light of Mr. Illegal Drug Manufacturer, this news headline... Mrs. Cyndi Lewis was arrested this morning after being pulled over. She is accused of operating a rolling milking operation! I was picturing a cow in the back of a van all hooked up to milking apperatus. Sorry, sometimes the subversive in me takes over.

Everything I Want To Do Is Illegal!

2009-04-30T09:14:00.003-04:00

This is the title of the book I'm currently reading by Joel Salatin. I recommend it heartly!

Anyone who thinks we live in a free country or that the American Dream is still within reach needs to read it. Here is my favorite quote so far..."How much evil throughout history could have been avoided had people exercised their moral acuity with convicitonal courage and said to the powers that be, 'No, I will not. This is wrong, and I don't care ifyou fire me, shoot me, pass me over for promotion, or call my mother. I will not participate in this unsavory activity.' Wouldn't world history be rewritten if just a few people had actually acted like individual free agents rather than mindless lemmings?"

My criminal thoughts? I want to be able to bake bread in my own home and... wait for it... SELL IT! How deviant is that!? It is a sad state of being we Americans find ourselves in. We have given ourselves over to the entity that is government. A government that allows women the freedome of "choice" to kill their unborn but not to sell bread from an un-government inspected kitchen. Even if I were to move to one of the few states that do indeed allow this, I'm still probably not allowed to buy or sell milk directly from... wait for it... A COW! The government thinks it's too dangerous. We must make it "safe" first. Thank you, but I think I can make decisions on my own. Certainly there is a place for processed milk but I should be able to buy a gallon of straight from the cow milk if I desire too. When did simple living go the way of the dinosaur?

Garden Club Friday

2009-04-17T15:14:00.006-04:00

This year's first dandilion.

Maple tree bud

Cherry tree buds

Rhubarb growing- I thought I killed it last year- guess not.

Chives growing among the weeds in the garden. I will have to dig them up before will till and replant them.

Hi all,

I'm posting this while sitting outside on Michigan's 2nd really great day of spring weather and I'm really excited because it is starting to look like spring. Things are growing and budding!

Last week I dug out soil from last year's garden and handed it over to the County Agricultural Extension Office of Michigan State University. They charged $13 for a soil analysis that I should get back in a week or two. Of course a couple of days ago one of my neighbors told me in passing that a local farm co-op store does soil samples for free. Sigh.

Once I get my sample results back the DH and I can till up the garden, improve the soil organically and then plant! (Well, the planting will be after Memorial Day- when we are not in frost danger anymore.)

I have some lettuce and spinach waiting to be planted in containers that I will keep out on the deck so they can grow in the cool weather but be easily covered at night.

For more Garden Club Friday head on over to http://www.petersonclan.com/ .

Does anyone else...

2009-04-16T09:50:00.002-04:00

...have to clean around army men battles?

Family Easter Pictures- for the Grandma's

2009-04-15T14:24:00.005-04:00

The Family

The boy

Reagan posing

Taylor folding her hands

Tomboy Andi couldn't get her dress off fast enough.

My almost teen

Practicing My Constitutional Rights

2009-04-15T13:57:00.005-04:00

Today I took the kids down to Hudsonville's little town "center" for the local TEA (Taxed Enough Already) party. It was a good opportunity for them to see a government of the people in action. We got to participate in free speech, assembly and religion.

I was thinking that attendance would be small as we as a country have gotten quite lax in the previous fatness of our capitalism but I was pleasantly surprised to see at least a few hundred people there- including two or three of the area's t.v. news stations and a lot of newpaper reporters.

I wish I could say the kids were impressed and learned a ton but they really just wanted the free cookies (which were "small" they said) and tea (which they didn't like either.) Long live liberty!

Happy Resurrection Sunday!

2009-04-12T08:41:00.002-04:00

HE IS RISEN! HE IS RISEN INDEED!

Silly Me...

2009-04-07T09:03:00.003-04:00

I thought I'd read up on square foot gardening. I picked the book up from the library yesterday. Hmmm... it's currently being used for other things. Other more important things apparently! Namely a Lego Star Wars base. Only a terrible mother would destroy a Lego Star Wars base. (That is until the book is due.)

My DH- always the practical one

2009-04-06T08:33:00.003-04:00

Over the weekend I found this great listing for a little farmhouse on three acres. It is right in our area, only a few miles northwest of us. It is white and cute with a great little porch and a big red barn and the asking price is only $79,900. With a USDA Rural home loan we could go 0 down, have no pmi (private mortgage insurance) and have a payment of around $450 a month. Plus the seller could pay up to $4500 dollars of closing costs and we'd qualify for O'bama's $8,000 tax credit for first time homebuyers. (We qualify because we haven't owned a home in three years.) Draw back: One bedroom, one bath, 1,000 sq. feet.

The DH, always the realist, says I'm "smoking crack" to think of shoving all seven of us in that space. I told him we could add on, one room at a time but he didn't catch the vision. So we wait.

I WANT LAND! I WANT GARDENS & CHICKENS & A PIG NAMED BACON!

Someday. Okay, I'm off to wait patiently.

Back after the flu!

2009-04-03T09:42:00.010-04:00

Whew! Sorry for the unplanned break on the blog. I was unprepared for the flu to hit the family mid-last week. Nothing is harder than having a five month-old vomiting after every feeding. But we survived and are back to normal.

On the news front: I received- courtesy of newbaby.com - an easy to operate, hot pink vado pocket video camera. Soon I will be adding videos to the blog! I just have to get used to being "on camera". It's kinda weird as usually I do the shooting or photos, not be in them. The camera is great and easy to use even for a non-techy like me! Even my eight year old can just grab the cam, push a button and start recording. (That did mean deleting seven minutes of Sponge Bob he chose to video off the t.v.) When I'm on video I plan to enlist my 12 year-old to shoot but I can also use a tripod too. Here is a question for my readers: What do you want to see? I know the Grandparent's answers but what about the rest of you?

Okay, on with the day! I have a big pile of mending calling my name, a family to feed, a garden to plan and hopefully a trip to the farm store to see the little chicks and research coop options. I love being an Artisan of the Home!

Making Your Home A Haven

2009-03-24T08:44:00.006-04:00

Doesn't everyone wear winter gloves and shorts when vaccuming?

Crystal Paine has passed Making Your Home A Haven to her friend Tammy. In honor of the switch today's challange is a simple one. Come up with a morning routine of no more than five things. I already have a morning routine so this one was easy.

1. Feed/change my five month old daughter

2. Coffee/computer time

3. Feed my four other children

4. Morning chores (Sweeping, dishes etc.)

5. School

Yes, Bible and prayer time should be in there but I tend to fall back asleep if I try that in the morning. Either that or I get constant inturruptions from rising children. Hmmm... I remember when a quiet time used to be a quiet time.

Check out other routines at Tammy's blog.

Menu Plan Monday

2009-03-23T08:18:00.002-04:00

Monday: Pizza, fresh veges, cookies

Tuesday: Crockpot pork chops, rice, stir fry veges, bread, cookies

Wednesday: Turkey pasta, Salad, Challah, ice cream

Thursday: Baked chicken, stuffing, creamy spinach, breadsticks, brownies

Friday: Cheese soup, cheese bread, summer sausage, corn, berry crisp w/cream

Saturday: Salad w/ hard boiled eggs, cheddar biscuits, ice cream

Sunday: Chicken nuggets, tator tots, fresh veges, ice cream

For more meal menus visit The Organization Junkie!

Weekend Food Fun-Homemade Poptarts!

2009-03-21T09:45:00.010-04:00

My "helper"

The finished product- Brown Sugar and Cinnamon

The eating of...

Okay, mine didn't turn out as good as hers, but my kids don't seem to care. For more weekend food fun go over to Ship Full O' Pirates!

Bath Time

2009-03-21T09:21:00.007-04:00

Because the Grandmas haven't seen Tay take a bath, I had my 12 year-old daughter take pictures of the process. Tay is the first of my 5 babies to actually enjoy (not scream through) the entire process.