Make Your Home a Haven: Outside Project

Wow! What a great feeling to get rid of that awful pile of papers from my closet! I pulled out my file box and filed everything while talking to my sister earlier this week!

The next day, while my littles were in the tub - I was able to sort through all the files and purge out a box full of papers that were ready for shredding!

Wednesday morning I was able to do a trash bag full of shredding and then worked on our taxes in the afternoon. I've gotten our first draft of Federal taxes done and still need to double check everything and do our State taxes. This is a great start though!

How did your paper filing/shredding go?

I'm kind of in project completion mode after seeing how successful this project was - it is motivating! So, this week I'm hoping to finish up another project!

We've been having a screened in porch added to the back of our house and there is some staining that needs to be finished! Getting the staining finished will be my goal for this week. And, I'm sorry I don't have a picture right now because it is very dark outside and a picture right now would not turn out well! I'll have before/after pictures next week!

Do you have an outdoor project that needs finished up? If you do, make it your goal for next week - or choose something else that needs your attention!

As always, link up below:

In the Dirt

To those of you buried in snow - I'm sorry to do another post on Spring arriving in the South! The same day we went on our walk - we headed to the local Feed & Seed to pick out our garden starts!

I enjoyed getting outside, cleaning out a few squares of our garden and planting with hopes of a bountiful harvest for our table! More onions and potatoes were planted over the weekend while initially onions and broccoli filled bare squares.


I know most of you are a long way away from planting your garden - what are you dreaming of planting this year?

Homemade Bagels

I recently got a new recipe booklet from the co-op where I get my wheat for grinding and other bread supplies. Glancing through the book, I saw the recipe for bagels and thought that would be a great recipe to try.

I was disappointed at how quickly they browned on the bottom, but that may have been my fault for putting them in the oven while it was still pre-heating. But that was easy to slice off and didn't affect the taste! The recipe is very similar to this one - with honey added to the water that the bagels are boiled in.

These were not amazing - they were ok though I would like to try bagels again. I'm trying to come up with some different breakfast options and hoped these would be really tasty. If you have a great recipe - I'd love to give it a try!

Waking Up

Friday morning, I thought it would be fun to go for a walk and be on the lookout for any tiny sign of Spring. I didn't really know if I would find anything or not - I've seen a few Daffodils, but that's it.

Amazing what I found when I went looking!

Have you seen anything waking up near you yet?

Anniversary

Saturday was our 6th Anniversary! It is hard to believe how our lives have changed in six years! Oops - we did not get a picture of us! I had a new dress to wear found on the 80% off clearance at Penney's!

We enjoyed a lovely dinner out - look at this cozy place David found! A delicious french restaurant - I had an amazing Filet Mignon and the best scalloped potatoes ever. I asked if they had cheese in them and she said no, just heavy cream that when it reduces in the oven tastes like it has cheese in it. Oh. my.

David said I need to learn how to make those - I've already consulted Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking (which I have from the library right now) and found a recipe I can't wait to try!

And, just because it was a special evening - we also shared a slice of pecan pie - yum!

Tradition for sixth anniversary is iron or candy. David gave me a bag of favorite candy and a tortilla press for the iron! Does anyone have a tried and true tortilla recipe to share? I've been wanting to try out this press, I've made tortillas before - but they are never the right shape! Enter - tortilla press. Now, they should be nice and round - I just have to get the taste right!

Hope you all had a nice weekend as well!

Make Your Home a Haven: Papers and Filing

Good morning! Ok, I love working on the basic things - but I have some projects that need to be done around here! And, I keep looking at them and thinking they would make great projects for the Make Your Home a Haven challenge!

Here's a big stack of papers I need to file! My goal for next week is to get all of these filed, purge old papers and shred them, collect income tax paperwork and get a rough draft of my taxes completed.

If your files are in good order - please feel free to choose another project! Make sure to take before and after pictures!

Impromptu Inspiration

My friend Heather brought me a pair of cute curtains yesterday. Made by Shabby Chic I knew the fabric would make something wonderful!

Oh, the possibilities of a piece of fabric! How do you ever decide what to make from one piece?! I went through several ideas quickly before deciding to go with the pillowcase dress idea. But, as I was making them - I was thinking summery nightgowns were even better! The little ruffle on the bottom was part of the curtain - perfect!

Paired with a spring colored t shirt these could also be great spring/summer play dresses!

One curtain made two for her girls (already done) and the other curtain will make one for each of my girls! I think it's funny that she brought me the curtains around 4pm and by 7 - I had two nighties done, folded a load of laundry and cooked dinner! These were very easy!

Sweet Harmony Handbag

I've been working for a couple of weeks on making this new purse! I wanted to have it ready in time for spring - and I love it!

I already had the pattern and fabric, and am trying to complete some projects that I already have all the supplies for! I will tell you that I found this pattern challenging - I thought I'd never figure out the cell phone pocket! But, in the end - I'm very pleased with how it turned out!

Doughnuts!

After seeing a scrumptious looking doughnut recipe in a recent Taste of Home - I knew I wanted to make them! And, a fun treat for Valentine's weekend seemed like a perfect time to try them!

Since Valentine's Day was on Sunday and I knew these would be time consuming to finish before church, I decided to make them for Saturday morning hoping for enough leftover for Sunday too!

I made the dough on Friday night and put it in the fridge overnight. I rolled over to look at the clock at 5 a.m. so I hopped up to set the dough out. Even after 6 when I got up, the dough was still quite cold and I was beginning to wonder if these would turn out.

But, while I was rolling them out - I turned my oven on to the lowest temperature (170) and let it preheat. Then when the doughnuts were all rising on cookie sheets - I turned the oven off and put the cookie sheets inside to help them rise more. It worked!

Yes, these were time consuming - but they were also delicious! And, a special treat! I'd never made yeast doughnuts from scratch before! These tasted a bit different than "store-bought" since I'd used freshly milled flour (half hard white and half soft white) - but delicious just the same!

I do not have a 3 inch doughnut cutter - so I used a plastic food storage container. I measured a bunch of things in my kitchen and 3 1/2 inches was the closest I could get - so my doughnuts are big! Then, I used a mini heart cookie cutter to cuten them up!

I was really hoping that they would taste as good the next day so that I could make them ahead next time, but they are best fresh! They were good the next day but not as good as they had been the first morning!

I'd love to post the recipe - but I see on the Taste of Home website that in order to view this recipe you have to be a subscriber and log in - so I don't feel right about posting it here. I also searched online to find a similar recipe - but they all varied quite a bit from the one I used.

So, if you would like to try this recipe - please e-mail me and I will share it with you! Homemade Doughnuts were a yummy treat for us this weekend! Did you try any new recipes this weekend?

Valentine Fun!

We've been having fun for a week with heart shapes, crafts and yummy treats! Add in some snow, cozy fires and hot chocolate and we've had a magical weekend making lots of special new memories!

A Valentine tea party! Believe it or not, this was very impromptu - I just looked through the kitchen for what I already had that would make fun tea food. Leftover hamburger buns became mini pizzas, strawberries lent their beautiful color and a pan of brownies became dainty desserts all with the help of a tiny heart cookie cutter!

Heart shaped mini pizzas made out of large hamburger buns!

Milk tinted pink made a quick and easy tea!

~ Sweet treats ~


Decorating sugar cookies!

Emily's creations!

Rachel's creations!

It's snowing!!! Not the first snow my children have ever seen - but definitely the first snow at their house! I have to tell you what I wrote in a family e-mail: I went outside a little after this above photo to try and take a couple of picture and it was like a symphony of laughter in our neighborhood! You could hear kids outside enjoying the rare treat of snow - I loved how it sounded!

Cozy hot chocolate after playing in the snow!

Snow!


Sunday after church, David wanted to take me out to dinner and we enjoyed some yummy Mexican food! Emily remembered moving our dining room table into the living room for dinner in front of the fireplace! So, we had a repeat of that in the evening!
Pizza with heart shaped pepperoni and homemade blizzards for dessert!

How was your weekend?

SNOW!!!!!!!!

Yes, miracles do happen! It is snowing at my house for the first time since I've lived here (six plus years!) YAY!!!!!!!!!!

Girls are outside playing at this moment, we have a fire in the fireplace and I'm on my way to make hot chocolate! Yippee!

Make Your Home a Haven: Errands

Happy Friday everyone! My home is feeling like more and more of a haven to me - how about you?

Our chores went well this week! I decided to try doing them at a set time every morning after we had finished school time. My children were either allowed to watch a short (30 min.) movie and have a snack or play outside and have a snack while I did a few chores. After that, we all piled on the couch to read together for the next 30 minutes.

It worked great! And, it has surprised me how much I can get done in 30 minutes when they have had my attention before and after that time. Now, on Home Blessing Day - my chores took longer and their needs were more as well. But, I still finished it in about 70 minutes even stopping to help my children.

This week has been a week where I've begun to see the fruit of these daily chores, little steps and implementing the Fly Lady concepts. Yes, I've seen benefits all along - but this week I saw how having a clean kitchen encouraged me to keep it clean, etc...

And, because I was feeling good about our home and my tasks - we even made room for more fun! A walk to the lake, a tea party, playing outside with bubbles and Valentine cookies! My feelings about our home being a haven and feeling more caught up helped me to say yes more and have a better attitude.

Ok, let's move on. This week - let's think about errands. I've been all over the map on this one.

When I was a mom to one, I'd spread my errands out and we'd go somewhere nearly every day! I've really always been one to take all of my children everywhere I needed to go and I always tried to do my errands while David was at work.

But, as I've tried some different things lately - I am definitely seeing the fruits of not doing my errands that way anymore! I don't always do it the same way - but here are a few recent observations:

* Ballet Day: On Monday afternoons both girls are in ballet back to back, so I have an hour and a half total (with only one girl with me at a time) that I could run a couple of errands. I don't always have anywhere I need to go and it isn't close to everything, but if I need to run to CVS - this is my time to make it happen.

* When we're out anyway: on the way home from ballet, I rarely stop anywhere. It is 6:00 - dinnertime, busy with lots of other people out, etc... But, if I really do need something that is on the way home (milk, for example) this is an ideal time to make it happen instead of making another trip. This past week we stopped at Walgreens on the way home and it was a big help to me not to have to get out again!

* Errand Day: I've designated Thursday as my errand day. It's the day the new Publix ad is released (my favorite grocery store) so it makes it a good day to go there and hit the sales while the stock is great. Plus Saturday is just so crazy at the store! Once or twice a month, I have a teenager from church come over on Thursday mornings while I do my errands. Another time, maybe David's mom will come over and stay with them and some days, like yesterday - we just all go together. I try to plan out as many things as I can for this time and hit the library, bank, post office, etc. With no children - I can get these things done in a lot less time and it is easier on them as well.

* Saturday: If I can't go on Thursday for some reason or don't want to take everyone with me - I can go on Saturday when David is home. He is very good about being willing to have me go out alone and get a few things done which I very much appreciate!

I mentioned above the benefits of the chores - and staying home is a big part of making that successful for me. When we're gone - I just get behind and frazzled feeling very quickly. We've been home every day this week except for Ballet and errands yesterday and it has felt great.

How do you accomplish your errands? Is it working for you? This week - build on what is working to make this an even better fit for you!

Winner!

Winner of the $50 Photofiddle gift certificate is Anna! Happy Valentine's Day to all!

Potluck Recipes?

My blog friend, Tracy, wrote me - ummmmm, ok a very long time ago and asked the following question. I have absolutely no excuse for taking this long to respond and after hearing from her again yesterday I must put it off no more!

I have predicament I find myself in a lot....POTLUCKS. We have them at church, we have them with numerous family functions, and we've had lots of summer picnics (not to mention delivering a meal to someone who's sick or had a baby...). I'm always at a loss what to bring. The things I make at our house don't seem "potluck ready." Do you have any ideas?

I'll admit that I'm no potluck expert! I'm not sure I can remember the last true potluck I went to. When our church has a big dinner - it is usually catered and we are asked to bring either potato salad or coleslaw (neither of which my family like), so not much room for any wondering what to bring there?!

Number one, if I was able to pick what to take - I would take something my family liked!

Ok, seriously - when I take a meal to someone else though - I do get to choose! I usually ask if there are any requests or food allergies. Sometimes a family may have had all the lasagna they could ever want! It is helpful to know these things.

Then, I try to think of something I might like to receive if I were on the other end. Keeping in mind things like - is the Mama nursing a new baby - no spicy! You get the idea. I also love to make things that are easy to double - one to give and one for my family for the night - perfect!

And, sometimes it is handy to know the meal could be frozen if they find that they don't need it the night you are signed up to bring. You know, sometimes the food can get a bit overwhelming and leftovers are plentiful. But, they could really use the meal another time!

Here are a few of my favorite suggestions:
* Mexican Lasagna
* Enchiladas
* Chicken Pot Pie
* Chicken Spaghetti
* Easy Lasagna
* Emily's Chicken
* Chicken and Stuffing
* Homemade Macaroni and Cheese
* Scalloped Potatoes and Ham

Ok, let's hear your ideas! Those of you who are much more experienced at potlucks than I am, please share your ideas with Tracy and all the rest of us who are wondering what to bring!

Peace Retreat: Books

You also asked about what books we have in our Peace Retreat - I was inspired by Ann's list, but also just pulled out a handful of what I already had.

Prayer for a Child by Rachel Field: we have reached for this over and over; I've been reading it with Rachel every day before Quiet Time. I imagine this one will be worn out when we're finished with it!

The Message New Testament with Psalms and Proverbs: I got this while working at Glen Eyrie and have long enjoyed it for the fresh perspective and portability. I remember Eugene Peterson sitting in the lobby outside of my desk area, being able to carry this little treasure with me all over on my lunch break and even now find it a blessing.

The Book of Common Prayer: A gift after enjoying the Mitford books, I like the topical prayers available here and the beauty of the liturgical sounding language.

The One Year book of Personal Prayer: I like this for the brief prayer shared each day plus a Scripture reference. I used to read this at my breakfast table when I was single.

While They Were Sleeping: A gift when one of our children was born, I confess I've had trouble implementing this. Rachel loves it when I pray it with her, but it always feels a bit awkward to me. What are your sources for praying for your children?

Prayers for Children: We've been enjoying this lately too! And, as I read it to my children, I can remember seeing the pictures as a child when my Mom read it to me!

My Little Golden Book about God: When a child is having trouble getting to sleep, we have pulled this one and the above book out to read and then walk back to bed. I would love to find a few more books along these lines! Share your suggestions!

The last thing I have is a notebook just for jotting down prayer requests or things to remember in prayer. Of all the books here - we reach for the children's books and empty journal most often.

Fruit of the Spirit: Faithfulness

Week Twenty-Five: Faithfulness

Day One:

* Pray

* Review

* Sing

* Pray

Day Two:

* Pray

* Read Psalm 100:5

* This verse reminds again that God is good and that He loves us!

* It says His love endures forever, how long is forever? (Forever means it will never stop!)

* Learn sign for faithfulness.

* Sing

* Pray

Day Three:

* Pray

* Read Psalm 100:5

* Do you know what faithfulness means? (trustworthy, stick by you no matter what, right, truthful)

* So these are all the ways that God is faithful to us!

* Sing

* Pray

Day Four:

* Pray

* Read Psalm 100:5

* Let's talk about the last word in this verse: generation.

* Pull out a family photo and explain this idea of generations.

* Sing

* Pray

Day Five:

* Pray

* Read Psalm 100:5

* Journal

* Sing

* Pray

Week Twenty-Six: Faithfulness

Day One:

* Pray

* Review

* Sing

* Pray

Day Two:

* Pray

* Read Psalm 92:1-2

* Who are we to praise? (the Lord)

* What does Most High mean? (It means that no one is higher than God. He alone is worthy of all our praise!)

* We make music to Him to bring Him praise!

* Sing

* Pray

Day Three:

* Pray

* Read Psalm 92:1-2

* What does proclaim mean? (to tell others)

* What does it say to proclaim? (God's love and faithfulness)

* It says to share in the morning and at night so that we will remember it is always a good time to tell others about God!

* Sing

* Pray

Day Four:

* Pray

* Read Psalm 92:1-2

* Journal

* Sing

* Pray

Day Five:

* Pray

* Read Psalm 92:1-2

* Review

* Sing

* Pray

Week Twenty-Seven: Faithfulness

Day One:

* Pray

* Review

* Sing

* Pray

Day Two:

* Pray

* Read Psalm 40:10

* What does it mean to hide?

* This verse teaches us tht it is not good to keep God's love a secret or hide it!

* We must share it with others!

* Sing

* Pray

Day Three:

* Pray

* Read Psalm 40:10

* What are the things this verse reminds us to share?

- righteousness (without sin)

- faithfulness (trustworthy, right, truthful)

- salvation (eternal life by receiving forgiveness for sin through Jesus Christ

- love

- truth (opposite of a lie)

* Who are we to share with? What is a great assembly? (A large group of people who have come to hear something.)

* We should be ready to tell anyone who will listen!

* Sing

* Pray

Day Four:

* Pray

* Read Psalm 40:10

* Journal

* Sing

* Pray

Day Five:

* Pray

* Read Psalm 40:10

* Review

* Sing

* Pray

Week Twenty-Eight: Faithfulness

Day One:

* Pray

* Review

* Sing

* Pray

Day Two:

* Pray

* Read Psalm 91:4

* Let's picture what it would be like to be under God's wings (Mom - put a long towel or blanket over your back then stretch out your arms in protection around your child.)

* It says this is a refuge. So how does that feel? (safe, comforting, cozy, free from fear or danger, peaceful)

* Sing

* Pray

Day Three:

* Pray

* Read Psalm 91:4

* What is a shield? (When a soldier is fighting - a shield protects him. Act this out using a pillow or whatever you have on hand for the shield.)

* It also says His faithfulness is a rampart: do you know what that is? It is a big strong wall where you can go for safety! God's faithfulness is something that keeps us safe!

* Sing

* Pray

Day Four:

* Pray

* Read Psalm 91:4

* Journal

* Sing

* Pray

Day Five:

* Pray

* Read Psalm 91:4

* Review

* Sing

* Pray