I’ve read quite a bit about women who choose stay home with their kids, raise them up on sound Christian principles, homeschool, keep a comfortable home for their husbands, etc…

That’s awesome.

Except that lately I’ve noticed how a lot of these women are feeling guilty about not working outside the home, not going to their church’s women’s Bible study, not volunteering for every little ministry, etc…  Even when they’re burnt out at the end of a long, tiring day of  diaper blowouts, meal preparation, and extended math issues they still feel like they haven’t done enough because all they did was mother, teach, and wife all day long.

All they did? I don’t understand this type of guilty thinking.

Moms! Listen up!

If you are training your children in the way they should go, providing a comfortable place for your husband to come home to; feeding your kids daily with The Word, nourishing food, and the occasional cinnamon roll, well…

You are doing everything you need to be doing.

All that other stuff…
Well, it just extra. 

There are seasons in our lives. And some of those seasons mean we can’t do the extras.

There will be time for that stuff later, when our babies are bigger, when our kids move out, when this season of our life is over and there are younger women who need assistance in this same place.
But for right now, my family is my first priority.  My ministry.  My focus.

I’m either training a toddler to sit through church quietly, very pregnant and exhausted, or toting around a nursling.  I don’t always have time to worry about what chapter I’m supposed to be on for the women’s book study, or what preparations I need to have ready to teach a Sunday school class.  I’m not saying these things are bad or wrong - but for many women they have become a hinderance to their God given role as wife and mom.

This precious time in a mother’s life won’t last forever. Babies grow into toddlers, who grow into small people, who grow into adults, who go off and start their own families.  Mothers need to stop feeling guilty and start living in this season before it’s gone and over with forever.

Because one day it will be gone and over with forever.

i know - it's not a pretty dish

• meat and veggie left overs
• enough cooked rice to feed your family
• 2 eggs (or 4 depending on your family size)
• package of fried rice seasoning, or two if you’re cooking for a lot of people. Look in ethnic food isle.  Um, for the seasoning.  Not for a lot of people to cook for. (Just thought I should clarify.)
• soy sauce

Here’s what you do. 

• Start browning the cooked rice in a buttered pan.  You’ll just want to squish it down and let it brown, flipping it every so often, but not too often.
• Meanwhile, scramble your eggs. 
• After the rice is a light fried color you’ll want to add your eggs and a bunch of soy sauce.  Mix it well.
• Add your meat and veggie leftovers.  Or meatless leftovers if you roll that way.
• Then add the fried rice seasoning and more soy sauce.  Mix it all up really well.  If you think you’ve added too much soy you probably haven’t added enough. Give it a little taste test if you aren’t sure.
• Mix occasionally while the meal heats through.
• Serve with soy sauce and make sure to put ketchup on the table if you have ketchup lovers like I do.  I know, yuck.  I just like mine with a bunch more soy sauce, and sometimes a little hot sauce or cayenne pepper.

This used to be a much loved and frequent leftover meal for us but I’d somehow forgotten about it.  It tasted so good after not making it for so long.  And what I really like about it is that you can use a variety of leftovers to create this dish and it will still taste good.  It’s like a no-fail meal – if there is such a thing.

This made enough for dinner and lunch the next day for about $3.  I’d say that’s pretty good for a family of 9.

My next post won’t be about food.  I promise.

I meant to post yesterday.  I really did.  But I was too tired to think about doing anything because on Sunday after church I kind of went a little crazy… 

Here's where I went nuts destroying my kitchen

Here are my results

Cinnamon rolls,
Whole wheat bread
Oatmeal cinnamon raisin breakfast rolls
Oatmeal cinnamon raisin breakfast bread x2

Best ever cinnamon roll icing recipe:

seriously

It seems that romance has taken on a new meaning around here.

Yesterday I was particularly tired (and today, too, but right now I’m talking about yesterday). My husband recognized my need for something, anything to help me feel better.

He surprised me after the kids went to bed by turning on the shower. I looked at him confused.

Then he explained.

Hee had secretly turned on the water heater an hour before so he could give me the gift of a hot shower.

How incredibly romantic!

There is something so sweet in the simplicity of this.

If you don’t know why a hot shower would be something to get gushy over you can read here about how we’re reducing our energy usage by turning off our water heater.

I have to be honest and say that I had no idea what I was going to do for a Frugalicious Christmas project until Friday morning.

And I’ll also apologize that this weeks Christmas project isn’t all that Christmassy.  However, it’s one of those projects that, with just a little tweaking, can be an any-season craft.

I trotted off to the Dollar Tree with Kait in tow first thing Friday morning.  We always have a good time shopping together.  I decided on creating a cheap, seasonal wreath that can be modified to fit any holiday or occasion.

Because it’s fall I opted to just purchased orange and red leaves.  When Christmas gets closer I plan on picking up some fake poinsettia leaves to make a more Christmassy wreath.

So, here’s the supply list.

$3.  That’s all it cost me for the wreath and the two packs of fall colored leaves.  There were a number of color options to choose from, but I liked the red and orange for this project.  I really like orange.
You’ll also need a hot glue gun or some other kind of quick drying craft glue.  My mini glue gun cost me $2.75 and I’ve had it for about 10 years, I think.  I used two mini glue sticks for this project.
Keep in mind that if you’re wanting to make a holiday wreath the Dollar Tree already has a really nice section of Christmas stuff.  Just pick out some more holiday-ish leaves or flowers and follow the same directions.

I found packaged leaves that weren’t on stems.  These looked a little too flimsy for what I wanted, but they would work if you prefer them.  If you go with the ones on stems you’ll want to cut the leaves off before you start your project.

Start by putting a dab of hot glue on your wreath frame, then stick on each leaf.

Make sure to stagger them so you get a more natural look.

You’ll also want to be sure you’re covering the entire green frame.  You won’t want pieces of your frame peeking through.

Then cut a piece of ribbon or string to hang your wreath with.  I hot glued the ends of the ribbon together, creating a loop to hang the wreath with.

I used my wreath above my mantle.  A long time ago Ryan found this mirror in a trash pile at work and snatched it up for me.  I haven’t really used it until now, but love it on my mantle.  I hung the wreath on the mirror and then added a few extra leaves and fake moss to my hurricane lamp project from a few weeks ago.
A few fake pumpkins and voila!  Cute fall decorated mantle for just $11 – I got all the supplies for the hurricane lamps, and the other decor from the Dollar Tree.

The block pictures project doesn’t seem to fit well with the fall decor.  I’m going to have to figure that one out as I have no where else to put them.

This project was quick.  I think from start to finish it took only about 30 minutes.  And it was cheap – just $3 for the wreath frame and the leaves. And I think it’s pretty.

Success!

At what age do children actually get quick reaction skills?

For example:

When one of my children spills a drink you’d think a reaction would be in order. Obvious things, like put the cup back upright, or grab a towel, or move things out of the spill.
Anything.

But no.

What happens most of the time is staring.
Just plain old blank staring.
My boys, after a spill, will just stare at the liquid mess like it just appeared there out of the blue. Like they have no idea how or why a cup ended up laying on it’s side in front of them.

Said child continues to stare at the mess until somebody else points out that something spilled and they should get a towel.

At what age…

Nevermind.

I know there is a grown up Bible lesson in this somewhere. But I’m just staring, waiting for someone to point it out.

This week’s hot chocolate drink is a crock pot recipe. I love crock pot hot chocolate because there is no need for constant stirring. Simply toss all your ingredients right into your crock, stir with a whisk to mix well, then forget it until it’s time to serve. You’ll want to stir it one last time before you ladle it into mugs.

This recipe made more than enough for my kids and me. It takes about 2 hours in the crock pot, so you’ll want to get it started just as your kids start getting dressed in their snow gear.
If you have snow, that is.

I just start ours in the morning so it’s ready for drinking by the time the kids are finished with their chores.

What you’ll need:

• 1/2 cup hot water
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 3/4 cup cocoa powder
• 1 tsp salt
• 6 cups milk
• 1 TBS vanilla
• 1 cup flavored liquid coffee creamer (we used vanilla spiced rum flavor)

Toss it all in your crock pot.  Whisk well and turn on high for 2 hours. Stir well just before serving.
Add marshmallows and cool whip if desired (and yes, we desired).

Done.

What did we think?

Though I found the flavor delicious, it was a little sweet for me; and Joe said it tasted like ginger, which he doesn’t like.  All the younger boys really liked it, especially Sam, who wore it most of the day. Kait liked it too, but not as much as last Friday’s recipe – which she and I have remade a few times since then.

Here’s this weeks review video. 

Did you catch our little streaker in there? I know, Jesse really needs some clothes.  I promise – he did start out fully dressed this morning! 
But I think after potty training 6 boys you just get to the point where you shrug your shoulders and say “whatever”. 

Or at least that’s what I’ve done.

I know.  It gets interesting around here.

This news is going to come as a shock to some of you. And you may find yourself disappointed in my choice here.

Maybe you will cease to call me friend.

Ryan and I have come to a very important crossroads in our journey together. This is something that I’ve thought about over the last few years. Something that has always sounded appealing.

The last few weeks I’ve been seriousy contemplating this decision, and last night Ryan finally agreed with me about what path we should take.

Are you sitting down?
Duh. Of course you are.

Okay then. Here goes.

We’re not going to find out the sex of our baby.
On purpose.

I’ve already had a scan, baby’s legs were crossed. I don’t need or want another scan just to find out we’re having a seventh boy – not that that would be bad, but after 6 boys in a row it’s sort of expected. And if it’s a girl I can think of no better way to find out than at her birth.

This is one of the benefits of seeing a midwife (thanks, Lauren, for the encouragement to just call and ask!). I don’t have to have all that extra junk done unless I want to. And I know if I had another ultrasound Ryan wouldn’t be able to not know. Immediate gratification suits him just fine. But as long as he’s not faced with making that decision on the spot he’s cool with not finding out.

And for me not knowing makes the entire having-a-baby thing seem that much more exciting.

It’s also an excellent practice in patience for my dear daughter, who may or may not continue to talk to me after she reads this post.

Okay, now that I’ve admitted my change in plan, will you still love me? Can you find it in yourself to forgive me?

Remember, 70 times 7, people.

70 times 7.

Um…

Go ask your father.

This is what creative kids do when mom and dad say no to a real live pony.

Sam’s coming a little unsaddled in the bottom picture.

Yes, he’s wearing pajama bottoms.  I’m okay with that.

After 5 days without a working garage door, It was finally replaced yesterday (read about the metal-eating-metal event here). The repair guy was sorry it was taking so long but he had to call the landlord, who had to call the owners, who had to decide which new garage door they wanted on their house, which cost them like $1500 or something.

I’m sure they weren’t pleased to realize their house was still on the path to destruction.

On a side note I want to say that I am so glad we don’t own a rental.

A little hurry-up was in order. The garage was stuck half way between up and down, which posed a security issue. It was mostly the neighbor kids who snuck in to search for footballs, so no real big deal. However, when we first moved in the guy across the street warned us of theft issues – usually from unlocked vehicles.  I was sure something of significance was going to get taken from our garage.
But no, thank the Lord.

So now we have a brand spankin’ new garage door. It’s clean, fresh, without a dent in sight.

I honestly don’t feel comfortable with this.

We have a driver in training, 6 boys, and something like 10 neighborhood boys who are in my yard on a regular basis.

How will we ever keep the garage door looking pristine for the next year we will be living here?  I really don’t want to be responsible for it’s newness not looking so new anymore.

It’s why I don’t mind renting a house with stained carpets, or cracked tile.  It lessons my check-out load each time we’re transferred.

Viewing this from a more optimistic angle, which takes effort from this cheerfully pessimistic gal, the house is a tad bit prettier.

For now, at least.

And that’s nice.