Nursery

The nursery is ready:

tiny sleepers and socks,

bears and blankets.

 Empty frames

waiting for his face,

his hands,  his feet.

Moving Ahead

It's time, 
whether my emotions are
ready or not,
to get ready for this baby. 
Today I am repainting the small room that's right off ours...
hoping and praying as I work.

It's where we welcomed Ian. 
A room with happy memories.
But the floors are too bright...
the walls dingy and full of nail holes. 
I'm hoping to have the nursery ready in 2 weeks....


Baby's Room~Before



Preparing

Harvest

As I worked in short shifts to get my peaches canned this year, there were many comforting thoughts for me to meditate upon. Who knew that the sights and smells of canning would have such a place in my heart?

I feel connected, rooted. I grew up canning with my mom and siblings....peaches were always a grand effort, done all in one long day. But even farther back, these golden delights have a tie to my great-grandmother, Grammy, who served them fresh on her homemade ice cream.

I feel postive about the future. By lining my pantry with bright and beautiful jars, I am providing nourishment and comfort for my family during the gray days of winter that are coming.

{Proverbs 31:25}

I feel hopeful. Fall is a time of abundance, the harvest. The God who governs the seasons of earth, giving harvestime after the summer of labor--- He is the God of my heart. He will bring fruit into my life again, if I do not become weary in doing good. {Galatians 6:9}

p.s. I'm now 14 weeks! Not that anyone's counting!

Giddy over Groceries??

When this trip only cost $29.44,

you can bet that I am more than thrilled!

And no, we will not be eating cold cereal for all our meals....

I'm stocking a pantry!!!

Reaching

Setting healthy goals is always fun,

until discouragement comes

when the realization dawns

I'm not accomplishing all

that was intended.

Today, in similiar dampness of spirit,

the Lord reminded me of what has changed

for the good

in the last year.

So I decided to make a list,

not of future aspirations

but of concrete, tangible lifestyle changes

he has helped me make!

1. our garden is flourishing.....new vegetables this year include: peas, lettuce, carrots, asparagus, and herbs: bay, rosemary, basil, thyme, cilantro, oregano.
2. making a happy change to goats milk, and farm fresh eggs, all at a reasonable price.
3. using all natural soap and mineral make-up, wearing hats and long sleeves instead of sunscreen and bugspray (the bugs aren't too bad yet....I'm hoping it stays this way!)
4. recycling: simply hanging garbage bags in my cramped laundry room, for plastics, bottles we pick up on our walks, cardboard, and paper/junk mail.
5. Gradually narrowing down my list of household cleaners, switching to baking soda, white vinegar and plain dish soap for just about everything.
6. Making our own bread.
   

"Home-Making---

—being a full-time wife and mother—is not a destructive drought of usefulness but an overflowing oasis of opportunity; it is not a dreary cell to contain one’s talents and skills but a brilliant catalyst to channel creativity and energies into meaningful work; it is not a rope for binding one's productivity in the marketplace, but reins for guiding one's posterity in the home; it is not oppressive restraint of intellectual prowess for the community, but a release of wise instruction to your own household; it is not the bitter assignment of inferiority to your person, but the bright assurance of of the ingenuity of God's plan for the complementarity of the sexes, especially as worked out in God's plan for marriage; it is neither limitation of gifts available nor stinginess in distributing the benefits of those gifts, but rather the multiplication of a mother's legacy to the generations to come and the generous bestowal of all God meant a mother to give to those He entrusted to her care."
Dorothy Patterson



(photo of Miss Gracie's culinary accomplishments.....
a gift for a friend soon to be married.)

Spring Cleaning

wildflowers from Mr. Wonderful

"The reality is that for all of us, whether we live in a cottage or a castle, whether we shop garage sales or at the mall, space and time are limited. Having a tidy and pleasant house requires that we recognize those limits and live within them.......The fact is, there are a lot of lovely and useful things in this world, and our houses and our lives simply do not have room for most of them. We have to learn to say no, and to say no not just to things we don't need or want but also to things we might very well enjoy." ~Margaret Kim Peterson Keeping House: The Litany of Everyday Life

Children's Rooms

This is my new nursery art, from Sarah Jane Studios. Sarah's work has been on my favorites list for over a year now.


Below are some photos that inspire me, gleaned and added to a folder over the past year, which remind me that good decorating doesn't forget the occupants of the room, and reflects their age and interests, without resorting to cartoon characters.

New

Fun new bits come together with old things to inspire this nesting theme.........

A Heart in Provence

Loveliness to be found here!

Spring Fever

The sun is shining today.....

the kitchen is lightening up......

to a pale shade of gray/green.

Good-bye, Brown, you've been lovely!

Homemaking Fun

Look what Kathy at

Pink Chalk Studio made!

(she includes a tutorial.)

I have to make some of these..........

imagine the possibilities!!!

New Cookies

Oh, yummy! These are a new recipe to me----

and they are great!

found here!

Beauty

My mom and sisters and I get together in the fall

and make applesauce

(and a mess of Mom's kitchen!)

Here's what I came home with:

golden delicious applesauce,

and our expermental variety~~

Rome/Granny Smith applesauce!The most beautiful applesauce I have ever seen~~~
Who knew that such little things could make me so happy?

Busy Work

Today found me refreshed, re-energized and re-focussed on the work that has been given me to do. I do want to live a simple, consistent lifestyle---not a sparkling clean house when company comes and cobwebs when it's just us. Consistency is the thing I struggle with the most, in parenting and life in general. Faithfullness in the little things is the character trait I so long to develope.

The boys also need to learn to work and to work well. Last night they worked very hard cleaning up the debris pile in the back yard from the bathroom remodel. This morning I let them each mow half of the lawn (I was right behind offering instructions and encouragement!) It looks so nice---it won't be long and my job of lawnmowing will be completely taken over.

Our suburban broke down last night, thankfully in the driveway after a trip to get ice cream cones for the hard workers. We were supposed to go camping this weekend, now it's all up in the air.

But not having a vehicle made for a pleasant walk to the library and corner store. Books, milk and smarties---the basics of life!

Mr. MK and I have been enjoying trying new recipes on the weekends. Last time it was Grilled Shrimp with Fresh Garden Sauce (just OK) and this weekend it was Spicy Beef Kababs (soooo spicy---lay off the cayenne next time!!) While we are not very good at either cooking or grilling, we are good at eating, so I think we'll keep at it!!

In other food news, I have decided to organize the fridge. ( Yes, you heard me, and yes, of course I have better things to do, and no, I don't want to clean the bathroom!!!)

But after cleaning the fridge 'till....well.....'till it didn't stink anymore, I was faced with a problem. How does one organize a refridgerator? By color or by size? By food type, expiration date or frequency of use? How about nutritional value??

Here's what I came up with:
Milk and often used items (like applesauce and blackberry jelly) on the top shelf, along with the kids' yogurt treat.

Cheese, sandwich meat, tortillas and pizza fixin's in the drawer. Eggs under the drawer. Meat next to the eggs, and leftovers that need used up in a highly visible spot on the second shelf.

Bottom shelf, breakfast meats and breads.

Veggie drawers hold the veggies (brilliant, I know!!!)

But then the fun part.....The Door!!

Dairy on the top, butter and cream cheese in the little cubbie with a door,

Sauces and dressings on one side, cooking bottles on the other,

syrup on the bottom, along with the sandwich and burger fixin's.

Let's not bet on how long it stays this way.

Weeds

The weed war has begun.

These nasty things always find a way into your socks. Yuck.

We are off for another weekend of camping.

I have a thing about wanting a hand project for going camping. For all those spare, leisurely moments I imagine happening while Ian is alseep and theboys are off doing boy things with Daddy and Grandpa C. and Grandpa D. and Uncle J. and Uncle B. and Uncle M. (well, the last one really isn't an uncle, but we pretend!!) Oh, yes, did I forget to mention that this is like a family reunion-type camp trip, exept for the reunion part, seeing how we all live within 20 miles of each other? It's going to be great fun!

Where was I? Oh, yes, a PROJECT!! So I came up with something pretty to work on, so stay tuned for Monday's post to see if I completed it!!

Fun with Etsy!!

Everyone's doing it!

I couldn't resist---why not test the ETSY waters? It's very simple to set up and now I am really a modern day homemaker---selling simple homemade items from my computer desk!!

Take a look!!

Easy Minestrone

Last night, I was in a rush to make dinner, and the usual hamburger soup that I make was looking forlorn and missing something. So I bravely set out to change some things, and here's what I came up with----it was approved by Mr. MK (providing that next time there's hot bread of some kind to go with it) !

Easy Minestrone

Brown 1 lb. hamburger meat,

with garlic and onion powders,

salt and pepper.

Add 3-4 cups water,

3 beef low-sodium boullion cubes

3-4 cups mixed frozen vegtables

1 can of diced Italian style tomatoes

1 can of black or kidney beans.

When heated through, add 1 cup uncooked egg noodles

corn starch (mixed with cold water to form paste) to thicken as desired

Cook for 15 minutes, serve topped with grated parmesean cheese!