Back to Normal

If you missed my weekend posts, the big news in these parts is that we got a major snowstorm...in October!


But, today most of the snow is melted.  There is some frost on the ground & it's chilly.  But, it looks more like Fall again.


We are basically back to normal....

And It Just Keeps Coming

And, the October weather strangeness continues....


The heaviest snow hasn't even reached us yet.   According to weather.com 6:00 p.m. will mark the beginning of the heavy snow.

Well, this weather has put the kiddos in the mood for gingerbread cookies.  So, I'm off to make some now....(Maybe I can find a recipe that incorporates pumpkins.  THAT would make it seem a bit like fall.)

Does Something Seem A Little Strange?

 It's a very strange day in October around here.

Here's the first hint why....

Here's the second hint....

Why yes.  That would be snow.  Till it's all said and done we could could anywhere from 3-10 inches!!!  No one really knows.  Only time will tell.  (I would have pictures of my other boys too, but as soon as they were in their snow gear they were out the door & off to who knows where.)

I feel like I should be playing Christmas music. 

Perhaps this picture best captures the oddity of the weather around here.  My fall mums, my confused iris (that bloomed several days ago thinking it was spring), and snow on the ground.

A Few Thoughts

Hello Everyone!  It's nice to be able to access my blog and your blogs again.  Yesterday my computer was having issues and would freeze up everytime I tried to load a page.  It's funny how one little thing like not being able to use my computer affected my day!  (Maybe that says something about how dependent I've become on the internet....but that's another subject for another day.)


A few thoughts today....


1.  I talked about how to handle Halloween in this post a few days ago and in a post last year.  Here are a few more ideas on the subject....


 - I need to be obedient to how the Holy Spirit is leading me.  If I feel uneasy or not at peace on the subject then I'd better pay attention to what God is trying to say to me.  Not every Christian may agree or have the same conviction, but I need to follow His leading.

 - A friend posted this link on Facebook. 

    It's called Sent Into the Harvest - Halloween on Mission

   If you have 10 or 15 minutes you could take to read the article I highly recommend it!  The gist of what it says is that Christians typically deal with Halloween in one of 2 ways, naivete (it's not really evil) or retreat (we won't participate in any way).  The author, David Mathis, suggests a third option - take the offensive against the evil one and use this holiday as an opportunity to advance God's kingdom.  


I liked a lot that he had to say.  My only regret is that he didn't offer many practical ways to make this happen.  However, today a friend was talking to me about whether or not we were going trick or treating (and we already told our boys we aren't).  She mentioned that some nursing homes open their doors on that night to children and that the residents enjoy handing out treats to the children.  After reading this article, I thought - what if WE brought a treat to them?  


I think my husband still sees it as participating in something evil.  But, to be honest this approach discussed in the article seems to make the most sense to me.


2.  I am almost finished re-doing my parent's old dining room table.  But, as with almost any project, I've run into some snags.  I thought I'd be done with it yesterday, but my final coat of polyeurothane got messed up in a couple areas.  The children say they didn't touch it while it was wet, but it really seems that might be what happened.  So, John suggested letting it dry several days before sanding out the rough patches & putting on another coat.  Maybe next week I'll have pictures for you?


3.  Finally a funny story from earlier in this week.  I shared it on facebook and I think I'll share it here too.  Hope you get a chuckle....


The other night one of the boys (who shall remain nameless here) was having some major gas issues. 

I asked him, "WHAT did you eat?".

"I don't know," he responded. 


Then after thinking about it for a few seconds he continued, "Well, I did have four Fiber One bars today."

!!!!!!!

It Starts With Me?

My spirit has fought tooth and nail against the concept that the mom sets the tone in the home.    No.  No.  No, I say.  I don't want that kind of power.  I don't want to be the one to blame for the bad attitudes, the whining, the fighting, the chaos.  I don't like thinking that my own flaws are reflected right back at me by my children.


Today was a rough morning with my oldest two.  Of all my boys they are the ones that clash the most.  Sometimes they are downright cruel to each other.  And I wonder if they even like each other, much less love each other.


This morning as they were supposed to get dressed for school one of them was tossing something or swinging something too close to the other one's head.  They were each yelling at the other to stop.  I was in my room listening to the fight, determined not to jump in right away.  Maybe they would work this out on their own.


But, as the yelling escalated and the younger of the two ended up in tears I made my move.  No TV for both of them the entire week.  I spoke calmly, yet firmly (I'm working on this one!) about how important it is to be kind to each other.  But the consequence I doled out and my words seemed to have little effect.  In each one's mind it was still the other's fault.  There was no remorse, no apologies.


After the boys left on the bus, my mind went back to this idea that I set the tone.  Frankly, a lot of the anger and yelling that I've been seeing in my boys does come back to me.  I have often made bad choices about how I deal with my frustration and anger when my boys misbehave.  Once again, the thought 'I don't want this kind of power' entered my head.


But, then a novel idea popped in.  What if I use this power a mom has in a positive way?  (How did this not occur to me before?)  What if I purposefully set a new tone...not just in the generic 'I want to help make my home more peaceful' way.  But, what if I outline specific things I will do during this next week?


Here's are the things I decided to try this week. 


1.  Each day I want to tell each of my boys 3 things they are doing well or that pleases me.  


2.  Each night before bed I will tell each of my boys another positive thing about them like, "I really like how helpful you were with your little brother today."  or  "I noticed that you did your chores today without having to be reminded and in a cheerful way."


3.  Each night each boy will tell each of his brothers one thing he really likes about that brother or that was something good from the day like  'Thank you for sharing your toy with me today.'  We tried this one a few nights ago and there was a lot of silence and 'um''s and 'I don't know''s.  So this one may take some practice.


4.  I will not talk negatively about my children in front of them this week.  This is something I don't intend to do but I find myself doing it anyway.  Oftentimes it comes in the form of me telling my husband about things that happened during the day, ways the boys were fighting, or disobeying, etc.  Instead, I'm going to try really hard to build them up when talking with my husband instead of relaying all their faults.


5.  I'm going to watch my tone.  Another tough one for me.  I'm going to work this week on keeping my tone firm yet loving.  And, we're going to work on banishing yelling from our home....and that starts with me.


Please pray for me and my family as I try really hard to set a new tone in our home.

You Mean I'm Not Cool?

Me: (rockin out to the Johnny Test theme song)

Edison: Mom! Knock it off!

Me: What? I'm being cool like Johnny Test.

Edison: No you're not. You're being weird like Bling Bling (Johnny's awkward friend).




There's nothing quite like having my 6 year old point out that my 'coolness' factor is comparable to that of a socially inept cartoon character.

Furniture Re-do Advice Please

I recently inherited my parent's dining room table.  That is to say, they were getting rid of it and I decided I'd like to keep it.  My grandmother, who recently moved into a retirement home, passed her dining set on to my parents.  And, thus, their table became mine.

My parents bought this table in the 70's at an auction.  The table was old then.  I'm guessing 40's ?  It's been the dinner table all through my childhood & into adulthood when I visited my parents for meals.  But, I didn't remember what it really looked like.  My mom always had it covered with a tablecloth.  Once I really saw it again, I loved it!

The top was rough, so the first step was sanding down the tabletop.  I even bought a power sander.

My plan was/is to make the top a slightly lighter shade than the original color on the bottom to give it a 2 tone effect.  The wood grain really is lovely.

As it turns out the wood grain is also a thin veneer which is chipping in places.

This one is in the center of the table where the table opens for the fold up leaf.  This one is 100% my doing.  I got a little aggressive with the sander and it chipped it on the edge.  This is about and inch/ inch 1/2 long.

Then there are a few spots like this around the edge that I just tried to sand down a bit.

There's another spot where the veneer is chipped similar to the first picture.

I have no experience with this in my furniture re-do experience.  Is there a quick and easy way to repair this?  Or do I just go ahead with staining and poly and leave those imperfections for a 'rustic' look?

I'd love your advice on this one.

I Love Raising My Boys in the Country

 I love raising my boys in a country setting.  Space to roam, fresh air, the freedom to 'do stuff' and explore.


Sometimes I get so caught up in my dream of having a property with more acreage that I miss what I have.  We have a good thing going here.  The boys pretty much have the run of 3 properties - ours, & 2 properties owned by my in-laws.  My sister in law lives next to us (that's where we keep our garden and most of the pics are taken there) and my in-laws live in the next property down from there.  Plus we have beautiful farmland behind us.

I'll admit I built this tent.  I tried to get the boys involved and they helped a bit, but most of the labor was done by me.

Wyatt hanging out.

Edison found a few cherry tomatoes still hanging on our plants.

Joseph checking out the tomato plants

Edison was 'storing' the tomatoes and jalapanoes he found in a corner of the tent.

Charlie saw a caterpillar that he wanted to 'keep for a pet'

All my boys.  (Wyatt said 'Wait to take the picture Mom until I get my foot on top my head.')

This area of our garden is used as a burn pile for brush, etc. after plants are done producing. It also become a boy excavation zone.

My iris is confused.  It thinks it's spring.

Who needs flowers in their flowerpots?  My boys planted a pumpkin seed to see if it would grow and now we have a pumpkin plant trailing out.  I think it's actually quite pretty.

It's That Time of Year Again

I've been thinking about this topic again.  I re-read the post I wrote last year and the comments that folks left.

I even posted something on Facebook today to see where some of my other friends stand on this subject.  My boys are asking again about trick or treating.  But, I still feel uneasy.  Based on the Facebook responses I seem alone in any misgivings I may have about Halloween.

The fact that I am uneasy, that I am not at peace with the subject should indicate to me that God is speaking to me.  

But, it's hard to stand alone.  Especially when it seems so harmless.

Anyway, it would be really interesting to hear your thoughts.  I explained a lot more in my original post from last year, so if you have time you might want to read that.

Also, I noticed this link in one of the comments from last year's post and thought it was a very interesting article.  You might want to check it out too.

I Need Your Help

I saw a picture of myself on my mom's camera today. 


She stopped over this afternoon after being at the elementary school for Grandparents Day in Edison's class.  She was showing me pictures she took there.  And, I was looking through I kept going back and saw pictures she took the previous weekend when we had stopped over at their house for a campfire cookout.


She had a picture of me sitting and holding my nephew.  And, first the first time, I could actually tell that , yes, my body IS changing.  I actually realized that I look slimmer.


I reached my 20 pound mark last week (since the end of July.  It's actually 25 pounds since the beginning of the year).  I actually fit into size 14 pants again!  And, it's time to retire my size 16's.  The other day I got ready to go to a mom's breakfast and I was having a clothing dilemna.  But, unlike before, this time the dilemna was related to my clothing being too loose instead of too tight.


It's a wonderful feeling.  I feel healthier.  And, I'm enjoying my slimmer figure.  I still have more to go.  But, it's happening!


As thrilling as losing the weight is, I really want to stay focused on healthy eating.  I want this to be about making food choices that are nutritious and beneficial to my body.  And I want to pass this on to my children as well.


Here's where I need your help.  I would love to know what some of your favorite nutritious and delicious meals are.  So, I'm attempting my very first linky party.  If you have a nutritious meal you write a post about (or have written) I'd love for you to join in.  

Chick Chick Stew

So I made up that little nickname for this new recipe I found.  It's actually Chicken and Chickpea Stew.  But, Chick Chick Stew just sounds cuter and fun for the kids, right?


Anyway, as much as I love cookbooks, I have also been loving the ability to google recipes on the internet.  The other day I was trying to think of something different to do with the chicken I'd thawed for dinner.  I looked through the cupboards to see what else I had on hand (it was soon time to go grocery shopping again so it was limited) and I  noticed a can of chickpeas.


Now, most cookbooks don't have a cross-reference guide, so for quickly finding options based on ingredients available, the internet is the way to go.  When I typed into google... crockpot recipe using chicken and chickpeas...I came up with quite a few options.  Here's the one I picked.

picture from About.com

Lowfat Chicken and Chickpea Stew  (as taken from About.com)

Enjoy this mildly spiced, slightly sweet chicken and chickpea stew with some whole-wheat couscous for a Middle Eastern-inspired supper, or with some whole-grain rice or noodles.

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 6 hours

Total Time: 6 hours, 15 minutes

Ingredients:

• 1 tsp paprika
• 1/2 tsp turmeric
• 1/2 tsp ginger
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1 1/4 pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs, trimmed of fat, and cut into pieces
• 1 large onion, thinly sliced
• 2 carrots, sliced on the diagonal
• 4 cloves garlic, crushed
• 1 15-ounce can reduced-sodium garbanzo beans/chickpeas, drained and rinsed
• 1 15-ounce can crushed tomatoes

Preparation:

Coat a 3-4 quart crockpot with nonstick cooking spray. Combine spices and sprinkle over chicken thighs. Add onions, carrots, and crushed garlic to the crockpot. Lay chicken thighs on top, followed by chickpeas and canned tomatoes.

Cook on low for 6-8 hours.

One notation I would make is that this recipe does not call for any salt.  I added about a teaspoon to help bring out the flavors.  And, don't skip the turmeric!  I almost did because I didn't have it on hand.  But, at the last minute I decided to run out and get some.  It added the color and  the essential flavor.

Apple Fritters!

My father-in-law went to the local orchard and got a couple baskets of apples.  He picked a variety.  And, he shared some with us.

My boys love to eat apples in just about any form.  And, some of those apples will definitely be eaten in their purest form - crunching down into the apple itself.  But, I also felt inspired to do something fun with some of the apples.

I considered doing something basic with them, that I've done a hundred times before, like bake an apple pie or apple crisp.  But, the more I thought about it what I really wanted were apple fritters.  I knew it involved deep frying, so I've never attempted it before.  

My cookbooks surprisingly didn't have any recipes, so good ole' Google came to the rescue and I found this recipe at a site called No Fear Entertaining.

picture taken from No Fear Entertaining

This recipe truly is as simple as can be.  I had all the ingredients (and there aren't a ton) on hand.  This was a non-yeast recipe so it took literally 5 minutes to whip up the batter.  And they were SO good!

I made a batch right after dinner for dessert (because they really are best warm!).  The deep frying wasn't as intimidating as I thought it would be because I simply filled the pan with oil (about 1 1/2 inches), heated the oil, and fried each fritter about 2 minutes each side.  (You have to watch though, because if your oil is too hot the fritter can start to burn in those 2 minutes.  Also, keep the children BACK.  This is a tough one at our house, because the boys feel like they HAVE to be in the kitchen if I'm in the kitchen and they love to see everything that's going on.)

We gobbled those up right quick (the recipe makes enough to make about 2 fry batches of 6-8 each depending on how big you make your fritters).  Then we had to leave for a small group meeting from our church.

When we got home we put the boys to bed.  I looked at the oil still sitting in the pan and thought I couldn't let it go to waste when the recipe was so simple.  So, I made another batch late last night so there would be fritters for breakfast.

Yum!  Yum!  Yum!  

Here's the recipe.  Try it!

Apple Fritters (as taken from No Fear Entertaining)

Fritter:

• 1 cup all purpose flour
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/3 cup milk
• 1 egg
• 1 cup chopped apple

Glaze:

• 2 cups powdered sugar
• 1 1/2 tablespoons milk

Directions: Combine flour, sugar, salt, baking powder, cinnamon. Stir in milk and egg until just combined. Fold in apple. Pour oil into skillet so that it is approximately 1 1/2 deep. Heat oil on high. Oil is ready when dough floats to top. Carefully add dough to oil in heaping teaspoons. Cook until brown, about 2 minutes, then flip. Cook another 1-2 minutes, until both sides are browned. Transfer briefly to paper towels to absorb excess oil, then transfer to cooling rack. Make glaze by stirring milk and powdered sugar together in a small bowl. Drizzle over apple fritters. Wait approximately 3 minutes for glaze to harden, then flip fritters and drizzle glaze over the other side. Best served warm.

Enjoy!

May I Make a Recommendation?

Yesterday morning I went to the mom's group that meets at my church (this is a different group than the MOPS/Momsnext groups I've talked about....hey, I can use all the support I can get!).  The topic was organizing, decluttering, and finding joy.  

I was really looking forward to this topic.  But, I had no idea how much I'd LOVE our speaker!  Sometimes talks on these topics can be overwhelming for a messy like me.  Oh, I WANT to be clean and organized, but it isn't second nature to me like it is to 'cleanies'.   And oftentimes it's cleanies who are giving the talks and they really can't relate to a messy.

First of all our speaker was a self proclaimed messy who had to learn the ways of organizing.  So, she spoke my language.  Bonni, our speaker, was funny, smart, real, and quirky - my kind of gal.  (It also turns out she's one of the women from my church who I'd only met briefly one Sunday at the information desk.)  But, even more exciting to me was her story.   

She told us a bit about her testimony.  She came from a Jewish family in a city here in PA.  At college, she met the man who was to become her husband.  But, before they were even dating he was witnessing to her over and over about Jesus.  She eventually accepted the Lord and married the guy who led her to Him.   Then they moved to small town PA to become hog farmers.  It was a huge change for her!

She went on to say that when she became a Christian she really didn't know anything about church.  Her only experience with church was one visit she had made with a Catholic friend to a Catholic church.  She also had never read the Bible other than the first 4 books in the old testament.  She said that once she started reading the rest of the OT and the New testament she just kept reading them over and over.

She also talked to us about her early years with her children.  Bonnie is a mother to 8 children.  Her first 4 were all boys born within a 5 year span.  She said that during those years she was constantly overwhelmed, and unhappy.  Life and her home were chaotic.  When people told her to enjoy these years with her children....that they were the best years of her life, it put her into even deeper despair.

She wanted to take joy in her life, but she didn't know how to do it.  I could tell you more of her story, but let me encourage you to check out her website....Mom By Example.com.  You can read more about Bonni there.  She explained how getting organized helped her to set a different tone in her home - one of peace and order.  

Here comes the recommendation part.  Bonni just published an e-book.  It's available for $4.99 ($1 from every purchase goes to Mercy House in Kenya).  I bought mine yesterday and have really been enjoying it.  It's called  Recapturing the Joy of Motherhood.

It's one of those topics that I have to focus on over and over, because it really is hard to miss out on the joy.  It's usually lost amidst the noise.  Bonni has a little youtube clip where she talks about her book.  Check out what she has to say....

May God bless you!

If You Like Rustic

I could kick myself because I didn't take a before picture of the project I'm about to show you.  So, you will need to use your imagination today as I paint a before picture for you.


My friend, Sarah, loves old stuff as much as me.  She noticed some folks in her town emptying their basement of stuff that had been damaged in the flooding we had here not that long ago.  And she saw a bench they set out to be thrown away.


Now the bench wasn't fancy to start with.  It's basically a plank of wood on legs.  It's probably something some guy fashioned for himself with some scrap wood that he could use while in his workshop.


It was splintery, with a piece broken off one end, and some flaking paint on the legs.  And, it was covered in mud.


But, Sarah saw the beauty in it and rescued it.  She also knew she didn't really have the space for it & that I enjoy doing stuff with old furniture so she brought it to me.


I wasn't sure what I thought of it.  I really didn't have time for another project.  But, at the same time I thought maybe it could be used in our sunroom/mudroom as a place for the boys to sit while putting on or taking off shoes.  And, they could store shoes under it.


It sat on my front porch for weeks.


Finally, today I decided I should at least wash the mud off it.  It was a sunny, windy day and I knew it would dry off quickly.  So, with my children's help I dragged the hose out of the basement and washed it off.


Later after it had dried I looked at it and a thought occurred to me.  The wood (other than those few random spots of faded paint) was unfinished.  I had some leftover polyeurothane from another project.  I could very easily just poly overtop the wood leaving it basically in all it's rustic glory.


So, that's what I did.  I didn't sand or prep it in any way other than the wash I gave it. Boy, the wood soaked up that poly!  It was simple.  It took me about 10 minutes.  And, Charlie (my 3 year old) helped me because there really wasn't anything to 'mess up'.  


Now, it's still definitely rustic.  But, if you like rustic...this is for you.  Here is the after of my bench...

I think this will work well in our mudroom.

Another Weight Loss Milestone

The further along I go in this weight loss journey the harder it becomes to focus on the fact that my goal is healthy weight loss and, most importantly, developing new, healthy eating habits.


The first couple weeks were hard because I was re-training my body and my mind in the types of foods it truly needs and should crave.  But, then I did start craving the healthy foods and, for a few weeks, eating better was coming more easily for me.


Now I'm at a stage where I'm trying to find the balance between being too restrictive and too permissive in my eating.  In the past I tended to gravitate toward extremes when it came to eating.  I tended toward binging or limiting myself drastically.


As the weight loss sloooows down I've had to become more conscious of what I'm eating but at the same time resist the temptation to eat less and less to try to see faster results.  I guess I'm back at a stage where I need to re-focus on the nutritional value of the food I'm eating.


Anyway, all that to say I've been needing some fresh motivation and I got some yesterday and today.  Yesterday I went to my first meeting of Momsnext (the next step after MOPS.)  Momsnext is geared toward moms of schoolagers whereas MOPS is for moms of preschoolers.  Both groups meet the same morning as the same church.  So, even though I've moved up to Momsnext and some of the moms have stayed in MOPS, I was able to see ladies from both groups.  Most of the women haven't seen me since our last meeting in May.  


I received several comments, compliments, and congratulations on my weight loss.  Boy, did that make me feel good!  I know it's hard for those who see me on a regular basis to notice the changes, so this was an affirmation that the changes really are happening!


Then this morning when I stepped on the scale I finally saw a number I've been trying really hard to reach for the last 3 weeks or so.  I saw a number in the 160's.  Ok.  So, it was 169.6.  Right up there at the tippy top of the 160's.  But, it gave me hope that my work is paying off.  And, I feel inspired to keep going.


I'm thinking of doing a linky party sometime soon to get some favorite healthy recipes that you all might have.  I'll keep you posted...