A Lovely Day!

Today was another peaceful day.  Although my sweet family is still coughing something awful.  I wish I could make them all better.

I made banana bread for the first time and it turned out lovely!

My sweet husband made supper - he fried catfish, fries and hush puppies.  Everything was so delicious!

We had school today and did our regular chores.  It was just a nice day all the way around.

Blessings!

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Good Morning!

Yesterday I was so tired I could barely hold my head up all day long.  I kept holding it up and my hubby  kept encouraging me to take a nap.  I've done SO MUCH WORK and baking and cooking over the last week that my body had finally taken it's toll.  I took about a 30 minute nap on the couch while my sweet husband ordered pizza for dinner.  Thankfully we have an "in town" pizza place that's really inexpensive.

Last night I went to bed around 8:30 and prayed that God would wake me up early and He did.  I woke up at around 7 a.m. this morning.  I got my Bible study time done and time to read a little of a blog.  Now, I'm resting a bit as I sit here and plan out our day.

Hannah needs a haircut and I need to pick up the girls' allergy medicine.  We have an aweful cough going on around here that everyone has caught.  I thought I was getting it last night but instead I was just very weary and tired.  I woke up this morning praising the Lord for waking me up before my family and giving me this time.  They will all be waking up soon or will be woken up.

I want to encourage you today to not take on more than you can handle and end up weary like I was yesterday but instead to take each day and work hard but unhurried and enjoy all that you are doing.  I was enjoying it so much that I started doing too much all at once and just got too worn out.  I will be working peacefully and hard in my day today and will be pleased with all I get accomplished.  My husband and my girls are loving all that Mommy does each day and that is a true blessing!

Remember why you are working and keep God at the head of all that you do.  Keep walking towards the goal and moving forward.

God bless your day!

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A Beautiful day at Home

Today has been such a lovely day!

Before bedtime last night, I tried my hand at making homemade biscuits for the first time.  My husband said they were as good as his Grandma's were!  What a sweet compliment!  I wrapped them up and put them on the counter for breakfast.

I woke up just before my first little angel woke up, Madi Grace.

She had her biscuits with butter and a cup of orange juice.

So did each child as they woke up.  They all enjoyed them!

I will have to make those often.

Before I went to bed last night, I wrote each a little post it to welcome them to their day and said something sweet about each child on it.

 

After they ate breakfast, they brushed their teeth and got ready.  We started school and worked our way through.

This is how I make our bed in the mornings.  The girls make theirs also and they take turns making Hannah's for her.

After school....

They played with the play doh!  Oh the fun!

Hannah had been asking to "play with doh" before she went to bed last night.  First thing this morning, she remembered.

Madi & Sarah used clay instead.  They were having a fun time as well.  I love seeing what they all create!

After that, Sarah Faith and I made a homemade peach pie.  It was so yummy!  My hubby kept getting into it before dinner time.  lol!

My hubby helped me decorate the girls bedroom walls.  I pointed out where I wanted things and he hung them there very securely.  I appreciated his work helping me with that!

Madi Grace helped me cook supper - which is where I "cheated" - I made Lasagna Hamburger He lper.  She did most of it with my guidance and I took over at the end.  Everyone cleared their plates tonight and then dove into the pie!

I cut a large piece and took it to our neighbor, Mr. Baker.  (my neighbor on the other side is my brother in law - hubby's brother)  Mr. Baker was so kind and very appreciative.  It felt great doing that.  It was my first time of meeting him.

I came back over to home and the girls were dressing up in dance costumes and were putting on a delightful show for us!  What fun!  They were squeeling with laughter!  I was enjoying it immensely.  Daddy was watching them also and they enjoyed that too!

Tonight, we will finish off our night with some hot chocolate with marshmellows in it.  I think this has been an awesome day and that will be the perfect way to end it.

As for tomorrow, I got the ingredients to make homemade cinnamon rolls.  So, that will be fun being my first time as well.

One precious thing I left out was I had to run to the store today to grab ingredients and I looked up at Sarah who had gone with me and she was just smiling a happy hearted smile.  I asked what she was smiling about and she said, "peach pie!!!"  Madi Grace said today that she was so happy because I was happy and that made her happy.  She also said that a huge part of her happiness today was peach pie!  lol  Sweet baby girls!

I am SOOOOOO blessed!!

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Mommy being Home

When Mommy is home it seems everything goes much more smoothly and everyone is happy!  Including Mommy!

I am slowing down on my going places because it will save our gas and I need to be here to get things done and be with my children.  I've always been a people person and loved to go visiting and do stuff like that.  I love spending time with my friend, Leslie, and she enjoys it too.  We've been doing a little routine where I go to her house once during her time off and she comes to mine on one of the days.  This is great because we can hang out or help each other or whatever we decide to do.  Yet, it leaves me time to be at home to do the things that I am needed here for.  My kids are much happier as is my sweet hubby.  My house looks nice and each day it just gets better and better as well as maintained.  I enjoy it and it passes a lovely day.

My darling husband is fearful that I will get weary and not keep doing all that I am doing but I am trusting the Lord to keep my heart where it needs to be - at home and on my family.  I hope as he sees me continue without going so much that his trust and dependence on me continues to grow.  We have been so happy working together.  He's been working on his computer doing college and I've been cleaning, maintaining and running the household.  If I were away from home, it would leave everything on him and he would not be able to get many things done.

Home, husbands and children need mother's touch.  Whether it's kissing a boo boo, helping answer questions in homeschool or the touch that I put on our home.  Mommy really does set the tone of the home as my husband says.

My children have loved me being home and I am here most of the time now, putting away at doing my work, helping them, cooking, and all the things that need to be done at home and with my sweet family.  The Lord chose me for my husband, children and home.  So, again I must be here to fulfill that ministry God has placed me in.

I have agreed to take on one thing out of our home and that is to start helping on Wednesday nights with Team Kids at Church.  My girls have been going for quite some time.  It's from 6:30 til 8 PM.  I felt this was something I could do that would not put too much on my plate and would be yet another ministry and example to my children.

I hope you find encouragement here.  I am learning as I go!

Blessings!

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Welcome to my Kitchen!

Welcome to my Kitchen!

Today after the kitchen was cleaned and shined up I decided to putter around a bit in there and make things prettier.  A couple of days ago I got a new table cloth for $5.  It is vinyl because that's the easiest to keep right now with a little one making messes when she eats.  :)  It was time to take the Valentine's one off.

This is where our table sits.  It connects in with the kitchen.

We add two more chairs when we sit to eat as a family.

This is what sits on our table.  The plant on the left was given to me by my friend's mom after she died.  The flowers on it bloomed just before Valentine's Day.  In the middle is a birdhouse that holds candles in different areas that are hanging inside.  It's the one thing we bought when the day we signed for our new house.  The plant on the right is one that I bought in honor of my grandfather who died.  I called him Karo.  So these are special things to me.  My husband came in tonight and complimented how nice the tablecloth looked.

Here is the first corner of my kitchen.  You can see our cat, Asher, as he's leaving the area.  Also we found a little field mouse eating in one of our cabinets so we had to sit out poison so the cereal bags are having to stay under that part of the counter for another week.

This is the other side of my kitchen.  I can see in the picture that the outside of my oven needs a good shining!  This is where yummy things are made.  I especially enjoy baking with the girls.  My hubby is the best cook ever though.  He does a lot of the cooking.

I am blessed!!

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Home: a guest post by Mrs. Renee Stam

Home is more then the place you live in.


Have you ever try to explain to someone that you are a homemaker and what you do all day.

Some thinks that a homemaker is a domestic engineer, she cleans and cooks all day and her house looks like the "Better Home and Garden" magazine pictures. But lets face it, most of us (with young children) do not have that type of "well put together" home, and if we compare our house with those magazine, of course we feel like we don't measure up, that we failed as a homemaker. But reality is, life happen in our home, children have toys, they makes spills and write on our walls, and that is ok. We might not be the best housekeepers out there but that shouldn't stop us from being a HomeMaker.

Other view a homemaker as the one who is hospitable, who open her home to grand parties, with sophisticated food,  color coordinated table setting, she is the perfect hostess and people love attending dinner at her home. But really is she showing hospitality or is she entertaining her guest?

Showing hospitality means that the homemaker is seeking to serve needs of her guests.

If her guest needs food or a place to lodge, she will be willing to joyfully be at service, the food might be as simple as macaroni and cheese and a couch might be the place to rest for the night, but offered in love, in Christ love, this will have a greater impact. Maybe her guest needs to talk, to share his/her trouble, being there and willing to "really"listen to your guest, to pray for and with them, to share their burden, sorrow, pain and joy, all of this is part of showing hospitality.


What is a homemaker? what does she do? what would making HOME look like?


Making home could look different for my home then your, God each does give us gifts and different skills, to use for his glory. Making home does not need to cost us lots of money, nor should it be time consuming. Home should be a place where the people who are in it, either living there or just passing by, feel the love of Christ. Where they feel they can be open to share their pain, and joy, where they are welcome to eat and have fellowship, where they know they are prayed over.

But how can I make my home more ready to show hospitality.

• Keep a easy routine to keep certain area visitor ready, not asking to clean your home top to bottom, but dedicate a room or two that will be company ready, no clutter or toys etc, your children can help.
• Have a spot, kitchen table, couch etc... a place you can make comfortable to sit and have ~tea, coffee, juice, cookies ...~ where you can sit comfortably and be free to let you children, husband, guest open their heart.
• Get dress, do your hair, you never know who will pop up, be ready
• pray for your family, pray for your guest that are on their way, pray for opportunities to serve their needs.

Above all have cultivate a servant heart and spirit, share Christ love and smile lots.


Ps the pictures where taken at my mother inlaw home, I love the way she is maker her house a home, what a beautiful example of a homemaker. I love her.

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My Girls & Dinner

While I've been cleaning, my precious girls have been helping and yet having a great time too!  So have I!!

Here are some pictures!! 

Painting with a friend over...

Sarah Faith fixing Hannah Joy up all funny and cute!

Playing so well together!

I'm standing in the middle of the room - this is all an empty area because we do not have formal furniture and such.  So we have a little play area fixed there but the big one is in the upstairs living room.  They enjoy both of them at different times.

Homemade Mexican casserole for dinner...

...and Hannah Joy konked out on the couch sound asleep.  Just how I felt too!!  I love my family so dearly!

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Before & After - I have finished the bedroom!

The rest of my home looks great and now the bedroom does too!

I finished it today.  It was worth every minute.  It took me about an hour or hour and a half to completely get things put away properly and tossed, etc..  Now my entire house is company ready!

All I have to do now is maintain everything.  I've been doing really well with that the last few years so it shouldn't be a problem now.  I just have to keep a close eye on the bedroom because it's easy to get messy in there.  I don't want that.  I want to be able to be proud of the house without shutting the bedroom door!  LOL!

Here are the Before & After pics!

MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!!!

Smiling big!

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Before & After - the Bedroom

I woke up not feeling so well but I prayed and kept moving.

The only place in my house that is messy is my bedroom.  Even the girls have their room neat & clean.  I work on the entire house with the girls help every single day... but as I said before, my bedroom was neglected and quickly got messy.

So today I cleared & cleaned off Hannah's chest of drawers.

*she shares a room with us because we want her close since she has some disabilities in her speach and might need us in the middle of the night*

There are 3 pictures:
Before, After & then Decorated tonight.

The above is the BEFORE obviously!

The After is above.

It's been cleared, put away and then cleaned.

The Decorated!  :)

I like how it looks now a whole lot!

It didn't take long and made a huge difference.

Now the yucky is gone from there!

Just look what you can do when you put your mind to it.

I had decided I wasn't going to let there be a single area in my house that I didn't want company to be able to walk through and see that it's clean.  Not to mention my precious husband and children - I want them to be able to walk through the whole house and feel good about what Mama is doing and how their home is.

A friend asked for a picture of what my fireplace & mantle look like... that or I told her I would send her one.  So I took them today.  I thought I'd share here for those of you who want to see!

It still looks the same as always except today I added the picture on the left of the 3 girls... and for our anniversary or valentine's I got the beautiful Easter Lily plant but I think I've already put pics on here of that.  The pick below is just a narrow view of the fireplace.

BLESSINGS!

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Light a Beautiful Candle in your Home

http://organizedhomemakingforchrist.blogspot.com/

My friend, Deniece, has this Fall meme on her blog from Women Living Well and it was talking about lighting a candle in your home. 

There's a lot that goes with that.  You add a certain ambience to your home and make it feel warm and cozy.  She said that it also reminded her to pray for her family members every time she passed it throughout the day.  What a great idea.  Even though I do pray for my family every day.. a little reminder each time I pass the candle will be great.

So, tonight, I just put out the candle holder I made with a votive in it.  I want to get a nice jar candle or pillar candle.  But, this works for now.  I like candles in front of a mirror because they mirror themselves and look even more beautiful.  This is the right side of our mantle.  The picture turned out bad as I was doing in with the lights off and using a flash and well...it just didn't do so well.

Consider lighting a candle in your home.... for the smell, for the ambience and for the special reminder.

Blessings!

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