Monthly Archives: December 2014

I apologize for not posting very much regularly, my life seems to be rather busy lately.  Not just busy with regular household work and schooling but busy on a personal level.

After moving to our new home, I wanted to make some changes in my life. The Lord has given me a quiet time in my life.  Moving here, we don’t have any new friends so it allows us a time of quiet.  Times of quiet are good, they help us refocus and recenter around the things the Lord would want for our lives.  I know I have been busy with just the mundane tasks of life.  It has been a good refresher in my life to start focusing more on the Lord and less on things that are unimportant.

I enjoy going to church each week as all my little ones are finally grown and  can sit through an entire service without too much trouble.  For years, it seems I really wasn’t able to focus on the message because I was so busy trying to keep little ones quiet.  It has been great having them all sit and be good so that I can get some teaching from our pastor.  I have enjoyed growing by taking what we have been taught and then going home and studying more on it to take it with me throughout the week.  I look forward to going to church each Sunday just for that reason—to get to know God more. (*revelation lol)) I haven’t even thought about the socialization part of the church yet, God is centering me more on His word.  Which is neat, because I was thinking I would have to find a place that was more like me instead of where does God want me?  In time, I know God will give us the friends we need and the people He wants us to be around but for now He is capturing our attention through the ministry.

I have been a night owl for many years.  I like to stay up late and do my blogging into all hours of the night.  It worked best for me because I had many little ones that woke up during the night and if I was there to snuggle with them they would stay sleeping.  But I knew that they would usually stay sleeping till about midnight so I was good to get much of my work done.  My husband also stayed up late so this worked well for us.

Now that we have moved, his job requires him to get up early so he no longer stays up late.  I was starting to feel badly that he would get up and be off to work by himself.  I would hear the coffee pot going and thinking that it was time for me to switch my schedule and start waking up with him as I did years before.  For years I wouldn’t get much sleep because I would wake up with a nursing baby, a toddler, and the occasional preschooler, but for the most part those years are done.  Yes the occasional child will wake up during the night, but I am pretty regular about getting 7-8 hours sleep.  A new phase in my life. I remember going for months getting only 4-6 hours and still functioning.  God gives us what we need.

Okay back to my story……I wanted to switch my schedule to be up in the morning to see my husband off to work.  I like getting up.  I set my alarm and the Lord usually has me wake up around 5-5:30.  I would have NEVER dreamed I could do this and not be exhausted or cranky by mid afternoon but I am doing it.  I get my shower, get a cup of coffee going for my husband and myself and then he is out the door.

Then I get my bible and have devotions.  Devotions are something I have not done regularly over the years.  I know we are supposed to take the time for them each day, but just as you can lead a horse to water but you can not make him drink from it that was me.  Not that I am against them by any means, I just didn’t put them as my priority.  I would have bible time with the children, pray an awful lot during the day, and we have praise music on constantly in the home.  But now I am getting filled with God’s word more than I have ever done before.  It has been a spiritual awakening for me.  Before we moved I had a bible that a pastor from the Mennonite church that we attended had given to me.  I used that bible for many years, 12 to be exact.  Lots of writing and underlining went into it.  Before we moved, we had gotten rid of most of our things, and the bible was one of them.   The binding had come apart and some pages were torn from toddlers so I figured it was time to part with it.   I have my bible app that I had read from but nothing tangible in my hands.  While we were doing some shopping for Christmas I felt the Lord say to me, “You need to buy a bible.”  I thought well I have a bible app, but I knew that wasn’t what He wanted me to use.  So I went to Amazon and found a bible–a nice one for $7 –the price of 2 Starbucks coffees.

I am thankful for my new bible.  I have been diligently underlining and studying different parts of scripture and I am excited for it.  I look forward everyday to getting up and having my time with the Lord.

I have also been working on getting my home economics curriculum in book form, (*yeah)!!!  I am currently getting it proof read and hope to have it ready soon.  This book is over 170 pages and focuses on kitchen skills.  It includes over 130 recipes that we enjoying making in our family.  I am excited to be able to offer this to you and will have more books to cover various topics in the upcoming months.

I have also started with some  weight loss.  It has been years that I had lost 80 lbs and I have kept it off.  But now I am looking to lose those last 10 pounds.  When we moved I was able to lose some–due to the busyness and no time to think much about food–but since the holidays it has returned.  I have started to take the children out walking every day.  They are now at an age where we say goodbye to the stroller.  Everyone can either walk fast or ride a bike.  That is HUGE!!!  We have a nice bike path that goes down a “mini mountain” so the children are getting lessons in how to navigate down the decline without crashing.  We have only had 1 fall and it was on the grass. (*sigh)  I am excited for this.  I have a friend whom I am accountable to and that helps.

So this has been my life.  I hope that after the new year to get back on a regular blogging schedule but for now this is where I am at.  I pray you have a blessed New Years and you will see me soon.

This past month we have had 2 birthday celebrations that I just never got to document yet. Brooklyn turned 8 and Jentzen turned 5 within two weeks of each other.   We usually let the children decide whether they want to go do something for their birthday or have presents.

We normally didn’t have many activities available for our large family to do that wasn’t overpriced when it was cold. But as a treat our winter birthdays in North Carolina got to experience thing a little differently this year.

For Brooklyn’s birthday our town had a parade that we attended.

It was rainy for the beginning part of our day, but it was more of a mist and the children didn’t mind.  By the time lunch came, it turned into a gorgeous 70 degree day!!!  We went to a local hardware store that was offering ornament decorating and cookies and hot cocoa.  It was fun, little busy, but fun.

We let each child choose their favorite foods for the meals for the day.  Since we were out for the parade, we packed sandwiches to eat and for dinner Brooklyn wanted the favorite of most of our children, hotdogs and macaroni and cheese.

We take a package of hotdogs and cut them up into slices.

We then make up a big batch of homemade macaroni and cheese.

We then mix it all together with some peas and carrots and put it in the oven on low.  When we arrived home from being out, we were able to enjoy a warm, hearty meal.

Brooklyn said she wasn’t too fond of cakes so she wanted to make ice cream sandwich dessert.  This is a fun creation that they enjoy customizing to their likeness.

She chose vanilla and chocolate mix ice cream sandwiches.  We layered one box on the bottom of a large baking pan.

We then topped it with a container of ice cream.  She chose chocolate.  The good thing about this is that you “jazz” up your ice cream so you can choose the cheapest kind of ice cream otherwise this dessert will be costly. 

Then top it with chocolate and caramel sauce. 

Choose your favorite candies for toppings.  She chose 3Musketeers candy bar.  We bought a small bag of unwrapped candies and then chopped them up small.

Spread cool whip on top of the candies and syrup and then repeat the layers again.

This is fun for the birthday girl to make herself.  Plus she gets to eat any remainder ice cream sandwiches that would not fit.

Brooklyn has a good heart and usually shares with her younger siblings.  I told her she could have it all herself, but she broke up pieces of it and shared.  She even let the little ones lick the spoon in between layers.

After you create it, cover it and put it in the freezer and freeze until firm.  

This is very yummy to eat.  I even thought about using graham crackers layered between ice cream to make it less expensive.  Another birthday we will experiment.There wasn’t much left after we all had our portion.  It was a good fun time for her birthday.

Then a few weeks later we had Jentzen’s birthday.

He chose to make dirt cups for his dessert.  He just didn’t want the worms inside of his pudding.  He also wanted banana pudding.  These were nice choices as we have had many cakes and cookies lately.  Here he was helping Daddy, with his new tool bench.  He really enjoys working out in the garage with him and now he can play inside with some tools.

For his birthday we went and picked out  our Christmas tree. It was a nice warm day out.  He enjoyed being able to choose which one we got.  Then we came home, decorated the tree and rode bikes outside.  Later that evening we went to a really cool Christmas lights display show at the Ag Center in WNC.  That was a really fun time.

He wanted macaroni and cheese pizza so we decided to make a pizza buffet for dinner.

Two simple easy birthdays that didn’t cost much but we enjoyed being together outside doing things.

Luke 2:14

Glory to God in the highest and PEACE on earth and GOODWILL TOWARDS all men!!

We as Christians are to show goodness towards all men.  The bible doesn’t say that there will be peace on earth–our earth will have a mess.  One watch during the news hour is enough to depress anyone.  The hurt, the sadness going on can be depressing.  But we have more than that in life.  We have more than that to offer to others.  We need to be reaching out and sharing that peace and contentment that we possess only because of the love of Jesus Christ.  Watch and pay attention to the little things in life.  Look for opportunities to bless someone.  People are desperately clinging on to things in this earth that will never bring them the hope and contentment that can only come from Jesus.  We must be willing to share what brings peace in our lives with others.

From our family to yours, be blessed and have a Merry Christmas!

We have been enjoying these last few weeks experiencing Christmas in a whole new way. We were reminiscing  over the years of picking up a tree and it being freezing outdoors.  So much that myself and the little ones would sit in the car and my husband would go out and pick out our tree.  We would enjoy hot chocolate and popcorn driving around looking at Christmas lights and singing Christmas songs. 

Not this year!!  We had the doors wide open while we decorated the Christmas tree and this year while driving looking at Christmas lights at the Ag Center in western North Carolina, we enjoyed eating ice cream from McDonalds with the windows rolled down!!  Did it lose it’s nostalgia of Christmas because we didn’t have the snow???  NO WAY, we had so much fun being outdoors  and still doing family activities together.

By the way, I HIGHLY recommend going and seeing the light show at the Ag Center.  We paid $20 a vehicle to see it, but it was well worth the price and the wait–we waited about 30 minutes to drive through.  I have never experienced Christmas lights like this before, it was all synchronized to music, a very neat event.  Plus it is presented with the gospel message, a very good outreach to the community.

I had  recently saw a picture on Twitter and it was a Christmas tree cartoon through the years.  It started out by displaying a beautifully decorated Christmas tree when the couple first got married.  It then went to when they had a 1-2 year old child and all the ornaments were at the top of the tree.  When they had 5-6 year old it was decorated with paper homemade ornaments.  When the child was a teenager it was decorated with neon, cool ornaments.  Then when the parents were of old age the tree was covered in half broken Christmas ornaments and they sat smiling at the tree.  That is my perfect picture of our tree.  We have lost most all of our “original” ornaments due to children playing with them over the years.  This past year I bought some plastic bulbs on clearance to help fill my already bare tree.  I discovered Autumn, the princess loving girl, wiping the ornaments all over her arms.  “Look Mom, I am sparkling like a princess!”  I don’t know if we will have any ornaments left that are original by the time we are old and gray, but we enjoy laughing about the decorations we have each year.

It was Jentzen’s turn to put up the star.  We rotate children each year.  He will not get to put the star up again until he is 14 years old!  Unless an older sibling gets married or forfeits his/her turn.  Good times.

We did some holiday baking this year.  Every year it gets a little easier and easier as I have more hands to help.  The children’s favorite activity is to make the holiday cut out cookies.  I look at it with such dread because I know the mess ahead of me after they have mixed it, rolled them out, and then the dreaded job—–decorating them.  I don’t know if more frosting and sprinkles ends up on the actual cookies or my children and my floor?!?!? 

I do it because my children look forward to making them.  Yes it is messy. Yes it can be stressful and Yes they enjoy every moment of it!! It is about creating memories not so much in trying to keep my kitchen clean.  I know that one day we will be able to gather around the kitchen in a somewhat orderly fashion.  Well maybe not, but at least the cookies will resemble more than blobs of frosting and handfuls of sprinkles.

We also made something new and yummy this year—Caramel corn.  This was super easy to make and tasted delicious.

• 1 cup butter
• 2 cups brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup corn syrup
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 8 cups popped popcorn

In a small saucepan combine butter, sugar, salt, and corn syrup.  Over medium heat stir and bring to a boil.  Continue boiling for 5 minutes stirring occasionally.  Then shut off heat and stir in baking soda.  It will foam up and help the ingredients stick together.

While your ingredients are heating up, pop your popcorn.  You  need at least 8 cups of popped popcorn.  We filled up our turkey roaster pan and found that sufficient.

After your mixture has boiled and you added the baking soda, pour it immediately over the popcorn and stir until well coated.  You can add peanuts to your mixture if you enjoy it.Bake in 200 degree oven for about 45 minutes.  Every 15 minutes gently stir the popcorn.  Remove from oven and cool.  Store in closed containers. 

I am sure everyone is going to be busy getting ready for Christmas today, I pray each and every one of you enjoys today with a peaceful heart.  Be blessed.

For the holidays I like to serve bread with our meals, as I do most our meals.  Each week, we make up a batch of  honey wheat bread that our family really enjoys.  I actually had the recipe years ago in a Taste of home magazine from 2008 and it was named Ezekiel bread.  We have always called it Ezekiel bread, but I was told what “true” ezekiel bread was and this is obviously not it.  I am going to have to “rename” our bread from Ezekiel to honey wheat.

Since we needed a bread to go with our Thanksgiving meal, I wanted to do something different than the traditional rolls that we usually make.  I found this Everything bread recipe and we really like the taste of it.

It was very easy to mix up and the girls enjoyed braiding it together to make.  The first time we made it, we divided it into 2 loaves, and they made a BIG mound of bread. We enjoyed the taste so much, I made it the next day so that we could have it again.  This time I divided it into 4 smaller loaves so that they would fit into my containers for storage.

Mix the following into a large bowl:

• Dissolve 1 Tablespoon or 1 pkg of active dry yeast into 3/4 cup of warm water.
• Add 1 cup warm milk, 1/4 cup butter–softened, 2 Tablespoons of sugar, and 1 egg yolk.  Mix well.
• Then add 4-5 cups of flour and 1 1/2 teaspoon salt and mix well.
• Knead in 4-5 ,more cups of flour and place in a bowl and cover with a cloth.
• Let rise until double in size.  Punch down dough and then put on a floured surface and knead a few more times.

• Divide dough into 4 clumps.  Take one and roll out 3 pieces into a snake.  Braid those 3 rolls together and place on a greased cookie sheet.  Continue with the rest of the bread.

• Whip the egg white until foamy and brush onto the bread.  Sprinkle with your choice of toppings.  We used:

1. dried garlic
2. Parmesan cheese
3. salt
4. sesame seeds

Let the dough rise until double in size then place in oven and bake at 375 for 30 minutes.

When finished baking, let cool—-if you can wait that long:)  otherwise enjoy the wonderful tastes of this bread.  Just the toppings alone give it enough flavor that you don’t need to spread the bread with butter.  I stored mine in a plastic container and it lasted well as our other breads do.

Try some for an extra special change from your usual bread.