Winter Fun List

We had so much fun making a summer list, we decided to make a winter one too.  

1. Make snow globes
2. Play in the snow
3. Make borax snowflakes
4. Watch a Christmas movie each week in December
5.Make a Snowman
6. Celebrate Hanukkah
7. Decorate Christmas cookies
8.  Make a snowflake window curtain
9.  Drive around and look at Christmas lights
10.  Make a new ornaments
11. Attend the Elf Party
12. Make a gingerbread house
13.  Send a shoe box for Operation Christmas Child
14. Pick out our real tree
15. Make snow angels   
16. Feed the birds with homemade treats       

Pumpkin Patch

We love The Great Pumpkin Patch.  This year we made two trips.  The first was with our homeschooling group.  The second was with our friends from playgroup.  Here are a few pictures from our trips.

Asher & Jo hamming it up

Lining up to "attend"  school

Class time

This is the only picture I got of Eliana that day.  She was way to busy with her friends to pose for pictures for me.

Twins yearly picture

Boys with their friend Logan

Asher & Addie

Josiah & Harry feeding the chickens

Jeremiah pulled them around all day

One moment in time

I stumbled across this while I was dusting this afternoon.

For those of you that did not attend CHS it is my senior year book.  I'm not even sure why it is on the book shelf.  All the other stuff from high school is stored in a box somewhere.  I pondered on a few things as I flipped through the book.

1.  Picture quality before digital was terrible.  Most of the candids in the book are grainy and dark.    I  never noticed all those years ago.

2. I still think everyone looks like those pictures.  Even now that facebook has reconnected me with most of my high school friends and we are all in our mid 30's,  when I think of them they look 18!

3.  It is funny how you remember strange things.  There is a picture of a friend of mine at prom.  All the pictures in our year book are black and white - except our senior shots.   The prom picture is black & white but I can tell you the dress is blue.  I still remember what it looks like.

4.   I'm amazed at how many people I had forgotten about.

5.   I found the page with the senior awards night list.  I won, along with 3 of my friends, the most outstanding home ec club member.  (Yes- I was in home ec club, in fact  I was an officer all 4 years of high school.)  The thing I found funny was that 3 of the 4 of us are stay at home moms!  

The thing I always think about with high school is how fast it really went by.  In all of my years of youth ministry, I remember trying to convince the kids - what these people think of you won't matter in 10 years.  But I remember at the time it seemed like high school would never end, and that what was going on then was the most important thing ever.  That every decision I made would affect my life forever.  In some ways it did.  I met my husband in high school.  I got serious about my faith in high school.  I developed an awesome relationship with my brothers in high school.  But the other things; what dress to buy for prom, should I take senior english or creative writing,  should I get a job or bum off of my parents?  Those things don't matter so much now.

So as I look back over the last 17 years and think of those pictures in the year book, they are but small shots of a year of my life.  How different my life was then to how it is now.  How different I am than the girl in those pictures.  Yes, in a lot of ways I am the same person.  Still shy in new situations.  Still too talkative once I get to know you.  Still one to try to blend in and not stick out.  But I also hope I am more compassionate, more loving, and more genuine in my faith.  That others see Christ's love in me not  condemnation.   As I run into people from back then I constantly have to remind myself they are also not who they were back then.  That those pictures of our past are only one moment in time!

Freezer Cooking: How I do it

Before I started my list I just want to give a disclaimer:  This is what I do, it may or may not work for you.  My advice is to start small and see what works best for your family.  


1.  Decide how many meals you want to make, then make your master recipe list.  I normally start with 30 meals.  

2.  Make a grocery list. 
 I use a lot of my stock pile.   I try to pick recipes that use things I all ready have at home     to limit the amount of shopping I have to do.   Also remember to pick up freezer bags, wax paper and disposable pans - depending on how you plan to store your finished meals.

3.  Clean out your fridge. 
You will need all the room you can get for your groceries.  

4.  Go shopping.  (do this a day or two before you plan on cooking)
I do not take my kids with me.  It is an all day trip, since I make several stops to get the best price on what I need. 

5.  Break your meals into cooking categories.
Here are the categories I use,  Cooked hamburger, uncooked hamburger, shredded chicken, raw chicken, meatless,  soups, pasta, misc. cuts of meat & bread.  Depending on what your family eats your categories will be different.

 Start cooking! 
 I put the whole chickens and roast in the crock pot and let them cook all day. I then cook all the ground hamburger at once.  I then make any marinades in the plastic bags I will freeze them in.  I use my food processor to chop any vegetables I will need.  I then cook & assemble by category.  I always start with the recipes that take the most steps first.  I always assemble soups & hamburger patties last. 

Here are a few helpful things I have learned: 
1.  Have a plan for the kids.  Normally Trevor takes them some where for most of the day.  The last time I cooked all day this wasn't going to work out.  The TV was the main attraction and kept the fighting to a minimum. 

2.  Have a plan for the meals you are going to eat that day.  Normally I just piece off of what I am fixing.  This time the kids were home - I had to feed them.  Cereal for breakfast,  Eliana was in charge of lunch (she thought it was a big treat),  we went out for dinner.   

3.  Make sure you have enough freezer space for what you are fixing.  I freeze most of my meals flat in ziploc bags. They take up less room that way. 

4.  Start out trying recipes you already use.  Most pasta & tomato based foods freeze really well.   I normally try 2 or 3 new recipes each month.  Some have been keepers other have been flops.  My two favorite sites  are:   
Once a month mom 
Six sisters stuff 

So that is how I do it.  I would love to hear how your cooking days turn out. 


 

 

Book Review: To Love and Cherish

To Love and Cherish
Tracie Peterson & Judith Miller

This wonderfully told love story is staged in Georgia and Ohio in 1898.  The main text of the book takes place on an imaginary island, Bridal Veil, off the the coast of Georgia.  Melinda is the companion of a wealthy woman from Cincinatti.  Evan is one of the workers on the island.   Melinda was raised in high society but due to her parents deaths, must now work for former friends.   The story line follows her travels from the island to Cincinatti, and back to the island after a storm hits.  The event reunites her with her brother, a  mysterious character.  His lifestyle choices are different than his sisters and she worries about him.  Evan is the love of Melinda's life and she returns to the island hoping he will propose marriage.  She is  constantly reminded throughout the book to wait on God's timing and not try to push things along on her own, a good reminder to all Christians.  The constant theme of a president visiting the island, makes for another story line all together.  It is wonderfully told and makes the book hard to put down.  I was always wondering who was on what side and how the situation would end.   The book was a very quick read.  I didn't realize until I finished that it is one in a series of books.  The development of the characters was so good, I didn't know there was a whole book written about how they meet.  That is now on my to read list and I look forward to the next book in the series:  Bridal Veil Island.



This book was provided to me by Bethany House Publishing. 

When you freezer cook.....

be prepared for this:

The table and both counter are full.  The sink is over flowing with dishes and the dishwasher is currently running!