Resolutions vs. Goals

My new calendar for 2012 has and interesting space on the January page for a list of family goals for the upcoming year. That little notation got me thinking about the differences between making New Year’s resolutions and setting goals for the New Year.

I’ve mentioned before that I’m not a resolution kind of person. Resolving to make changes in your life can be vague and a little like a horoscope. It’s all in the interpretation. Resolving to lose weight, to get organized, or to eat healthier are great ideas. However, those vague resolutions can be easily realized by skipping dessert for a week, filing a few papers to clear the clutter on the desk, or eating a salad instead of French fries with your heart-attack-in-a-paper-wrapper hamburger. And when minimal effort brings minimal results, the resolutions are forgotten.

Realistic, concrete goals bring results. Instead of resolving to read your Bible more this year, how about setting a goal to read through the entire Bible in a year? Is it realistic? Absolutely! Do you have any idea how many reading plans are available to help you do just that? Is it concrete? Can you measure your progress? You betcha!

I have a few goals for myself going into 2012 that I need to create doable, realistic plans to reach. I lost some weight last year, but I’d like to lose a bit more. My goal is to lose 20 more pounds this coming year. I need to create a plan to skip a lot more desserts and to exercise more regularly to make this happen, but the plan has to fit our busy schedule in order for me to stick to it. Keep that in mind if you’re setting goals for the New Year.

Yes, it’s wonderful to aspire to some lofty goal. I’d love to lose more than 20 pounds in a year. However, I know that I can’t dedicate my focus entirely to weight loss. After my first child was born, I lost 60 pounds in 3 months, getting even lower than my pre-pregnancy weight. But all I had on my plate was learning how to care for a newborn and losing weight. I was staying temporarily with my parents until my husband at the time finished some training. I helped my mom a bit, but it was nothing like managing my own home.

These days, I sometimes have to be content with setting smaller goals. Sometimes smaller goals make those larger goals less overwhelming. Do you want to be more organized this year? Boy, isn’t that an intimidating prospect?! Especially if you’ve had a rough year and things are really a mess. Pick one space to organize.

My organizing goals for this year? My cookbooks and lose recipes need some serious attention. So, that’s a priority for me right now.

Oh, and my bedroom has been a dumping ground for the last year as we revamped other parts of the house. But, I have to be realistic. In order to organize my bedroom, I have to empty, sort, organize, and refill the craft cubby. Why do I have to start in there? Because half the mess in our bedroom belongs in there! I have to pick a day that I can dedicate a good 16 hours straight to empty, sort, organize, and refill the craft cubby so I have a bed to sleep in that night. An empty day that I can dedicate to one project is like an illusive jungle creature. Yeah, it exists, but you have to be pretty crafty to actually get a look at it!

Thanks for stopping by! I pray that as 2011 slips away and 2012 is born, that you join me in setting a few goals for yourself and in making a plan to accomplish those goals. No vague resolutions this year, but specific, doable goals.

Grace and peace be yours in abundance,

Betty

Mulch

Feed me, Seymour!

Our fall garden is doing very well this year. In fact, this has probably been our most productive garden in a long time, and I think a lot of credit goes to our increased use of mulch.

Although we have a wonderful long growing season, lasting from August to May, our growing season is smack dab in the middle of our dry season. During extremely dry years, we’ve looked at the water bill at the end of the month and wondered if the garden is worth the increased expense. Honestly, it wasn’t. We could have easily bought all organic produce with the money we spent on regular watering. Something had to change.

One reason we water so much, besides the lack of rain, is that our soil is mostly sand. When the rains come, the water simply beads on the surface and evaporates quickly when the warm sun appears. If you scratch the surface of the soil while it’s still sopping wet, you’ll find that the soil underneath is as dry as a desert. Whatever water does manage to seep beneath the surface takes the express train right to the aquifer, bypassing all of the roots along the way.

Originally, we tried to combat our soil and water issues with manure. We’d have a trailer of manure from a local horse stable delivered a few weeks before planting time. We’d spread the manure over the garden, letting it compost for a week or two, and then till it under, adding nutrients and water-retaining organic matter to the soil. Unfortunately, that was only half the problem, and we still found ourselves watering almost every day.

I never took the benefits of adding mulch to the garden very seriously. I always felt that mulching was another expense. Even going to the free brush site for mulch was a lot of work, loading up the truck, hauling it to the backyard, and spreading it across the garden. I rationalized that my family and I had already done the work of hauling the manure to the backyard. What could mulch actually do that the manure wasn’t already doing? Besides, we’d already hauled a truckload of mulch to cover the butterfly garden and ornamental beds. I cannot tell you how much I didn’t want to purchase and cart another truckload of anything!

My other problem with hauling a truckload of mulch home was that I didn’t need all of the mulch at the same time. Transplanted seedlings need mulch right away, but you don’t mulch directly sown seeds until they’re sporting true leaves (the second set of leaves formed). I can assure you that we do not have the space to store a pile of mulch for a couple of weeks.

Dried leaves make excellent mulch.

As I was working out in the yard one day, I realized that my mulch solution was all around me. Our rabbits and chickens already provide a beautiful supply of manure-laden hay and pine shavings that I usually composted. Plus, we have a large deciduous tree that drops plenty of leaves each year, which also usually ended up as compost. Why not use it all as mulch and let it compost right in the garden? No, it’s not the prettiest mulch you’ve ever seen, but sometimes practical trumps pretty. Besides, the lush, green plants obscure the mulch in the end.

As the growing season progressed, I saw a big difference in the health of our garden and in the amount I needed to water. We could go 4 or 5 days before the plants started looking thirsty. Also, mulch blocks the weeds, which is why you don’t mulch freshly sown seeds, and as the mulch breaks down, it seeps nutrients to the soil. Finally, when we till at the end of the season, the mulch adds nutrients and water-retaining organic matter to the soil for the next planting. My little bit of laziness in refusing to mulch was really robbing my garden of nutrients and costing us in water. I can’t wait to see how the garden produces next season!

By the way, we have toyed with the idea of using rain barrels to collect water. However, in order for rain barrels to be their most effective, we have to find a way to stockpile the water collected in summertime when we grow almost nothing to use during the dry winter when we grow everything. Not an easy task for a family with limited space, not to mention the care needed to prevent the water storage from becoming a mosquito breeding ground.  

Thanks for stopping by! Did your garden go without mulch because of the expense? Take a look around your yard. You might be surprised as what is readily available.

Grace and peace be yours in abundance,

Betty

PS. Don't you just love the cabbage picture at the top of the page. Yeah, I know. I have a special sense of humor. You'll get used to it.

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Menu Plan Monday 12/26

How was your Christmas? Was it quiet and calm or was it crazy and chaotic like my house? My house was full of activity and noise and laughter and joy, and I loved every minute of it.

At one point, it even snowed here in central Florida. Ok, it only snowed at our house, but it was quite the blizzard of packing peanuts. Good thing my hubby received a new shop-vac for Christmas that needed testing!

Anyway, I pray that as we forge ahead to a new year, that your week is blessed with short return lines and long naps.

Don’t forget to stop by Organizing Junkie for more menu ideas! If you’re looking for some new recipe resources, check out this Recipe Index Round Up.

Menu Plan for Week of 12/26/2011

Breakfast 

Fruit, granola, yogurt, or smoothies.

Lunch

Lunch of the week – Salads, wraps or leftovers

Fruit of the week – Apples, bananas, and pears (the fruit selection will probably stay about the same now until March. No more summer fruits…sigh.)

Dinner

Monday – Leftovers

Tuesday – Split pea and ham soup, salad, potato rolls

Wednesday – Wraps with strips of ham, pineapple chunks, lettuce and tomatoes, sweet potato fries

Thursday – Ham and bean soup, salad, rolls (Can you tell we had Ham for Christmas dinner?)

Friday – Ham and scalloped potatoes, salad

Saturday – Finger food buffet of quesadillas, hot wings, fresh veggies, smoked kielbasa and cheeses, crackers, and a variety of pickled veggies

Sunday – Pork and sauerkraut (it’s tradition!)

Snacks – Crackers and peanut butter, fruit, yogurt, carrot and celery sticks, or popcorn.

Thank you for stopping by! Can you tell the weatherman is predicting a cold snap this week? I just love a nice, hearty soup when it gets cold!

Grace and peace be yours in abundance,

Betty

1 Day 'til Christmas

It's Christmas Eve. Are you going to a special church service this evening? Do you go because you've always gone on Christmas Eve, and it's just another line on the checklist?

Do something different this year. Set our checklist aside, forget for a moment that those relatives that make your home so very uncomfortable are coming, let go of the world and listen. Listen to the words of the music. Listen to the sermon. Listen to prayers. Listen with your ears, your mind, your heart, and your soul. Let the Lord envelope you in a blanket of peace that you can take with you as you pick the checklist back up, face those harsh relatives, and carry Christ to the world.

2 Days 'til Christmas

In two days, all of the fuss and fury, hustle and bustle will be over. Do you feel like you're in the home stretch of a very long marathon? Do you need a silent night? Fill your coffee, and just listen.

3 Days 'til Christmas

My son bought the most recent WOW Christmas CD a couple of months ago. "Hope was Born this Night" was a wonderful surprise. When it comes on, Jared and I drop everything to sing together. It's that's beautiful.

4 Days 'til Christmas

This is my second favorite version of this song. My very favorite version of this song is not easy to find. I grew up listening to The Harry Simone Chorale, and the gentlemen that sang this song had this James Earl Jones kind of voice that just resonated through the house. Amazing, thoroughly uplifting, and it truly made you want to "Go Tell it on the Mountain!"

However, there is something about Needtobreathe's version that I just like. I'm not sure what it is, but I like it. Enjoy!

5 Days 'til Christmas

It's only 5 days until Christmas. Are you stressed yet? Nah, me neither. I'm more stressed about everything I still have to do for our 4H Christmas party on Friday than I am about being ready for Christmas Day. My husband's attitude really helps me with that. He's very good about reminding me that everything does not have to be perfect, and that the imperfections are the best stories shared around the dinner table in later years. I love my husband. Only he could tell me that my screw-ups will live on in infamy for generations and make it sound good.

Anyway, have you watched a Charlie Brown Christmas, yet? A dear friend of mine announced after she watched it that her holiday trilogy is now complete. She tries to make sure she watches It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown, A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving, and A Charlie Brown Christmas every year. Priceless.

I have a CD of the music from A Charlie Brown Christmas, and I can't believe that I haven't worn it out yet! That CD is the best background music for just about anything but especially for baking goodies over the holidays. I hear just the first few measures, and I can smell the cinnamon, brown sugar, and vanilla.

Great Giveaways

‘Tis the season for giving, and a few of my favorite blogs are being exceptionally generous with their giveaways!

Kelly at The Morris Tribe is celebrating the 12 Days of Christmas by giving away wonderful homesteading treats like Oil Lamps that burn on olive oil, lanterns, and subscriptions to Urban Farm Magazine, which is what I was so blessed to win. Yay me!!

Anyway, head on over to The Morris Tribe, enter today’s wonderful giveaway, and check out the great homesteading info on the blog. You won’t be disappointed.

The second giveaway is truly amazing. Pioneer Woman is at it again with amazing giveaways. She’s given away chef-quality knives, Kitchenaid mixers, IPads, and Target Gift Cards. Nope, I haven’t won anything, but I can drool can’t I??!!

Head on over to the Pioneer Woman, enjoy some delicious recipes, feast your eyes on some amazing photography, and enter today’s giveaway.

Merry Christmas!

6 Days 'til Christmas

I was feeling quite overwhelmed this morning as I looked around at all that still needed to be done before Christmas. Instead of diving right in, I decided I needed a little extra time at the feet of the Lord. I pray this song allows you a few more minutes with the Lord as well.

Menu Plan Monday 12/19

It’s less than a week before Christmas, and my house is still in turmoil! Hubby made me a new set of shelves for my sewing area, doubling my shelf space. However, that meant the old shelves had to be emptied, the new shelve put in place, and everything put back.

Although this was truly a wonderful surprise, I still have jammies to finish sewing, a little more deep cleaning to do, a ton of beans to put up, and the decoration boxes are still in our living room! My goodness, it really has been non-stop around here since October!

Anyway, I pray that you have a spectacular week before Christmas, filled with the tying up of loose ends and little details so that come Christmas Eve and Christmas Day you can relax and focus on celebrating the birth of Jesus.

Don’t forget to stop by Organizing Junkie for more menu ideas! If you’re looking for some new recipe resources, check out this Recipe Index Round Up.

Menu Plan for Week of 12/19/2011

Breakfast 

Fruit, granola, yogurt, or smoothies.

Lunch

Lunch of the week – Salads, wraps or leftovers

Fruit of the week – Apples, bananas, and pears (the fruit selection will probably stay about the same now until March. No more summer fruits…sigh.)

Dinner

Monday – Broccoli soup, salad, artisan bread

Tuesday – Big salad, artisan bread

Wednesday – Buffalo chicken wraps, salad

Thursday – Spaghetti, salad

Friday – Pizza (4H Club Christmas Party)

Saturday – Chinese take out! It’s tradition!

Sunday – Ham, kielbasa and sauerkraut, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, turnips, green beans, broccoli, salad, rolls

Snacks – Crackers and peanut butter, fruit, yogurt, carrot and celery sticks, or popcorn.

Thank you for stopping by! Can you tell the weatherman is predicting a cold snap this week? I just love a nice, hearty soup when it gets cold!

Grace and peace be yours in abundance,

Betty

7 Days 'til Christmas

Although there are some beautiful and amazing versions of this song out there, this is the version I grew up on. I can't help but be carried away with that rich, deep voice!

I hope you enjoy this video. Listen to the words. I pray that you experience the same reverence when you think about the birth of Christ.

8 Days 'til Christmas

Oh my, I'm so very late today! However, I still made it under the wire!

I spent a large part of today sewing on my quilt and making Christmas jammies for everyone. Normally, I'd have the radio or CDs playing in the background, but today, I decided to play a few Christmas DVDs, including White Christmas.

Did you ever notice that White Christmas isn't a particularly Christmas-y movie? The only real Christmas scene in the whole movie is the finale. However, I still love it and watch it every year! So, sit back and enjoy the finale with me.

9 Days 'til Christmas - Friday Funny Edition

Have you noticed that I have as much of a love for serious songs as I do funny songs? However, interesting and unusual win every time! This video was unexpectedly awesome and way better than the title suggests. Your adrenaline might be rushing a tad bit at the end, though, so beware!

Holiday Eating Tips

The following fun holiday eating tips are a gift from the friend of a friend and posted here annually with permission, of course. Well, she gave me permission to post it ages ago, which I did. I’m pretty sure permission extends to this year’s re-run. The advice is priceless and fun!

HOLIDAY EATING TIPS

1. Avoid carrot sticks. Anyone who puts carrots on a holiday buffet table knows nothing of the Christmas spirit. In fact, if you see carrots, leave immediately. Go next door where they're serving rum balls.

2. Drink as much eggnog as you can. And quickly. It's rare. You cannot
find it any other time of year but now. So drink up! Who cares that it has
10,000 calories in every sip? It's not as if you're going to turn into an
eggnog-alcoholic or something. It's a treat. Enjoy it. Have one for me. Have two. It’s later than you think. It’s Christmas.

3. If something comes with gravy, use it. That's the whole point of gravy. Gravy does not stand alone. Pour it on. Make a volcano out of your mashed potatoes. Fill it with gravy. Eat the volcano. Repeat.

4. As for mashed potatoes, always ask if they're made with skim milk or whole milk. If it's skim, pass. Why bother? It's like buying a sports car with an automatic transmission.

5. Do not have a snack before going to a party in an effort to control your eating. The whole point of going to a Christmas party is to eat other people's food for free. Lots of it. Hello?

 6. Under no circumstances should you exercise between now and New Year's. You can do that in January when you have nothing else to do. This is the time for long naps, which you'll need after circling the buffet table while carrying a 10-pound plate of food and that vat of eggnog.

7. If you come across something really good at a buffet table, like frosted Christmas cookies in the shape and size of Santa, position yourself near them and don't budge. Have as many as you can before becoming the center of attention. They're like a beautiful pair of shoes. If you leave them behind, you're never going to see them again.

8. Same for pies. Apple, Pumpkin, Mincemeat. Have a slice of each. Or if you do not like mincemeat, have two apple and one pumpkin. Always have three. When else do you get to have more than one dessert? Labor Day?

9. Did someone mention fruitcake? Granted, it's loaded with the mandatory celebratory calories, but avoid it at all cost. I mean, have some standards.

10. One final tip: If you don't feel terrible when you leave the party or get up from the table, you haven't been paying attention. Re-read tips; start over, but hurry, January is just around the corner.

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Have two. It's later than you think. It's Christmas!

10 Days 'til Christmas

Are you stressing now that you know it's only 10 days 'til Christmas? No worries! Watch this video, you'll be smiling the whole time.

Your welcome.

You don't know it yet, but you'll be thanking me later when you're singing the addictive tune all day long.




By the way, did you know that to get an addictive tune out of your head, all you have to do is start singing "It's a Small World."

How do you get "It's a Small World" to stop playing in your head? I have no idea.

Your welcome.

A Puzzling Christmas Tradition

In most homes, the Christmas season means traditions like roasting chestnuts on an open fire, decking the halls with boughs of holly, and caroling among the leaves so green. However, in our home, one Christmas tradition leads to a lot of conspiring and whispered secrets behind closed doors. Yes, it’s time for the dreaded Christmas Treasure Hunt Puzzles!

Many, many years ago, I purchased a train set for my husband and oldest son for Christmas. Have you ever purchased a train set? At the time, train sets were packaged in very large, very recognizable, flat boxes. So, in stead of wrapping that big box and placing it under the tree, risking revealing my fun surprise, I hid the box in our daughter’s closet. Colleen was only one at the time. She didn’t even know she had a closet, let alone that momma had hidden a big ol’ train set inside.

As Christmas drew nearer, I realized that I was running out of time and ideas for disguising that box. So, I decided to leave the train set in my daughter’s closet and leave clues for my husband and son to follow.

Inspired by all of the Dr. Seuss books we’d been reading at the time, I wrote a crazy poem that sent my “boys” racing around the house, discovering other parts of the poem until they found their present.

Earlier that same Christmas morning, our children received an obscene amount of presents. Ten minutes later, amid a mountain of present and paper, Matthew asked, with a touch of sadness in his voice, “Is that it?”

That Christmas, my husband and I made a few important decisions. First, we decided it was time to eliminate the excessiveness that breeds ungratefulness. Second, we decided to make the treasure hunt an annual tradition.

Seventeen years later, the kids still only get a couple of presents on Christmas, and they really have to work at finding them. Over the years, we’ve given them jigsaw puzzles, word searches, crossword puzzles, cryptograms, and acrostic puzzles. They’ve followed compass points, crude, crayon maps, and vague clues to hidden treasure. They’ve climbed trees, crawled into cubby holes, and trudged out in the snow and rain (especially when we lived up north) just to find the next clue. They’ve even done algebra on Christmas!

This year, hubby and I are already diligently creating clues and puzzles to torture our children on Christmas morning. Rumor has it that the kids have a little revenge in the works, too! I foresee a lot of laughter and maybe some serious thinking headed our way!

By the way, if Christmas time seems a little too hectic for you to create a treasure hunt for your kids, birthdays are made for treasure hunts, too. My hubby sent me driving all over the county on our anniversary one year and well, I won’t even mention what the whole family did to me on my birthdaythis year!

Anyway, if you do want to try your hand at creating a treasure hunt, here are some puzzle and tips that have worked well for us over the years.

Word Search Puzzles – You know the kind. You have a grid of letters and a list of words. The idea is to find the words in the grid. To use this type of puzzle as a clue, simply make the leftover, unused letters spell out your clue.

Jigsaw Puzzles – This is an excellent puzzle for little ones. Cut up a picture created with desktop publishing software, taken with a digital camera, or sketched by hand of the hiding place. When the child puts the pieces together, she knows a clue, a present or both are hiding in the dryer or whatever is in the picture.

Cryptograms – Cryptograms can be fun but also quite challenging. Sometimes, because we know the code as the creator of the cryptogram, we don’t realize just how difficult we’ve made the puzzle. To make the puzzle a little more fun and a little less frustrating, make sure the answer is a complete sentence and contains at least one single-letter word, or include a hint on a previous puzzle like W=R tucked inconspicuously in the corner or on the back.

Directions – These are always fun and great for kinesthetic learners. They get to use their bodies! These are also easy to set up if you’re short on time. Yes, we have created 18 puzzles on Christmas Eve! I do not recommend that to anyone who likes sleep. Anyway, combine compass points with a number of steps in that direction to lead your child all around the house. Left and right and a measuring tape are great for this, too.

Invisible Messages – The invisible message is actually a new addition to our puzzle portfolio. Write your message in lemon juice on a blank piece of paper. Heating the paper brings out the message. However, there is the risk of the paper going up in flames. Writing the message in a white crayon on a white piece of paper also works nicely provided the person receiving the blank piece of paper knows to use watercolor paints to reveal the clue. We’re still working on this one.

Acrostics, figgerits, crossword puzzles, and laddergrams are a lot of work for the person creating the puzzles. If you’re going to tackle these, I highly recommend getting a puzzle magazine and doing a few to warm up the brain. Also, allow yourself lots of time to noodle these puzzles around a bit. These puzzles are challenging enough to do. Creating them is even more challenging.

While you’re at it, page through the puzzle magazine for ideas. We’ve gotten some of our best puzzle ideas from these magazines.

Thanks for stopping by! Although this particular tradition doesn’t focus on the “Reason for the Season,” we’ve found that it has actually taught our children to enjoy the journey as much as the final prize. Since some of these treasure hunts have taken several hours to finish, the pace of our Christmas Day is much slower and a lot less frenetic. We put God at the center of all we do in our home, even if we don’t always say it.

Grace and peace be yours in abundance,

Betty

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11 Days 'til Christmas

There are no words to prepare you for this video. All I can say is fill your coffee and enjoy! Oh, and check out the cool head gear on everyone!

Cookie Exchange

This is too yummy not to share! Esther at Our Simple Country Life is holding a cookie swap blog hop this week. I don't know about you, but I honestly believe that you cannot have too many Christmas cookie recipes.

So hop on over and share a recipe or two and check out a few new ones, too!

12 Days 'til Christmas

I think it's time to get up and shake off a few cookie pounds with Miss Piggy!

How can you not want to start dancing around with that song!? But that's enough of that! Here's something from that same muppet Christmas special from way back when in my youth for you to simply enjoy your coffee with. It's a little long so make sure that coffee is filled to the top!

13 Days 'til Christmas

I'm pretty sure this isn't technically a Christmas song, but I think it should be!

Although several videos are out there featuring the "Singing Silent Monks," this one is my favorite. I hope it brings a smile to your lips and a giggle to your heart on this crazy busy Christmas season Monday!




If that didn't make you smile, maybe this one will. Can you imagine this Flash Mob happening while you're taking a break from shopping and having lunch in the food court? This would be awesome!

Menu Plan Monday 12/12

We’ve finally brought out the Christmas decorations! Yay!! Lights are glowing and twinkling all over the place! We’re keeping the decorations simple this year and not decorating much outside, but the tree looks lovely in the living room with its odd assortment of ornaments collected over the years.

The kids did most of the decorating, by the way. My hubby and I hung out in the kitchen making fudge, lasagna, and chocolate chip cookies and visiting with my in-laws while Jared, Colleen, and Colleen’s boyfriend Billy strung lights around the living room and covered every flat surface with some kind of Christmas bling. They did such a great job that I won’t have to fix very much at all today while everyone is out for the day.

Ok, I don’t really go behind and fix the decorations, but I will be adding to them today and cleaning up the empty boxes.

Don’t forget to stop by Organizing Junkie for more menu ideas! If you’re looking for some new recipe resources, check out this Recipe Index Round Up.

Menu Plan for Week of 12/12/2011

Breakfast 

Fruit, granola, yogurt, or smoothies.

Lunch

Lunch of the week – Salads, wraps or leftovers

Fruit of the week – Apples, bananas, and pears (the fruit selection will probably stay about the same now until March. No more summer fruits…sigh.)

Dinner

Monday – Potato soup, salad, artisan bread

Tuesday – Big salad, artisan bread

Wednesday – Homemade pizza, salad

Thursday – Chili, cornbread, salad

Friday – Pork and sauerkraut, salad, artisan bread

Saturday – Teriyakichicken and broccoli over brown rice, salad

Sunday – Gumbo, salad

Snacks – Crackers and peanut butter, fruit, yogurt, carrot and celery sticks, or popcorn.

Thank you for stopping by! Can you tell the weatherman is predicting a cold snap this week? I just love a nice, hearty soup when it gets cold!

Grace and peace be yours in abundance,

Betty

14 Days 'til Christmas

During the Christmas season, in the midst of all the decorations, holiday parties, shopping, and cooking, I sometimes forget and don't appreciate how blessed I am. I have a roof over my head, a husband who loves and cares for me and our children, and children who brighten my days. We have our struggles and challenges, of course, but we persevere and overcome those challenges together, leaning heavily on God.

This song by Faith Hill reminds me of the challenges Mary faced after she learned she was pregnant. A Baby Changes Everything. I know a lot of mom's who would heartily agree with that statement!

I hope you enjoy Faith Hill's singing of this beautiful and thought-provoking song.

15 Days 'til Christmas

Random Quilt Update

Did you know that random isn’t really random and that random actually takes a lot of careful planning?

I started a scrap quilt a couple of weeks ago to replace our aging comforters. Originally, the 4-inch squares were to be randomly sewn into nine-patch squares and then pieced together into the quilt. Do you have any idea how difficult it is to be truly random? As I laid the pieces out, I had to be careful not to fall into a pattern. Squares from the same fabric couldn't be near each other. Even though that would happen with real randomness, fake randomness requires careful planning.

Of course, in true Betty-fashion, after I painstakingly stacked the pieces randomly to make my random nine-patch squares, I paged through one of my eight million quilting magazines and changed everything. Okay, I don’t really have eight million quilting magazines. That would just be silly.

Anyway, I found a great idea for my scrap quilt and decided to run with it. Thankfully, I didn’t need to cut any new squares, just re-randomize the squares I had, which actually made everything a little less random. I am probably not making any sense whatsoever.

That’s okay. My dog understands. And since I have to climb over the dog every time I get up from the sewing machine, my dog understands me pretty well.

Thanks for stopping by! The quilt is coming along slowly but surely, but at least it’s coming along.

Grace and peace be yours in abundance,

Betty

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16 Days 'til Christmas

I love this simple, beautiful song that reminds us that even though Jesus could have come in a blaze of glory to save mankind, He came as baby, lived as a man, and died in an agonizing sacrificial death in order to reconcile the souls of sinners forevermore. What a strange way to save the world, indeed.

Do You Dig the Duggars?

When the Duggar’s announced that they are expecting baby number 20, my daughter and I were overjoyed for the family and stopped for a moment and prayed together for the family. Even though we’ve only seen a few episodes of their show, bits and pieces of their lives in the news, and their book on the library shelves, I can honestly say I was happy for the family and their next addition.

What surprised me though, were the reactions of the public at large. Wow! So much negativity!

First of all, the Duggar family should be praised and admired for standing firm and following the Lord unconditionally. How many people claim they follow the Lord but the minute the Lord gives them something tough or what we call an “Isaac Moment,” they walk away? I applaud this family’s faith and courage. Not only do they follow, they follow completely!

Second, why do people think they actually have a say in other people lives, especially people they don’t even know? This phenomenon has always made me chuckle. Long before the popularity of the internet’s celebrity bash blogs, supermarket rag mags and gossip columns printed heavily-opinionated stories attacking the way people lived, especially if their way of life deviated at all from the “societal norm.”

Let me tell you, the societal norm these days allows a government that thinks pizza is a vegetable to raise their children, lives on fast food and food stamps, and would rather lose their homes to foreclosure than to give up their Smartphones. I’ll stick to re-defining normal, one day at a time, thank you very much.

Anyway, for a well-written, thought out perspective on why the world hates the Duggars, check out Cindy at Get Along Home and her post:

Why Does the World Hate the Duggars?

I don’t know how you feel about a family having 20 children, and I don’t mean to offend with my post. However, if this has riled you up a bit, perhaps, instead of condemning the Duggar family, try praising God that He hasn’t called you to the same life and move on. Just a thought.

Grace and peace be yours in abundance,

Betty

Molting

One of my chickens is naked. Ok, she’s not completely naked, but one more sneeze and she will be, I’m certain of it.

These girls are over 2 years old and overdue their first molt. Normally, my hens lose feathers only a few at a time. I’m not sure why, but it might be the Florida climate. Usually, the only visible evidence that a chicken is in molt is a lack of eggs and a few feathers on the ground.

This poor hen is practically naked, and the ground around the coop is carpeted with mahogany-colored feathers.

How interesting that when I walked into the coop to take her picture, two of the other hens surrounded her in a show of protection while the third stayed near me, watching my every move! I am always amazed at flock dynamics. They might peck at each other on a regular basis, but just try to mess with one when she’s down. Not going to happen! Kind of like family. We might snipe at each other from time to time, but we’re always ready to circle and protect the flock.

Thanks for stopping by! The temperature is dropping a bit this week. Hopefully, the other hens will help keep my naked bird warm at night. A little milk mixed with scratch grains will help, too, and maybe I won’t have a chicken-sicle in the roost in the morning.

Grace and peace be yours in abundance,

Betty

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17 Days 'til Christmas

Have you ever listened to the lyrics of God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen?

God rest ye merry gentlemen, let nothing you dismay.

Remember Christ our Savior was born on Christmas day, 

To save us all from Satan's power when we were gone astray.

Oh, tidings of comfort and joy,

Comfort and joy.

Oh, tidings of comfort and joy.

Isn't that beautiful? Nothing in this world should bring us unrest or dismay because Christ came to save us in spite of our wandering away from God's love. We can rest in comfort and experience true joy as we celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ. So simple, yet so beautiful.




Grace and peace be yours in abundance,
Betty

18 Days 'til Christmas

Only 18 days until Christmas. Are you ready? I'm not. Because of the house project going on, we won't be decorating until this weekend, and even that will be limited because the kids have cantata practice and performance this weekend. I'll make some cookies and everything will be wonderful no matter how much decorating we actually do. This year has just been a little different, and that's okay.

I hope you enjoy today's video. I love this version of Santa Clause is Coming to Town. Always a favorite around here!




We watched the VeggieTales Christmas DVDs yesterday, but we don't have the new one, The Little Drummer Boy. I think it's time to start requesting a few videos from the library.

Grace and peace be yours in abundance,
Betty

19 Days 'til Christmas

Thank you, Terry, for the reminder of this version of The Little Drummer Boy. Such a beautiful rendition of the dear song. I hope you enjoy!




By the way, have you watched The Little Drummer Boy yet this season? A couple of years ago, we picked up a packet of all of those old Christmas specials on DVD like Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, Santa Claus is Coming to Town, and The Year Without a Santa Claus, and The Little Drummer Boy was included. What a story! If you haven't watched it, yet, what are you waiting for? Check the library for a copy, or if you're in the neighborhood, I'll put on some fresh coffee and we can watch it together.

Grace and peace be yours in abundance,
Betty

Christmas School

December can quickly turn into one of the busiest months of the year, especially for homeschooling families. In addition to the usual schoolwork and activities, the calendar quickly fills with special holiday activities like extra choir performances, club Christmas parties, family commitments, and extra ministry opportunities.

Over the years, we adopted different ways of getting through the holidays as unscathed as possible. Since we school through the summer, sometimes we were able to take from Thanksgiving to New Year’s Day off completely. Some years, we did what we called Christmas School. Everything focused on Christmas. The kids researched various holiday traditions and made lapbooks from their findings. We’d read The Legend of the Candy Cane and open Sonneman’s Candy Store to practice math. Now that I'm down to just one, we simple adjust the schedule and keep going.

Sherry over at Large Family Mothering has some wonderful, practical ideas, advice, and encouragement to help homeschooling families flourish in the busy season. Check out her post:

Christmas Homeschool

I love the simplicity of her ideas! I guess when you’re raising 15 kids, you have to master the Keep It Simple philosophy! Enjoy and be blessed! I was!

Menu Plan Monday 12/5

The big organization project is almost complete! This past weekend, we emptied what used to be the “tool room.” Basically, this was an area of shelves in the basement that held more of the hubby’s tools. The tools headed out to the Tool Shed (sounds ominous, doesn’t it?) and the shelves were cleaned and rebuilt to suit a new purpose.

This area will hold a strange assortment of items that most people would put in a shed or garage. We don’t have a garage, and I’m always concerned about how the Florida heat affects things so we’re careful about what actually goes into the sheds. These shelves now hold a variety of things form around the house, which eliminated a whole lot of clutter all over the place! All of the animal feed bins slid in under the shelves along with our coolers. I also put soapmaking, candlemaking, and model building supplies here along with those occasionally-used over-sized kitchen items like the wok, the roaster, and the pressure cooker. I told you it was an odd assortment!

Anyway, it’s time to get the week started. It looks like we’ll finally be able to decorate this weekend, Yay!!

Don’t forget to stop by Organizing Junkie for more menu ideas! If you’re looking for some new recipe resources, check out this Recipe Index Round Up.

Menu Plan for Week of 12/05/2011

Breakfast 

Fruit, granola, yogurt, or smoothies.

Lunch

Lunch of the week – Salads, wraps or leftovers

Fruit of the week – Apples, bananas, and pears (the fruit selection will probably stay about the same now until March. No more summer fruits…sigh.)

Dinner

Monday – Vegetable barley soup, salad, artisan bread

Tuesday – Big salad, artisan bread

Wednesday – Broccoli in a creamy garlic sauce over homemade pasta, salad

Thursday – Kielbasa and potato skillet, green beans and broccoli from the garden, salad

Friday – Chicken noodle soup, salad

Saturday – Leftover soup, salad

Sunday – Lasagna, salad

Snacks – Crackers and peanut butter, fruit, yogurt, carrot and celery sticks, or popcorn.

Thank you for stopping by! Can you tell the weatherman is predicting a cold snap this week? I just love a nice, hearty soup when it gets cold!

Grace and peace be yours in abundance,

Betty

20 Days 'til Christmas

One of my favorite Christmas songs is the Little Drummer Boy. I'd love to say that the reason it's one of my favorites is because my brother did such an amazing job singing a solo of this song when we were young that it still resonates with me today. Unfortunately, I was such a wonderfully supportive little sister that I promptly fell asleep during the whole performance and didn't wake until after my brother had finished singing. For my brother, that memory is probably pretty cool. For me, well, I remember seeing him take his bow. He did it very well, though. Love you, Joe!

Anyway, I do love the message of The Little Drummer Boy. No matter how small or insignificant our gift may seem to us, if it is heartfelt and truly all that we have, Jesus is overjoyed. His love for us does not depend on how much we have. He sees our heart. And even someone like me who will never have any gold, frankincense, or myrrh to lay at His feet can still experience His love and feel that smile.

I've posted three different versions of The Little Drummer Boy today. The first one is by Audio Adrenaline and a little on the kickin' side. The second one is by Bob Seger and a little more traditional. For a wonderful traditional version, though, nothing beats the Harry Simone Chorale. Enjoy!

21 Days 'til Christmas

Be prepared to cry when you watch this video. I cry every time I hear the song. Although part of the story is so sad, a bigger part of the story is about hope, community, and the love of Jesus. Maybe that's why it really touches me so deeply.

Please, take a moment after the video to say a prayer for all of those that may be seeing their last Christmas this year.

I pray that we all remember what Christmas is really all about. The presents, the decorations, the playful fun are all part of a great celebration honoring the birth of Christ, our eternal hope. Knowing the reason for the season, really knowing Jesus, has brought my family and me more joy and peace than any tinsel-filled tree or brightly-wrapped present. I pray that you feel that same joy this season, no matter your circumstances, just like the family in this song.

22 Days 'til Christmas

You don't hear this song often these days, and I was wonderfully surprised when our favorite radio station added it to this year's Christmas list!

23 Days 'til Christmas

Since it's Friday and Friday's must be fun, today's Christmas song is filled with a lot of ridiculous humor! I truly am a sucker for silliness and parodies.


Have you watched any Christmas shows yet? Jared controlled himself this year and didn't put in a single Christmas DVD until December 1st! Last night was Rudolph and Santa Claus is Coming to Town, the perfect choices for starting off the Christmas season!

Thanks for stopping by! I hope you got a good chuckle out of today's video, and I pray that amid the hustle and bustle of the holiday season you see the magic and beauty in the twinkling lights, enjoy the laughter and warmth of family togetherness, and feel the hope and the love of God wrapped in swaddling and laid in a manger.

Grace and peace be yours in abundance,
Betty

Sauerkraut

Sauerkraut is a staple in many eastern European cultures and an excellent probiotic that promotes a healthy digestive system. Just like my Polish grandmother used to say! We eat a fair amount of it around here but not really enough. I just don’t think of it when I’m at the store.

About a month ago, I came across an amazing deal on cabbage and decided to try my hand at making sauerkraut. Four weeks later, I put up 7 quarts of yummy sauerkraut and still had enough leftover to serve at Thanksgiving.

Honestly, it really wasn’t all that complicated, and the whole process probably took me about 2 hours on the first day and about an hour on canning day.

Now, I’m keeping an extra close eye on the cabbage plants in my garden. I will definitely do this again!

You may have seen sauerkraut recipes where the kraut is made in individual jars instead of in a big bucket and then canned later. Although I’m not the most experience kraut maker at this point, I don’t recommend the small jar method. I’ve read too many failed sauerkraut blog posts involving kraut made in quart jars to even try it. Use a 5- or 6-gallon food grade plastic bucket or a nice, big, old-fashioned crock. If you grind your own wheat into flour, you probably have a few of those buckets hanging around. If not, check the bakery or deli at your favorite grocery store. They’re usually very happy to get rid of their buckets!

SAUERKRAUT

25 lbs cabbage

3/4 cup canning or pickling salt

Work in batches of about 5 pounds of cabbage at a time.

Discard outer leaves. Rinse heads under cold running water and drain. Cut heads in quarters and remove cores. Shred or slice cabbage into thin strips. A food processor with a slicing blade or a mandolin can be quite handy. I was really happy with the food processor.

Put cabbage in a suitable fermentation container, and add 3 tablespoons of salt. Mix thoroughly, using clean hands. Pack firmly until salt draws juices from cabbage. It may take a few minutes before the salt starts working on the cabbage, but it will happen.

Really pack it in there!

 Repeat shredding, salting, and packing until all of the cabbage is in the container. The container should be deep enough so that its rim is at least 4 or 5 inches above the cabbage. If you’re getting close to the top and you still have cabbage left, either transfer everything to a new, larger container or start a second one. A 5- or 6-gallon bucket fits 25 pounds of cabbage perfectly.

If after pressing and packing the cabbage the juice does not cover cabbage, add boiled and cooled brine (1-1/2 tablespoons of salt per quart of water).

Place an inverted dinner plate over the cabbage. Weigh the plate down either with a couple of closed quart jars filled with water or a turkey-sized storage bag filled with about 3 quarts of cooled brine. The weighted plate keeps the sauerkraut 1 to 2 inches below the surface of the brine. If you weigh the cabbage down with a brine-filled bag, do not disturb the crock until normal fermentation is completed (when bubbling ceases). If you use jars as the weight, you will have to check the kraut two to three times each week and remove scum if it forms.

I like the set-it-and-forget-it bag-weight method. I like low-maintenance.

Cover the container with a clean bath towel and store at 70° to 75°F while fermenting. At temperatures between 70° and 75°F, kraut will be fully fer­mented in about 3 to 4 weeks; at 60° to 65°F, fermentation may take 5 to 6 weeks. At tem­peratures lower than 60°F, kraut may not ferment. Above 75°F, kraut may become soft.

Fully fermented kraut may be kept tightly covered in the refrigerator for several months. However, I do not have room for 25 pounds of sauerkraut in my refrigerator. I canned most of my batch and served up a bit of it at Thanksgiving.

Canning Sauerkraut

Hot pack—Bring kraut and liquid slowly to a boil in a large kettle, stirring frequently. Remove from heat and fill hot jars rather firmly with kraut and juices, leaving 1/2-inch headspace.

Raw pack—Fill hot jars firmly with kraut and cover with juices, leaving 1/2-inch headspace.

Remove air bubbles and adjust headspace if needed. Wipe rims of jars with a dampened clean paper towel. Adjust lids and process in a boiling water bath canner. Process hot-packed pints for 10 minutes and quarts for 15 minutes. Process raw-packed pints for 20 minutes and quarts for 25 minutes. Remove jars from the canner and let cool overnight before storing. Store in a cool, dry place.

I was really intimidated by the idea of leaving food sit at room temperature for 4 weeks, which is why it took me so long to try making sauerkraut for the first time. Now I wish I’d tried it sooner! It was wonderfully easy to make and wonderfully delicious to eat. I really do have to adopt the Miss Frizzle way of thinking more often: Take chances, make mistakes, get messy!

By the way, if your kraut tastes a bit salty to you like it did us, rinse it before cooking and serving. Do not rinse it before canning. All that salt is crucial to the fermentation and preservation of your homemade sauerkraut. However, nothing says you have to eat it. Just toss the sauerkraut in a colander and give it a good cold shower.

Thanks for stopping by! I was so happy with that sauerkraut that I think it’s time to try fermented pickles! Just in time, too. My favorite produce stand has been running great sales on pickling cucumbers!

Grace and peace be yours in abundance,

Betty

Shared on:

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