A Keeper at Home

I read this poem a while back in a Keepers at Home magazine. I liked it so much that I put a copy of it on my refrigerator where I could reread it often.


A Keeper at Home
- a reader, Keepers at Home Magazine, Fall 2010

A keeper at home, I have promised to be,
So many duties are waiting for me.
A mistress of dust rags, of mops, and of brooms,
A sweeper of spiders in corners of rooms.
A shaker of rugs, a duster of chairs,
A straightener of bookshelves, a scrubber of stairs.
I'm a plumper of pillows tousled by heads,
A smoother of covers, a maker of beds.
A shiner of windows all speckled with rain,
A washer of clothes that are dirty again.
A sewer of buttons, a mender of tears,
A patcher of holes that are needing repairs.
I'm a cooker of meats, of breads and of pies,
And other good things that bring joy to the eyes.
The planner of meals and the cleaner up, too,
For I must wash dishes when the cooking is through.
A tender of gardens, a planter of seeds,
A gatherer of bounties, a hoer of weeds.
My duties are many all the day through,
One task or another I hasten to do.
And when I am tempted to scold or to frown,
My mind goes to those who must work in town.
I would not trade places with any who roam,
I pray God to keep me a keeper at home.

With Love,

Read More

Do You Have Confidence, or Not?

Our little Joseph has the cutest way of asking questions. Everything has to end in an "or not". "Do you like chicken, or not?" "Are you sleepy, or not?" I love the way he asks questions, and I hope this phase takes a long time to grow out of!

But on to the point...

Some time ago, I had met a new friend. This friend had been reading my blog before we met face to face. One day we were talking and she told me that one thing that had really stood out to her from reading my writings was my confidence. Confidence in the things our family was doing, confidence in how we are raising our children, confidence in who I am. I remember being so shocked by that. Me? Confident? After thinking further about it, I realized she was right. I did have a lot of confidence in what I believe, and who I am.

Somewhere along the way, that confidence began to slip away. I do not exactly know why, and I believe that it happened so slowly and gradually, that I didn't see it happening. I woke up one day feeling like I was adrift...

Do you know what is so amazing though? I quickly realized that the confidence wasn't gone. Even more amazing was to realize that the confidence that I had in these things can't be lost, because it doesn't come from me. What an awesome sense of power to know that Our Father supplies us with everything we need to fulfill the plans that He has for us. It's so wonderful to know that I don't have to do it alone!

I don't feel adrift anymore. My Heavenly Father knew that I needed a little encouragement, and He has moved mountains, rearranged paths, knocked down walls and built bridges wherever need be. Oh, how loved I am!

Do you have confidence, or not? I do.

^"For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end. Then shall ye call upon me, and ye shall go and pray unto me, and I will hearken unto you. And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart. And I will be found of you, saith the LORD: and I will turn away your captivity, and I will gather you from all the nations, and from all the places whither I have driven you, saith the LORD; and I will bring you again into the place whence I caused you to be carried away captive." Jeremiah 29:11

In Christ's Love,

Read More

Frugal Friday- Winter Drying

We all know that drying clothes on a clothesline is the frugal thing to do, but what about when the weather is cold? I have certainly hung clothes out in freezing weather before, but, of course, my clothes completely froze. The problem that I faced was that my clothes were wet once they thawed out. So, what are we to do then? There are certainly ways to hang clothes indoors, but for some this is just an inconvenience and not practical if you have a lot of laundry to do.


One way to at least cut back on dryer usage is to utilize drying racks. These can range in price from very inexpensive (I've seen them at Wal-mart for around $10) to pricey (places such as Lehman's carries them for much more). They don't take up very much space, and conveniently fold down for storage. I like to hang heavier items, such as towels, on these to dry to cut back on how long the dryer has to run. I also find that as an added bonus, it adds a little humidity back in the air. :)

I am actually considering hanging a line in my basement that I can use on rainy or cold days to help with drying as well.

Blessings,

Read More

Thankful Thursday

I love little reminders to be thankful for the blessings in my life. It is so easy to get bogged down with the stresses and burdens in daily life and lose sight of the blessings all around us.

Fresh, real milk...straight from a cow. Many times when we pick up our milk for the week, we see that it was milked that morning. I am thankful for the delicious cream and for how much the boys love drinking their fresh milk!

I am so thankful for the warmth of home...even when home is often chilly because it is a drafty ole farmhouse! No matter the weather outside, I can always count on the warmth that comes from being surrounded by my family.

I am especially thankful tonight for a little boys who was thrilled to have new "nannies" that mommy made for him! He has been asking for plain nannies, with no characters or patterns (yes, he truly is a good boy, with an amazing heart and desire to follow God!). He said they were the most comfortable nannies he has ever worn. He was just beaming. It makes my heart feel so good to know that such a little thing like new nannies could make him feel so special.

In Christ's Love,

Read More

Daily Happenings of Milk and Dishes

Today was one of those days that seemed a little extra busy, although I'm not quite sure why! There was nothing out of the ordinary, just a typical day in our abode!

Jacob's new favorite chore around the house is washing dishes. He actually asks if he may do the dishes. Today he told me that he wants to be the only one who washes dishes...unless he has to go to bed earlier and then he wouldn't mind if mommy or daddy did any that were leftover. :) Cheerful and willing helpers are such a blessing to their parents!

This afternoon I cut out four dresses and worked on a pajama pattern for Jacob, and then cut out a pair for him. He and Joshua have been asking me to make them "plain nannies". I think it is so sweet how they want even their nightclothes to be modest and plain. Jacob told me today that he only wants to wear clothes that his mama makes because he knows that I love God and he doesn't know whether the people who make the clothes from stores do or not. He is such a deep thinker for a boy of five years!

Somehow we ended up with two gallons of milk leftover this week! I'm not quite sure how that happened, but I needed to use it up today since we usually pick up our milk at church on Wednesday evenings. I thought about cooking some different things that require a lot of milk, but then realized that the milk was really on the edge of freshness. I decided instead to set it aside for making cheese. We have not made cheese in a couple of years, so it is long overdue! I poured the two leftover gallons into our big stock pot, and set it out to let it "clabber". It should be ready for the next step by tomorrow or so.

Tomorrow my youth girl helper, Linda, will be here. I am hoping to be able to work on my sewing while she is here. The boys always enjoy helping her clean, so I should have a little extra time on my hands. :) I still have quite a long sewing to-do list, and I am hoping to accomplish most of it while it is still cold yet. I know that Spring time will be rather busy with gardens and chickens and what-not! (yikes! It's probably time to be working on those plans as well!) Busy days are good days though.

In His Love and Care,

Read More

Our Days...Little Jewel Style

We have been reading a lot of the Little Jewel books from Rod and Staff lately. Our children love reading them, and I find the simple stories to be so wholesome and edifying. The boys really like that the stories resemble their own lives, and the pictures in the books look like us and our church family. They want to read story after story, and I enjoy reading to them as well!

One thing I really like about the books is that the story lines are so simple, and so practical, and so true to what our life is like, and what we strive for our lives to be like. So many times we read a story and the boys comment, "Oh, that's just like my mommy!", or "I do that too!". They like the books so much that we have even made copies of a few key pages to put on our refrigerator for encouragement! Reading these books has been such a good example of how children should behave, whenever Joshua starts to feel like his attitude is not quite right, he begs me to read him his favorite book, "God's Happy Family". Our copy is already looking well loved!

I thought I would share some of our day, Little Jewel style...

I like to help when mother bakes! We make our cookies and pies and cakes.

Big brother helps in the kitchen. He knows what a blessing it is to help mother!


I like to hold our baby dear! There are many things that I can do! I love my brothers and spread some cheer!


Many hands make light work!


Mother dear rocks our baby sweet.

We love when supper time is near, because it means the arrival of father dear. We watch for him on the gravel lane. Do we hear the crunch crunch of footsteps on the gravel?

God gave us fathers, to teach us to work and teach us to play. He reads us our stories and teaches us to pray.


Sometimes our lives seem so simple. There's not much that's exciting in our day to day world (although there has been almost too much excitement recently, but that's another post...) but sometimes the simple moments are the sweetest. I love when little James falls asleep in my arms, or when one of my big boys offers to help. In these little moments I feel God's love for me. His love is in the slobbery kisses of toddlers, and sticky hands of little helpers. His love is all around me.

Blessings,

Read More

Our Supper Table

Over the years I have made some really great long distance friends, and have often thought about how nice it would be to just sit and fellowship and eat together! So, this eve, I am inviting you to join us at our supper table, at least in spirit!

The lamps are lit, and the table is set. On our menu this eve we have meatballs, mashed potatoes, and green beans (made with bacon and lots of butter of course!). After we eat, Daddy reads our Bible reading and our Beside the Still Waters devotion, oh and we also usually sing a song or two!

Oh how lovely it would be to share a meal with each of you. I am so thankful for the blessing of friends in my life, both those close to home and those I have never met face to face! God is so good to me!

With Love,

Read More

Sausage Gravy and Buttermilk Biscuits

A friend asked me to share this recipe, so here it is! This is a delicious way to fill up your belly on a cold wintery morning like we had today!

My recipe makes a big enough batch to feed our house full of growing boys, so if your family is on the smaller side, you may want to halve it.


Sausage Gravy
2 lbs. pork breakfast sausage (I use the medium spicy, which has a tiny kick to it, but you could use mild or hot as well, depending on your preference)
1/2 c. flour
4 c. milk
salt and pepper to taste

Crumble and brown sausage in a large skillet over medium heat. Stir in flour till dissolved. At this point I transfer mine into a larger pot because my skillet is not big enough to hold everything, but if you were making a half batch, you could continue on in the skillet. Gradually stir in milk. Cook gravy until thick and bubbly. Salt and pepper to taste.

If you are going to be reheating this, rather than using it right away, you may need to re-thicken it a bit with cornstarch or flour. I like to make something like this ahead of time to serve on Sunday mornings before church.

This gravy is absolute delicious over buttermilk biscuits!

Buttermilk Biscuits

Ingredients:
2 c. flour
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/3 c. solid shortening
3/4 c. buttermilk

Directions:
Blend flour, baking powder, salt and baking soda together in a medium sized bowl. Cut in shortening with a pastry blend or two knives until mixture resembles coarse cornmeal. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients; add buttermilk all at one time. Stir with a fork. Gently form dough into a ball and put on a lightly floured surface. Knead lightly with finger tips 10-15 times. Roll out dough to 1/2 inch thickness. Cut with floured cutter or knife using even pressure to keep side straight. Place on baking sheet close together for soft sided biscuits or 1 inch apart for crusty sides. Brush tops lightly with milk. Bake at 450 degrees for 10-15 minutes or until biscuits are golden brown.


I doubled this recipe to go with the big batch of sausage gravy.

Blessings,

Read More

Bedtime Routine

Our bedtime has been much the same for years. It has been so neat to see our little family grow and continue on with the same traditions.

First everyone gets changed into their "nannies" (otherwise known as pajamas). We then read a bible story from Egermeiers Bible Story book. This tradition is especially sweet because Rick's grandfather, whom we were very close to, gave us this book. It was his book from when he was a small boy. It is so precious to us!

Once the story has been read, we say our prayers. I absolutely love listening to my husband pray with our children.

After prayer time we sing our night-night song. We have sung the same song since Jacob was a little baby. It is actually a VeggieTales song (which I realize is a bit ironic, since we don't watch VeggieTales, but we really liked the message of the song)

I thank God for this day, for the sun in the sky,
for my mom and my dad, and my piece of apple pie,
for my house on the ground, for His love that's all around,
that's why I say "thanks" everyday!

Because a thankful heart is a happy heart.
I'm glad for what I have, that's an easy way to start.
For the love that He shares, 'cuz He listens to our prayers,
that's why I say "thanks" everyday!

The boys love our routine, and look forward to it each evening. I love that we are building lasting traditions with them.

In Christ's Love,

Read More