"Busy"

Every time I go anywhere someone always feels the need to tell me that I must be busy. It always feels a little strange because I know so many people that have much larger families, or wilder children, or a million other reasons that they must be “busier” than me, but I suppose they are right. My boys do keep me busy, each in their own unique way.Joshie, Joshie, Joshie. What more do I need to say? A friend of mine recently said that it seems that...

Read More

Cat Food is Non-Toxic, Right?

Every time I go anywhere someone always feels the need to tell me that I must be busy. It always feels a little strange because I know so many people that have much larger families, or wilder children, or a million other reasons that they must be “busier” than me, but I suppose they are right. My boys do keep me busy, each in their own unique way. Joshie, Joshie, Joshie. What more do I need to say? A friend of mine recently said that it seems that...

Read More

Beautifully Frugal

Many times frugal equals simple. But it doesn’t always have to. One example of this can be our dining room table. For instance paper napkins are obviously not a frugal choice, but sometimes cloth napkins can get pricey (especially if you are having to purchase enough for a large family and use them at every meal) So why not make some? It is a very simple project even if you have limited sewing skills. One thing I have done is to look for bed sheets...

Read More

The Family Table

Jacob loved watching me unpack and set up the rooms in our new home. When I was unpacking our dining room, I pulled out the box of our gold silverware and serving utensils and he asked “What is that Mommy?” It occurred to me that he probably had never even seen it before. We only used it at holidays or special occasions, and we really hadn’t used it much in quite some time. This made me think. Why do I have this beautiful set of cutlery and yet...

Read More

Homemaking Challenge

Wow, is July nearly over already? How did that happen? I suppose we have been rather busy… 1. Continue adding new inventory to Modest Melly’s.2. Organize refrigerator. We bought so much fresh produce that it doesn’t fit in my produce drawer so I am going to have to come up with a different system.3. Wash Jospeh’s laundry, and a load of darks.4. Do some general clean up around the house. Happy Homemaki...

Read More

Homemaking Challenge

My husband worked from home Monday and Tuesday, so I haven’t had much internet access this week. But today I am back, and have much catching up to do. I went shopping this past weekend for inventory for our store, so I need to get that up. 1. Add new inventory to Modest Melly’s. Crop pictures, add to database, enter into site.2. Transfer flour to zip top bags and label. I have been storing it in a large tub, but I think that it will stay fresh for...

Read More

Homemaking Challenge

This week has been just crazy busy. Joseph had his four month checkup, I attended a tea with the ladies at my parish, and there just seems to be a lot of little stuff this week. So today I’d like to take some time to get caught up. 1. Get caught up on laundry.2. Create a menu combining some of our family favorites with some new frugal recipes.3. Take inventory of the pantry, refrigerator and freezer.4. Make grocery shopping list.5. Make iced tea,...

Read More

Homemaking Challenge

I have been sick this weekend, and am still not feeling well, so I’m going to keep it light. 1. Clean litter boxes.2. Fill potpurri pots.3. Figure out what to do about the um, dead bird on our front porch. (he have huge windows on the front of our house and frequently have birds hit them, but this is the first one that has fallen to his death).4. Dinner~ Meatloaf, Macaroni and Cheese, Green Beans.5. Add new articles to Catholic Homemaking (site)....

Read More

Helping Playmates, Serving Mother, They are Serving Jesus Still

It is such an amazing feeling as a mother when your children start showing that they are actually listening, and show the fruits of what you have been teaching them. It is just so cool. Jacob has lately really come into his role as the biggest brother. He is constantly trying to show Joshua how to do things, and helping him with things. Yesterday I had asked them to start cleaning up the school room, and a few minutes later I turned around to see...

Read More

My Boys, My Girl, and a Spot of Tea

Today Jacob is all about being lazy. How can I play with my toys without having to get up off of the floor? It seems that taking a little break from school as brought out the lazy bones in him! And it seems to be contagious, Joshua is now lounging on the floor with a pillow and his “nap”. What to do with these lazy boys! I think we will all be glad when school resumes in a couple of weeks. It was nice to take a little break, but it will be...

Read More

Homemaking Challenge

1. Clean all three bathrooms. (scrub toilets, clean showers and tubs, clean countertops, mirrors, mop floors).2. Bake banana bars.3. Add more recipes to www.catholichomemaking.com4. Laundry.5. Dinner~ Country Fried Steak, Mashed Potatoes, Fried Okra, Biscuits and Gravy. “This is the day that the Lord has made! Let us rejoice and be glad in it!” Happy Homemaki...

Read More

Homemaking Challenge

1. Clean Bedrooms (dust, change bed linens, vacuum, straighten everything up)2. Add more recipes to www.catholichomemaking.com3. Finish painting Jacob’s birthday present. (a plaster train set)4. Laundry-wash a load of whites and light colors.5. Dinner- Chicken and Broccoli Casserole, Homemade Rolls6. Bake chocolate chip cookies.7. Package grapes into individual snack bags for husband’s lunches, dice grapes for the little ones. The weather is so gray...

Read More

Just Another Crazy Day

Can you believe that I am STILL hearing about the lemonade incident???? “Be careful Mommy, don’t spill it again!” “Mommy always spills the lemonade” “Mommy it’s not good to spill it” Jacob just won’t let it go. I suppose eventually I will do something else that will distract his attention… We figured out that Frannie does indeed have a quirk (how could she be a part of our family without at least some degree of quirkiness, although we had...

Read More

Shepherd's Pie

I didn’t get a chance to post this yesterday, so I thought I would do it today. Ingredients~1-2 lb. ground beef (or left over pot roast)mashed potatoes ( I use about 6 potatoes worth)1-1 1/2 c. cooked carrots1 med onion, diced1-2 c. shredded cheesegarlic powdersalt and pepper to taste Directions~If using ground beef, cook with onions in skillet, drain.If using pot roast, just saute onions. In a casserole dish layer from bottom to top: cooked meat,...

Read More

Homemaking Challenge

1. Dust living room, dining room, and school room. Clean glass in tables and china cabinet. Vacuum.2. Bake a loaf of bread.3. Add more recipes to www.catholichomemaking.com.4. Laundry.5. Iron a dress shirt for my husband.6. Dinner~ Spaghetti and Garlic Toast.7. Paint the plaster trains for Jacob’s birthday.Happy Homemaki...

Read More

Butter Beans

Since I didn’t get a chance to post this yesterday, I thought I’d do it today. Ingredients~One bag frozen butter beans (or lima beans)4-6 pieces of baconsalt Directions~Place all ingredients in a pan and add just enough water to almost cover. Cook for 20-30 minutes till beans are tender. Blessin...

Read More

Spaghetti

This is my super simple spaghetti recipe. Ingredients~1 lb. ground beef1 onion, diced1 clove garlic, mincedItalian seasoningssalt to taste1 can diced tomatoes1 can tomato sauce Directions~Brown ground beef in pan. When almost done, add onions and garlic. When onions are clear add seasonings and salt..Add tomatoes and tomato sauce.Let simmer till done. Blessin...

Read More

Super Simple Garlic Toast

Ingredients~sliced breadgarlic saltgrated paremesan cheeseparsleymargerine or butter Directions~Spread butter or margerine on bread. Sprinkle with garlic salt and parmesan cheese. Place in oven and broil until desired doneness. Garnish with parsley.Blessin...

Read More

Red, White, and Zoo

For Independence day we decided to take the children to the zoo. We knew that they would enjoy that more than seeing fireworks at their age. We had a lovely time! We bought a pass that allowed us to ride the train, tram and boat as much as we’d like, and apparently that is all that Jacob really wanted to do. From the minute we got there he wanted to ride the train. Forget the animals, we were there to ride a train! We still have yet to make...

Read More

Homemaking Challenge

1. Bake a loaf of bread.2. Add recipes to Catholic Homemaking site.3. Clean kitchen (thoroughly clean countertops, sweep, mop, polish front of refrigerator, dust decoratives)4. Dinner: Shepard’s Pie, Butter Beans, Bread.5. Laundry.6. Paint plaster trains for a birthday present for Jacob. Things have been so busy around here! I tend to like to be challenged and to have a lot on my plate as they say, so it seems that I am constantly finding ways to...

Read More

New Homemaking Site

I am really enjoying my homemaking blog, but I thought that it might be neat to have an actual website that contained all of the homemaking resources that I plan to share on here. My prayer is that in sharing what I have learned, I may be able to encourage someone else in their journey as a wife, mother and homemaker. Perhaps other ladies will feel that they can also contribute and together we can provide a vast resource for Catholic ladies living...

Read More

A Day to Play

We had a lovely weekend. We always have so many errands to run on the weekend, but this week we made a concerted effort to just stay home.We spent a good bit of the afternoon playing outside. The boys had a great time! Jacob wanted to ride his bike, and Joshua played with just about everything. He enjoyed blowing bubbles with me for Joseph.The boys had fun playing on the floor with Daddy. We sang songs and then Jacob decided to break into an impromptu...

Read More

A Deer Outside the Window

We live out in the country, so seeing a deer shouldn’t be too much of a surprise, but we never see them near our house. We see them out on the main road, but never here. But today there was a sweet little deer standing in front of the house, happily eating grass. Just too cu...

Read More

Homemaking Challenge

One of my big goals lately has been to create a stash of foods in the freezer to have on hand when I am running short on time, or for some reason am not able to cook as much as I’d like. So that has been one of my top items on my homemaking challenge lately. My Homemaking Challenge for Today…1. Bake rolls to add to my freezer stash, using my Homemade Rolls Recipe, and my White Rolls Recipe.2. Wash three loads of laundry.3. Dinner- Chicken and Broccoli...

Read More