It is feeling so good to get order back into my house!  Yesterday the Lord blessed me with some of the energy I needed to get the baby room in order.  I had moved our 2 year old out a few weeks ago and was wanting to move the baby in.  It was very girly, with butterlies, pinks and purples.  The wall is painted purple, but I was not up to painting so I tried to think of a way I could make it look "little boy like".  I dug out our blue jean teddy bear stuff and went to work cleaning and organizing.  This is the end result, nothing fancy, but I sure am pleased.....

Looks like I am not the only one who is pleased! :0)

We all have challenges in our home keeping life.  One of those challenges for me has always been breakfast. Really, I have always been pretty challenged in the kitchen.  Meal time wasn’t a joyous time for me growing up and the first years of my marriage I was very nervous at the table.  Of course, time at my husband’s meal table has changed me.  I know now that I am safe there and it is okay that I come just as I am.  Still, preparing food wasn’t ever a joy to me.  I struggled to know what to make, how to organize my kitchen, how to make a meal plan and on and on and on.

So, back to breakfast…..  I am NOT a morning person at all!  Thankfully, the Lord has brought me to a point of realizing that I must sacrifice that old self and face the morning anyways…not just face it, but with a heart of joy.  I guess the Lord knew that this would be one good area in my life to use in the teaching me to put others before my self. 

In order to do this, though, I had to come up with some solutions.  We are all wired differently.  My husband wakes up with a huge smile and is ready to get all his talking in within the first hour of the day.  I, on the other hand, can hardly pull myself together enough to mutter more than a pleasant, smiling “good morning”.  I was so convicted in my heart to be rising in the morning and being sure that my family was provided with a nourishing breakfast before their days began; yet found myself so discouraged about trying to do so.

It is really actually very simple and certainly wasn’t my own idea!  I get breakfast prepared the day before!  Oh!  You were expecting some NEW idea, weren’t you!?  No, not a new idea, BUT has been the answer for me!  I set a simple breakfast menu for our week.  We eat things like muffins, eggs, pancakes (which my oldest daughter now makes), baked oatmeal etc…For things like pancakes and baked oatmeal, the batter can be made the night before.  Our muffins are our favorite and we make TONS of them at one time to freeze.  I also make things the day before like honey and oat rolls, cinnamon rolls(when I am short on time and unable to make bread I use the biscuit mix I will provide here to make the rolls and it is OH so yummy!) and coffee cake.

Today I thought I would share a bulk recipe for the banana muffins and applesauce muffins that we made today.  We froze most of the applesauce muffins but set some aside to have with our barley vegetable soup today! YUM! YUM!

Banana Muffins

(makes 72 muffins)

Blend together:

8 ripe bananas

8 eggs

4 cups brown sugar (the darker it is the healthier it is)

2 cups melted butter (I sometimes use coconut oil)

4 tsp vanilla

Mix and then add to banana mixture:

9 cups flour (I have used unbleached white, whole wheat pastry flour or oat flour)

8 tsp aluminum free baking powder

2 tsp ground cinnamon

2 tsp salt

To add a bit of variety you can add 4 cups of another fruit (don’t leave out the bananas!) like chopped apples or blueberries.

Spoon into a greased muffin tin.  I use a cookie scoop to drop batter in tin.  Bake 25~30 minutes.  Allow to cool completely before dividing into freezer bags.

Applesauce Muffins

(makes 48 muffins)

Blend::

4 eggs

1 cup oil

4 cups applesauce

2 cups honey

Mix and then add to applesauce mixture:

7 cups whole grain pastry flour (pastry flour is very finely ground)

2 tsp soda

3 tsp cinnamon

2 tsp sea salt

6 tsp baking powder

1 tsp nutmeg

Spoon into a greased muffin tin.  I use a cookie scoop to drop batter in tin.  Bake 25~30 minutes.  Allow to cool completely before dividing into freezer bags.

 I have set muffin mornings and take out the muffins the evening before.  One can serve these alone OR if you have strapping, growing little men like myself, you may want to choose to add a bowl of pineapple chunks and some milk with it.

Remember, the healthier and more nutritious filled the meal, the more filling it will be!

Another great breakfast is biscuits and honey OR biscuits and gravy.  You will LOVE these biscuits!  It is a bulk recipe for the mix.  I got the recipe from Marmee Dear’s FABULOUS book called, “Martha’s Family Cookery Book”.  This book has ALL kinds of recipes separated under each day of the week to help out with menu planning.  This is my ALL time favorite book in my kitchen!  You can find it at  Marmee Dear's.

Homemade Biscuit Mix

Stir together:

5 lbs. unbleached all purpose flour

2~1/2 cups dry milk powder

¾ cup aluminum free baking powder

3 T salt

2 T cream of tartar

½ cup sugar (I use raw sugar)

Cut in:

2 lbs. vegetable shortening (I use butter)

Store is a tightly covered container and use like you would store bought biscuit mix.  I add water or milk until it is the perfect consistency for rolling out and cutting.  Don’t twist when cutting as this will prevent them from rising well!  Also, be sure to place them close together on a baking sheet so when they are baking they rise more!

I would love to hear your breakfast ideas!  Sitting around the table with family is such a lovely way to start the day.  I may not say much during this time, but my heart is filled up in a way that I would be missing out on if I chose myself instead!

Many blessings!

Thanks to Marmee Dear, I have put up the rest of the apples.  I was struggling to just get the job done.  For a time I was able to keep telling myself the children were doing a good job dwittling down the pile by snacking on them………BUT, even they have tired of eating them. 

As I mentioned before, a dear friend gifted us with TONS of homemade applesauce.  We were actually with her for apple picking day.  She had planned to pick a couple bushels for the sauce, but with our ten children together, we ended up with over 4 bushels!  She sent me home with two bushels and she put the other 2 into applesauce. 

After reading Marmee Dear's lovely article on a Midwinter Gathering in TOS magazine, I decided to put up some apple butter.  So, now the house smells of delectable apples and spices.  The kitchen is warmed by the hot oven, therefore the cold coming through the back door, due to the children’s comings and goings, is almost inviting!

Ahhhhhhhhhh…..the joys of homemaking!  God really did bless us women with His design for us! 

Thank you Lord for the heat of warm, cozy kitchens that smell of flavorful, mouth watering spices on chilly Autumn nights!  Thank you for woolen mittens and knitted stocking caps that are now keeping my children warm as they play out in Autumn breezes!  Thank you for gifting us women with our role here on earth!

 I thought I would take some time to work on sharing my Keeper at Home binders.  Before I do, please take time to read what I shared earlier today as well!  Also, I ask that you please disregaurd any mispellings or errors in grammar tonight, as I am busy posting the pics AND writing, all the while getting VERY sleepy.

Rather than having one thick binder, I like having a few different ones.  When I started using a binder to manage my home years ago, I started off just using one huge binder.  I didn't like how bulky it got and so this has worked out great for me!

First I will share my regular Keepers at home organizer.  A lot of my pages within this binder are purchased through "Keepers at Home".  Any pages you see in an antique ivory color are from this wonderful company!  Some of my normal pages for my binder are missing because it is time for me to reorder.  If you are curious about what they offer you can go to this specific page to find out.  Here you will be able to read about the FULL list of wonderful pages that fill my binder. :)

I keep this particular binder out on my kitchen counter by my coffee pot so it is the first thing I see (once the coffee starts kicking in, anyways :-)).  I have made it look pretty so it catches my eye!  

For some reason the bottom of this pic didn't load.  I have the whole scripture of Titus 2:4~5 written out there.

First thing I see when I open my binder is a pocket with a pen, pencil and highlighter, any important papers needing to be filled out and cards needing to be signed and sent (all on the left) and our block schedule on the right.

Next are some pages from "Keepers at Home" for 'Goals for This Year', 'On~Going Wish List',  'Bright Ideas for Autumn'(there is one for each season and has a column for crafts, seasonal, family fun, holiday, field trips and other) and then a 'Pile up List'.

Next is my CALENDAR section.

 This section is mostly made up of "Keepers at Home" pages.  They are WONDERFUL!  There is a whole calendar to start off with and then sections at the bottom for:

~Family Read aloud goals

~Books I need to read

~What Special Memory could I give to my family?

~Service to others

~My health goals

~Older women from which to learn

All of these pages are FILLED with thirst quenching scripture verses on them!  The next page is for:

~Child Training Goals(for this month)

~This month's field trip

~Unity Study Theme

~Local sights that pertain to this month

~Office or school supplies that are running low (place for a sticky note to be posted)

~Hobbies or crafts

~What do I need to order this month?

~Ideas for a bulk cooking day

Next in the calendar section is a weekly planner for the month I am in.  It starts with:

~Home projects to tackle

~Projects I am responsible for

~Prayer List

~Birthdays&Events to remember

~Gifts to Buy or make

~Stay on top of things checklist

~Letters to Write/Emails to Send

~Personal Calls to Make

~Business calls to make

~Weekend plans

~Honey do list

~Place for a sticky note for grocery list

~errands to run

~Items our family needs

~Yard work or gardening to do this week

THEN there is a page with a 7 day spread.  Each day is split up into AM, NOON, and PM.  There is a place at the bottom that says "things to do this week".  They are soooo good at having it all laid out!

Next I have my MEAL PLANNING section.  All I have here is a complete list of meal ideas to look off of for Breakfast, Dinner(lunch), Supper and snacks.  Then I have a 3 page master copy of a grocery list.  I used My Grocery Checklist as a wonderful help for this!

Next is my CLEANING section.  I am in the middle of completely redoing this section in my binder.  We have our cleaning system put up on the wall, but it is nice to have it in my binder as well.

Lastly, in this binder, I have a pocket page that holds pretty stationery, stickers and envelopes for snail mail.  The last pocket at the back of my binder holds things that need copied.

Here is a pic of the back of my binder. :)

Next, I have a binder for SCHOOL.  

This binder starts out with a notepad in the front pocket and a Lesson Plan/Record Book. 

Then I have a tab with EACH child's name on it with a list of goals for the year in each subject. 

I also have a section with all of my Home School Legal Defense information and then a section for Library.

The third binder I have put together is called my "Children's Health Journal". 

In this particular binder I have some of the "Keepers at Home" pages that I mentioned in my Home management binder.  The first page in this binder is a Vital Medical Information chart.  Then I have a section for IMPORTANT APPOINTMENTS FOR THE CHILDREN 2006.  Here is where I keep track of those important dates like physicals and dentist appointments. 

Next section is for EMERGENCY & ILLNESS VISITS.  This section has a page to record health care records for any visits to the ER or doctor. 

Next section is VACCINATION INFORMATION.  Here I keep important articles, updates and important forms. 

Next I have a tabbed section for EACH child.  I have a pocket folder for each child as well, for any vital information or records.  I keep notebook paper to log in any information as well.  This has helped so much, especially during times when I have run into a possible food allergy!  I even have a section for the new baby, writing down information from my prenatal visits.

My last binder that I keep is for my Bible Study.  I decorated it with many scriptures.  I don't use this one as often because I am one who prefers to journal.  I write out my heart to the Lord in a pretty journal.   I keep an actual journal for prayer lists and another Joy Journal to record the many blessings the Lord sends our way! 

So, there it is. :)  My binder system.  I go through phases when it all goes out the window, but it is always right there waiting to help me pick up where I need to be at!  I am always thinking of things I can add as well!   Such a wonderful tool in keeping the home!

Many Blessings!

 I have been asked to share what a day in the life of me is like.  Sometime back I shared a basic schedule, but I know sometimes it is more fun to read an all day account of what someone's day is like, so I will try.  I do not have any eloquent words today, as I am a bit sleep deprived, so bear with me!

  Since today has been a basic day for us, I thought I would share what we have done so far and then pick up from there with what is the usual.....

First off, I am not a strict scheduler.  This is why the block schedule has worked so well for us.  If it is time to take a walk at 3 and time to make phone calls at 3:30, I am not going to rush a delightful walk with my children to make that time.  I will not miss the flowers in life, rushing about through my days.  I am a firm believer that the Lord has laid before me each of my days and I want to be open and flexible to what He has in store for our day.  SO, there may be days when I miss that phone or email time because the children and I walked a bit farther to pick some lovely flowers....hmmmmm....which memory would I rather have...stressing about my schedule or the everlasting picture of my precious children running through a field drinking in fall breezes!?  That being said, I DO have respect for others and try my best to be on time for things when it involves others outside the home depending on me.  I just want others to be sure to know that here, at home, I do not stress about my schedule, but ask the Lord to open my heart to any changes He might bring about in our day. We do, daily, keep a basic schedule, but work with it with much flexibility.

Before breakfast, after wake up time, everyone has a short list of chores needing to be done.  After chores this morning.....

It was eggs and biscuits for breakfast, made by my 12 year old daughter.  The children are in complete charge of breakfast and all have their own special duties in which they enjoy.  My 8 year old made the juice, my 6 year old set out the dishes and my 5 year old helped his oldest sister with the mixing and prepping of the food. 

By the time breakfast is ready the 2 year old is awake.  The one year old sleeps a bit later because she still likes to wake mommy up in the night for a bottle.  Mama eats lighter at breakfast because it is all her tummy can handle.  While the children eat, she sips her coffee and wakes up for she is NOT a morning person.  She is not grouchy, just not awake, lol.

After Breakfast there is another short list of chores everyone is responsible for completing.

Once that cup of coffee starts to settle in Mama is quite ready for the day.  The children gather round and listen to her read the Bible.  We often have wonderful conversations about God's Word and all He has done/is doing in our lives.  We talk about others who are hurting, need prayer and need our help.  We spend time in prayer and song.

Once our time of family worship is through, the older 3 children sit down for seat work.  We use School of Tomorrow's ACE program for Math, English and Word Building Seat work.  This has been so wonderful for the children to be able to work at their own pace!  My 6 year old will be ready to move up to the 2nd grade in her Math work in another 8 weeks, because she has been able to work quickly through the things she already knows well!    This has also been a wonderful program for my oldest daughter as she has been able to speed up and then slow down whenever it is necessary in her two and a half years here with us.

While the children do seat work (usually in the dining room or kitchen, so they are close by if they should need my assistance) I am in the kitchen beginning our dinner preparations.  We eat our big meal at noon.  During this time I will also get some bread mixed up and rising.  Today I made some apple crisp and boy did it make the house smell delightful!!!  Once I am done with those things I like to sit and snuggle with the littlest ones, still readily available to be of assistance to the older children.

During this time the 5 year old (just turned five last week) will color, work with manipulatives, ask me TONS and TONS of questions :) and play with his little brother and sister.  My 1 and 2 year old play very well together and are usually playing with a Little Chubby People set that we have set up in the corner of the living room, right off the dining room.  Sometimes they get rowdy and I put them in their high chairs with some fun things to do......they LOVE to play with my plastic cookie cutters, measuring cups and spoons!  Sometimes I even give them a bit of flour and water to work with :).

Around 11:30 the children put their seat work aside and help with table setting and getting beverages (usually just ice water :)).  Sometimes my oldest daughter will take a break around 11 to help with the meal.  My children love to be in on the bread making!

Daddy comes home around noon and we eat with him and enjoy his company for a short time!  After dinner everyone pitches in to clean up.  Table cleared and washed, leftover food put away, high chairs washed, dishwasher emptied, counters washed and dinner dishes going in the dishwasher.  Kitchen is clean!  Daddy gets to rest a bit during our clean up time before he goes back to his hard work.

Everyone has after dinner chores to be done.  They usually take a half hour and then it is time to settle in for some quieter time.  The babies nap for a couple hours.  Right now my 5 year old is playing with an educational toy teaching numbers and letters.  My 6 year old is working on her latch hooking project.  My 8 year old has been building with K'Nex and my 12 year old has been working in a 'crossword puzzle' book.  She also has it on her list to do some latchhooking.

During this time I do some writing, emailing and make phone calls if need be.  Sometimes I have to skip all of those and take the time to rest and refresh.  Some days I like to do something different, such as sew, crochet or knit as well.

About half way through the babies' naps the older children will listen to me read.  Right now we are reading a History book that we are ALL enjoying so much!  They have been enjoying writing 'reports' at their own age levels and drawing a picture on what they have learned for a notebook.  We are also reading a book called, 'The Cabin in the North Woods".  We are reading that some during the day, filling daddy in on what he has missed and reading it with him in the evening.

When babies wake up we all have a light, healthy snack and play games together.  If we don't play games, we go for a walk, do an activity or craft.  Around 4:30 we have an afternoon chore time.  This ensures the house is tidy (mind you doesn't happen EVERY day) by the time daddy gets home.  We are trying to use some of this time as our laundry time but is still a work in progress!

Around 5:30 we will prepare a light supper and eat at 6pm.  We all pitch in to clean up then ready for a restful evening.  During these times of beautiful weather the children usually go outside to play and I will often sit on the deck to watch them.  When it is cooler we will settle inside with some reading (everyone cleaned up, in jammies and ready for bed).  We spend some good family time talking, reading and then have devotions with daddy.  He reads a Bible story, talks to the children about how it applies in our lives, prays with us and then we all sing some favorite songs.

Bedtime for the children varies because of our previous activity.  Sometimes the children are in bed by 8:00, sometimes 9:00, just depends...but usually no later than that (with summers as an exception)! 

Once the children are in bed, my husband goes to shower so I check email and wrap up any office work or school work.  I do a bit of pick up around the house, if it is needed (and usually certainly IS needed).  My husband and I then spend the rest of the evening talking or just sitting next to eachother reading or watching a video.  My husband likes to go to bed by 9:30 so I try to be sure I am ready to go along with him.  Sometimes, especially of late, I just cannot fall asleep.  I ask him if he minds me staying up to work on the computer or just read.  He, of course, never does, but I like to ask him just the same.

My day doesn't end there, as my night's are full as well.  This has been an area where the Lord is working through me and teaching me His ways.  I, like any other, would love to get a full night's rest.  Most nights it just doesn't work out that way, though.  I am learning to use this time as a time of prayer and a time of searching my own heart.  I just had a night a couple of nights ago where I had to search my own attitude about having to be up in the nights.  I finally surrendered this to the Lord and asked His forgiveness for my attitude and boy is my day today going so much better because of it!

So, nothing really exciting in the eyes of the world.  That is a day in the life of me and I believe it is a rich and full life indeed! 

Many blessings!

(stay tuned at the end of this post for some favorite bread recipes of mine. :))

Today the children and I have been discussing our goals for ‘Keepers at Home’ and ‘Contenders for the Faith’ this year.  My oldest daughter would like her first focus to be baking, since she can complete that pretty quickly.  Next she wants to focus on cleaning,sewing and a study on horses.  My six year old will be finishing up a latch hooking project and then we will go from there with her.

We will be combining some things for the boys to learn WITH the girls, such as fire safety and first aid.  My oldest son would like to explore knife safety/ care and archery, in addition to the fire safety and first aid.

If their are others who are involved in this program, I would LOVE to hear from you and hear about what you are doing as well!

***************************************************************

What we are up to today:

I have not worked any more on my homekeeping fall focus, as I have been busy catching up on some other things.  Yesterday I worked with the children as they wrote a report on their favorite part of Animal Kingdom (a Moody Bible Video) and then drew a picture to go along with it.  They put their reports in a Science notebook once all corrections were made.  It was really fun and we all enjoyed it!

This morning, while the children did their seat work I made up some of my favorite classic homemade bread, some corn bread and some banana bread and muffins.  I thought I would share the bread and banana bread recipe here, for those interested.

The bread recipe is my all time favorite.  It is a classic recipe and takes longer than the "throw everything in the bosch or bread maker" recipes these days. :)  Don't get me wrong...I like those recipes on those days when I need bread fast, but this is the best...in my eyes. 

It is a Tasha Tudor recipe and she writes,

"I used to set the bread bowl on the woodbox next to the stove, a nice draft~free and snug spot.  Then one winter's morning I found Miss Purvis fast asleep in the bowl atop the dough with it's dishcloth!  Kitty had climbed into the bowl of rising dough, thinking it was a warm bed just for her!

This is a wonderful bread receipt and makes a large quantity, four loaves~so nice for a large family.

If you make the bread with honey, the crust will be soft instead of crisp.  Whole wheat bread is made the same way; use half whole wheat flour and half unbleached white flour and allow just one rising in the bowl (for the wheat variation).  You may also make delicious rolls from this same recipe."

2 cups milk

1/4 cup unsalted butter

1/4 cup sugar OR 1 cup honey

2 tsp. salt

2 cups water

11 cups unbleached flour, approximately

2 packages (4~1/2 tsp.) dry yeast

1/4 cup water

1 tsp. honey or sugar

Grease or oil four 5X9~inch loaf pans. 

In a saucepan, scald milk, butter, sugar OR honey and salt.  Put the misture in a very large bowl and add water.  Then add a cup or so of the flour.  When the mixture is lukewarm, dissolve the yeast in 1/4 cup water with 1tsp. honey or sugar...let proof five minutes or so until foamy.  Add it to milk mixture.

Add enough flour to make a nice workable dough and knead 10 minutes.

Place dough in a very large well greased bowl, turn once to coat the top, cover with a warm towel and allow to rise in a warm place for about 1 hour, until double in size.  When the dough has risen, punch it down and repeat process.

At the end of the second rising, punch dough down and divide it into 4 loaves, making sure to smooth out any air bubbles.  Place the loaves in prepared pans and let rise until double (about 1 hour). 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  When the dough is almost double put into preheated oven and bake approximately 1 hour, until they are crusty brown and sound hollow when tapped.  Remove loaves from pans and cool on rack.

Banana Bread

note: I found this particular recipe online and cannot remember where now!  It is the best I have found.  I triple the recipe for my family size, but will put the normal amounts and let you do what you need to do for your own family size. :)

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup oil

2 eggs

3~4 bananas

pinch of salt

1 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp. baking powder

1~3/4 cups unbleached or wheat flour (sometimes I do all naturally white, sometimes half and half)

Mix the sugar, oil, eggs and bananas with a mixer then add salt, soda, powder and flour.

Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes or until a knife comes out clean from the center.

HAPPY HOMEMAKING!!!  ENJOY!!!

I have another post from today just below, so please don't forget to read that one as well :).  My children are doing their writing and spelling lessons as I type so I have a minute to  post some pics and thoughts on my homekeeping fall focus. 

This fall I am going to be focusing on one room each week (or more than one when the rooms are smaller or easier to go through).  I will post pics of the room when I am finished.  I am also going to share my thoughts on the particular room...what I enjoy about it, what we do there etc..  I also will be sharing what areas of my home I have STRENGTHS in keeping and what areas are my WEAKNESSES. 

I have to say, first, that I am NOT doing this to show off my home.  What I feel in my heart about my home is a deep, sincere thankfulness to my Heavenly Father.  If you have any doubts about this OR don't know our home story, but would like to read about it you can do so here.

So, here goes. :)  Last night my hubby came home earlier than usual so the children were out playing with him.  In this time I got this BURST of energy and began scrubbing down my kitchen.  My kitchen, therefore, is my focus this week.  I havesome pics to share of my work so far and then will list what else needs to be done before it is all finished up.  Don't be fooled by the three different views of my kitchen....seems to make it look like I have this HUMUNGOUS kitchen, when in reality it is not that big (compared to my old kitchen anyways!).  I love it just the same!

This is the East view:

This is the North View

This is the West view:

(notice my happy little helper :))

The kitchen would be one of my strengths.  I love a tidy kitchen and seldom lay down at night with it out of order.  If I do it starts off the next day with a bit of gloom.  Last night I scrubbed the outside of the appliances, swept, mopped, scrubbed counter tops and did some rearranging.  In these particular pics the canisters, utinsil holder and stove top items are in the dishwasher. 

The children eat breakfast in this room at the breakfast bar.  The windows have wonderful views and one can see BEAUTIFUL sunsets when the sun begins to say good bye!  We bake bread, make scrumptious meals and BIG batches of cookies in this room!  I love to sit at the breakast bar while the window is open and listen to the birds chirping and my children playing outside in the back yard.

So, what do I still need to get done in the kitchen?  The cupboards and drawers on the inside need some major rearranging done!  My focus now is to get that done and to get the refridgerator scrubbed.  The microwave is clean because we hardly ever use it :) and my oven is clean because my friend , Jen , scrubbed it when she and her precious family came to visit us! 

When this project is completed I will check in and let you know what my NEXT homekeeping fall focus will be!

Many blessings my friends!

I love to sew and was thankful to have a holiday for an excuse to do it ALL day :).  My hubby was out playing with the boys and my girls were sewing right along with me (babies at our feet :)).  This is the fruit of our Labor Day :). 

Everyone knows Mama is on the mend when she starts making bread again! :)  It usually takes me 4 months into pregnancy to get on my feet again and boy does it feel good when I reach that point!

Thought I would share our lot of bread we made this evening and the precious helping hands working hard to get it to such beautiful perfection! :)  We made 3 loaves, a pan of dinner rolls, a pan of hamburger buns and a bread braid.  It is all in the oven now..... as I write and the children are enjoying a big bowl of popcorn!! 

I thought I would list some things I need to get done today and come back and smile on the things that have been finished . UPDATE I revised my to do list a bit...no big surprise!

*Wash Laundry 8 Loads Washed!

*Fold and Put away all laundry (UPDATE...5 loads done, 3 to go....time for baths, reading and school prep so the rest will have to wait until Monday)

*Vaccum Upstairs

*Sweep Wood Floor

*Organize Dressing Rooms PHEW! BIG job done!

*Start Sorting Through Boys and Girls ClothesGot a great start in this job! Just have to sort through the babies' clothes.

*Make Up Beds

*Prep Sunday Dinner Meal....we decided to go with hamburgers, tortilla chips and cheese dip for tomorrow's noon meal....easy prep!

*Make Cinnamon Rolls for Sunday Breakfast~~~decided on pancakes

Later this evening:

*Read another Chapter in 'Homeschooling with a Meek and Quiet Spirit'

*Read a 'Tiger and Tom' to Boys

*Read a 'The King's Daughter' Story to the Girls

*Finish up MFW Schedule~Will have to work on this during quiet time tomorrow

*Prep for First Day of School ~Will have to work on this during quiet time tomorrow

I will be back to smile on those things that get done!

Continuing with my home tour..

I spent the afternoon organizing and getting ready for a new school year.  The library is where I spent all that time!  We utilize the library for part of our schooling.  The school room is right off of the library.  Our library has a corn stove in it which makes it nice and cozy for those COLD winters!

I will post a pic of the school room another time but took a quick pic of the library (while the counters are clean! :)). 

Most of you who frequent my blog know the story of our blessed home.  When my husband and I married we felt like our greatest dream was coming true when we were offered an old farm house on the family farm.  We loved the place!  Even though we didn't have a lot, we quickly made it a home!

We lived in this home for 7 years before things started going REALLY wrong.  We had 5 children by this time and our precious 3 year old (at the time) son started getting really sick.  Our oldest son was having troubles with asthma.  After much research and have an inspection done in our home, we learned our home had been taken over by mold.  It was everywhere. 

At first we began trying to figure out how we could rid of the mold.  We quickly learned that taking care of the problem we had would cost an exorbent amount of money.  We were already setting money aside to do the major remodeling that needed to be done.  We had also been making plans to put a basement under the house, not only because our family was quickly outgrowing the space we had, but because we knew it's current foundation was failing. 

After much prayer we started looking into building new.  It didn't take too much praying before the Lord literally dropped the answer in our laps!  We were discussing building with a professional when he mentioned there were some houses being sold at low cost to be moved out.  When we called those in charge of this we learned there were only TWO houses left.  We drove the 60 miles to look at them and knew right away the first house was IT. 

It was really nothing too special for the eye to see.  It was plain and built in 1972, but we just knew God was providing.  We made the deal and began plans to have it moved out to our farm.  It took a LONG time and a lot of heartache to get it there, but once we saw it coming down the road it started to seem SO real!  (I will have to post pics of that another time...it was QUITE the site!)

My husband made up his mind that he wanted to get all the remodeling done before move in time.  It needed a lot of work and he wanted to be able to have a home he could come home to and REST.  I could hardly blame him after all he had dealt with the past years with the old home.  After putting HOURS and HOURS of hard labor into our home we moved in last winter.  After living in it for a few months our oldest son's asthma completely disappeared and our second son't weakened immune system began to become strong again!  It was a blessed miracle!

SO, here are some pictures of this blessing of ours.  I have more than this on the computer but cannot put them all on today...this is a start....

This is our kitchen:

This is our master bedroom.  The door straight ahead is a baby nursery and to the left is a jacuzzi tub and then a separate bathroom with a walk in closet off of it.  This is QUITE the change for us as my husband and I shared a bedroom only big enough for our queen size bed in the old house. :)

This is our living room looking very bare, but you won't here us complain! :)  It is actually rearranged and decorated much differently now.  This was taken about a month after we moved in.  VERY roomy!

More to come at a later time....I must get back to my homekeeping!

Blessings!