Fourth of July Plans & Menu - 06:23, Friday, July 3, 2009

                              I have been planning our weekend.  Tomorrow we will enjoy a quiet day at home.. just family ( all 12 of us!).  We always enjoy a special meal on America's B-day.. so this year I will be making grilled steaks ( a rare treat) , baked potatoes, homemade baked beans, watermelon & homemade apple pie! It's not the fourth w/ out homemade apple pie! 

      Sunday our Church is holding an evening meeting and then a potluck meal. I'll be brining watermelon, lemon meringue pies and spinach salad. The girls are making cookies & cupcakes.  We are also going to bring a pinata & water balloons!  It should be a fun evening!

      Fourth of July is one of our favorite holidays!  We sure enjoy celebrating and taking time to remember how blessed we are in this land of the brave and home of the free!  I am also thankful for the freedom and perfect law of liberty thru Christ our Lord ! Jesus died so ALL men could be set free!  How grateful  I am for that!  We are no longer under the bondage of the law -- but are free thru the grace and liberty in Christ! Thank you Jesus for your precious blood shed on calvary so all men can be free!

  Hope you all enjoy a blessed Holiday!

Gloria

The old farmhouse - 07:06, Tuesday, June 30, 2009

I don't think I have ever taken a photo of the old homestead from this angle..... I was on my mower today and I had my camera in my apron.... this is being taken looking west from our garden area...... I wish I had a photo of what this looked like " before".. oh my! It was so delapitated!  The building next to the house is our "schoolhouse" or aka: "smoke house".... it was built as a smoke house and was in such bad shape when we moved here. Many told us to tear it down. My husband decided to make something of the old structure and completely remodeled it from floor to roof... and made our schoolhouse! We spend a great deal of time here... this is where we do all our schooling. As you can tell it's close enough to the house, that I can run in and check on things.   This November it will be 3 yrs since we moved to Missouri. This place has seen many changes - it's really not the same place we drove up to!  Wow.  Still have things to renovate still, but most of the stuff is done! Praise God for that!

What we've been up to - 10:50, Tuesday, June 30, 2009

 I thought I would share some pics of some of the projects we have been busy with here on the homestead.

First of all, we have so enjoyed all the wildlflowers that have bloomed! I love bachelor buttons & black eyed susans!  We took an old hand pump that had been on the old cistern that we took out ..... and repainted it and used it for landscape decor!

This area had once held a cistern and hand pump and we tore that out and made a flower bed.....

 We had a big problem in this area.... the previous owner had laid brick pavers and they had cracked and the weeds were coming thru and muck..... my 16 yr old son tore the whole thing out, leveled the dirt, laid down black landscape tarp and then put down pond rocks and some stone...... turned out nice, eh?  I was so suprised when I was done and so happy! No more mucky wet ground!!

 It sure is handy to have a teen age boy around!  He helps me a great deal with household projects! Great job, Jacob!

Dru has been busy working on refinishing all the outside doors. Stripping, sanding, re-staining and then finishing...... he even took the old door hardware and cleaned them up with an oil rubbed bronze spray paint! It turned out great! 

We took the old screen doors, stripped them, repainted and cleaned up the old hinges.... we rescreened them with a tough pet resistant screen..... it sure comes in handy to have screen doors durring bug season!

Finally, I have really been enjoying working in our garden and flower beds..... the roses are blooming and beautiful... and the wildflowers are attracting the butterflies and hummingbirds and bees...... one of my favorite spots in the warmer months is my front porch.... I love to sit out there on my rocker and look around at the surrounding countryside.... it's where I go in the early morning hours.... I love to sit out here and listen to the birds chirp and sing praises to my Lord...

Home sweet home.......

Lots of other projects we are working on..... hope to share more later next week!

Until then, God bless!

gloria

Pina Colada Yogurt - 09:53, Monday, June 29, 2009

Busy... busy... life is busy - 01:36, Monday, June 29, 2009

It seems like since I started Facebook, I have little time for blogging! On top of that, life has been busy here this summer.... with all the outside chores and yard work, and household projects we are working on... life is just plain busy! 

Sorry about neglecting this blog. It's not my intention, just too much to do and not enough time!

Hope you are all enjoying a lovely summer,

gloria

Frozen Yogurt - 08:00, Wednesday, June 24, 2009

We tried our hand for the first time in making frozen yogurt........ oh man oh man.......it is fantastic! I think I like it better than ice cream!  It's also much easier to make! My kids loved it too!    Next time we're going to make Pina Colada Frozen Yogurt!!

                      Frozen Banana Yogurt

8 cups vanilla yogurt

2 cups granulated sugar

1/4 tsp salt

2 cups whipping cream

2 tsp vanilla extract

2 cups mashed ripe bananas

Combine yogurt, salt, sugar, whipping cream and vanilla in a mixing bowl with mixer. Cover and refrigerate for 30 min. Freeze as directed per ice cream maker model

** I have learned that for creamier ice cream/yogurt, use Morton's ice cream salt and freeze 30 min after making the mix.  If you wait too long to freeze and make into frozen ice cream or yogurt, the texture turns out dryer. **

Yields:   4 quarts

HOT, HOT, HOT - 02:08, Wednesday, June 24, 2009

We've been in the middle of a heat wave........and I wish I could say we are loving it... but that would be a lie.     Yesterday was in the low 100's with high humidity.... heat index was at 120 or so.......today is a wee bit cooler and less humid. Kids are outside in the slip and slide and kiddie pool under the big walnut tree..... the older kids are inside staying cool. Thank goodness for A/C!!!  You would think after 3 summers here I would become accustomed to the heat....... but that sadly I still get sick, dizzy, head aches and just plain ole miserable........ I am waiting for the evening hours to get outside chores done..... I have some painting to do on the farmhouse ( touching up on some spots where paint peeled) and I have some benches to sand and paint.  We are enjoying lots of cold lemonade and ice cold popcicles!  How do all of you in the South do it?  I thought by my 3rd yr here I would be accustomend!

Stay cool ya'll,

gloria

Discouragement - 11:33, Friday, June 19, 2009

" Pay as little attention to discouragement as possible.  Plow ahead like a steamship, which moves forward whether facing rough or smooth seas, and in rain or shine.  Remember, the goal is simply to carry the cargo and to make it to port. "   

Maltbie D. Babock

Hot Steamy Day... - 05:13, Thursday, June 18, 2009

 I finally broke down and turned on the A/C .... it's been in the 90s with high humidity.......after school work was completed, the kids headed outside to cool off in the kiddie pool and sprinkler. We need to get a pool for the older kids.  I dont enjoy the hot hot days.. but at least my garden plot should be drying out !! Yeah!!

Hope you are keeping cool.

Curly hair & garden plans... - 01:32, Wednesday, June 17, 2009

 We have had odd weather here.. lots and lots of rain and little heat..... but today we woke up to sun and heat! Yeah - my garden plot has been sitting, wet and soggy for weeks...... hoping to plant this week!!! 

 Meanwhile I am dealing super curly frizzy hair!!  I have always had strait, strait hair... and  the humidity is creating kinky curls.   I have been using a straightener.... odd... for someone who has always had strait hair! No more combs, just scrunching my hair with wet fingers.  Odd, huh?

We are on our second week of our schedule. We accomplish so much more!!  We still need improvement, but there has been big changes and for that I am happy!!!

Hope you all are enjoying the day!

gloria

Answers to prayers - 11:31, Tuesday, June 16, 2009

 " Delayed answers to prayer are not only trials of faith, they also give us opportunities to honor God through our steadfast confidence in Him even when facing the apparent denial of our request. "

-- Charles H. Spurgeon

Sunday afternoon.... - 07:58, Sunday, June 14, 2009

The kids have been excited.... dad has been working on creating a tree house from one of our very old mulberry trees out front.... this tree is really old ( 100plus yrs!)... so far he has put in 2 swings, and a climbing rope. ( we have some boys who love to climb!)  He plans on making a tree house that has a slide that comes out of it...... should be fun.........

We enjoyed a wonderful dinner tonight.  I tried a new recipe for baked beans that are fabulous!! Not one drop was left in the pot!  These are easy to put together, but do require 3 hours in the oven.......but oh they are worth it......

                                  Baked Beans

2 Cans 31 oz of Van De Kamp's baked beans

1 / 2 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup ketchup

1 tsp mustard

1 med onion grated

1 package of bacon , fried and crumbled

Combine all the ingredients in a 13 x 9 pan.  Bake at 300 degrees for 3 hours.

Yields: 12 good sized  servings

Sanctification - what does it take? - 01:21, Thursday, June 11, 2009

" When God finally  conquers us and changes our unyielding nature, we receive deep insights into the Spirit of Jesus.  Then, as never before we see His extordinary gentleness of Spirit at work in this dark and unheavenly world.  Yet the gifts of the fruit of the Spirit ( Gal 5:22) do not automaticaly become evident in our lives.  If we are not discerning enough to recognize their availability to us, to desire them, and then nourish them into our thoughts, they will never bcome embedded into our nature or behavior.  Every further step of spiritual growth in God's grace must be preceded by acknowledging our lack of godly attribute and then by exhibiting a prayerful determination to obtain it.

   However, very few Christians are willing to endure the suffering through which complete gentleness is obtained.  We must die to ourselves before we are turned into gentleness, and our crucifixion involves suffering.  It will mean experiencing genuine brokeneness and a crushing of self, which will be used to afflict the heart and conquer the mind.

 Today many people are attempting to use their mental capacity and logical thinking to obtain sanctification, yet this is nothing but a religious fabrication. They believe that if they just mentally put themselves on the altar and believe that altar provides gifts of sanctification they can then logically conclude they are fully sanctified.  Then they go happily on their way, expressing their flippant, theological babble about the "deep" things of God.

   Yet the heartstrings of their old nature have not been broken, and their unyielding character, which they inherited from Adam, has not been ground to powder. Their soul has not throbbed with the lonley groans of Gethesemane. Having no scars from their death on Calvary they will exhibit nothing of the sweet, gentle restful, victorious, overflowing and triumphant life that flows  like a spring morning from an empty tomb. "

-- G.D.W.

Back to a Schedule - 09:32, Wednesday, June 10, 2009

  I am putting our family back on a schedule. We are more efficient when we have a schedule instead of shooting from the hip.  I don't like how our days get away from us when we are not working from a schedule. I know some people don't like schedules because they feel it is too rigid..... but our large family really thrives on one .. so back we go!   The kids and I sat down and cranked out a good working schedule. We will "test" it out this week and see how it goes.   We homeschool all year round, with periodic breaks, so we really need something to guide our time.

 We are stewards of our time, and once time is wasted we can not get it back. 

Here's our tentative schedule -- we may change it depending on how it goes......

                             Family Schedule

6:00 am - 7 :00 am : mom's wakes and has her time with the Lord

7:00 am - 8:00 am: kid's wake up and have private bible reading time and get ready for the day

8:00 am -- Morning devotions

8:30 am - Breakfast ( usually hot cereal or eggs)

9:00 am - morning chores

9:30 am - 10:00 am: penmanship/spelling drill

10:00 am - 11:00 am: math

11:00 am - 12:00 pm: science

12:00 pm - 1:00 pm: geography/social studies/history

1:00 pm - 1:30 pm: grammar, writing assignment for teens and reading practice for little ones

1:30 pm - 2:00 pm : lunch prep for child assigned lunch duty, the rest of the kids finish up writing assignments, grammar, reading or any other subjects

2:00 pm - lunch

2:30 pm - afternoon chores

3:00 pm - 5:00 pm - FREE time for all

5:00 pm - 6:00 pm - dinner prep for mom & girls

                                Boys outside chore cleanup

6:00 pm - dinner

6:30 pm - evening chores

7:00 pm - get ready for bed

7:30 pm - read to little ones, beginning readers practice reading, older kids have free time to read or play

8:00 pm -  Read aloud time

8:30 pm - teeth brush, say prayers

9:00 pm - bed time/lights out

9:30 pm - bedtime for my teens

10:00 pm - bedtime for me!

I am excited to see how this works!!!

This week's menu - 09:29, Wednesday, June 10, 2009

                     This Week's Menu

Monday: Tuna casserole, glazed carrots

Tuesday: Black beans & brown rice, tortillas

Wednesday: Chili , corn bread

Thursday: Chicken spaghetti, tossed salad & garlic bread

Friday: Sloppy Joes, veggies

Saturday: Lasagna, salad & garlic bread

Sunday: Spare ribs, potatoe salad, spinach salad & pie

_______________________

Amount spent: $130

Total budget: $150

Savings: $30!!!

FAITH - 12:09, Tuesday, June 9, 2009

 " Faith can change any situation, no matter how dark or difficult.   Lifting your heart to God in a moment of genuine faith in Him can quickly  alter your circumstances.  God is still on the throne, and He can turn defeat into victory in a split second, if we only trust Him".

L.B. Cowman

Are you born again? - 08:51, Sunday, June 7, 2009

   " Man's way to reach God is thru religion... God's way to reach us is thru Jesus ".

For years I sought God thru a religious system. I was mistaken.   When Jesus was alive and ministered. He was most often found with the sick, afflicted and wounded. He spent little time with the religious of His day. They didn't like Him and His radical ways.  Jesus was radical. He healed the blind, the leper, and He hung out with tax collectors.  He didn't stone the adulteress, but offered her forgiveness.

I thought I would find Jesus in a church.  Not so.

I found Jesus on my knees one day. Broken and crying out, that is when I found Jesus.

He came and bound my wounds, healed my heart.

He is now my Lord & master.

Do you know Jesus?

Many people in this country and across the world go to church each Sunday. They believe that they are "good" people who are doing good things for God. 

Jesus said:  Unless we are born again we can not enter the kingdom of God.  John 3:3

Have you been born again?

Fact is none of us are 'good enough'.  For the wages of sin are death.

Just because a person attends church each weeks and teaches Sunday school, does not make them 'good.'  For truly our sins can only be washed clean in the blood of Jesus. 1 John 1:7

I believe there are many lost souls in Churches across the world today. People who have been misled to believe that going to church, and church membership is what secures their place in heaven.

I was one of them.  Blinded, thinking my church membership opened the door/gate to heaven.

The Bible does not teach this.

The Bible teaches that Jesus is the gate - He is the way. No man can come thru a membership, but only thru Jesus.

To be Born again has nothing to do with what church we go to.

There are many Christians, but not all Christians have been born again.

There is a difference.

If you want to know more about Jesus, and what He has to offer you. I encourage you to read the book of John. 

If you wish to talk more about what it means to be born again, please feel free to email me and I will pray with you and we can talk more.

God's way to reach us is thru JESUS - not thru a a Church.

Man, as much as they try, can not reach Jesus thru religion.

A few days back I had the chance to share Jesus with a sweet friend of mine. She is an Amish woman who knows a lot about religion, but has come to see that religion does not equate a personal relationship with Jesus.  She is hungry for the Lord. It was precious to share the Lord with her and pray with her.

So many are like my friend. 

Hungry and "religious"... going thru the motions of religious ritual and customs and traditions and yet empty and thirsty.

There is living waters.

There is the bread of life.

There is Jesus.

Strawberries, Dirt & God's goodness - 08:58, Wednesday, June 3, 2009

 The kids and I enjoyed strawberry picking at a local orchard. Although we have been spoiled by Northwest berries. ( they are huge in the NW!) We still enjoyed the visit to the orchard and ended up making some yummy treats with the berries.

With 10 kids , picking berries went quickly to say the least!! Many hands does make for light work!

Even the little kids enjoyed the visit to the orchard and did their share of picking. :)

This is one of the treats we made with our berries. :)

Nothing like fresh strawberry pie. :)

                                        Fresh Strawberry Pie

1   9 inch pie shell baked and cooled

3 pints strawberies

1 cup sugar

3 TBS cornstarch

1 TBS lemon juice

1/4 tsp almond extract

Whipped cream

Place 1/2 of the strawberries in a pot and mash or puree.  Add sugar and cornstarch. Cook slowly over medium heat, stirring constantly until thickened. Stir in lemon juice and extract.  Let stand to cool.  Add remaining berries.  Pour into cooled pie shell. Chill and serve with whipped cream.

On the home front, we finally got our good dirt delivered!! Yeah!! It is wonderful dirt and we can't wait to re-plant our garden again!!!  Lord willing we won't lose it again. My husband thinks we need to put a fence around it to make sure no critters get in. :)

The weather has been fabulous! In the 70's with lots of sun after a few days of rain.

Oh yes, I have a praise report to share! 

I have  been struggling with seasonal allergies and a few days back they were pretty bad. I couldn't sleep at all, and by morning I was weasing and I knew I needed to break down and purchase a nebulizer.  We don't have health insurance, so each time we go to the doctor's it is out of pocket.  As I was about to make the call for an appt with the Doc, my Pastor calls at the very moment. When he hears my voice and how I am gasping for air, he asks me if I wanted to use their nebulizer!!! I said, YES!  Well, long story short his wife came by and brought the nebulizer and the liquid meds that are put in it to help with opening up the lungs! Oh my, what a difference this has made! I had been taking claritin, but it wasn't taking care of the breathing difficulty. Using the nebulizer a few times a day has made the world of difference!

I love it how God does that! He knows our needs before we even ask for them! He knew I needed the nebulizer, and He also knew that it would be extra costs for us.  Even before I even thought of praying about the situation, He sent the blessing!

Isn't God wonderful?  It's so wonderful to know we have a God who even before we utter a word, takes care of our every need!

I also realized that I neede to be more thankful for the air I breathe. I think I have always taken that for granted -- AIR -- something that we have and we just don't even realize is so critical for our well being, until we can't get it enough of it!!

Thank you Lord for the air we  breathe!

Thank you Lord for providing for my every need!

We serve an awesome God!!!

Ramblings of my heart... - 09:21, Monday, June 1, 2009

   I really do appreciate the many comments left on my blog this past week. Many of you took time to share your own heart's struggles and challenges..... many of you shared your own discouragements and also blessings with living in the country. I so appreciate the time you ladies took to share with me.  Each comment left me thinking and grateful that we have one another as friends here in this little spot on the world wide web, and even though we may not have met in "real life" there is still the ability to reach out across the miles and confines of the computer to touch another human soul.Thank you, ladies, truly.

  I have been pondering much about the whole idea of contentment.  We read about this in the Bible. Paul says he had learned to be content with whatever life presented....... he knew how to be content it times of plenty and when times were leaner. There is so much I can learn from his writings.

  Bottom  line is God is trying to teach me something here, and I so want to be the ready student, ever eager to learn the lessons that our Master has for us!

  One of the lessons I am slowly starting to learn is this ( and boy am I slow learner!!) ....... God could care less whether we live on 20 acres in a lovely country setting or if we live in a high rise apartment in the big city.  His concern lies with our heart and what He finds there.  Bottom line, our salvation is not dependent upon "where" we live , ladies. Our relationship with the King of Kings is not dependent upon our living circumstances, but upon the circumstances which our found in our hearts. Like most things, learning to be content, no matter where you find yourself in life is a matter of the heart.  

  I admit, to having pride.  How prideful of me to have looked down my nose at those who choose to live in the suburbs.  How wrong of me to be smug in thinking oh it's so much better to live in the country.   How prideful and arragont of me!  Ugly.. ugly pride.   Who am I to think that way? And who am I to think that because one lives in a small town in the country that this is the most ideal place for a person to live -- say's who?  I don't recall reading anything about it in the Bible.  

  In short, and I am being pretty transparent here now........I have made this "live in the country" lifestyle a false god in a way.  I have assumed, because of my pride and narrow mindness that this is the "only" way to raise a family and goodness, how can anyone raise kids in town or in the city? 

 Again, say's who? Says God? No, the Word of God - the final authority does not say so.

I was thinking about the lives of many great Christians -- Amy Charmichael and othere missionaries who labored in sweaty crowded cities.........God placed them there to do reach out in love and compassion to many that society had outcast.....

I guess what I am trying to say ladies, is that we need to be careful.  Let's not make our "homestead" or our "country living" a golden calf.  Let's not be quick to think that we have it better simply because we live in the country and smell fresh air.  Let's remember God places His children in various places for HIS purposes not ours.  Does God really care if we make our own bread or can our own preserves? Those things are great and honestly I love homemade bread -- but in all honesty ladies, God isn't going to make a fuss about it.  Many of God's servants have lived i crowded environments smack dab in the city.  Some He has taken to isoloted places  ( the children of Israel and Elijah I am thinking of here) .  

Ouch..... that is what God has been teaching me and showing me. 

Pride -- it's so ugly isn 't it?  Call it whatever you wish, but it is P R I D E.  When we begin to think our "way" is the better way of doing something and we do not have any back up from God's word for that then we are stepping on some pretty dangerous ground.

I think God wants us to bloom where we are planted.  Whether that means in a crowded suburban sub division, or on an insolated prairie...... let's remember that we are here to glorify the king of Kings, and Lord of Lords.... it's not about us, and what "we think" it's about Him.   Let's not assume that because someone here lives on  1/8 of an acre that somehow there is something wrong with that .   Let's not give in to the false sense of assurance that because we live on acreage we have it better.

We need to be careful ladies.

Jesus, went into the city often. He preached in the streets of Jerusalem , a bustling town with many people  often........

Where we live is not important...... but what is in our hearts is.

Just some thoughts that God has been laying on my heart lately,

gloria

Why worry? - 09:06, Monday, June 1, 2009

  Why do you worry?  What possible use does your worrying serve?  You are aboard a large ship that you would be unable to steer even if your captain placed you at the helm. You would not be able to adjust the sails, yet you worry as if you were the captain or the helmsman of the vessel. Be quiet dear soul ---- God is Master!!

Do you think all the commotion and the uproar of this life is evidence that God has left His throne?  He has not!   His mighty steeds rush furiously  ahead, and His chariots ar ethe storms themselves.  But the horses have bridles, and it is God who holds the reigns, guiding the chariots as He wills!

Our God Jehovah is still the Master! Believe this and you will have peace.   " Don't be afraid".  Matt 14:27

--  Charles H. Spurgeon