Quiet Days

I have the blessing of having my husband home during the summer. He is a teacher so although my kids are still too little for school our life runs by the school calendar. Summer is a bit of chaos. We cram in travel, visits, projects, and enjoy a bit of spontaneity, albeit with a well-stocked diaper bag in tow! Throwing the routine out the window can be a little slice of heaven, but it is only enjoyable for a season.

So while I'm a bit wistful for summer's joys, I'm welcoming a return to quiet days.

I've been enjoying my new breadmaker quite a bit. I got it at a yard sale (another summer delight!) and it has proved invaluable. The house really does smell amazing when it is baking and everyone loves the bread. Somehow I was under the impression that a breadmaker was a complicated device. It isn't.

Last week I managed to get all of Brian's shirts ironed for school, as well blueberry pancakes and muffins frozen for breakfasts.

Of course today is Monday and it looks like a cyclone has hit the house. I'm beginning to learn that this isn't a failure on my part, but just the nature of life. Things move from order to disorder. And there is something fulfilling about being the person in life who brings order from chaos, and leaves the places you have been more pleasant and homey than before you were there.

So now it is time to be off. Time to tend my crying baby, tuck my oldest in for naptime, and tackle the mess. Today my heart does it with it joy. Some days, I plod along, crying to the Father to help me keep plodding. Each kind of day is a sacrifice of praise.


The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers. Galatians 8:6-10

The struggle for order

Being a homemaker is a challenge for me. It really takes a lot of skill to do it well, but it is a job with little training, few incentives, and little respect. As someone who thrives on the approval of others, it can be a tough row to hoe. Maybe this is one way that God is starving that human-pleasing side of my personality.

With a new baby life seems especially overwhelming at the moment. So in a grasp for sanity, I created a home organization station on the side of my fridge.



I'm hoping that this will help keep me on track. No more losing the calendar or not looking at it for days, no more scraps of paper with "to-do" scrawled in crayon, buried under a pile of old mail. Since it is in itself a giant to-do list on display, I wanted to pretty it up a bit to encourage myself. The elements of the organization wall are pretty simple. My calendar, some scripture verses, a daily to-do list, a weekly to-do list, and our menu plan for the week.



I created a master to-do list of things that I find myself writing down on my lists every day and added things that ideally should be done each day. I know that I won't get everything done, but it gives me a goal to shoot for. I'm hoping I will fall into a routine and that things will run more smoothly, but if it doesn't work, I'll change it. Motherhood is teaching me to be flexible, and learning to keep house teaches me to keep experimenting with things until I achieve some level of mastery. When I first got married, I quickly became frustrated when I discovered I didn't have the skills of a woman of 50. Now I know that housekeeping is an art and a skill, and like anything else, you get better with practice.

I used magnets to keep the list on the fridge, and I taped down a piece of scrapbook paper I like to serve as a frame. I printed it front and back, so I reduced my paper waste. I put check boxes next to each task, and also added a section for Iain's chores.



I got some coordinating card stock and choose Bible verses that either encourage or exhort to display in this clear magnetic photo frame.


I found some pretty magnets to coordinate after a lot of hunting around.


This is my weekly menu plan. This is a tried and true household tool for me.


Here are the things that should be done on weekly basis (if not more frequently, but hey, we're taking baby steps here).

Domestic bliss. I hope so at any rate!

Nesting: Part 1

I don't remember ever feeling a strong urge to "nest" with Iain, but it may be that my memory is faulty. At any rate, I'm absolutely chomping at the bit to work on my little girl's room, but it involves moving heavy things around, a definite no-no for me right now. We've been very blessed by the Lord and our friends to receive a number of things secondhand including our changing table, some clothing, our bedding, a bouncer, a highchair, 2 strollers, and a car seat. We also purchased our crib off craigslist and a swing from a yard sale.

Nevertheless it is easy to covet the brand new items, magazine-ready nurseries, and the slew of matching equipment that is on display at Babies-R-Us. I really wish my heart wouldn't go there. It is such a disrespectful discounting of all that God has done and the practical love of Christ that my brothers and sisters have poured out on me.

I am so thankful to have what we need for our precious little girl. God is so good.

At any rate, the first and only thing I have accomplished for this girl's nursery (I promise we are working on a name for her!) is recovering an ottoman. I'm really rather pleased with how it came out considering my general sewing ineptitude and the reckless fervor that came over me when I decide to attempt this project. I was inspired by several blogs (readers, don't get any ideas!) and decided to take apart the crib bumpers for the fabric to recover one of the black ottomans that currently reside in the office. I was pleased with this since I already have the crib bumpers and didn't intend to use them in the crib, and I already had the ottoman. So if the grand scheme failed, I wouldn't lose anything but time.

Ok, here are the before and after shots:


Oooh, just realized that is a bit blurry. I do really hate using my flash. Anyway, that is the remaining ottoman who has relocated to our living room. I recovered its twin.






Well, there's my first project for our little girl. I basically made a paper pattern, cut and sewed the fabric to fit, and then had Brian help me staple it on (our staple gun is very heavy duty and I couldn't manage it on my own). Overall, I'm pleased with it, and when she outgrows it I can pull the staples out and have two black ottomans again.

Lord of the harvest

The LORD will indeed give what is good, and our land will yield its harvest. Psalm 85:12

We've had a cold snap here lately-- the first taste of fall. With my new internal heater, I'm only too happy for some cooler weather. Alas, the cold has killed our garden. I harvested the last four zucchini yesterday. For novice gardeners we had a great crop and we learned a lot. We planted onions, tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, basil, cilantro, mint, pepperchinis, and strawberries. Our apple tree bore loads of apples, but they are sadly infested with worms. Next year we will be better prepared and spray in the spring.


I made fresh salsa, zucchini grinders, zucchini muffins, zucchini bread, and pesto. We had the blessing of sharing our abundance with friends and neighbors too. Next year I hope to learn to can and make more of our harvest last through the winter. I do have about 18 cups of shredded zucchini and some pesto frozen. We are also hoping to plant more variety and a much denser garden to increase yield and keep weeds out. Iain is very firm that next year he wants to have corn! I'd like to plant pumpkin and bell peppers as well. Next year our strawberries and rhubarb will be more mature and hopefully we will see more fruit from them.


It has been amazing to see food coming out of the ground in our backyard-- truly more than we were prepared to handle. What a blessing and such a wondrous testimony to God's loving care for His people and His world. It was great for this city girl to get a taste of the rhythm of the natural world this year.

What's for Dinner?

I am often baffled about what to make when I do my weekly menu planning, despite the fact that I've been in charge of making dinner for nearly 8 years! We tried this black bean soup tonight and it is a winner! It is wonderfully flavorful and fairly inexpensive to make. Sadly, I wasn't able to get a picture before we ate it tonight.

I've often found that the key to cooking recipes with many ingredients economically is part planning and part improvisation. Earlier this week we had burritos, so there was some overlap in the ingredients. And sometimes I just improvise a bit. Instead of buying a sweet potato I used carrots in this recipe.

I served it with some leftover tortillas that I baked in the oven to give them some crispness for dipping. It would also be good with a salad or quesadillas.

Here is the recipe: http://www.elise.com/recipes/archives/006252black_bean_soup.php

It came out awesome!

Making Do

I start so many days discouraged and often I allow that discouragement to rob me of my creativity and zeal for my job. Thankfully, this is something I am beginning to see in myself. So I'm trying to be intentional about fighting these feelings. I'm convicted as I'm writing that spending the 20 minutes that I ostensibly "don't have time for" to do devotions in the morning would probably also help and save me lots of mope time later.

Today the scenario is less than ideal, as it always is, isn't it? Really it is the rare day that emotions, desires, finances, to-do lists, and our frail flesh combine to bring a smile to the face. I had to babysit today, my back is still sore, the house needs attention, there is a pile of laundry to do, and I really need to do my menu planning and go shopping. It is also the end of the month, so I need to make every dollar count. So let's be real. What can I do to glorify God today? What can I be thankful for? This is where I need to train my thoughts to run, instead of on all that needs to be done and all the complaints I have.

So today's strategy for fighting off my depression is Making Do. I do this a lot actually. It is a really important skill to have if you want to live within your means. After picking up my little babysitting charge we came back home to try to make something productive of the time. As I was making them a snack and cleaning the kitchen I noticed a sad solitary banana quietly dissolving into brown mushiness. I was tempted to berate myself for allowing it to go to waste when inspiration struck. I used my new immersion blender (thanks, Santa!) to blend the banana and two oranges together with some milk. I supplemented snack time with some of it and froze the rest in an ice cube tray so I can grab them to whip up smoothies for breakfast some morning. I've heard of people doing this with baby food, so why not smoothies? (I threw some frozen raspberries in to make enough to fill the tray at the end.)


Next up was Making Do with my time. I can't get a lot done with two active children underfoot, it's true, but I can get something done. So I did. It is amazing what you can accomplish in little bits of time. My kitchen is clean and one load of laundry is folded and the toys are all put away. After a morning of babysitting, I'm satisfied with that.

The next challenge was lunch. The boys had toast with jelly for breakfast, so pb & j was out. That's usually my stand-by lunch when the cupboards are getting bare. Instead I baked two potatoes, mixed up a can of tuna, and popped some popcorn. They split a cup of applesauce for dessert.

Making Do makes me grateful. It helps me use what I have and appreciate it. It gives me a chance to use my creativity. And gratitude and creativity were sorely needed in my heart this morning. Thank you Lord, for the necessity of making it work, even when it isn't ideal.

Rejoicing in the little things

Those of you who know me know that I am not a seamstress. Yet I had an old body pillow with no pillowcase. I love having a body pillow-- they are so comfortable. When I was pregnant with Iain, a body pillow helped me sleep at night. Anyway, I was pricing pillowcases and I keep seeing them for $10-$15, which seems unreasonably high to me. And the selection wasn't particularly nice. So I dug out my sewing machine and made this pillowcase last week. It cost me a significant amount of aggravation, but it is the right color and made from a soft flannel that it is nice for snuggling. I bought two yards of fabric at Wal-mart for $2.50 a yard and I already had the thread, so it cost me $5 plus my time. So I'm very happy with it.