Happy Homemaker Monday - 09/02/2013

Good Morning ladies and Happy Labor Day :)

Sure hope everyone is having a great weekend so far.  I wasn't sure if I would put this up today but I figured since everyone is home anyway, might as well get it posted, right?

The weather.....
It's been getting cooler in the mornings and it's starting to feel like Fall which I'm so excited about.  we've had a bit of weather here and there, but today it's really cloudy with a chance of rain so I'm hoping it comes through. 

 

Right now I am....
Writing this post up, working on the menus and grocery list, working out a new budget and talking to hubby.....oh and drinking coffee.  Multitasking at it's finest.

Thinking....
About how happy I am that everything is getting back to a normal routine and how excited I am to get back to my daily blogging :)

On my reading pile....
Finishing my library books before they are due.  I've been on a Civil War kick lately so I've sought out anything to do with that time period.    

On my TV.....
Hell on Wheels
True Blood
White Queen
Breaking Amish

On the menu for this week....
Some things ended up not being made because I switched them around on the menu, so they're back on and hopefully will be done this time.

Monday - Sausages with tomato sauce, rice
Tuesday -  Stuffed Peppers
Wednesday - Broiled Parmesan Tilapia, Garlic Potatoes
Thursday - Rissois de Galinha( Chicken Rissoles), Salad
Friday -  Homemade Pizza
Saturday - Feijoada (Portuguese Bean Stew)
Sunday - Steaks with Pepper Sauce, Fries

On my to do list....
Guess what?  I have laundry to wash again and some left to iron and fold.  Aren't you excited for me?  *BLECH*
Run to the library
Finish claims for our move

In the craft basket....
Dishcloths, afghans, baby booties.  I keep adding things to the list, just wondering why I'm doing this since I haven't even gotten around to finishing what is already there?

  
Looking forward to this week....
My niece is starting at a new dance studio, she's been dancing since she was 5 so she's excited to get back into it after taking two months off for the move overseas.
My hubby is going to be at the Police Station for training.....and then we have the usual homeschooling etc going on.

Looking around the house....
Kids are all asleep, hubby is sitting at the dinner table with me doing his college homework.  It's cloudy and dreary outside so the house seems very dark.  The dishwasher is loaded, the kitchen is clean and the only sound emanating from the living room is the snoring of the pugs and the water in the fish tank.

From the camera....
I love bonnets and have been wanting a few for a while, but this is the only one I have so far.  I think I need to find some cute cheap fabric and make a few more.

On my prayer list.....

My stepmom

My father

Bible verse, Devotional....
The earth is filled with your love, Lord; teach me your decrees. Psalm 119:64 NIV

And so we move forward!

That's it!

As of Friday, my husband is officially retired from the Air Force.  What a weird feeling it is.  I have to tell you that I don't quite know how to feel yet.

On the one hand I'm excited for this new journey, but on the other hand it's sad to see this Chapter in our lives come to an end.  It's been all we've known for so long.


Right, so onwards we go and I'm excited to see what is ahead for our family.

Thank the Lord, my husband started working last week.  You know we've put it all in His hands since the beginning and we've been faithful and haven't questioned the path we're on, and I think we're being rewarded and taken care of because of that.  So thankful that Curt was able to not only find a job already but start working as well.

I know that I haven't been around, matter of fact I've been downright awful at blogging the past month, and I am not going to even try to explain the why's because you all know how busy I've been, but I just can't let the blog sit in the corner and gather dust.   I have to make a genuine effort to get back to my normal blogging.

You know the other day I actually went and looked through some of your blogs and I felt like I've missed out on so much.  It's almost like a whole year has gone by in the time that I've been away from the blog.

As we move forward with this new Chapter, things are falling into place.  I'm back to my normal routine, homeschooling, cooking and baking and homemaking, crocheting and photography and everything that makes me.....well....ME.

I'm hoping that this is the kick off to my return to my blog, not that I was gone, but I wasn't really updating and it's not like I forgot about because every single day I would tell myself that I need to sit down and compile a post but by the time I got a few spare moments, it was 11pm and I just climbed into bed and fell asleep.

Let's see how things go starting this week :)  For now, I'll leave you with pictures of my past week.....

Happy Homemaker Monday - 08-26-2013

Good morning friends, hope you had a wonderful weekend :)

I wanted to start today but asking (once again), that only links to your Happy Homemaker Monday posts be added to Mr Linky.  I have asked this numerous times and I still find links to other posts, recipes etc on there.

It takes time to go through them all and delete them, so I am begging you please, respect my request and my blog and follow the rules.

The weather.....
We've had a bit of rain over the weekend which felt so good.  Looks like we're starting to cool down and I'm getting excited for a real Fall after so many years :)

Right now I am....
Drinking a cup of coffee with Vanilla Caramel Creamer....talking to my hubby about his drive to Twin Falls in about an hour.

Thinking....
That I should know better than to watch scary movies.  LOL  When I was a teen it was the fun thing to do, watch a really scary movie even knowing that it would terrify you for days.  As I've grown older I've stopped watching them because they have a way of playing on my mind when I go to sleep, and again last night it happened LOL

We all decided to watch Paranormal Entity and then the boys spent the rest of the day scaring all the girls in the house....problem is that I forgot about the movie until I woke up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom and then....oh boy....Hahahahah

On my reading pile....
Still getting through my list of library books, plus I have a bunch of books coming in every day for reviews.  

On my TV.....
Hell on Wheels
True Blood - Still catching up
White Queen - Still catching up
Breaking Amish - Why do I watch this????  I can't stand reality TV, yet....


On the menu for this week....

Monday - Slow Cooker Chicken Parmesan
Tuesday -  Fettucine Alfredo
Wednesday - Broiled Parmesan Tilapia, Garlic Potatoes
Thursday - Spaghetti with Bacon
Friday -  Homemade Pizza
Saturday - Sausages with tomato sauce, rice
Sunday - Barbecue Glazed Drumsticks, Salad

On my to do list....
Laundry....finish the last load, iron, fold and put away
Homeschooling
Housework

In the craft basket....
Dishcloths, afghans, baby booties.  It's all or nothing with me LOL
  
Looking forward to this week....
Being one week closer to my husband starting his job.  He is finishing up some requirements like medicals, fingerprinting etc.

Looking around the house....
Kids are all asleep, my hubby, brother and sister in law are getting ready to head to Twin Falls.  I have a few dishes in the sink needing washing,and a little straightening up in the living room to do.     

From the camera....
We have such a cute park near our house, so Saturday we all went there just to walk around a bit and let the kids run around.

On my prayer list.....
Still the same people on my prayer list.  I have to keep reminding myself that all is done in God's timing and prayers are answered according to Him, not my wants.

Bible verse, Devotional....
For just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. Romans 12:4-5 NIV

It's time!

You know, 3 months ago I put my crochet hook and yarn down, and I said "I'll get back to you very soon".....then the move got in the way and the drive and setting up a new house, and family moving in and before I knew it, the very soon turned into months.

Crochet, as you know, has always been my way of relaxing and de-stressing, it's always been that one go to when I'm sick or feeling a little down.  No matter what was going on, it relaxed me, and I've missed it so very much.

I know I said the other day that I was getting back to it, but guess what???  Homeschooling started and that got in the way and so here I am, back at square one, and ready to just get to it.

These baskets and bags have been sitting here waiting, patiently...sometimes not so patiently as I've found some yarn on the ground having fallen off.  Now of course I know it was one of the kids or the dogs as they walked by, but I choose to pretend that it was the yarn jumping out, begging to be made into something cute.

I have so many projects saved that I want to make, quite a few actually.  They're all saved in my Crochet Folder, and sometimes I open it up and look and go through the list, but then I get a bit overwhelmed so I close it again.

I decided that the best way to tackle this is to open it up, and start right at the top, go one by one and make my way to the bottom.  Right???

Or at least that's what I envision happening, though to be completely truthful, I have a feeling that I'll get halfway through and get distracted with something else. HA!

For me the best part of the whole process, from start to finish, is picking the color.

Sometimes it just comes to me, but then other times it is frustrating because I just can't seem to decide.  That is when I turn either to the web and look through color wheels or my favorite.....I just look around and get inspiration from items in my home. 

One of my most used color schemes?  Inspired by my Cath Kidston items.  But then I don't have to tell you that, I'm sure you already know.

And one of my most enjoyable yarns to work with???  Crochet thread.  Oh I was terrified the first time I tried, I felt like I had huge fingers and couldn't hold the delicate thread, but once I got the hang of it, it was just pure joy.

Matter of fact, I am making some dishcloths using double crochet thread, it works really well.

So yes, I am ready to get back into it.  I am smiling so big this morning, if only you could see me.

I do have to finish this blanket though, it's been sitting around waiting.  I can't just crochet this one, I am kinda weird when it comes to blankets because they're so big and take so much time, I always have to make sure I have a small quick project on hand to break the monotony. 

Am I the only one who does this???

Alright, now I'm curious.  How do you crochet, do you stay on one project until it's finished, do you have a few going at the same time, do you prefer yarn or crochet thread and the question I am most curious about......what is the ONE crochet or knitting item you have sitting in your basket unfinished???

And I'm talking about the one item that has been sitting there for years LOL 

I'll tell you about mine.  It's my African Flowers Blanket!  I know, it's a shame because it's so gorgeous, but I ran out of the yarn I was using and now I don't know what to do, not sure whether to buy more and continue to make it into an afghan or if I should use the individual flowers to make an owl which I'm leaning heavily to.   Decisions, Decisions!

Your turn!!!

The Days of our lives....

I have honestly lost track of my days and nights and week days and weekends, everything seems to just run together from one day to the other.

At the moment we are all at home, trying to get settled into a new way of life.  Some are looking for jobs, others are learning to live in a new country, and in the middle of all this we have homeschooling.

It's been an exciting journey, that is for sure.

It's strange and I had forgotten about how different schooling is in South Africa, so the kids are having a bit of a hard time adjusting to American schooling, the subjects and how different things are.  But we'll get there, one step at a time.

The one thing about living in a house with 8 people is that you never really have much privacy or a moment to do things on your own, and I'm a firm believer in that everyone needs some time to themselves.  So, we all, in our own way take moments, whether it is going outside and sitting quietly, or reading a book, or going to the bedroom shutting the door and catching up on a show on tv or Netflix.

It's so crucial that in the middle of all the chaos and newness, that you don't forget who you are and what you like and that you take time for that.

So in my spare moments, I have been catching up on my shows, one of them which I'm really enjoying is Who Do You Think You Are?  on the TLC channel.  I love anything to do with genealogy and sometimes wish I could search up my own family, but for that I would need names and places and dates and it's quite hard to get all that info at the moment.

The new season of The Great British Bake Off started yesterday on BBC and I am soooooo excited for that one.  I told you all about a few months ago and since I love being in the kitchen so much it's one of those shows that is right up my alley.

The Real White Queen and her Rivals is a great documentary, especially if you've enjoyed The White Queen series based on Philippa Gregory's book.  You can watch Episode 1 and Episode 2 on Youtube.

Another I'm enjoying is Kirstie's Fill Your House for Free.  I'm a huge fan of Kirstie Allsop and all of her programmes so anytime she has a new one, I'm ALL.OVER.IT.

Of course in the midst of all this I am still enjoying my two Portuguese soaps and reading my books and doing puzzles on the Kindle Fire.

I think it's all about the little moments that you take advantage of, right???

How do you take time for yourself on a daily basis???