{ Happy Homemaker Monday - 07/14/2014 }

Good morning my sweet friends, how was your weekend?  Busy?  Quiet?

Mine was very quiet and relaxing, so relaxing indeed that it slipped by so fast and I'm not wishing it was still Saturday morning.  Oh well.

So here we are, another Monday morning and another Happy Homemaker Monday.  I decided that today was the day to change things up a little.  You know me, I tend to get a little bored with the same things over and over, so I wanted to change the HHM button and make a new one, and then I got to thinking that maybe I should change the categories around a bit too so we don't get tired of the same ones.

I do know that this year, I want to go with a more Vintage type of HHM, really take homemaking back to it's roots, so to speak.  So, without further ado, here is the new button and I ADORE it, it made me smile so big because it honestly represents what Happy Homemaking is all about.....minus the high heels right?  *wink*

If you have already done yours for today, it's fine, don't worry about it :)  You can start with the new one next week.

Here are the categories:
Breakfast time, what is on the plate this morning::::
On today's to do list::::
Currently reading::::
On the TV today::::
The weather outside is::::
On the menu this week::::
If I have a few minutes to myself, I will::::
New recipe I tried, or want to try this week::::
In the garden::::
Favorite photo from the camera::::
Homemaking tip::::
Visiting with blog friends (blog you want to share, blog post that caught your eye)::::
Praying for::::
Bible Verse, Devotional that is resonating me with at the moment::::

Breakfast time....what is on the plate this morning::::
I'm a huge believer in eating breakfast every morning, matter of fact, I can't really function unless I've done that.  This morning, I have coffee with my Homemade Vanilla Creamer, and two pieces of wheat toast with butter and Tomato and Apple Jam.

On today's to do list::::
Laundry - one to wash, and two to iron and put away
Sweep and mop floors
Clean the pool, the sides and bottom are a little slimy (yuck)
Take Jasmine to Tae Kwon Do tonight

Currently reading::::
A few books for review, Painting the Moon, Treacherous Trust and Liar, Tempress, Soldier, Spy.

On the TV today::::
Last two episodes of Star Trek: Voyager.  Hubby and I have loved it so much and it's sad to see it end, but we are starting the Star Trek:  Deep Space Nine next, so excited about that.  We're such nerds!
Return to Amish (watching it this morning with Jasmine)
Portuguese Soaps

The weather outside is::::
Beautiful, blue skies, a little breeze and 76 degrees, though it's supposed to get up to 106 today.  It's like I'm back in Arizona all over again lol

On the menu this week::::
Monday - Chicken and Dumplings
Tuesday - Tomato and Basil pasta, Homemade Foccacia
Wednesday - Lightened Up Chicken Enchiladas, Salad
Thursday - Scalloped Potatoes and Ham, Steamed Broccoli
Friday - Crockpot Beef Stroganoff
Saturday - Chicken Tetrazzini, Roasted Vegetables
Sunday - Slow Cooker Meatballs in Mini Bread Bowls, Salad

If I have a few minutes to myself, I will::::
Finish my crochet valance, read a little.

New recipe I tried, or want to try this week::::
Last week I tried the One Hour Skillet Foccacia.  It is made in the cast iron skillet, and I have been wanting to give it a go for a while.  It was the highlight of the meal and my family requested it again, so it's back on the menu this week, actually tomorrow for dinner.
Tonight's dinner, Chicken and Dumplings, is also a new recipe I'm trying.  I've made chicken and dumplings before but am always looking to try different variations.

In the garden::::
I harvested two strawberries from my plant and there are others growing.  I have two huge chili peppers almost ready to be harvested too.  Waiting on the cucumber to grow, it's already flowering so shouldn't be too long before they start growing.

Favorite photo from the camera::::
Dinner table

Homemaking Tip::::
Set aside a day to get the baking done.  For me, it's Sundays and I just get in the kitchen, turn on the radio, or open a movie on my laptop and get to work.  I make bread and cookies for the week, prep any vegetables for the meals ahead and replenish any homemade products that I'm running low on. 

Visiting with Blog friends (blog you want to share, blog post that caught your eye)::::
I have to mention my friend Jen's blog.  Jen and I are very much alike and we love old fashioned homemaking and the 1800's period.  We love our family, we love homemaking, history museums and God.  I know that most of you already know Jen at Reflections in the Window, but for those who don't, I think it's a blog you would enjoy :)

Praying for::::
Right now, for our rent deposit to come in, and for our moving claims check to come in as well.  We've left it in the Lord's hands, and for some reason that moving claims wasn't meant to have been resolved this past year, only now.  Only God knows why, and that is fine with me, I don't need to question Him, I trust that He does everything for a good reason.

Bible Verse, Devotional that is resonating with me at the moment::::
"The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God stands forever."
Isaiah 40:8

PLEASE, don't add links to this list that are not part of the Happy Homemaker Monday. I've asked numerous times, and I'm frankly quite tired of having to remove links to other posts that shouldn't be in this list. Please be respectful of my request!

{ The Simple Joys of Home }

I love being home.  I know that according to society, we are supposed to be out and about, socializing and engaging in all sorts of activities.

Homemakers are almost frowned upon in this day and age, talked about as if it's taboo or something dirty.  I will never understand that way of thinking, but I don't condemn anyone for speaking their opinions.

As for me, I will continue to be a joyful homemaker who is more than happy to putter around the house, with a cup of coffee in hand, and a good book in the other.

It's just so deeply ingrained in my soul, that I don't think I could ever be anything else.

Call me crazy, but I just love what I do :)

One of the things I enjoy doing, is making things for the house, especially if I can combine my love of crochet with something cute and practical.  This is the Valance I'm working on for my Hallway window.

I've since then made the second row and have sewed the flowers on, but friends, I don't know what is wrong with me, I've now sewn it and pulled it apart twice.  HA!

I'm hoping to get it right tomorrow and move on to the next row and the half flowers.  For goodness sake's, let's hope my brain cooperates.

Another big part of the simple joys of homemaking for me, is the meal preparation and feeding my beautiful family. You know how much I love cooking, the whole process of buying the ingredients and then being able to turn them into a healthy meal, is just so much fun to me.

And when I can grow those ingredients at home, oh that just makes me even happier.

The strawberries have started coming in, they smell amazing and are soooo sweet.

My chili peppers are also growing beautifully, they should be ready to harvest soon.

And then of course, my cucumbers

Those for me are some of the simple joys of homemaking :)

We've been taking it easy, swimming, watching movies, taking drives and really trying to soak in all that summer has to offer, because it goes by so quickly and pretty soon we will be back on our school schedule and ready for the new year.

Coming up, we'll have a 10th Grader and a 6th Grader, Lord help me!

My babies are growing so fast and I'm trying hard to embrace this change and accept it, but goodness it's hard. I would love to have them little forever!

If only it were that easy.

Tomorrow, I have grocery shopping planned and my husband has college classes to work on.  I don't have anything else on the agenda, so I think it's going to be another laid back, lazy summer day for us.  I'm fine with that.

I guess I should get on out of here and get my grocery list and menu plan finished if I intend to do any shopping right?

{ Summer Days }

Oh the beautiful, lazy days of summer!

You know one thing we are really enjoying now that we are not living on base, is the fact that we can have a pool up and not be told constantly that it is not allowed. It was so frustrating in the summer months in Arizona, well, in any month in Arizona with those crazy high temps, to not be able to take a nice dip in the pool.

Now???

We're making up for lost time!

Let me start by saying that I'm not a swimmer. If you didn't know that about me, now you do. I can't swim, and not for lack of trying, but I have this irrational fear of water in my face or ears or being under the water.

It never used to be so, I remember as a young girl going for swimming lessons, and to friends houses to swim in their pools. I didn't know how to float or swim on top of the water, but I would dive underneath and swim under. Go figure!

Anyway, one day when I was about 13 years old, we were at a friends house, and she had some other friends over that didn't know me very well. As I was in the pool, just standing there at the side minding my own business and talking to my best friend, this girl came out of nowhere, bent down, and pushed my head under. I tried sooooo hard to get back up but I couldn't. To this day I can hear the water gurgling around me, and I remember the panic of trying to breathe without being able to.

Every time I managed to come back up, she would push me back in. She was laughing and I guess she thought it was a joke. All I remember is hearing one of my friends come running and screaming at her to let me go, that I didn't know how to swim. I managed to get out of the pool but had the worst headache ever for the remainder of the day.

Since then, I have this fear and just can't handle having my face near the water. Weird thing though? I can float on top of the water and kind of swim, but do not dare go under at all.

Just goes to show that things that happen in our childhood do in fact affect us for the rest of our lives.

Anyway, just a little story about little old me. I do love the pool now and every chance I get I am out there, floating around, swimming from side to side and just enjoying it.

My littlest pug is always ready to go in. I have never seen a pug that loves water as much as Miss Lola, goodness. She goes in, comes out and then barks and cries and tries to climb the pool ladder to get back in HA!

Now remember I started the Walk it Off at Home exercise routine??? I've been very good, granted it's only been 3 days but I've done my walking every single day, without fail, even when I didn't feel like it.

I did 1 mile the first day, 2 miles the second and today I did 3 miles. Love it!!!

I've also been drinking fruit smoothies either for breakfast or as a snack. Best thing is that my kids enjoy them too and this way I know they're getting all their fruits in.

So yummy, this one was banana, watermelon, blueberries, mango and strawberries with some rice milk.

Of course during these lazy summer days, I also indulge in my crochet. Wouldn't be me if I didn't right???

I'm working on a crochet valance for my hallway window. These flowers are quick to make and I think it will look so pretty.

My crochet blanket stash is growing, and these aren't even all of them. I just love looking at these baskets and seeing the different patterns and colors, so pretty.

But with so many blankets, I wanted to give that a break and do something smaller and quicker, so I opted for another cushion and this time it's all about the hexagons.

I had thought at first, of making the front hexagons and then keeping the back simple, but I decided to just go for it, because these are so quick to make too. I've already got the front and the back, they are identical, I just have to make some half hexagons for the sides and then sew it all up and be done. Can't wait to see how it turns out.

And finally, crazy enough or not, because I believe tea is to be enjoyed all year long, whether it be cold or hot, my newest afternoon indulgence consists of a cup of earl grey tea with milk. Yummy!!!

Remember that white shelf I showed you a while ago? It holds all my aprons? I've turned it into my Tea shelf, it contains some of my teas and tea sets. What do you think???

Sure makes brewing a cup of tea that much more enjoyable right?

I've also been enjoying some yummy food, I've been on a Mexican kick so most of the meals around here have been mexican inspired. You can check out the recipes on my food blog, for Saucy Mexican Chicken, Cilantro Lime Rice, Turkey and Vegetable Tostadas, some delicious Banana Jam and even some Cinnamon Sugar Tortillas with whipped cream and caramel. Mmmmmm!

Well my friends, these have been the past few days of summer, and thrown in is a lot of book reading for upcoming reviews and from my Summer Reading List. Feels so good to sit down with a good book.

I hope you're all enjoying your summer, and I would love to hear about what you're doing. Anything interesting, fun plans, great vacation spots, what's been going on in your neck of the woods???

{ Hannah, Delivered - Book Review }

Late one night in a busy St. Paul hospital, a nurse midwife drags Hannah Larson out from behind her reception desk to assist with a birth. When Hannah witnesses that baby tumble into the world, her secure, conventional life is upended by a fierce desire to deliver babies. So begins Hannah’s journey away from her comfort zone. In a midwifery apprenticeship in New Mexico, she befriends a male midwife, defends a teenage mom, and learns to trust women’s bodies, then moves back to Minnesota to start her own illicit birth practice.

Hannah’s need to stay safe proves both an asset and a liability: homebirth isn’t legal in Minnesota in the 1990’s. To deliver healthy babies, Hannah risks jail time, her community’s respect, and her career. The key to unlocking her fear rests in one birth---her own.

Hannah, Delivered tells the story of how inexplicable passion, buried strength, and professional skill deliver one woman from fear into a rich and risk-filled life.

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

Birth!!!  The beautiful process of bringing into this world those that most bring us joy, our little children. 

It isn't always something easy, we have all heard of horrible stories, but in general, birth is beautiful, and I have always been fascinated with the world of midwifery.  I have so much respect for these women, from old fashioned to the more modern midwives.

When I agreed to review Hannah, Delivered by Elizabeth Jarrett Andrew, I knew it was a book that peeked my interest, but I had no idea just how much I would love this book.

The minute I started reading, it became all I wanted to do, I didn't want to put it down and I carried it with me everywhere I went.

The story follows Hannah, who works at a desk office in a hospital, and one night has to help the midwife on call.  She is thrown into a situation that she never expected and had no idea how to deal with, but one experience that dramatically changes her life and impacts her tremendously.

From that moment on, Hannah decides to become a midwife and heads off to Midwife school in New Mexico.  When she returns home, she is faced with having to practice midwifery in a State that considers home birth midwifery illegal.

When I say that I couldn't put this down, I mean it, truly.  I was so caught up in the book that I read through to the very last page before even realizing that was it, that there was no more. 

This book touches on all the aspects of birth, the joyful, the good and sometimes the political and not so good side.  Either way, you can't read it and come away unchanged.

Check out Elizabeth Jarrett Andrews website for more info.  And if you wish to read Hannah, Delivered for yourself, be sure to get your own copy on Amazon.

I was sent the book for review, but all opinions and views are my own.

{ Happy Homemaker Monday - 07/07/2014 }

Happy Monday everyone, hope you had a wonderful 4th of July weekend.  Ours was great, but now it's time to get concentrating on the upcoming work week.  Are you ready?

As I look outside my window:::
69 degrees this morning.  It's a beautiful morning, I see not a single cloud in the skies.  I'm looking out my back yard window, and see our neighborly squirrel scurrying across the fence.  The pool is clear and blue and so inviting.  I'm thinking I may go for a dip later :)


Right now I am:::
Typing up this post, drinking my coffee, and enjoying some toast with butter.  Still in pj's, haven't yet made it back upstairs to get changed for the day.


Thinking and pondering:::
On many things, here is what my mind feels like at the moment:  budget, hoping the electric bill comes in today, need to run to post office, this house needs cleaning, what am I making for dinner (better check the menu), want to start a new crochet project but can't decide on what it will be.


On my bedside table:::
My kindle and my lotion  



On my tv this week:::
Monday
Catch up on shows that were recorded this weekend but I didn't get a chance to see
O Beijo do Escorpiao (Portuguese soap)
Mulheres (Portuguese soap)
Star Trek Voyager
Tuesday
O Beijo do Escorpiao (Portuguese soap)
Mulheres (Portuguese soap)
Little Women:  LA
Star Trek Voyager
Wednesday
O Beijo do Escorpiao (Portuguese soap)
Mulheres (Portuguese soap)
Star Trek Voyager
Thursday
O Beijo do Escorpiao (Portuguese soap)
Mulheres (Portuguese soap)
Here comes honey boo boo
Dominion
Friday
O Beijo do Escorpiao (Portuguese soap)
Mulheres (Portuguese soap)
Monumental Mysteries
Crossbones
Saturday
Ghost Adventures
The Dead Files
Sunday
The Last Ship
Return to Amish
Witches of East End
True Blood


Listening to:::
Nothing but the ticking of the clock on the wall
 
On the menu for this week:::
Last week's menu didn't pan out exactly how it should.  The Mexican Braid didn't get made, my husband has this habit of eating the shredded cheese as a snack and when I needed it to cook with, there was none.  lol  Some meals were shifted around, others never were made so a bit of a crazy week meal wise.  Here's what is on the menu for this week, and this week will definitely stick to plan as I'm starting a new exercise regime and need to keep to it.

Monday - Turkey and Vegetable Tostadas
Tuesday - Scalloped potatoes and Ham, Corn on the cob
Wednesday - Spaghetti, Steamed Broccoli
Thursday - Tomato and Basil Pasta, Salad
Friday - Santa Fe Grilled Chicken Kabobs, Roasted Veggies
Saturday - Skillet Lasagna, Salad
Sunday - Slow Cooker Meatballs in Mini Bread Bowls
 


On my to do list:::
Laundry
Sweeping and Mopping


Happening this week:::
I'm going to start noting down my exercise routine on this list, just to give me another place to keep track

Week 1

Monday - 1 to 2 mile walk
Tuesday - 1 mile morning, 1 mile evening, Strength training for the core (abs)
Wednesday - 2 mile walk
Thursday - 1 mile morning, 1 mile evening, Strength training for upper body
Friday - 2 mile walk
Saturday - 1 mile morning, 1 mile evening, Strength training for lower body



What I am creating:::
The corner to corner for my niece, she picked the colors herself and you can see that they are NOT my choice of usual color at all.  Hahaha
I am not a fan of bold bright colors.    Also making a Hexagon cushion, but haven't taken a picture of those yet, will show you today.

My simple pleasure:::
Reading about days gone by.  My husband is taking Women's History for college and I'm fascinated by his text books, I've caught myself reading through them. 


Homemaking tips:::
Pour ½ cup of warm vinegar into a resealable plastic bag. Drop in the showerhead, making sure the holes are submerged, and seal the bag. Let sit for 1 hour. Rinse and wipe clean, then reattach.



Looking around the house:::
Not too bad, I try to keep it tidy and usually do a quick clean up before bed.  It definitely needs sweeping and mopping as always when we've been in the pool, the kids running in and out makes such a mess.  There are a few dishes in the kitchen sink that need to be washed and my dishwasher needs to be unloaded.


From the camera:::
4th of July barbecue with the family. We spent it at our house, out back on the deck under the gazebo.

Bible verse, Devotional:::
What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul?
Mark 8:36

PLEASE, don't add links to this list that are not part of the Happy Homemaker Monday. I've asked numerous times, and I'm frankly quite tired of having to remove links to other posts that shouldn't be in this list. Please be respectful of my request!