Overcoming Worry

US Currency
I think I'm going to have to turn off the news for awhile. I like to keep up with what's going on around the world, but my TV watching lately has done nothing but make me worry! I keep seeing reports about food and gas costs rising and I start thinking "Oh no! What will we do? Things are tight enough as it is!"

Matthew 6:25-34: "Therefore, I say unto you, Be not anxious for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than food and the body than raiment? Behold the fowls of the air; for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns, yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they? Which of you by being anxious can add one cubit unto his stature? And why are ye anxious for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin, and yet I say unto you that even Solomon, in all his glory, was not arrayed like one of these. Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is cast into the oven, shall He not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith? Therefore, be not anxious saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, With what shall we be clothed? For after all these things do the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you. Be, therefore, not anxious about tomorrow; for tomorrow will be anxious for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is its own evil."

A. S. Roche said, "Worry is a thin stream of fear trickling through the mind. If encouraged, it cuts a channel into which all other thoughts are drained." I know that worry is sinful and yet my mind can so easily slip into that "channel". I need to put a stop to it. The Word clearly says "be not anxious" and that's what I need to tell myself. My children don't worry about whether or not their parents will provide for them, so how much more should I rely on my heavenly Father?

Busy Day

Can you believe I did not turn on the computer at all yesterday? My husband might think I have a fever. :) It was one of those "out of the house" days which I'm usually not too fond of, but it turned out really well.

My youngest (Cindy) had a program at school, so I attended that, then I went to a new Ladies Bible Study. I'm so glad to have found one that meets during the day. We'll be meeting every other Tuesday at lunch. We are meeting at one of the ladies' homes and we'll just bring our lunch with us. We are studying Psalms. I love Psalms anyway, so I am really looking forward to this. Yesterday we had a very in depth study of Psalm 1. We won't be studying every Psalm that closely, but we will have talked about ALL of them by the time we're done. Our teacher is encouraging us to read the Psalms out loud because "...faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God." Romans 10:17. I never thought of reading out loud like that unless I was reading to one of the kids, but it's a great idea.

We had to eat our dinner very early so that we could get Cindy to softball practice last night. This will be the first year she has played so she doesn't really know anything about it (and neither do I). She's loving it so far though.

And look at my sweet little daffodils just blooming their heads off! Can you see the bee right in the middle? Daffodils and baseball are sure signs that Spring is almost here. :)

Making Your Home a Haven Monday

It's that time of week again! Biblical Womanhood's Making Your Home a Haven Monday.

Today's project is to clean out and organize a drawer or dresser. Set a goal, set the timer, and get busy!

I organized TWO drawers today! I'm so glad to have them both done! Monday is always master bed and bathroom day, so I did my "lingerie" drawer (although I think what I have hardly qualifies for that title) and my drawer in the bathroom. They were both a MESS! There is always something needing organized around here. :)

For obvious reasons, I only took pictures of the bathroom drawer.

Before (isn't it a wreck?):


And after:

Afternoon Tea

I normally don't post on Sunday, but I just had to tell you about our fun afternoon yesterday! In honor of my friends in the UK, Lynn and Tina I decided that I needed to make scones. :) I baked "coffeehouse scones" and my girls and I got out our pretty teacups and sat around the table to have our teatime. It was such fun and the scones were delicious. They are definitely on my list to make again. I must confess that I drank coffee instead of tea though.



Recipe:

2 cups (280 grams) all purpose flour
1/4 cup (50 grams) granulated white sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (113 grams) (1 stick) unsalted butter, cold and cut into pieces
2/3 cup (160 ml) buttermilk
Egg mixture for brushing tops of scones:
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1 tablespoon milk

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C) and place rack in middle of oven. Stack two baking sheets together and line the top baking sheet with parchment paper. (This prevents the bottoms of the scones from over browning during baking.)

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Cut the butter into small pieces and blend into the flour mixture with a pastry blender or two knives. The mixture should look like coarse crumbs. Add the buttermilk to the flour mixture and stir just until the dough comes together. Do not over mix the dough.

Transfer to a lightly floured surface and knead dough gently four or five times and then pat, or roll, the dough into a circle that is about 7 inches (18 cm) round and about 11/2 inches (3.75 cm) thick. Cut this circle in half, then cut each half into 3 pie-shaped wedges (triangles). Place the scones on the baking sheet. Make an egg wash of one well-beaten egg mixed with 1 tablespoon milk and brush the tops of the scones with this mixture.

Bake for about 15 to 20 minutes or until golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Remove from oven and then turn your broiler on high. Sift confectioners (powdered or icing) sugar heavily over the tops of the scones and place them under the broiler. Broil for just a few seconds, turning the pan as necessary, until the sugar has melted and turns golden brown. Make sure to watch the scones carefully as the sugar will burn very quickly. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.

Makes 6 scones.

Two Favorite Recipes

One of my favorite quick and easy lunches: Chickpea, cherry tomato, and feta salad
This recipe is for one serving.
1) Rinse and drain 1/4 cup canned chickpeas
2) In a bowl, combine the chickpeas with 1/2 cup quartered cherry tomatoes, 1/4 cup crumbled feta cheese, 1 Tablespoon fresh lemon juice, 2 teaspoons olive oil, 1 teaspoon dried oregano, 1/8 teaspoon salt, and a pinch of pepper.


Banana Bread (the kids like this one better than the "healthy" banana bread)

1/3 cup shortening
1/2 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 medium) mashed ripe banana
(1/2 cup chopped nuts)

Cream together sugar and shortening. Add eggs and mix. Combine dry ingredients. Add dry ingredients and mashed banana to egg mixture and stir. Add nuts and stir.

Pour mixture into greased and floured 9x5x3 baking pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 40 to 45 minutes.


And don't forget to wash up afterward! :)

It's finished!

We have been living in this house for about 5 1/2 years now and our guest bathroom has never been done to my liking. It's had white paint and very plain accesories the whole time. Lately it has really been bugging me because the paint has been looking so dingy and the shower cutain rings had started to rust. I just couldn't get it to look clean like I wanted. Well, today all that is changed! I have been a busy beaver today. :)

I had some "antique white" paint left over from painting Bobby's room last year and decided that it would be perfect for the guest bath. Don't ask why I let that paint sit there all this time and never though to use it... I have no excuse! I got the bathroom painted and hung up my new shower curtain and accesories (oh and bought new shower cutain rings too). I also looked around the house to find items that would fit in with the new decor. The basket in the floor full of towels was next to my fireplace. The picture frame next to the sink had been in the master bathroom and I found a picture of a trip to the beach to put in it that fit right in with my new "beachy" theme.

The rest of the house fell apart while I was painting all day, but at least ONE room looks beautiful and tranquil. :) The color looks a little funny because I turned off the flash to keep it from reflecting in the mirror. The shower curtain is blue and so is the hand towel. The other towels are white.

Who is retrohousewife?

I know some of you have been asking yourselves this question because I write/talk about retrohousewife all the time. I thought I would clarify for you. She comments here quite a bit and uses "retrohousewife" to comment. She doesn't have her own blog (at least not yet).

She and I have known each other almost 13 years. My family moved in next door to hers when we each only had 3 children and our third children were just babies. I can't believe they are now teenagers! We are both Christian housewives and we both have many of the same interests and hobbies. We lived next door to each other for 4 years. She's now about a 4 hour drive from me but she and her family still come to see us at least 2 or 3 times a year and since we both have unlimited long distance, we talk on the phone every day. We like to discuss things endlessly. My husband and I love to talk, but he doesn't want to hear all the different colors of paint that I think might look good in the kitchen, what store is having a good clearance sale, or which laundry detergent smells the best and does the cheaper stuff clean as well as the more expensive stuff? He's glad that I have someone else to settle those inportant questions with. :) She's a lot funnier than I am too and she can always make me laugh. Sometimes I can take life too seriously and she lets me know when I am making mountains out of molehills.

I'll never forget one of the first times I visited her at her house. We both had littles at the time and I was so happy to see that her house wasn't "picture perfect". It smelled good and was healthy, but she had some toys out and hadn't dusted in a while. She told me that it was all she could do to keep up with meals, laundry, diapers and dishes, so she didn't worry about dusting the TV until she couldn't tell the difference between Montel and Oprah. :)

Her family recently adopted a new "family member". He is the cutest little Chihuahua and my kids are wanting one just like him. Isn't he cute?


Her kids are the only "cousins" my kids have. My brother doesn't have any children and neither does my husband's sister. She's also the sister I never had and I'm so glad the Lord has given us the opportunity to be friends!

We Never Know

Daily Bread
We never know how the things we do affect those around us. Yesterday my husband was home from work and took me out for lunch to a pizza place. While we were sitting and chatting, we noticed a small group of men come in. They had obviously been working outside and had on work clothes and coveralls. They looked like pretty rough guys. As they finished filling their plates at the buffet, they sat down at a table near to us. I noticed that the first one to sit down was waiting for the others before he began eating. I thought to myself that he was very polite. Then I noticed the others were doing the same. After the last man sat down, they all bowed their heads and the oldest one led them in prayer. It was the sweetest thing to see big burly men bowing their heads before the Lord and I was so touched. They just made my day and they'll never know. If I could I would have paid for their lunches.

If you ever feel "strange" praying in public or living your life in an obviously Christian manner remember that people ARE paying attention. You may never know how you have touched someone's life or made their day a little brighter.

Making Your Home a Haven Monday

For this week's Making Your Home a Haven Monday, Crystal suggested cleaning out a closet. I've recently cleaned out my coat closet and my hall closet. The next closet on the list is my closet. It will be an ALL day project though and with Mike home from work today, I knew it just wasn't going to happen.

Instead of organizing a closet, I decided to organize my kitchen junk drawer. It's where I keep my plastic bags and wraps, plus my notepads and tools. Mike has tools in the garage, but I like to have some handy in the kitchen so I don't have to go searching through his everytime I need to hammer a nail. It's also where the kids put things when they don't know where else to put them. It doesn't take long before it's a BIG mess! I took everything out of it, wiped it out, and sorted everything.

Here's the "before". What a mess!


And here's the "after". Much better!

I also got my morning routine done, sheets washed, laundry done and put away, and mopped the kitchen floor. A pretty good start to the week. :)

Multi-tasking

I love reading blogs, and one of the things I love most is when I learn something knew. I learned from Jenny's blog that with the help of a clip, I can do 2 of my favorite things at the same time. I can read AND knit! And what am I reading? A book about knitting! :)

Hand-Me-Downs

Super Savings Saturday this week is about ways of saving money other than bargain shopping. While bargain shopping is lots of fun and a great way to save money, it's also easy to "go broke saving money" as my husband says. Sometimes the best thing is to spend no money at all.

One of my favorite ways to save money is through hand-me-downs. Over the years my family has been the happy recipient of many many hand-me-downs.

Here are my suggestions on hand-me-downs.

1) The best way to find these is just to let people know you are interested. I've found that sometimes people won't ask if you want something because they don't want to offend you.

I have friends with daughters older than mine who are so good about passing on things their daughters have outgrown. If you know someone with children older than yours you might ask them what they do with the clothing their children outgrow. If they already have someone to pass them on to, they will let you know, but if they just take them to Goodwill they may be happy to let you have them. I also have a relative who is a very stylish (and expensive) dresser and when she mentioned cleaning out her closet I told her that I would be interested in the clothes she was planning to get rid of. She passed along a whole suitcase full of clothes, plus several VERY nice handbags.

2) Don't turn anything down. You might not like everything, but you can always pass it on to someone else who might or drop it off at Goodwill or something similar. This ensures that you will continue to get hand-me-downs. There were several designer pantsuits in the clothes that my relative gave me that I will never wear (I'm just not a pantsuit kind of girl), but I just told her how pretty everything was and how much I appreciated it.

3) Also let people know when you need something specific. We have a club chair and ottoman that are on their last legs. They either need to be re-covered or replaced. I have been letting friends and family know that we are looking and asked them to keep an eye out for us.

And finally I want to show you my girls' room that is done completely in hand-me-downs from retrohousewife's sister.

Happy saving! :)

Thrift Shopping

Greg and I went thrift shopping today. He and Peter are stationed near each other and are planning to move off base together into an apartment. They have NOTHING. Greg has been going through my kitchen taking coffee mugs, glasses, silverware, dish towels... We thought we might be able to find him something at the thrift store. We only had time to go to the one nearest our house and there weren't many bargains this time.

I did find a denim dress, two ties for Mike and a sweater (new with tags). Greg was rushing me, so I didn't get a chance to try on the dress. After I got it home he said I should take it back because in his words it looks "too Little House on the Prairie". Mike hasn't seen it yet, so I don't know what his opinion will be. What do you think? Should I take it back?

Frugal Valentine's Day

Love Collection
My husband and I don't make a big deal out of Valentine's Day and we rarely spend more than $5. That being said, we DO like to make sure the other feels a little extra love on Valentine's.

Here are my favorite ways to let Mike know he is loved and appreciated without spending money on a card or gift.

1. Pray for him. I let him know that I am praying for him every day and sometimes I will write down the particular verse I prayed for him that day and leave it on a sticky note on his pillow. For ideas on what to pray for your husband read 31 Days of Prayer.

2. Write him a letter. He loves to get letters that are in my own words and not pre-printed cards. It's also easier for me to say things in a letter that I might stumble over or forget about if we are talking. I tell him why I love him, the more specific the better. One year I wrote in the letter how spoiled and loved I felt when he filled my gas tank for me (for some reason I hate putting gas in the van). I don't think I filled it once for the rest of that year. He made sure to check my gas gauge every weekend.

3. Cook a special meal and light candles. Even though I cook every night, I try to make something special that Mike loves for Valentine's Day and for his birthday. I also make his favorite German Chocolate cake.

4. Leave him a "thinking of you" voicemail. Sometimes I will call Mike during a meeting or some other time when I know he won't be able to answer his phone and leave him a funny voicemail. I only do this on his cell phone though. One time I left him a "singing" voicemail on his office phone and he played it back with a co-worker in the room. It was G rated and he thought it was funny, but I was definitely red faced when I found out someone else had heard it...

5. Watch a movie or play a game that he likes. Mike loves to watch movies. I'm not much of a movie watcher (I can never seem to sit still long enough) and when I do watch a movie, it's NOT an action/war movie. He also loves to play chess and cards and I'm not too fond of either. One way that I can really show him that I love him is to sit and watch a movie that he likes(no fidgeting!) or play a game with him.

For more Frugal Valentine Ideas visit Money Saving Mom

New Recipe Disaster

Hot Soup
I LOVE soup when the weather is cool. At the first sign of a cool down in the fall, I'm making soup. Usually my family likes soup too. I found a recipe for Cheddar Cheese Soup that sounded SO good. Unfortunately the family wasn't too taken with it.

When Greg saw the soup, he suddenly remembered that he was meeting one of his friends to eat at Wendy's. Marcia took one look and said "What is THAT??" Mike had to work late and by the time he got home, the soup looked like some sort of congealed yellow mess.

I just hate it when a new recipe falls flat like that. I feel like I wasted all that time not to mention the money on the ingredients.

Banana Bread

This banana bread is not only yummy, but nutritious too. The recipe is from one of my most loved cookbooks, The New Laurel's Kitchen. From the state of this particular page, it's obvious that I've made it many times over the years. :)

3 very ripe bananas (1 cup mashed)
juice of 1 lemon
1/3 cup oil or butter
1/2 cup brown sugar

1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 cup wheat germ
(1 cup chopped dates)
(1 cup toasted nuts)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Mash bananas and mix them with lemon juice until smooth. Cream butter or oil and sugar together and add the banana mixture, stirring well.

Sift together flour, salt, baking powder, and baking soda. Mix in wheat germ. Add to the banana mix and stire in dates and nuts if desired.

The dough will be very stiff. Turn it into a greased 4" x 8" loaf pan and bake for about 45 minutes. To test for doneness, insert a knife into the loaf: if it comes out clean, the bread is done.

Makes 1 loaf.
(You can also bake banana bread in an 8" x 8" pan, or make 12 muffins. Bake these for about 1/2 hour.)

Making Your Home a Haven Monday

Once again it's Making your Home a Haven Monday hosted by Crystal at Bibilical Womanhood.

1. Refresh Your Spirit
Today I'm reading about Isaac and Rebekah in Genesis.

2. Take Time to Plan

Project: If you have a blog, post your morning routine to share with us.

Morning Routine -
Wake up at 6:00a.m.
Exercise
spend a few minutes drinking coffee with Mike
shower, dress, makeup
wake up kids, fix breakfast
get kids to school
breakfast dishes
make beds
start laundry
devotion and Bible reading

3. Do Something!

Today I encourage you to focus on cleaning your bathrooms.

My morning routine didn't all get done as usual today. I woke up with a cough and decided I just couldn't face any exercise this morning. I also had Bobby home sick with a fever so I had to take him to the doctor. The flu test was negative, so the doctor put him on an antibiotic.

I got him settled after the appointment, gave him his medicine and rubbed some Vick's Vaporub on his chest, when the phone rang. It was Cindy's teacher letting me know that she wasn't feeling well, and I might want to pick her up. I decided to just go ahead and pick up both girls. As soon as I got Cindy settled on my bed to watch a movie, she threw up all over my bedroom carpet. Poor little thing... I just hate when they feel so bad. I may have to take her to the doctor too.

I did finally get my morning routine done and believe it or not, I also got the master bathroom cleaned and also did a quick wipe down of the guest bathroom and changed out the towels. Here are the "after" pictures of the master bathroom. This was before I washed the bathmat, but you get the idea.



Supper wound up being turkey hot dogs. Not all that nutritious, but quick and easy for those feeling well enough to eat. I try to keep things like this handy for when we have one of "those days".

I am so blessed to be able to take care of my sweet babies when they are sick. Sometimes it's tough, but I wouldn't have it any other way.

Grocery Shopping Challenge

I meant to update you on my grocery shopping challenge this weekend, but you know how life is... :)

I did make that 3rd shopping trip and spent $10.18, plus another $10 at WalMart for my party Saturday. We had about 10 Blue Star Moms (and a couple of dads)over Saturday afternoon to pack up care packages to mail to Iraq and Afghanistan. I had snacks and drinks for them. We had a lot of fun. These ladies are all very different from one another and come from all different walks of life, but the fact that we have children serving in the military binds us together. They are a very special group.

Total grocery spending for the week (including my party) was $56.46. I'm very happy with that! :)

The menu for Friday through Sunday included:

Breakfast - pancakes, pumpkin pancakes, apple muffins
Lunches - sandwiches, chicken noodle soup (canned), and on Sunday meatloaf with mashed potatoes and corn.
Suppers - tater tot casserole, pizza,and last night we had what I call Spicy Potato Soup which is something I made up that's sort of like a taco soup with potatoes.

My party snacks were Chex Mix, brownies, Hershey's Kisses, and bottled water and soft drinks.
Grocery Shopping Challenge part 1
Grocery Shopping Challenge Part 2

Free Ebooks

Reading By the Window
If you're like me and love to read, there are lots of ebooks available for free online. There are ALL sorts available (both good and bad of course, so as always use your common sense). If you like Jane Austen, you can download Pride and Prejudice, or maybe you would rather read Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, or Jane Eyre.

I also found several home and garden books such as House and Home Papers: By Christopher Crowfield written by Harriet Beecher Stowe. I haven't read it yet, but I'm particularly interested in reading the chapter titled "Home-Keeping vs. House-Keeping". There's also Illustrated History of Furniture - From the Earliest to the Present Time for all you decorators, and The Fall Booklet which is about Autumn traditions and includes recipes, crafts and activities.

You can also find lots of children's book online. I found McGuffey's First Eclectic Reader, Peter Rabbit, and The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes.

Even if you can't get to the library there's no excuse not to have a good book to read. :)

Yard Sale Find

This little table runner is something I picked up at a yard sale several years ago. I think I may have paid 50 cents for it. I haven't used it in awhile, so I got it out and put it on my kitchen table this morning. It's so sweet and I love the stitching on it.