What's Growing in the Garden?

So far we have lettuce, tomatoes, and peppers. Hopefully we'll soon be seeing the yellow squash, cantaloupe, watermelon, and cucumbers (I want to make pickles this summer). I also have a big pot on the back porch where I've planted oregano, cilantro, and basil.

Our garden isn't very big, so the plants will be sort of crammed in. We put down newspaper, then put topsoil mixed with compost on top. The newspaper is supposed to keep grass and weeds from growing up from underneath, but will let the roots of the vegetables grow down through it. We'll see how it works. We edged the garden area with leftover wood from an old wooden swing set.

We bought the compost this time from a home improvement store, but we have started our own compost pile for the future. It's currently mostly grass clippings, but we have added eggshells, apple cores and orange peels over the past few days.

Today's Bargains

I spent the day running errands with my mom today and we got some bargain hunting done too. It seems like I haven't been able to find much at the thrift store lately, but today I found two tops (and one is a brand new with tags April Cornell!), and The Complete Tightwad Gazette. I bought the first book in the Tightwad Gazette series back in the '90s, but I never had the other two. I paid $7 for all of it. I'm thrilled!

The second picture shows my Walgreen's deal. The above items are all rebate items from the April Super Saver catalog, which happened to overlap with coupons from the May catalog (plus coupons I already had). I used my gift card from last months rebates, so it didn't cost me a cent out of pocket and I'll get $13.49 in rebates, plus the extra 10% for getting it on a gift card.

And to make the day complete. Mom took me to lunch at Pei Wei, which was yummy! We had the lettuce wraps. I think I'm going to see if I can find a similar recipe to make at home. The kids would love them.

One of My Favorite Cookbooks

This is one of my very favorite cookbooks (click picture to see a larger view). I bought it years ago at a garage sale. I think I paid 25 cents for it. It was put together by a family using one of those self publishing companies. Most of the recipes are intended for large families and I used them quite often when all five of my kids were still at home.

Here's one that I plan to try when we start harvesting our tomato crop (updates on the garden coming soon).

Best Big Batch Tomato Sauce
1/4 c. salad oil
3 medium onions, thinly sliced
3 large carrots, thinly sliced
2 medium green peppers, diced
2 medium garlic cloves, minced
12 lbs tomatoes, peeled and diced
1/4 c. packed brown sugar
2 Tbsp. salt
2 tsp. oregano leaves
1 1/2 tsp. basil
1/2 tsp. pepper
1 (12 oz.) can tomato paste

In 8 quart Dutch oven over medium heat, in hot salad oil, cook onions, carrots, green peppers and garlic until tender, stirring occasionally. Add tomatoes and remaining ingredients. Over high heat, heat to boiling. reduce heat to medium low; partially cover Dutch oven and cook 2 hours, stirring occasionally.

Makes 9 pints.
Each pint is enough to serve over 1 (8 oz.) package spaghetti, cooked. Or use sauce over Swiss steak, pizza or lasagna.

And the winner is...

Marcia drew the name and the winner of the drawing is...

Connie! Congratulations Connie! I'll email you as soon as we get back from softball to get your mailing address. :)

Are You A Shoe Lady?

I found this fun quiz at Apples of Gold.

You Are Flip Flops

You are laid back and very friendly. Cheery and sunny in disposition, you usually have something to smile about. Style is important to you, as long as you can stay casual. It takes a lot to get you to dress up! You are a loyal and true person, though you can be a bit of a flake. You tend to "play hooky" and blow off responsibilities a lot more than most people. You should live: By the beach You should work: At a casual up and coming company Well, I do! I would call raising children up and coming! :)

What Kind of Shoe Are You?

Clear Out the Clutter: Day 2

Yesterday in the Clear out the Clutter challenge hosted at Biblical Womanhood, I sorted through my girls' clothes (don't forget to enter the giveaway by Wednesday at midnight).

Today, instead of working in the house I worked in the van. Well, maybe I should say in addition to working in the house. I also did laundry and cleaned the guest bathroom. My van is a catchall. It's amazing how all the things we bring home from school and church never seem to make it into the house. :) I found a science fair board, flip flops, a jacket, Sunday shoes, a visor... And that's not counting the things I keep in the van on purpose like booster cables, first aid kit, and stadium seats. It's like a house on wheels sometimes.



Now that everything is out of the van I can tell how badly it needs to be vacuumed and washed. Hopefully I can get that done tomorrow.

Making Your Home a Haven Monday: Clear Out the Clutter Challenge

It's time for Making Your Home a Haven Monday hosted by Crystal at Biblical Womanhood. She says:

"Nothing can keep your home from being a peaceful haven more than clutter can, so in an effort to make our homes more of a warm and welcoming abode, we're declaring war on clutter this week."

Today I tackled my girls' clothes. Between things I buy them, hand-me-downs, and gifts from grandparents, my girls have a ridiculous amount of clothes. Today I went through their closet and dresser drawers and even the plastic bin I had set aside for Summer. I have worked on it ALL day (while the rest of the house fell apart around me). I made two piles. One pile of cute things in good condition and one of things that need repairs or are stained.

I thought it would be fun to combine getting rid of clutter with a giveaway, so I want to give away the "good" pile of clothes. They are mostly winter clothes, but there are summer clothes too. The clothes range from size 7/8 to 10/12. The following pictures show some of the items that will be included, but not all.




If you would like to enter, just leave a comment with a way to contact you (either your blog address or your email address). I will have one of my daughters draw the name. You can enter until Wednesday, April 23rd at midnight Central time. We will draw the name Thursday after school.

This is my first time to host a giveaway so I am really excited! :)

Blogging Community

Under the Awning
The kids are all in bed and I have a few minutes of peace, so I thought I would have a quick chat with my bloggy friends before I head off to bed myself. :)

As I've mentioned here before, the only people in "real life" who know I blog are my best gal pal retrohousewife and my husband and kids. The kids' reaction was "So that's why you take all those pictures of our food!" Well, I may have to go ahead and "come clean" to my mom. I talk about all of your blogs to her all the time. She knows about "Lynn who lives in England" and "Tina in Scotland" and "Tracy who posts all those great recipes and I made her cinnamon rolls that time", and "Jenny in Australia who makes these really cute dolls and is a pro at knitting", plus all the rest of you. You didn't know your names were that long did you? :)

I feel like you all have become friends and I so enjoy my little peek into your lives everyday. Blogging can take up WAY too much time if I let it, but I am so thankful for all that I have learned from all of you and the sense of community that you give me. It's so nice to have a group of like-minded ladies to visit.

Goodnight friends!

Make the Days Count

This is the day which the LORD hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.
Psalm 118:24

Lord, may I use today wisely and remember that each day is a blessing. May I bring Your sunshine into cloudy places. Amen.

Bloggy Business

Hand Holding Computer Mouse

I haven't really changed my sidebar since I started blogging back in October and I need to do some blog maintenance. If you would like a link to your blog in the sidebar or if you know of a really good blog that I might like, would you let me know? I don't want to leave anyone out or miss some good reading. :)

Also, I am thinking of putting up a section of links to readers favorite posts. Do you have any particular post that you think I should include?

Thank you!

Talking to Kids About Money

One Dollar
I thought I would continue with my frugal theme and tell you how we talk to our kids about money. Entire books have been written on this subject, but believe it or not, we've never read one. :)

We were basically financially illiterate when we married. Both intelligent, educated people, but no real world money knowledge. We each brought large amounts of student loans into the marriage. After many years of stupid decisions leading to lots of debt, we are finally trying to get our act together. We have step one completed ($1,000 emergency fund) and we are now concentrating on living within our budget and paying down debt. We are praying that our children will learn from our mistakes. We want to make sure that they know more about money than we did.

The oldest two have now left the nest. We have been completely open and honest with them about our finances. They have seen our family budget and where our money goes. They know about our debt and about the steps we are taking to get rid of it. They know that we have been paying the "stupid tax" as Dave Ramsey calls it for many years. They know how easy it is to dig yourself a financial hole. As I learn more about money, insurance, and investments, I make sure to pass on what I have learned. So far they are making better decisions than their parents did at that age.

Our third son is a teenager. He knows the difference between a debit card and a credit card. He knows that we have a budget. I have shared with him how much I spend on groceries and gas every week and how I clip coupons and combine them with sales to stretch that budget as far as possible. We have also talked to him about the necessity of having insurance (auto, homeowners, health and life) and told him what our insurance costs, what it covers, and what "deductible" means. He knows that we have an emergency fund and that we are trying to pay off debt (although he doesn't know all the specifics). We encourage him to tithe off of any money that he earns doing yard work for his grandparents.

Our daughters are elementary school age. I have also talked to them about the difference between a debit card and a credit card (although I'm not sure they quite get it) and about tithing and budgeting. They realize that we have to save for awhile if we want to buy something big.

Another way we have tried to teach our children about money is to teach them to be sceptical of advertising. Even as adults it's very easy to be manipulated by ads. I've found myself thinking "I really NEED that new kitchen gadget! It will save me so much time! Only three payments of $19.99!" Kids are even more vulnerable. This is also a good reason to limit their TV watching. We want them to understand that 99% of the things they will see advertised on TV (or more) are not things that they need or would even want if they knew what the product was really like.

We are obviously not financial experts, but hopefully we are pointing our children in the right direction.

Power in Words

Count Your Blessings
Even so the tongue is a little member, and boasteth great things. Behold, how great a matter a little fire kindleth!
James 3:5

I was surfing some personal finance blogs today and came across a post by Frugal Dad about the language of the perpetual poor.

"You know the type - constantly complaining, poor-mouthing, griping about the price of everything and jealous of everything others have."

As Frugal Dad points out, these are often the people who line up on Friday nights to buy $20 worth of lottery tickets, troll the new car lots on Sunday afternoons, but can't manage to put $20 in savings.

As someone who is breaking a long habit of spending without thinking, I've come to realize that an important part of frugality is the way we talk about it, both to ourselves and others. Think how different the outcome will be while making a decision on a purchase if I say to myself "I deserve it because I work hard" versus "Is this a need or a want?" Or what if I say "It's not fair that everyone else has a new flat screen TV and I don't. I'll just put it on a credit card and then I can pay for it later."? Then when "later" actually comes, I can't afford the payments.

Whether we are living frugally out of necessity or by choice, there's no reason that we can't be positive about it. We can change our language from that of the perpetually poor, to that of the soon to be financially independent. Instead of saying to myself or my husband that my van is nothing but a ghetto cruiser, I can keep it clean and well maintained and remind myself that it gets us where we need to go and has plenty of room for our children and their friends.

Our words are very powerful. We can change our attitude AND our circumstances. It starts with our words.

A Day in My Life - April

I'm joining Jenny again for A Day in My Life.

She says:

"The purpose is not to show how busy, lazy, exciting or organised your life is though it may be all of those things. The purpose is just to document a day and over a period of time document a series of days to look back on."

Be sure and check out her blog to read about her day and see the links to others who are taking part.

Today was a little different from my usual Mondays. School is out today and Mike is home. We had a very busy weekend, so today was a perfect opportunity for us to sleep in. We straggled into the kitchen one at a time for breakfast (make your own) and spent most of the morning in our PJs. It was so nice not to be rushing off somewhere. Mike and I were still sitting around drinking coffee at 10:00 am! I threw our sheets in the washer and that's about the extent of my morning accomplishments. :)

After sandwiches for lunch I made my menu and grocery list and did a quick fridge cleaning. I try to wipe down spills and throw out anything yucky before I shop. I usually go grocery shopping on Fridays and didn't get to it last week. We had an almost bare pantry and fridge. Mike stayed home with the kids, so I went to the post office and grocery store by myself. When I got home everyone helped bring in the groceries (it was a LOT) and put things away.

Once we had all the groceries put away, it was time to once again have Cindy lace up her cleats and head out to the softball field for a game.

They lost the game, but played hard. The team they played is one of the three best in the league and doesn't have any first year players. About half our team is first year.

By the time we got home it was nearly 8:00pm. I had the girls take a quick shower while I threw together a pizza. We really don't have pizza every night, it just seems that way sometimes. :)



After supper the girls got their backpacks ready for tomorrow and went to bed. Bobby and Mike settled in to watch a few minutes of TV while I checked email and started blogging.

I feel like I didn't get a thing done today. I still have a huge pile of laundry to do and the house is in disarray after the weekend. I have my work cut out for me tomorrow. :)

On the Run

Soccer Mom
We've been one of "those families" this weekend. You know, eating fast food on the run in the van and living at the sports complex. So much for my menu and ideas about not eating fast food. The back of the van is now full of blankets (for when the wind in the stands gets chilly), stadium seats, crackers, Gatorade, granola bars, band aids and sunscreen.

Cindy, our youngest, had a softball tournament that started Friday night and went ALL day Saturday. It's her first year to play softball and I had no idea how it would take over our lives. She loves it though... I'm glad no one else is playing a sport at the moment or I would lose my mind!

She looked so adorable waiting for her first pitch in her pink and black softball uniform with her blond ponytail hanging out of the back of her pink and black batting helmet. While Mike was talking about how she needed to work on her batting stance I kept telling him "But look how cute she is!!!"

I try not to spend time blogging or on the computer on Sundays so I won't get to comments or email today, but I'll be here tomorrow. See you then! :)

Generations

Generations
Maybe it's just a Southern thing, but around here when you meet someone (this is especially true with older folks) they always want to know who you're related to and where you go to church. Every small town has at least three churches; a Baptist, Methodist, and Church of Christ. Even if it only has one stoplight and you have to get your takeout pizza at the gas station...

This past summer, my mother's side of the family had a family reunion. We rented a nice "party house", but we all wound up pulling the chairs outside on the little front porch of the house and chatting. My mom's family is small. She only has one sister who never had children. I don't have any cousins on that side and I only have a younger brother who also doesn't have children. But my grandmother was one of five and my mother has lots of cousins. My grandmother's younger sister was there (she's only about 16 years older than my mom) and she still calls me "Baby Girl". It used to drive me crazy. Now I love to hear her say "Well, hi there Baby Girl!"

One of my moms cousins is big into genealogy and brought a family tree that he had created. It was so much fun to find out about all those people I'm "kin" to. Did you know that I'm related to Gene Autry, the singing cowboy? That was fun to know. He also had stories of civil war era relatives. One of my direct ancestors died from the chicken pox during that war leaving a widow and small children. His mother had three sons and only one of them survived the war. Her only surviving son walked from a prison camp in the north when he was released after the war ended all the way home to Arkansas with nothing more than the clothes on his back, finding food and water as he could along the way. He was so thin and disheveled when he returned that she didn't even recognize him. Can you imagine?

My family has lived all over the south. From North Carolina to Tennessee, from Arkansas to Texas. We have had MANY Baptist ministers in the family and the family is still predominantly Baptist. It really brought to my mind how important it is that we live our lives to honor the Lord. It will not only impact the lives of our children, but the lives of their children and generations yet to be born.

What will we want people to remember about us after we have passed on? No one will care if I bought the latest gadgets for my children or worked long hours and made lots of money some company. What I hope they will remember is the loving home I created. The smell of homebaked goodies, the sounds of laughter and children playing, the swing in the shade of the willow tree. Will they remember that even if the furniture was a little shabby and the carpet stained that I always welcomed friends and family with open arms? Will they remember the times I took dinner to a new mother or how I laughed when I burnt the cinnamon toast and set off the smoke alarm instead of screaming about it? I hope and pray that they will say "She loved the Lord and she always made those around her feel loved". What more could I ask?

Birthday Shopping

Every year my mom and I spend the day together for my birthday. She takes me out to lunch, gives me birthday money and takes me shopping to spend it. Today was our day to shop and we had so much fun! I got this cute retro metal breadbox. I think the red goes perfectly with the red teakettle and red coffeemaker I already have.




I also got a really cute pair of earrings (maybe I'll get a picture of them later), a Yankee candle that smells SO good and a black dress and leggings similar to the ones in the picture below. My dress is solid black with an empire waist and has a v-neck instead of a scoop neck. I was a little worried that it might look too young for me, but my mom thought it looked cute. Hope Mike likes it. :)

Romance Novels

English Summer Garden
I was never a romance novel reader. I was brought up to believe that they were nothing but fluff and trash (mostly true). As someone who studied literature in college, this is dark confession time, but I have found one (and only one unless you count Jane Austen)romance author that I just love. The first book I found of hers was at my local library and I enjoyed it so much that whenever I come across another of her books, I snatch it up. I've found a few at yard sales and "friends of the library" sales. Most that I have found were published in the 70s.

The author's name is Betty Neels and this is the biography from the back of one of her books.

Betty Neels spent her childhood and youth in Devonshire before training as a nurse and midwife. She was an army nursing sister during the war, married a Dutchman and subsequently lived in Holland for fourteen years. Betty started to write on retirement from nursing, incited by a lady in a library bemoaning the lack of romantic novels. Betty Neels has sold over 35 million copies of her books worldwide.

Obviously "the war" they are referring to here was World War II.

Her novels are very British. After reading them, I have decided that I need an Aga and that a cup of tea will cure any ill. :) So far every one that I have read has been set either in England, Scotland, or Holland. They are also very sweet and chaste. There is nothing that I wouldn't want one of my daughters to read.

I love to pick up one of these books when I'm feeling unfocused or tired and just don't want to read anything "hard". They're wonderful little "pick-me-ups".

Here are some snippets from "Roses For Christmas" which I just finished. It was published in 1976.

"The loft was warm, dusty and redolent of apples; the autumn sunshine peeping through its one dusty window tinted the odds and ends hanging on the walls with a golden light, so that the strings of onions, cast-off skates, old raincoats, lengths of rope, worn-out leather straps and an old hat or two had acquired a gilded patina. Most of the bare floor was taken up with orderly rows of apples, arranged according to their kind, but there was still space enough left for the girl sitting in the centre, a half-eaten apple in one hand, the other buried in the old hat box beside her."

"The cosy homeliness of the manse where her parents and five brothers and sisters lived in the tiny village on the northernmost coast of Scotland was bliss. It was only a pity that on this particular week's holiday, both her elder brothers, James and Donald, should be away from home, leaving Henry, the youngest and only eight years old, recovering from chickenpox, with no one to amuse him but herself. She doted on him, but they had been fishing all the morning, and after lunch had been cleared away she had gone to the loft for an hour's peace before getting the tea, and now here he was again, no doubt with some boyish scheme or other which would probably entail climbing trees or walking miles looking for seashells."

"The sitting room they entered wasn't large, but its heterogeneous mixture of unassuming antiques and comfortable, shabby armchairs, handmade rugs and bookshelves rendered it pleasant enough. It had two occupants: Eleanor's mother, a small, pretty woman, very neatly dressed, and her father, a good deal older than his wife, with thick white hair and bright blue eyes in a rugged face. He was in elderly grey tweeds and only his dog collar proclaimed his profession."

I just love the scenes she sets. There is always a good sense of home and family in her books.

Birthday Party News

I was reminded again this weekend of how blessed I am to be a mom. It's so fun to watch your children grow up and see them becoming fine young men and women. Bobby was such a good host at his birthday sleepover this weekend. Despite the living room being turned into video game central (did you know you can hook up 2 Xboxes and 2 TVs so that all the boys can play at once?) he made sure that his friends didn't make a mess, or get too rowdy while also making sure they had a good time. He was even civil (although I'm sure it was hard) to Marcia when she kept wanting to talk to him while his friends were here. I'm very proud of him!

Time to Party!

Happy Birthday
Bobby's birthday party (postponed from last weekend) is tonight. I'm having five 14 year old boys spending the night! I'll let you know in the morning if we all survive. Just kidding. This is a great group of boys and I'm sure we won't have any problems other than one or two raids on the fridge. :) We have plenty of snacks and drinks, we've rented some movies and video games and we have a trampoline. They'll probably entertain themselves and I won't hear a peep out of them.

Opposites Attract

Bouquet of Jonquils
My husband and I see very alike in some ways (same religious and political views, same love of reading), but very different in others (types of movies we like, hobbies). One way that he is completely opposite from me is in a sense of direction. I am, shall we say, directionally challenged. I can get lost in my own town that I have lived in for over 20 years! And it's not a huge city...largish maybe, but not huge. Mike (thank you Lord!!!) has a GPS in his head. He always knows where we are and how to get where we need to be.

His knowledge of directions has come in handy for me on MANY occasions. During football season I would sometimes have to drive to Bobby's away games by myself. Mike would give me directions so I could find the football stadium. He's even able to give me directions over the phone. Once when a friend and I were traveling to a funeral in a nearby town (my friend had printed directions from Mapquest) we got lost. So I called Mike and said "Help! We're lost!" He asked what road we were on and what exit we had just passed. He was able to tell us exactly how to get where we needed to be. And just a week or so ago, I thought I knew how to get to the softball field where Cindy was having practice...wrong. Once again on the phone "Honey, how do I get there?" He asks where I am and is even able to say "See that sign on your left? Now turn right after that and then you'll see a 4 way stop and it will be straight ahead and on your right." He can just see it in his head.

As annoying as it can be when Mike doesn't do things just the way I wish he would, I am SO thankful that God made us to complement each other and not be just alike. I couldn't stand living with someone exactly like me. :) I sent him an email telling him that this morning. After all these years, he is still so precious to me.

Modesty

Modesty seems to be a sore subject among both women and men these days. It's one of those topics that I don't think most pastors would touch with a ten foot pole. Of course I know that the Bible doesn't give us a list of what we should and should not wear (although sometimes I wish God would give me his version of "What Not to Wear"), but I DO wish people would use a little common sense. As my girls get older, this is becoming more important to me. I want to be a good role model for them.

I like to look feminine, cute and stylish, but I also like to be well covered. I'm 5'7" and "hippy" as one oh so nice saleslady once put it. I don't wear shorts (except in the house to work out) and I like to keep my knees and upper arms covered. I've found that for my figure, skirts look better than jeans. I DO have a really cute pair of wideleg capri pants (about ankle length), but like a complete idiot I painted in them, so they are now only fit for around the house. I don't like to wear anything tight or low cut. Now you can see why I have a terrible time finding anything to wear. Plus the fact that I'm always losing or gaining a few pounds...

So, in my quest for Christian fashion advice, I have come across some great posts that I know you will find very interesting and informative.

Terry says I'm All for Modesty, But I Hate Uniforms

Elizabeth talks about Modest Mommies

Mrs. Wilt is doing a Month of Modesty

Lady Lydia talks about the Deconstruction of Women's Clothing

Here is what I what I wore today and I think it looks nice. I had to put a tank top under the shirt (why is everything so low cut?).




By the way, I got the skirt on clearance for $2.99!

So, what are your thoughts on modesty?

Growing a Garden

This will be my first year to have a REAL vegetable garden and I am so excited! We've grown tomatoes before, and we planted all the flowers in my flower bed (and a few trees and shrubs), but that's about it. I don't really even know where to start other than the seeds I've purchased, so I'm doing a little research. I think I'm going to get a spiral notebook to keep track of what I am learning.

We live in a regular suburban neighborhood, but we have an over sized lot and a big backyard. I think I'm going to put the garden in the spot where we used to have an above ground pool. There's very little grass there for me to dig up and it's to the side of the house and not right off the back porch. That way people won't have to walk through it if we have a backyard barbecue.

I'll keep you posted on how it's coming along. :)