Monthly Archives: November 2013

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Baby Is Almost Here…. Taking A Short Break

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving with family and friends, we had a great time!  Just wanted to let you all know I will be taking a short break (not long I promise) from blogging just to have all of our time and energy focused on family and the kids before the baby gets here (only 4 more days!!!)  and a little while after we have him just to let everything get back to normal so I will be back soon I’m planning for December 16th or 17th to start back unless I miss it entirely too much to wait that long :-).  Hope you all continue reading once I start back, and until then God bless, and you all have a wonderful few weeks!

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It’s Thanksgiving!!

Just wanted to take a minute to tell all of you HAPPY THANKSGIVING!! I hope you are all having a wonderful day enjoying time with your family, enjoying great food, and most of all remembering to be thankful for everything the Lord has given to us including the greatest gift He has given………………………. ETERNAL LIFE!

 

Have a great day and enjoy this time.

Do you have any special Thanksgiving traditions you do with your family?  Any special crafts, you enjoy with your children?  Comment below and let me know I would love to hear how your family celebrates Thanksgiving!

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I Love My Crock-Pot!!

No joke, I absolutely LOVE my crock-pot.  It makes dinner time so super easy sometimes, I love knowing that I can toss in a few ingredients mix it up, and by the time it’s time to eat we have a wonderful delicious meal that I pretty much had to do nothing to make.

I thought I would share a few recipes I have with you I have already shared my potato soup recipe with you and you can find that one here:     https://resourcefulhomeschoolmom.wordpress.com/2013/09/13/new-recipe/                                        But, here are a few more I have to share with you.  One of my favorites would have to be chicken with cream of chicken soup and yes, it’s as simple as it sounds you just take several pieces of chicken (as many as you need for your family),  a can of cream of chicken soup (I use the large cans), and enough water to completely cover the chicken stir and set for whatever time you want your food to be done usually I do it on high for 4-6 hours.  The soup and water will basically make a gravy for your chicken, and I always serve this with brown rice and pour the gravy on the rice and steam some veggies for the side, the chicken just falls apart and is super moist.  You can also make this with cream of mushroom soup I just don’t add as much water to the soup.  Tip: once you’re done with the meal, save the gravy and freeze it to use for another meal later.

Another yummy one, take a whole young chicken (will also work with boneless, skinless), cover with water add vegetables (celery, carrots, potatoes, parsnips, etc.) and add either egg noodles or rice for a yummy chicken soup.  Again, you can cook this one high 4-6 hours or if you want cook it on low for 8-10.  I left the skin on the chicken and pulled it out whole set it on a platter and removed the skin and then removed the meat from the bone, I found that when I leave the skin on during cooking it just helps hold it together better and makes it easier to remove at the end of cooking.

Then I have my delicious french dip with au jus sandwiches, just get any type of roast I’ve used all different types, add in a container of beef broth cook on high 4-6 hours or low for 8-10 hours then once it’s done take a cup or two of the broth and add a small amount of worchestechire sauce just a tsp. or two and mix well, there’s your au jus.  Pull apart the meat, and put into a french bread roll (I used whole wheat).  Top with swiss cheese and enjoy.  Serve with a salad or other vegetables on the side.

Last but not least hearty beef stew, you can either buy stew beef already cut up for you or get a bottom roast and cube it up yourself then chop up all your vegetables (carrots, celery, red potatoes, onions) and add them in now as far as the gravy and the seasonings you can do one of two things, nine times out of ten I usually take the extremely easy route with this one and buy seasoning pack specifically for crock-pot beef stew or you can make a mixture of beef broth with flour and add in your favorite herbs and meat spices.

There are a few I’m wanting to try but haven’t had the chance to yet are meatloaf and lasagna.  Do you like cooking in your crock-pot?  What are your favorite recipes have any to share, I love trying new ones comment below and let me know what they are so I can enjoy them too!

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Love the Lord

“Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.” Deuteronomy 6:4-9

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Don’t Be Troubled

“Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.”  John 14:1-3

 

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Our Thankful Turkeys

  We’re getting to a very late start in our Thankfulness for Thanksgiving, we do of course try to think of things we’re thankful for all year round, but I do think it is good to take extra special time during this time of the year and really emphasize on being thankful and I promise, if you ask your children what they are thankful for they will come up with tons of things.

  Of course other fun things about Thanksgiving and Christmas time are arts and crafts and cooking together!!!  Two things that are beginning to be my favorite things ever to do with the kids which is awesome, because, before it felt like such a chore but when I changed my perspective, prayed about it and God showed me it’s all about them and not me I have really, really begun to enjoy it thoroughly. So, we made Thankful Turkeys!!  It was so much fun, they got to pick out the colors they wanted then got to color their turkeys and glue them together and I wrote on them what the kids told me they were thankful for.

  Caidence told me that she was thankful for:  God, trees, rain, rope, lessons, and Jesus.

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  Jeremiah told me that he was thankful for: clothes, his toys, the trees, the grass, the leaf piles, and the rain.

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  Although I didn’t make a thankful turkey, I will say what I’m thankful for, I’m thankful to have an awesome God, I am thankful that I have an amazing husband who works so hard for our family and loves his children so much, I am thankful that we have a roof over our head and everything that we need, I am thankful that God showed us a way for me to be able to stay home with our children, I am thankful that we are able to homeschool our children, I am thankful that we live in a country where I can openly worship the Lord and teach my children all about Him without having to worry about getting put in jail or even killed for it.

  And yes, that is our completely decorated Christmas tree in the background this early in November, we wanted to be prepared and have the house decorated before the baby was born so that we wouldn’t have to after he gets here.

  Tell me, what are you thankful for?  Have you made thankful turkeys or some other arts and craft with your child to show your thankfulness?  I would love to hear from you, comment below!

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He Is Our Strength!

“The LORD is my strength and my song; he has become my salvation.  Shouts of joy and victory resound in the tents of the righteous: “The LORD’s right hand has done mighty things!  The LORD’s right hand is lifted high; the LORD’s right hand has done mighty things!” Psalm 118:14-16

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Getting Ready!!!!!

So, just a little update, we’re so close to having our 4th child, we’ve only got 14 days tops until he gets here so we are all getting ready for him and counting down the days and hoping that he will hurry up and get here.  We can’t wait for another blessing to be added to our family and the other kids can’t wait to get to see him and love on him.

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How Is It Going With The Challenges?

Well, the challenge posts have been done now for a few days, are you finding that they really help you out?  Are you still doing them?

I actually got a little bit behind with them just because Isabelle had to be hospitalized for two days 😦 which by the way having a 15 month old stuck in a hospital room is absolutely no fun at all.  But, with us being there taking care of her of course everything is going to get behind but I am still slowly but surely catching up on everything and can’t wait till the house runs as usual which will hopefully be within the next day or two.

If you did take me up on the challenges, which one has been your favorite?  Which one helps you out the most?

For me, I think that they all kind of go together and when they are all done together it just makes everything fall into place, but for sure the house would fall apart without the sink being emptied daily, and without one load of laundry getting done per day.

I really want to hear from you comment below 🙂

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Ants and Diligence

Our newest homeschool adventure has been us learning about ants, you know those things you can’t stand being all through your yard that attack anything that comes near their home causing pain making you wish they never existed, yeah, those.  Well, I have a new perspective on these neat little creatures.

Watching them has made me absolutely amazed at what they do and how they work I knew that ants were hard workers but my goodness they seem to never sleep always preparing their home or gathering their food.  Always moving doing something and making these amazing little intricate tunnels that somehow hold up under pressure of all the other sand in the enclosure.

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Isn’t that just amazing!  I wish you could see more detail in this picture but it’s awesome.  Even the bible speaks of the hard work of the ant: “Take a lesson from the ants you lazybones.  Learn from their ways and become wise!  Though they have no prince or governor or ruler to make them work, they labor hard all summer, gathering food for the winter.  But you, lazybones, how long will you sleep?  When will you wake up?  A little extra sleep, a little more slumber a little folding of the hands to rest- then poverty will pounce on you like a bandit; scarcity will attack you like an armed robber.” Proverbs 6:6-11.

So, as well as learning of the ants we have been learning about diligence and working for the Lord, a lot of times even myself I don’t work as if I’m working for the Lord and when I intentionally make sure that I am doing my work whether it be raising the children, doing things for my husband, or taking care of the house not only does it make me realize that I am truly working for the Lord and that He gives me all of these things that I care for but it gives me so much joy to do them and makes my day so much better.

Something we are going to be doing this week along with this and will continue is to not only make sure we are working for the Lord but also the bible tells us that when we work for the Lord we will receive a reward and no, that doesn’t necessarily mean here on this earth it may be a reward in heaven, but to teach this verse and instill in our children that working for the Lord is what we need to do we will have times where we give the children certain things to do all week and then at the end if they have worked joyfully for the Lord they will receive a reward.  Nothing big, but getting to pick a small prize at the store, a nice stop for ice cream or something simple like that, maybe you’ll want to try it too, I’m looking forward to it.

Hope you enjoyed this post, what are you studying in your homeschool this week?  We would love to hear all about it, and just to share here’s another picture of our anthill we have:

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  The ants look really tiny here, but in comparison to the one’s we have around here they are absolutely huge!