I don't know about any of y'all, but I have been online WAY too much lately.  I feel like my brain is getting mushy.  Can anyone relate?  Between using the internet for homeschool, finding Trim Healthy Mama recipes, and just plain old web surfing, I've been online a lot.  So I've decided to start scheduling online time to limit myself and actually, hold on for this one, READING a REAL BOOK instead. 

Shocker, right?

I soooo love to read!!  But I've gotten out of the habit in the past few months.  I do read to my girls for homeschool.  We read a LOT out loud, but no "mommy books", ya know what I mean? So, starting today, I am going to read ONE book a month.  I realize many of y'all are laughing at ONE book a month, but I need to set a very small goal for myself.  And since I'm blogging about it, it definitely holds me accountable.

As of today, I am starting with Desperate, Hope for the Mom Who Needs to Breathe by Sarah Mae and Sally Clarkson. 

OOh.  Just realized this is the end of the month.  Hmm.  So I will have this done by the end of October.  Baby steps, y'all, baby steps. 

Anyone else have monthly reading goals?  Anyone else NEED to read real books instead of just reading online????  Let me know and let's encourage one another!!!

I just read this over at Country Living.  Hmmm I think I need to work on #2 and #3.  What about you??



 

9 Habits of People Who Never Have to Clean Their Homes

1. They put away their clothes every night.
When you're changing into your pajamas, it might be tempting to just toss your clothes on a chair or even on the floor, but don't fall prey to that lazy trap. It takes a couple of seconds to put them in your laundry hamper or return them to your closet. You'll be thankful that you won't have to spend extra time rounding up stray socks all over your room when it's laundry day. Same could be said when you're trying on an outfit or when you've just finished doing your laundry.

2. They don't own extras.
What are you going to do with a dozen sets of sheets or five cheese graters? If you don't need it: Edit, edit, edit. You'll be saving much more space.

3. They keep a paper trail to a minimum.
It's easy to leave stacks of junk mail, delivery menus, and old newspapers on every surface of your house. Create a good filing system to save the important documents and toss the rest.

4. They wipe down every surface after use.
Let's be real, the less grime build-up, the easier it is to clean. Mildew, grease, and food stains are not a good look for your house.

5. They don't have beds piled up with too much stuff.
Sure, it's nice to have some decorative pillows and throw blankets to maintain a perfectly styled bed, but let's keep it to a minimum. The fewer steps it takes to make your bed every morning, the more likely you'll actually do it.

6. They put their shoes and coats away.
It's common for an entryway to have a shoe pile-up or for coats to be haphazardly placed on the entry bench, but it sure doesn't look tidy. Put your shoes in your closet or place a shoe rack near the door. Make sure to hang your coat as soon as you take it off.

7. They never let dishes pile up.
This one's pretty much a no-brainer, but taking a few minutes to do three or five dishes is way better than doing 15 at the end of the week.

8. They put things back where they came from.
If you do this, you won't have a precarious stack of DVDs, magazines, books, and toys on your coffee table. This habit makes the panic-filled, 5-minute clean-up before guests arrive a little better.

9. They dust and vacuum on the regular.
A few minutes of dusting or vacuuming at least 2-3 times a week will save you from doing a deep clean on the weekend when you could be relaxing.

So hard to believe my girls are getting so big!!  Elizabeth is in 3rd grade this year and Caroline is in PreK.  And yes, we still homeschool and I still love it!! I am daily thankful that the dreams I dreamed (even as a little girl) of being a wife, mother, AND teacher have all come true. I am so blessed!!

We found out about a month ago that Mr. U has type 2 diabetes.  Not really a shock since his mother and his grandfather have both dealt with it.  Still, however, the "it will never happen to me" syndrome did come into play a bit.  :)

So armed with that news, we have set out to do research on the best way for our family to eat.  We have decided that we need to cut out as many "bad" carbs as possible in hopes of bringing his blood glucose numbers down (and especially the A1C for those of y'all that know what I'm talking about).  So far, so good!!!  Numbers are coming down!!  We just need to keep up the good work!!!

With this will come lots of new recipes to try, I am sure.  I made one tonight that the girls and I LOOOOVED!  Mr. U, who abhors cauliflower, said, "Well, if I HAVE to eat cauliflower, this is probably the best way".  Not a glowing testimony, I know, but coming from him about cauliflower, this is HUGE!!!! 

George Stella's "Mac" and Cheese

• Kosher salt, as needed, plus 1/2 teaspoon
• Vegetable oil spray
• 1 large head cauliflower, cut into small florets
• 3/4 cup heavy cream
• 2 ounces cream cheese, cut into small pieces
• 1 1/2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
• 1 1/2 cups shredded sharp Cheddar cheese, plus 1/2 cup for topping the casserole
• 1/4 cup parmesan cheese*
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder**

1. Preheat the oven to 375°F. Bring a large pot of water to a boil, seasoning the water with salt. Spray an 8×8 baking dish with vegetable oil spray.
2. Cook the cut cauliflower in the boiling water until crisp-tender, about 5 minutes.
3. Drain well and pat between several layers of paper towels to dry. Transfer the cauliflower to the baking dish and set aside.
4. Bring the cream to a simmer in a small saucepan and then whisk in the cream cheese and mustard, continuously whisking until smooth.
5. Stir in the 1 1/2 cups of cheese, salt, pepper, and garlic powder, and whisk just until the cheese melts, about 2 minutes. Remove the sauce from the heat, pour over the cauliflower, and stir all to combine.
6. Top with the remaining 1/2 cup cheese and bake until browned and bubbly hot, about 15 to 20 minutes. Let cool 5 minutes before serving.

Let me say, our girls are not cutting out as many carbs as we are.  They ARE eating less of the"bad" carbs, however, and more of the good!!!!

 Any of y'all living with diabetes in your home?  If so, PLEASE share recipes!!!



 *My addition.  Not in original recipe.
** I doubled the garlic powder. Original recipe calls for only 1/8 tsp.

Dear fellow keeper of the home,


How many days a week are you gone from home? Where do you go?

Can you stay home 5 days a week (assuming you are at church one day and running errands and getting groceries a second day) or does it drive you crazy? Do you feel like you have to go somewhere and just get out??

I am saddened these days by so many stay at home wives/mothers that say how they hate to be at home and say they get bored. (Bored? Who has TIME to be bored????) I enjoy being here in our home taking care of my family. This is exactly what I've dreamed of doing my entire life.  Surely I'm not alone in this. :)

His,
Mrs. U

A Home Song

I read within a poet's book
A word that starred the page:
"Stone walls do not a prison make,
Nor iron bars a cage!"

Yes, that is true; and something more
You'll find, where'er you roam,
That marble floors and gilded walls
Can never make a home.

But every house where Love abides,
And Friendship is a guest,
Is surely home, and home-sweet-home:
For there the heart can rest.

Henry Van Dyke

I really enjoy reading blogs.  My favorites have always been about home keeping. 

When I first discovered blogs in 2006, I found many kindred spirits who loved to share their tips on making a house a home.  The blogs (and therefore, the bloggers themselves) felt quaint and familiar and I found myself wishing I could meet them, knowing we'd hit it off immediately.  These days, however, so many of my original favorites are gone.  I suppose I shouldn't complain, I mean, where is my blog?  Dead?  Not quite.  It's just been on pause. 

So many blogs now are BEAUTIFUL and show Pinterest perfect homes and so many "how to's".  I'm not like that.  While they ARE lovely, they aren't "me".  Does anyone else relate?  I do appreciate the things I've learned from them, but where are the blogs about old fashioned home keeping? If you, dear reader, happen to know of any, please share. 

In this day and age of HGTV and Pinterest, well, I cannot compete.  Any decorations in my home are only there because my sister or sister--in-law or sweet friends were kind enough to give me direction (two wonderful friends even took control of my mantle and decorated it FOR me!!!).  Other than that, I just go for "comfortable" for our style.  :) 

Happy home keeping!

His,
Mrs. U

Hi y'all!!  Long time no blog!!!  :)  I've been busy homeschooling and homekeeping and trying to learn more about essential oils!!!

I'd surely love to hear from anyone who uses essential oils by applying topically or by inhaling them or by capsule or in homemade cleaning products!!  Share tips and please share what particular brand you've found to be the best and WHY.

In January of 2011, I was feeling defeated in my walk with the Lord and just plain old exhausted.  The girls were 4 1/2 and 8 months at the time and I KNEW that what I needed was time in the Word each day to focus on the Lord.

Enter Good Morning Girls.

I learned about Good Morning Girls and immediately signed up to be a leader.  I had a friend in real life that was going to participate and then I had an invitation on my blog for anyone else to join with us.  How exciting it was to get to know each other in our group when a few others wanted to join in!!!

So here it is, January 2014, and GMG is getting ready to start a new session on the 20th!!!!  The theme this time is Intentionally Focused.  I would love to any of y'all to join with me for accountability to get in the Word each day.  If you are thinking about it, go to the GMG blog and read how it works.  If you are still interested, email me at theups1 at gmail dot com and I will get with you!!!

I sooo look forward to this next study and focusing on the Lord and His Word!!!!  Maybe you'll join me!!???

We moved into our new home a little over a year ago.  When we packed up and left our old house, many things were either give away or thrown away- including our cheap vacuum cleaner.  So when we moved in last December, we needed a new one.  In the middle of having to get a bazillion things for the house, the last thing we wanted to do was research a good vacuum cleaner. So off to Walmart we go and we buy the cheapest vacuum they had.  And BOY was it obvious!!!!  Did a horrible job of sucking up dirt, let out little puffs of dust as I vacuumed, and it was heavy!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Y'all can imagine my joy when I finally got a new vacuum cleaner- a Dyson DC41 Animal Plus!!!!!  Mr. U pulled it out of the box and started assembling it for me.  He said it was easy to assemble.  Me?  Meh.  I don't do assembly very well. Once he finished, I plugged that baby in and WHEEEEEEEE started vacuuming.  (Amazing, isn't it, how a new cleaning product can suddenly get you into deep cleaning mode?? Or am I the only one?)

My first thoughts of the DC41 Animal Plus was that it was heavy!!!!  Yes, probably as heavy as the cheapo one I was getting rid of.  BUT the heaviness of the machine appears to mean better suction and FLUFFY carpet when I was done!  Yes, our carpet looked fluffy!!!  Even the stairs!!  I used the wand to finally vacuum all my stairs!!  I'm sure I will not win homemaker of the year for the fact that I never vacuumed my stairs before!! We used a Shark Swivel Sweeper for stairs before this Dyson.   Also, the chord, I discovered, is VERY long.  So long that I kept getting tripped up on it.  Oh and there's this little flap at the top of the vacuum......



... when you need to put the vacuum in upright position, this little flap turns into a suction machine!!!!  I'm not sure why it does that, but it sucked my hair into it the first time I stood the vacuum up and it was turned on!!!!  After that, I clearly avoided that!!!!  And lastly, I found the Dyson kind of awkward to get to stand up.  You have to push it in stand up position and push a little further than you think is necessary until you hear a "click" and then you know it's locked in place.  I wasn't careful a few times and thought I had it standing up properly and then BOOM it fell over backwards.  I learned quick. 




So what do I LOVE about the Dyson?  HOLY MOLY does this thing fluff up carpet!!  And you wouldn't believe the stuff I vacuumed up!!  And the vacuum gets sooooooo close to the edge where the carpet meets the wall.  LOVE THAT!!  With the old vacuum, I would have to sweep that section and then vacuum it up- no joke!!  I also LOVE that the hose extends far enough for me to leave the vacuum at the bottom of the stairs while I vacuum each stair.  Oh, and I also love the fact that the vacuum transitions from carpet to bare floor with zero effort.  I do nothing, no flip to switch at all!  I just keep on vacuuming carpets AND bare floors!!!  

Y'all be sure and tell me what you love/hate about your vacuum.  And, if you are interested, you can learn more about Dyson cleaner here at Argos

Happy vacuuming, y'all!! 

Yep, they are growing up.  Too quickly, I might add.  Elizabeth is 7 and Caroline is 3.  And they both insist that I add the "and a 1/2" to each of their ages.  It's been FOREVER since I added that 1/2 to MY age!!!!

It's another cold, very rainy day here in Georgia.  I'm wondering just how many days the Lord will give us rain???  A little sunshine would most certainly perk all of us up.  So what's a mother to do?  Why, bake something special, of course!!!  

Today the girls and I decided to make Schoolhouse Gingerbread from Pleasant View Schoolhouse.  Her recipes never disappoint.  The link goes straight to Anna's recipe.  I didn't have enough sugar, so I had to substitute brown sugar instead.  Brown sugar has molasses in it, so I didn't need to use as much molasses as the original recipe. 

Happy baking!!!

I've so very much to be thankful for, but nothing compares to knowing Christ!! 

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Mrs. U

Cursive handwriting is apparently an issue with this new Common Core.   Are you teaching your children to read and write cursive?  Or if they are in public school or private school, are they learning it at school? 

Not only is cursive a beautiful art, but it is necessary to know in order to read many of our historical documents in our country.  This article shares about a school girl that could not read a letter from someone who had written in cursive. 

I have always loved writing in cursive.  I've always considered it like art.  You must take your take to make it beautiful.  Do I always write in cursive now?  No.  I find printing much faster these days.  But as a homeschool mother with a child in 2nd grade, I am currently brushing up on my strokes so that I may teach her how to write in cursive in January.  (Shhh. Don't tell her. It's a surprise!  She's been working very hard on writing very neatly so that she can learn cursive. She's been dying to learn for a year now!!!). 

So are you making sure that your children learn cursive? Why or why not?

From Nancy Leigh Demoss...


(noisy children in background)

“All right. We have five minutes for a Bible story, and then you kids are going to bed! (pages turning) Let’s see . . . ‘One day God told Jonah . . .' Franky! Get over here and sit down!”

Nancy Leigh DeMoss: You may be teaching your children the truths of the Bible . . .

“‘God told Jonah to go to Nineveh . . .' Sarah! I can’t wait till you kids are in bed!”

Nancy: . . . but are you doing it out of love? The apostle Paul says, “Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal.”
If I’m teaching others God’s Word, but I don't have love, what does Paul say? I'm just making noise.

“Uhhh! I’m trying to read here!”

Nancy: Are you serving from a heart of love? Ask God to fill you with His love. Ask Him to love others through you.

I've been having issues with the skin on my hands for some time now. It is mostly my right hand and fingertips.  I've narrowed it down to the cleaning products I've been using.  I HAD to change something to get the cracking, bleeding, itching to go away.  NOTHING worked to bring relief. 

I've gotten rid of all store bought cleaners and am making my own all purpose cleaner now.  The recipe below doesn't do well on mirrors or glass, so I simply added a pump spray to a bottle of rubbing alcohol and that works like a charm!!!!  Cheap AND doesn't bother my skin!  Love that!!!

Of all the all purpose cleaners I've tried, this one has been the best!  It's great that I can mix it up quickly, it does a good job of cleaning, AND it smells great!!!


Natural Homemade All-Purpose Cleaner


In a spray bottle mix:

• 1 tsp borax
• 1/2 tsp washing soda
• 1 tsp liquid castille soap
• essential oils as preferred

Then add 2 cups of warm water. Distilled is best, but any water that has been boiled will work. Cover bottle and shake well. Use as needed.


What works for you??  

Ok, so I'm trying to do a little bloggy makeover here.  It would seem, however, that I messed up my HTML years ago and can NOT get this blog looking like I'd like.  If anyone could point me in the direction of someone that could help me (preferably for free), I'd be so grateful!!

  
Are our churches full of biblical illiterates???

...Fewer than half of all adults can name the four Gospels. Many Christians cannot identify more than two or three of the disciples. According to data from one research group, 60 percent of Americans can’t name even five of the Ten Commandments. Americans may demand that the Ten Commandments be posted in the courthouse, but they seem unable to remember what exactly they are... (read the entire article by Dr Mohler here).

Elizabeth may be only 6 (7 next month, she is quick to add), but she LOVES cookbooks.  She even enjoys READING the recipes!!  Yep, a girl after my own heart.

Recently her daddy bought a new cookbook for her from King's Blooming Rose called The Maiden's Menu- Recipes for the King's Blooming Roses.  She found a wonderful breakfast casserole for us to try and, boy, was it delicious!  We WILL be having this again!!!


Bryant Breakfast Casserole

1 pound sausage or hamburger, browned and drained (we used 1/2 pound sausage)
6 eggs
2 cups milk
2 cups bread cubes
1 cup grated Cheddar cheese
1 tsp salt
1 tsp dry mustard

Add salt and mustard to beaten egg-milk mixture.  In a 9x13 casserole dish, layer bread cubes, sausage, and cheese.  Pour egg mixture on top.  Refrigerate 6-8 hours or overnight.  Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes and serve warm.

From Revive Our Hearts...

Martha Washington faced a lot of challenges while being married to our nation’s first president, but she didn’t let circumstances control her emotions. Here’s what she wrote to a friend:

I am still determined to be cheerful and happy in whatever situation I may be, for I have also learned from experience that the greater part of our happiness or misery depends on our dispositions and not on our circumstances.

Are you carrying around seeds of happiness or of misery? Left to ourselves, we usually choose misery. That’s why we need God’s grace. He can plant seeds of contentment and joy in our hearts that will last through any difficulty.

The apostle Paul said, “I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances.” We can say the same thing when we realize that a wise, loving, sovereign God is controlling every circumstance of our lives.

A recent find through Pinterest!  I've tried many recipes from Pinterest.  Some great and some, uh, well, not so great.  But that's part of the fun!!! 

This recipe?  Mmmmm.  It's one of the GREAT recipes!  And to top it off, not only does it taste really good, but it's fast to make, too! Toast up some thinly sliced baguettes and rub some fresh garlic on it when it comes out of the oven and you've got a meal!! (Of course, dessert afterward never hurts, either!!)

Listed below is the original recipe.  I put my one change in parentheses.  

Creamy Tomato Tortellini Soup 

(original link)

Oh my.  It's been a while since I've blogged.  The past year has been a crazy one full of changes and the blog was the last thing on my mind. 

After much prayer, Mr. U left the ministry.  For now.  We do not know what the Lord has in store, but last January (2012) he started working for a computer company.  He's always loved computers but never dreamed the Lord would have him doing it full time.  This involved us leaving the town we lived in for 14 years just outside Augusta, GA, and returning to where we grew up- Atlanta.  We NEVER thought we'd be living here again, so imagine our surprise when the Lord worked this out!!! 

When Mr. U started his job in Atlanta in January of last year, the girls and I stayed in the parsonage until  September.  The church was very nice to let us stay there that long.  We moved in with my parents in September and closed on our house (our FIRST house!!) in December!!  We are finally homeowners!!  It's been a loooooong journey, but we are SO happy to be all together AND to own our own home, too!!

I hope to share any good recipes I happen upon or maybe even homemaking tips.  I DO love making our house a home!!

Happy Homemaking!!!

Just made another new recipe from Pinterest.  BOY you can discover some yummy things on there!!!

This one is Zucchini Tots or Zucchini Bites.  SUPER!!  I loved them and the girls said they were, "okay".  Then they proceeded to eat them all.  Ahem, 'nough said.




1 cups zucchini, grated
1 egg
1/4 yellow onion, diced
1/4 cup cheese Parmesan (I used the canned stuff)
1/4 cup bread crumbs (I used Italian style)
Tiny pinch of salt
Fresh black pepper

1. Preheat oven to 400F. Spray a mini-muffin tin with non-stick spray, set aside.
2. Grate the zucchini and then place in a dish towel to squeeze out the excess water- like when using frozen spinach.
3. In a bowl combine, the egg, onion, cheese, bread crumbs, zucchini, salt and pepper.
4. Using a spoon or a cookie scoop, fill the muffin cups half full. Bake for 15-18 minutes, or until the top is browned and set.

I made Slow-Cooker Chicken Tortilla Soup recently and YUM was it good and YAY was it easy!!!  I did use more cilantro than the recipe called for, but that's what cooking is all about, isn't it?  Making it something YOUR family enjoys!!

I really enjoy using Allrecipes to find great recipes! And reading the comments is always helpful,  too!!

Just curious how many of you use a dish drainer?  If you do not use one, do you just dry as you wash?  And what do you do when you have a ton of dishes??

If you DO you use, how long do you let your dishes sit there?  And do you ever put the dish drainer away??

Today is our 100th day of school here for Elizabeth, who is in kindergarten this year.  We're celebrating by counting to 100 a lot today!!  Groups of tens, groups of fives, (even by twos!!!) a hundred pennies, a hundred things to glue to our above sign.  LOTS of things related to 100!!

How do y'all celebrate the 100th day of school in your homeschool?

How many times do your children want a grilled cheese sandwich and you stand at the stove making one sandwich at a time?  Tons of times, right?  Me, too.  Well, recently I was talking with lady at church who works in a school cafeteria.  She mentioned they served grilled cheese sandwiches that day.  "How in the WORLD do you make THAT many grilled cheese sandwiches?" I asked.  That's when she shared this recipe with me- you bake them in the oven!!!!!!

I heated the oven to 425 degrees then spread each slice of bread on one side only with butter.  I laid the buttered side down for 1/2 the bread slices and then place my cheese on top.  I put the rest of the bread on top with the buttered side facing up.  I baked them in the oven for about 7  minutes, then flipped them over and baked another 6 minutes (but watch your oven- temps vary!!!!)  They each came out DELICIOUS!!!  By far the EASIEST "grilled" cheese sandwiches I've ever made!!!

Elizabeth (now 5 1/2, can you believe it??) really enjoys watching cooking shows.  Her favorite?  Pioneer Woman!!!  This past Saturday, Ree made Strawberry Oatmeal Bars.  Elizabeth said we just HAD to make them, so last night we did! 

These are super simple and delicious!  All of us love them and this recipe WILL be repeated many times, I can tell!  This time we used strawberry preserves, but I also plan on making this with raspberry and apricot preserves, too!

Strawberry Oatmeal Bars

Ingredients

• 1 3/4 sticks salted butter, cut into pieces, plus more for greasing pan
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 cup oats
• 1 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• One 10 to 12-ounce jar strawberry preserves

Directions

OOOOOOOOH how this convicted me as I read this morning!!!  Go here and read the challenge that Courtney has given. 

Anyone up for a challenge??

Here they are!  All ready for the oven!


Bake at 300 degrees for 30-40 minutes, taking them out to toss them around in the pan every 10 minutes.  Watch closely to make sure that they do not burn.  You want your croutons nicely browned all over, but not burned. 


Mmmmmm!!!!  The finished product!!  Yummy, crunchy, flavorful, homemade croutons!! 

This product, ladies and gentlemen, is my new best friend!!!  For YEARS I have heard how awesome Bar Keepers Friend is. For some odd reason, I only thought this product was at specialty stores so I never bothered to look for it.  Lo and behold, there it was last week at Walmart of all places!  Sitting on the bottom shelf, just waiting for me to bring it home and give it a try.

Mr. U suggested that I clean the worst pot first.  I got my stainless steel pots and pans almost 2 years ago and this pot is the one that I always use to steep tea bags in to make sweet tea.  The pot is THIS STAINED in less than 2 years of making tea!!


But just LOOK at how shiny the same pot is after I used Bar Keepers Friend!!! 

I am SOLD!  I will most definitely keep some on hand now- at all times!!  So far I've scrubbed TONS of things.  What is it about a new cleaning product that makes you want to clean and clean?  LOL!!!









Do any of y'all love Bar Keepers Friend?  If you haven't tried it, I highly recommend it!!

Will someone PLEASE tell me that I am not the last one to learn that we are supposed to clean our washing machines????  Seriously, I had no idea!  Yes, I wash the outside of the machine, but I never gave any thought to the inside of it!!  So what's a girl to do?  Yes, GOOGLE THE ANSWER!!  And here's I found...

Throw in dirty clothes, add some detergent, turn a dial and come back later to clean clothes. Ever wonder where all that dirt goes? Most of it rushes away with the drain water; but some lurks in your machine and can cause laundry to appear dull and gray...

Keep reading....and then be sure and tell me if you've ever cleaned your washing machine!!

I love this post from Lorie.  While I do not (yet) have the resource she recommends, I can gain a lot from the 10 prayer topics she shares.

As she says, "Good mothering must always begins on our knees." 

“I’ve swept the floor three times already and it’s dirty again!”
 
Does this reality discourage you, make you want to walk away some days?

Keep reading what Kelly shares at Generation Cedar....