Making a House a Home

I absolutely love visiting with Lady Lydia through her blog Home Living. With every article she writes, I come away feeling more feminine and lady-like, refreshed and ready to serve my family. The article entitled "A Matter of Good Housekeeping" is a post I read recently and was greatly encouraged by.

"There is more to a home than housekeeping. A wife needs to be able to manage her jobs. She has to adjust to the weather, the time of day, the time of the month, the time of the year. She has to be flexible with family needs and unexpected problems. While few people can ever really do it to perfection, at least the housewife knows what is necessary and can aim for that perfection." - Lady Lydia

To read the entire article, please go here.

Thank you, Lady Lydia, for such an uplifiting blog!!

Ever since I decided to stop drinking Diet Coke, Mr. U has been gracious to buy some REALLY nice tea for me to enjoy. Now, I've always enjoyed a good cup of tea, but Adagio has some INCREDIBLE teas, let me tell ya!!

This lovely order just arrived today. Aaaahhhh... TEA!!!! Looks like I'm set for a while!


In case anyone is curious, this order included:
-5 3 8 Wedding Blend
-black tea sampler
-Bolero Blend
-Citron Green (sample)
-Irish Breakfast
-Oolong #18 (sample)
-Birthday Tea Blend (sample)- this actually has little sprinkles in it! Just like on a cupcake!! Too cute!!!

(No, I do not work for Adagio nor do I earn referral money from them- sad, yes, I know.)

There are so many things that I love doing as I go about my day trying to bless my home and family. By far, one of the most simplest of all those pleasures is baking fresh bread for my family. Joy for me is not attained in the shopping mall, but instead inside my cozy little kitchen. As I happily knead the dough I love to think of my family and how I want to provide them with wholesome, nourishing food. Expensive perfume could never replace the heavenly aroma that comes from my oven as the bread is baking. And the taste? Warm homemade bread and butter is tastier than any meal I could ever get from a five star restaurant. I am so blessed. I don't have to seek joy in other places, it is found right inside the four walls of my home! -Susan P.

I LOVE this!! This is from Susan at A Place Called Home. Susan, I don't think I could agree with you more!!!

Oh dear. I was making syrup today to go with our pancakes and, sigh, the syrup boiled over a bit. I was able to clean most of it up, but there are still a few places that I CAN NOT get clean. I have one of those glass top stoves, too. PLEASE tell me there is something I can do to clean this off!!! Do you have any ideas?

Please pray for Steven Curtis and Mary Beth Chapman and their family. Their daughter Maria, born in China, died yesterday. You can read more here...

Mr. U and I always change Elizabeth's diaper right before we head to bed. So Saturday night we went in to change her just like we've done a bazillion times before.

Mr. U reached down to pick her up out of the bed and she started screaming!!! She was grabbing her right arm, so we could tell she was hurt. We changed her diaper and I tried to comfort her for a while, but every time she fell back to sleep, she would inevitably move her arm and then it would hurt all over again. Poor girl!!!!

By 1:00 am, Mr. U said it was time to head to the Emergency Room. Yes, this mommy was in tears. MY BABY'S GOING TO THE EMERGENCY ROOM!!!

When we got there, they were SO nice to us and immediately took us to the pediatric side of the ER. After weighing her, listening to her heart and taking her temp, she was MAD. She does NOT like doctors or nurses and definitely didn't want them prodding her when she was in pain. Apparently, though, something happened while they were doing this and she was getting mad, because by the time we actually sat down in our ER room #6, she was signing "thank you" and asking (in sign language) for her cup. SHE WAS MOVING HER ARM!!!

The ER doctor came in, kind of laughed when we told him that she was now fine and told us it was a nursemaids elbow. I had never heard of it, but apparently it is very common in toddlers. He said there was nothing to worry about, double checked her arm to make sure everything was in place and sent us on our way home!!! We got there are 1:27 am and got in the car at 1:58 am!! PRAISE THE LORD for fixing my baby's elbow!!!!


Here's a pic of Elizabeth in the ER. She looks so tired, bless her heart!!!



Have any of y'all had this happen with your children? Boy, it sure can give the parents a minor heart attack!!! :)

The first time I saw Rachael Ray make this dish on her show 30 Minute Meals, I just HAD to try it. I mean, who puts grapes in their savory dishes? And how in the world does the grainy mustard figure into the taste? I finally gave it a try, and I was pleasantly surprised- it was quite tasty!! Mr. U liked it a lot and he was so sure that grapes in the dish would be horrible!!!

Here's the recipe as it is from Rachael Ray. Below are any changes that I made.


Vicki's Favorite Chicken with Grapes and Couscous

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons butter, cut into pieces
1/4 cup all-purpose flour, eyeball it
2 pounds chicken tenders
1/2 cup white wine, eyeball it
2 1/2 cups chicken stock (available on soup aisle in paper boxes), divided
1 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup grainy, stone-ground mustard
1 1/2 cups, about 1/2 pound, seedless red grapes, halved
1 tablespoon fresh thyme
2 cups couscous

Heat a large skillet over medium to medium high heat; add 2 tablespoons
extra-virgin olive oil, 2 turns of the pan, and 2 tablespoons butter to the pan.
Place flour in a shallow dish. Season chicken with salt and pepper then dredge the
tenders in flour and add it to the pan. Cook chicken 7 to 8 minutes until browned.
Add wine and scrape up browned bits as wine cooks down and bubbles, 30 seconds.
Add 1/2 cup stock to skillet. Combine cream and mustard and add to stock. Add
grapes to the pan and turn chicken and grapes to coat and combine with the sauce.
Simmer 5 minutes over low heat.

Bring remaining 2 cups chicken stock and fresh thyme to a boil in a small pot. Add couscous. Put a tight fitting lid on pot and remove from heat. Let stand 5 minutes, then fluff with a fork.

Serve tenders and grapes on couscous.



My changes...
- I do not cook with or drink any alcohol. I substituted chicken broth for the white wine. (You can find more alcohol substitutions here.)
- My grocery store did not have fresh thyme this week, so I used about 3/4 teaspoon of dried thyme instead.
- I did not use heavy cream. I substituted with half and half.


UPDATE: We had some of this leftover and Mr. U ate it the next day. He said he did not care for it as a leftover meal because the grapes got kind of mushy. Just in case anyone wondered... :)

I am so blessed. I do not get bug bites. I have no idea why (anyone have any ideas??), but insects just don't like me (which is fine because I don't like them, either!!). For the rest of my family, though, that isn't the case.

Elizabeth seems to get mosquito bites more than anyone else here in the house. I guess because her skin is so soft and, well, because she's the sweetest one here. Last summer, I would try my best to get her to stop scratching, but I lost almost every battle.

On Monday, she got her first mosquito bite of the summer and it was a doozy. It was on her ankle. Bless her heart, I am sure it was itching her to death. So, what did I do? I Googled "stop mosquito bite from itching". HAHA!! Doesn't every good mother Google for help these days? :)

Anyway, the first thing I read was to put a piece of tape over the bite. Strange. But guess what? IT WORKED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Elizabeth did not touch the area of the bite all night long!! And Tuesday there was only a tiny red area there, but still, she did NOT scratch it!!!

So Scotch tape DEFINITELY works for me and mosquito bites!!!!

I've been absent from blogging for a week now!! Poor Elizabeth had a horrible fever last week for 3 days. No matter what we did, the fever would not go away. We finally took her to the doctor on Friday (after she had thrown up- sorry to be so blunt) and he was unsure what she had. He first thought it was roseola, but a rash never appeared. Then he thought maybe she had a urinary tract infection and wanted us to go back to see him yesterday (Monday).

Well, on Saturday, she woke up and the fever was gone!! She wasn't 100% herself, though, and didn't eat much but had a fairly normal attitude. She slept rough Saturday night, but woke up Sunday morning with no fever again AND acted just like her normal self all day!! She even ate like normal (she may be tiny, but she can EAT!!!!) so we knew that all was well.

We called the doctor yesterday and he said not to come in unless we thought she wasn't completely over the strange illness. So, we've been watching her carefully and she is still feeling wonderful!!! Praise the Lord!!!

Every time Elizabeth has been sick, I am shocked at how quickly my mind will assume the "worse case scenario". I often will forget that the Lord has clearly told me to "Trust the Lord with all my heart and lean NOT on my own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight." (Proverbs 3:5-6)

So... I prayed last week. A lot. And here I sit, typing my blog post and watching Elizabeth run around the house smiling and giggling. I love my girl and I am so thankful that He has made her well.

Yes, that is a REAL picture! That pile of icky dryer lint was recently pulled out of our dryer BY ME!!! OH MY STARS!!! And I clean the lint filter off EVERY TIME I use the dryer!!!

Take a few minutes, please, and clean out the lint from your dryer. You certainly don't want this to catch on fire!! Keep your family safe and your dryer vent clean!

Guess who's 2 today??

More Wordless Wednesday...

These are SUPER cute shoes, aren't they? They are black patent leather Mary Jane's from Stride Rite. They were given to Elizabeth. Worn? Oh yes, they are worn, but there is very little wear on the bottom or the inside of the shoes.

The problem? Can you see those white spots on the shoes? Good grief, I think it's WHITE PAINT!!! Like I said, these were given to us, so I have NO idea how that paint got there.

My question? How in the world do I get that paint off there without ruining the shine?? HELP!!!!! Do I stand a chance of getting it off???

EARTH SHATTERING UPDATE: Okay, so I tried elbow grease, baking soda, and toothpaste. The other suggestions, I did not have. So... I asked Mr. U. You know what he said "Oh. Fingernail polish remover." So, I figured I had nothing to lose, because, well, the shoes were free to begin with. I used a nail polish remover WITH acetone. And you know what? The stuff came right off!! No joke!! The black patent is still as shiny as ever, too!! So, if your child ever gets paint on their patent leather shoes, you will now know how to remove it!

Let's just hope that the shiny patent doesn't dissolve over time!! LOL!!

Thank you all for your help!!!

We had family come in town a week ago and I wanted to make a cake. You know me, I'll look for any special occasion to make something sweet- especially a cake!! Cake just screams CELEBRATION, in my opinion. :)

I found a recipe for a banana cake on Allrecipes. Of course, I couldn't leave the recipe alone. I just had to tweak it some. :) Here's the recipe with my modifications. :)


Banana Cake with Cream Cheese Icing

2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 T baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 cup white sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
3 large ripe bananas, mashed
2/3 cup sour cream

Grease and flour 2 (9 inch) round pans. In a small bowl, combine flour, soda and salt; set aside.

In a large bowl, cream together softened butter and both sugars until fluffy. Beat in eggs one at a time. Stir in vanilla. Mix in the bananas. To the creamed mixture, add the flour mixture alternating with the sour cream (starting and ending with the flour mixture). Once well mixed, pour into the prepared pans.

Bake for 30 minutes at 350 degrees. Remove from oven and let sit for 10 minutes. Turn out onto cooling rack to cool.

Cool completely before icing.



Cream Cheese Icing

12 ounces of cream cheese, softened
3/4 cup of butter, softened
20 ounces of powdered sugar
1 1/2 tsp vanilla

Beat first two ingredients until smooth. Gradually add in powdered sugar, beating at low speed, until light and fluffy. Stir in vanilla.

Tip: A lady at our church owns a bakery. She told me that icing goes on cakes much easier when the cake is very cold or frozen. So, I will make the cake layers the day before I want to serve it, wrap each layer well and put them in the freezer overnight and then I put the icing on the next day. Yes, I frost it straight out of the freezer! There are NO cake crumbs in my icing. :)

The first roses are just starting to open. I love the fragrance of roses. And the lovely shade of these Queen Elizabeth roses certainly brighten up our kitchen table.

What's blooming where you are?

I know that many of y'all have little girls and with little girls come those adorably sweet dresses that often have short, puffy sleeves.

Elizabeth has such a dress and she wore it for Easter. Such a beautiful dress. And then... I washed it.

When I took it out of the dryer, I cringed. WHAT HAPPENED TO THAT ADORABLY SWEET DRESS????? It was all shriveled. Sad. I knew I had to iron it and soon. So what did I do? I did what any other mother would do- I promptly hung it up on a hanger near my ironing board where, I must be honest with you, it sat until last Thursday when I finally decided to iron it.

How did I get up the courage to brave such a task? Aaaahhhh..... My sister's friend is a manager in a Strasburg boutique. When Leslie told me that this lady has to iron every single piece of clothing that goes out on the sales racks, I KNEW I had to find out her secret to getting those short, puffy sleeves perfectly ironed. And the secret is..... a washcloth!!! She simply wads up a washcloth, stuffs it into the sleeve and irons! Well, I certainly can do that....



Yep, that's one of my navy blue washcloths stuffed inside the sleeve on Elizabeth's Easter dress. Simply stuffing the washcloth in there made many of the wrinkles come right out!! Then I just held the iron and ironed the sleeve. It was SO easy!

Here's the finished product...



All crisp and ready to go. It was SO easy this way!!

It's been a quiet few days around here. Our internet was down and we're not sure why. We're back, though, and happy to have it. It is AMAZING how often I think "Oh, I need to Google that" or "I need a recipe for such and such" and I COULDN'T get online to find out my answers!!!!

Also, our TV went out. Not that we watch an exceptional amount of TV around here, but we do enjoy turning on the news to catch up with what's going on around the world. Mr. U found a good deal on a new TV, so I sure he will have that fixed perfectly soon enough. After all, I did record a Chefography of Julia Child that I am dying to watch. :)

We have family coming in town today. Elizabeth and I are doing that last minute cleaning that everyone does before guests arrive. It'll be nice to visit with family.

What have you been up to? I love hearing about everyone's day. :)

Congratulations to Katy at The Country Blossom!!!

Katy is the winner of the Virginia Candle giveaway!! She chose the Pineapple Woodwick Candle. Yum!! I can't wait to hear how you enjoy this fabulous scent, Katy!

Everyone be sure to go visit Katy and congratulate her!!

UPDATE: It is 8:35 EST and the contest is officially over. I will be announcing the winner tomorrow, so stay tuned!!!!!

I just discovered a blog called There is a Season. Y'all, she is having a fabulous giveaway- $25.00 gift certificate towards Wall Lettering at Fruitful Vine Creations. What a beautiful prize!!

So be sure and go enter (and she gives you the chance to enter your name THREE TIMES!!!!) and be sure and go visit Fruitful Vine Creations. She does such beautiful artwork!!

The deadline to enter is April 30, so HURRY!!!!