A Beautiful Giveaway

Miss Jen at Blessed Femina is having a giveaway for a handmade potholder
and apron. Pop on over there and check out her blog. While you are at it, make sure to watch the new Emma with Romola Garai and Johnny Lee Miller. She has the link posted here.

Frugal Tip of the Day

I love finding ways to reuse or repurpose things so there is less waste and more money for things that my family needs. I also like to try new ways to keep things organized. Here is one I tried of today.

When you have two little ones in diapers, you use a lot of baby wipes. And those plastic containers add up fast. I used one to store crayons that had their box destroyed by years of abuse, but that still leaves me with about 15 more to use, so today I repurposed one to hold my yarn so I can keep it neat and all in one place...and my little ones can't run off with it as easily! I just ran the yarn up through the slit in the top and presto! A handy yarn dispenser!

Anyone else have any tips on repurposing or recycling you’d like to share? :D

No Sugar and Yet Chocolate

My husband, my parents and I have committed to one month with no sugar. If you knew me well, you would know this is like asking an addict to give up their addiction. (Notice that I am not an addict myself. :D) Anyway, the biggest problem is that I can't go without chocolate for a month and just try to find chocolate in the stores without sugar. (I can't have "fake sugars" or splenda either.) So here is my first lifesaving recipe. I will try to post one each week of my month so if any of you need them someday, you will be able to survive too!

(For those of you who can have sugar, make sure to pop on over to see Lisa at Stop and Smell the Chocolates.)


Special Treats

1 cup chocolate chips (grain sweetened)
1/2 cup peanut butter (fresh ground or some kind without sugar of course!)
1 Tbsp honey
1 tsp vanilla

Melt chocolate chips completely in a double boiler.



Remove from heat and add peanut butter, honey and vanilla.


Stir in well. Place teaspoon-sized amounts on a cookie sheet or cutting board and place in the freezer until they are hard.


Store in the freezer since they melt easily. Enjoy!!!

Grandma Sherwood and the crochet quilt

My Great Grandma Sherwood was born in 1893 and passed away when I was only 6. I have only a few memories of her from visits before she passed on, and ever since we traveled this summer to near where she was born in Missouri, I have been thinking about her a lot. She used to tell my mom when she was a little girl that when they would butcher a pig, they would eat everything but the squeal. Listening to her stories or hearing my mom tell them to us over the years, reminds me of reading The Little House books. They shared many similar stories, as I'm sure most people of their day would. I only wish I could have known then just how much those stories would matter to me now.

One of the few things I remember from her house was a blanket that used to lie on the back of her couch. It was made of crocheted squares, black with white trim and a different colored flower in the center of each square, and sewn together like a quilt. I have no idea who made it or who has it now but I was thinking about it the other day and decided that I am going to make one of my own. I have no idea how long it will take me but I finished the first square the other night. I will continue to post them as I finish them.

Maybe someday my great granddaughter will see mine and the traditions of home and family will continue.

(I apologize for the sideways photo. Blogger refused to upload it right side up no matter how many ways I tried. *shrug* Ah, the joys of technology!)

First Apple Pie of the season!

My mother-in-law brought some fresh apples from a local farmer's market to the handiwork day on Wednesday. I thought I would share some before and after pictures with you.

Before


After

I'm sure my dear husband will be happy with the transformation! :D

Speaking of the handiwork day, I promised pictures which I would gladly post if I had them. The only pictures from that day were of my babies and their Omi. And I can't take credit for knitting them together. I did take a picture of my project from that day. It's the lemon and cream washcloth on the left. I'll have to share the story of the square on the right in an upcoming blog post.


It did go well, though. We had cucumber sandwiches, tea with fresh cream, chocolate chip cookies, fudge and lemon poppy seed bread. We talked, laughed and worked on crochet and cross stitch projects. I'm looking forward to our next handiwork day already!

Handiwork Day

Tomorrow I am hosting my first handiwork day. It will just be one of my best friends, my mother-in-law and myself but I'm sure we will have a great time together. I'll be sure to post pictures of what we make. Of course it wouldn't be a ladies get together with out tea! Yummy! :D

If you are in the neighborhood, stop by!

Domesticity

Today was one of those days where I woke up without any plans and by lunch time I had washed dishes and laundry, swept, vacuumed and mopped floors, dusted and rearranged two different rooms. Oh, and I canned 3 more jars of nectarines. I had planned to do more canning but my dear baby needed my attention so I will have to finish that another day.

What domestic pleasures have you been enjoying lately?

Children are a Blessing from the Lord

I just read this story about a Jewish woman who took to heart Psalm 127 and taught her children to love children too.

Should the Lord tarry, this is where I pray I will be.

Woman dies with 1,400 descendants.

Adventures in Domesticity

Today I canned for the first time. (I should note that I had help from my mother-in-law, without whom I would have been a bit lost.) I wanted to share pictures of my lovely jars of nectarines all ready and waiting for the winter to come.

This is my first year for many things. I now make my own yogurt which is a big hit with my husband and older daughter. I was making my own ice cream each week until the ice cream maker broke. Now I'm just waiting for an email back to see if I can get a replacement part for it. And I even tried my hand at making butter, although I was less than happy with the result. I guess I'll just have to try again.

I also froze 2 quart size bags of strawberries, 2 cups of blueberries, 17 cups of zucchini and enough yellow squash for two dinners.

And all this with two babies under 2!

God is good!




Note: The small jar in the pictures is plum butter from my mother-in-law and the patty pan squash are from my mother's garden.

So...

It's been five months since my last post. Since then, so much has happened that I don't think I want to take up ten pages to write it all down. So instead you will get the Cliff Notes version...or "Cliff Notes according to His Beloved".

~March 17, 2009 Baby #2 arrives safe and sound. Another Baby Girl, called Wee Beloved. She is welcomed with open arms by her Papa, Mummy and Big Sister, Baby Beloved.

~April 15 brought the end of our second busy season together. And with having two babies 1 and under at home, I was even more thankful for the day Papa Beloved was finally able to be home with us.

~In May, we packed up the family automobile and headed out for a good ol' American road trip. We covered 11 states in 2 weeks, all with a 15 month old and a 2 month old in tow. :D Best of all, we came home just as sane as we left and more than willing to do it again.



~In July, the girls and I spent a week home alone while Papa Beloved traveled to Chicago for a business trip. We had a sleep over with some of my brothers and sisters, which was so much fun that the following week we had the one brother over who didn't get to come the first time. On both occasions, we had pizza, told stories and stayed up quite late. Hey, what else are big sisters for? :D

~Now as the summer is winding down (which I couldn't be happier about!), I am looking back at good times with my family and plenty of time spent learning more about my Lord. There were some trying moments of course but even in those, God showed Himself faithful and we are all better for the lessons learned.



It's nice being back here blogging away. I'd love to hear about your summers, if anyone is inclined to share. I miss my old friends!

Well, until then...

P.S. For those who are interested, the photos are from our road trip. In order of appearance; 1) Laura Ingalls Wilder's one room school house in De Smet, SD. 2) The Gateway Arch in St. Louis, MO. 3) Laura Ingalls Wilder's Home in Mansfield, MO.