Shoes

The girlish facination with super cute shoes starts at a very young age!!! (They are really sweet - along with the cutie wearing them!! :0)

Tuesday Morning

We woke up to this today - cold and shivery - but pretty all the same:So we did school like this today - warm and cozy!! So very nice a fire is!! Warms your back and toasts your toes!!

Monday Morning

FOR TODAY February 9, 2009...

Outside my window...Snow on all the branches and on the ground - the sun coming out - what a surprise to wake up to!! I had no idea snow was in the forecast!!

I am thinking...about my husband's new position at his full time job - glad for the opportunity for him and praying for him while he's learning the in's and out's

I am thankful for...my healthy family!!!

From the learning rooms...a unit on the Erie Canal and finishing our amphibians

From the kitchen...chicken and homemade noodles and of course - yogurt for the week. I'm writing down the menu for the week after this :0)

I am wearing...my soft gray skirt and a fun new pink top with a zipper that I got from the thrift store on Saturday!! I'm so happy with it - it's really warm and cozy!!

I am creating...a white thread doily to give to the nursery lady at church - and some Bible verses with some scrapbooking paper for our walls for the kids (and me) to memorize

I am going...to make a list of things I want to accomplish next week during mid-winter break. I am wanting to really purge and clean my kitchen and basically doing a (early) Spring clean on it

I am reading...Anne of Green Gables (again) and another library book (a Christmas one by Thomas Kincaid - pretty good book)

I am hoping...my eye gets better quick - I got something in it yesterday and irritated the bejeebers out of it!! It's still sore this morning and I really want to just rub it badly but I know it will bug me more if I do (plus give me even more wrinkles :0)

I am hearing...kids quietly studying - the furnace running - it's cold

Around the house...Tidying up from a day of rest yesterday - Monday's are just that way - the house just gets messy on Sunday - but I do enjoy the day of rest with no guilt!!

One of my favorite things...Lady Londonderry and Cream Earl Grey tea!! The tea shop near my house closed but much to my delight I discovered it open under a new name this week so now I can buy loose leaf tea again - Ya hoo!!

A few plans for the rest of the week...I really hope to make granola this week - I haven't made it for quite a while and the kids are asking for it - stay on top of the chores this week - and get ready for our Valentine's celebration.

Here is picture thought I am sharing: I love tea and my sweet, tiny Brown Betty teapot that holds just enough tea for two :0)

For more Simple Woman Daybook entries you can go to: http://thesimplewomansdaybook.blogspot.com/

Blessings,
Christine

Saturday Morning

Saturday morning for us: early the kids arise and wake us. The local big hardware store invites kids to come and build something every Saturday morning. They get an apron, a pin to put on it and something cool to make - all for free - and we like free!! So while the big kids sleep a bit longer and little ones are off building with Daddy:
I get busy with breakfast - quadruple the recipe:

And make loads of these:

Mmmm time to dig in!!

10 minutes later and just a couple left for me :0)

Happy weekend!!

Blessings,

Christine

Six Months

Six months old and look what I can do!! I can sit like this for some time!! Then I get bored and try to get people to pay attention to me :0)!!

Can you get me out of here - please!!!!

Big brother couldn't get me out of here, can you? Pleeeaase!!!

Someone always comes to my rescue and I get carried around the way I like!! I'm also tasting food these days and I get a bit of applesauce before I go to bed. Mommy always hopes that it will help me sleep through the night - but since I'm growing so fast I still wake up hungry in the middle of the night. It's okay though cause growing is what I'm supposed to be doing :0). Mommy and Daddy have a hard time believing I'm 6 months already!! It's gone by really fast!!!

Blessings,

Esther

Homemade

I like to made things from scratch. Homemade is generally tastier and most certainly healthier and almost always less expensive. Plus it's fun!! Lately I've been making homemade yogurt. It's easy and much yummier than store bought and doesn't have a lot of things in it that I can't pronounce :0)!! I had made yogurt on and off for a couple of years in small batches just for fun - but when I recently figured out how much making it at home impacted the budget I got busy and made this a part of my regular routine. This is what I do:

I start with a gallon of milk, a bit of sugar and some vanilla (a rounded 1/4 cup of sugar and 4 tbls. and 4 teas. of vanilla). I'm sure other sweeteners can be used - this is just what I have on hand right now. I messed with the amounts until we liked it - it's just a matter of preference.
Then I scald the milk (with the sugar and vanilla added) to about 180* F. It's really until right below boiling. It takes about 20 minutes - this is when I can get help with the stirring - don't want it to stick to the pan - it's kind of a mess to clean if it does :0).

Then I let the milk cool down to about 115*F. That's pretty much just warm to the touch. This is when I add my yogurt cultures. I sometimes use yogurt that I made from last batch or I use whatever is on sale at the grocery store. (If you use yogurt made from home you can only use that a few times before you need to renew with store bought). I sometimes use vanilla flavored yogurt from the store as that's just free flavoring - but whatever I use must be on sale :0)!!

Oh yeah, I add about 3 - 4 tablespoons of yogurt per quart so that's about 12 - 16 tablespoons per gallon of milk. I stir that in with my whisk really well.

I pour the cultured, flavored milk into very clean, warm canning jars and set them carefully into my ice chest.

I surround the jars of milk with other canning jars filled with VERY warm water (I use about 6 jars half filled with hot tap water and the other half filled with hot tea kettle water) I leave everything alone for about 4 hours and then change that water for more hot stuff.

After about 8 hours it's time to take the jars out and put them in the fridge. Another thing about yogurt: it doesn't like to be disturbed so if you like thick yogurt - don't stir it - it doesn't like that - it will surely be runnier after it is disturbed.
And - Ta Dum - fresh yummy homemade yogurt. Really - all in all - it's about 20 - 30 minutes of work to get 4 quarts of this delicious stuff. I did some rough math when I started this and for where we live it's about 75 cents a quart to make at home - that saves me about 14 dollars a week on my grocery bill.

One thing though, all my yogurt making is laced with one very important ingredient. I cover it all with lots of prayer :0)!! I really don't want a gallon of milk to go to waste and since this involves the mysterious growing of bacteria to make it work I somewhat feel that a lot of yogurt making isn't really in my control. So, I just pray over it every time - it may seem strange to pray over something like this - but I believe God understands my desire to do something healthy for my family and to honor my husband's hard work by trying to reduce the bills where I can. And guess what - God answers these simple prayers of mine. A couple of times I have made mistakes in the process (like this week's batch - where I was so tired at the end of the day I forgot to put the yogurt in the fridge and jumped up this morning, like a shot, remembering) and every time my yogurt has turned out fine!!

We eat this in smoothies and for lunches or breakfasts with fruit on top. Everyone loves it and we definitely go though all four quarts in a week - I think if I made more it would get eaten up just as quick :0)!!

Blessings,

Christine

Lego Man

Sam loves his Lego's - this is where I will find him most days - sitting on the floor creating something. He's the chief mechanic and I'm on standby - ready with my longer (unchewed) nails to pry apart little blocks. The trick will be when sweet baby girl gets on the move and all these tiny toys must be kept out of her reach!!! Until then the floor is all his!!!
His latest creations - maybe he'll work on real airplanes someday (that industry is practically in our backyard)

Until he grows up this is the perfect occupation for a 9 year old!!!