Whew. I have had quite the day today, let me tell you. For some reason I have this urge to purge -- and I'm not referring to an eating disorder. I have been decluttering and re-organizing everything in sight! And not a moment too soon, either. I know that Mrs. Michelle Duggar once said that she didn't really get organized until her fourth of fifth baby came along. I understand why!

I am not naturally an organized person, exactly, but having five small children living in a limited space has really brought the necessity for organization to the glaringly obvious forefront. My brain can't handle the stress and strain of all this *stuff*. Once during a previous decluttering spell, my husband complained that I was getting rid of too much, but I gently explained to him that this *stuff* was challenging my mental health, and he relented. This time around, I know he was feeling the strain too, and so he was actually eager and enthusiastic about my efforts to streamline our belongings. Actually, I am not sure "streamline" does my efforts justice. I think I'll go back to the word, "purge".

Here is a photo of the clothing of four of my five children (not including the clothing that is still on the line outside, or in the hamper. I will deal with that as I process it). I went into their rooms, and threw every single item of clothing into laundry baskets, and then dumped it all on the couches in the living room. This is not including the clothing that I organized yesterday -- the non-current sizes that are being saved for children to grow into (although you can see some of that on the coffee table, all boxed up and ready to go back into storage). This is just the current stuff that they have been wearing, or throwing directly onto the floor, or whatever. I think it is pretty impressive.


Probably even more impressive in person.

So, I actually got that all organized, and here is the photo of all the clothes that are ready to go to the charity store (as well as a few toys that made their way into the outbox):


Anyhow. The above photo is not nearly as amazing as a current one would be (which I would post here, except it is now dark and I don't like using the flash, and plus I just can't be bothered). Because now I have seriously culled the kids' toys, every last one. That little room is now, literally, half full of stuff. I mean, it is full half way to the ceiling. Seriously. So yes, I am awesome. Thank you.

In other news, I finished my window makeover yesterday. It is hard to get a good photo of a window with the curtains open because (at least with my stupid camera) the light coming in makes for a dark photo. I'll tell you what I did: I washed the window and the screen, took down, laundered and rehung the curtain, and made some braided, rag rug style tie-backs. Nothing fancy, but that's the way we like things around here.


Yeah, it works. I dig it.

So what did YOU do today?

There are a LOT of crochet food patterns out there, some of them free. A google search for "crochet food" will pull up a bunch of them. I will try to give you somewhere to start, but part of the fun is finding ones that you like (plus I am lazy) so I will leave some room for creative choice here. :-)

http://www.crochetpatterncentral.com/directory/foods.php

The above link has variety of patterns for fruits, veggies, baked goods, and other stuff. It is too fun looking at these -- you must check them out!

I am also quite partial to this pattern set, which is where I found the pattern for the grapes and celery:

http://www.coatsandclark.com/Crafts/Crochet/Projects/HomeDec/WR1070+Crocheted+Fruits+and+Vegetables+Basket.htm

There are still a bunch of patterns I would like to try but I don't know when I'll get around to it. If any of you (you know who you are) end up making some crochet yummies, you owe me photos. I know where you live.

First, thanks for your sweet compliments! I will post a bunch of links as soon as I can, but right now I am trying to behave myself a bit and get this house/nightmare/zoo/whatever under control. I have a timer set that is going to beep in 11 minutes 35 seconds to tell me to get off the computer.........until later this afternoon (by which time I really should have accomplished quite a lot, I should think, but then again, I don't know).

Eeeeek! 10 minutes 33 seconds......better go! :-)

"Hi Mommy! We picked you up a few things, while we were out. Oh, it was no bother, really!"


"Now let's see what we have here..."


"I got you a pumpkin, because I know how you like soup after you've been unwell..."


"And I think you need to eat more carrots; did you know they are good for your eyes?"


"Here's a capsicum..."


"...an onion and a chili pepper, to help spice things up a bit!"


"The celery is a bit wilty, but it was half price! What a bargain!"


"Have you ever seen anything like this? It's the darnedest thing -- you can use this fruit as apples or tomatoes!!" 


"The fruiterer says these bananas are just right."


"Can I offer you a grape? So fresh, so juicy!"

I'm certainly not in the position to be able to commit to a blog series of any kind, being as inconsistent as I am, so look on this next post as sort of a strange coincidence, and don't count on it ever happening again.

With that said, I am declaring today, "Fix Something That Annoys You Day". If you are like me, there are probably many, many things that annoy you. Just pick one...maybe a really obvious, prominent one? Like this window, for example?


Some of the faults of this window are obvious:

It's curtain is falling down (what is it with curtains falling down in this house? And we like to walk around naked, too!! [I am JUST KIDDING!!! We are Baptists, folks!]).

It's curtain is dirty.


Other of the faults of the window are covered up by the falling-down curtain:

It is dirty.

It has part of a ripped paper star stuck to it.

It has no soul, nothing special.


I guess that is the short list of things that annoy me about this window, and I will attempt to fix these things as quickly as possible. Because I need to wash and dry this curtain I will have to post the after shots tomorrow.  This time I do intend to set a timer for the window-washing bit at least, because I detest washing windows and I need to know that there will be an end to it.

Oh yeah, I am stuck on the "soul" part. If anyone has a Bright Idea for something I can do to give this window a heart without costing me anything or having to change the curtain, please, please, please share with me.

Anyone else up for it? What annoys you in your home?

**********************************

I know you were all wanting to see what was lurking behind that curtain. I did not want to see it, but I had to take the curtain down to wash it, so here it is:


I hate washing windows. Have I said this before? I think I have. Did you know you can also wash the window screen? I didn't know this, my sister told me a long time ago.

I swept down the spiders and cobwebs (with my pink gloves on, of course!). I washed the window. I took down the screen and scrubbed it and sprayed it with the hose. I did this all in record time, because I hate washing windows.

 I did not enjoy any part of this process, except the part where my window was cleaner. No, not clean. Cleaner. It is not perfect, it is not great, but it is better.


Oh by the way, I discovered that my window does have a little soul. It looks like this:


I tried to remove this with Magic Eraser, but the red won't come off. This little artwork is here to stay.


Here is a little someone cleaning out the toys from behind the couch for mama. :-) All in a day's work, says she.

Now to work on the "soul" for my window...stay tuned!

I am a poor housekeeper. I'm aware of it, used to it, done trying to hide it. Sometimes it is all just too much for me and I just can't even fathom how to get on top of it, and so I don't try. Eventually I get sick of not trying and I put in a wild, energetic effort, collapsing in a heap whenever my energy dries up. Usually I am at some point of the pendulum-swing between these two extremes. I know that many people operate in the same way so I don't really feel that bad about it. Guilt would only make things worse, anyway.

So in honor of my poor housekeeping, I declare today "Make Something Less Gross Day". This won't take long -- 15 minutes or less. All you have to do is make some gross part of your house, less gross. That's it. We're not aiming for perfection, just less ickiness. I have a number of gross areas in my home (a high number). I picked this one:


I guess it's pretty self-explanatory, but I'll explain anyway. This is my laundry trough/sink. Crammed into the area between the trough and the door is a curtain that fell down, a sqeegee that doesn't do any thing worth doing, a curtain rod, a neglected mop, a bunch of fluff and dust and spiders. Yah. Ewwww. In the trough is our "nappy bucket". It is gross by necessity and I don't plan to do much with that, other than washing its lid.

Here are some tips:

1.) Do this kind of job when you are getting over a cold or sinus infection. You won't be able to smell anything, and it will help to remove you mentally from the job you are doing. If you can't get a cold or sinus infection, use one of those nose pincher things the olympic swimmers use. Or a clothes peg, which I'm sure is more practical but might hurt a bit!

2.) You can do anything with rubber gloves on. Especially if they are pink.

3.) Do not aim for perfection. Just go for "less gross".

I did not set a timer, just put on my pink gloves, grabbed a trash bag, cloth and all-purpose cleaner, and had at it. I am sure this didn't take longer than 15 minutes, though. Am I pleased with the results?



Yup. You can do a lot in 15 minutes. I even hauled out our old, non-working dryer and put it outside wth our old, non-working washer. I don't think you want to see that, do you?


Nope that isn't the old washer and dryer out there in a backyard that looks like a jungle...it's a tall, elegant sculpture surrounded by a carefully planned and tended tropical paradise...srsly.

Happy "Make Something Less Gross Day"! If, perchance, anyone actually does have a "Make Something Less Gross Day", please come back here and share!

I really don't have a lot to tell you, except that I am taking a big trip in a little less than a month and for some reason it makes me feel both panic and denial...I am leaving my husband and four of my five children for two weeks, which I have never ever done. I am worried about this. I am also worried about taking a loooooong flight with a 6-month-old baby. He does look so awfully cute in his passport photos, though. :-)

On the other hand I am overwhelmingly excited about visiting my sister and her family, including her precious new baby girl!! I haven't seen my sis now in a little over a year and it has been pure torture. I think one of the saddest days in my life was the day she stepped onto a plane with her family and waved goodbye. :-( It has made me really glad, and thankful, for the relationship I have with my sisters. I know that not everyone has that and it is such a blessing to me. I can say quite honestly there is no one on earth who understands me quite like my sisters do.

As for the future of this blog, there have been a few issues I've been thinking over. I don't really like blogs. I'm not saying there's any specific blog I dislike (there are, but that's not the point) but I have grown tired of people acting as if they have some field of expertise when they don't, just because they can get away with it. Hey, I've done it too. Everyone wants to feel important, that's okay. I just find it annoying and I'm sure I don't want to have a blog that invites me to do that. I either need to refocus this blog elsewhere or stop writing it.

Another issue is that all of my crafting efforts have been majorly back-burnered (I know that is not a word. Embrace!!) I was fooling myself thinking that now is a good time for me to try to take over for Martha Stewart. I have five children. FIVE. I will probably have at least one more. THEY NEED ME. Now you can tell me that crafting is a part of who I am and I will lose my identity if I give it up but the truth is, my identity is found in Jesus Christ and Him alone and there is nothing else that matters. That was a scary thought for me at first but man it is so freeing! I know that He has given me my husband, children, home, church and friends and that is where I need to focus my efforts right now. All other things that I had attached to "my identity" were false, just dead weights keeping me from doing what I need to be doing.

Finally, we are carefully considering homeschooling again next year. I am scared to homeschool again because I really worry that I will fail my kids -- but I know where this public school business is heading and it's not good. And besides, I want my babies back. This home just doesn't feel right without all my children in it.

So yeah. This blog is changing, and I imagine it may lose some readers (I know I have a huge hoard of fans ravenous for any written morsel I throw their way, right?). I'm sorry if that is disappointing but I really have to focus right now on the things that are really important to me, I mean, really REALLY important. Eternally important. You know?

There's sort of a theory in our household that our children fit into two basic categories for appearance. Our model A's so far are Jonathan and Grace:

Jonathan

Grace

And in the Model B category we have Mae and Benjamin:

Mae

Benjamin

So my question for you is this: which category do you think Seth fits into? Look at his coloring, the shape of his eyes, the shape of his nose...and if it helps you, the birth order so far has been A, B, A, B...

Seth

So what do you think?

I mean, you can if you want to, of course...but I wouldn't recommend it.

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 12 ounces crimini mushrooms, chopped
• 1 small red onion, finely diced
• 1 red bell pepper, seeded and diced
• 1 tablespoon ground sage
• 1 1/4 cups cooked brown rice
• 1/2 cup walnuts, finely chopped
• 1 envelope onion soup mix
• 1 cup oat bran
• 1 cup wheat germ
• 2 egg whites, lightly beaten
• 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
• 2 teaspoons prepared mustard

    DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease a 9x5 inch loaf pan.
2. Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Stir in the mushrooms, onions, and bell pepper; cook until the onion is transparent, about 5 minutes. Sprinkle sage over the vegetables, and cook until vegetables are soft, about 5 minutes more. Transfer vegetables to a large mixing bowl.
3. Stir the rice, walnuts, onion soup mix, oat bran, wheat germ, egg whites, Worcestershire sauce, and mustard into the mushroom mixture until thoroughly blended. Spoon into prepared loaf pan, pressing down mixture with a spatula to flatten top.
4. Bake in preheated oven for 1 hour. Let rest 10 minutes before slicing.

Yes, we had this for dinner tonight and basically had to force it down. My search for a decent vegetarian "meat" loaf continues...

In fairness, I did just read some very positive reviews of this recipe, so maybe I did something wrong? It sounded good, in theory. I don't know, though. One cup of wheat germ, one cup of oat bran and one-and-a-quarter cups of brown rice does seem a little excessive in my humble opinion. Anyway, I am sure diaper changes will be fun in this house for the next couple of days.

I am hopeful that I may in fact succeed at converting some to homemade veggie burgers (over store-bought -- I mean, really) and so I thought I would provide two more recipes for you to try. These two are actually favored over the last one I posted, it is just that that one was on the menu and I am a stickler for sticking to my menu at the moment because I want to make sure that it all "works".

Anyway, on to the recipes. These are both from Jonni McCoy's book, Miserly Meals, which happens to have some great vegetarian recipes in it. There are a couple which I will not be trying again (like the "Meatless Meatloaf"), but overall the Vegetarian Main Dishes section of the book was vastly helpful in planning my own menu. Both of the following veggie burger recipes have been tried, accepted and added as favorites by my family. There are two others in the book which I have not tried and I won't include those recipes because I don't want to be blamed if they are not as good as the others.


I really can not recommend these recipes highly enough, especially the first one. If you have become accustomed to store-bought veggie burgers, these will come as a pleasant surprise both because of how easy they are to prepare, and because they are so tasty. Their flavor is enhanced and heightened by eating them with homemade hamburger buns, so I also recommend making those yourself. Yum!! Yum, yum, yum, yum, YUM!!!

This evening we had curried walnut grain burgers on homemade wholewheat rolls. I told you I would post next time we had veggie burgers. Now would I lie to you? I even took a photo, see?


I know it is not a good photo, but it was a good, good, good dinner. I don't think it would be very nice of me to post about it without sharing the recipe, so I will do that now. :-)

Curried Walnut Grain Burgers

Serves 6

2 eggs
1/3 cup plain yogurt (or substitute 1/4 cup of water, it will come out fine)
2 tsp worcestershire sauce
2 tsp curry powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground red pepper
1 1/3 cups cooked couscous or brown rice
1/2 cup finely chopped walnuts
1/2 cup grated carrot
1/2 cup minced green onions
1/3 cup bread crumbs

Combine eggs, yogurt, worcestershire sauce, curry, salt and red pepper in a large bowl; beat until blended. Stir in couscous or rice, walnuts, carrot, green onions and bread crumbs. Shape into 6 patties on a baking-paper lined cookie sheet. Bake at 350 for 20 minutes, turning once. Serve on hamburger buns, with condiments.

These do not taste like meat, nor are they supposed to. They taste better than meat. My personal kiddos eat these much better than they do a cheeseburger.

For those who are interested, I calculated the WeightWatchers points for one patty and came up with 2 1/2 points.

And here they are...

This truly is one device that makes life easier for the frugally-minded. Before I had one, I was making bread the hard way and while I appreciated the exercise and feeling of accomplishment that gave me, it also made it more difficult to make the family's bread consistently.

My favorite thing about having a bread machine is that it makes it so much easier and more appealing to be creative with our bread. Now not only do I make all of our regular bread, I have branched out to making rolls, hamburger buns, french sticks and pita bread and I have a ton of other things yet to try.

Besides that, have you ever had a freshly homemade veggie burger on a freshly homemade hamburger bun? Oh. My. I'll have to do a blog post on that next time we have veggie burgers for supper. You'll never go back to boca burgers again!

"We love mama's bread machine!!"

I am lucky to have had the lovely and very sweet Ali, of Mission Field Designs, working on my blog. I am loving the way it's turned out! Thank you so much, Ali, for your work (which she does for free!) and for being such a nice person to work with!

Yeah, I hardly have the time to take photos, much less post some long-winded blog entry just to justify putting up a bunch of new ones. So lucky you, you get the photos without the long-winded blog entry!

These photos of baby Seth were taken at around 3 weeks of age:

A big yawn (just in case it looks like he's screaming his face off)



About to sneeze
 


6yo took this one! :-)

These three I took today. Seth is now 4 weeks and 3 days old.
Goof ball!!!

No gas here! He's smiling at his mama!!

Awww! He's oh-so-charming!

I don't make this stuff up, I just report it.

Sorry if anyone has been waiting on this news ;-) but our newest little one finally made his arrival, 11 days late, on April 11, 2008. His name is Seth Walter, and he was 8lb 7oz at birth. We are both doing very well now, although I had a few rough days there. To be expected, I suppose.

Seth is so far a sweet, calm, placid little man and he loves being cuddled and held. He sleeps most of the day and night away still, but is starting to be a bit more active and aware of the world around him.

Here are a few photos. :-)

A few minutes after his birth.

Seth's first bath, one day old.

Dressed and ready to go home.

Seth at 9 days old.

Unbelievably, I managed to start and finish this strawberry tea pot cosy BEFORE baby's birth. I am now NINE days overdue and amazingly on the prowl for yet another project to keep my mind occupied while I wait for my little man to arrive.

I could understand the baby wanting to wait for his quilt but I have to wonder, what on earth could he want with a strawberry tea cosy? Perhaps he would like to wear it as a hat? And what do you think he'd like me to make next??

This tea cosy was made from a pattern that, sadly, is no longer available online as far as I can tell. I originally got it from magknits.com and it appears that they have taken down the site since I printed this pattern off just two days ago. :-( However, a google search for "strawberry tea cosy" may yield some alternative patterns.


Ah, it's so cheerful and happy-looking. :-) I am glad I happened to catch the pattern before it was gone and had the baby arrived I may never have been able to make this. Silver lining. :-)

Yup, I am a week overdue...I think baby really wanted his quilt to be finished! Hopefully, now that it is, he will decide he's ready to come out.

Incidentally, I think this is the best quilt I've ever made. I love the quilting on it -- and love even more that I actually had the patience to do it all by hand. It is an old-fashioned, traditional quilt and I am really happy with the way it turned out.


Now on to the next project -- I am either going to produce a baby, or a tea cozy.  One of the two.