Change Begins At Home

Karolee at My Montana Moments gave me this wonderful award. I take this one very personal because it says something about what is most precious to me. "My Home", not my house...my HOME.

The "Change Begins at Home" award originated at Bean Sprouts Blog (thanks for starting a new award Bean Sprouts!)

Here is what she says about it:

The "Change begins at home" award, this is given to bloggers who live what they preach, who try to make the changes in their own lives that they would like to see in the world.

The award rules are:
1. Nominate three bloggers who epitomise "Change begins at home"
2. Link back to the person who nominated you, and link back to this post.
3. When you receive the award, you may display the "Change begins at home" button on your blog.

There are so many inspirational blogs that I read. I am inspired daily through seeing the creation of quilts and the wonderful homemakers who blog about their lives. I really had to give this one some thought as it limits me to 3 names. Here they are in random order.

Corin at The Botzy Blog. She has recently been presented with some challenges that we ALL go through as young mothers. She handled this in a way that most of us would not have. She put ALL else aside to tend to the needs of her children, sacrificing her own desires to take care of those most pressing. Alot of us would have (and have) ignored the situation or just complained.

Ann at Tis The Gift To Be Simple is such a wonderful wife, mother and her home is so very important to her...no hostess treats for her kids!!! She makes sure that her guys all have her own lovingly created treats. I am very impressed by her posts.

Rose at Thread Bare whose daughter Maddi is a completely lovely girl. She is pen pals with my daughter Charlotte and anyone who has raised this beautiful young lady is deserving of this award!!!
All of these ladies have made their homes a place that is deserving of this award. Thank you ladies for letting us "in" to your homes and lives so that we may learn how to improve on our own.

Wednesday is a day that Sweet Hubby is home and we have a very light home schooling day. It is in essence our "Saturday". Daddy is always at work on Saturday, so we rarely, if ever, get 2 days in a row with him. Today has been a productive day for him. He took down the pool. I took this picture through a screen on the second floor.

He also mowed the lawn, probably for the last time this year.

We had a light home school day. Mostly correcting spelling and some critical thinking assignments. Charlotte has grown! I know you are thinking, "Well of course...she is a child and they do that." Well Charlotte does it very slowly. When she actually has a growth that is very noticeable, we get excited. We went on a little spree yesterday and got a new fall/winter wardrobe. She is 10 1/2 and wears a 7/8. Now in some things she is requiring an 8! The girl has some normal sized feet which on her small frame look larger. She is very conscience of this and was thrilled that she found shoes that made her feet look smaller. It is difficult to find shoes that fit because her feet are long and narrow, especially at the heel. Here she is in one of her new outfits.
I ordered her a couple of jumpers from Lilies of the Field yesterday too. I am going to have our matching Thanksgiving dresses made through them. Yeah, yeah, I know...well I am not giving up my clothing thing...just not now.

Zach needed very little as far as clothes go. He had a growth spurt before summer so got new winter clothes twice last year. The second batch still fit. He did need new shoes. He said these were so fast he needed to wear his Superman shirt so he could have "super speed"! I spent my day visiting with my neighbor and cleaning. I always enjoy any time I spend with Beth Ann. We are, together, going to try a new church on Sunday. She is the neighbor who gave Kyle the treat for helping with her basement. Like me, she has biological and adoptive kids...just more than I have on both levels! Plus she runs a day camp out of her home. Children are definitely her thing! We connect on a couple of life issues! Out of our 7 house cul de sac, 3 of us have adoptive kids (only 4 of us have kids at home still) and all 3 of us have kids with trauma. That poor 4th family! Actually they are very supportive and understanding.

I found a new-to-me cleaner. I only share those that I feel are excellent and this one I LOVE...the only thing that I do not like is the name. "Holy Cow" I did not notice it until I got it home. Now, I doubt I am giving money to a group of people who worship cows, though they are a green company and they only sell natural products-hence the name, I am sure. This is the BEST grease cutter EVER! Plus you can use it on carpet, bathrooms, well really anywhere! I found it in my local drug store, but you can get it online by clicking on the link above. The price is very good...I paid under $4 for a large bottle. So now I am off to pick up dry cleaning and a quick stop for medications and then home. Dinner and a movie tonight.... Evan Almighty. I heard it is good. Hope you all had a great middle of the week!

Tackle It Tuesday

It is no secret that I rarely do my Tackle It Tuesday on an actual Tuesday. If I did, it would not get posted til Wednesday. Most of the time my tackles are done on Monday. CoppersWife had me totally inspired to do my kitchen cabinet fronts. After all, I have pretty much tackled the inside of everyone of them recently. Then Ann posted about her family cleaning out the wood stove/fireplace in preparation for winter. Hmmmm, my fireplace is in need of attention soon too. Which one to choose.... To be honest I chose neither. I am fighting a horrible cold and just did not feel like it. So, I thought I would post another tackle. This one was done over the weekend and you may think it terrible that I refer to it as a tackle. After all, a tackle is something you don't really want to do, but you know it needs to be done, right? Wrong. To me, a tackle is something I know I need to do, but other things keep getting in the way and so this special task requires this weekly post in order to make it a priority. My definition of Tackle It Tuesday really does not help my case here. You will probably still think it terrible.

I have shared enough about Charlotte for you all to get the idea that things do not always run smoothly for her. Most is her own making, though this time of year is especially difficult. I will explain all of that closer to Halloween, in a second post on The Face of Trauma. Suffice it to say, it is difficult to be what she really needs me to be during these times. I decided Charlotte needed some Mommy time and so I had Zach plant himself in front of a DVD in another part of the house, and Charlotte baked pies. She learned to read and follow a recipe and she was given an apron made by my grandmother (Grace, whom Charlotte is named after). She started out very serious, but by the end she was smiling. Here is Charlotte's pumpkin pie in progress. She actually made 2.

And the taste tester gave it a thumbs up!!! The book "Raising Maidens of Virtue" by Stacy McDonald came yesterday. I am looking forward to reading it. With this nasty cold, it won't take long. I am considering getting the companion study guides and doing it with Charlotte. Have any of you read it? What do you think? I am hoping it will give me some tools to help me in this mother/daughter process. I think the mommy time and pie baking was a good choice for this week.

Blessings, Bren

Rainy Days & Sundays

Well today was a rainy Sunday. It did not get me down (as the song says) and in fact, it was quite nice. Zach was back to normal by lunch time on Saturday, so I did get my Grandma time after all. TJ came at bedtime Saturday night and stayed til after his nap (around 3 pm) today. Some time is better than none. PawPaw got some good Grandpa time too. They cuddled a bit before bed. It is a blurry and dark photo but I love it anyway. (All of today's pictures are dark..sorry, but that's what happens on a rainy day) TJ just loves his PawPaw. When we walked in the door (I picked him up) he said, "There's the PawPaw!!" I had to crop Sweet Hubby out, as I am sure he would not want to "parade" around the Internet in his jammies. Today was, like I said, rainy, and quiet. Kyle had a friend over for pizza and movies down in his room. The 3 younger kids all watched "Chicken Little" and played.
Carly chewed a bone and Sweet Hubby worked on the broken pantry door. I worked on my kitchen and laundry. I really miss church as we have been without one for sometime. I listen to many teaching tapes and have my favorites on TBN, but it is not the same. For now it will have to do. The last church we attended, the womb's (then) boyfriend showed up "looking". I have been thinking it may be the right time to find a new church and step out in faith that our time of worship will be private. Sad when you can not tell anyone what church you attend.
The rest of the day was spent relaxing. TJ went down for a nap. Charlotte played in another room. Sweet Hubby and Zach watched the Bears lose. This was a sad event!And I finished a design on the Pink and Brown and started another one. I love moving that hoop!!! I took TJ home to his Daddy (Mom was out of town til late Sunday) and on the way, I put in a CD I had not listened to in a long time. It is "Classic Hymns" by Carmen. I am big on Contemporary Christian music and we tend to "rock" on our drives in the van. Today I felt like something different, so I threw Carmen in the CD player. The words he sang were so refreshing to me. They spoke right to my soul. I will share them with you.

His Name is Wonderful

His name is Wonderful, His name is Wonderful,

His name is Wonderful, Jesus my Lord;

He is the mighty King, Master of everything,

His name is Wonderful, Jesus, my Lord.

He's the great Shepherd, the Rock of all ages,

Almighty God is He;

Bow down before Him, love and adore Him,

His name is Wonderful, Jesus, my Lord.

Plans

The best laid plans....never happen. The plan today was to work on the house in the morning and play Grandma for the rest of the day. Well Mommy trumps Grandma every time! Little Zach woke up this morning out of sorts. He usually hops (literally) out of bed and is anxious to start his day. Today he needed to be lured out of bed and even then was not thrilled about it. I got him to eat his breakfast hoping the "shaky" feeling he complained of would go away. He ate his breakfast and immediately lost it! As much as I wanted to enjoy my Grandson today, Zach needs his mommy, so today I wear my doting Mother hat. He is actually feeling better and has kept down some soda crackers and room temperature 7Up. He just asked for a bowl of cereal and milk, which I refused him. He settled for 1/2 a small banana. That too was tolerated. I have been able to work on the house and plan to make 2 pumpkin pies this afternoon, with Charlotte's help. Some hand quilting and Zachary movies will have to take place of my machine work planned for today.
Kyle returned home for a lunch break. He is spending some time with a friend down the street. They are cleaning out their basement and Kyle is helping. He has some pretty big muscle built up and is a great help. How come they will help someone else with extreme pleasure, but if you ask them to do something for you they act like you want to pull their fingernails out? Well, he was so appreciated by our neighbors he came home with a treat.

I really am quite proud of my grown kids. They all (daughter in law included) are such wonderful people with hearts like gold. Kyle is well liked by several of our neighbors and they all are so sweet to him. They let him know it is an honor to be his friend. And it is.

My mailman brought me a lovely package yesterday. It carried my 4 Seasons Swap all the way from Australia. It is gorgeous!!! I just love the fabrics and the design. It reminds me of a crown of thorns around a cross. Tracey from Oz Country Quilting Mum sent it along with a wonderful book for the children. They loved it! We learned all about the animals of Australia through a curious little Wombat. Beautiful photos of live animals were used. A wonderful post card with Tracey's chook quilt and some scripture cards (which have been placed around the house) were also enclosed. Thank You so much Tracey!! I just told Zach I would be right down to start his next movie and he has announced he will "find something to eat in the meantime". I think I better scoot....Luckily, I learned a while ago the lesson CoppersWife spoke of the other day...Hold your plans loosely.

Sunrise

Sunrise. It is the perfect time to start my day. I have not seen a sunrise in a few weeks. My schedule it totally off kilter and my days are not running smoothly. My Home Management Binder is my servant, but if I don't let it work for me, then it is useless. In order for my days to run smoothly, I need to be out of bed before 6:00 am. Somehow, I have stayed in bed until after 7:00 am most days. That is so not typical of me. I am not sure when or how it happened, but it has to change. Things are getting away from me and I am becoming stressed. So, I will need to use my alarm clock once again. I have not used it in years, but my internal clock is not working, so I must use an external one. I am looking forward to this weekend. Little TJ is coming to spend the night with Grandma! What a joy he is. He will get here at nap time on Saturday and leave after his nap on Sunday. He is a huge light in my world! Congratulations to KJQuilts, who is a Grandma to twins by now!!! There is no greater joy!

Progress is being made daily on my Pink & Brown. The quilting design is extremely tedious, but so worth it. The back will appear as a whole cloth, which is thrilling to me.

My machine is calling me. This is SO rare and SO brief, that I really need to talk advantage of the desire to spend some time with her. I did start to call her Betty (White) as one of you suggested. Endora is her nickname when she begins to act like a witch! I have several things to choose from. Three that pull me. The first is a Hidden Star. The fabric was costly and I really want to finish the top. I have 16 of the 40 blocks done, and different segments of the remainder of the blocks are put together. It could actually go fairly quick. Another option is the pieced blocks for Charlotte's quilt. These will alternate with the applique block. Only one pieced block is together, but all the pieces are cut and ready to go. There are only 15 total pieced blocks.Or, I could finish my Hour A Day Quilt from August (I think). So far I have 4 of the little 4 patches and all the big white and black 4 patches done. Still need to cut and piece the smaller white and black and the rest of the colored 4 patches. Hmmmm. I sure have alot left on that one.Decisions, decisions....I am leaning toward the Hidden Star, as it is the oldest. Still a long way to go, but it would sure feel good to get the top done. It was meant for my 25 year old son's 16th birthday, then graduation, then Christmas....now it will be mine (He got a wedding quilt). Sorry Buddy!

Efficiency or Laziness?

How many of you own a Rotato? I do, I mean, I did...the blades are no longer good. While googling this I found I can get new blades. This little contraption makes peeling 15 pounds of potatoes go pretty smoothly, not to mention the fact that everyone argues about who gets to do the job. I pull it out on Thanksgiving and Easter. Well on Easter, it did not work so we all pulled out our peelers and had at it. It took forever and our hands were cold and tired. Well, my oldest son saw a great new invention regarding potato peeling and told me I HAD to get it. So I did. Tater Mitts. Come on!!! Ok, so I did buy them. They DO NOT work. I "played" hard with a potato for over a minute and here is what I ended up with.

I thought maybe it would work on apples too, as I made an apple pie today...that is another story! Anyway, here is all it did to the apple. Nothing. So I pulled out the old trusty peeler. By the way, Pampered Chef has the BEST peelers. Their apple slicers are great too. (I do not work for Pampered Chef) OK, I will take a quick detour from the gadgets to tell you about the apple pie episode...I get all the apples peeled and sliced, in a bowl and find I am OUT of Cinnamon and Nutmeg!! HOW in the world can you make an apple pie without those? Thank goodness the neighbor borrowed onions yesterday! She owed me...and she had both of the ingredients. OK, so all the filling is ready and I go to get my pie pan out....no pie pan. Hmmm. I know I had like 5 of those. Nothing. Not one anywhere. My family LOVES to take each others pie pans. Where are mine? Guaranteed no one will fess up! So I throw the bowl of apple filling into the frig and run out to get pie pans. I CAN'T ask the neighbor to borrow a glass pie pan! Alright, back to gadgets. I am thinking the peeler and slicer are fine for making one or two pies, but if I am doing major peeling of apples (like the potato deal on holidays) I want one of these gadgets that Kim showed on her blog the other day. This would make the peeling job much more efficient. I have another gadget that I LOVE...It is called an "eggstrator". How much do you HATE to peel hard boiled eggs? Me too!! And they never peel right. Well I am here to tell you this thing works. One push of the pump and that peel pops right off that egg. You are left with a clean peeled egg and only a little egg shell shrapnel...goggles are recommended. If you ever see one, get it! It is also alot of fun. So you can see I have a lazy streak in the kitchen. I am trying to get better. I actually made my pie from scratch. OK, so the inside of the pie is from scratch! Do you have any nifty kitchen gadgets you can share?...come on we won't laugh!!! I am sure no one thought my tater mitts or eggstractor were ridiculous!