How did I live without it?

For Mother’s Day this year I bought myself a gift. I know, who buys themself a gift on Mother’s Day? Apparently I do. Anywho…I wanted one and I knew that the kids and Dh would have no clue where to find one or what I wanted unless I took them to the website, made an order and then basically ask them to type in the billing info. So to save myself the frustration of watching my DH do the whole “hunt & peck” on the keyboard and just ordered it myself. I give you…….the grain mill….

And not just any grain mill either. This is the NutriMill. Before the grain mill I had dense and crumbly wheat bread. Well my friends………no more. Now the bread rises fluffy and light. And it’s 100% Whole Wheat! Just look at how it rises….

Amazing isn’t it? When I tell people that I make our own bread the looks I get are unreal. Before I lead them down the Martha Stewart path I explain that I have a HUGE Kitchen Aid mixer that does all the hard work. I mean the hardest thing I have to do is put the pans in the oven. Really….it’s not a big deal. But the bread is. It is OUT OF THIS WORLD. If you have never had whole wheat bread from fresh ground wheat, your really missing out. Frankly, I don’t know how we existed before the mill. Really. It is that good. Seriously.
God Bless,
Michele

Sorry for the MIA….

When we returned from vacation Josiah, Faith and I came down with bronchitis. We are now recovering fine but it was a rough week there. Nothing around got done! Including the blog!

But we are all on the mend and I have posts that are coming today. And also Friday we will resume our “In Our Home Friday” series.

God Bless,
Michele

Back from Vacation :)

I will be back to regular posting tomorrow (Monday). Lots of pictures to come!
God Bless,
Michele

When the world hates children….

…the end result is a world who by their own doing is killing themselves off. Under population is a serious problem facing many countries now. Abortion, family size restrictions, birth control and in general hate for children have brought this problem on.

I could give my thoughts on it, but instead I will share Doug Phillips blog post instead. Filled with facts and wonderful insight! I could not agree more.

When You Look At Shocking New Trends…..

God Bless,
Michele

Do you shop at Aldi?

I will finally be able to find one of these stores while on vacation and I am beside myself! Our vacation is one of camping cabins so we will do almost all of our cooking. So now I wonder how much should I buy before hand without an ALDI and how much should I plan on buying there? We will need things like milk, meat and items for lunches. We make and bring our own breads. Any suggestions would be WONDERFUL!
God Bless,
Michele

From My Home Friday…

First off there was an email question I wanted to address this week. Just as an FYI, I do have permission to reproduce Laine’s Letter here on my blog. I presented the idea before hand and was given permission to do so. So, no worries….I have permission and blessings to share these with you.

Now back to our regular scheduled post. This week’s letter I feel is a timely concern, Fearless Food Shopping. With the way the prices of items are rising it seems that interest to eat cheaply is on the rise. I personally feel it can be done cheaply but without loss of nutrition. We are a family of 7, but regularly feed 8 with 3 of those being big eaters (one teenage boy and two men). I average $75 a week presently. Some weeks I spend $120, some weeks I spend $40. But it averages out to be around $75 or less a week. I feel our families meals are not only filling but very nutritious. I do a lot of the same things as Laine does in her letter to help keep our cost down. Such as….. make our bread from scratch with a grain mill and organic grains, no boxed items - all of our foods are made from scratch, larger servings of veggies than meat - meat becomes almost a side dish rather than main focus, eat what is in season and what is on sale. Most importantly when i find an item for a low price, I buy in bulk. Here are some of Laine’s suggestions….

“ I love to do things with leftovers. So often little pieces of meat and potatoes will be chopped up the next day and find their way into a burrito for lunch. Or some squash or leftover oatmeal will find its way into a batch of muffins. Or some mashed potatoes will find their way into a loaf of bread. I love to learn and I find that when you love to learn, you do! So I am learning monthly how to do more with what I’ve got in my kitchen. Many times I will buy a piece of meat that has been marked down and not know what I will do with it. This month a turkey leg was one such piece of meat. I bought it for a little over a dollar. I cooked it on low all day in the crock pot with vegetable and seasonings, then took the meat off the bone and chopped it up. I made some Chinese noodles. I took some of the noodles, put them in a bowl for each person with some of the turkey and broth on top, added a few dashes of soy sauce, and served it with a piece of homemade bread. It was a hit!”

I would love to hear how you are doing your fearless food shopping. Remember to click the Mr. Linky icon below and enter your blog info. I can’t wait to hear from you al!
God Bless,
Michele

Had I known I would have said THANK YOU sooner!

I looked at the links people used to find my site yesterday when I discovered this…..
I made the Just Mommies Top 100 Mommy Blogs for 2007! That’s me right at #70. Amazing, I had no idea! Thanks for whoever voted. I would have thanked sooner but I truly had no clue. Thank you again! And HUGE thanks to Just Mommies!
God Bless,
Michele

Chattanooga Area

We will be leaving in a week to visit the Chattanooga area. We will be there over a weekend until a Monday. We are looking for suggestions of frugal things to do. My children want to see Rock City, Ruby Falls and the Incline Railway. I will indulge them for one day but I really wanted to see more of the city as well as visit thrift stores and such. I am also looking for an bulk store in the area. Any suggestions?

God Bless,
Michele

From My Home Friday…

This week’s letter is one that I force myself to read when I am feeling down about my work at home. And no truer words has been spoken in “Grumbling Causes Stumbling”.

Laine’s wise words abound…..

“I talked to my children about the futility of grumbling. I spoke to them about grumbling against their parents or those in authority over them, just as the children of Israel grumbled against Moses; their grumble was really against God Who had put them under this authority. I talked to them about grumbling about their chores or their school work. Just like the Israelites grumbled about their desert life, even though they lacked for nothing. Again, if they grumbled, it would inevitably cause stumbling in their life for they would be punished - just as the Children of Israel were by their Heavenly Father.

When we were done our study I was still thinking about that passage. That is how the Word of God works. ~Smile~ You keep “feeding” long after the “reading.” And I was thinking how patient God was with the children of Israel. He allowed them to grumble 10 times before turning them back from the Promised Land for forty years. Why was their grumbling so heartwrenching to Him? Because to those whom He has given much, much is required. And the children of Israel had been given a lot. Their eyes had seen the Hand of God in incredible new ways.

“How long shall I bear with this evil congregation who are grumbling against Me? I have heard the complaints of the sons of Israel, which they are making against Me.” Numbers 14:27

Listen to some of those complaints against The Hand that had caused great calamity against their Egyptian Masters, while covering them in great compassion by parting the Red Sea like a long, dry hallway for them to safely walk across; feeding them with the bread of the angels; walking before them in cloud of fire by night; and giving them water from a rock, just to name a few. Yet they grumbled and complained:

“Would that we had died in the land of Egypt! Or would that we had died in this wilderness! And why is the LORD bringing us into this land, to fall by the sword? Our wives and our little ones will become plunder, would it not be better for us to return to Egypt? So they said to one another, ‘Let us appoint a leader and return to Egypt.’” Numbers 14:2-4

I thought to myself, how could they do that after all the LORD did for them? Then it hit me. I, too, had done the same thing in my life! Oh, how the LORD had worked in my life. I had seen His Hand in healing my parent’s marriage; in bringing me to know Him during my pain as a young child; in leading me in compassion to marry my Art; in the miraculous healing of my three week old son on death’s doorstep; and in so many, many other ways too numerous to mention, but not too insignificant to forget. I had seen His Hand! Yet, I had also grumbled afterwards when things had not gone my way.

I remembered when I grumbled regularly about my husband. Why couldn’t God change him the way I wanted him to be? A little faster. ~Smile~ I remembered when I regularly grumbled about my children. Why couldn’t they act the way I wanted them to? Or my health. Why did I have to get sick just now? Why did we have this financial burden just now? Was I so different from the children of Israel? I am afraid not. His Hand had been leading me all along, but when things did not go my way, I, too, grumbled about my leadership and the way my life was going. I know it was grumbling, for I did not react in faith with my hand gripped in my Father’s Hand while looking up to Him for direction. My eyes were down here on my insurmountable problem which prompted me to react in fear. Fear wants to go back, rather than forward. Just like the Children of Israel wanted to return to Egypt, rather than trust their God to “pull down the mountains” in front of them. Was I stumbling like them? You bet.”

I love the line, “Fear wants to go back, rather than forward.” How true! You can read the whole letter here.

And please include your thoughts this week in your blog and then add it to Mr. Linky by clicking below. I will be posting my thoughts later tonight.
God Bless,
Michele

One year ago….(continued)

One year ago I was fully aware that I was this darling child’s only hope for a mother….

(And as you can see in the picture, gave up “salon hair”!)

I just gave birth to an amazing beautiful HUGE baby boy….

Went from 3 children to 5…

I soon learned that adding two children…..two SMALL children so quickly to my family was going to test every cleaning, organizing, parenting skill I ever possessed. We were bursting at the seams in our small 1100 sq. foot home. That’s when we decided that in case things weren’t nutty enough…..we would move too!

To be continued…..

God Bless,

Michele