I Heart Walgreens

"Cha-CHING" was the sound coming from the cash register when I checked out at Walgreens today.
Deodorant
2 shaving gels
Children's cold medicine
2 body washes

I paid $2.45 out of my pocket for these items which I estimate to be worth more than $20.00. I got only the items that we would use. I passed on other deals. I had to add one of the body baths to keep the register from going into the negatives. Crazy, uh!! But, that is not all... the register printed $10 worth of register rewards that I can use like cash on my next shopping trip as a souvenir.

The best part is that my husband appreciates when I spend his money wisely, and make his dollar go farther. I love to make him HAPPY!!

The New Kitchen Help

Come on in and meet the girls...

I had never cooked with cast iron until about a year ago. The cookware that I had received when we got married 15 years ago was looking pretty bad, so I began to shop for some new stuff. I wanted something that would not leach metal toxins into our food, and Hard Anodized just wasn't suiting me. I found a cast iron pot at my friend's moving sell, and was soon hooked.

This 7 quart beauty was a Christmas gift from my Mother-in-law.
I cook an extra large pot of soup or a roast with veggies with this girl.
Despite her size, she never scorches.
*Ain't* she sweet!!

Old-fashioned cast iron, it is a basic element. I have pretty much used it exclusively for several months now and I find it user-friendly. I seasoned everybody well when they came to live with me and the more I use them they seem to season themselves, now.

My griddle *ain't* stained and dirty, she is well-seasoned!
Can you picture a row of yummy turkey bacon?

I may be cooking with cast iron, but this isn't your usual country fried cooking. Remember, we choose iron for its health benefits, Ya'll. (LOL!! I am Paula Dean gone healthy!)

[clearing throat] My husband is NOT laughing. Anyway...

They distribute heat better than ANY cookware I have use before. (Now, I have cook with some fancy pans.) They hold heat for a very long time so once I get the food to the desired temperature I can turn the eyes off, close the iron lid and leave, and the girls continue cooking for HOURS. I am so pleased.

If you use them often, even eggs will not stick.
This stuff is more stick-resistant than Tephlon.

As far as the toxins I was concerned about, these ladies actually leach good minerals into our food. Here it is from the notable Dr. Weil:

"A study published in the July 1986 issue of the Journal of the American Dietetic Association showed that cooking in cast iron skillets added significant amounts of iron to 20 foods tested. For example, the researchers reported that the iron content of three ounces of applesauce increased from 0.35 mg to 7.3 mg and scrambled eggs increased from 1.49 mg to 4.76 mg of iron. "

This is one I got from my friend's yard sell.
I cook rice in her last night. Again, NO sticking.

The only downsides are that you cannot leave them to soak or they will rust, but maybe that is not such a downside as I should be more inclined to wash them right away and am happier that way.The other downside is that they are heavy, especially the big dutch oven when loaded with food, but nothing I can't handle.

Thank you, Ladies.

Home Management and the Domestically Challenged

As we add children to our family, we are forced to deal with weaknesses that we were able to ignore or disguise before.

My name is Misty Smith, and I am domestically challenged. On so many levels, too, but I can only deal with them in baby step portions.

Home management is an area that I should have tackled with baby #3... NO, baby #1! But, I didn't so we have been suffering all of this time. Now baby #4 is a year old, and I am finally making some moves toward progress.

Recently, I have acquired the book Large Family Logistic which has helped me to improve.
I HIGHLY RECOMMEND THIS BOOK!!

The changes that have brought us a bit of success?

Giving each day of the week a theme: Monday is Town Day; Tuesday is Laundry Day; Wednesday is Kitchen Day; Thursday is Office Day; Friday is Bed, Bath and Beyond Day; Saturday is a day of fun/rest and Sunday is for the Lord.

If on one of these days "life happens" as it often does--like sickness, ministry opportunity, birthday, field trip, ect.-- I don't have to stress because the day will come again in its rotation soon enough; and I will have another opportunity to tackle that day's jobs in a more comprehensively manner.

For instance, on Laundry Day last week I was unable to get the shower curtains washed because I had a few sick children who kept me distracted. They weren't too bad and could wait a week and I DID get 4 huge loads washed and folded and culled unmatched socks while I sat on the couch snuggling my sick ones. Tomorrow is the next Laundry Day so I will wash the shower curtain, Lord willing along with a whole host of laundry goals I hope to accomplish. I am the type that thrives on 2nd chances... and 3rd chances and 4th chances... which is why this works well for me.

The other feature that I have added to my home management scheme is the use of a timer. On Office Day, for instance, I alternate 15 minutes of playing and teaching the littles with 15 minutes of bill paying, school planning, couponing or whatever seems office-like. This way kiddos are getting their fix of my attention and don't seem to notice when I turn away for 15 minutes to do my chore. I will come back to their world before they realize my attention had been elsewhere. Maybe, during my time segment with them I might have an office job that I can include them in, like opening junk mail envelops or throwing away a pile of expired coupons.

These Home Management improvements have worked beautifully. The question is, can I maintain these changes long enough for them to morph into ingrained habits? I think so... pray for me.

Green Smoothie

Ummmm... look appetizing to you? Well, maybe not, but don't knock it before you try it!

It is DELICIOUS!! Don't believe me? Ask my kids!!

Here is what is in it:
2 whole apples seeds and all
1 cup of frozen strawberries
1 1/2 cup of vanilla yogurt
4 or 5 handfuls of raw spinach
1/4 cup of concentrated apple juice

Who Needs Welfare When We Have Walgreens!?!?!

Yes! I am bragging because I got ALL THIS for just over $3! It was not hard, but it did take a little investment of my time and attention to plan out these deals. TWO boxes of FiberOne, TWO packs of paperplates, TWO packs of batteries, One Wal-Zyr, one Extra Strength Headach relief, one shampoo, THREE boxes of ziploc baggies, FOUR boxes of Ritz crackers, one tube of Colgate and TWO bags of Jelly Beans to be saved for Easter... I think it well worth my time.

Entrepruneurial Sewing

I am excited about a new family business adventure. My sis-in-law is opening a children's consignment/boutique which will open the last week in March. (Looks like I am not the only one.) She has invited me to make little A-line dresses to sell in her shop. They are very cute and I am annoyingly excited about the possibilities that this could open for our family.

I have been praying for God to give me a business opportunity that I could do without leaving my children or compromising the care I give them and my husband. Something that could supplement our family income would be a bonus; and if it builds an entrepruneruial spirit and character in my children... well, that would make it all worthwhile.


I have been patiently waiting for about a year now on the right adventure then suddenly *kurplump*, this has fallen in my lap. It is an open door and it is hard to ignore as it is beckoning me to enter.

God has already provided two sewing machines and I will be soon getting a serging machine. I have cleaned up my sewing space, and I am ready to go... Okay, here I go!

The Project are Coming!!

What is that I hear?...
The sound of school books slamming shut, the children are scurrying about gathering their projects while chanting "Do hard things, do hard things!"

STOP!!!!!

A side explanation for school parents: I am not dreaming this stuff up. This did happen in our home today, and similar events happen frequently in the homes of home-educated families across the nation. You need to know this!

Okay back to my story...

I AM very happy to hear this type of chanting, but I'll have to admit it makes me feel panicky inside because it means the projects are coming out of their closets and drawers. This is scary to a momma who likes to be neat and organized.

With all of this creative ingenuity brewing and stewing around here, mostly in the form of child-led PROJECTS, comes a need for table space.

Being the aesthetically sensitive and dreadfully frugal person that I am, thrift store stalking has been my main strategy for finding attractive and affordable tables to fill the bill. Months have passed by and I have not found what is needed. Plan B--which should have been Plan A--was to look around in our garage for ideas. Here is what we came up with:

This is a plastic foldaway table that my sister-in-law gave me. It is 48X24, the perfect size for this corner in my kitchen. A great spot for Alexey to decorate cakes or for other cooking projects. I plan to make a skirt it soon, and should transform to look something like this:

This is another 48X24 plastic table. I really like this size. I made a table skirt equipped with velcro so that it is detachable. I LOVE that it hides a wash tin which I use to give Aaron baths so the kitchen looks less cluttered. He likes to get under it and play, so it entertains him while I do kitchen work. I use this table to keep produce and homemade baked good out for the kids to snack on. It is also a great spot for my picnic basket filled with cloth napkins and bibs. A real multi-tasker! Cute, too!

This is in our library, and it is where the girls do a good deal of their school work. Looks like Catherine is putting a model covered wagon together. Here I took a large plastic folding table and covered it with some of our maps. I then covered it with a clear shower curtain and voila. They are learning more geography than ever, too. Oh, look... Catherine's glue stick is staking its claim in Oklahoma.

I threw this photo in for kicks. This little fellow loves when the girls rock him in this cradle even though he is too big for it.

To Godly Women!!

Please understand that I am not posting this as a celebration to myself or even to the female gender. Mostly, I am posting it because Gaius gives a great description of the wonderful ministry of womanhood/motherhood which is barely uttered in these times. Blessed Women, we have lost our vision.

I love this exert by John Bunyan's Pilgram's Progress part II, otherwise known as Christiana.

A Toast to Women (As spoken by Gaius)

Gaius: "Hear me as I speak these few words on behalf of women to take away their reproach, for as death and the curse came into the world by a woman, so also did life and health. God sent forth His Son made of a woman. Yea the women of the Old Testament coveted children, and why? So that they perchance might become the mother of the Savior of the world, and thus help undo the sin of their mother, Eve.

And I will say again when the Savior was come, a woman rejoiced over Him before either man or angel. I read not that a man ever gave unto Christ so much as a piece of bread, but the women followed Him and ministered to Him of their substance. Twas a woman that washed His feet with tears and annointed His body to the burial. They were women that followed Him from the cross and that sat across from the sepulchre when He was buried. They were women that were first with Him at His resurrection and women that brought tidings first to His disciples that He was risen from the dead.

Women, therefore, are highly favored and show by these things that they are sharers with men in the grace of life. Yea, in these days the mother who trains her children for Christ is as truly working for God as is the minister in the pulpit."

Christiana: "Thank you, friend Gaius. Sometimes it seems to us women that we accomplish so little."

Gaius: "Nay, it is not so. Though the results of her work are not apparent, angels of God are watching the careworn mother; noting the burden she carries from day to day.

Her name may never receive the honor and applause of the world as may that of husband and father, but it is immortalized in the book of God.

She is doing what she can, and her position in God's sight is more exalted than that of a king upon his throne. For she is dealing with character. She is fashioning minds."

TO GODLY WOMEN!!