This is the day

 

This is the day the Lord has made;

we will rejoice and be glad in it!

Psalm 118:24

My motto for this week is "to really, really live", 

to make the most of each minute, and redeem the time.

I was very inspired by reading this letter by Rachel at Finding Joy. 

Read it yourself, and see how beautiful it is!

Hearts for Home

Today I want to join in with Gae at Cherished Hearts at Home.  Here are her words about her weekly link-up:

"In today’s busy and aggressive society mothers at home are not given much encouragement to be committed to their role in being home.

In my weekly 'Hearts for Home' post I am encouraging myself and others to commit to thinking about what 4-6 things we can do each week to bring our thoughts, prayers and actions to keeping our 'Hearts for Home'."

So my list for the remainder of the week is as follows:

1. Get started on my mornings earlier, and keep plugging along...in other words, make the most of the morning time.  I did yesterday, and everything went that much smoother!
2. Read to the children a lot this week; it's a cooler, grayer week, perfect for snuggling up with books.
3. Have a "Daddy Day"...in which we email pictures of what's going on in our day, call him more frequently, greet him with a treat or craft for him when he gets home...make him feel special and involved.
4. Get to a pumpkin patch to add to the children's pleasant fall memories.
5. Make fudge for me for the family.  :-)
6. Don't get on the computer too much!  (Which means I must go now!)

How are you keeping your hearts for home?
 

12 New Things - Flaky, Fluffy Biscuits!

Here's my September update for the 12 New Things Challenge that I joined up with. For those who haven't heard about it yet, Sarah Mae at Like a Warm Cup of Coffee started this to encourage herself and others to learn new skills. For August, I started doll quilts for my daughters.  I have now finished one of them.... 

I still have to finish the second with my older daughter, but since we are doing it together, it takes longer. Here is the link for the original 12 new things post.

And here is a link to August's post about the doll quilts. 

And now, onto September's New Thing....I decided to go with making flaky biscuits for the first time.  I used the recipe and instructions that I found here.  And it worked! They were tasty, and flaky, and fluffy.  The only thing I would change next time would be to add a bit of butter flavoring, and to keep them a little taller when I roll them.  By the way, I didn't use the food processor as the recipe states, but just hand mixed it.  We had these the first night, hot and buttered, along with beef stew.  The next morning, before we headed off to the local mountains to pick apples, we had them with an apple topping and caramel sauce I made.  Mmmm, what a breakfast!

Check back in with me next month, and I might have started or completed my next skill: A fall dress....The pattern and fabric are in the picture below. 

Thanks for stopping by to see what I've been up to!  Visit Sarah Mae's latest 12 Things post, and everyone else linking up here.

The Value of Time

I love old books, and I have several vintage school books, primers, and readers that I have bought at estate sales and such.  Sometimes, when I can't sleep at night from a cold, or pregnancy discomforts, I read them until I am sleepy again.  One that I found had many good articles and poems was Bancroft's Fifth Reader, and in particular, the piece on The Economy of Time.  You can find it here on Google: "The Economy of Time" from Bancroft's Fifth Reader.
Just like many people, I have a tendency to waste away the minutes that add up to quarter hours, half hours, and eventually, whole hours...time that can be filled with useful things...like improvements to self, mentally, spiritually, physically; or profitable time spent with children or family and friends.  When I read this article, I printed it, and put it in the front of my household management binder as a very good reminder to me.  I will share a few quotes with you:


"...The man who has wasted the precious hours of life's seed-time finds that he cannot reap a harvest in life's autumn. Lost wealth may be replaced by industry, lost knowledge by study, lost health by temperance or medicine; but lost time is gone forever."

"Rely upon it, if you are a miser of moments, if you hoard up and turn to account odd minutes and half-hours, you will at last be wealthier in intellectual acquisition, wealthier in good deeds harvested, than thousands whose time is all their own."

"The small stones that fill up the crevices are almost as essential to the firm wall as the great stones; and so the wise use of spare time contributes not a little to the building up of a man's mind in good proportions, and with strength."

Also today, I wanted to share with you a link to some great animal coloring page printables, found on Animal Jr.com.  I'm going to print out some of the cute owl pages for my littlest one, who loves owls.
Free Kids Coloring Pages

And now I'm off to make the most of my minutes today! Happy Friday!

Clock Photo by Suat Eman, FreeDigitalPhotos.net

12 New Things

Like a Warm Cup of Coffee

One of my favorite blogs is Like a Warm Cup of Coffee, and Sarah Mae recently posted a 12 New Things challenge, and I love the idea! I'm not finished thinking over what I would like to learn and when, but this is what I have started with:

1. August-Sew a proper quilt...I have started this with my daughters, two doll quilts.  I am mostly making my younger daughter's, and my older daughter is learning some hand sewing and machine sewing while making hers with me.
2. French Braid hair
3. September- Make a more complex dress for daughter. I have made a very simple summer dress only, and now I want to make a fall dress...sleeves and all!
4. Bible Poem Book for children. I have about ten poems taken from scriptures, and would like to write enough to print in a family photo book.
5. October- Fall gardening...leeks for sure, I love potato leek soup! Some lettuce, carrots....
6. Take better pictures
7. December - Having three children- I am expecting!
8. Make healthier desserts
9. Make fluffy, flaky, Claim Jumper style biscuits.  Mmmm, I can just picture fresh peaches and cream over them.  I have a recipe to try here:  http://blog.kitchenmage.com/2008/01/simple-flaky-bi.html
10. Make artisan style bread. I have been making homemade, all-by-hand bread for awhile now. My favorite is a buttermilk-oat-honey bread. 
11. Improve my finance management skills...put into practice some of the principles in Your Money or Your Life, by Joe Dominguez

Being that I am the type to have 7 tabs up at one time on the computer, 3 baking projects at the same time in the kitchen, 4 cards to make at one time...I imagine I will be working on more than one of these at a time!
If you want to join in, create your list and link it up over at Sarah Mae's blog!