Happy Homemaker Monday!

Sandra at Diary of a Stay at Home Mom has started Happy Homemaker Monday to record a little of what's going in our day.

On my bedside table: The Edge of Recall by Kristen Heitzmann and some Crochet Today magazines

On my TV: Poseidon Adventure - the original one from 1972. I rented this way back for New Years Eve but am just now getting to it!

On the menu for tonight: Tostadas with rice and beans

On my to-do list: mop the floors, clean bathtub, sort through the entryway closet.

New recipe I tried last week: Slow-Cooked Southwest Chicken I got this recipe from the latest issue of Healthy Cooking. It was very good! I'm not sure if the link will work unless you subscribe to the magazine or Taste of Home.

In the craft basket: Nothing right now. I will continue to crochet and knit some dishcloths, but I'm also looking through my crochet and knitting magazines to find some patterns to use up some of my yarn stash. It's too large!

Looking forward to: Rain! It's supposed to rain again sometime today, but the skies are blue! I don't know where the rain clouds are? Maybe tonight?

Homemaking Tip for this week: If you have a sluggish drain, try pouring some bleach down the drain. Wait about 10 or 15 minutes, then run very hot water. It will flow clear again. Now I don't know if this will work if the drain is already stopped up. If my drain is slow, I just do this tip and the water flows great again. PLEASE, just don't mix the bleach with any other cleaning product. You don't want any noxious fumes!

Favorite blog post: I have two this week. Both of them speak of the little things we can do to help someone in need and the blessings in giving, even when we may be in need ourselves. These two posts gave me reflections to take to the Lord in my prayer time. The first post is from Laura at Catholic Teacher Musings and the second one is from Brenda at Coffee Tea Books and Me.

Favorite photo from last week:

This is not a photo from the past week, but from Christmas time. The girls put on a fashion show with Ryan serving as the MC. This the their "fabulous" poses.

Lesson learned the past few days: The little things we do for others can have a great impact and be such a blessing to them.

On my prayer list: President Obama

Devotionals, Scripture Reading, Key Verses:

From St. Patrick's Breastplate:

This day I call to me:

God's strength to direct me,

God's power to sustain me.

God's wisdom to guide me,

God's vision to light me,

God's ear to my hearing,

God's word to my speaking,

God's hand to uphold me,

God's pathway before me,

God's legions to save me:

from snares of the demons,

from evil enticements,

from failings of nature,

from one man or many

that seek to destroy me,

anear or afar.

I don't know why my paragraphs are not being separated here at the end. They are separated where I compose the post, but not when I preview it. Oh well, hope it's not too dificult to read.

Wednesday Funny

Ryan is quite a humorous boy.

The other day, I came out of the shower, slathered some floral scented lotion, and proceeded to do my household business. As I passed by him, he says, "Oh mommy, you smell nice, just like roses! I thought, "Aw, how nice." Then he says, "Not like when you go to Grandma's house or go to the doctor, or go see fireworks (meaning most other times), then you smell like peanuts! But he made sure I didn't feel too bad. He said, "But that's still nice!"

I had to double check with Steve and the girls and find out if I really smell like peanuts normally. They said I don't smell any kind of way, just normal. That's good. Maybe I'll wear scented lotions more often. They do smell pretty.

I think I mentioned before that Ryan loves to play around with my camera, taking shots of just about anything. I'll leave you with a self-portrait that he did. I'll spare you the pictures he took of his tongue and tonsils or him picking his nose.

What a week it's been! The Santa Ana winds started again and with it came allergies. Or so I thought. My eyes started itching, then I started sneezing, then the stuffy nose came. I think now that I had a cold. I can't really tell. I was taking some allergy medicine but that didn't seem to help. For two days, my head was so congested. My eyes looked so beady. Now my nose is clearing up but the cough is starting. Sounds like the cycle of a cold to me. Whatever. I'm feeling much better now.

Emily and Kathryn both had colds too. Emily missed two days of preschool.

I'm so excited! We finally got our hardwood floors refinished. Our entryway was hardwood but in terrible shape. Our dining room had carpeting and as you can guess the carpet was so yucky. It got so bad that not even professional cleaners could get it to look good anymore. So we took out the carpeting and refinished the hardwood floors underneath. The wood looks beautiful! We did the same with the hallway carpeting.

We have lots more home repairs to do, more flooring, painting, counter tops, practically everything. As finances allow, we will do what we can.

Hope everyone is enjoying their weekend!

Letter Meme

Laura, the teacher, from Catholic Teacher Musings has assigned me the letter J (for Journey). I wanted to use ten J words to describe my spiritual journey, but that was proving to be difficult so I chose five words to do that, then five more general J words.


J - Jesus
The whole point of this spiritual journey. The final destination is heaven, and being with Jesus.

J - Journal
Where I write down my thoughts and reflect on what I think the Lord is saying to me and doing in my life. My thoughts on Bible passages and other spiritual writings.

J - Join
I join with others, in heaven and here on earth, in this spiritual journey. Together we help each other out and provide support as we journey toward our final destination.

J - Jerk
How I act sometimes. As I read the Bible and pray, I get convicted about how I've behaved and I pray to overcome my sinful habits and become more like Jesus.

J - Joy
Joy is what I feel when I'm right where God would have me . Loving and serving Him and others.


Now, for the other five words, I'm just going to name things that I like that begin with J.

J- Jeans
I wear these all the time. I'm most comfortable wearing these.

J - Jasmine
I love the smell of this flower! One of the joys of summer is smelling this fragrance.

J - Jelly Beans
A favorite candy of mine. I love the red ones!

J - Junk food
I eat too much of this. A few of my favorites are Ding Dongs and Sour Cream and Onion potato chips.

J - Jamberry
The delightful children's book that I used to read to Kathryn all the time when she was younger.

Finished Dishcloth

I finished my first dishcloth of the new year! It came out bigger than I would have liked, but that's OK. It's about 12" x 12". I got the pattern out of this leaflet. This particular pattern had a new stitch for me so it was fun to make.

I'll experiment with a new stitch for my next dishcloth. Maybe I'll do a little adjusting to make the cloth smaller - the way I normally like them.

I also want to knit some dishcloths, too. I'm not as confident in my knitting as with crochet, but hey, practice makes perfect. I'm usually the armchair type crafter. I do a little bit here and there but mostly oohh and aahh everyone else's work. I've decided that I'm just going to get out there and do my own. I'll try and do that pattern that's a little more difficult. I'll take that challenge. So, I will get out those knitting needles and try not to get too intimidated. I'll get out my sewing machine and try sewing again.

I'm looking forward to see what I can create!

Getting Back Into the Groove

I'm finally popping in after my time away to get over my bug. It took me awhile to get my energy back, but I think I'm back to the strength I was before.

Now, I have to make sense out of the mess in the house. I'm going to tackle things a little at a time. Decorations need to be put away, laundry to be caught up, clutter to be dealt with, and menus to plan. But, I'm not stressed. Little steps at a time will accomplish a lot.

Kathryn and Ryan are still home from school. I'm glad about that. We don't have to do too much running around, other than her basketball game today. It's her first playing for her school. We have to hit the sporting goods store to get her knee pads first.

I started crocheting again. I've decided to work on some dishcloths. I hope I can make enough during the year to be able to give away at Christmas time. My goal is also to make ornaments and maybe bookmarks. I think they would make cute little stuffers to include with other little items. It feels good to create something again!

OK, I'm off now to get to that sporting goods store.

Have a great day!