Momma's New Menu Board

Remember when I promised to blog more often? Yeah, oops. In my defense, it's been pretty busy around here, and I have been tackling some of the projects that have gathered dust on my list for quite some time.

One of those projects has been to come up with a message board/menu board solution for our kitchen. Since we moved here a year ago, it's been this:

I actually haven't spent the last year holding this white board up on our freezer door; that's a new bonus feature from the past week. And the impetus for actually doing this project. You might also note the chip clip marker-holder, a real must-have. I call it Contemporary Mom on a Budget. It not only holds your marker most of the time, but it keeps you guessing when you open and close your freezer door. Where will the marker end up?? Under the buffet, or in a toddler's mouth? The possibilities are endless!

So obviously, reliability is an issue, as is general space and organization. I love my pretty menu planner notepad, but I have to walk across the room and squint to find out what's for dinner. The white board contains grocery list, wish list, and both Joel's and my to-do list. And my little project board is running out of space! (That's probably more my fault than an actual shortcoming of the white board, but still.)

I think I've made my case. Project Message Board commencing. Since I used my newly reorganized playroom/schoolroom/craft room, as well as my newish rotary cutting board and cutter (thanks, Mom P.!), I thought I'd show off with some process photos.

One element of my message board plan is to have a dry-erase menu board. I've shopped around and envied those I've seen on other moms' refrigerators. But I haven't found the perfect one to coordinate with my kitchen colors, such as they are. Meanwhile, I've noticed the Pinterest trend of repurposing old picture frames, using the glass as a dry-erase writing surface and doing any number of things in the background, from scrapbook paper to fabric to bare wall. I just happened to be surfing Pinterest (which I rarely do, actually) the other night, and inspiration struck at precisely 9:57 p.m. So that's when I started this project, obviously. It took about an hour, and felt so good to indulge my inner night owl.

I started out using remaining material from when I made our kitchen valence. I am a super matchy-matchy person, at least in fantasy if not in practice. Also, I have a huge fear of both commitment and failure when it comes to putting anything on my walls. (This might be why I am just now getting around to decorating our walls, a year after moving in.) If the fabric appears elsewhere in the room, my odds of decorator's remorse decline significantly.

By the way, if you consider yourself crafty, or would like to be, invest in a rotary cutter! It makes small sewing and craft projects in which you need to actually cut straight lines SO MUCH EASIER! I just put my fabric down with the photo frame backing on top, and cut around the edges with my rotary cutter. Easier than slicing pizza. Here's my fabric cut perfectly to size, on top of the cardboard backing piece.

I thought this fabric might have too many bold/dark colors going on to be able to easily see dry-erase marker on top of it. It needed to be a little muted, or lighter somehow, so that the writing would really contrast. Remember, the goal is not to be up close and squinty in order to read this thing. My actual thought process went something like this: I need something whitish...translucent...so you can see through it...like white tissue paper or vellum or....hmm a white plastic grocery bag is kind of the right idea.

Yes, yes I did.

Rotary cutter to the rescue once again (seriously, thank you, Mom P.!), and then I taped the edges of the plastic bag to the back of the cardboard frame backing. My fabric is in there between the layers. I pulled the bag taut as I folded and taped, so it wouldn't look too wrinkly on the front.

Moment of truth now as I flipped it over...

Wow, nice! The plastic bag nicely muted the fabric and didn't even look *that* tacky. Let's see how it looks inside the frame, behind glass:

You know what, I am actually kind of proud of myself.

Now, if there's one thing I've learned in the course of crafting/DIYing/being cheap, it's that my handwriting is not the stuff of artful display. My best calligraphy skills look like something that belongs on a middle school love note. Our babysitter puts me to shame, as I find my children's names all beautifully scrolled on the sidewalk in chalk. I really don't have an inferiority complex about it...yet...but when it comes to labeling my new menu board, I was obviously not going to write "Menu Board" at the top in sixth grade 3-D bubble lettering and call it a day.

Remember when I made our Advent Calendar? I still had some of my stick-on letters left. The Lord smiled upon this project because I had all the capital letters that I needed. It is good that they give you lots of N's and S's in these alphabet sticker sets.

The final product, complete with the current week's menu in my awesome handwriting. I totally meant to take a picture before writing on it, but I forgot. Thus you find yourself graced with proof that while my penmanship is legible, it is not fancy. That's about as good as it gets, right there. I'm considering adding a narrow matting inside the frame, but I also like it just the way it is (which, incidentally, reminds me of a Daniel Tiger episode we watched this morning. I like you, I like you, I like you just the way you are!).

Unfortunately, this will probably sit on our buffet until I finish the larger message board part of the project. Then they'll be hung on the wall along with my cast iron skillet in an arrangement that hopefully looks tasteful and decorative. For certain, though, it will hang reliably and not come crashing down in the middle of the night to scare the hoo-ha out of me (Joel sleeps through all things, though, so don't worry about him).

Thanks for reading along! More to come, as I've been in an absolute frenzy of projects lately.

Beet Canning, Part Deux

Today, I'm canning beets. I know, that's totally what you expected after Thursday's post detailing our upcoming surprise vacation. Why would I be doing something relevant like packing? No, this summer I'm learning that produce waits for no man. The gardener picks the beets when they're ready, and they will be no good if they are left in either garden or refrigerator for an extra week while we frolic about New Jersey. So, regardless of when that hotel room is booked, a-canning I shall go.

If you had told me ten years, five years...or even two or three years ago...that I'd be canning the produce that my husband harvested from our backyard garden, I would have chuckled and possibly made you feel insulted for saying so. My knowledge of canning comprised opening a few jars of something at some point and wondering what manner of witchcraft was at work in there. I figured I'd avoid the whole mystery altogether, if only to spare my family the risk of botulism, which I've heard is unpleasant.

But to date, I've apprenticed under a good friend as we canned applesauce, peaches, and beets. I've canned 24 quarts of applesauce completely solo, and have done beets twice this summer. I've also blanched and frozen green beans, but I don't take quite as much credit for that since it involves much less chemistry and prayer.

I hope this doesn't sound like boasting...far from it, I am marveling at how the Lord has taught me about the beauty and simplicity of local produce, even experiencing the hard work and blessing of reaping what we sow from our own plot of earth. We've known firsthand the wonder of burying a few tiny dead things, and being caught by surprise when the first tender shoots poke their green heads into the sunlight.

(As accomplished as I feel conquering the mystery of canning, God alone is master of the greater mystery of growing living things from dead ones.)

And I use the term "conquering" somewhat loosely. It's not so much, "I expertly preserve delicious homegrown food," as it is, "Nobody has died yet." Here's today's setup, which as usual involves heating my canner over two burners so that it will actually reach a boil. Also note the fun that awaits me on that left front burner, where my canning liquid bubbled over as I was cutting and packing beets. Beet juice, vinegar, and sugar create a nice caramelized effect as they bond over medium heat. Delicious, and possibly useful as an adhesive or sealant (see also: alkyd paint).

FYI, I cleverly cropped this photo so as to avoid the stacks of dirty bowls and other dishes lining the sink and counter. Because that's what we do when we self-promote on social-media, right? Leave out all the parts that make us actually look human and normal.

Big thanks to Joel, who spent much of his Saturday helping and occupying the kids while I did this. I just started to write more about that, but it kind of wandered off-topic and could be its own post on headship and submission, so...I'll just let you know that I've got a gem of a husband who constantly serves me and makes my job of helpmeet and homemaker so much easier. It could be he just enjoys the fruit of the labor: the small improvements in organization and aesthetics of our home, and yummy or at least non-fatal things to eat from the kitchen. But I feel blessed to have a thankful, supportive husband who values my work. I know that not all of us are so fortunate, and that marriages have different phases and seasons, so I don't take him for granted.

What I am apparently taking for granted is that I'll have time to pack between the Lord's Day, working eleven hours on Monday, and leaving Tuesday morning. I definitely have time to spare for a blog post. I like to procrastinate and thus give the Lord ample opportunity to "be in the details" and make everything fall into place "in His time". (I know this is what Scripture teaches about Providence, right? My theological and hermeneutical acumen is to be envied.)

Hungry kiddos mean blogging time is over. Have a blessed Lord's Day, and I'll catch you after vacation, with lots of photos, I'm sure!

Lemony Snicket's Got Nothing On Me Today

You know what's awesome?

Making a big batch of raspberry fluff and discovering that your kids do not like it with their fruit, forcing you and your husband to make the sacrifice of eating all three pints. That is truly awesome. I gaze at the three pale-pink jars in my refrigerator with great love and tenderness.

You know what's the opposite of awesome?

Missing a very small, but very important word on a new gallon of paint. That word is "alkyd". It is the opposite of latex, and the opposite of all things good and holy and true.

There are spiritual metaphors just begging to be drawn out of this one. After this afternoon's misadventure, I believe that God created oil-based paint to teach a lesson about the indelible stain of sin. Referring to Jesus as THE Mineral Spirit doesn't seem quite reverent, (and I don't know about you, but my sin requires a greater solvent than anything lurking on the basement shelf), but if you've worked with this stuff, you know how obstinately it refuses to wash away with soap and water. Or to be wiped away with anything less than an industrial-grade sandblaster.

What *was* the misadventure, you ask? It wasn't so much one major catastrophe as it was a series of unfortunate events. It started innocently enough...

1. I didn't initially realize that the bucket I'd opened was oil-based paint.

2. When I did figure it out, I couldn't find the mineral spirits that Joel so helpfully unpacked and organized forever ago.

3. Joel couldn't remember where he'd put it, either.

But that's ok, because I'd only dipped one brush, and not very far in. I've got another brush I can use with this other white paint...

4. Which also turned out to be oil-based. And textured. And I only discovered the non-latex thing when I tried to rinse it into the sink, which of course smeared white paint all over my hand. Short of decorating my daughter's forehead as the great white orc, I wasn't quite sure what to do with that.

So now I've got one hand forever sealed in white, and a textured patch of door that's going to require just enough sanding to be a pain. This is going well.

I'm nothing if not persistent, so I kept looking in the same four places until I found the mineral spirits hidden behind some drawers and tools on the basement landing.  Then I tried to use it on the paintbrushes and decided after one and a half seconds that I'd be purchasing new brushes.

5. PAINT EVERYWHERE.

6. Mikayla woke up and joined me; an audience always makes these sort of things go better, especially when they narrate your behaviors and throw in the occasional, "But, why?" Then of course she had to go #2.

And no joke, in the midst of all this, Joel called to share his realization that our vacation is one week sooner than we've been planning for the last six months. Meaning we leave in five days. Huh. Do these things happen to anybody else?

Commence the Calendar Shuffle as we clear a completely different week on our schedules.

So the anticipation won't get to build quite as long, but we're thrilled to spend next week with Joel's family, doing lots of fun things with all the cousins together - a museum, an aquarium, and a few other things yet to be determined. I have been saying for awhile, "I can't wait!" ...and it turns out, I don't have to! Surprise!

I think you'll understand when I tell you how thankful I am that it's a crock pot dinner day. With the way things have been going, I doubt I should handle any sharp objects or turn on the stove.

Someday the playroom will get that second coat of paint. For now, I'm going to reflect on the unwashable mess of my sin and the cleansing power of Jesus' blood. What a valuable object lesson for the day, in view of my powerlessness to remove something as simple as paint, even with all the soaps and detergents in the world.

Oh, precious is the flow that makes me white as snow.
No other fount I know, nothing but the blood of Jesus.


"Come now, let us reason together," says the Lord. "Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool." [Isaiah 1:18]

Soli deo gloria!

One Step Closer to Homeschooling

We are  I am getting ready for some serious Pre-K action this fall! It's not so much that I'm an overachieving homeschool mom (not by any stretch), but Mikayla seems to be getting bored and she's not even three yet. She begs to watch more "TV Why" (translate: "Super Why") and Daniel Tiger, and I see her just soaking up every bit of content.

If you don't believe me, then you must not know that Mikayla recently started a conversation with me by saying, "Hey Momma, how's pickin's?" That's a line from "Lady and the Tramp" that I'm pretty confident she has never heard in real life. A bit frightening, really, and a great reminder to mind my own tongue.

She also responds to 98% of my communication with, "But why?"

I'm thankful to have a slightly endearing version of the "Why? Why? Why?" stage going on. It's pretty adorable, and I don't know which episode of what show taught her that. It makes me feel like I'm raising a right proper little lady, which of course is by the hand of God because I used to tell my mom that "Well, I'm not a lady!" when she'd rebuke me for unladylike behavior.

And if you still aren't convinced of my daughter's need for structure, consider what happened today when she got up from her nap to use the potty. I heard the potty sounds, the water running, and then silence. I went up to check, and she had pooped in the potty, and her undies were nowhere be found. The conversation:

Me: Where are your undies?
M: In the diaper pail.
Me: (confused) Huh?
M: In the diaper pail!
Me: Oh, here they are! ....they're wet. (smells them) Mikayla, did you...RINSE your undies?
M: (matter-of-factly) Yes.
Me: Why? Did you get some on them?
M: Yes, I got a yittle poop in my undies!
Me: ......Well that's awesome! Thanks!
M: (still waiting patiently on the potty for me to clean her up)

She is clearly picking up everything I and the rest of her little world are laying down. And since she is resorting to imitating maternal poop-cleaning behaviors, I figure I ought to throw her a bone and teach her something age-appropriate and fun.

Thus began Project Pre-K.

You may have heard that I'm remaking the playroom into a magnificent beacon of homeschooling glory. You heard wrong, because so far I have merely slapped one coat of primer on the walls and loaded my Amazon cart with a few supplies.

Let's just say, we're not there yet. Shout out to our neighbor's shrub.

BUT. The finished product (the vision, anyway) will have you elem. ed. majors geeking out. The maps. The lamination. Laminated maps. The laminated calendar, weather graph, and sticky tack. Bible verse flash cards, the works.

Don't get too concerned. This is all the work I intend to do for the entire year, short of stalking my sister's Pinterest boards for craft and "science" ideas to make me seem like an awesome mom every so often. But at least we can do some circle time every morning, talk about the weather, learn days of the week, and discover simple chore-charting (possibly more for me than for Mikayla. For some reason it is beyond me to brush teeth right after breakfast every day. It usually happens by nap time though, so it's all good.) And get to the library on a weekly basis...and yes, I need a laminated calendar in bright primary colors to remind me to do that, too.

With all this organizing and prepping going on, I thought I'd mention a sweet blog/website I've come across with lots of free homeschool resources. It's called www.homeschoolcreations.com. I've bookmarked a bunch of her free printable flashcards and whatnot because I am so excited about laminating things and then cutting them with my $5 yardsale paper cutter. But I digress.

She's also got this homeschool planner that has some pretty sweet reviews. Check it out, and if you purchase it using this link, it would theoretically help to defray the cost of my planner, should I hypothetically decide to buy one ever in the distant future, but don't worry honey I'm not spending more money, really.

Click here for more details

Purchase/download planner now

So, check it out if you feel so inclined. Your $20 buys you a download for a planner that will last as many years as you want to use it. It's an editable PDF planner that you can print or just use electronically, so that you can keep on editing and saving lesson plans and have them ready to go from year to year. Also included are places for menu planning and chore charting so that everything is in one place. It's the planner that your old planner wants to be when it grows up. And if you buy it, you'll be able to avoid anything else school-related for at least another month because hey, you totally got started already on the organizing. That always makes me feel like I can procrastinate on the actual work.

How about you? Are you getting excited for fall, whether to begin a new school year or to finally feel like soup and hot tea are seasonal menu choices again? I can't wait for that first crisp day that calls for a light sweater and a crunchy walk over the leaves.

Dry Nights and a Delighted Father

Mikayla has now spent two out of the last three nights dry in her big-girl undies!

She also today did some long-awaited serious business in her potty, if you know what I mean.

I know that a two and a half year old going #2 in her potty and staying dry overnight don't sound like very lofty things, they do cause me to reflect on a spiritual parallel.

Stay with me.

Our God delights in the good obedience of His children. As we heard today in worship, His reward of our obedience is still a gift of grace. Our best works are yet stained with sin, and gain us no ground before a just and holy God. But if I, a fallen, imperfect momma, experience real joy when I see my daughter finally reach a simple, yet important, milestone...does our Lord, who loves us perfectly, somehow display the heavenly equivalent of clapping and jumping up and down in the blue bathroom when He helps me make a breakthrough in my sanctification?

I don't mean to sound flippant. What I mean is that I clapped and jumped out of sheer exuberance because I couldn't not celebrate with my daughter. The joy on her little face! So I have to think that God, our tender Father, perhaps when He sees me overcome a temptation that previously brought me low, experiences a genuine and overflowing joy to see my obedient response.

This is still within the bounds of grace, as my obedience only results from His Spirit at work in my life, and that after He drew me to Himself in Christ. Perhaps the analogy holds up, if the comparison is with my persistent teaching and discipline as I have encouraged Mikayla to obey me. So when she does obey, whether it is using the potty or finally staying in her bed, I could pat myself on the back for a parenting job well done. But I am usually far more focused on her role in obedience, that she has finally internalized and responded to our teaching.

So God of course realizes that we could not obey without His help, but perhaps His delight comes from seeing us take small, yet meaningful steps forward in our sanctification.

The Christian life takes a lot of work, but it is nice on a Lord's day to really reflect on the frank enjoyment that our Father takes in our progress. Obedience does not merit simply a checkmark on a holy list somewhere, but a tender smile and perhaps loving applause, while His heart dances as mine does over my daughter's accomplishments.

And lest you think I am all smart and meditative today, I accidentally typed "applesauce" instead of "applause". No getting away from the momma brain!

Glory to God though, for His wondrous love! If you are in Christ, then He delights in your obedience, however modest, precious child of God!

Her Mother's Daughter

You know your new chiropractor is serious business when he has a belt holster for his adjusting tool. Some people carry around their late 90's Verizon flip phone, but this dude can alleviate subluxations at a moment's notice.

This post isn't really about my chiropractor. I just have minimal filtration between my brain and my mouth (or in this case, keyboard) so if I think it, I type it.

Explains a lot, doesn't it?

So last night, Mikayla insisted that she didn't need to wear a pull up to bed. Well, what happened was, we put her to bed at 8:30 and she spent the next hour and a half getting up to use the potty, with about 50% success rate. At some point along the way, she insisted that her bone-dry diaper was, in fact, very wet and she refused to put it back on. This has happened before when she requested a new pull up.

(I may or may not routinely put the "wet" diaper back into the pack for future use, and/or turn around and tell her it is a new diaper. I've also spent some time meditating on the spirit vs. the letter of the law when it comes to lying. Is it wrong to harmlessly misrepresent the condition of a princess pull-up to your two-year-old?)

More to the point, that is NOT what happened last night. No, my big girl told me plainly that she did not need to wear a diaper. She would only wear pants. No diaper. Seriously, momma, I don't need a diaper tonight.

This from a girl who has had one accident-free day since we started potty training last week. (That said, she has admittedly stayed dry every naptime but one.)

There are many moments in a momma's life when you figure a load of laundry is a small price to pay to avoid wailing and gnashing of teeth. This was one of them. In a moment of desperation, I pulled her pajama shorts up, gave her a kiss, and sent up a silent prayer that she would at least sleep through wetting the bed so that I could deal with it in the morning. Joel later asked me, "Do you realize she will probably wake you up at 2:00 a.m. to change her sheets?" Yes, yes I do. But there are complicated psychological principles at work here known as "I can pretend the consequence isn't coming, as long as life is good now." It's this kind of thinking that allows people to engage in insider trading, sexual misconduct, and, apparently, giving your toddler a diaper pass if it means she'll stay in her bed for the next few hours. Avoidance and denial at their best. It's ok! Future me won't mind getting out of bed to clean up an accident!

Also in the back of my mind, I recalled my mother telling me this was how I nighttime potty trained. I bypassed the sticker chart and insisted I could stay dry. She let me go for it, and I never looked back. Mikayla has more than a little of my personality, so I kind of thought I'd give her a chance.

Wouldn't you know, she got up another time or two to use/pretend to use the potty. And she did wake up at 3:00 in the morning, but it was due to "bad sleep". She needed a hug and a prayer, rather than a full bed linen change. Praise the Lord!

But you guys, big girl was still dry this morning! Of course she hadn't asserted her independence quite enough by going bare-bottom, so she insisted on trekking downstairs and across the house to use a different potty, rather than using the one she couldn't stay away from at 9:30 last night. And then she pooped on the kitchen floor two minutes later.

Doesn't it take EXTRA effort not to poop when you are already sitting on the potty?

I'm not really counting it against her though. How can I, when she had her first all night potty success?? Yay, Mikayla!

And now you're probably more up to speed than you wanted to be. Thanks for checking in!

Dessert For Your Legs

This is the body scrub I've been completely adoring for the past few weeks. It's 100% as luxe as the ones I've enjoyed from Bath and Body Works in the past. You can trust me on that one, I used to work there. Their products are nice, but this one is made of just three ingredients you already have in your kitchen and optional essential oil for fragrance.

Recipe:

2 parts exfoliant (sugar or salt) to 1 part oil
Honey to smooth to desired consistency, if needed
Essential oil for fragrance, if desired

This link served as my general recipe and helped me decide what kind of exfoliant and which oil to use. I opted for sugar instead of salt because it just seems dumb to involve salt within 5-10 minutes in either direction of taking a razor to your skin. I chose white sugar because I love a good coarse scrub. I went with grapeseed oil because I had purchased it for my face wash and knew my skin liked it already. Mine needed just the tiniest bit of honey stirred in at the end. And of course I added some of my sweet orange essential oil for refreshing fragrance.

This stuff? Feels like the best back scratch ever, all over your body. I scoop it out with my fingers and scrub it over my skin with a wash cloth. LOVE LOVE LOVE. My skin is SO smooth and dewy afterward. If you are going to shave after scrubbing, I would use a body wash between steps because this will leave your skin oily enough to gunk up the razor. If not, finish your shower and allow the oil to soak into your skin for maximum emollient effect. I don't need lotion after a sugar-scrub shower. And I honestly feel like my skin is glowing for the rest of the day. I have never raved about a body product like this before. You will love it!

Oh, and it took about one minute to mix up. I did it right in the jar, measured a cup of sugar and a half cup of grapeseed oil, a squirt of honey and a little essential oil, and shook up the jar to mix. I might have stirred a little first. It says to refrigerate this between uses and keep just 2-3 days' worth in the shower. I've had mine in the shower for a week and it hasn't gone funny at all. I'd say the amount I made lasts me for 4-5 showers, using it generously all over my body. And I'm honestly not sure whether I doubled the recipe or not...it seems like I sure have more than 1 cup of sugar in there, but I could be wrong.

If you don't try any other natural product, try this one! Compared with the cost of store-bought sugar scrubs, you can do it for super cheap and even tailor it to suit your skin type and scrub preference.

Bonus points if you spotted the white plastic lid underneath the jar in the photo. I told you I'd switch out the metal one!