Delight in the Lord: Making Your Home A Haven Study and Challenge Week 1 Day 1

This is the 11th Annual Making Your Home a Haven Study from Courtney Joseph at Women Living Well.  I have done this before. I have even posted about the study/challenge on my blog before.

I have started to blog again so many times, but I never got around to posting what I wrote. I miss writing/blogging. As I read books about finding what a person is supposed to be doing, I keep coming back to writing. I'm getting off subject here, but I have read old blog posts and newsletters of my own and thought "Wow! What wisdom and insight!"; not always, of course, but sometimes I can hardly believe I actually wrote what I know I wrote!

Actually, this whole thought process does apply.  Courtney's intro talks about being so busy that we do not delight in life (,or in the Lord). You can see from the picture that I bought the journal from Amazon this year, but in years past, I have just used the blog posts and printables to follow along (in the early years, there was not printed journal option). You can watch her talk about the subject in her introduction video on the blog (or YouTube) and read what she wrote on the blog.

I may have even written on here about this before, but as it is something I have struggled with over and over, I am sure it bears possible repetition (if only for myself).  I know that when life seems overwhelming and I am over tired and I don't feel like I can accomplish even the bare necessities... I can look to my time with God and see that it is lacking. I know He wants me to spend time with Him and I NEED to spend time with Him.  Also, I punish myself for not getting things done by not allowing myself to do things like this (writing and blogging and other creative things, even putting time with God on the back burner) that would actually fuel me to accomplish those other tasks that I am struggling with. And I even realized last week that I no longer sing in the shower, or the car, like I used to. And I only sing and dance while I do chores when one of my children plays music near me. I love that they will play D.J. for me sometimes and we even turn it into a game many times of naming the song, artist, release date... or even just have an impromptu Dance Party. I am happy that I inspired a love of music in my children (and the variety of genres they enjoy, and introduce to me, is incredible!), but I am a little sad that have not been the one starting the music lately.  I know how much singing makes joy bubble over from me and changes my mood in a matter of minutes. 

These past years that I have not shared on my blog have had hardships and celebrations... don't all years?!  I would like to share some highlights from those missed years; I will just have to see how that goes.  This year began with all the hope and excitement of a new year that quickly turned to the Covid-19 Pandemic taking over so much of my thoughts and decisions.  The Pandemic mixed with the USA Presidential Election has made for a lot of frustration in my mind. Not that I haven't prayed about it, and not that I have terrible tragedy that I experienced. I actually have so much to be thankful for during this past year. And as much as I have tried to pray in all things and rest in God's peace... I have struggled with feelings of frustration, weariness, uncertainty of what I should do and say in life situations that sprung from the years events, probably anger (the thought keeps coming to me, but I haven't realized it until now), and I know there is more muddled around in my mind that I can't even begin to express right now.

All that to say that I am so glad to be joining in with Courtney and so many others around the world for Making Your Home a Haven. We are writing down things we are grateful for each day, as well as the scripture study and the challenges.  This is perfect for the month of Thanksgiving in my home country of the USA.  I also feel this as a great way to reset before the beginning of another new year.

I plan to post on here as well as on my Instagram account:  @thebasicsoflife_elvisgirl .

The challenge for this week is to buy an extra large candle to light every day. You put the candle in a central place in your home. Each time the glimmer of the candle catches your eye,  you stop to pray and give thanks. My candle is not probably not considered extra large, but it is soy and made in Kansas City and burns for many hours. The Frakincese and Myrrh scent seemed perfect to me to get my mind on the celebration of Christ's birth, too.

The scripture study for today is Philippians 4:4-9.  Those verse are full of instructions for our thoughts and promises for God's peace.  They are verses I turn to often, but usually separate. They are such a powerhouse together as they were initially intended.  Even if you don't join in the study, I highly recommend reading the verses and meditating on them.

Matchy-Matchy

One of my nieces calls it "matchy-matchy" when people dress alike... hence the title for the story of my daughter and my's matching Easter outfits. Ellie had the idea for her Daddy to take a picture of us from the back.  I think it turned out cute.  I like the way you can see our pony tails and the flower I made for them. Also, I thought my hair was lighter than hers, but in this picture it looks like the exact same color.  Lately we have had quite a few people say how much she is looking like me.  I think it's fun to dress alike.  Actually, I still like to dress like my mother.

When we realized how cold it was going to be on Easter/Resurrection Sunday, we decided we would wear our brown leggings under our skirts.  The Saturday  before, I was at work and had the idea to add our cowboy boots and denim jackets to make the outfit warmer.  I had a stonewashed denim jacket, but Ellie didn't have one, and I knew her little brother's jackets were getting too small for him.  I decided to stop by the thrift store on the way home and see what I could find.  There is one less than a block away from my work.  I had about 45 minutes till the store closed when I got there.  The sign on the door said that blue tags were half off.  I spun down the blazer and jacket isles and found two, almost identical, dark denim jackets... with blue tags!!  I got both our jackets for a total of $4.70!  I really felt like God gave me the idea and provided the jackets.  Ellie picked the one that was a little bigger, even though she is smaller than me (though she will grow into it, I'm sure she will out grow me soon).

I got our t-shirts a Walmart.  Mine is from the ladies department, and has a v-neck, nice and high, which is the style of neck I like the best.  Ellie's is from the girls department, and has a high scoop neck, which is the style she likes the best.  The brown on the bottom of the skirt was a note from the author of the Angry Chicken blog on a repin on Pinterest on making a 5 minute skirt.  She has this great tutorial on how to hem with bias tape.  I believe it was real time saver and also added a nice little extra to the skirt.

This is the pattern I used.  I loved that the skirt has hidden pockets on both sides.  Ellie loved that the pattern had pleats. I added length beyond the pattern for my skirt and left the pattern length for Ellie's skirt.  Really, though, I added length to both skirts, because I hemmed with the bias tape, I didn't have to fold under any length of the skirt.  The pattern was only 97 cents!

These are the cute Walmart sandals that Ellie picked out to go with  her original  outfit.  Her Daddy talked her out of the other outfit because it had white leggings underneath it, which you could pretty much see through.  Then I remembered the material I had bought on clearance to make us skirts last year, but things happened... and I didn't get skirts made last year.

I made our flower pony tale holders and these flower pins the same way I did our flower headbands.
The difference was that I used a smaller pattern for the circles.  This time, I used the mouth of a shot glass (I don't drink alcohol, never have, but I have this cute little collection of shot glasses from different trips we've taken.  I like the pictures and how small and inexpensive they are as souvenirs.).  I used a lid of some sort at my friend's house to make the other pattern.

I stitched a safety pin on the back before I added the "petals".

I made us both matching "purses".  When I bought the material on clearance, I also bought the Hobo Tote Kits below for $2 a piece... I think that's actually what I paid for each piece of material, although the tag you can see on the package says five dollars.

I've already told Ellie I want to wear these again for Mother's Day, and hopefully the weather will be warm enough for us to wear our sandals.

Flower Headbands inspired by Pinterest

A friend invited us over and the boys were going to play video games and the girls were going to craft.  We were both wanting to make fabric flowers that we found instructions for on Pinterest.  These are the two I made that night.  You can find the instructions HERE.

New Curtians

I FINALLY got new curtains made for both of my children!

These were Wyatt's curtains for a long time.  Wyatt thought Bob-the Builder was the greatest.
A co-worker, whose son only like Thomas the Train, gave us a "Bobby" duvet cover.
I bought material and made these Bob-the-Builder curtains.

When a local Walmart was being remodeled and getting rid of it's fabric department,
Wyatt picked out this Elvis Presley material for new curtains.
That was over a year ago. That Walmart even has a fabric department again (consumer demand).

Here's a close up of the new material.  Not surprising he picked Elvis, considering  who his mother is.

Here is poor discarded "Bobby".

Poor Ellie has not had curtains on her windows for SO long.

She has two windows in her room.

Here are her new curtains.  They are flowered.

You can see them a little better in this photo.  You can tell from the dates, that I got Ellie's done before Wyatt's.

Now, I just need to make tie backs for both of them.  Ellie hooks her around whatever is near to open her curtains.  One of these days...

My How The Time Does Fly

I cannot believe how fast this year has gone by!  It's nearly April and I haven't written a blog post!  I have been thinking about plenty of them... actually started writing one, but got interrupted.

As a family, we kicked off the year with a cleanse.  Around the end of January, my sister and I started doing the Couch to 5K, a walking/jogging (or walking/running plan), which is designed to take nine weeks to get a person running or jogging for 3 miles (5K).  My sister & I have the same model treadmill, and we text each other each time we run and encourage one another.  We plan to celebrate when we complete the plan. I have some "before" pics that I can share once I have some "after" pics.  :)  My sister got sick, and I didn't want to finish before her (because I want to celebrate with her... plus it's just more fun doing the plan together...even if we're not really together), so we are behind.  I had completed week six, but we started back at week five, because we had not ran for weeks.

A homeschool mom at our church started a once a month homeschool family get together at our church.  I think I enjoy the time chatting with the other moms more than the kids enjoy the time with their friends.  One of those Mom's really encouraged me, unintentionally, about a goal of mine: to read the entire Bible in a year.  She told me that she has been working on that goal for 3 years.  Made me feel much better about my failed attempts.  I am doing lots better so far this year.  I'm using a plan I downloaded a while back that is printed out on bookmarks to check off the chapters each day.  I also found a Bible at the thrift store that fits in my purse, so I can do my reading wherever I may be each day, whenever time permits.

I discovered Pinterest... after hearing rave reviews from others.  I must admit, I have so much fun on there!  I admit to being addicted for a while.  Actually, I find it much more addicting than Facebook ever was.  For me, it's like designing my own magazine to enjoy each day.  I find recipes, clothing, hairstyles, inspirational quotes, Bible verses, home decorating, cleaning recipes, and even homeschool stuff... and I don't have to buy a bunch of magazines... AND I don't have to hunt for the information again, because it's all right there on my pin boards.

I have lots to share in the coming days!

Christmas Traditions

My favorite Christmas tradition at my Dad's parents' house involved the manger scene.  Every year, my grandparents put up a manger scene.  Grandma would take the manger scene all apart and assign everyone a piece.  Then grandma would read the Christmas Story and when each of our pieces was named... be that piece Mary, Joseph, donkey, lamb, Shepherd, or the always wanted baby Jesus... we would go up to the manger and place our figures inside.  My Mom made sure we had a manger scene for our first Christmas.  The manger scene is the Christmas decoration that I enjoy the most.  I nearly kept our manger scene up all year last year.

The lights and ornaments on the tree are pretty.  I do enjoy turning down the lights and just enjoying the glow of the Christmas Tree.  We had a tradition when I was growing up of putting up our tree every Thanksgiving.  I am glad I started the tradition of giving my children a new ornament each year, because putting up the ornaments and remembering who gave them to us, or when we made them, or Mom and  Dad made them, was the most fun thing for me in helping set our family tree as a child.

I like taking a family picture each year.  I like seeing how everyone has grown and seeing how clothes and hair change over the years.  Here's our picture from after church this morning: 

Merry Christmas!  

Happy Birthday to Jesus (or Yeshua-"The Lord is our salvation")!

Cake Mix Cookies

This is such a cheater recipe... cookies really don't take that long to make, but cake mix cookies are so moist!  Also, I don't freak out so much about making them on short notice.  Thomas volunteered me to make cookies for AWANA and his work this week.

I had picked up some cake mixes on sale last month (also had a coupon or two!).  I want to make up some of my own cake mixes in a jar, but I haven't gotten around to making them yet.  Amy Bayliss had a 10 day series on Canning Jar ideas... and I love the idea of making up homemade mixes in canning jars to have them handy.  I really want to eat healthier, but I grew up cooking with convenience foods... and that is a hard habit to break.  This was a Betty Crocker recipe that I altered slightly... I actually made it slightly easier & more versatile.

Ingredients:

1 box (or canning jar) of any flavor cake mix
1/2 cup butter, softened
2 eggs, beaten

6-12 ounces of chocolate chips, or other chips, or candy pieces (optional)

Directions:

Mix everything together & spoon onto cookie sheet (I usually do a dozen per sheet).  Bake at 350 degrees for 10 to 12 mins.  Edges should be brown, centers will be soft.  Cool 1 minute on pan, then move from cookie sheet to wire rack.

So, here are some ideas:

One year when we visited my cousin and her family, I used vanilla (or yellow, or white) cake mix and chocolate chips for one batch, the other batch I used a chocolate cake mix and swirled milk chocolate and peanut butter morsels.

For our homeschool co-op Holiday Party (we combine Thanksgiving & Christmas) I used a vanilla cake mix, chocolate chips, and crushed peppermint.

Right now I'm making plain vanilla (I think the kids we decorate these), plain chocolate (if they were for me, I'd add chocolate chips!), spice cake and cherry chip... each separately.  The family will take the vanilla and chocolate to AWANA & the spice cake and cherry chip cookies will go to work with hubby.

I think the spice cake would go great with butterscotch morsels, or reeces pieces... and chocolate goes good with almost anything.

Making Your Home a Haven: Week 3

I really wasn't sure I was going to get anything done on the Making Your Home a Haven Challenge this week because this was our "vacation week".  My hubby took the whole week off from work and he had plans for Monday and Tuesday, but we went to visit my cousin on Wednesday and didn't come home until today.  The challenge for this week was to de-clutter an area of our homes and make a plan to keep things de-cluttered.  Also, to look for anything that is cluttering up our spiritual lives.  That is adding to burning a special candle, playing soft music and praying for peace in our homes.

With getting things ready to leave, etc., I really didn't think I was going to do any more than just cleaning the house and doing the dishes.  Then I actually found myself with the want to for de-cluttering and not really time, but I made that time for de-cluttering.  I really love to have a clean and organized  home, but I have found that a difficult task since I have had children (almost 10 years now).  My new plan for keeping things de-cluttered is to make sure I pick up at least one thing that doesn't belong every time I leave a room and head towards where that thing does belong. 

I chose my "new" buffet to de-clutter.  The buffet is a catch all in the kitchen (along with the "old" buffet, but I wasn't sure I could accomplish that area, too).  I'm constantly telling the kids or my husband to "put it on the buffet".  So, here is what the buffet looked like before:

I sorted and threw things away and put things where they actually belong.  Now you can see my pretty new recipe basket that my Mom and Dad got me for my birthday.  I can get to things again.  And our "dirty mouth" bucket is empty and ready for coins, just in case anyone is not letting their yes be yes or their no be no (Matthew 5: 37 and James 5:12).  Here is the after:

This made me feel so good, that I decided to clean off the old buffet.  Sorry I don't have a before picture of this, if you imagine it about half as bad as the new buffet, you'll get the idea.

I know I was enjoying this because I love how everything looks and function when it's all neat and organized.  I was also enjoying the work because I pulled out one of my favorite candles; a red white and blue cinnamon scented candle the my sister-in-law Therese gave me.  I had a God Rocks! cd in my juke box and I was singing along with the Bible verses.  If I had already been packed and ready for our trip, who knows what I might have accomplished?!

Looking forward to next weeks challenge!

50's Night at AWANA

Last week the kids AWANA club had 50's Night. They all dressed up like they were going to a Sock Hop.  We checked out the thrift stores for skirts, but didn't find anything for Ellie.  We also checked out my Mom's house, because she made a bunch of poodle skirts years ago for her job.  We had no luck.

We researched the 1950's and clothing online.  Then I started searching through my material.  A bunch of my material was from my Mom's leftovers.  As I was searching, I came across half of a pink cut out poodle skirt!  Then I found the other half!  Well, I only needed half, because they were adult size and Ellie is not adult size yet.  So, I sewed up the side together then rolled down the top and made a casing for elastic.  I had Ellie search for poodle silhoettes.  She printed her favorite and I cut it out of black felt.  Then I sewed on the poodle by hand (why by hand? I don't know!).  Then I found a length of gold beading that my grandmother had given me.  I cut that and glued it on with hot glue for the poodles collar.

These are the leftovers.

I found my almost-like-saddle shoes, my pink sweater with my intial embroidered on it and a black and white polk-a-dot scraf.  Here is Ellie's finished look:

Wyatt was even easier to fix up.  Aren't boys usually easier in the clothes department?  We did have to go to Walmart (nothing at the thrift store, again), because my son doesn't wear jeans.  He wear slacks and sports pants.  He also didn't own a white shirt, because they usually get stained.  I explained to him how he had to roll up his pants and his shirt sleeves; and he (and Ellie) had to tuck in his shirt.  Not tucking in his shirt would have been sloppy and just not done in the 1950's.  We bought some "wet look" gel  to "grease" his hair with.  I think he looks pretty cute as a greaser.  He promised to dress up like this when we go on our date (and he did!).

Making Your Home a Haven: Week 2

This weeks Making Your Home a Haven Challenge was to keep lighting the candle and also add playing soft music in your home.  I'm glad Courtney clarified that she wasn't specifying classical music necessarily, but more mood setting music.  I like classical, but I am really more of an oldies (original rock 'n' roll) kind a girl.

Our favorite music right now is by the God Rocks!.  I know the cd covers look like a children's cartoon.  Definitely not music that grown ups are going to like!  Wrong!  God Rocks Bibletoons actually is a children's cartoon.  A children's cartoon with Bible lessons mixed in, where Bible verses are set to music that reminds you of Elvis, the Beach Boys, and the Beetles.  Anyway, I LOVE singing and hiding God's word in my heart.  The picture is of my God Rocks! music collection. I own all their cds.  I'm also teaching their curriculum in my Sunday School class.

The kids even put on one of my God Rocks! cds when I was working on staining our deck.  I was so proud.  I was listening to my music outside on my mp3 player with speakers.

Music makes such a difference in our lives.  If you've ever switched listening from popular music to Christian music, I'm sure you can attest to a positive change in your attitude.  I know making the switch made a difference for me when I was in 8th grade.  And at times I went back to listening to more popular music, but I didn't like the mood it put me in.  I do still occasionally listen to other music, but 90% or more of my listening is Christian music.  Be careful little ears what you hear!

I'm still not lighting my candle, but just using the candles as a reminder to pray for my home and family.  Honestly, I really haven't needed the candle.  Last week has gotten me on a roll. I've been pretty much a pray anytime anywhere person for a long time (or at least it feels like a long time), but I've been more conscience of my praying since last week and that has just spilled over into this week. 

Praying anytime, all the time, any where and every where reminds me of last Friday's episode of Faithville.  Speaking of kids shows that are really great adult shows, if you haven't seen Faithville, you should check it out.  Faithville is a program set in the 40's with actors (vs. the God Rocks! Bibletoons) and is really a series on discipleship.  The last program I watched the newest neighbor in Faithville could not believe that people were praying in public!  One of the greatest things about adding the digital boxes to our old television sets was getting the Smile of a Child network, a Christian network where we found God Rocks! and Faithville.

I'm really enjoying this challenge.  Next week is de-cluttering...and boy do I need some of that!

What's In Your Closet? Homemakers Challenge

This weeks Homemakers Challenge was to create three new outfits and not spend any money doing it.  You could use those unknown treasures in the back of your closet, trade clothes with someone else, or find another creative way to make new outfits for nothing.  Well, I found a way to get one new item for nothing. Honestly, it was the best part of the challenge for me. 

I found this purse on sale at Walmart for $5.00.  I had an art set I had bought for myself from Walmart and never used.  So, I bought the purse and returned the art set!  Purse is now free!  I am really picky about my purses.  They always end up heavy, and I have scoliosis, so I am not packing a heavy purse on one arm. I love backpack purses, but they make the skin on my shoulders break out.  That means I have to have a purse that goes across my chest.  The purse I had been using was denim and packed full was round and looked frumpy all by itself.  This is taller and flatter and holds things stiff.  It also has a pocket on the side to hold my cell phone!

My first outfit includes a black t-shirt that I wear all the time.  I mostly like to wear black t-shirts with pearls and dark jeans.  I paired the t-shirt with my stone washed denim, that I usually leave as "back up" jeans in the bottom of my closet shelf.  I don't think I've ever owned anything completely orange (besides a 01 General Lee t-shirt)  until my friend Brandy gave me this sweater for my birthday this year.  I had not worn it till today.  This is my "date night" outfit.  Tonight was Daddy-Daughter date night and Mommy-Son date night.  Which meant Wyatt got to be my photographer for most of these pictures.  He got a little wild on some of them, and not all of them are in perfect focus.  But thanks to my little photographer, because otherwise I would have had to set up the tripod and set the timer.  I wore my favorite black boots.  I haven't worn them much in the past couple of years, but I really like them.

Is orange my color?  I don't know.

 

I just like this one, even though I'm looking down.





Here's one with the new purse!



This is better of the deck than me, but you can see the boots better than the other pictures.

 Wyatt helped me with the rest of my outfits.  Except for this one.  The manager at my part-time job was cleaning out her closet and asked if I wore dresses.  I do, so she passed me on some of her old ones.  And I do mean old ones, we are talking some vintage 80's dresses.  This was the best one.  Actually, I really like it.  It is a shirt style dress with pockets!  I love dresses with pockets!  I changed up my glasses for this dress, too.  The boots are some old ones again.  I love boots, especially with dresses. Red is my favorite color.  The belt is an old.  Wyatt actually did pick that out for me.  I had elastic belts like that when I was a kid in the 80's.

Outfit number three is from the reaches of my closet.  The jean skirt is one I bought on sale because I thought it was cute and my sister had made one from old jeans of hers like this.  Then I never wore it.  Well, I wore it once to church.  The sweater is old, too. I pulled it out this last week for Ellie to wear to 50's night at AWANA.  I don't wear my penny loafers very often, but the loafers kind of gave this a 50's look.  I took the belt off the skirt that came with it and I might actually wear it like this.

I have a bonus outfit because my photographer and fashion consultant did not approve of the red dress.  He really liked this outfit with the bracelet he made for me a year or two ago and the scarf he took off a different shirt.  The pants are hand-me-downs from my sister, that I'm pretty sure she got at the thrift store.  They are old J-Crew, polyester and plaid (hard to see in the picture), but really pretty comfy and a nice length.  I paired them with the penny loafers, too. I love my white button up shirt, but I don't wear any white shirts very often because I get stains on them...or the children stain me.  I didn't like scarf at first, but Wyatt really liked it and it does look good in the pictures.

So, the thing I learned from this challenge is that I need some exercise.  I was looking at this pictures and at myself in the mirror.  I don't have the good excuse the Amy Bayliss has for having extra pounds... an adorable new baby boy.  So, Amy, if/when you read this, here's my idea for the next challenge:  Making a Routine for Exercise...or something like that!  I think the ladies at my church are starting a Zumba class and I'm a bit nervous about joining a group of ladies to exercise, but I'm thinking these pictures are making me a lot more needy and less nervous.

Thanks to my two photographers, my sweet kids, Ellie and Wyatt.

Encourage me judges!



Misty Cupcake: The Cupcake Challenge

I'm participating in Amy Bayliss's Homemaking Challenge.  Her first challenge is to create a unique cupcake that tells us about who you are.  I've been brainstorming all week!  My first idea, with a little help from my daughter was a Surprise M&M cupcake (M&M was my self-given nickname in 6th grade).  Then I thought of a Peanut Butter and Banana Surprise cupcake (you know, for Elvisgirl, like Elvis and his Peanut Butter and Banana Sandwiches...which are pretty yummy!).  Then I thought about making something that I already had all the ingredients for and included a couple of things I really love:  Chocolate and Strawberry Cupcakes.  Well, the more I was thinking, the more I thought that none of those was really me.  I do enjoy cooking and creating the occasional new recipe, but words are really my ingredients.

                                                        Misty Cupcake
                                                          by Misty aka Elvisgirl

M is for Mother.  I've always wanted to be a mother, as long as I can remember. 
                             I am so thankful for my two children. 
                            As much as I knew about being a mother, I really knew so little. 
                            My children and my God teach me every day.
I is for Ice Cream.  I love ice cream.
                               I love to eat ice cream.
                               I love to make ice cream.
                               I love to share ice cream.
S is for Sister.  I am the oldest child in my family. 
                        I have a younger brother and a younger sister.
                        I am a sister in Christ to many people!
                        I call my daughter Sister
                            (like Sister Bear from the Berenstain Bears),
                                     she is my sister in Christ.
T is for Teacher.  My teachers always told me what a good teacher I would be.
                           I couldn't imagine teaching a bunch of other peoples children.
                           I LOVE teaching my own children. 
                           I am a mom, a homeschool mom, a home educator.
                           I am also a Sunday School teacher.

Y is for Young.  Ha, ha!  I'm starting to feel my age...33 and nine days.
                         I've had three gray hairs now!
                         I still like to have fun.
                         My kids think I am cool.
                         I hope I always stay young at heart.

C is for Christ follower.  I've been a Christian since I was seven years old.
                                      I was blessed to be raised in a Christian home.
                                      Having evolution taught exclusively
                                                  in Biology class was really challenging.
                                      For years, I tried to make evolution mesh with the Bible,
                                                  but that doesn't work.
                                      I am freer in Christ now than ever,
                                                  by truth in Bible and the evidence of science.
U is for Up Late.  I've always been a night owl.
                             My Daddy worked the night shift most of my life.
                             I enjoy the nighttime ( I like the daytime, too, though). 
                             I'm up late writing this.
P is for Patient.  The ladies at work are always saying how patient I am
                                              with difficult people.
                           I've really had to pray a lot for patience.
                           People are funny and think that just because I homeschool,
                                             I was born with patience.
                           I thank the God for the Holy Spirit
                                             who works in me to produce the fruit of patience.
                           Galatians 5:22 "The fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace,
                                             patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
                              gentleness, and self control, against such things there is no law."
C is for Chalk.  I ate chalk last year in the Nutrition Class
                                            that I taught at our homeschool co-op.
                         The purpose was to encourage the kids
                                         to really examine things and not just believe things
                                         were good food because advertisements said so,
                                         or because people ate them.
                          The funny thing was,
                                         a bunch of the class wanted to try eating chalk.
                          Chalk doesn't taste bad; it is calcium carbonate.
A is for American.  I am proud to be an American.
                               I am a patriot.
                               I enjoy studying American History
                                           and acting it out as a Civil War reinactor.
                               I got married on the 4th of July.
K is for Karaoke.  My kitchen is 50's Diner Style.
                              My karaoke machine looks like a Juke Box.
                              The only thing that would be more me
                                             in doing the "cupcake" this way is if I sang it.
                              I love to sing in the kitchen!
E is for Elvisgirl.  I got special permission from my teacher in my
                                            American History 101 class,
                                            to do my term paper (for high school/college credit)
                                            on Elvis Presley.
                            I had to prove that I wasn't just doing a biography,
                                            but American Historical significance.
                            That earned me the nickname Elvis,
                                            which I changed to Elvisgirl in college.
                          


I think that after that, whoever reads this, knows me a little better.  I am a crazy woman and am participating in two challenges at once.  I was helping my hubby stain our new deck tonight and didn't get around to blogging when I hoped.  I didn't want to be a non-participant in Amy's first challenge; so here lies my "cupcake" and I'm linking up!  I don't appear to have missed the deadline.  Best wishes to all.  I look forward to visiting every ones cupcake entries and getting to know you all, too!




P.S.-I had to add that I know this not very homemaker-y, but I promise to do better next time! 

Making Your Home a Haven Challenge Week 1

This month, I'm participating in Courtney's Fall Challenge over at Women Living Well: "Making Your Home A Haven." For week one we were to buy an extra large candle and light the candle everyday and when the candle catches your eye, say a prayer for peace in your home.
I really liked the idea of this challenge and it seemed pretty simple. Sometimes my house feels like total chaos and some peace sounds really good. I already had the perfect candle. The cutest yellow candle with a fall leaf base that a former teacher gave to me when she visited my home. The candle was so special, I had put it away and never used it. Well, the first thing I hear from my dear son is "That stinks." But every time I looked at the candle on Monday, I said a prayer for peace in our home. And the peace in our home was challenged yesterday. Not to mention the fact that the candle would not stay lit. I just gave up and used it as a reminder to pray, lit or not.

Today, I tried a different candle, one my Mom gave me, that smells like a strawberry rubarb pie (I'd only used it once). It smelled wonderful, but that candle did not stay lit either. I'm not going to stop though. I'm going to keep lighting the candle and keep praying whether the candle stays lit or not. Again, the peace in our home was challenged. I've worked for years on my temper and I was really thankful these past two days that I was able to deal with the challenges with patience, peacefulness, gentleness, and self control. I know that at other times in my life I would have responded in anger. Instead, I've been peaceful and able to use the scriptures for training, teaching and correcting (2 Timothy 3:16).

So, I've especially been thinking about the fruit of the spirit. When I was younger I don't think I realized that Galatians 5:22  referred to the fruit of the Holy Spirit within us, I'm pretty sure I was thinking the reference was to the human spirit. Wow, I know now that I couldn't get along and produce such awesome fruit without the Holy Spirit. That reminds me of a sermon I heard on the radio recently. The pastor was saying "The Christian walk is not difficult, the Christian life is not challenging...it's IMPOSSIBLE."; and the Christian walk is impossible without Christ living in us (Philippians 4:13).
Well, the rest of the week was pretty much the same.  I gave up on lighting the candle, and just used it as a visual reminder to pray for peace in our home.  The candle reminded me of a story my sister was reading me out of Christian book for young moms (I'd actually picked it up for her, but it had great info in it for moms at any stage of raising children).  The story was about how this mom was sad a frustrated that she didn't have time for her morning quiet time with God, she misses her time with Him.  As the story goes on, God talks to her and tells her that she may time have the hour or whatever she had uninterupted before, but she does have moments throughout the day.  So she began to use the quiet moments changing a diaper to thank God for the changes he'd made in her life, washing things for washing her clean of her sins.  She began to feel refueled in those small moments throughout the day.  That is kind of what the candle did for me, made me be more aware of the moments throughout the day that I can use to pray for my family.

I'm really looking forward to the rest of this challenge!
Galatians 5:22 "The fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control, against such things there is no law."

Philippians 4:13 "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me."

2 Timothy 3:16 "All scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness."
 
You can read about the other ladies who are participating in the challenge Women Living Well.  We're all linked up on the Week 1 post from Courtney, which is well worth a read!

Making Your Home A Haven: Fall Challenge

Okay, hopefully I am doing this right.  Almost two years into this blogging thing and I have still not figured everything out.  Courtney over at Women Living Well  has set out a Fall Challenge.  Each week there is something new to do to make your home a haven.  You can check out the list and instructions to join the challenge over at Courtney's site, but I'll give a short explanation here.

Week 1 is a candle lit everyday and a prayer for peace in your home every time you look at the candle.  Week 2 adds soft music and remembering to use peaceful words and have peaceful relationships.
Week 3 adds cleaning up clutter and thinking about what clutters up your spiritual life.
Week 4 adds tender moments with your family, ah, cuddles!
Week 5 (final week)  adds pleasant aromas from the kitchen.

The Bible verse for the challenge is John 14:27 "Peace I leave with you, my peace I give you.  I do not give to you as the world gives.  Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid."