Parenting 101

  If there is one thing I am passionate about, it is parenting.  "Passionate" should not be confused with "perfect", however.

  I work very hard at being a good mom, but make no mistake, it is not my work that produces anything.  One of the greatest things I can do for my children is to have a repentant heart, understanding that my sinful nature makes it impossible for me to BE anything but sinful.  It is because of the act of Christ; His life, death and resurrection, producing faith in me by grace, that enables me to "look like" I am doing something.  I may say, "Thank you," when someone offers a compliment about my children.  I might even beam a little.  But there is no confusion within me...it is all by the grace of God.

It is the Word which resides in me... in my mind.  It transforms the very process by which I think.  God's Word is the only parenting handbook I really need.    Daily reading, ingesting, and memorizing His teachings clarifies my goals for my children.  God's Word develops and works in me from the inside out.  It creates thoughts in my mind which weren't there before.  It affects what I say, how I react, what I teach.  I can't stress enough, to those who might be reading this blog, that God's Word is the key to good parenting.

So here are some Parenting "tips" I'd like to offer:

Read Scripture Daily:
The book of Proverbs is a wonderful place to start when looking for guidance in parenting.  There is so much about wisdom and instruction.  Each day, take a chapter and read through it with the intention of hearing what it says to the practicality of parenting.   Choose a verse to meditate on throughout the day. Conveniently, Proverbs has 31 chapters, one for each day of the month. Use it to become familiar with God.  Soon you will begin to hear his Word in your head as you encounter different situations within your vocation of parenting.

 I have a little frame with fabric behind the glass.  Using a dry erase marker, I write my chosen daily Proverb and put it in the kitchen where I am most likely to look at it throughout my day.


Attend a weekly Bible Study:
Sunday school isn't just for our children.  It is for us as well.  Our church offers two adult Sunday School classes to choose from.  Not only does regular instruction strengthen our knowledge of Scripture, it shows our children that they don't "graduate" from church once they're confirmed.  Attend Sunday school.  If you're one of those parents who commits to teaching on Sunday (like me), then find a mid week class that works with your schedule. Instruction in God's Word is essential to good parenting.


Attend the Divine Service:
So, it has been said, "Going to church doesn't make you a Christian."  No, perfect church attendance won't regenerate your sinful soul.  But God's Word does and God's Word is found in church.

 God's Word = Christ.  Baptism = Christ. Communion =Christ.

We receive Christ in the Divine Service, where He is preached and the sacraments are administered.  Christ is our salvation. Regularly attending the Divine Service and regularly receiving Christ, strengthens our faith and forgives our sins.  These are the most important tools we could ever ask for when parenting our children.




I realize that while the Scripture doesn't specifically tell you how to toilet train your 3 year old or what curfew to set for your teenager, it does give wisdom about God's creation and His design for it.  The problems of parenting often lie in our own state of unpreparedness.  Our unpreparedness often stems from the lack of time spent in God's Word.  Now, I could give you a list of proper parenting techniques... the "How to's of Timeouts" or the "Dangers of Dating" if you will, but that would be like working from the outside, in. Better than this approach, is to instead regularly ingest God's Word and have it reform our thinking and our approach from the inside, out.

In the fall, I plan to resume teaching the Mothers Class; third Tuesday of each month, 7:30 at the parsonage. 

Best Meatloafballs

Best Meatball loaves... or is it meatloaf balls??

Finding meals that everyone in my family will enjoy is always a bit tricky when you consider that we have one vegetarian and one carnivore sitting at our dining table each night.  Well, this week, the vegetarian was gallivantin' around South Carolina so the carnivores were fed.

My mother in law sent this recipe to me with high reviews.  I "tweaked" it a little to fit my family.  There really isn't a recipe that I don't tweak somehow...



Here it is... the best meatball loaves around.

preheat your oven to 350 and grease a 9x13 pan.

Mix together 1 egg and 3/4 cup milk.
Add to that:

1 c. shredded colby/jack cheese mix (original recipe called for cheddar)
1/4 c. dried minced onions (original recipe called for 1/2 cup chopped onion)
1/2 lb ground beef   (original recipe only used 1 pound ground beef and no pork)
1/2 lb ground pork sausage
1/2 c. oatmeal
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. garlic powder (original recipe didn't add garlic powder... I know, shocking right?)

Mix it up, and don't be a wuss... use your hands.  Squishy, squishy through your fingers.  (If my little sister is reading this, she probably just gagged a bit.)  Sorry Jen!  Now the mix seemed to be a little soppier than what I normally do for meatloaf, but I rolled with it (get my pun? )  Yeah, okay, so I am really glad I did, because these babies were moist and really, really good.  So, resist the urge to use less milk or more oatmeal.

Now, I divided the mixture into 6 large meat balls or mini loaves.  Call them whatever you want, dividing it up like this makes it easier to serve as well as takes less baking time.  Win: Win!

Now, on to the sauce:
Mix together:
2/3 c. ketchup
1/2 c. brown sugar (not packed)
1 1/2 tsp. prepared mustard

Spoon this over the top of each little meat...thingy.
Bake for 45 minutes or until done... you might have to poke into one of them to see if there is any pink left.  I baked mine for 45 exactly and they were perfectly cooked but still extremely moist.

Starch anyone?  My son was overjoyed... seriously.
Not a green thing in sight!  I call this my "TV Dinner" meal.
All we need is a round brownie and a folding tray table.

ENJOY!

Seth's Roasted Cauliflower

So a certain little redhead in my life gave me the idea to post my roasted cauliflower "recipe".  Who knew a one year old would be so gaga for cauliflower?

This is my favorite way to eat cauliflower. Yum.

Heat up your oven to 400
Just wash and cut up into bite-sized pieces one head of cauliflower.



I put mine on a cookie sheet that has edges.

Don't lose any of those little bits.  They are the best!

Spray with canola spray and lightly cover with garlic and Parmesan cheese.  Toss that so that all the cauliflower is coated and put into the oven for 20 minutes or so.  You are welcome to toss the cauliflower around half way through baking in order to get it evenly brown, but I'm pretty much too lazy for that. ;)




Take out  the cooking sheet and let the cauliflower cool a bit.  One head of cauliflower fed one 41 year old and one 1 year old, so that tells you how much we liked it.

I use my large oven for cauliflower, but I use my toaster oven for roasting other veggies like zucchini, cut up peppers, mushrooms and vidalia onion slices.  I'll even do a mixture of veggies on one tray.  The toaster oven doesn't heat up the house like the big oven, but it also doesn't hold as much food.

I love taking these veggies and putting them over a bowl of rice, adding some soy sauce. Tada, lunch.

All is Vanity.

Each of the upstairs bedrooms in the Parsonage at St. John's has a dormer window complete with a window seat.  I  just love that about this house.  I use the one in the master bedroom as my personal vanity.  Unfortunately, my "vanity" is often neglected.

One of my problem spots was the storage of my jewelry.  I use the term "jewelry" loosely here, as not much of what I own is of any real value to anyone else but me.  No matter, it still doesn't deserve to be thrown into a heap at the bottom of a glad food storage container.  Mostly I end up with unmatched earrings and tangled necklaces.   

I decided something needed to be done.

I have taken some ideas from Pinterest and used them as a guide to customize my vanity area.  Here's some of the things I did... all on a strict budget, of course.

I found a few things at Goodwill and a couple other local thrift stores that looked promising.  One rule of thrifting... if it moves you, and it's the right price- buy it.  You don't have to have a purpose for it right then. 

(Don't tell my husband I told you that!)

 I often bring home pieces of junk that I have no clue what to do with them.  Focus on shape remembering that nearly anything can be spray painted.  

Here are a few of my thrifty finds cleaned up and freshly painted... or not.

Anyone  born pre 80's should recognize this lovely.
We had one in fashionable burnt orange when
I was a kid.  It's a mug holder turned bangles hanger.
I didn't even bother to paint it.  

This was a brassy mirror tray that I spray painted and
 now use to show off my lotions and potions.

This is another simple silver tray that I spray
 painted. I use shower curtain clips to hold it
onto my cafe rod.  The hooks are magnetic.

This is where I say, if you like the shape buy it.
I have been collecting glass bottles and jars for a while
with no idea as to what I would use them for.  Well, add
some candle sticks and voila,  you have great makeup
storage for the vanity area.  I used coffee beans in one vase
to hold my makeup brushes.
Oh and a cheap silver tray spray painted perty.

This piece gave me a bit of trouble.  I really
wanted something on which I could easily
remove and replace my earrings.  I looked
into purchasing some decorative tin, but it
 was so costly for a small piece that I
wandered around Home Depot searching
 for something else that might work.  I ended
up in the painting area and bought this paint
dripping grid.  $3??  SOLD!!
Bonus was that it came with bent ends to
hang easily over the cafe rod.

Just as an added fun thing.
I use my exercise ball
as a vanity chair.  It's the perfect
height and works great!

     

So this is the cafe rod I keep mentioning.  I think I paid $10 for it at Walmart.
Which is quite pricey for my standards, but I hadn't had any luck for a while
finding one at a thrift store, so I finally bit the bullet and bought it new.
You can see how nicely it extends and helps to keep my jewelry organized.
It really is worth the $10. 

Rhubarb Recipes

It's that time of year.  Rhubarb time.

I grew up in California.  No, not the sun drenched beaches of southern California.  I grew up in the Central Valley, due east of San Francisco, where all the produce is grown.  I was spoiled with freshly picked produce at farmer's stands all through my childhood from asparagus to zucchini.  My dad was gardener as well, so I know what it is to have a fresh supply of vegetables at the dinner table.  So you can see why it astounds me that I had to come to the midwest to get my first taste of rhubarb.

Well, the day someone from our church here in Iowa handed me a recycled Wal-mart bag filled with the celery look-a-like, I smiled, said thank you and promptly went home to google it.  What was this stuff?

The greatly coveted church cookbook

Not long after, I managed to get my hands on a most precious item, the St. John's cookbook.  Ahhh, this was the answer to my rhubarb dilemma.  Sure enough, rhubarb recipes galore.  I did notice one thing about all the recipes... quite a bit of sugar!

Emily's Favorite Rhubarb Cake:

Found in St. John's cook book page 88
1pkg white or yellow cake
1c. sugar (I leave the sugar out because I use a larger box of jello)
2 to 4c. diced rhubarb
1 6oz. pkg any red jello (but c'mon, strawberry is the way to go!)

Mix one package  yellow or white cake mix according to package directions.  Pour into greased and floured 9x13-inch pan. (I find that it's too much for my basic pan, so I use my large Pampered Chef rectangular baker).  Sprinkle rhubarb over top and sugar over top of rhubarb. Then sprinkle red jello over all.  Bake at 350 until done, about 50 minutes.

 Another invaluable rhubarb recipe resource has been other ladies in the church.  Here is a recipe from my friend, Deanna.  This one is my personal favorite.

Aunt Mena's Rhubarb Dessert:

Crust:
1 c. flour
5 T. powdered sugar
1 stick melted butter

Mix these together and spread in the bottom of a 9x13 pan.
 Bake at 325 degrees for about 15 minutes.


While the crust is baking, mix together the following ingredients:
1 and 1/2 c. sugar
1/4 c. flour
3/4 tsp. salt
2 eggs beaten

Just before the crust is ready to come out of the oven, mix in 2 cups chopped rhubarb into the egg mixture.  Pour the rhubarb/egg mixture over the crust (carefully!) and return it to the oven to bake at 325 degrees for 25-35 minutes.

No well respected Midwesterner would neglect to include the ever popular strawberry/ rhubarb pie.  I actually had enough rhubarb to bake not one, not two, but yes, three pies in addition to the afore posted recipes.  That was a lot of rhubarb!

My recipe comes from Betty.  :)

I made the crust using her tried and true recipe for a 9 inch two crusted pie.

2/3 cup plus 2 TBS shortening or 2/3 cup lard

2 cups flour

1 tsp. salt

4-5 TBS cold water.

Here's the filling:

1 1/3 - 1 2/3 cups sugar

1/3 cup all purpose flour

1/2 tsp grated orange peel (this really makes the pie in my opinion)

2 cups cut up rhubarb

2 cups cut up strawberries

2 TBS margarine or butter

Heat your oven to 425. Make the pastry by cutting shortening into flour and salt. Mix in water one tablespoon at a time until dough forms a ball.  Split your dough in half and roll it out for the bottom shell.  Mix all the filling ingredients except the cut up fruit.  Put half the rhubarb and half the strawberries into the pastry-lined pie shell.  Sprinkle half of the filling mixture over the fruit.  Put the last of the fruit in the pie and again, sprinkle the dry filling over the pie.  Dot with margarine or butter. Roll out the remaining dough and lay it over the fruit to cover.  Cut some slits into the top crust, seal and flute the edges.  Use a pastry shield or foil to cover the edge to keep it from browning too quickly.  You'll remove that 15 minutes before pie is finished baking.

Bake until crust is brown and juice begins to bubble through slits in crust... about 40-50 minutes.  It would be wise to put pie(s) on a edged cookie sheet in case the juices spill over. 

 There ya go, easy as... well, pie.

Bathroom "Re-vamp"

Well, I can't really call this a remodel, because there wasn't a whole lot of remodeling going on.  It is, however a revamp.  I'll let the pictures speak for themselves :)

BEFORE: 

Here is our upstairs bathroom.  One thing to note is that all four of us use this bathroom, so keeping it organized and uncluttered is my main goal.  This bathroom also hosts the only shower in our house, so that means our guests use it as well.  Definitely something to consider while planning the revamp.

Besides being the obvious eyesore, these doors are
quite noisy. 

The shower doors are a mildew, bacterial nightmare,
and my ultimate goal is to rid the premises of them.  

Ahh, 80's walpaper.  At least the colors are
 soothing...Definitely coming down.

 

I have special "plans" for this area, just behind the door

Okay, my biggest peeve about the bathroom's current state is the wall paper and paint peeling over the shower.
Not a pleasant sight.  There will need to be some serious attention paid to this spot in particular.

I do love this cabinet.  It is solid oak, the drawers slide very easily and it is in very good condition.
One of our biggest problem spots is the sink area.  There just isn't enough counter space for all our "stuff".
I have been thinking for a while about a solution to this problem and I think I have solved it.

DURING:

Lots of scraping involved here.  I used a mixture of watered down fabric softener to help 

unglue the wallpaper paste.  Not all of the paste gets scraped off, however and the most physically demanding part of this whole revamp was washing the walls.  I used TSP, water, and good old fashioned 

elbow grease to get'er done.  

So one of my favorite things to do to make something old look new and up to date is to spray paint them a new, fresh color.  My choice for the hardware finish in this bathroom is oil rubbed bronze.  I took off all the knobs from the vanity and medicine cabinet, along with the switchplates, outlet covers and toilet paper dispenser.  I also painted the towel rods, but somehow neglected to get pictures of it.  

 First, I cleaned and degreased everything with a sander/deglosser... except the plastic switchcovers.  Then I gave two coats of paint to everything.

 There was a lot of wall damage that had been covered up with wall paper, so I spent a bit of time spackling and sanding before I could paint.  The area above the shower needed quite a bit of attention, but really turned out nicely.

I do all my own stunts. ;)

DRUM ROLL PLEASE!! 

AFTER:

 YEAH! It's all done!
Details:
 The shower curtain I got on Amazon and no, we haven't removed the old glass doors yet.  I think we will wait for Grandpa Sam to help with that.  But it is still nice to have the added privacy of the shower curtain.

The rug I got on the clearance aisle at Walmart.  It was exactly what I was looking for. Don't you love it when that happens?  It works with the linoleum pattern and not against it.  

 This is the area above the shower.  It had peeling wallpaper, cracked and chipped paint and mildew spots all along the edge.  Not pretty.  Now, it is repaired and freshly caulked and painted.  The paint I chose was from Glidden- "Water Chestnut".

 Okay, so here is the part that I am most excited about.  ORGANIZATION!!  Yea!  Now we have no reason to have the counter space taken up with hair products, styling utensils or toothbrushes.  Each of us has our own basket.  I got the baskets at Michaels several months ago when they were 50% off.  Unfortunately, they only had three, so I am still scouring different Michael's stores in search of one more.  I used shower curtain hooks shoved through the wicker in the back of the baskets to hang onto two 30inch towel rods.  I did have to get the rods online at Amazon because I couldn't find 30" rods locally.

Another one of my Amazon purchases was this styling tool organizer.  It hangs over the towel rod (which was cleaned, painted and reused).  It was just a bonus that all our tools were red. :)

The vanity knobs came out perfect!  I love the way they update the oak.  The trash can and soap dispenser were clearance items at Target.  I spend a lot of time searching for items before I ever attack a project.  I never want to pay full price!

Here are a couple more pictures of revamped items.  Switchplate covers are extremely easy to paint.  The towel rods came out like new, and I added a couple of robe hooks from Wal-mart so that guests could hang  their clothes on them.

 Well, I can say that I have successfully rid the house of wall paper... unless you count the basement...which I don't. ;)  Now, onto my next project...