Homemaking (An Index to My Blogs)

Dear friends,

I have a whole bunch of posts about homemaking on two of my blogs.  I've finally compiled an index of most of them below in several categories, and I have also created a page for them with a link at the top of this blog which I will try to keep updated with future posts.  There may be other homemaking posts currently on my blogs that I have not added to this index yet.  You can probably find them in these category tags: Homemaking at Virginia's Life and Homemaking at Come Weary Moms.

You might also like my newest post on my main blog: Twenty Years, Ten Kids, One House.

Homemaking Inspiration:

• "The Blue Bowl" and Thoughts on Making a Home
• Refresh and Renew: Quilt and Pansies
• Who is the Proverbs 31 Woman? Not Me Yet!
• Busy & Creative at Home (with links to organization blogs)
• Knowing That She Hath Wings
• "My Glorious Dishtowel" Redux and More 
• Creativity AND Order (They Aren't Mutually Exclusive!)
• Let Our Ordered Lives Confess the Beauty of Thy Peace...?

 

Room-by-Room in our Home: 

• Kitchen Organization Ideas from a Mom of 10
• Decorating and Organizing Bathroom Areas on a Budget
• Welcome to Our Living Room
• The Impulsive Decorator's Room Redo #1: The Front Hallway
• Turning Angst into a Clean Closet
• A Desk for Mom (Featuring Habitat for Humanity)
• A Space of My Own (My Desk Again)
• Not-So-Extreme Makeover: The Front of Our House

 

Season-by-Season in our Home: 

• Easy Autumn Decorating on a Dime
• Autumn: A Pretty Home and Yummy Food on a Budget
• Easy Christmas Decorating on a Dime
• Easy Spring Decorating on a Dime
• Springtime in My Front Hallway

  

Home Organization Tips: 

• First Steps to a Tidy Home / Children & Chores
• "Bin There, Done That" (Or How to Keep School Clutter from Turning You Into a Basketcase)
• Organizing First Aid Supplies, Medicines and Supplements
• One Mom's Trash is Another's Treasure
• A Place for Everything
• Household Organization: Clutter, Clothes Storage and Chores

Laundry: 

• Organizing and Laundering Your Linens
• Mt. Washmore (Laundry for a Large Family)
• Doing the Wash: Grandmother’s “Receet”
• And You Wonder What I Do All Day?
• "My Glorious Dishtowel" Redux and More 

Food:

I have a whole page of links about food and grocery shopping!    It's not always completely current, but you can find it here: Food.  You can also see entire blog posts with the tag of Food at Food Glorious Food at Virginia's Life and Food at Come Weary Moms.

  

Click away, my friends, and welcome to my home!

Virginia Knowles

www.ComeWearyMoms.blogspot.com

Our Road Trip and a Little Care Giving

Dear friends,

If you read this Come, Weary Moms blog but not my others, you might wonder where I've been.  The answer?

Traveling north!

I've been on an extended road trip with my six younger kids, ages 7 to 18.  We left Florida in June 24, took three days to travel seeing sights along the way, and have been staying at my parents' home in Maryland ever since.  My 18 year old daughter is flying home today, but the rest of us are leaving in our mini-van Friday morning, stopping at the Manassas National Battlefield (Civil War) on our way out of the D.C. area.  By the time we get home this Sunday, we'll have been gone for three whole weeks.  


I'm really glad that my cousin Jean lent us her GPS when we stopped to see her in Chapel Hill on the way up.  It's been a huge help getting around town on our frequent forays.  We'll give it back to her on the way back down!  I always look forward to seeing her and her sister Marge.  They have been so kind to us.  This trip, they loaded us up with road trip snacks!



Anyway, even though I haven't written here on this blog, I have posted a photographic series on Traveling North.  Here are the links so far:

• Ft. Pulaski
• Tybee Island
• Historic Savannah
• Chapel Hill
• Luray Caverns
• National Zoo
• Visiting Great Grandmother
• Swimming in the Patapsco River
• Water Balloon Fight and Lacrosse Game
• The Fourth of July and Smithsonian in D.C.
• Celebrations of Birthdays and Recovering 

My mom and her mom,
who  hadn't seen each other in over a month.

I had been wanting to drive to Maryland this year already, but then my mom called and said that since she was having two surgeries this year and couldn't make it to Florida, she and Dad would pitch in for gas and hotels so we could come up.  What we didn't know then is that three weeks after her back surgery, she wouldn't even be home yet.  She's been bouncing back and forth from hospital to rehab because of severe complications, including a MERSA infection on the steel rod in her spine. So part of our time has been spent visiting her!  I'm glad we could be here to help cheer her up and relieve my sister from non-stop care giving.  We have also visited my 98 year old grandmother in her nursing home and taken her to see my mom in rehab.  As of yesterday, Mom is back in the hospital again.  I took the flower picture at the top of this post near the hospital chapel yesterday.  More flower pictures from when I flew up to Maryland by myself last month: A Bouquet for My Mommy.

One of the practical things I did is clean out the refrigerator and reorganize the kitchen.  I know Mom is going to be limited in bending over, lifting, twisting, etc.  So I tried to put things where she could easily reach them, or where my sister or a hired home helper could easily find them.  I even labeled cupboards and drawers.  I tossed out old food and put other opened food (like nuts and crackers and cereal) in Tupperware and Rubbermaid.  I put all the mugs in the same cupboard as the coffee and tea.  I moved less used appliances -- like the meat slicer that my late grandfather used until he died a few years ago -- from prime spaces to less accessible places.  I bought some fresh dish towels.  That sort of thing.  It took me several hours, but I had a blast!  Occasionally, I would look out the kitchen window and see a deer grazing in the yard.  Beautiful.

We did have a few mishaps on our trip -- a parking ticket, smoke coming out of the van, stitches in the emergency room, a lost child in a big place, a really bad rash that required a doctor visit, a few broken dishes, and what else?   I'm trying to be the Chill Mom and take things in stride.  Handing out quarters (for good behavior) and chocolate (just because!) in the van sure helps keep kids happy, as does a lap top, a pile of DVDs, and a collection of iPods.  

I also taped a decorative coaster to my dash board that says "Blessed are the gentle."  When I start stressing out while driving, I just reach up an pat it as a reminder.  I bought the same one for my mom for her hospital room as a "gentle" reminder for the nurses.  Most of them have been perfectly lovely.

Much as I have enjoyed our travels, I'm looking forward to getting home and spending some time with my husband, four oldest daughters, and two adorable grandsons.  My fourth daughter is leaving for a semester in Australia and New Zealand later this month, and my second daughter and her husband just arrived home from a mission trip to Bolivia this past week.  We've got a lot of appointments coming up, too, including an interview for a part-time teaching job in a home/private hybrid school.

While I've been gone, I have also added two new posts to my Strength in Hymn series at Watch the Shepherd.

• Before the Throne of God Above 
• Love Divine, All Loves Excelling 

Older posts in that series:

• In the Garden (When the Caregiver Needs Care)
• Savior, Like a Shepherd Lead Us (moms needing tender care to lead children)
• As a Tree Beside the Water 
• Fairest Lord Jesus
• Let the Beauty of Jesus Be Seen in Me 
• I Dare Not Trust the Sweetest Frame? 

Until next time,

Virginia Knowles
www.ComeWearyMoms.blogspot.com

Linking here next Wednesday:

Adorned from Above

Raising Homemakers

Whole-Hearted Home

Wise Woman Link Up

Walking Redeemed

My Holiday Wrapping Station

Dear friends,

I've seen several posts recently on organizing holiday wrapping supplies.  Here is my simple solution.

I needed a place to put this vintage tea cart to make room for the Christmas tree in the living room.  The master bedroom is the usual place to stash extra stuff in a time like this, so I decided to take advantage of it and use it as my bedside table and as my wrapping supply station.  I do all of the wrapping in my room so I can lock the door to keep out prying eyes.  I spread everything out on the floor or the bed to work.  Usually one of the kids at a time helps me wrap presents for brothers and sisters.

The rolled papers go on the bottom shelf,
along with a small bin with rolls of ribbons.
To keep the paper from unrolling,
you can use a rubber band around each roll,
or a small piece of tape at the very end of the roll.
I do have a tall bin especially designed for wrapping paper.
I'll store the leftover paper in it at after Christmas,
but it's hard to get things in and out
without squishing the paper.

Scissors, tapes, bows, tags and pens
are hidden in the drawer.
It's always best to have extras for when
two or more people are wrapping at once!
Small scraps of paper are in a vinyl folder
which goes down with the rolled papers.

Larger scraps of paper go in
the same big bin as the unwrapped gifts,
which are in bags labeled
for each member of the family.
The bin stays in my closet except
when we get it out to wrap another pile.
I also keep a stash of Christmas gift bags
in my closet, because I don't want them out
for anyone to grab.
(I buy the my bags at the dollar store -- best deal!)

The end result for now
is present piles growing taller under the tree --
at least until we unwrap them
on Christmas morning!
And let me tell you that with eight kids
still living at home and two married daughters
coming over later with husbands and children,unwrapping is quite the spectacle at our house!

How does your family organize wrapping supplies and other holiday items?

Read more at this post from Organizing Made Fun: Organizing for Christmas: Gift Wrapping Stations

Virginia Knowles

www.ComeWearyMoms.blogspot.com

Holiday Desserts (Aldi & Albertsons)

Dear friends,

Lots of sweets on Monday 

for a home school co-op Christmas program

and my fourth daughter's 20th birthday!

Christmas cookies made from Aldi ingredients:
sugar cookie mix
vanilla frosting
red and green frosting tubes
canister of a variety of sprinkles
(My 11 year old daughter made these!)

This canister of holiday sprinkles 
will last us all season!
It has one of those neat rotating lids
where you can choose which kind you want.

Candy cane pie about $6 from Aldi -
a decent sized pie
with a chocolate cookie crust,
a layer of chocolate french silk
a white layer with crushed candy canes
and whipped cream with crushed candies on top
Yummy!

A Hanukkah cake about $5 from Albertsons
for my oldest daughter and my grandson
who celebrate the Jewish holidays.
"Hanukkah!"

Yes, we love saving money and eating well with groceries from Aldi!

Virginia Knowles
www.ComeWearyMoms.blogspot.com

Christmas Red

Life in a huge family is chaotic.

Especially in the holiday bustle,

you have to claim your calm 

where you can find it.

A flutter and glow and jingle

of Christmas red here and there.

Red's not usually 

the calming color, 

like a soothing blue.

But cheerful cherry 

has a certain charm. 

See: Easy Christmas Decorating on a Dime

Crimson grace,

Virginia Knowles
www.ComeWearyMoms.blogspot.com

 P52 Photo Project 
A weekly photo postSee all of my entries here:
P52 Photo Posts

P.S. This week's P52 theme is "Oh the Rush!"   This post is the counterpoint: what I do to relax in between the rushing.








I also link my blog posts at...

• Domestically Divine on Tuesday 
• Raising Homemakers on Wednesday
• Whole-Hearted Home on Wednesday

Prepping Your Kitchen to Fix a Feast

Dear friends,

Thanksgiving is in just three days!  We're getting ready for a big feast for 17 people.   My married daughters are bringing over some of the food, but I know that my kitchen will still be in quite a frenzy this week. I'm trying to plan ahead to reduce the stress.  Five things are extra helpful in the days leading up to a holiday meal...

Clear off your work areas.  Check your kitchen counters. If you aren't going to use an appliance or other item to fix the feast, put it in a cupboard or even in another room for now.  Banish any clutter that doesn't belong there at all.  While you're at it, you might want to organize your dish cupboards.

Clean out the refrigerator and pantry cupboards before you shop.  Make room for all of the extra produce, your turkey, and all the fixings.  You can also clear out old food from some of your plastic storage containers to use for Thanksgiving leftovers.  

I take everything out of the main part of the refrigerator and put it on my nice cleared off counters.  Then I scrub down the shelves and drawers and the inside of the fridge.  After I wipe off the jars, I put everything back in, hopefully more organized than it was before.   Then I do the same thing with the fridge door and my pantry cupboards.  Now everything is ready for adding in the rest of the food we need.  Plus, I can keep track of what food we still have before I shop, so I can know if we need more butter, sour cream, or other food items. 

Plan the meal and consider cooking ahead of time. I actually write out the menu weeks ahead of time so my kids can claim which recipes they want to fix.  They all want to do something!   I'm only doing the turkey this year, if my husband doesn't get to it before I do.  We'll roast and carve it the day before and then reheat it in the broth. 

I have to think of how we are going to cook each menu item so there will be room in the oven and on the stove top so everything can be hot when we're ready to serve.  We will use a crock pot for our traditional wassail.  We'll bake the pumpkin pie and the brownies (for a trifle) ahead of time because the braided egg bread, apple pie, biscuits, roasted vegetables, and scalloped potatoes will need oven time on Thanksgiving Day.  I'm sure our big electric skillet will also be put to hard labor.

Beautiful multi-color peppers
from Fancy Fruit produce market

I wrote out a detailed grocery list and decided where I would buy each food item -- Aldi, Walmart, Sam's Club, or the produce market.  I have actually been gathering some of the non-perishable items over the past few weeks when I've seen good prices.  I set aside a bin in the pantry cupboard for all of my white potatoes, sweet potatoes, and onions.  I will also group all of the packaged goods in one bin so I can find them easily when I need them.


Take inventory of equipment and supplies.  Do you need aluminum foil or holiday themed paper products?   Do you need to iron a table cloth?  What about your cooking or baking equipment, like serving platters or cookie sheets?  I knew we needed some new sharp knives since we'll be cutting a lot of veggies and fruits.  I just bought a set of Farberware steak knives and hope they'll make good paring knives!   I like the larger Farberware knives I already have.  I also picked up a new Pyrex 9"x13" casserole since one of ours broke (we will need at least three), but I'm going to have to return it since it was chipped when I took it out of the bag.

So that's what I'm up to this week!  Oh, and cleaning the rest of the house!   I also have to make squash and 

homemade cranberry sauce for one of my sons to take to school tomorrow for his class's party.

As a side note, my policy is we that always have holiday meals at our house and invite our kids and other local family members.  We usually have an early meal around 2 PM because my married daughters usually celebrate with their in-laws or friends in the evening.  There is no pressure if they can't make it to our meal for some reason.  I believe in no-guilt holidays!

I'm glad everyone is coming this year since we'll be able to get a new family picture!

Mother's Day 2012

What do you do to prepare for Thanksgiving?  Leave a comment!

Bon appetit!

Virginia Knowles

P.S. Of course there is more to Thanksgiving than food!  Read here:

• Thankfulness: Observe, Appreciate, Express, Imitate
• Our Thanksgiving Indians
• Thankfulness?

Autumn: A Pretty Home and Yummy Food on a Budget

Dear friends,

Are you ready for autumn?  I'm not quite there yet, since it's still so warm here in Orlando, but I'm working on it. My husband is going to retrieve our autumn decoration bin from storage this weekend, but in the meantime, I'm making do with what I have available already, as well as some new items.  You can see what I've done for autumn in years past here: Easy Autumn Decorating on a Dime.

Today's post is a lot about autumn decorating, and a little bit about food and hospitality.

I wanted a few extras new fall pretties for my home but I don't have a lot in the budget right now.  Fortunately, as I walked into Olde Time Pottery this morning, I stopped at a table outside and subscribed to the local newspaper for a low rate, and they gave me a free $10 OTP gift card as a bonus.  So while I had been planning to just browse, I actually got to buy a few things!

I bought this wall basket to hang on my front door
last spring, as you can see in my post 

Not-So-Extreme Makeover: The Front of Our House.

Today I bought these silk flowers for $3.49

at Olde Time Pottery, and tucked them 

into the basket with a folded over doily.

(In addition to the ribbon and hook, the basket is anchored

to the door with a strong magnet.)

Other recent additions:
The two pilgrims are from Dollar General ($1 each) and the
two small wood signs are from Olde Time Pottery ($1.50 each).
The silk flowers and flower pot were gifts.

A closer look at the pilgrim maiden

The ceramic pumpkins, which hold tealight candles,
were on clearance at Olde Time Pottery for $2.60 each.
On Halloween, we'll put them outside on our garden wall,
and light up the insides for jolly jack-o-lanterns!

The basket is full of homemade potpourri.
My husband gave me white roses
for my birthday last month.
After the blooms finally wilted,
I dried the petals on a rack. (See below.)
Since white roses don't have much aroma,
I added orange scented oil and a
little bit of food coloring to perk them up.

White rose petals on a drying rack.

Two days ago, I happened to walk into the Goodwill thrift store and while my kids were trying on clothes, I sat down on this lovely chair nearby.  It felt comfy, is in terrific condition with sturdy fabric, matches the burgundy and creamy yellow colors in my living room, and was only $40.  Since we needed extra seating in our living room anyway, I bought it on the spot and hauled it home in my big old van. It seems like there is someone always in it doing homework or hanging out.  I wish this picture did it justice.  It's really pretty.

I guess that's about all my budget can handle right now, so I'll be glad to get my big bin of stuff out and around the house.  

I've also got a handful of big fat acorns that I brought from  Maryland.  I haven't figured out how to display them on my bedside table yet, but I'll think of something.

A happy memento of my trip...

And now to the food...

The Aldi store is stocking lots of yummy pumpkin flavored products this time of year.  I decided to try out the pumpkin spice cookie mix, which is about $1.50 per bag.  My 11 year old daughter made up two packages and baked them on pizza pans (one package per pan) for mega cookies.  She cut them in to big wedges and served them warm with whipped topping.  We'll definitely be buying more of these this season!  They are like pumpkin pie that you can eat with your hand.

Delicious pumpkin spice cookie with whipped cream!

I bought these plastic plates, some in burgundy
and some in dark green, at Dollar General.
They were four for $1 and I bought 20. Our large family used them now for snacks and lunches,
and they'll be great for serving desserts to a crowd
at Thanksgiving and Christmas.

My dear friend and fellow blogger Tonya Travelstead invited me over for breakfast this morning.  She made premium oatmeal cooked with apple chunks and drizzled with honey.  She also served hot chocolate and apple wedges.  Delicious, healthy, and so perfect for an autumn breakfast!

Tonya loves hospitality and sets a gorgeous table.

Oatmeal made with steel cut oats
- I love the hearty texture!
Tonya wrote this on her blog:
Healthy Eating: Steel Cut Oats
She says they are usually about $4 per container,
but they Aldi carries them seasonally for about $2.
I'll be looking for them!

Of course what I like most about breakfast with Tonya... is Tonya!  I think I've known her for almost 30 years and she's a real sweetheart!  We used to walk together a few times a week and I think I need to start joining her again. (See Meeting Halfway.) Another thing I like about Tonya is that she is a wealth of information about saving money, making a cozy  home, showing hospitality, and loving God and family well. You will love her blog Mrs. T's Thoughts from a Titus 2 Mom.blogspot.com.  She and I both shop at Aldi and write about it.  Her blog series is at Tonya's Aldi Product Reviews and mine is at Groceries from Aldi.

Like food?  I've got a whole bunch of recipes on my blogs.  These are perfect for autumn and the holidays:

• Pumpkin Streusel Muffins
• Peach Pumpkin Muffins
• Bread Pudding

• Carrot Cake with Maple Cream Cheese Icing, Plus Redstone Cornbread with Maple Butter
• Baked Oatmeal for a Crowd

• Fresh Cranberries! and Serving Cranberry Sauce

• Hot Chocolate for a Crowd

• Holiday Wassail

• Roasted Herbed Vegetables

• Shrimp Bisque {and} Salt Crusted Roast Beef with Mushrooms

• Panko Crusted Stuffed Chicken and Cheddar Bay Biscuits

In case you missed them, I also have some posts on my main blog from my trip to Maryland last weekend with my oldest daughter and two grandsons.  Real autumn colors on the trees!  Take a peek...

To Grandmother's House (And a Petting Zoo) We Go

Apple Picking, Fritters, and Goofy Gourds at Larriland Farm

Beauty and Diversity on an Autumn Sunday in Maryland

I'm so glad I took this trip because not only did I get to see my family in Maryland, and help my daughter travel with her little guys, but I also had special time bonding with my grandsons.  The two year old sweetie actually told me, "Grandma, I love you!" for the first time, and my daughter just texted to tell me that he had called me his "honey" -- probably during his bedtime prayers!  Awww!  He melts my heart!

I guess that's all for now! A happy autumn to you and yours!  If you have written about autumn on your blog, leave your link in a comment so the rest of us can enjoy it!

This post will be linked to:

Food on Fridays

Simple Design's 
Share Your Thrift Haul

Whole-Hearted Home

Raising Homemakers 

Domestically Divine Tuesday