Busy Homemaking and Family Updates

Alright- I have my coffee on, my crock pot cooking dinner, my frittata from last night warmed up for my breakfast, and all my cookie ingredients ready to go.  So far so good...and everyone else is sleeping... for now... so this should be a breeze...but I am sensing this the calm before the storm so I better type fast.

This week has been busy so this will be more of a family update than a homemaking update.  The best dish I cooked this week was the aforementioned frittata.  Here is the recipe I used.  Of course it was the best because it had bacon and zucchini, the two most awesome foods in the world!  It was so funny while I was making it last night.  Lucy came in and saw me cooking the bacon and said, "Daddy!  Mommy is cooking BACON for DINNER!"  She said it like it was a huge announcement and as if I had never cooked it before!  I also made a small batch of those two ingredient pancakes everyone has been talking about.  They were...interesting.  They weren't bad.  They weren't great.  They were so hard to flip!  I tried every spatula I own.  I tried making them smaller or bigger.  I tried less oil more oil.  Anyway I got a couple of them to flip when they seemed harder but by that time they looked and tasted burnt.  They tasted alright if you like bananas which I generally only like with peanut butter.  Two of the kids liked them.  I call it a draw.  Too much effort for not a great tasting product.

  Delicious!  I don't take too many food pictures as they tend to make me hungry.

Craft Update- I promised this.  And just as I thought there was no time to work on it this week, but next week looks a little more promising.  Feel free to guess what this is going to be:

I did have time this week to make a short list of some homemaking type things I would like to do next month and it is basically in the making of more food realm, but who doesn't like food?  I am going to try my hand at crock pot yogurt (even though I am suspicious of the crock pot and the edibility of yogurt made from within it),  make some cannoli dip and see if I can't get some one over to share it with, bake some peasant bread, and make creme drops for Valentine's Day.  Looking forward to see who God puts in my path next month for whom I can share these with! 

Now for the family updates:

• My nephew, Emerson, turned 4!  He is cute little guy who is into Ninja Turtles and pirates.  Love to watch the children play together and have fun!  Our family went to his potluck dinner birthday party and had a great time.  

• Visited Great-Grandma Ruth (my husband's grandma), who is on the decline with Parkinsons and skin cancer.  She was very expressive when we went to visit.  I hope we lifted her spirits even just a little.  We don't get to see her often, but I have added her to my prayers which I had neglected to do in the past.  She is so sweet and she will be missed. 
• Hermione had a doctor's appointment.  Her infections are finally clearing up.  She is a fairly healthy yet serious girl.  We have been battling impetigo with all the girls since right after Christmas.  
• Ariana got sent home from school with a fever.  We stocked up on some fruits, veggies, and vitamins for her.  I was worried because she had her vaccinations scheduled for the following day.  But she seemed fine in the morning.  
• Getting vaccinations- not looking for a debate, but this is a hot topic right now with the measles making a come back and I have had my Facebook feed come up with at least 3 or 4 things related to it.  In short, I am going to trust God and my doctor that this is the best thing for my family.  Ariana took these shots so well!  Didn't cry!  Didn't even need her "in case" security blanket!  We went to A&W as an after shots treat.  As you can see- she is pretty broken up over getting the shots.  

• Thursday and Friday- no school for the kids so yesterday I tried to keep them as busy as possible.  We played games, cleaned out the car, went shopping for the cookie supplies, reading, and even did some preschool work with Lucy.  Which reminds me...
• Lucy started official preschool lessons at home with me.  I am going to start putting a picture up called Preschool Tuesdays just to stay updated and for fun.  

 Now to get through this day.  I hope you are having a wonderful week and stay healthy.  Tell me how I can pray for you.   

What's Happening?

My brain is spinning because I feel like I did a lot of things this week and got a few steps closer to a couple goals.  Here is what is happening:

• Peace- I feel a lot more peace about all the things I was uncertain about last week.  After long talks and much prayer, I am getting closer to some answers.  
• Free Time- Yes!  This actually happened thanks to my husband!  I used the time to read articles and listened to a sermon that hit me in the gut.  
• Encouraged- I was encouraged to keep up with my Bible reading.  I have not picked a real devotional this year because I wasn't sure if I was going to be involved in a Bible Study or not.  But...
• Remembered- I remembered I bought a big collection of homemaking ebooks last year.  There are some devotionals included.  It is VERY difficult for me to use the computer to read a book.  I get incredibly distracted.  But I am going to try to make the effort because I did buy them after all.  
• Baking & Cooking- I made some zucchini bread from the frozen stuff I shredded from my garden last year.  I am so excited that I took the time to save some.  I had a bit of a fall back on the cooking meals for my family this week- I made macaroni and cheese from the box- shhh!  Don't tell the other homemaking moms!   I have come to the conclusion that our slow cooker cooks really low on low setting and extra high on the high setting.  So I need adjust some recipes and dinner time accordingly.  I am going to try to high light my favorite meal of the week so keep posted- going to start next week.  
• Sewing-  I picked up an old favorite hobby- cross stitch.  I know it is old fashioned.  I know it doesn't take a lot talent.  But it is relaxing and it will help me accomplish my goal of completing a project.  I will take pictures as I go so you can see my progress.  I only just started so I think I will take a picture next week because I highly doubt I will get much done next week with the children having 2 days off from school- that is a lot of entertaining and mess cleaning up.  I am trying to be grateful and happy about it, but the children were extremely frustrating yesterday.  I don't know what is in order to correct this behavior so I will pray for a spirit of love and grace. 
• Distracted- I got a little distracted by a friend who is planning their vegetables for their garden.  I am incredibly blessed to have a large gardening plot.  I have always had big dreams for it, but haven't gone beyond planting a few vegetables a year and then totally abandoning it around October.  But I started planning and cost estimating, which is always the exciting part, and now I am getting a little anxious for Spring.  The hard part is keeping it realistic but I hope I can find some helpful tips and maybe an extra hand or two in the gardening department.  You never know!  God is a big God of the impossible. 

So there you have it!  It felt like a very full week.  Feel free to share what you have learned and what you have been doing this week.  Blessings!

READING

3 Gifts that Might Never Have Been

This Basket:  If I had said no to child care I would never have received this gift basket for Christmas last year.

Our first lap top computer and the one I still use:  If we had never become close friends with a certain someone he would never have given us money to buy our first lap top, which has been the most useful and helpful and possibly the most distracting thing we own.  But I am so grateful for this gift.

This table and the cleanliness of it:  The table and hutch have a small story.  A woman who passed away left it to the church.  If I had not told people of our need or if I had not been flexible enough to look through her house for possible items we might not even have these things.  It was a sad thing that helped us have a place for us to have dinner parties, family meals, and birthdays.  It is also clean, which is not exactly how it looks most of the time- a gift to myself through trying to discipline myself and my children to clean up after dinner.

Homemaking and Health and All the Extra Stuff

This week as been very lacking any type of free time, but determination is driving me forward.  I was only able to skim through Baby Steps to Healthy Living and began with trying to up my water in take.  I have yet to record it but I feel like I always have a cup of water in my hand so I must be getting close that 8 glasses (or is it cups?) one is suppose to drink everyday.  I, sometimes, count the one or two cups of tea I have in the morning, but like I said ,I haven't done any serious recording so I might not be any where close to where I should be.  Maybe next week try to record it?

I had a little bit of a fall back on the whole cooking meals every day so now is the time to host a dinner.  I am thinking the 23rd or 30th if everything works out well.

Also a whole week slipped by with no devotions with the kids and I need a lot of prayer deciding which ministries to cut, what to do about contraceptives, and home education for the children.  I know I use to bring this up once in awhile here, but I am asking for what feels impossible to me but not impossible for God.

I am going to get pretty personal here, but that is only because I know I don't have many readers and it is so much fun to write once you get in a groove.  Currently I am involved in Women's Ministry Committee, teach 2s and 3s Sunday School, AWANA Puggles leader, go to Moms in Prayer, and was debating adding a Bible Study plus my husband signed us up for HIP (Hospitality in Practice).  That gets me tired just reading all that.  Now I can keep doing ALL of these things but not give it my ALL if you know what I mean.  I could come to teach my Sunday School class not knowing the lesson and just read from the book- no extra games, no crafts, no fluff (which happens more time then I care to admit) or I could prepare my mind and heart ahead of time.  Same goes for all the above ministries.  I AM a Pastor's wife so that often makes me feel very guilty for not being automatically awesome at all of these ministries.  But as I would like to give my energies and efforts to homemaking this year, it got me wondering how many extra ministries should a homemaker have outside the home.  I absolutely LOVE my church.  It is my family.  It is a little bi-polar and the needs are great, but they are also very loving and understanding.  I know whatever decision that God leads me to I will be supported.  If you are reading this and feel led to pray for me I would appreciate it.

Now for the too much information section of this post- contraception.  I would dearly love to be at home and have as many babies as God would provide, but I know my husband is otherwise inclined.  I respect that.  I understand that.  In all reality it wouldn't work out well when you look at our finances, debt, and transportation issues.  So I guess I just pray for acceptance in this area or a softened heart on my husbands part- either way- it is hard to live with this uncertainty as I approach the third year of having an IUD in place.

Lastly I had assumed wrongly that home education or education in general would be up for discussion in our family.  Well the truth is we send our children to public school.  I still struggle with this everyday while my husband's input has been to support teachers.  I am so torn in this area and try to express myself, but I guess it falls flat.  There are just a million things I want to teach my girls that I know the public school won't touch with a 50 foot pole or just don't have time or resources to teach.  This isn't about sheltering them.  This isn't about thinking they are getting a poor education.  This isn't about me being controlling.  In my perfect world my girls would have a tutor or small classroom setting for half the day and the other half would be me teaching them about moral character, God, homemaking, and missionaries.  I don't know exactly how to pray for this.  Prayer for support to homeschool?  or prayer to accept where we are right now?  or prayer to make a difference in the public school system?  or even prayer for something drastic that makes homeschool the best and only option?  I don't know, but I can't shut my mind off to the possibility. 

It all seems dramatic to me.  There are so many horrible things happening in the world and here I am blabbering about ministries, having more children, and homeschooling.  So I want to put this in perspective.  Here are my girls dressed up for career day- sadly no future homemaker but all with potential!!

   

Future: Author, Librarian, Journalist, or Poet

Future Artist

Future:  Doctor

Have a blessed day!  Sorry I had to unload some baggage for all to see.  Life can be tough and getting it out gracefully is cathartic.  What do you need prayer for?  I hope you find someone to bless you this week and that God will help all of us put it in perspective.

Updates on Reading HERE

My Reading List 2015 and Homemaking Snippets

This is my FAVORITE part of the New Year- writing out my reading list for the year.  Last year was so very random with two kids in school and adding child care to the mix plus being overwhelmed by all the things I wanted to read but having a very difficult time being realistic.  But this year will be so very different.  I am not reading fluff this year.  There is nothing wrong with these types of book but in my season and for my focus it requires something deeper and more challenging.  I got some help from The Thankful Homemaker in creating this list.  I decided to keep it to a realistic 1 book a month.  If I get a few extra in especially during the summer that will just be a bonus.  So here we go...

Ester Ried by Isabella Alden

The Ministry of Motherhood by Sally Clarkson

The Gospel Commission by Michael Horton

 The Great Divorce by C.S. Lewis

Twelve Ordinary Men by John MacArthur

Girls Gone Wise In A World Gone Wild by Mary A. Kassian

Knowing God by J.I. Packer

The Rare Jewel of Christian Contentment by Jeremiah Burroughs

For the Children's Sake by Susan Schaeffer Macaulay

Crazy Busy by Kevin DeYoung

Discipline: The Glad Surrender by Elisabeth Elliot

The Battle for the Beginning by John MacArthur

and/or- if it is Christmas Time I think I would really like to go through this book possibly as a family

O Come All Ye Faithful: Hymns of Adoration and Joy to Celebrate His Birth by John MacArthur and various others

Now that it is all in front me and out there for everyone to see I believe I will be able to stick with it.  Usually I write them down and end up deviating half way through- trying to make a change.  

Homemaking Snippet Update

• Made slow cooker bone broth for the first time, and pretty much stuck with the meal plan
• Started family devotions using God's Story and Me and made a family prayer bucket
• Today I signed up with the group Baby Steps to Healthy Living- this is a slight deviation from homemaking, but I am letting the Spirit lead- I will be reading from this Series
• Lastly, I am not sure if I want to add this or not but I just discovered so many resources and challenges here- it is a nice thought but I don't know if it is realistic.  

What are YOU  reading this year?  I always love to hear about what others are reading.  Have a great week!

Christian Homemaker

As I sit and reflect on my focus this year I want to make it very clear to all who see me, hear me, and read this that I am a Christian Homemaker.  It is all encompassing to me, to this year, to my life.  I will be reflecting and doing what the Bible says today in Haggai 1:5- Now, therefore, thus says the Lord of hosts: Consider your ways.  Today I will consider my ways.

The one thing I want to do this year to increase my enjoyment of God is to keep eternity in perspective.  I am already finding so much joy, freedom, and validity in this journey of homemaking.  I know I am going to hit rough patches, but I will ultimately know that I am where God wants me to be at this particular moment in time.

This year, I am going to ask God to give me time and an instrument.  To my human mind this seems impossible.  I have always wanted to play the violin.  I have basic knowledge of the piano.  I have not used this gift or the knowledge in some time.  I want to use it for His glory.  I don't own an instrument and I would seriously like to share a song or two this year in church.  So I am praying for time to practice at church or my own instrument to learn violin.

Making homemaking my focus will improve my families quality of life because the matriarch will not constantly be thinking- "Oh- I should be doing this!  Oh- I want join this reading group!  Oh- I am so behind on everything I need to unwind by play Candy Crush!"  These are the things I will say no to this year.  My family will have my time and undivided attention.

The spiritual discipline I want to make progress on this year is prayer.  I will do this by starting a prayer journal and with a Prayer Bucket for the kids.

The single biggest time waster in my life is the computer or my lack of self-control and self-discipline.  I can play Candy Crush for hours and refresh my Facebook page not just for hours but days.  It is certainly out of control and that is why I had to pick a focus.  I, now, constantly ask myself, "Is this helping me in my goal as a homemaker and keeper of the home?"  If the answer is no, I must walk away.

The most helpful way I can strengthen my church is show through my actions how truly blessing a homemaker can be.  I want to host a few homemaking activities or make meals for others.  I think this is the most practical way I can help my church at this time.

Although I can not think of a particular individual who I would like to pray for fervently this year I can think of a group of individuals I would love to see a wide sweeping revival of grace and love go through; and that would be for teachers and school administrators.  I wish I could narrow it down but my heart is burdened for many teachers to see the light of God's saving grace and shine that upon so many students.  I will be praying that God will bring to mind the person I will be praying for soon.

This year is ALREADY so much different then last year.  I can feel it.  By God's grace, I know where I stand.  I know what to do.  It will be different because I don't have to worry so much about what to focus on- God figured it out.  He will continue to figure it out when I hit the walls and wonder why is it so hard because I am anticipating those days, but now I know with certainty that I am doing what I am suppose to be doing.

I will expand on how I will improve my prayer life this year.  Our church is small but amazing.  Someone takes the time to write out many prayer requests on the back of our bulletins.  I started this a little bit last year but wasn't able to be very consistent.  But I am going to cut them out and put them in a bucket and during family devotions each of us will pull out one to pray for.  I have wanted to do this for a long time but have been so rushed with life that it never got far.  This will be a great blessing to my children to learn to pray for others.

Now we circle back to the main question- What single thing that you plan to do this year will matter most in ten years?  In, eternity?  The answer for me is this- Homemaking- Making 2015 the year it mattered most to take care of my home and family, to learn skills that may be frustrating but hopefully improve with time and practice, and sincerely seeing God in the laundry, the dirty dishes, and the messes that need to be cleaned up every day.  Yes, this WILL matter for eternity.    

What single thing that you plan to do this year will matter most in ten years? In eternity? - See more at: http://raisinghomemakers.com/2015/10-questions-to-help-you-consider-your-ways/comment-page-1/#comment-89404

What single thing that you plan to do this year will matter most in ten years? In eternity? - See more at: http://raisinghomemakers.com/2015/10-questions-to-help-you-consider-your-ways/comment-page-1/#comment-89404

What single thing that you plan to do this year will matter most in ten years? In eternity? - See more at: http://raisinghomemakers.com/2015/10-questions-to-help-you-consider-your-ways/comment-page-1/#comment-89404

Goodbye 2014...Hello 2015!

This is the first time I have truly been excited about the New Year.  I will tell you why near the end of this post.  But first let me reflect on what 2014 has meant to me and my family.  I give you my year in review. 

3 Words to Describe 2014:
1. SWEET
2. AWESOME
3. RANDOM  

Statement to Describe 2014:  I had to chose two.  In the words of my daughter, Hermione- "There are two kinds of sweet.  Things that are cute-able and things that are taste-able"  And in the words of The Lego movie, "Everything is awesome." 

Favorite pictures of me in 2014:

Favorite Songs of 2014:

Favorite TV Show:

Best Book Read:  it was more of a series I was introduced to in 2014, I read at least 6 of them

 

Best Movie (s)- I narrowed it down to 3.  

All about Me 2014:

A new talent I developed this year was:  being able to get rid of lice from 3 little girls heads- it took about a month and shelling out over $ 60 on special shampoo but was so worth it- Thank you Fairy Tales!   I also am now regularly changing a 3 year old's diaper- a talent I never wanted.  I also invented the Choosing Bucket this year which makes me talented in trying to keep peace and be productive.  

I would describe myself as: so so very random.  I could not focus in 2014.  I was all over the place.  I didn't have specific goals and my reading list was SO fluffy- I don't feel like I learned a whole lot.  

In 2014 I became more: well by the end of the year I become more priority driven and that was why I invented the choosing bucket because I don't like doing exactly the same thing every day but I know certain things HAVE to get done.  I put in the essentials and things I don't mind doing with the kids or things that have to get done with the kids (example: homework- bleck!) .  Especially with my new job taking care of another mother's child really forced me- in a good way- to focus and prioritize. 

World Events:

What world events happened this year? 

 

I only watched the news a handful of times and every time I did I cried- so that tells you about the state of our world right now.  There are so many sick and dying  There are so many without basic necessities.  It made me feel weak.  It made me feel powerless.  It made me feel sick and fall to my knees.  Prayer is needed for our world and at the very least that can start with me.  

The Ebola Crisis actually hit very close to home because one of our church's missionaries was at the front lines.  She is now officially TIMES person (s) of the year.  

ALS Bucket Challenges were had.  Isis was and still is big in the news.  I prayed for the Boko Harem and those fighting serious depression such as that which led to the suicide of Robin Williams.  Not a happy news year, but most news isn't happy- at least not what I can remember.  So maybe in 2015 I will try to look for the happy news where I can find it.  

What new inventions came out this year?

While this isn't usually on my radar I will direct you to a site that I found interesting on this subject- The 25 Best Inventions of 2014

My personal favorites are the action figures that empower girls- Iamelemental, the Microsoft Surface Pro 3, and the Coolest Cooler.  The invention that defines 2014- the selfie stick- enough said. 

Favorite Memory of the Year:  

Dating my husband again!  I found a website that has helped me be really intentional about hanging out, laughing, and communicating with my husband.  This was near the end of the year but still it was a very defining moment- our BINGO date!.  

Watching Hermione and Ariana really pick up on reading by themselves was very proud memory for me.  

I felt like I got to hang out with more grown ups this year, which I won't lie felt kinda nice.  I now have great memories of watching my husband graduate from Convergence program, Women's Camp at Tadmor, and Women's Retreat at Seakrest and hanging out two very good friends plus a Women's Bible Study to boot. 

Greatest Challenge of the Year:

Lucy, my youngest daughter, I have a feeling you will make every year challenging in different ways.  She just turned 3 and is stubborn, impatient, and bossy.  I love her craziness.  It keeps me on my toes, but this next year- a lot less sugar and TV and I think we may have a future leader on our hands.  

Also the lice were really challenging...those suckers need to die...

Next Year (2015): 

What are you most looking forward to for next year?

It has arrived!  Near the end of 2014 I began praying for what God would have me focus on in 2015.  I had narrowed it down to 5 things: Health (start running/eat super healthy), Homemaking (family focused/make my home a haven/learn a crafty skill), Mighty (career planning/finding ways to help outside the church/getting my geek on), Jane (old school literature/reading/writing/maybe try my hands on a novel), or Mom (church/volunteer/kid focused).  I put all the words in a jar and picked at random because I couldn't bare the thought of getting an overload of advice and I figured lots of things are done in the Bible by drawing straws so that is what I decided to do.  I know you are laughing at me and thinking I am crazy but I don't care.  This was really exciting for me and made me truly excited for the New Year....I will reveal what I picked after answering two more questions.  

Is there anything you are not looking forward to next year?

Working on paying off the dental bill- it is taking huge chunks of savings out and making me really depressed.

What are your goals for next year?

Two goals that are not focus driven are to save $1,000 dollars by the end of the year and to do as many things on The Dating Divas love calendars as possible. 

Now for the reveal:  What is Larissa Langsather going to focus on in 2015?

~Homemaking~

So there you have it.  Here are some potential and not necessarily limited to goals for this particular focus-

• Make as many home cooked meals as possible
• Make a meal or Bake for at least 4 families in 2015
• Family Meal Devotions
• Host Tea or Dinner Parties at least 4 times
• Learn a homemaking craft and complete at least one project:  cross stitch, canning, sewing, crotchet, or cake decorating were highest on the list of possible ideas
• Make my home a haven!!  

I will update my progress every Friday on the blog and it looks like I don't have to change too much around here since that WAS the original focus but it got all messed up when I tried to do too much and barely updated once a month let alone once a week.  I don't know how this will affect my Reading Lists but I have a lot of ebooks from the Homemaker Bundle that I have been meaning to read for a long time so that is where I will start.  

This is going to be a great year of homemaking.