It's a gorgeous sunny day today. Really, this whole week is turning out to be one perfect day after another. Mid 70's with bright sunshine... THIS is what I love about the Pacific Northwest. :)

We're having cooked pinto beans for lunch, and dinner will be grilled chicken tacos (chicken, beans, lettuce, cheese, tomatoes, sour cream, and avocado on corn tortillas). I've been a little unmotivated in the cooking department lately... so instead of desperately trying to make nicer meals, I've been hanging out reading stories and doing crafts with the kids and Joshua comes home to grill for dinner. Or we eat something simple and cool. :)

I'm supposed to be sharing a new recipe today... or writing about my schedule... or telling you about my dentist appointment. "Supposed to" -- meaning according to my schedule. I think I'll have to wait until the kids are all in bed for something that requires that much concentration, though!

We have a lot of things yet to do this week... hair cuts, doctor visits, yard work, cleaning, laundry. When did life become so full of... work?! At any rate, I need to go do some... I'll be back later tonight. :)

I hate mornings when the kitchen is a disaster and I'm feeling 100% unmotivated to put forth the effort required to get things in order! (How is it possible for a home to require so much maintenance?!)

So if you watched my "kitchen tour" video and wished your kitchen was neat and tidy... this post is for you. :)

I took these videos a week ago, and today I'm feeling this same way. I don't know if it's the cold, drizzly weather, or just feeling worn out, but it sure would be nice to have an uninterrupted hour to clean the house... and then have it stay that way for a couple days. Just for once. :) I love my messy kids and busy life, but sometimes I feel like I'm spinning in circles! :)

So, to motivate myself... I took a video. And then worked really hard for a while... and took another video. :) Consider this your weekly off-topic post! ;)

Are you doing Spring Cleaning this year? (Or maybe Spring has already arrived where you live, and you've already done it!) I'm making note of things that need done and doing little bits here and there.

One thing I've done is washed the filters and parts for our vacuum cleaner. If I didn't already love this vacuum, I liked it even more after I washed the screens/filters, let them dry, and put it all back together. It's like brand new! Having a nice vacuum makes it easier to keep the floors clean, for sure. :) (We got our vacuum at Costco last year, and it includes extra hose/pipe/attachments for hard floors and upholstery. LOVE the hard floor attachment for the kitchen!)

The non-baked version of baked apple oatmeal: freshly cooked cinnamon oatmeal drizzled with maple syrup and a splash of milk, topped with apple chunks and walnuts.

The sun was shining so brightly, I had to take some pictures. Even though it was just oatmeal.

Yehoshua (6) drew this little guy for me. I love it, because it reminds me of him.

So, a sweet reader emailed me a chatty note this afternoon, and one of her comments was:

I noticed you bought bread. Your photos of your homemade bread look so yummy, I could not believe you bought bread.

I'm glad she noticed. :) I do love homemade whole wheat bread! I like most from-scratch things a lot better than the store versions. And many of these things -- from bagels to pita chips and everything in between -- are not hard to do.

But there are times... many times... when I have to make compromises. Needy children, an ill husband, or a needy ME, trying to balance home education, opening our home to others, and meeting all the "deadlines" life throws our way -- from doctor's appointments to filing taxes to paying bills. And more.

So much more than can be put into words on a screen.

Read more...

I'm not sure how much resolve I have right now, but I am feeling inspired and I'll take that for sure! :) The sun really is shining brightly today, and I have a couple more "sunshine in my kitchen" posts planned for this week. :) I feel a LOT better than I did just 4-6 weeks ago. HalleluYAH!! :)

My younger sister Bonnie came to visit us for 10 days in December, and we enjoyed every minute with her! She flew from cold and snowy Ohio to a cold and rainy Seattle, but the sun did peek out a few times during her visit... and she has a very "sunny" personality so it was as if she had brought sunshine with her! ;)

Having Bonnie here was like having an extra set of hands! We had dinner guests a couple evenings, took a couple days off to go out and do fun stuff (like thrift store shopping and actually going into Seattle), and had a number of days where we just stayed home and hung out. With Bonnie's help, the homeschooling, meals, cleaning, and basically everything went super smoothly and we had a blast. :)

Here is Eliyahu (4) and Ruth (2) drinking some kefir for breakfast, taken the first day Bonnie was here. Since Bonnie arrived late at night, we kept her arrival date a secret from the children (they just knew if was sometime "soon"), and they were surprised and delighted to wake up and find her at our house! :)

Knowing that Yehoshua (6) had wanted a violin for several years, Bonnie and Joshua and I pooled money together to get a 1/4 size violin for Yehoshua to start learning. We got the Franz Hoffmann Prelude violin outfit from Shar Music and it is a really nice Romanian-made violin for the price. I am a big believer in using quality instruments that can and will produce beautiful music, since the point of investing time and money into learning an instrument is to actually make beautiful music. :) Bonnie gave Yehoshua a number of violin lessons during her visit, and I am continuing his lessons now that she's gone.

Bonnie came here thinking that Ruth (2) would be the sweetest thing around, but little Moshe stole her heart! This was the second time Moshe got to meet/spend time with Bonnie, and they really hit it off! It probably helps that Moshe is napping better and generally in a pleasant mood... oh, and the toothy grins and kissable cheeks help too. ;)

We took a bus down to Seattle and then did some sightseeing, meeting up with Joshua when he got off work to get a ride back home. Bonnie had never been on a ferry, so we took the Seattle-Bremerton ferry for a fun adventure. It was a beautiful, sunny morning, and not too cold for December!

We enjoyed exploring at Pike Place Market, listening to live music, eating freshly-cooked doughnuts, sampling apples and pears, and generally just walking, walking, walking and taking in all the sights! :)

More "Seattle" posts (all with photos!):

Pike Place Market (and a whole lot more!)

Fun adventures in the Seattle area

Fun and frugal things to do in the Seattle-Tacoma area

Tips for frugal west coast living

Coming this week: (Yes, for real! I will be blogging!)

Berkey water filter giveaway! (Monday) Thanks to MoreThanAlive.com for hosting the giveaway of a Berkey Water Filter to a reader here!

Spiced Cranberry Apple Sauce recipe (finally!)

Kitchen Tip Tuesdays: TBA

Roasted Carrots and Potatoes recipe

Sunshine in my kitchen: TBA

I am really enjoying having a washable floor under our kitchen table! Joshua bought me some Lemon Pine Sol which I have been using to clean the floors and bathrooms. It had been years since I'd used Pine Sol, and I didn't even know there were different scents, but I love this lemon one!

A freshly mopped floor always makes me feel glad. The boys are old enough to fold up the chairs for me so that vacuuming and mopping is quick and easy. When we all work together, things start looking better quickly!

I'm also thankful for my kitchen appliances -- like the dishwasher and bread machine! When I took this picture, the dishwasher was cleaning our dishes and the bread machine was kneading some whole wheat bread.

Being able to take just a few minutes to load and/or start something and then have the machine finish the task is truly a blessing! My day and week goes so much better when I utilize appliances, like the bread machine, crock pot, and dishwasher, to their fullest extent. I've even tried a couple new crock pot recipes recently that we loved! I just have to remember to plan to DO THESE THINGS.

Smiley Ruth (2) has transformed this year from being a baby to being a little girl. When I call for kitchen helpers, she's the first to come running to clear the table or wash it!

When possible, Joshua's been providing me with several hours each week "to myself". Some of this time I've used for blogging (like right now!)... some has been for finally getting to some long-neglected task... and some has been used for planning. Planning what needs done for the week. Planning what meals we'll be eating. Mapping out on paper a routine, goals, and blessings.

I'm more productive in the mornings, but if I wake up without a "to do" list, I can end up wandering around aimlessly for hours. A list -- even an impossibly long one -- helps give me direction amid the craziness of energetic children. :)

What helps get your day off to a running start? :)

We got some organic Honeycrisp apples on sale at QFC for $0.99/lb! Joshua advised me to store them in the fridge. The fridge here is about 30% larger than our apartment's fridge was, so I have been enjoying getting to refrigerate "extra" stuff like that!

The super-cold, crisp, sweet apples were just amazing. I definitely should have bought more than 10 pounds. (What was I thinking? My children are little piggies!)

The easiest way to dress up fresh apple slices? Serve them with cream cheese apple dip. A quick 5 minutes is all it takes to make this dip, and it transforms regular old apples into a luxurious snack or dessert.

Thank you all for the sweet comments on my last post! I am so blessed by your encouraging words and prayers on my behalf. I wish I could reply to each one, but, time will not allow that at the moment. Please KNOW that your words are a blessing to me, regardless!

Some of you have suggested I may be dealing with postpartum depression, SAD, or some other underlying issue. I hesitate to self-diagnose, but I also hesitate going to a medical doctor for a diagnosis. I have not been stuck in deep, deep despair, but feel more like I'm just... losing the struggle to fight against the current -- "the current" being my expectations PLUS the constant interruptions that children bring.

When I mentioned my perfectionist tendencies regarding blogging, I didn't mean that I want to try to be (or look like) a perfect person in my blog. My struggle is with feeling like a "good" blogger updates regularly with good content, and thus if I can scarcely manage one meager post each week, I am a failure as a blogger and if I'm going to fail then I may as well just quit! I know that's not right, and I know that attitude won't help me accomplish more OR feel better!

Sunshine, exercise, omega 3's, B-vitamin and iron supplements, fresh bananas and avocados, quality (and quantity!) time with my husband daily, and regular time in God's Word are some of the things helping to pull me along.

And the blogging thing? Well! I truly have tons of photos and new recipes to share... but I think instead of expecting myself to have a perfectly-run blog where recipes are posted in-season and everything's just right, I'm giving myself permission to do things like... finally sharing my mom's pumpkin pie recipe even though Thanksgiving is over. :)

So... I'll be back tomorrow with the pumpkin pie recipe! :)

I haven't done much "just for fun" baking lately, but last week Yehoshua (6) and I made these Lemon Scones with Sour Lemon Glaze. It was a fun project for the two of us, and a nice diversion from the usual school work, laundry, and general housework.

We had fresh lemons that needed used, so while I grated the zest and juiced the lemons, Yehoshua mixed the ingredients for the dough. Scones really are simple to make, and these lemon ones are so soft, flaky, and tangy!

Thank you for your thoughts and prayers these past few weeks. I'm especially thankful for two things right now:

#1. Moshe (10 months) has been napping during the day without me holding him! (Yay for a bedroom for him with a door that can be closed!) This is such a relief to me, and thankfully he has gotten to this point with training but hardly any crying (and certainly no "crying it out").

Several months ago, I got a used copy of The No-Cry Sleep Solution from Amazon.com, and gleaned a number of gentle ways to encourage better sleeping habits for a baby. But, in our apartment Moshe's bed was in the living room and he was disturbed constantly by the noise and light. This house has 3 bedrooms and I am able to have children napping/resting in 2 bedrooms at one time WHILE still doing things with the ones who are up! I love that! :)

#2. I am doing better overall. God keeps sending bits of sunshine my way and I've been exercising, sleeping enough (but not too much), and eating well -- aside from the chocolate that Joshua has been giving me lately! ;) I don't feel like I'm "back to normal" yet, but then what is normal? Maybe this is it right now... as wearying as it is. But I'm still hoping and praying for the joy, peace, and exuberance I remember having.

I want a "good" day (e.g. a day where I wake up excited about getting out of bed) to be more than an occasional occurrence. How can a day seem dreary for no tangible reason? When nothing is wrong, everything is "right"... and yet something is not right still.

I really am thankful for the changes/improvement in the past month or so, though! Part of my absense in the online world has been due to my perfectionistic tendencies. When I am floundering (or what feels like it to me -- because of my expectations of myself) I want to just give up. I want to change those expectations, because if I wait until I can be a "perfect" blogger, I'll probably never blog again!! :)

So... here's to honest blogging from my little corner of the world. :)

We made this delicious whole-berry cranberry sauce for Thanksgiving this year. Simple, and such a fun treat! Cranberry sauce was always my favorite as a child. The bright red color and the tangy sweetness were irresistible! :) Cranberry Thanksgiving came to mind this week, and I'll have to find it at the library to read to the kids. I have such good memories of that book from childhood, as well! :)

I love it when November comes, and so many of my friends and acquaintances write or talk about all the things they're thankful for! :)

This month, I've composed (in my head) many such posts of my own during the day's happy moments. I wasn't able to sit down and actually share them here, though, and I've neglected to be thankful for THAT.

It's easy to be thankful for warm rays of sunshine, mugs of hot chai, white falling snow, or a baby's sweet laughter. Thankfulness even when the day slips away with "update blog" yet undone, as it has happened practically all month, and last month as well? :)

I know you'll forgive me for the lack of inspiration around here lately, and I appreciate that. My many good intentions have continued to slip through the cracks as I've struggled with balancing children and housework. I've struggled (but mostly SNUGGLED!!) with a baby who loves to sleep and nap ONLY in my arms. I've struggled with simply refusing to sit down and try to blog one-handed while holding a sleepy nursling, choosing instead to just take a nap with him, and then feeling guilty of laziness because I wasn't tired -- I was just tired of trying to get him to nap! I've struggled with fears (some real, some probably imaginary) and defeat. I'm realizing again (and again) that I am nothing without Yeshua.

I'm thankful for Joshua's guidance, understanding, and patience with my weaknesses. So many, MANY days he has stepped in to share the load of work that I would normally have taken care of while he was away at work. He hasn't complained, and yet continues to thank me for, well, I guess just for being me! And that's a really awesome, encouraging, NEEDED thing sometimes. :)

I feel like this has been an aimless blog entry... so I'll summarize. I've been mildly overwhelmed and weary for months. I hope and pray that I am on the road to recovery, with God's help. Pray for me if you will.

The thought of turning on the computer has been overwhelming to me. We've had internet access for the past week, but I couldn't bring myself to turn it on and try to "catch up". Instead, I went to bed on time every night, and gave the kids my full attention all day. I wish I could do more things well, instead of feeling like I'm barely hanging on at times. But, as long as I'm hanging on to Yeshua and my family, those other things really don't matter...

We moved a week ago already, but the work involved still hasn't ended. Moving is just exhausting and disorienting to me. I do think we're nearing the end and I am so, SO ready to get back on track with regular homeschooling and a good daily routine for the children and myself. :)

I'm happy to say "good bye" to apartment life. I learned some things about contentment while there, but I'm still very much God's work-in-progress. "Things" will not bring me lasting happiness, so why am I still surprised when the same human emotions surface yet again?

We had the nicest October. Cool, but sunny. Finally! I waited all summer for sun like that. ;) It's turned rainy again, but this house has about 4 times as many windows as our apartment, making dark days seem less so. :)

I have an awesome husband and precious children, and I am so undeserving of them.

I had to make, and I do mean MAKE myself plug in my computer and write this post. I am planning, Yahweh willing, to post more regularly now that things are less hectic.

I just feel so... drained. I need Yeshua's living water; I am nothing without Him!