Pioneer Woman at Heart

We have all been sick these last few days.  We have been soothing sore throats with hot teas. Before I became worse, or had a house full of sick ones, I was able to crochet a new dishcloth pattern.  I used scrap Christmas colors for next Christmas. And, crocheted a simple (sc, ch1, sk 1 st, sc) scarf for one of the kids, with yarn I had on hand.  I also cranked out a rough draft article. My husband, even though it was not in the spending budget, allowed my 11 year-old to pick out yarn for her crocheted, hope chest blanket.   What is so amazing, is that she picked 2 yarn colors I have leftover from another blanket (she had no idea), and only one additional color to buy.  I decided, since I am not feeling so good, to use the same pattern as the scraf, and I created this rotation of colors on my own.  I will edge it in orchid when it is completed. Thankfully, my son ran errands, and is helping around the house, because I am still sick.  Two ...

What inspires you to start and finish cleaning your home?  When I write, I have a few muses that pump my thoughts with ideas.  When I clean, I typically have music on.   My kids are motivated to clean if they are allowed to have a friend over (house rule: you invite, you clean).  Prayer and inspirational quotes are also motivating.  Today, I was motivated by a note my daughter left me.  We often "noter" each other and it inspires up to get through the day with a positive attitude.  I'll add a photo later for you to see the note she left on my bed this morning. Yesterday, believe it or not, I was so tired and stressed, I actually stopped everything and perched myself on the couch.  Only a few minutes later, I was snuggled up with one dog and sleeping.  I am not one to nap, but I woke up revived and ready to start dinner.  Amazing how a little break can help you feel. When you are under stress and you feel you are at your limit , rea...

Here is a dishcloth I received in a dishcloth swap.  I was also tickled to receive a surprise, or two, of a notepad and an ornament.  How cool is that?

If your family is watching every penny spent, then you are like our family.  We have noticed that dry dog food has caused one of our dogs to become slightly overweight.  Even though they are walked 3 or more times a day and are taken out to play fetch, and run and run and run.....one of them remains a bit overweight. My daughter, after she participated in a job shadow at our local veterinarian, found out that we can simply replace 1/2 of our dog's food serving with vegetables, such as peas and carrots. We not only noticed a healthier dog, but found out that the other dogs were sneaking over to his food bowl and eating the peas too.  We have reduced our pet food costs, and proved our pets with a healthier diet.  We grew peas and carrots in the garden last year, and plan to grow more, now that our pets are enjoying our homegrown foods as well.

I have a child home sick today.  Although I know I need to wash laundry, hang it outside, vacuum, sweep the kitchen, wash leftover dishes, feed animals, and start mass cleaning on my bedroom, I know I need to tend to my child.  Did I mention my writing time also? I think the hardest part women at home have, is putting everything aside and putting full, and complete attention, to a child.  When they are sick, it's easier, because our instincts are to care for our children, but what about other days? Creating better relationships with our children is so important, especially now that the media provides easy access to areas on the Internet, television, and cell phones that kids should not be exposed to.   Even being in school can be a place where a child learns or sees things they should be prepared to say "no" to. Kids often reflect on their parents behavior as well.   I realized that when my 9 year-old came home from school one day.  She sai...

I finally finished my 16 year-old's blanket.  She is soon to turn 17 and it will be part of her hope chest.  However, because the upstairs is not heated, she is getting her blanket today. Here is a close up of the stitching  I have one more child to crochet a blanket for, and then I can start on a bedspread for my own bed.  I just need to decide on pattern and color.

My largest crock pot will cook up 3 pounds of dry black beans nicely.  For my family, I bake them up with chopped onions, salt and pepper.  Once these are baked (pre-soaked the night before) I cool them.  They are frozen for future meals.  Some may end up in tonight's dinner.  We are having a lot of fun searching out healthier meals using dry beans.  We recently used the last of the black beans I had in the freezer. Yesterday, we made Pumpkin Black Bean Soup, and found it delicious.  It's got a spicy~sweet combo going on.  We will be keeping that recipe.  Although the recipe calls for canned tomatoes, I dumped in a quart sized bag of tomatoes I had frozen from last summer's garden.  I skipped the sour cream, and heavy cream.  I simply used 1 cup of organic milk.  For the chicken broth, I found organic, free range chicken broth on clearance for $1.49 for 4 cups (or you could make your own). Here are other recipes, either f...