Guest post for Homemaker's Challenge

  Hi Ladies- I have the privilege of writing for Homemaker's Challenge.  My post "The Art of Homemaking: Keeping a Cleaning Schedule" is up today.  Please take a stroll over there to visit. 

If you are visiting FROM Homaker's Challenge- you will find the printables HERE and HERE and read more about them HERE.
See you here back tomorrow as we'll discuss "expectancy."

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Manager of the Home- January printables

Good Morning Ladies!  Today I have January's printables for your "Manager of the Home" notebook.

Yesterday, I shared with you a little about my learning experience as a home maker.  I have learned that the longer that I am married, adding children to our family, life gets more complex!  Imperative for me to foster any kind of order to our home is executing the essentials of  ponder, prayer, prioritize, and plan.  Please click to download a short bible study that I have written on "Managing the Home."   This study will direct you into gain a biblical perspective of your home life.  After all, being a Christian homemaker is more than changing diapers an cleaning toilets.

If you have never used a home planner, you may be a little overwhelmed at first.  But soon I think that you will find it quite comforting to have your "brain in a binder" as someone has called it!  Everything is there for you to see and plan for (even the margin of the empty space of free time for Life's many unexpected interruptions.)  There are six different sheets for you to download for January's use.  Print them out, punch holes in them, and place in a three-ring notebook.  (I have found that Wal-mart sells these binders at a much cheaper price than the office supply stores.  You may also want to get a three-hole puncher as well.)

The pages are:

January's cover                       
Monthly Calendar
Monthly Planner
Week-at-a-Glance
Weekly Planner
Daily Sheets

When you first sit down with all of your pages, the planning may seem like a lot.  But with routine and use, the planner will be an effective tool for your home to flow smoothly.  Before the beginning of a new month I sit with my planner and write the number dates on the monthly calendar.  I add any known appointments or activities for that month.  I use the planner page (which I place facing my calendar page, having its holes punched on the opposite side of it) to write in ordinary tasks and ones specific for that month.  For example- This month I have written "Grandma's birthday dinner".   I will have "making Valentine's" on the monthly planning page for February.

After having done the monthly planning, I concentrate on the upcoming week.  I write general activities first, then I can see what open spaces of tine is available for extra things.  I also use the weekly planner.  This current week, I wrote on to call garage to make an appointment to have our car's oil changed.   Every Saturday or Sunday, I sit down for a few moments and look over the upcoming week.  This also provides a great tool for meal planning.  You will be able to see when you simply do not have time to make an involved dinner and perhaps want to do a crock-pot dish that day, etc.

Finally, the daily sheet.  After looking at the week, I write myself a daily sheet.  You will be surprised by how much little open time you have when you write down what are actually accomplishing in a single day!  Even folding one load of laundry and putting it away can take up to 20 minutes.  If you do only two loads a day that is 30-40 minutes of time!

Another way in which I use the planning sheets is to see where I can add activities that I do not usually get to do, but would like to.  For example, I like to make jewelry but have to find a place where I can fit that it somewhere in the schedule.  If I do not make time- it just does not happen.

So there you are.  A brief introduction.  To reiterate- this planner has saved my sanity!  I hope that it will be a blessing to you too!

"She looks well into the ways of her household,

She laughs at the time to come."

~Proverbs 31:27, 25

Yesterday there was some trouble with downloading the study.  The January printables I have placed in one folder.  When you click the link you should see a page that has all six titles of each pdf.  Click on that title- wait a second- and a page will appear with a "Download" button.  You will have to download each page at a time. (You should NOT have to log in or register)  PLEASE let me know if you are not able to do this.  I certainly want you to be able to access them!

As a "thank you" would you "like" LOV on the FB page?  There is a link on the right bar here.  And pass the word on to your friends; I want to bless others.

Have a great day and happy homemaking!

For January "Manager of the Home" free printables- click on the title pages above.

 

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Managers of the Home Study

  Hello to all. I am excited to share with you today something that I think could be life-changing for your home.

  I have had twenty plus years to grow at being a home-maker.  Not just a woman who lives in a house co-habitating with other members who share the same blood.  Nor simply a cook, or laundry washer, ironer, budgeter, shopper, chauffeur to children and teens.

  A maker of HOME.

   Four walls with a roof where love is fostered, creativity blossoms, dreams emerge, comforts laid, lessons learned.   Four walls that are beautified with generosity, appealing hues that set the ambiance of a cozy library or sunny kitchen.  A sanctuary from the world and a place of welcome with hospitality.

     So many areas that make a home.  So many areas to balance.  God made us women the managers of this multi-faceted responsibility; our brains are wired to think of different subjects simultaneously.  If you have ever confused or tired your husband by talking about the dress that you got on sale at the store, which will save you money to put away for Junior's lessons which reminds you that you have to call Jennifer because you need her to carpool with you tomorrow....you know just what I mean. 

   Womens' minds can think globally and in a detailed manner all of the same time.  Yet, even the most clear headed woman can benefit from a list.  You know the classic "To-Do" list.  I cannot remember a time when I did not use one.  Early in my marriage, I used post-it notes.  Then notebooks with pretty covers.  When I started to homeschool my children the daily tasks became more routine and complex.  I think that I would have forgotten to brush my teeth if I did not write it down!  Not really. But I probably would have forgotten to buy the frozen blueberries for a fruit crisp recipe or to order that present for Grandpa's birthday, if I did not write it down somewhere.

   In recent years my "to-do" list has developed into a Home-Manager Notebook.  The demands of having children whose ages span a decade having their own activities that accompany each differing age, their schedules, mine, my husbands, activities we would like to do together, appointments, etc. I found it essential to have a calendar with a planner together.  Though, I could not find a planner that was 1. pretty and 2. fitting to my personal needs.  Yes, both are important.  So through the years I have developed a planner of my own made up of a set of monthly sheets.

   Tomorrow I will post these printables for you to use.  They are for the month of January.  Please come back as I am sure you will love them!

   Today I want to share with a short bible study that I have written on managing your home.  Before tasks are written in their appropriate spot, I have found that there are some essentials that cannot be overlooked if I am to have a happy home.  (Meaning a home where Momma is happy because she is not over-stressed! And a well-planned home makes for an orderly, lovely home.)  Those essentials are pondering, prayer, prioritizing, and planning.

   This study, "Managers of the Home" is six pages in length and I encourage you to prayerfully use it over the next few days.  Pondering your family life, prayerfully asking for wisdom, prioritizing areas, and planning, helps you prepare your home for family life.  You will be able to confidentially say as the virtuous woman from Proverbs, "She looks well into the ways of her household and does not eat the bread of idleness....and she laughs at the time to come." (Prov. 31:27, 25.)

   Your home is a reflection of Him. I pray that my words will point you to Him.

    As a special "thank you", I ask that you would simply "Like" Ladies Of Virtue on the Face Book badge to the right and share LOV with your friends.

To download the study click here-Managers of the home.

Remember to come visit tomorrow for January's printables. 

~Nicol

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Blessed HOUSEwife

Oh dear housewife, do you know that you -yes, YOU- have the power to influence the world? 

For more on "housewives" read yesterday's a post below.

Today I want to encourage you concerning the most holy and sacred of vocations, that of Motherhood.  The poem here says so eloquently than my words are unable to paint.  The poem is over 100 years old written by a man.  When first published it was titled, "What Rules the World."

The Hand That Rocks The Cradle
Is The Hand That Rules The World

 Blessings on the hand of women!

                                                       Angels guard its strength and grace,
                                                            In the palace, cottage, hovel, 

                                                         Oh, no matter where the place;

                                                       Would that never storms assailed it,
                                                         Rainbows ever gently curled;
                                                        For the hand that rocks the cradle
                                                         Is the hand that rules the world.

Infancy's the tender fountain,

                                                           Power may with beauty flow,
                                                       Mother's first to guide the streamlets,
                                                       From them souls unresting grow--
                                                           Grow on for the good or evil,
                                                       Sunshine streamed or evil hurled;
                                                         For the hand that rocks the cradle
                                                         Is the hand that rules the world.

                                                      Woman, how divine your mission
                                                           Here upon our natal sod!
                                                   Keep, oh, keep the young heart open
                                                        Always to the breath of God!
    
                                                         All true trophies of the ages
                                                    Are from mother-love impearled;
                                                     For the hand that rocks the cradle
                                                       Is the hand that rules the world.
                                                     Blessings on the hand of women!

                                                      Fathers, sons, and daughters cry,
                                                      And the sacred song is mingled
                                                        With the worship in the sky--
                                                    Mingles where no tempest darkens,
                                                       Rainbows evermore are hurled;
                                                             
                                                        For the hand that rocks the cradle
                                                          Is the hand that rules the world. 

                                                                  published 1865

                                                   William Ross Wallace

Oh that our country would esteem Motherhood the same way!  Perhaps the morality of our culture would be so much for the better if that were so.  But we know.  And lest when dirty diapers, snotty noses, fights, and wining make you forget your sacred calling- look into the eyes of that dear one and consider the influence that you have upon that one life who will in turn influence countless people.

Print this poem out and keep it somewhere noticeable.

Have a great day -you house wife- who has the world in her hands.

Linking today with some great HOUSEwives~

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Housewife

Are you a house-wife?  Apparently, this can mean many different things to many different people.  Also, the compound word -housewife- can conger up just as many different visages.  What comes to your mind?

Housewife.

I usually do not get upset by what secular people say or write.  I expect them to have a secular view point, what else can they?  But I admit this article got me under the skin.  Perhaps because it is about a subject that crosses from our spiritual lives into the mundane and vice-versa.  And I am so passionate about this subject of HOUSEWIVES!

I was going to begin my long awaited study of Ladies Of Virtue (awaited by me, who has been procrastinating in writing it) but this article takes precedence.  If you would like, you can click to read it now (just remember to come back) or wait until after you finish this post. http://jobs.aol.com/articles/2011/11/14/the-evolution-of-the-housewife/?icid=maing-grid7%7Cmain5%7Cdl25%7Csec1_lnk3%7C112411


Volumes could very realistically be written discoursing the various aspects of the house wife.  I will try to be succinct.  You, Christian woman -who live in your house with your husband and perhaps children- are you content in your role?  Or would you agree with the secular media that you need liberated from the demeaning title of housewife?

Whatever the other work that we may do outside of the home, ministries in which we serve, or ventures that we partake of, scripture is clear that the home is the domain for the family with the wife being the overseer of its affairs.  (See Titus 2 and Proverbs 31.)

                                                       Home allows us women to flourish-

We are managers

-accountants
-administrators

-counselors

-coaches

-judges

-law makers

-nurses

-cooks

-cleaners

-chauffeurs

-teachers

-communicants
-creators

 to name some of our tasks and opportunities.

As for "wasting" my talents while being at home -I garden, paint, love decorating, and hand crafts (that I use to beautify my home); I have teaching opportunities through bible studies, book clubs, and homeschool co-ops; I do graphic art for the situations named above, plus for my own managing tools.  I love to plan a meal, prepare it, and show hospitality to those who enjoy those efforts. I write on this blog (from my home) reaching women all over the world.  My home is my realm where I can grow and flourish, not to mention providing that same disposable to others.

What are your talents and skills that you are using from home?

Dear Christian sister let us REVEL in our vocation of being a house wife.  It is God's wisdom to confound the wise.  Let us be HAPPY in our homes, not discontent and grumbling like the daughters of the world.  Let us not be ashamed to be called "housewife" for to the discerning that word is a definition with infinite possibilities.

Visit tomorrow to read about one of the most important opportunities that we have as house wives.
 

Linking today with Time-warp-wife.www.time-warp-wife.blogspot.com

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Homemaking Tips- Organizing- "Sort through your Recipes"

Do you do as I do and print out recipes from your favorite cooking sites?  Or scrawl the recipes on whatever scratch paper that you have at hand?  Do you collect cooking magazines or rip out recipes from Ladies magazines with the intention of trying them out someday?

Where do all of these recipes end up?  and how do you find them when you want to?

After a year of adding these mismatched papers and torn magazine pages to twenty-plus years of other favorite recipes, the assortment was overflowing and tumbling out of my Hoosier cabinet like Niagra Falls that could not be damned up.  I needed to get them organized so that I could find the recipe that I am in search of when I need it.

This week's tip is to sort through your recipes.

For twenty years I have had my recipes organized in two boxes: one for deserts and the other for entres. However, it was long ago that the recipe cards began to overflow these two little boxes.  I have so many now that when I open the door of my Hoosier cabinet where they are housed, the cards tumble out!

I had had the intention of doing this project since last winter and in my quest I have found that there are many ways recipe cards can be creatively stored.  With the renewed rage in cooking these days you should be able to find these kind of recipe holders in a wide variety.  I have found several recipe holders that are similar to photo albums, the kind that you could slip a photo (or recipe) in its own individual sleeve.  The other day I purchased one that can stand on its own with the recipe card sealed in plastic so that it will not get my messy-cook fly-aways on it.  I like the stand because my messy fingers always leave marks on the cards.  (Messy cooks are good cooks right?)  I am saving this one for cookie recipes.  

When I have a recipe card I use a metal reicipe card holder that I have acquired, this helps from me having to pick up the card so often. By the way I have bought an assortment of attractive blank recipe cards and will rewrite all of the ones covered in grease spots or the ones that I had printed out from the computer onto paper.  They will be much easier to find in this form that just papers sitting on a shelf.  Also, if you are going to take the time to rewrite the recipe, make sure it is one that you want to keep.  I have been sorting through and finally tossed into the garbage many reicipes that my family does not like, or I accumulated with the intention of trying (like Greek moussaka that I never did make).  I will categorize the recipes such as Breakfast, Appetizers, Soups, Salads, Entres: Beef, Poultry, Seafood, Deserts, Cookies, Drinks, and Holiday Specials. In all honesty this has been an ongoing, albeit quite relaxed summer project for me- but the progress is apparent and I appreciate my efforts when it is time to meal plan.   



I love to receive recipe cards in the giver's handwriting. When I pull the cards from their recipe box and begin to cook I immediately feel close and connected with the person that graciously shared their cooking secrets.  Some day (not this week!) I would like to create a recipe journal or recipe scrapbook of family recipes. I would like to give one to each of my daughters (and future daughters-in-law). But until I have time to undertake that project I would just like to organize my cards so that they are not overflowing in the boxes.



Look forward to the soon-coming Fall days when the chill in the air will bring a desire to fill your kitchen with the waft of sweet smelling baked goods and comfort foods and your recipes will be ready and waiting for use.

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Homemaking Tips, Part 5- "Organizing- Freezing for the Future"

"She laughs at the time to come..."

The Homemaking Tip for this week is to "freeze for the future".

I love this tip because it has given me the gift of time
 by cutting the time needed for regular dinner preparation.

                                            

Do you freeze or can?  If not here is a good tip to get you started without being too overwhelming.  When you are at your local produce market notice what they have on sale.  This time of year there is an abundance of garden vegetables and fruits.  Yesterday I purchased an assortment of brightly colored green and red peppers.  I will wash and dry them, then both dice and cut into strips.  They will go into a ziploc bag that is labeled (remember to do that as their appearance can be disguised after freezing).   Voile!  You have frozen-fresh tasting peppers for a future meal.   I have the conveneience when I cook chili, a Mexican dinner,  hot sausage sandwiches, meatloaf, or anything I want to siply take them out of the freezer. Vegetables with the nutrients sealed in and a fraction of the cost.  If you are feel bold (and you have enough freezer space) try freezing a year's worth.  The grocer may give you another discount if you purchase a box or more.

Another super tip that my Mother raves about is freezing tomatoes whole.  So much sipler than even canning them!  Wash and dry your tomatoes, cut out its "belly button" (you know, that spot where it is connected to the stem.  Does that have a name?  It's not a core?....) and place the WHOLE tomatoe into a freezer bag.  When you want to use them just rinse the tomatoes in warm running water and the skin will easily peel away!  It will be ready for any soup or stewed tomatoes recipe.

Today I am heading to my local store to purchase enough apples to make several dishes of Apple Crisp. Yum!  I prefer Macintosh; I like the added tartness and their soft consistency when baked.  I will wash, peel, core, and slice the apples then place enough in a gallon size freezer bag to save for another day.  Of course making a dish for tonight's dinner as well. *Another note- the "Crisp" part of the recipe can be made in large quantities and saved as  well.  Just omit the butter.   

It is not hard to have home-made, delicious food stuffs handy; it just takes a little planning.  Enjoy!

          "She is like the merchant ships; she brings her food from afar." ~Proverbs 31:14

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Homemaking Tips, Part 4- "Organizing- clean out your cupboards..."

Mother Hubbard had cupboards.... and I bet you do too.  Ones that are full.

The homemaking suggestion for this week is to clean out your refrigerator, freezer, and cupboards. 

 The tip for this week is really a great one to get an inventory of your food stuffs!  After you throw away outdated, stale, and spoiled food (I just through away a vegetable that was unrecognizable.) you will have an assessment of what you have left.  Then the next plan is to make menus using what you already have in your kitchen and pantry.

  Do you only purchase what you actually cook that week or month?  Or are you like me and tend to leave a turkey breast forgotten in the back of my freezer?  About once every season I like to go through my pantry and freezer and take stock....I then plan our meals to use everything up. 

 It is such a great feeling that the perishables are being consumed.  

I have a girlfriend that especially loves empty cupboards that she fills weekly.  Her frugality prompts her to only buy what she will use that week.  I am of the sort that if I see something on sale I grab a couple for future use.  Having two refrigerators/freezers plus a full size freezer lots of goods can get stored away.  However, I do try every season to go through my stuffs as I am suggesting to make sure everything gets rotated and consumed.  This week I found that I had five bottles of Chili sauce!  There is one particular chicken recipe that my family enjoys in which the chili sauce is crucial.  When I see that item in the grocery store I pick one bottle up so that I have it on hand if needed.  But I don't need five at once!  

(I also found 6 cans of mandarin oranges, three bottles of A1 sauce.  It is fine to stock up on items but it would take a while for our family to go through these.)   

So grab a notebook and pen and head to your kitchen.  Make a list of  what frozen meats that you have.  Then go to your cupboards and make a list of canned and dry goods that you use to make meals and desserts.  Use this list to plan your future meals. 
You will be so happy that your food stuffs are getting eaten! 

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Homemaking Tips- Organizing, Pt. 1

For these few weeks in August- Yes! I know that the month has just began but there will be no "lazy, hazy days of August" for us! We have a minivacation, birthdays, school lesson prep, and return to lessons!-  I thought I would post some Homemaking Tips in the area of "Organizing".  If you home educate your children (and have not already started lessons like some of my friends) and behave as I do then you are rushing around doing house projects that you are unable to complete all winter.

I actually started this "organizing" the beginning of the year working each Saturday, then had a long lull till these past few weeks.  "Going back to school" or as in the case of some of my children "going back to the dining table or couch with books" is a signal to "nest".  (Adding to this I will be going to school this year-college- if any of you are the slightest bit curious how I will still be pursuing homemaking as I enter the classroom with adults who could be my children, please let me know!!!  I am in a quandary about whether or not I will write about it.)  I try everything in my feminine skills to get the house in tip top shape: painting where chips have added to the artistic look of walls and doors, cleaning cob webs on ceiling fans, cleaning out the shed, garage, basement, attic, and everything between.  I have found that focusing on small steps- projects that I can accomplish in a few hours will bring great satisfaction instead of being overwhelmed as oft the case.

So today's tip is really fun and I hope that you try it for yourself!

This week sort through your make-up,

pitch out any old stuff.  There are various opinions as what constitutes "old".  These are the rules that I go by.  If it smells odd; pitch it.  If it is dry or flaky; pitch it.  If it is a color that you never wore, thinking that you might  (like the bright red lipstick saved for a special Valentine date with your dh) but never happened: give it away.

Now, some time this week go to a major department store that has cosmetic lines or a beauty store such as Ulta and have the sales consultant do your make-up for you.  These make-overs are free and you are not obligated to make a purchase.  You may just be pleasantly surprised by something they tried that made you look radiant.  Recently I purchased an eye product called "lemon-aid" from the Benefits line at Ulta.  I love it!  The creamy stuff is placed over your eye lid, brightening the eyes and makes them "pop"!

After your "make-over" you will be sure to leave feeling like a new, refreshed woman taking many new ideas and techniques with you.  It is really amazing how good you will feel with one small change, like a change of lip stick color.  

 

If you are "nesting" like me then you may not be able to take the time for a make-over.  At the very least try a new eye shadow or nail polish from where you shop.

Taking time for yourself in this way, you will feel the Happier Homemaker and your family will reap the benefits!

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