I Think I Deserve This

I am a mother of boys............ALL boys.

There are no little pink hair bows by my bathroom sink.

There are sometimes rocks, and the occasional frog, but no pink.

There is lots of muscle showing and wrestling that goes on at my house.

There is bloodshed and tears.

There are lots of holes in the knees of jeans.

There are tigers, and wolves, and creepy things in the dark.

If you walk around a corner--brace yourself--because someone will jump out and yell boo!

There are long discussions about motors and horsepower and many things that make my eyes cross.

Oh, and this morning there were Indian names.

Everyone who could talk was announcing what their "Indian name" was.

The conversation ended when one blond haired blue eyed boy stated loudly

"My Indian name is Squatting Dog!"

Oh help!!!!

Does anyone have any cute little ladylike girls that I can borrow for the day?

Sunset Over The Farm

Sunset on Saturday night.

This farm is about a quarter mile away from us.

The clouds make me think of a water color painting.

What's For Breakfast

I haven't posted a recipe for a long time.  Not because I quit cooking, but there are so many good food blogs out there, and I figured I can't really compete with them. 

This recipe fits my criteria for being easy to make, but there are some hard-to-find ingredients.

  We have a bulk food store near our home, and that would probably be the best place to find the flax seed and pumpkin seed. 

If you use salted seeds or nuts you may want to eliminate the teaspoon of salt.

Almond Peanut Butter Granola

4 cups quick oats                         1/4 cup butter  

1/2 cup coconut                           1/4 cup olive oil

1/2 cup sunflower seeds                1/4 cup crunchy peanut butter

1/2 cup slivered almonds               1/4 cup honey

1/4 cup flax seed                           1/4 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup sesame seed                      1 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup pumpkin seed                     2 teaspoons water
                          
                                                       2 teaspoons vanilla

Toss the first seven ingredients together in a bowl.  Mix the rest of the ingredients in a small saucepan and heat just until the butter, and peanut butter melt.  Stir the two mixtures together, and spread on a cookie sheet or jelly roll pan patting lightly.  Bake at 325 degrees for about 20-25 minutes.  Cool, and break apart. 
Store in an air-tight container.

A New Goal continued

A couple days ago I posted the first part of this series.   If you haven't read it yet go here. 


I've really enjoyed hearing from you about how you handle drop-in company, and also hearing that a lot of you have had experience with drop-in company at very inconvenient times.

Our lives are very busy right now.  I home school our two boys, and we are foster parents to two younger boys.  My husband drives truck during the "non-snow" months and as a result is gone for some very long hours during the summer.  All of these things make the "hermit" in me want to hunker down in the winter, lock my doors and refuse to answer my phone. 

However, this brings me to an important point about having visitors in my home.  Most of the time when I do have company I am the one who ends up feeling blessed by it, and the more I think about it isn't that really the point?

Having people into your home shouldn't be about impressing them with our beautiful home, or our astounding cooking skills.  It's about fellowship. 

People need each other.  I personally am a better person because of the people in my life.  They encourage me, build me up, and spur me on to try harder.

Which brings me to my second point.

~~~~~~

Fellowship is the Reason To Have Company

~~~~~~

Based on the title of this series you might assume that I set some kind of goal or challenge for myself regarding having people in my home.  I have!

Every week I am trying to do one hospitable activity.  Whether it is having company over for a meal or coffee, or just taking a busy mom a frozen meal.  This is a good challenge for me because it keeps me from slipping into the habit of thinking that I don't have time.

Finally, there is one aspect of having company that I haven't addressed, but got some comments about last time.

~~~~~~

 There are seasons in our lives when having company in our home is not possible. 

~~~~~~

 Right after we got our two little foster boys I struggled to make it through each day, and having company over for a meal would have thrown me completely over the edge.

  I don't think there is anything wrong with saying "no" if someone wants to come visit.  Our family should come first, and there is a polite way to decline.

The reason for writing this article stemmed from some drop-in company that we had, and while I'm not  advocating stopping in at someone's  home without calling it does happen once in a while. 

 The way that I've decided to handle this particular situation is to just keep doing what I was doing and visit while I work.  For example, if I'm folding a load of clothes I can chat while I do that.  Maybe some would consider this rude, but I simply view it as them stopping while I'm "on the clock" and I can talk and work at the same time.

One final thought, if you are struggling to feel calm and collected about having company in your home the best way to combat that is "practice."  I've noticed the more often I have company--the easier it gets.



Raindrops In The Fog

FOG

by: Carl Sandburg (1878-1967)

HE fog comes

on little cat feet.

 

It sits looking

over harbor and city

on silent haunches

and then moves on.

A New Goal

Confession, one thing that I do not "do" well is have company.

What brought this glaringly to my attention was that we had several different groups of "drop in" company over a period of about 4 days. 

To say that I did not handle it graciously would be an understatement.  The company was an intrusion on my well-ordered day, and it frustrated me.

 My attitude wasn't very kind, or neighborly.  I hope the company couldn't tell, but I was disturbed to find out that my husband could.

So, I've been thinking and praying about how I can avoid a repeat of this situation.

My personality does best with a little preparation to deflect stressful situations.  So, my first order of business is......

~~~~~~

 Be prepared for company.

~~~~~~

I've watched my mother-in-law put together meals for a crowd with very little warning, and some of her advice has always been "have some easy meals on hand."

You can do this a number of different ways.  By keeping some convenience foods in your pantry or freezer you will be able to put together a casserole or pot of soup within minutes. 

Another way is to make double of what you are feeding your family and freeze the second pan.  I've done this quite a bit lately, and it also helps me when I have a rough day and need an "easy out" for supper.

A third way that I can be prepared is to simply relax about my home and not worry so much about what people think of it.  There are four children and two adults who live here, and it looks like it.  Most of the company that comes to our house has children too, and should understand.

To be continued

Now, I want to hear how you practice hospitality at your house.  Do you have some tricks or strategies that work for you?

 

Financial Advice

Don't put all your eggs in one basket.

(Especially if it's a laundry basket.)


Can you guess how many dozen eggs that is?


Thanks to all of you for guessing!

It made my day to get so many comments!

It was sixteen dozen eggs!!!