Marriage Moment-Date Night

Focus on the Family is sponsoring a “Date Night Challenge”.  The idea is to encourage married couples to, as frequently as possible, have a date night.  This is meant to strengthen marriages and in turn strengthen families.  I am all for this.  I know that the dates my husband and I have, thanks to our older children, have bonded is together in a strong and special way.  I think that our older children know this and that is why they offer to watch the little ones for us. 

 

Not everyone has such a large gap in their children’s ages in order to have built in babysitters.  When Allie and Zachary, our older two, were little we didn’t have that either  So, we had to create our own way of having a date.

 

 

One way that you can plan it, is to  have a “Day-t night”.  When our kids were small, up till about 7-8 years old, we would have a nap or rest time for them.  They would go into their rooms for 1- 1 1/2 hours and we would have our “Day-t”.  We would watch a movie, eat a meal together, or maybe even a Sunday afternoon nap.

 

Another idea is a “late night date night”.  Again, when the kids were small till they were about 10-11 years old, we would put them to bed by 8:00- 8:30pm and that would be our time together.

 

 

I hear so many parents say that they can’t get their children to nap or they can’t get then to bed before 10pm.  But I tell you it is so worth the struggle to really put forth the effort.  Once they realize that you expect it, then it just comes natural.  We always expected our children to follow those rules, yes for selfish reasons, but our children now have parents whose marriage is solid and has stood the test of time.  That is a cliché, but it is so true, time will test your marriage.   Marriages become dull and mundane when they aren’t revived and refreshed often, by that intimate time alone together to continue that memory of why you fell in love.

 

I heard something yesterday on the radio about marriage.  The strength of a marriage doesn’t come from big events, like marriage conferences or weekend getaways.  It comes from the daily and weekly moments that we set aside for each other. 

I hope that you can make time for a date with your hubby really soon.

 

Jeannie

 

Goodies made by Allie "Doughnut Muffins" and a Link up

These muffins were so good.  What a cool combination!  Doughnuts and Muffins!

She found these on Pinterest which lead her to DeliciouslyDeclassified

MUFFINS

• 1/4 cup butter, room temp
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1/3 cup brown sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp baking soda
• 3/4 tsp nutmeg
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 3/4 tsp salt
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 cup milk

GLAZE

• 3 tbsp butter, melted
• 1 cup confectioners’ sugar, sifted
• 3/4 tsp vanilla
• 2 tbsp hot water

HOW TO MAKE IT

MUFFINS

• Lightly grease a standard muffin tin. Or line with 12 paper muffin cups, and grease the cups with non-stick vegetable oil spray; this will ensure that they peel off the muffins nicely
• In a medium-sized mixing bowl, cream together the butter, vegetable oil, and sugars till smooth
• Add the eggs, beating to combine
• Stir in the baking powder, baking soda, nutmeg, cinnamon, salt, and vanilla
• Stir the flour into the butter mixture alternately with the milk, beginning and ending with the flour and making sure everything is thoroughly combined
• Spoon the batter evenly into the prepared pan, filling the cups nearly full
• I used an ice cream scooper, which helps you keep all the muffins the same size
• Bake the muffins at 425°F for 15 to 17 minutes, or until they’re a pale golden brown and a cake tester inserted into the middle of one of the center muffins comes out clean

GLAZE

• In a medium bowl, prepare the glaze by mixing together the melted butter, confectioners’ sugar, vanilla and water
• Whisk until smooth
• When the muffins have cooled slightly, dip the muffin crown into the glaze and allow the glaze to harden. I strongly recommend going for another dip in the glaze – after all, this is the best part and the double dip ensures that you’ve got a good solid coat on there
• Serve warm, or cool on a rack and wrap airtight
• Muffins will keep at room temperature for about a day.

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Charity never faileth: but whether there be prophecies, they shall fail; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away. - 1 Corinthians 13:8 (KJV)

Purposeful Parenting

Don’t you love how God puts things together.   A friend of mine told me something last night and then this morning I ran across a verse that confirmed or at least backed it up.

Psalm 1:1

Blessed is the man who does not walk in the council of the wicked, or stands in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of the mockers.

Last night a friend was telling me about a father she knows quite well.  The father has a son that is graduating High School and wants to go into the Marines.  The father told him he would fully support that if he would just wait.  The Father’s thinking is that right now his son is under the headship of godly council, his fathers.  If the son were to sign up for the Marines right now, he feels that he would be under the council of the wicked.  You see the man knows who the boys Commander and Chief would be and what that Commander and Chief, our President stands for.  The morals of the boys new headship would not at all line up with the morals of the father. 

This really made me start to think.  God has been working on me about becoming a more purposeful parent.  Things like what the Man told his son never occur to me.  I probably would never have put that together.  Just like in reading the 5 love languages with our small group.  Some of the things that we have come across have really made me think about what kind of mother I am and what kind of mother God and I want me to become.














All of this has made me stop and consider how I am going to parent from now on.  I want to become a more Purposeful Parent.

Jeannie

Healthy Lunch List

I just ran across a great list of lunch ideas, that are healthy and tasty for both adults and children.  I usually end up in a rut for lunches, making the same things week after week.  This list was great when I was menu planning today.  I found it over at a site that I have really started liking.  Heavenly Homemakers.com .



She has so many useful things to read, especially on food.  You can go Here to find the printable list.  I have it hanging in my kitchen so that I can get ideas in an instant.

This was one of my favorites from the list.


Sloppy Corn Muffins

Isn’t that creative!  I think my kids are going to love this.  I will let you know.

Jeannie

2Better Tuesday Link up #2 And Goodies by Allie- Peanut Butter Cake

I have another great recipe for you that my daughter Allie found and made.  This one, at first I thought was so strange, but I loved it.  She found this one at: Tastykitchen.com

Ingredients

• FOR THE SHEET CAKE:
• 2 cups Sugar
• 2 cups All-purpose Flour
• 2 whole Large Eggs
• 1 teaspoon Baking Soda
• 1 cup Sour Cream
• ⅔ cups Creamy Peanut Butter
• 1 cup Butter
• 1 cup Water
• FOR THE PEANUT BUTTER FROSTING:
• ½ cups Butter
• ⅔ cups Creamy Peanut Butter
• 6 Tablespoons Milk
• 2-½ cups Powdered Sugar
• 1 teaspoon Vanilla

Preparation Instructions

Preheat oven to 400ºF.
For the cake: In a bowl combine the sugar and flour. In a separate bowl (I used my mixer bowl) mix eggs, baking soda, and sour cream well. Set aside. In a small saucepan combine peanut butter, butter, and water. Bring to a boil. Stir the boiled peanut butter mixture into the flour mixture, then add to the sour cream mixture. Pour into an ungreased 15×10 inch sheet/jellyroll type pan. Bake 20 minutes or until done. Cake is done when a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean.

For the frosting: Combine the butter, peanut butter, and milk in a saucepan. Bring to a boil stirring constantly. Add the powdered sugar and mix well. Let the frosting cool for a few minutes, then add vanilla. The frosting will be thick; mix well. Pour over cake while both are still warm. Let cool, then serve.

Allie did not make this as a sheet cake, it was made in a 9x13 pan.  It was so moist and believe it or not light tasting.  I think that is what I liked best about it, its lightness.  It was not a heavy, rich cake. 

I hope you enjoy!

Feel free to link up about our prayer challenge or with any recipes or inspiration that you have for this week.

Jeannie

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Marriage Moment- Why don’t we need a break?

The other day we were watching Little House on the Prairie, the episode was about The Olesons.  They were having marriage trouble.  Nels the husband was feeling taken for granted and from the looks of things I would agree with him.  So, Nels decided to start a business that involved travel to get a break from his ungrateful family.  While gone he stayed in the boarding house of a lovely young single woman and started to fall for her.  But then he was convicted and returned to his wife who then was missing him and acted more appreciative. 


(We are not in a bar, it is a bowling alley.  This was at Christmas)

During that show, Isabella said “how come you and Daddy don’t need a break”, meaning from each other.  I told her it was because Daddy and I take care of each other, we try not to take advantage of the other and we also try to make the other feel special. 

So, many marriages break apart because of selfishness.  If we are looking out for the others best interest in all that we do, we will not push each other away.  Instead, we will draw each other closer.  This is not just my idea, I can’t take credit for it.  I got this straight out of the Bible, Ephesians 5:21-33.  These verses say it all. 

Think of something special that you can do for your hubby today.  Make him feel appreciated.

Jeannie

Couponing Again

I have been an off and on Couponer for years.  For the last year I have just not wanted to do it.  I knew that I should but never felt like I have had the time. 
This last few weeks we have been running out of food before the 2 weeks is up.  So, I have decided to get back to it.  Last night I printed my coupons from Coupons.com and today I will take a look at the Target coupons.  Target is probably the store I got the best deals.  They have their coupons that you can stack with the Manufacturers coupons for extra savings. 


This time I think I am going to focus more on just getting the things that we actually need that week and not stockpiling 10 bottles of Ketchup that we will need 2 years to use up.  I know that some say that stockpiling is the way to go but it just didn’t work for our family.  I will keep you all updated on how this works, if it does.
 
By the way don’t you love these little carts.  We get one and Bella will push Jacob in it.  He sits funny in the back but, it keeps him out of the big cart and out of everyone’s way.  Sometimes they will just help me shop.  Jacob walks along and fills up the two carts, mine and theirs. 

Grocery shopping boredom buster for kids.  Have them count how many items you are buying.  For our 100th day of Homeschooling, we counted to make sure that we bought 100 things.  You would be surprised to see how fast that happens.

Jeannie

Goodies Made By Allie Series-Pancakes

I am starting a series of all of the goodies that my daughter Allie has been making lately.  We have all gained about 5 pounds but you know I have some great recipes to share with you. 

The first one is what I was served on Mother’s day morning.  Pancakes-not just any pancakes but they are called “The Best Pancakes Ever”.  I think I agree with that statement.  I have been making a recipe for years and I am going to switch it up. 

First, I want to tell you my Mother’s day morning story.  I would love to hear your too!  We have a tradition that on Mother’s and Father’s day the kids and the other parent wake up early and sneak down and make a fancy breakfast for that celebration parent.  This year Isabella, who is in the hand bell choir, was preforming at our church at 8:00am on Mother’s day.  So, of course we needed to be there even earlier than that.  I waited and waited up in my bed for them to come and get me until finally I got up and started to get ready for church,  the little ones finally came running to find there mom at the top of the stairs just waiting.  The reason I was waiting is because now we had 30 minutes until we had to have Bella to the church.

So, I had to scarf down these delicious pancakes that were accompanied by Cheesy eggs and muffins.

Next time we make these I will eat them slowly and enjoy them.

Here we go:

Allie found this recipe on Chewonthatblog.com


The Best Pancakes Ever
Looking for that pancake with the perfect texture and taste? Look no further! Not to mention, these have chocolate chips and strawberries in them!
Ingredients
3 C .flour
6 Tbs. sugar
6 tsp. baking powder
1 1/2 tsp. salt
3 lg. beaten eggs
6 Tbs. oil
milk – enough to make pourable – at least 2 1/4 C.
Mix ins:
chocolate chips
chopped strawberries
Directions
Combine dry ingredients in a large bowl. Add wet ingredients. Mix in enough milk to make the batter pourable.
Heat oil or margarine on pancake griddle. Add a ladleful of pancake batter. Throw in toppings such as chocolate chips and chopped strawberries. Heat each pancake 1-2 minutes until golden brown, flip and let the other side become golden brown. Serve.

She did not use the mix ins that were suggested.  Also, a funny thing, Allie was explaining the recipe to me and said that she put in 6 teaspoons of baking soda.  I said, are you sure it was not powder and she was positive.  Sure enough she used baking soda.  But they turned out fine.  In fact they were the Best Ever.  Hope you enjoy!

Jeannie

2 Better Tuesday Link Up!!

Last Tuesday I presented a prayer challenge.  The challenge was to wake up 30 minutes early one morning a week and spend that time in silent prayer, just listening for the voice of God.

So, how did you do?

I also mentioned that I would have my very first link up starting today so that you can tell us all about your silent time.  This link up can also be used just to link up and say “hey!” as well. 



Welcome to 2 better Tuesdays!!

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Happy Mothers Day!!!

I hope you all have a fabulous Mother's Day.  I know I will, we are finishing my garden today.  I will show you pictures this week.   Enjoy your day and I will talk to you in a day or two.  Here are the four people who make me a very happy Mamma.

Jeannie

Prayer Challenge

A little over a week ago, I told you about the trip to a youth conference I attended with the youth from our church. 

I also mentioned that I would have a prayer challenge for us to do.  I wanted to make sure that I did it at least once before I presented the idea to you. 

So, here is the challenge:

To wake up 30 minutes earlier one day a week and spend that time, not in the bible, not reading a book, not doing laundry, but in total silence, waiting on the Lord.  Now, if you do not have a newborn this should be attainable for most of us.

In our family room, where there is no TV, we have a wall writing.  I love what it says!


Let us be silent that we may hear the whispers of God.

That is my challenge to you and to myself.  To get up at a time when no one in the house is awake and just be silent, waiting on God to speak to us.  I suggest to have a journal in hand just incase you like what he has to say and you want to write it down, or if he puts something on your heart to pray. 

I am going to do a linky party on this next Tuesday.  So, some on back here and link your post about the prayer challenge here.

Here is my button:

The rope in the button relates to the verse

In Ecclesiastes:“Two are better than one, because they have a good
return on their work: If one falls down, his friend can help him up. But pity the man who falls and has no one to help him up! Also, if two lie down together, they will keep warm. But how can one keep warm alone? Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken."

When we don’t have each other and God then we become as weak as the fraying rope above.

Jeannie

Review of the “DIY Citrus cleaner”

A few weeks ago, I posted a citrus cleaner that I found on The Prairie Homestead.  I told you that I would give it a try and let you know. 
 
This is what it looked like in the jar.  I think this is her picture, but mine looked just the same.  I let it sit for 3 weeks.  Then I did as the instructions told me.  I strained the peels out and diluted the liquid with an equal amount of water. 

I have to say that I like it.  I went around right that minute and tried it on our countertop and the wood around the house.  I really like the way it acts on wood.  The oils from the orange peels leave a nice shine on the wood.

We have wood windows in our house and we have always had trouble with them getting mold on them in the winter.  This cleaner was just the stuff to clean up the windows.  Just yesterday I went around to all of the upstairs windows, where it seems to be the worst, and cleaned them all up.  Here is a picture of my kitchen window after using it.






I give this one a thumbs up.  It was super easy to make and easy to use.  Thank you to The Prairie Homestead for the post.

Jeannie

How do you get connected?

This weekend I went on my first youth conference as an adult.  My teens have gone for years, but having little ones also, has made it difficult for me attend.
I had a blast,  I really didn’t realize how much I would enjoy the kids.  I love mine, but normally get irritated by others.  I think that God is changing my heart.

The theme of the the conference was “Connected”.  The speaker taught them all about staying connected to God, through prayer and about how that is as essential to our life, as plugging in our ipad is to its use.  If you don’t plug in the pad you have no power when you need it.  If we don’t plug into God, through prayer, we also won’t have the power when we need it.

It was so amazing, through the whole weekend the kids and leaders did 6 hours of prayer.  Not once did the kids complain or get tired of doing it.  One speaker said “We can bring in the best speakers and the best bands but nothing can change your hearts like God can through the power of prayer”.
Isn’t that so true.  We can talk and talk but only God can change the hearts of those we love.  I am going to set up a weekly time at our church for the kids to come as they are and have a quiet place to pray, starting this week. 

God also convicted me on my prayer life.  I pray almost constantly, daily but I don’t spend very much time waiting on the Lord.  I normally do all of the talking.  So, I am going to, next week present a prayer challenge for you all to join me in.  More details on that later.  But for now I just encourage all of you to take a look at your prayer life.  How well are you connected to the King of the Universe?

Cornbread Salad

 

I was just about ready to “pin” this recipe on Pinterest but it looked to good to just “pin”.

I love cornbread and love, love, love a great salad.  So, there you go, two greats put together.

I found this recipe over at one of my new Favorites

Country Momma Cooks

• 3 c. left over cornbread(cut into small pieces)
• 1-15 oz can of kidney beans(rinsed and drained)
• 1-15 oz can of corn(drained)
• 1/4 c. chopped red onion
• 1 1/2 c. chopped tomatoes
• 3 c. chopped lettuce
• 1 c. grated cheese
• 1 c. sour cream
• 1/2 c. milk
• 2 tbs. powdered ranch dressing mix

Mix sour cream, milk and ranch powder and set aside. Layer cornbread, beans, corn, onion, tomatoes and lettuce. Top with dressing and sprinkle with cheese.
You can add layers of anything you like, black olives, bacon crumbles or cucumbers. 
Head on over to her site to get a great cornbread recipe

I am going to try to make the Salad next week.  You try it too and we’ll meet back here and compare notes.

 

Jeannie

Homemade Bread

We usually make this in the bread maker but I decided to have the little ones help me to make it by hand.

It is nothing big, the bread just looked so good.  I thought that I would inspire a few of you to make some homemade bread for your family for dinner tonight.

You know it looks good!  We even buttered the top.  Don’t be afraid of homemade bread like I was for years.  It really is so easy.


White or Wheat Bread
1 1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup oil (you can use anything you like, I have tried many)
1/3 cup brown sugar or honey (both work great)
1 cup boiling water
1 cup cold water

*Stir until dissolved*

3 cups flour (for wheat bread use 1-3 cups wheat flour and the rest white flour for a total of 3 cups)
1 heaping Tablespoon Yeast (For a yeast tip go here)

*Use spoon and stir till flour is all mixed in.*

3-4 cups flour
*add each cup slowly until you have smooth, elastic dough.  Knead several minutes(about 5 minutes).  Cover with a light dish towel and let rise till double (around 30-40 minutes). 
 Work down the dough and let rise till double again. (around 30-40 minutes, I have skipped this step, but the bread comes out better if you do it). 
 Shape into two leaves and put into greased pans (Crisco works best).  Poke fork into each loaf to get rid of extra air pockets.  Cover and let rise till double (30-40 minutes).
  Bake at 350 degrees for 25-28 minutes.  Bread is done when you tap on the bread and it sounds hollow.  Remove from pans immediately and lightly(or not lightly) grease the tops with butter.
  Cool around 30 minutes. At this point you can even freeze them in freezer bags if you would like for use later.*

I hope that you give it a try.  It really is very simple.  Also, I again use this recipe in the bread maker.  Hand made does taste best.
Jeannie

Recognizing The Lies and Saving Your Relationships

Last week I talked about Spiritual Warfare.  Our family has been in the midst of warfare for 2 weeks now.  I so appreciate God allowing us to experience this with our eyes wide open.

I am going to share something with you that has happened a thousand times in 20 years of marriage and so I know that it will speak to some of you.  Mike and I were blessed with a date night, thanks to our oldest Allie.  She offered and we jumped at it.  All that day we had been fine, work went as usual for Mike and my day was busy but good.  He asked me where I wanted to go for dinner, I said that I didn’t care.  He said he didn’t either.  Seeing that one of us had to make some suggestion, I said that I would like to go to the little Mexican place in town.  Mike did everything he could to talk me out of that place so I said that again, I didn’t care where we went.  (I know you have been here, why does this happen?)

Anyway, he wouldn’t make up his mind but wanted me to and yet talked me out of the one place I did suggest.  So, up till here is just normal stuff, I suppose.  All of a sudden in my mind, I was this beat down wife who was never able to speak my own mind, who sacrificed everything for everyone with nothing in return.  O.K. well that is all a big fat lie! Where was all of that coming from.  I even had vindictive thoughts toward the love of my life.
 
Thankfully, the Lord opened my eyes and instead of becoming the victim of whatever was going on here.  I simply talked to Mike about what I thought was going on.  I said  “I think that Satan in lying to me”.   I explained all that has gone through my mind.  He agreed that I must be under attack but also admitted to being partly at fault. 

In the past I would have given in to the lies and pouted and ruined our night.  I am so glad that God helps us to grow and get stronger in our faith.  So, next time you feel beat down by someone or circumstances, reach out to the Lord and ask him to lead you through so that you can conquer those lies.  It seems like a daily occurrence for us, that we are seeking God to help us to be more than conquerors.
Rom 8:37
No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.
For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Jeannie

Chicken Sausage Sauce Over Noodles

Here are one of those dishes that you put together because you have a couple of ingredients and you just have to make it work or run out to the store. 

I had some Chicken Sausages that I picked up at Sam’s Club last weekend and a jar of pasta sauce.  The sausage had a Italian flavor, with Provolone cheese in it.  I thought that may make a good addition to pasta sauce. 

I don’t know how but I was out of Spaghetti noodles, that never happens, I always buy tons.  But I did have some egg noodles.  So we gave it a try.  My family loved it, of course or I wouldn’t be sharing this with you. 
4 Chicken Sausage Links-Italian seasoned
1 Onion, diced
2 Cloves Garlic, diced
1 jar of Pasta Sauce
1 16oz. bag of Egg Noodles, prepared directed.

I cut up the sausages into bit sized pieces, then added it to a pan with the onion and garlic.  I sautéed them for about 10 minutes.  Next, I added the sauce and let it all simmer for 30 minutes.  Prepare Noodles as directed.  Finally, pour the sauce over the noodles and serve with a nice green salad. 

One last tip.  This sausage is great grilled and then sliced up and put on crackers with cheese. 

Jeannie

Spiritual Warfare

From very small I was taught about the spiritual warfare.  My mom understood it and spoke about it in prayer or about different situations. 
I didn’t really have a very good understanding about what she meant until years later as an adult I read the book This Present Darkness by Frank Peretti.  This book gave me a visual, at least in my mind, of what the spiritual realm is about and how it can effect my life. 

Just recently I was reading Hinds' Feet on High Places [Illustratred] by Hannah Hurnard.  I started to read one version that was forwarded by Jars of Clay but I just got lost.  The book that I am now reading is the Illustrated version.(I am a visual person)  I started by just reading it to my children, but found it very interesting.  The book talks about things like fear and doubt as people.  It gave the spirit of fear a face and sort of opened my eyes a little more to the spiritual world around me. 

Now, I don’t see demons and things, I just see that the anger that may come out of nowhere in me or the unexplained fears that rise up in my children, are not just part of life.  They are a part of a life that we can not see, but affect us greatly.

The wonderful thing about all of this is that the part of Spiritual Warfare that I did understand as a child, was the fighting it part.  I was raised to know that, I as a believer, had power through the name of Jesus to get this evil out of my life. 

The demons shriek at just the name of Jesus. (I have not heard this sound.  I just read about it in the bible.)  If you say “In the name of Jesus, spirit of fear get out of here”  it has to leave you or the person you are praying for.  We see an example of Paul doing this in Acts 16:18.


I really recommend taking a look at these two books and researching from the word of God, to learn to understand the power that you have over things like fear, doubt and depression in your life and the lives of those in your family.

Jeannie

Addition War

This is a fun game that we used to teach Bella her Addition facts and now we are bringing it back for 5 year old Jacob.  You use the same rules that you use for the game war, except you use addition cards.  The person with the highest answer wins the round.
(For those who have never played War.  Deal out all of the cards to the players.  I would recommend 3 or less players.  Then each player flips one card from the top of their pile.  The person with the highest card wins that set of cards, they take the cards played and place them on the bottom of their pile of cards.  You repeat this until someone runs out of cards or Mom just gets tired of it.)

In this round, two of us had the same highest answer.  At this point you have to do a play off.  Each player lays down two cards, face down.  Then one more face up, the highest answer on the last card flipped is the winner of the entire group of cards.

Just a couple of pictures of my goofballs sucking on suckers while we play the game. 
You will love this game, you will see their math skills improve so quickly and they don’t know they are learning.  When we first started playing this we used homemade flash cards, then we found a set at a garage sale.  I am not really that cheap it just worked out that way.  You can get them in the Target $1 section also.  Have Fun!!!
Jeannie

Free Club House Magazine-Focus on the Family

 

Focus on the Family is giving away a 3 month trial offer for Club House and Club House Jr. Children’s Magazines.  Head on over here to get one for your child.

    

 

Jeannie

The Ultimate Blog Party!!

Today is the first day of the Ultimate Blog Party.  I am all about parties.  Here at 2 better than 1, we love to talk about life, motherhood, marriage, and Jesus.  He is the reason for this blog and we want to give Him all of the glory! 

Our posts include recipes for great food:

Homemade skin care:


Life with Kids:

Teenagers:



Homeschooling:


Marriage:



And Anything Else that Comes to Mind.
Jeannie

How to Make Milk More Fun

Around our house we have no problem getting anyone to drink milk.  We go through about 7 gallons a week when all of the kids are home. 

One day we found banana milk at the Grocery store and my kids love anything banana, so we tried it.  They of course loved it.  For a half gallon it was about $2.40.  I thought there has to be a way to make this.  I found banana extract in our grocery store that I picked up and just added about a 1/2 teaspoon of sugar to a small cup of milk.  They love it.  I know artificial flavor and sugar, but come on they get 3 times the junk in just a piece of candy.



We have tried lots of flavors.  We made strawberry syrup from the strawberry jam that I made last summer.  Also, if you have Nesquick you can add that instead of the sugar in the banana milk. 




The stores have all sorts of extracts in the store.  If you are concerned about chemicals you can try to find natural extracts or make you own.  Just have fun.  Milk is a plain base that goes well with most flavors.  Hey, I just thought of Peach milk, you know peaches and cream.  I might have to find some peach preserves and melt it on the stove and add a little water.  Yum!!  Have fun!!
Jeannie

How Hospitable is your Home?

We received, what I thought was a great compliment the other day.  My oldest daughter asked if a few of her friends from college could come and stay with us for Easter since they lived so far away. 
During a late night talking session, one of them, who goes to a Christian college but grew up in an unbelieving home, said that our family was way more normal than they thought we would be.  I guess they thought that Christian homes were stuffy and unfun.




I took this as a compliment that someone would come to the realization that being a Christian can be a fun and “normal”.  We did have bunches of fun, going to the park to play basketball and tag, also playing games at home and just hanging out.  I hope that we gave them a good picture of what their family life could look like one day, in their Christian home.


I wanted to remind you all too, to have a home that has boundaries and rules to follow and yet is still a great place to be.  After all getting down and playing right at the stage that they are in is they best way to have the opportunity to teach them.

Jeannie