Because He Loves Us

I think we all have weeks where we just totally blow it.  Life is just no fun sometimes.  Last week was that week.  After a failed attempt at potty training my 2.5 year old son, both of my children decided to go in to complete brat mode.  Yep I said it, my kids were brats last week and boy was I a brat too!  Did I go straight to the Lord in prayer, nope, I stewed in my brattiness.

So I went to church on Sunday and it was nice because my little ones were NOT with me.  Boy that sounds bad. But it gave me time to think.  The Lord reminded me to read Hosea (Someone at Onething said we should really delve into Hosea). 

If you don't know the background on Hosea he is the prophet that the Lord called to take a prostitute as a wife and love her as though she was pure.  God made Hosea an example to the Israelites of the relationship between Israel and the Lord.  They were in DEEP sin at the time.  BUT as always, God had a plan to draw His people back to Himself.

The first few chapters are like "eek, ouch, really?"  There were some SERIOUS judgments coming their way.

 ¹ “Hear this, you priests!
   Pay attention, you Israelites!
Listen, royal house!
   This judgment is against you:
You have been a snare at Mizpah,
   a net spread out on Tabor.
² The rebels are knee-deep in slaughter.
   I will discipline all of them.
³ I know all about Ephraim;
   Israel is not hidden from me.
Ephraim, you have now turned to prostitution;
   Israel is corrupt.

 ⁴ “Their deeds do not permit them
   to return to their God.
A spirit of prostitution is in their heart;
   they do not acknowledge the LORD.
⁵ Israel’s arrogance testifies against them;
   the Israelites, even Ephraim, stumble in their sin;
   Judah also stumbles with them.
⁶ When they go with their flocks and herds
   to seek the LORD,
they will not find him;
   he has withdrawn himself from them.
⁷ They are unfaithful to the LORD;
   they give birth to illegitimate children.
When they celebrate their New Moon feasts,
   he will devour^[a] their fields. 

Hosea 5:1-7

That is some intense stuff.  But a couple chapters earlier we see the heart of the Lord towards the children of Israel, we know that He wishes to draw them in to Himself.

 ¹⁴ “Therefore I am now going to allure her;
   I will lead her into the wilderness
   and speak tenderly to her.
¹⁵ There I will give her back her vineyards,
   and will make the Valley of Achor^[b] a door of hope.
There she will respond^[c] as in the days of her youth,
   as in the day she came up out of Egypt.

 ¹⁶ “In that day,” declares the LORD,
   “you will call me ‘my husband’;
   you will no longer call me ‘my master.^[d]’
¹⁷ I will remove the names of the Baals from her lips;
   no longer will their names be invoked.
¹⁸ In that day I will make a covenant for them
   with the beasts of the field, the birds in the sky
   and the creatures that move along the ground.
Bow and sword and battle
   I will abolish from the land,
   so that all may lie down in safety.
¹⁹ I will betroth you to me forever;
   I will betroth you in^[e] righteousness and justice,
   in^[f] love and compassion.
²⁰ I will betroth you in^[g] faithfulness,

   and you will acknowledge the LORD. 

Hosea 2:14-20

I love where it says "that you will call me my Husband and no longer my Master".  How incredible that He so delights in us that even though we are terrible and bratty and even in the terrible depths of sin like the Israelites were, that he doesn't want us to come to Him with the intent of trying to earn our way back in His favor, he doesn't want us to come as servants initially, but as lovers of Him., and OUT of that love comes the heart of a true servant.

God was ready to wipe them out, not because he was angry AT them, but he was angry at their sin.  He is JEALOUS for us and will remove whatever is in the way of loving Him.  Sometimes it hurts and we may not realize that certain things are actually keeping us from loving Him.

It does feel at times like the Lord is trying to wipe you out (like with terrible toddlers), but is He really just trying to wipe SOMETHING OUT of you, not necessarily you (if that makes any sense).

Things are definitely clearer in the light of His grace and mercy and I love that He is ALWAYS faithful to reveal Himself to us and that He chooses to acknowledge our weak love and loves us in our weakness and not despite it.

This is a spontaneous song from the Onething 09 CD.  Yep, you have to listen to all 6 minutes :) Sometimes we need to remember that He REALLY does love us, even in our brattiness.  Just make sure to turn off my player at the bottom before you play this one.

Zone Cleaning

Ok, so we are in Zone 2 - The Kitchen from the 7th-11th.  I have been in caught up in another failed attempt at potty training and completely forgot...so now I'm playing catch-up.  I have several cabinets that desperately need a clean-out.  I have tons of bottles and other baby feeding supplies that need to be gotten rid of and one tupperware cabinet that is horrifying!

Last night my chicken had to be in the oven for 15 minutes and the kids were asleep so I tackled underneath my sink.  Well, one of my two sinks, my vegetable sink is FAR worse, we will save that for today :)

 It doesn't LOOK that bad, but when I took everything out, the nastiness leftover was quite gross...

 My "disinfecting spray" collection?  I have two more cans too! I think I have a problem...when the $1.50 Qs come out Publix usually has these on BOGO soon after, making them practically free...you know I can't resist practically free!  I am going to donate some to my husband's men's bathroom at his office...apparently someone there has a "poopy" problem...

This is the end result, it doesn't look too different from the before (you would have to see the grossness I wiped out, ick!).  Got rid of some things that didn't belong and sometimes its just good to see what you have and don't have.  And apparently it gets really gross.  So now to work on the other areas...yay...

So if you are following the Flylady, how is your zone cleaning going?  And a question.  How do you clean your oven?  What product works quickly, easily and with no fumes?

What's for Dinner Wednesday?

I have been working to lose these last 13 lbs (Go AWAY already!), so I have been tracking my food and counting points, Weight Watchers style.  Why?  Cause it works.  Can't lose weight and keep it off unless you completely change the way you eat forever.  I love that Weight Watchers TEACHES you how to eat well for life.

Anyways, enough preaching about weight-loss...

Tonight I am making a real family fave, Weight Watchers Pan Seared Chicken with Garlic Sauce served up with some rice pilaf (yep, more rice pilaf) and asparagus.  This stuff is like chicken kicked up times a thousand.  Super simple and REALLY good.

Now I'm cooking this at 2:30 so I can go to the gym later and so I can snag a piece for my salad I'm about to eat :) I'm not doing pics for the asparagus, but I will tell you what I do for asparagus.

Ingredients

1 tsp paprika

1 tsp dried thyme

1/2 tsp dried rosemary

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp black pepper

1 lb. uncooked chicken breasts

1 tsp olive oil

12 medium garlic cloves, halved

1 cup FF, reduced-sodium chicken broth
A large OVEN-PROOF skillet

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.  Go ahead and start whatever rice dish you are going to make.  This chicken dish goes kinda fast.

Combine first five ingredients in a small bowl.  Sprinkle both sides of the chicken with herb mixture. (TIP - sprinkle chicken with herbs on one side, transfer to hot skillet with seasoned side down and season the other side once in the pan).

 

Heat oil in a large skillet. Sear for two minutes on each side.  Grab your halved garlic cloves, yep its a LOT of garlic :)

 Sprinkle the garlic around the chicken and then put 3/4 cup of the chicken broth in the pan.

 Place in the oven for 10-15 minutes, or until chicken is done.

 This is the yumminess :) WARNING - the pan will be REALLY hot so keep a potholder on the handle at ALL TIMES!

Transfer the chicken to a plate and add the remaining 1/4 cup of chicken broth and mash the garlic with a fork.  Use this sauce to pour over the chicken, rice or everything on your plate :)

Now for the asparagus.  If you don't know what to do with it just chop the woody ends off and lay on a cookie sheet.  Drizzle with some EVOO and sprinkle with salt.  Pop in the oven at 400 (a good time would be after you have pulled out the chicken while you are prepping the sauce).  Cook for just a few minutes, until the asparagus is a little floppy.

Enjoy!

Keepin' it Fresh

I love buying produce at the farmer's market :) I live close to several, but I really like going to FRAM the Farmers Market at the Riverside Arts Market.  I live in a wonderful area of town called Riverside-Avondale.  It's artsy, eclectic, historic and lots of fun.  I love that I can wake up on a Saturday morning and walk (or go for a quick drive) to the Farmer's Market and get my produce for the week.  It's a great way to support your local farmers and community.  Plus, you usually get excellent produce.

I hit Reeds Groves' stand weekly.  They have the best deals on produce and it is always amazing.  Their huge bunches of romaine lettuce are so delicious and $1!  I spent $11 on the produce above (minus one apple that Leonard is munching on now).  Not too shabby.  I haven't exactly figured out if I am saving any money, but for the quality, it is totally worth it. 

So if you are in Jax, make your way over to one of our many farmers markets, support local farmers and get some yummy produce :)  If you are somewhere else, do a little research, no matter where you live there is usually a farmer's market.

Have a wonderful day!

An "Off" Day - Keeping it Tidy in Chaos

I think I have determined that I have indeed inherited my Grandma Janet's cleaning gene.  I love a tidy, clutter-free house.  But let's face it that doesn't always happen and isn't entirely realistic with kids.

I have been following the Flylady's cleaning and home organization plan.  So far it has worked out really well.  I am really seeing a difference in the house.  BUT, the true test of any good housekeeping plan is what happens when you have a totally "off" day.

Monday was that day.  We are attempting to potty train Leonard, my 2.5 year old.  My 1 year old, Isabela, is teething (molars! eek!).  Whiny baby, son who keeps peeing and pooping his pants...all at 7:00am.  Needless to say by 10:00, this was my house.

 I need some really scary movie music inserted in here.  HOW DID THIS HAPPEN?  Anyways, this totally makes me twitch.  I'm not even addressing my bathroom, bedroom or the kid's room...it's just too terrible.  I finally just had to lay down the crabby baby (who was out for the count within 2 minutes). 

 Leonard settled in with a book...

And I went into attack mode.  I didn't really know how much time I would have, but I figured anything that could get done would be helpful.

So I did an experiment.  I timed myself to see how long it would take to get my main living areas under control.  I did a quick sweep of the rooms for trash and dishes and went to work.  Here are some tips.

• Go one room at a time.  I usually start in my kitchen, it's always the worst. DO NOT get stuck on random stuff in another room.
• Don't try to do your entire house at once.  I usually just tackle the main living areas where we hang out most.
• Don't just stuff things into random places.  This means more work later and it's how clutter rears it's ugly head.  Just put things where they go.
• When you move on to your main living areas, grab a cleaning rag or disinfecting wipes to wipe smudges and other assorted grossness, and a plastic grocery bag for trash.  

When I started the clock said 10:35, I was done at 11:06.  Not too bad considering Leonard spilled his juice everywhere and that meant more cleaning...

End Product

 Don't kid yourself, there will be toys in your living room.  Just have bins on hand to keep it under control.  I have a "kitchen" bin, a books bin and a random toys bin which gets taken back to their room every few days to be emptied.  Oh and my husband's work area is behind that window...yeah...working on that...

See what a difference 30 minutes makes?  Because the house has fewer clutter spots and I have been in a pretty consistent routine, the mess vanished quickly.  There wasn't even more mess under the mess if you know what I mean?

When you have these kinds of days (or maybe this is everyday?) resist the urge to plop down, veg in front of the TV or computer and recount the horrors of the morning.  Realize that by doing a quick tidy you will help prevent further chaos the rest of the day and I don't know about you, but if I am in the middle of chaos, I feel like chaos. 

Once you finish THEN have some relaxing time.  You will feel amazing and your hubby will say wow, the house looks so great even though the toddler peed his pants 8 times in one day, how do you do it!  And yep, you ARE that awesome :)

More Scrappy Fun!

 OK, so I had this pile of squares that my mom had left over from sewing Isabela's quilt.  I can't take credit for the squares, my mom pieced them all together.  I have been wanting to make a little drawstring tote for Bela.  I used the Prudent Baby tutorial to make the bag and instead of making it a backpack, I tied the straps together to make a little satchel because that is how Bela likes to carry her purses.

I pieced the squares together the same way I did for my Scrappy Pillow.  I'm still not 100% on the straps, I'll have to think on it a bit more.

Next, I decided to use the squares to put a pretty trim on an old hand towel with frayed edges. 

I couldn't necessarily call this a proper tutorial because it took a little trial and error.  I couldn't give you exact measurements, but you will get the basic idea.

I first took my strip and laid it with the right side down about 1.5 inches up from the bottom.  Since you are sewing a towel, play it safe and switch your needle to a heavy duty needle.  I then sewed a straight stitch across leaving a 1/4 inch seam allowance.

Flip the fabric to the back side and fold the edge under and tuck in the sides.  Make sure that the fabric is even on both sides.  Iron flat and then sew along the edge.  Make sure to catch the edge on both sides.  This essentially top-stitches the opposite side.

 This is what it will look like

 Hang in your bathroom and smile because you're so smart and crafty :)

Scrappy Pillow Tutorial

I was really surprised at how many of you just loved the scrappy pillow.  A couple of you asked for a tute, so here it is.

What you need

Handful of fabric scraps

Fabric for the back of your pillow (mine is 12 1/2 x 12 1/2 inches)

Sewing essentials

Pillow filling or a pillow form

Iron and ironing board

My scrappy pillow is a 12x12 pillow.  So this tute is based on those measurements.  If you are filling with stuffing from a bag, you don't have to be incredibly precise with your measurements.  If you are stuffing it with an insert you need to measure your fabric to the size of the pillow plus 1/4 inch for seam allowance.  So for my 12x12 pillow I am making my pieces 12 1/2 x 12 1/2 inches.

Now for the strips.  I didn't try to be all themed or matchy with mine, just use whatever you have.  Pick out your fabric and start by cutting your strips.  My strips are 12 1/2 inches long.  For width, be totally random, 1 inch, 2 inch, 1 1/2 inches.  Remember you need a seam allowance of 1/4 inch.  Cut however many you think you will need

Now for the fun.  Piecing them together :)

Grab two strips with right sides facing.  Sew a straight stitch down one side using the appropriate seam allowance.

Open your pieces up and iron nice and smooth. 

 Place another piece (right sides facing) on top of one of your sewn pieces.  Repeat above process.  Just keep adding to the outside.  Keep your measuring tape handy so you can check when you have enough.  If you are a little short, just add another piece, you can always trim it down.

 Ok, this is where the photos end.

But, this is the no brainer part.

Grab your back piece and put your two pieces together right sides facing.  Make sure your edges are nice and even, it makes it easier to sew in a straight line :)  

Sew the pieces together on the edge leaving a 1/4 inch seam allowance.  Leave an opening to stuff your pillow, you will need a pretty good size opening if you have a pillow form.  Clip the corners off (just dont clip off the stitches!), this will give you nice pretty corners.  Turn your pillowcase right side out and push the corners out.  Stuff.

Use a needle and thread to sew the opening.  Just fold the edges in evenly and stitch together.  Or you can be like me and shove your pillow onto your sewing machine and sew it (HAHA!).  Place the weird sewn side down when positioning on your sofa and no one will know!  Cheater Cheater...I know!

Use this method to make all kinds of pillows.  Here is a great, simple tutorial for making a pillow cover (with cute trim to boot!) or envelope style pillow cover. 

I hope this made some sense!  If you have any questions, just leave a comment and I promise to help :)