My Lap is Big Enough

My lap is big enough to hold my oldest granddaughter, Ashtyn Claire, and my youngest son, Caedmon, while grandsons Chase and Eli and my other son Jackson snuggle close by to listen as I read them a book.  You can see the little boys each take turns counting the pirates as I turn the pages.

 Another day the little boys enjoyed homemade lemonade popsicles on the swing.  Poor little Ashtyn Claire wanted one, too!

Chase is at that age where he likes to be a clown.  He'll soon be five years old.  Every time they come the first thing they ask me is if we can "play school"!!  They are coming tomorrow to spend a couple of days with us while their mommy, daddy and little sisters go to the homeschool conference.  And yes, we will be "playing school"!

Where's the Beef?

My uncle and cousin raise Angus cows.  I have often mentioned to my mom that I would love to buy one from them to have processed.  She mentioned it to them in either December or January and, after many phone calls, we now have a freezer full of wonderful  Angus beef.

It is a huge blessing to have all of that tasty meat just ready for the grill, stovetop, or oven, but at the same time it causes a little bit of a problem.  You see, next week we will pick up 100 chickens to raise for meat.  There is absolutely no room in our largest freezer right now!  The chickens will be ready for slaughter in about 8-10 weeks, so I have to get creative.  We had already been trying to eat up most of the vegetables and fruits from the freezer that have been in there since last summer...and some from the summer before.  I do have a large freezer as part of my refrigerator and a 6 cubic foot freezer that we generally use for our home-prepared freezer meals.  I really don't want to purchase another freezer as we would have to put it in our detached garage.  We've had a couple out there in the past, but I find it easy to forget that they are out there.  And then there is the added expense of running them as well.

So, what's a woman to do?  My plan is to can the meat....as much as I can!  : )  I plan on canning chili, spaghetti sauce, beef stew, beef tips in mushroom gravy, sloppy joes, taco meat, and just plain ground beef.  When we ordered our cuts from the butcher we requested he save and freeze the bones for us as well.  We had a large box with around 40 pounds of bones!!  This past week I roasted half of the bones and made beef broth and canned it!  It only took 5 days for the entire process, but we got 31 pints of beautiful, wonderfully nutritious beef broth!  This week I will work on getting the rest of the bones processed and that should definitely give us enough beef broth for the year.  What a blessing!

We'll also make many freezer meals using the ground beef such as this family favorite:

LASAGNA--this recipe has been in my family for about 38 years...we all love it.  My brother who was single for many years also makes this recipe and adds lots of veggies to it.


1 lb. ground chuck 

1 cup chopped onion
2 large gloves garlic, minced 

2 tsp. oregano, crushed
2 cans tomato soup

 ½ cup water
2 tsp vinegar

 ½ lb lasagne noodles (cooked & drained)
1 pint cottage cheese

 ½ lb mozzarella cheese, grated
grated Parmesan cheese

In saucepan, brown meat, cook onion, garlic, oregano. Add soup, water and vinegar. Simmer 30 minutes, stirring frequently. In baking dish, arrange 3 alternate layers of noodles, cottage cheese, meat sauce, mozzarella. Top with Parmesan. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Let stand for 15 minutes. I usually double or triple as it freezes well.

Mini-meatloaves, meatballs, beef enchiladas and frozen grilled hamburgers are also some of our favorite beefy freezer meals.  If you have more canning or freezer ideas for the beef, I would love to hear them!!

I'm learning as I go on the canning and have Jackie Clay's canning cookbook to guide me.  Chicken ala  king, plain shredded chicken to use for salads, casseroles and fajitas, chicken stew, chicken soup, and chicken and rice soup.  And, of course, I will be canning all that chicken broth as well.  I'll also be pulling out some of our favorite chicken recipes for the freezer, too.  Creamy green chili chicken enchiladas for some reason the link is not showing up, but click on enchiladas for the recipe....I recently found that someone had pinned it on Pinterest!!)  are always a hit on our dinner table, a variety of seasoned chicken strips, cajun chicken, a variety of grilled chicken....oh, I'm hungry just thinking about it!!

If you have any canning tips for either chicken or beef, I would love for you to share them.  And, if you need me, you know where I'll be....keeping my busy hands and busy minds in the kitchen!!

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It's a Wonderful Life

photo courtesy of Kaelan

My life as a wife and homeschooling mom to seven children has challenged me, strengthened me, broadened me, educated me and blessed me.  There has never been a time in the last 27 years of mothering that I have wanted to do anything else.  I am so very thankful that God, in His infinite wisdom, blessed me with a man who also believes that my "job" at home is the only career I need.

photo by Kaelan

“How can it be a large career to tell other people’s children about the rule of three, 

and a small career to tell one’s own children about the universe? How can it be 

broad to be the same thing to everyone, and narrow to be everything to someone? 

No. A woman’s function is laborious, but because it is gigantic, not because it is 

minute. I will pity Mrs. Jones for the hugeness of her task; I will never pity her for 

its smallness.”

G.K Chesterton

photo by Kaelan

I wasn't raised to be a stay-at-home mom.  In fact, I began working when I was only 14 years old.  My parents were divorced and my mom worked two jobs to make ends meet.  Am I resentful?  No.  I can see how God was working in my life...even then when I was running the drive-thru at our local McD's.

photo by Kaelan

I went on to college, majoring in music which was never really a huge desire in my life, but was something that interested me.  It was there that Jeff and I met....married, and had the first two of our large family.  I even went on to get a master's degree....but God had other plans for me....for us.

photo by me

We had heard a radio interview with Raymond and Dorothy Moore, modern-day grandparents of the homeschooling movement.  We listened.   We took notes.  We thought that would be something nice to do if we ever found the opportunity, but we were headed to Texas  where Jeff would be a full- time seminary student for three years.  I would have to work to support the family.  Or so we thought.

photo by me

A man's heart plans his way, but the Lord directs his steps.  Proverbs 16:9

But then God.....  (isn't that the way it goes.... we make our plans and then....God)  God, in His infinite wisdom, closed every door for me to work.  We finally saw that not only would it cost us financially for me to work outside the home, but would also be more difficult for our young children.  So God provided... support from our home church and several job opportunities for Jeff.  And I stayed at home with our daughters, taught a few piano lessons and babysat a few other children from time to time.  God has been faithful to provide and we have never been in want.

photo by me

The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.  Psalm 23:  1

photo by me

Not only has God provided us with every thing we need, but has blessed us abundantly with a home in the woods where our wonderfully talented children can be free to explore, learn, create and grow....where they can develop their own strengths and talents and become the men and women that God would have them to be.

photo by Kaelan

Unexpected blessings have come....this one was the best!  This child I felt too old and too stressed to have has blessed my heart and soul so very much.  I can't imagine NOT having this little man to snuggle with, to sing with, to watch him dance and play.  

photo by Kaelan

Or to see the world through the camera lens as some of my children do.  What beautiful sights they see and share with me.  And this is all just right outside our front door.  Our cups runneth over indeed!

photo by Kaelan

I thought I would share a few words written by C. H. Spurgeon on Hearth and Home.

Actually, I am not sure who said these words....I found them attributed to Spurgeon, but he died around 1894...before the 20th century!

Two of the most significant events of the twentieth century were women leaving the  home en masse for corporate America, and the subsequent transformation of the home from a bastion of Christian family life, domesticity and culture; to a mere flop-house of individuals co-existing under one roof.  For six thousand years, the home was the nerve center of society.  Men fought and died on foreign battlefields--not just for abstract--but to secure the living, ever-present memory of blessed family life, typified by the phrase "hearth and home."

In the Scriptural model, we see the home as an incubator for leadership and dominion, as a grand instrument for education and discipleship, as the first expression of Godly cutlure, as a place of industry and economic self-sufficiency, as the primary outlet for hospitality and even evangelism--not to mention its significance as the first law-enforcing institution to which man is exposed on his journey from childhood to maturity.

It is to the mother--as the vice-regent of the home--that the responsibility is delegated by the husband for cultivating its aesthetic beauties and virtues.  In the hands of noble womanhood, we can yet see--rising from the ashes of a broken culture--the glories of hearth and home, so that future generations will arise and declare its virtues once again.

 

The Dress Up Day

We are so blessed that our married daughter and family live near enough to come visit frequently.  This past Saturday Lauren and the grands came for the day.  They had a great time playing in the dress up box and one of the older kids had a fun time with the camera.

Grandson Eli is a combination frontiersman/cowboy.

Grandson Chase is a sad looking cowboy here!

Penquin Caedmon

Caedmon has recently watched March of the Penguins...at least once a week for the last few weeks.  Penquins are really "cool" right now!

Apparently Eli thinks the powder horn is a musical instrument.

A cheesy grin from Chase

Cowboys must wear Polo shirts and be very strong!

I think this is Jackson's eye!

How many of you were blessed to have Captain America, two handsome cowboys and a penguin in your home this weekend?  Thankful for a house full of little boys!!

A Few of My Favorite Things: In the Kitchen

If you've been reading  Busy Hands Busy Minds for any length of time, you know we spend a lot of time in the kitchen.    Having a large family means that we also prepare large meals.  I thought I would share with you some of my favorite small appliances that make our food preparations a little bit easier.





My most favorite item that I would hate to do without would be my Bosch Universal Mixer.  We use the Bosch every. single. day!  It is definitely our most used small appliance.   Mixing and kneading bread dough, mixing cookie dough, blending up a batch of pesto or salsa, even mixing up a large batch of seasoned ground beef for meatloaves, our Bosch gets a daily workout for sure!  My Bosch is about 8-10 years old and doesn't look exactly like the one in the picture, but it still is going strong.  I have a special attachment that connects my Family Grain Mill to the Bosch. I don't use the grain mill as much, but it is an option.

I use my 15+ year old Vita Mix for grinding wheat quickly and for mixing up my homemade powdered laundry detergent.  I need to order a couple of new parts for it as it does leak from the spigot which is why I am not using it for anything liquid.  I have the Maxi 4000 model with is made from all stainless steel and was touted as the commercial version, but it is no longer available.  It is a workhorse!  Here is a link to the newest commercial  Vita Mix.

The next most used small appliance in my kitchen would have to be the newest as well.  We searched for the best quality food dehydrator we could find and decided on The Sausage Maker.  It has all stainless steel parts, no plastic, is easy to use and easy to clean up.  It sits on a small table in my kitchen and is ready to use whenever I get the urge to dehydrate something.  So far we have dried onions, carrots, sage, basil, mushrooms, bananas, thyme and more.  It has really been fun!

And last, but definitely not least are the slowcookers.  While I don't use a slowcooker everyday, you can be sure that we use one at least once a week.  Pictured above is my newest version and I really like it.  Big enough for one huge roast with vegetables or two smaller ones or even two whole chickens.  It makes cooking big meals for my family a breeze!

I think that's about all we use in the small appliance department at Busy Hands Busy Minds.  Using these appliances makes my life simpler in so many ways and enables me to prepare healthy and tasty meals for my family in no time at all.   Do you have a favorite small kitchen appliance?  Please share in the comments!

I am not an affiliate for any of the products highlighted in this post!

Tub Toys

My little boys have taken the usual bathtub toys up a notch.   This is a list of recent toys found in and around my garden tub:

-various Fisher Price Little People
-various farm animals
-FP Little People bus
-Legos...yes, Legos!
-Tonka bulldozer
-a boat that is actually intended as a tub toy
-and last, but certainly not least.....a bean bag!!

What unusual items do you find in your tub?

Friends of the Library

Don't miss out on a great hand-stamped jewelry giveaway!  Check out my post from Monday here.

It had been a while.  We always seem to take a break from the library during the summer as our trips into town decrease due to having the summer off from piano lessons.  Yesterday, piano lessons started back up so to the library we went.  Our library has a wonderful used bookstore that is operated by the Friends of the Library.  Usually a retired man or woman operates the store and yesterday was no different.  I am always blessed by a short visit with whoever is manning the store. 

Yesterday I also found a homeschooling friend from our local support group in the store with her son and we enjoyed a good little visit.  Come to think of it, I usually run into at least one other homeschooling family while we are at the library.  

Anyway, I love looking through the books for some great treasures.  I usually find one or two items that I just happened to be looking for.  In fact, my husband asked me once if I prayed to find specific books for sale before I went to the library.  It seemed to him that I always found just what I needed. Yesterday, I wasn't looking for anything in particular, but came away with some great finds anyway.

Yesterday I found these classic titles in very good shape:  Treasure Island, David Copperfield and Sir Lancelot.  Aaron quickly claimed the copy of David Copperfield for his personal library and the other two will be part of Jackson's birthday surprises tomorrow.  Finding good quality used books is a great way to build up your children's personal library.  In fact, most of our home library was created in just this way!

We will be starting our geography studies next week.  This semester we are learning all about Asia.  I found these three books in the middle for almost nothing!  Little Boat Boy was written by a missionary to India.  Japanese Children's Favorite Stories is a large collection of short stories with nice illustrations and the last book is a story book, but will be a great discussion starter regarding the false gods of the Chinese religions.

We are just beginning a  unit on the World Wars and the Great Depression.  Hemingway's A Farewell to Arms is one of the books that I wanted Aaron to read.  I have never read it, but will pre-read it first.  I found that the library has an audio version so have already requested that....the older boys can listen to this in their room.

And I can't forget the little guys!  A book by Anno, a beautifully illustrated version of Emily Dickenson's  poems for children, a If You Give a Pig a Party, another book by Munsch that I think Jackson took to bed with him last night and two easy readers.  Some of these books I will pass on to the grandson's.  I was able to get a huge stack of about 30 books recently at our local Goodwill bookstore that I gave to Chase as part of his 4th birthday present.  Gently used books are great gifts and as most of my grandchildren's books were lost in the tornado, I can help build their home library up with great books inexpensively!  All these books that I found yesterday were only $25.  Not bad at all!

Does your local library have a bookstore for used books or have a large book sale every year?  Find out! It's a great source for finding some wonderful books!

It's Friday!

What does a typical Friday look like at your house?  Today we have tomatoes and okra to can (soup starter!), piano and violin practice, lessons to teach, school work to complete, big laundry day--washing all bed linens today, floors to vacuum and mop and some other major cleaning that will most likely not get completed until tomorrow.

Outdoor projects need to be completed, fall garden needs to be started, lesson plans and copies made for the upcoming weeks, a calendar needs to be revised as several of the children will be involved in a film shoot for Jeff in September which will take up two weeks, building materials need to be purchased, books read, boo-boos kissed, snuggles given, food prepared.....

Just a normal Friday around here!!  LOL!  How does your Friday look?

It Takes a Family to Build a Homestead

We are trying to take our homesteading efforts to the next level and incorporate farm animals.  We've had some animals before...a couple of horses, some sheep and a handful of chickens, but now we are trying to get serious about it.  Amy @homesteadrevival.blogspot.com recently wrote about gardening as if her life depended upon it and that really struck a chord with me!  There is no way we could live off of our garden at this point, but we are making plans for enlarging it with 2-3 times as many beds this winter and building a greenhouse for some year-round fresh vegetables.  

And, as we are not vegetarians, we also need to get meat animals.  We are planning on adding in a dairy cow, a couple of beef cows, a pig or two and meat and laying chickens.  In preparation for adding in our meat chickens we decided to build a chicken tractor.  I had hoped to convert a trampoline into a chicken tractor/run, but after finding a free one this week and having Jeff and the boys bring it home I quickly realized that my trampoline/chicken tractor transformation was just a dream.  The trampoline will remain a trampoline!

Jeff works with several homeschooling/homesteading dads and one of them had recently built a chicken tractor and shared the plans with him.  So, on Saturday morning Jeff and I had a little one-on-one time at Lowe's for all the materials and then a quick Sam's run.   Lowe's and Sam's are our favorite date spots lately!!  After we arrived back home, Jeff and the children quickly got to work on building our first chicken tractor.  It is not completed yet, but here are some pictures of the work in progress.  I will post a link in the next day or so as I cannot find it on the instructions.

Jordan is drilling holes into the metal pipes after cutting them to the right length.

Instructions, galvanized hardware screen, drill bits and screws used to build the chicken tractor.

Drilling the holes was a little tricky.

My porch rooster is checking out the future home of his more animated friends.

Devin even helps out to hold the pipes as Jordan drills the holes.

Kaelan watches for now.

Jeff, formulating the next step.  I often find him in this pose!!  He thinks a lot!

Now Kaelan gets to hold pipes  as it starts taking shape.

Tying the pipes together with a heavy wire

It took several helpers to get the job done!

Three pipes held together with wire

corner pieces

Chicken wire is on half of the top.  The job will be finished up this week.  I'll share later!

Aaron was mowing and weedeating during the time the Jeff and the others were building.  The little guys were on the trampoline.  ; (  Jackson did wake up complaining of his neck hurting the next morning.  Sigh!!

I've shared before about buying our clothes on the clearance racks.  This outfit for Caedmon was only $7 for all three pieces.  He will probably be able to wear it next year as well.

Jackson started asking for shirts and ties last year and I have found a couple for him.  This shirt and tie combo made by Izod was less than $3!  I found polo-style shirts for the big boys at less than $3 as well.  They weren't too interested in posing before church yesterday, though!!   Love, love, love great clearance rack finds.  Saving money on clothes and necessary items is one of my contributions to the homestead.

 Every day we are picking a handful of strawberries and a pint or two of blueberries.  These ever-bearing strawberry plants were clearance rack buys as well.  I got 12 plants for $1.25 each last year.  They made lots of baby plants and we divided them into about 80 plants this year.  I gave most of them away.  Next year we will add more strawberry beds and use a different kind of strawberry that can be harvested in just a couple of weeks.

I think we will wind up with about three gallons from two bushes.  A first for us!!

Another first...hard squashes growing on a trellis!

Cucumbers are a first as well!

I can't wait for these and their little friends to ripen!!

Our basil is doing great!  We are making pesto each week and freezing it for use this winter!

We've started harvesting and drying sage to use in cooking and for medicinal use.  I post more about it later!

Cucumbers are waiting to be turned into pickles today!


Time for me to get up and get some more work done.  As you can see, we've got lots to do around our little homestead!

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