Homestead Happenings - Jan 2016

After the busyness of the holidays, it's been nice having the time to let the kids take turns cooking once a week. Hailey chose to make homemade whole wheat noodles for turkey noodle soup one night. She won a special prize for her noodles a few years ago at fair. So we call her our "Resident Expert Noodle Maker". She loves it :) 

 Another night she made gourmet burgers with homemade french fries. Amazing!

Not to be outdone, Josiah tried his hand at making linguini with clam sauce. He did a great job. It is nice to that both kids wanting to make more complicated dishes. They are more into presentation than I am, which is a nice treat. Apple juice served as our "wine" with our yummy Italian dinner.

 Backing up a little... We started the New Years off right at my mom's house with my sister and all her kids. We had a great time! Played lots of games, did fireworks and ate till we about popped.

 Rina learning to read the "Capital Press" with dad. She is really starting to bond with him. I'm getting a few breaks now and then because of it.

It isn't often that Rina falls asleep on anyone except Mom, so Hailey wanted me to take a picture when it finally happened to her.

 Love snuggle times with my kids! 

 Josiah enjoys giving Rina piggy back rides. She holds on to his hair. It hurts, but he always lets her cause he knows she likes her rides so much. She loves her big brother! he is so good with her.

Our attention has turned to long put-off projects such as upcycling our old chandelier. 

 We also took on the huge project of remodeling our homeschool room. So worth it in the end though! Michael primed the dark wood paneling while trying to keep Rina out of the primer. He is so patient and never gets annoyed with the kids. He has always included them in his projects from very young ages.

 Hailey and Josiah were a big help, too with primer/painting the main walls.

 I love this picture of the old nasty carpet with the new formica flooring behind Rina. Rina is helping to roll out the new pad to go under the new flooring. So happy to see that hated carpet gone!!!

We did one half of the room, then shifted everything to the other side and did the other part of the room. Worked pretty well as we didn't have to move very much into the shed that way.

After we painted and put new flooring in, Michael put these heavy duty shelves up for my new laundry system, scrapbook albums and supplies, craft, homeschooling items, games and puzzles as well as a place to store dry goods.

The laundry system is the same as my sister (who has a large family) uses. Thanks to the big shelves I now have a place for a lot of laundry baskets. I have "Lights", "Darks" and "Jeans" written on three of them where all the dirty laundry is sorted. The kids take turns bringing out dirty laundry from the hampers located in bedrooms and bathrooms, then the other child sorts the dirty laundry into one of these three hampers. When one of these baskets is full enough to make a load, one of us will throw it in the washing machine. When it comes out of the dryer or off the line, it is directly sorted (unfolded) into baskets for each of us with our names written on them where only clean clothes go. Then when those gets full, I hand the child their own laundry basket and they fold it and put it in their dressers. I have two smaller baskets for towels and socks. When they get full, one of us will fold those, too and put them away. I'm doing a load a day now and I never have laundry piled up on the floor or the couch anymore. Love it!!!

The completed room.

Curtains hiding the shelves and my laundry system. Keeps the room from looking cluttered and adds a little bit of modern style and color.

Other side of the room. It is nice to have a functional space that we can use for many different projects. We actually want to be in this room, now!

Michael sewed some adjustable neoprene gaiters for the Boy Scouts. No pattern of course! He's one of those lucky guys that gets an idea in his mind and figures it out as he goes. Josiah and his friends will be much drier for their next winter camp out! Unfortunately he broke his upholstery machine while sewing on the neoprene, so now we are on the hunt of something a little more durable that will hold up to all the things Michael sews.

January flew by, but I felt like it was a very productive month. Feb has been, too, now that Rina is getting older and doesn't have to be held so much. Life certainly has changed, but what a blessed change it has been and will continue to be. I've started a bible study in my home which has been amazing. It is so good to be in the Word regularly again. Life changes fast, doesn't it? I'm learning to roll with it and let God do His thing without fighting Him. His ways are truly good - always.

Blessings,

Jackie