A little spray paint goes a long way...

How you can turn this:

Into this!:

As my best friend would say....

BAM!!

I bought this light fixture at the Habitat for Humanity Re-Store near my house for $4.  I mean it's pretty bad.... Dax saw it and said, "that's the ugliest thing I've ever seen..... why did you buy that?"  But I see potential!

The Re-Store is awesome.  It's like a thrift store for building supplies!

http://www.habitat.org/cd/env/restore.aspx

I've been wanting new lights in our bathroom for a while now.  The cheapest light fixtures that we're willing to put in would run us about $60 for both bathrooms.  That isn't expensive, but there are other places I'd rather spend the money.  That's where spray paint comes in....

I removed the glass and stuffed newspaper where the light bulb goes in.

I used Krylon Brushed Nickel spray paint.

After the 1st coat

And the 2nd coat

I bought new glass for the light fixture at the restore as well for $2.50 a piece.

As new light fixture for $11.50 and an hour of my time.  Not bad!

Here it is again, just because.

BAM!!

Happy Homemaking :)

How do you like them apples? (peas, carrots, & pears)

How to make home made baby food

First I must say, this was so easy!!  And cheap too!!  

I started out with: 

1 bag of frozen peas

2 lbs of apples

2 lbs of carrots

2 lbs of pears   

    

Your first step is washing, peeling, and chopping

 

 This is the size that you want it to be.  Not too big. 

(Don't be jealous of my manicure either)

Next you want to steam it.  Not to long, keep all the nutrients you can!!  It's done when you can easily mash it with a fork.  Mine took about 20-25 minutes. 

After your food is done steaming, dump it into a big bowl, and blend.  I use a hand blender because I feel as though I have better control of the consistency.  If you need to thin out the food, use the reserve water from the steamer.  Some food will require more of the water then others...aka peas.

Blend, blend, blend until your baby food making heart is content.  I didn't take a picture of this, my bad.

Here is how my apples looked after blending

You see this chunk?  You may or may not want that, depending of your baby.

Let the food cool.  Stir really well and dump into these containers.  Don't fill it up to the top, like I did.  You're about to freeze these jokers.  They will bust, it's science.  Just don't do it.

Each of these containers are 1/2 cup servings.  It's a little bit more then a store bought jar of baby food.

Pop it into the freezer and you're done!  

Is it cheaper?

Here's the price breakdown:

1 bag of frozen peas      2.00

2 lbs of apples              2.00

2 lbs of carrots              2.00

2 lbs of pears                2.00

Total:                           8.00

 This makes about 32 "jars" of baby food

(all of mine isn't shown & I only used half a bag of peas)

This equals out to about 25 cents a jar!!

and most of it was organic

Your baby food is good for a month and a half in the freezer and three days in the refrigerator 

Bananas and avocados don't need to be cooked, just blended

Enjoy and Happy Homemaking!! 

Weight Loss: Who does it glorify?

Your approach to weight loss is either sinful or fruitful. It can be sinful in obvious ways, such as pride, lust, and jealousy.  The sin that is the easiest to fall into, however, is one most overlooked.  For example, if I were to lose weight because I'm gorgeous and when I lose weight then John will think I'm hot and that will make Jane jealous.  Well that's obviously pride, lust, and jealousy!!  But I also have to evaluate if I'm looking at my weight loss as the key to my happiness.  Am I making an idol out of losing weight?  Is my self worth found in a number on the scale?  Of course not, my worth is found in the fact that I am a child of God!  No number is greater than that.  However, if we are being honest and realistic, we want that number on the scale to go down.  If it doesn't go down, we would be upset.  Does that mean that being upset about weight gain is sinful?  I don't think so.  Weight loss is hard work, time consuming, and expensive.  When you put your heart into something, you expect results.  So how can weight loss be fruitful?  

It's our hearts that matter.  

Take the earlier example.  If I want to lose weight because I want to glorify God with my body and I want to be visually appealing to my husband and I can help and encourage Jane along the way.  My heart is turned towards God and not towards myself.  I have to be sure that I'm glorifying God and ministering to Dax and to Jane.  Because my heart has changed, my motives are different.  I love The Biggest Loser.  Every contestant has a motivating factor; children, spouse, family, health, and so on.  There is always a point in the show where the contestant will say "I was here just for my daughter, but now I'm really here for me too".  This is always the "turning point" for them.  I want to just scream, DO THIS FOR CHRIST!!!  

O God, we give glory to you all day long and constantly praise your name.

Psalms 44:8

Is it glorifying God to be a mother who doesn't sit around on the couch all day?  Yes.  Does that mean that you should spend hours in the gym?  No.  Is working out to remain attractive to your husband a ministry?  Yes.  Does that mean being a size 6?  No!  Is it a ministry to cook healthy food for your family?  Of course.  Does that mean it has to be all organic and made from scratch?  Of course not!  I would even raise this question; is enjoying your favorite foods glorifying God?  I say, yes, why not!  But there is a difference between enjoying and worshiping.

It is so easy to make an idol out of food.  I have dealt with this my entire life and it has been a hard struggle.  I have suffered from every eating disorder there is.  The hardest to let go of is over eating.  I made a god out of it.  Sad, eat.  Happy, eat.  Mad, eat.  Feeling out of control, eat.(this usually proved how out of control I was)  Food was my comfort and my peace.  I worshiped food and my pants size showed it.  Worship of food can go both ways though.  I can put so much pride and emphasis on preparing only this (organic) or that (whole foods) kind of meals.  That too can be sinful!  

I have to pray and repent about this daily.  Now I pray while making my grocery list.  I pray at the grocery store to make good purchases, both our health and finances.  God has convicted me while writing this to pray while cooking, for the people that will be eating it.  If we seek God in our weight loss and pray for guidance, He will never let us down.  

-April 

6 1/2 months already!

We've reached the 6 1/2 month mark this week!  Pregnancy has been such a beautiful journey.  I can't believe I'm almost into my third trimester.  We are having a little girl named Adah Grace, and we can not wait to meet her!  Here I am!

I love feeling her move around.  To be completely honest, feeling her kick and explore, was strange at first.  Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed it!  But it was strange, ha ha.  She actually has the hiccups right now!


Alayna (our 3 year old) is getting more and more excited everyday!  This has not been an easy transition for her. She's had a lot of insecurity and questions.  To see her excited about her new sister on the way is a double blessing.  Not only is she happy instead jealous, but her excitement is evidence of a secure and content heart. 


Next week I'm going to start working on the girl's room.  The girls are going to share a room for a while.  Our home office is upstairs until we can finish our basement.  Most everything in their room is second hand, so get ready for several tutorials! 


My Project List:

• refinish girl's dresser
• sew quilts
• paint baskets
• put up decals
• make the mobile 
• refinish Alayna's bed
• make Alayna's headboard
• complete accessories 
• paint baseboards

Dax's Project List

• put in hardwoods
• touch up paint

That's a lot to do in three months!!  I work in a 911 call center and we are working through a huge transition.  Long story short, our call center is transferring from the city to the county.  Since I'm staying at home after Adah is born, I'm not transferring.  I'm going to keep working for city until I go out for maternity leave, just doing whatever needs to be done.  The transfer has been pushed back already, so I'm praying that everything goes through.  The last meeting is today.  We have been working twelve hour shifts for a couple months now.  Surprisingly enough, it's physically difficult on my body.  If all goes well I'll only have one more day of dispatching and a vacation!  I can get many of these projects knocked out then :) 

Welcome and Hello

This is my very first blog post, ever!  I'm so excited!  I thought I should take some time to introduce myself and explain why I'm starting this blog.  

I've started blogging to minister to other women and families.  God has called me to serve Him through families.  I'm so excited about this opportunity!  I'll post everything from Bible studies and recipes to how to's and craft projects.  

I'm passionate about God's word and I love His Gospel.  I love that He called me to teach children.  I serve as the Director of Kid's Ministry at our church.  There is no greater sight then seeing a child grasp God's love and showing it to others.  I love it!  

I married my best friend in 2005.  We have one little girl and another on the way  :)  (and 2 crazy dogs!)

To be honest.....I hate talking about myself.  I'm sure the further along we go, the more you'll get to know about me  :)

-April