I’m making apple butter! I pulled out the canning supplies for the first time in years, scrounged up some jars from hither and yon, and heated up the kitchen (albeit during a fierce wave of… More
May 2025 ~ The “why” behind Motherhood; Crock Pot Cheesy Potatoes; Outdoors on the Farm… and more
Thinking: The reason for motherhood
Have you ever considered the why behind motherhood? What is the framework for thinking properly about it? After 25 years of motherhood, I will share two brief thoughts that I think are foundational to our comprehension of this God-given role.
The why behind motherhood is first of all the covenantal love between a man and a woman. It is the beautiful and natural result of that sacred love. Second, our ideas about motherhood are best held within a framework of self-sacrifice (not self-fulfillment or self-glorification).
Yes, it is a giving up of yourself! And this is good, wholesome, and entirely redemptive. God has big purposes in putting us through the school of motherhood, so it will be tough and at times seem to be possibly the least fulfilling thing you have ever done. Hang in there, work is in progress, you are not at the end of the story.
Gardening: Outdoors on the farm
My irises are blooming for the first time since we moved out here (this is our third spring here). I moved the bulbs from our previous house and had given up hope of them ever blooming again. But then~ this!
Continue reading “May 2025 ~ The “why” behind Motherhood; Crock Pot Cheesy Potatoes; Outdoors on the Farm… and more”
April 2025 – Quiche; Child-raising; My new favorite soap… and more
Cooking: Quiche
With all our farm eggs, I decided to make quiche recently. This easy recipe turned out to be delicious (I didn’t put any veggies in it, this time). I used frozen pie crusts and it came together in literally minutes.
Happenings: Grandparents’ Day
Grandparents’ Day at the children’s school was a special, heart-warming occasion. As I observed all the grandparents with the grandchildren, and heard the memories and “favorite things” shared by the children, it made me think about this role in new ways. (Food was mentioned most frequently of all.)
Thinking & Growing: The Journey of Child-Raising
Each child truly is an individual for whom God has a plan, a unique path.
As parents we have the trick of at first choosing for them, then guiding them, then eventually seeing them take flight to chart their own course, all while praying and providing advice and feedback along the way. It’s a process of relinquishing control.
There is no box; no magic formula. Although we can’t be certain of the outcome, we can be certain that God will push us out of our comfort zone(s) in parenting, in ways we never expected.
March 2025 ~ Daily List, Easy Menu, Gift Idea, Thinking & Growing…
At our house we have had kids playing outside, and laundry hanging on the line! It’s been a whole new world after a long a bitterly cold winter. These warm early spring days can be some of the most enjoyable days of the year, when your skin remembers what it feels like to have sunshine soaking into it.
Daily Planning & List-Making
I love my daily list. In my early years of homemaking, I used those narrow little $1 notepads. Oh for the days when all my tasks could fit so neatly into such a slim space!
Then I upgraded to a journal size, then a school notebook size, and then I recently found my ultimate dream in list-making… what is called an “Organizing Notebook” and is actually 9.5 x 11.5! It allows me to have a little more “margin in my days” literally, haha. I found it at Staples and hope to have such good fortune the next time I need a new notebook.
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February 2025 ~ Soup Recipe, Parenting Pre-Teens, Chickens & Eggs…
Eight short sections this month!
A Meal We Love ~ Ground Beef Vegetable Soup
I have probably made this soup recipe more than any other. I love making it in the winter with fresh rolls. It’s simple and adaptable, and it makes great use of those frozen garden tomatoes. (This summer I will have to share about the no-fail, simplest-ever method for freezing tomatoes.)
Continue reading “February 2025 ~ Soup Recipe, Parenting Pre-Teens, Chickens & Eggs…”
Hello Again!
After a hiatus of almost three years—hello! How are you??
One of my plans for 2025 is to post a blog here once a month, maybe a scattering of homemaking, cooking, raising children, general happenings, and what have you. We’ll see! How I have missed posting and sharing here.
I’ve updated my bio and about the blog page, to reflect where I am in life now. I’ll let you hop over to those pages to catch up, but I do have to say… I’m a Grammy now! Oh the changes three years can bring!
A Meal We Love ~ Chicken Pot Pie
The main thing with this recipe is the filling. Feel free to use any cooked chicken/canned chicken, any assortment of veggies, and feel free to use a frozen pie crust. It’s the filling that makes all the difference. We always eat it with a salad.
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Dobbs— I want my children to remember.
We have now celebrated our first fourth of July without the tyranny of Roe over our heads. Our first time singing, “God shed His grace on thee” without the bloody backdrop and terrible weight on our national conscience of the federally permitted murder of the unborn.
I was stunned the morning the news came out. It seemed hardly possible, although countless individuals had been working and praying toward this goal for almost 50 years.
My mind travelled back…
Continue reading “Dobbs— I want my children to remember.”
The Mommy Bell
I wrote this post in December of 2020, but it has been unpublished until now.
Micah has been extra clingy lately. He turned four in December. Suddenly he wants to never be separated from me, even for a milli-second, it seems. And that’s fine by me; I’ve been around this track a few times before. In his case, we are enjoying a little more uninterrupted bonding time than I had with the others at this age. Many of my four-year-olds had at least one if not two younger siblings.
I am well aware that it won’t last. His Mommy radar will inevitably fade with time. But for right now, it’s on high alert.
As a humorous but on-point illustration, here’s what he did the other day. He was having a fussy Saturday, this or that was causing him to fuss about this or that, all while being underfoot of the many tasks I wanted to accomplish that day. While I was doing laundry, I heard him calling me and fussing for me from the kitchen. Then, I clearly heard him call out: “Mommy, when you hear this bell, that means I need you!” A moment later: “DING!” He rang the bell that happened to be sitting on the counter. (One of those silver bells that you ring at a storefront counter top. It belongs with one of our board games in the basement.)
I followed the call of the bell and came into the kitchen to see what he needed. He was quite pleased with his success and I was amused about the bell.
A little bit later, he came hobbling through the dining room with one flip flop on one foot. (I have no idea why the flip flop.) He hobbled over to the bell and rang it loud and clear. Steve and I both started chuckling and I said, “What do you need, Micah?”
“Mommy, I hurt my foot!” So I went over and comforted him and gave him a kiss.
Between every mother and child is a built-in Mommy Bell.
Who can understand the jibberish of a toddler? Only Mommy. Have you ever noticed that if a little child is trying to say something, other adults automatically look to the mom to find out what the child is trying to say. And she knows, 99% of the time. The child knows that when nobody else understands, they should tell Mommy. She can help.
I heard once about a little girl whose mother was studying in medical school, whose father was caring for her each day. The daddy of this little girl told me, “I take her to story time at the library, and she goes around the room and sits in the laps of all the mommies there. She doesn’t want me.”
Some days we are just so tired. There are needs on every hand and want to resist, ignore, or avoid that incessant bell. We can become depleted and utterly worn out with all the needs. But we have to mentally step back and remember that being called Mommy is an extremely privileged position to be in.
So on this Mother’s Day, I say let the Mommy bell ring! It’s a beautiful (if exhausting and often incessant) sound, and it signifies a position of infinite worth. Along with that figurative bell come the best hugs and the shining eyes and the tiny bouquets and a lifetime of love. Happy Mother’s Day! ♥
From the TH archives:
Remembering the Mothers
Did you enjoy mothering and staying home right from the start?
Keeping the Joy in Mothering
Happy New Year! – Patchwork Post {January 2022}
Hi dear ladies, congrats on making it to January. We can all take a deep breath and also take a minute to realize what we’ve accomplished. We’ve navigated another holiday season. Although it was done imperfectly, the fact remains that we served our families to the best of our abilities, did all the shopping, choosing, planning, decorating, cooking, wrapping, sizing, baking… and all the other things. God is gracious to give us such a reason to celebrate and the strength to make it special for our dear ones.
You can read our family Christmas Update 2021, here.
Just two things have been on my heart for the year ahead.
Continue reading “Happy New Year! – Patchwork Post {January 2022}”
A four-year-old boy and his mom
Micah is a thoughtful child and he has a way of saying things that my other kids didn’t necessarily verbalize. Here are three recent little exchanges that give us glimpses into the heart and mind of a four-(soon to be five)-year-old boy.
We have a little section of wall in the hallway where the kids mark their height from time to time. We were looking at it a few days ago and remarking over the growth of each one.
Me: “Wow Micah, you are getting so big!”
Micah: “Well, I don’t want to grow up and get married. I’m never going to get married!”
Me: “Why not?”
Micah: “Because then I will have to go away from you. I’m never going away from you!”
Patchwork Post {September 2021}
So much to share! I’m popping in with some various links, ideas, and news!
Rise and Worship Album
We’ve listened to this album countless times since Joshua brought it to our attention early this year. Refreshing, convicting, artfully done, worshipful, Christ-honoring. I want to fill our home with this kind of soul food.
An idea for children’s artwork
Children go through (sometimes lengthy) stages of wanting to create various types of art. What to do with all the masterpieces? You hate to throw them away, but can’t line all your walls with coloring pages held up by painter’s tape, either. (Side note: Painter’s tape does work well for temporarily hanging art work.)
I have ended up stashing the artwork papers in a “file” (using that term very loosely) and then going back to the collection on various occasions. Does someone need a letter sent to them in the mail? Or a birthday card? Do big brothers need a care package? We pull out the stash and look through. Such cries of delight as my young ones find treasures they had forgotten about. They select the perfect one, we write some words on it, and voila! Ready to go! Now to gather up the artwork spread out all over the floor…
History Recommendation
In my February Patchwork Post, I recommended a history book. Unfortunately, I will have to retract that recommendation, since the denominational and doctrinal ideas ended up being just too distracting from the history we were setting out to learn.
Now THAT’S a fish!
Sammy has been fishing as much as he possibly can, lately. Here’s a 4 pound bass he caught while out with his Uncle Tim. (Uncle Tims are just the best. Everybody needs one– and we are blessed with one on each side of the family!)
Treasuring Home 