The Joys Of Family and Hearth

The kids were board, so I showed them the "cell phone" of my day!!! They were busy for HOURS!!!!!!!

Last night we had a magnificent supper. We pulled a couple of steaks out of the freezer, along with some leftover talapia and salmon, steamed some fresh picked broccoli, steamed some clams and rock claw crab, and had a mini feast! Everything was cooked outside on our grill, or on our campfire cooker. We sat outside at our dining table and enjoyed our meal and each others company. Over the weekend. We did some work around our little homestead lot! :)  You may or not be aware.. our "homestead" is a very small lot. 80 x 100 to be exact.  We live in a shore community, but are doing the best we can with what we have. :)  That is the idea of becoming more self sufficient, isn't it? The garden is doing well. Everything is growing except for my peppers, not sure why they aren't doing so well. They haven't grown at all.. and are starting to flower. We also worked on creating outdoor space for my "outdoor" kitchen. Which basically...

Today we hit a few yard sales in our area. They were rather large. One was held at the VFW and the other was being held to raise money for foreign missions. :) I managed to pick up some cute things, cheap! One was a pilgrim and Indian screen, super cute to add to my Thanksgiving decorations. A pampered chef pizza stone.. brand new... $5.00 Brand New in the box, $2.00 A brand new Lock N Lock egg container for 18 eggs!!! for $2.00 So I think I did well!! Plus a fishing pole for my little girl and another pyrex bowl for the kitchen! :)

So while browsing pinterest, I came across an idea.. that I loved! After pricing it out at home depot, it wasn't such a great idea anymore.. way too much $$. But I did see another idea, that I thought was cute. SO I enlisted Big Daddy's help, and we set to work! The only investment I made in the project was for plants, mulch and the balusters, about $20.00 in total. I had the teacups aka, bird feeders and the bowl aka bird bath, the milk can I just respray painted it white. Big Daddy drilled holes in the cups and sauces and screwed them into the balusters, and then we did a light caulk around the center to keep anything from going through. We then just glued the bowl to top of milk can. added some mulch and flowers and now we waited for some birds to come visit it! :) Psalm 104:12 The bird s of the sky nest by the waters; they sing among the branches. From My Home to Yours~~ Blessings~~

Psalm 29:11 The LORD gives strength to his people; the LORD blesses his people with peace . Oh, how the Lord has blessed me with peace these past few weeks. I almost feel as if I am not myself. The *me* I know, would be panicking with the fear of how we are going to make it. The *me* I know would be doubting God, double minding my husband, and living in fear of what is to come. But since before my dh was laid off, our Pastor in church has been doing a series on Faith, based on Hebrews 11.  So many men of faith discussed in Hebrews 11. So many different situations to faith. I hope I am expressing myself clearly. Anyway, it is almost like it was preparatory for what was about to come, and sermons to carry us through this trial. We have grown so much during the past several months. We felt the Lord leading us several months ago, to stay at home more, train our children more, and just be present more for our children. It's amazing what has happened in our lives since then. ...

As the warmer weather approaches and the kids are outdoors more and so I am.. Our appetite naturally increases. Here's some healthy snacks your might find around our home if your pop over for a visit. Ice Cold Water Homemade unsweetened ice tea are a must for this house! We always have both on hand!!! :) Celery is always available too, we like to stuff it with peanut butter, or with cream cheese and then top it with some walnuts!! So good. Carrots are always on hand as well. Not the baby carrots, those are bad for you!!! And more expensive then just buying  a regular bag of carrots, that you peel and eat. We have several hand peelers on deck. Even my 3 yo can peel a carrot. :) Apples!!! Our favorites are granny smiths, pink ladies, golden delicious and gala!! Now you can slice apple and dip in peanut butter or cashew butter.. We will eat the Granny's with cheddar or smoked Gouda cheese.  Apples and cheese go great together! Grapes, we like seedless either red o...

Woke up to the birds singing. The sun shining, and a cool breeze blowing through my bedroom window. :) Decided we would go to a flea market at Allaire State Park! So glad we did. We met my mom there and we had a great time. Also caught up with my friend Genevieve!!! SO glad to see her as well! You can check out her finds here : http://primitiveparadise.blogspot.com/ Hubby and I found some great deals! First off I love cast iron!!! I love to cook in it, love the way it looks, just love it all around! And since I am primarily cooking with it, my anemia is no longer. :) How precious are these?!?!?!?!?!?!??!?! Little Bears  Fruits and Veggies!!! Muffin/Cake pans!! I just love them. Now I am very picky about where my cast iron comes from it absolutely must be made in the USA! And these were from a place in Pennsylvania!! Yeah, so exciting!!! They are in really good shape, just going to clean them up and oil them really good !!! Can't wait to giv...