Oh, Happy Days

I know I've said it before, but I'll say it again: I love, love, love the holidays. One of the best parts of the holidays for me is the joy of cooking special meals for my family. Yesterday my DH had the three oldest kids at a movie, and my two youngest were sleeping, so I took advantage of that time to turn on a sappy Christmas movie I had recorded and begin cooking for Thanksgiving. (I don't feel the need at this late stage in the game to keep my holidays separated!)

The first thing I made was my traditional cornbread stuffing. Oh, how I love this stuffing. If the truth be told, it is the part of the meal I most look forward to, and truly could stand on its own any other day of the year as a one dish meal. Because I love you, I am going to share the recipe, which is based on one from the 30 Day Gourmet's Holiday Cookbook.

Holiday Cornbread Dressing

2 T. Butter
1 c. diced onions
1 c. diced celery
1/2 t. ground black pepper
1/2 t. salt
1/2 t. poultry seasoning
1 c. raisins, or if you wish, craisins
1/2 c. chopped walnuts or pecans (I prefer walnuts)
1/2 pound sausage, browned and drained
1 c. tart, cored but unpeeled apples, diced
6 c. stale cornbread cubes
3 c. chicken broth (more or less, just enough to get the mixture very, very moist.)


For the cornbread, either make it from scratch with your favorite recipe, or do what I have done in the past and just bought the little cheap mixes and baked them up. All that matters is that it is stale and cubed. If your cornbread is fresh, cube it up and place it on a cookie sheet in the oven at 300 degrees for about an hour, stirring occasionally until dry and toasty. Then fully cool.

Melt the butter in a skillet over medium heat and saute the onions and celery until they are starting to soften. Add the pepper, salt and poultry seasoning to the celery and onions, and keep cooking it for a few more minutes. At this point you can add the apples, walnuts, sausage and raisins/craisins and cook it all together for 5 more minutes. Remove it from the heat and add in the chicken broth, about 2 cups to start with. Pour all the pan ingredients over the cornbread in a large bowl. If it doesn't seem very, very moist add more liquid until it does. This will dry out while baking so you want it to start out quite moist.

If baking immediately, go ahead and bake it at 350 degrees for 30 minutes uncovered. You want the final product to be browned on top and toasty, but moist throughout the inside. If you would like to make this ahead and freeze it, it will work VERY well. Just make it up to the point that you have added the broth, and then cool it completely and freeze it, either in the pan you plan to cook it in, or in a gallon sized freezer bag.

If freezing ahead, just be sure to thaw it out thoroughly, and then set out at room temperature 2 hours before you bake it. It won't get crispy and perfect unless it has come to room temp first.

So, I hope that this recipe will bring your family as much enjoyment as it does mine! If not this Thanksgiving, then maybe one in the future! I am not kidding, with the fruit, veggies, nuts, meat and cornbread, it could be a meal in itself. Many a post-Thanksgiving meal has found me eating the stuffing as my main course!

Now, I head off excitedly into the realm of some new recipes I haven't tried before for dessert this year! I'll let you know how it goes!

Holidays

I have always been crazy about the holiday seasons. From the end of October to the beginning of January is such a fun flurry of decorations, special dishes and extra family get togethers. Since having children, I have only enjoyed it more than ever. With one exception. For about a year after having a baby, I am just toast. Tired, sleep deprived, and committed to keeping things at a minimum so that life isn't so busy and consuming.

This year, I am glad to say my little lady is 19 months old, and I am finding energy to put toward the upcoming celebrations! In planning my menu for Thanksgiving, I have found myself excited and ready to go! So much so that I decided not to wait, and have today baked my first turkey of the season! Even though Thanksgiving is still a week away, I just couldn't wait, plus at a price of $.50 per pound, the turkeys beat out all the other meats at the grocery store for the bargain of the week!

So, 20 pounds of turkey are currently roasting away in my oven, along with 2 acorn squash and a pound of brussel sprouts! Tonight we will be feasting on that lovely turkey, and tomorrow we will be scarfing down a delicious turkey pot pie. The next day, turkey tetrazzini! I do plan to put a lovely beef and chicken bumper between this turkey and the next, so Thursday of this week and the weekend will involve meals not featuring my favorite seasonal bird!

My all consuming thought now, though, is the Christmas tree. Usually my DH prefers to wait until after Thanksgiving to put it up, but this year he uncharacteristically agreed that it might be fun to put it up early. I was shocked! His work schedule has become such that we can't really do it before the day after Thanskgiving, so my current plan is to pop that pupppy up first thing in the morning on Black Friday! I may have to make some celebratory cinnamon rolls just for fun!

For some reason today I have been overwhelmed by the amazing privilege it is to stay home with my beautiful children, teaching them, holding my babies, and making our home festive and cozy for the holidays. What an amazing blessing to know that my husband provides enough so that I get to stay here and love on our kids. I don't ever want to take that for granted.

Here's hoping your family has a wonderful Thanksgiving and Christmas, and that your eyes will be constantly open to the amazing blessings God constantly lavishes on us all!

In Sickness and In Health

I am coming out of hiding to confess a terrible problem our family is having this week. Early this week we discovered that I and all of the boys have head lice. Man, this is nasty, and way hard. Have I mentioned that my hair is currently several inches below my shoulders in length? The boys have been easy! We chopped theirs down to a 1/4 of an inch, so now the lice and their eggs have nowhere to hide!! Mine, on the other hand, has been an absolute nightmare. I have also considered chopping mine down to 1/4 of an inch, but my husband has gently reminded me that I have to go out in public soon, so we decided against it.

There are a number of situations in a marriage that will either affirm your love for one another, or confirm that your marriage is in trouble. I firmly believe that head lice infestations are a perfect example of one of these situations. I can happily say that we have a GREAT marriage after this week!!

A couple of days ago, I discovered a bug in my hair. Okay, so if you know me, you know that bugs and I are not friends. AT ALL. So, I proceeded to freak out. I called Jeff at work and asked him to come home, armed with lice shampoo and a nit comb. The baby was already in bed for the night, and the boys were on their way. I was totally freaking out and knew I couldn't deal with this alone. Jeff very kindly left work and ran to the store, armed himself with lice-murdering implements, and flew home.

With all of my voluminous hair to go through, it took us a good two hours of shampooing, leaving the shampoo on, then combing through my hair with the nit comb tiny section by tiny section. People, seriously, the girl has a lot of hair. So, Jeff spent his night pulling nits out of my hair. Thankfully, he never actually had to witness a bug being removed from my head. This may have sent me over the edge.

Several times during this process I expressed my fear that he might never want to touch me again, or that he might decide this was enough and head out the door! He made it very clear that nothing was going to drive him away, especially not some dumb little louse! (Or its millions of friends.)

So, we did the baboon act for a couple of hours, and went to bed. The next morning, the great head-shaving of 2010 began. Four young boys and their daddy lined up in the back yard for their 1/4 inch buzz cuts. Then we searched. Every boy had at least one louse on their heads, but not much more. Daddy was in the clear.

As I completed each head, Jeff took them in the kitchen and applied the lice shampoo. The timers were set, then when their timers went off, either Jeff or I combed their hair with the nit comb. We continued on with this process until all heads were shaved and combed, nit and lice free.

Then, we pulled off all bedding and went to town, washing and drying at hot temperatures. Actually, our dryer has only stopped for a short time in the night since 2 nights ago. Today, all of the boys' stuffed animals are being sent through the dryer for a hot, bug killing ride!

So, this trial has shown me one thing for sure. My husband is here for the long haul, and our marriage is in good shape! We have pulled off some major team work this week to get a really big job done together, and I feel blessed beyond measure to have such a great man as my husband. My mom always tells me that he is not normal, and that not many men are are as wonderful as he is. I believe she may be right!

Boys are Unique Creatures

Today was an interesting study in the crazy boy-ness that is my sons. Here they are a year or so ago. Flexing their testosterone for the camera.

Even though they are bigger now, not much has changed as far as the testosterone goes. After a quick trip to the chiropractor for mommy, we made a run to the library, and I got an unexpected lesson in the uniqueness of these creatures.

After an amusing ride with Tobe on the elevator, we approached the double glass doors that lead to the children's section of the library. On the wall is the button for handicapped access to the door. Tobe loves to push that button to open the door for me and my stroller full of beautiful, pink little girl. So, I asked him to go and push it for me. What followed was so stunning, so stereotypical, I just had to laugh!

Tobe propelled himself, top speed, toward the button, and at the very last minute, he leaped into the air and body-slammed the button and the wall surrounding it. Seriously, I think he was 4 inches off the ground. Then, he bounced off the wall and landed on his feet, complete with a huge, proud smile!

Happily, and with me laughing a little too loudly for the library, Tobe ran through the doors and then through a second set of doors, where he promptly wacked his head on the door bar. Bouncing off, he kept going, while rubbing his bumped spot. By this point I was laughing so hard that the librarians were shooting me looks.

Fast forward about a half an hour. We had our books in hand, our videos chosen and checked out, and we were out in the parking lot. As soon as we crossed the street, and the tell tale beep of the door clicker let us know the doors were unlocked, my two middle boys took off running.

If you have spent any time with boys, you know that they cannot just run. It was a race, and apparently, a battle to the death. Not only were they running full speed, but they were shoving and pushing one another out of the way! You would have thought there were mountains of cheeseburgers in our van or something the way they were busting to get there first.

Time for an important reminder. I am a girl. Therefore, this crazy boy mindset is foreign to me. I have learned much through the immersion method, though, so I speak the language. I am no longer shocked by it! For some reason, today it just struck me funny. It was just so innate. No thought, no decision making, just instinct. Run. Be first. Kill if necessary. Subdue the button on the wall. Make it do what I want it to. And do it with style!

I have to confess, sometimes this boy world is frustrating and alien to me. Today, it was just FUN! They are a hoot, and I love the way God made them. Hopefully, I'll remember that the next time I hear them armpit tooting in the living room and laughing hysterically! I can't make any promises.

Life

I have dreams. I dream of being a blogger who daily blogs about all her funny, quirky, and exciting life experiences. I dream of creativity, and time to download my thoughts.

And then, I wake up. I start my day in God's word most days, and try to get my head on straight for another period of serving my family and guiding my children. I get dressed, eat breakfast, check my email, and begin rolling along in morning chores, laundry, and math!

Then, lunch, naps for the littles, games to play with older boys, outside play, hopefully some gardening, more laundry, and if I am very lucky, a nap for mommy!

It is a blessed, wonderful, busy and crazy life we live here in Indiana! And, unfortunately, this translates into a sad little blog that is rarely visited! I promise I'll do more soon!

Now, on to dinner, showers, bedtime, and a late arrival home from daddy! Then bedtime, and up to do it all again!

Two Crazy Weeks!!

Whew! I finally have a moment to gather a thought or two. It has been two incredibly crazy weeks here in the Schwind household. Here are some highlights since my last post:

• Two visits to karate and judo with my oldest three boys.
• Two great visits with our small group from church, one of which involved making a bacon wrapped meatloaf from The Pioneer Woman. Oh, mamma.
• One long day spent serving an underprivileged community near downtown Indy with my oldest two sons. What a blessing!!!
• My 7 year old asking Jesus to be his Savior! The best day of all of these by far!
• One long evening setting up the polls for our Primary Elections here in Indiana.
• One VERY long, 17 hour day running the polls for a nearby precinct. What a big job, but what an incredible experience watching first hand as one of our country's most vital freedoms played out in front of my eyes!
• One closing ceremony for my AWANA Sparky!
• One rehearsal at church and one wonderful morning leading worship for three services with our band and music pastor. As usual, this was an incredible honor and blessing.

Now, the reality of things is, this is sort of a normal state of busyness for us Americans, is it not? However, I forgot to add in one stressful thing that was the under-current of most of this crazy busyness. About a week and a half ago, we had an unexpected occurrence. The drainage hose on the back of our washer popped off mid-cycle, and poof! Instant swimming pool!

Unfortunately, the unwanted body of water leaked under three walls into the adjacent living room, hallway and garage. We had just an incredible amount of water to clean up, complicated by the fact that we aren't equipped to deal with that kind of thing!

It was quite entertaining to watch us sucking up water with our wet/dry vac and our tiny Bissell Little Green!! I'll save you from having to hear about all the hoops we jumped through to dry this house out. Needless to say, we prayed a lot. Replacing carpet isn't in our budget right now!

If you know me, or have known anything about my past, you know what a faith-stretcher this thing was for me. When we have issues that could potentially cost us the big bucks, I get scared. Panicky. My faith usually takes a tumble.

While I will admit I had one moment of sitting down and crying over it all, I have to say that, for the most part, my heart felt sure that God would provide for our needs. This was a major step for me to see my heart leaning toward faith rather than toward doubt. I am so thankful when I see God changing me for the better!

And, as usual, God showed Himself faithful in all of it. We had a restoration company come out, and all the pains we had taken, (and they were a PAIN) had done their job, and we were dry! Our carpet doesn't need to be replaced. Amazing! God is so good to this little family.

So, today I sit here thankful, blessed and pooped! It may take a year long nap to recover from the last two weeks, but I'll be napping full of joy and praise for God, who carried us through!

Why I Love Having a Daughter

There are many reasons, but one stands a bit above the rest. I can sum it up in one word: Clothes!

That is the truth! She is sweet and fun and such a blessing to our family. And so were all of my four boys! The main difference is, I can dress her up like my own living, breathing baby doll! It started early. Here is our first example:

This was taken in the hospital. And, truth be told, she was gorgeous! All 10 pounds, 4 ounces of her! I especially loved the pink nubby blanket.

The fashion show continued on, as each new outfit had me whipping out the camera to record it. She only wore some of these once or twice before she grew out of them! For example, this one:

Clearly, she wasn't happy, but she looked so sweet in this shirt!!! This was the one and only newborn sized shirt she was able to wear! It must have been for a HUGE newborn! Next!

This was one of her two adorable fourth of July outfits! I just loved this one, and she grew out of it soooo fast! (She always seems to have an admirer nearby!)

This one just kills me! Oh, I wish we could make the clothes grow with the child!

Truly, there are no words. None.

Finally, yesterday, she entered the "blouse" phase of her life. Oh, it was a happy moment in my life to place a peasant blouse on my baby girl. Again, I followed her around, took pictures, ooo'ed and ahhhhh'ed all over her! I could die a happy woman! Not to mention, the pants have a belt that matches the floral print on the blouse. (Happy sigh!!)

This picture is the perfect example of why I love having a daughter. The only thing that will be better is a wedding gown!

I would like to make one clarifying statement! If all this little girl had to wear was brown sack cloth, I would still be so thankful to have a daughter. There is a gentle sweetness to her that isn't present in my boys! I am so glad, though, that we have more than brown sack cloth because this is FUN!! Thank you so much, Lord, for giving me this sweet little angel to dress up!!!

So How is It Going?

Sugar's Got Nothing on Me

Update time! I am now on day 3 of my sugar-free life, and so far, so good! I am really surprised how well it is going. I have to admit, though, that I have done this before, and it always seems to unravel about week 2. I am going to have to just stay super busy to try to keep my mind off of this!!

We've Got the Blues, Because We Don't.

On another front, my lovely garden seems to be growing a nice crop of.....wait for it.....weeds. Well, I guess it is true, there really is no place like Texas, and if you happen to be a bluebonnet, you are quite adamant that you must NOT be found in the Midwest. All I can say is, from one transplanted Texan to another, you don't know what you are missing, little bluebonnets! It is nice here! Granted, everything was covered in a frosty blanket this morning, and our soil has been soaked thoroughly by all the rain lately, so we haven't made it easy for you. Alas, I may be destined NOT to have bluebonnets as long as a Midwesterner I remain. We sure can grow beautiful clematis, though!!!

So, I'll console myself with these beauties!!!

Love, Hate and Sugar

Well, folks, today is the day. Today is the day I am heeding the voice of the Lord that has been nagging at me for some time, and I am giving up refined sugar. There. I said it out loud, so now it is real.

For a person like me who loves baking and dessert almost more than anything else on earth, this is horrible. A catastrophe. It is practically a Greek tragedy! People will write books about this. Historians will lament this day for centuries to come. (Well, maybe not, but they should.)

So, what led up to this, you ask? Simple. My body has decided it doesn't like sugar any more. Probably because I have fed it too much over my long life! I am not diabetic, but I am headed there. I have been praying and asking the Lord to identify the things in my life that need to be changed so that I can reclaim my health and lose weight. Through many different sources, the Lord pointed out to me that the sugar had to go. Man. That is not the answer I wanted.

However, here I stand, determined to follow. I mean, I asked, right? I wish that following God's leading was easy! Sometimes it is, but on this one, no way. This is not going to be easy.

I'd love some help here, folks. If any of you have given up refined sugar and have some great survival tips, I'd love to have them. It is not even noon on the first day, and I am already dyin', folks! I'd also love some prayers, because this is HARD!!!

Thanks!! I'll let you know how it goes. That is, if I don't die first. (Oh, the drama of it all, the absolute Shakespearean tragedy!) Don't worry, chances are best that I will be back!

Bread, Part 2

Okay, so today I really needed to bake bread. I thought, what better time than today when we are not busy to have my 11 year old Jeffery grab the camera and record the process. If you are a hesitant bread baker (cough, cough, KELLY, cough) hopefully this will give you a visual as you embark on this fun and really rewarding activity!!

Since I am such a student of The Pioneer Woman, I'll start with the ingredients. I have already posted them, so I won't go over it again, other than to say that the container with the blue lid is salt, the clear round container is yeast, and the big plastic container is my wheat flour. For your info, this was the King Arthur flour. Lastly, you can't make this bread without your sweetener and oil, so I have out honey and the last (sniff, cry, sniff) of my coconut oil. Time to order some more!

So, here is what it looks like with 6 cups of warm water, honey and a lovely blob of coconut oil.

Now I've sprinkled on the yeast...

and added in 5 cups of flour.

You can see, it is mixed, but it isn't smooth at all. That is okay.

This lovely mixture sat for a half hour while I whipped my son's tail at "Flinch". If you haven't played it, you should! Fun card game. But I digress.

Okay, here is my secret tool so that I do not forget to put in the salt! I put the salt on top of the flour container so that I cannot possibly add more flour without moving the salt! Works wonders for me, anyway!!

So, now, after 30 minutes, our mixture is lovely, large and bubbling like a boiling pot of water! I took a moment to have a mini science observation with my camera man, and then I got busy.

Ta-Da!!! The salt is added!

Okay, so now I have added most of the flour, and we are letting it go to knead. However, as you will see next.....

my mixer has some trouble with this volume of dough, and it climbs up the hook. I almost always finish it on the counter.

So, I flour my counter...

dump out the dough, still fairly wet,

and use my kitchen scraper thingy to flip it for me until it has enough flour in it to make it easier to manage.

I add more flour when necessary....

and voila!! A HUGE lump of bread dough!

Here is how you check to be sure your bread is ready. You should be able to pull a little lump of it a bit and make a "window pane" effect without it falling apart. This wasn't our best picture of it, but it was the best lighting!!

Now, for all you anal retentive bakers like me out there, this food scale creates peace of mind, and even loaves! We weigh it all, and divide by four!

Here are my lovely loaves...

and my lovely loaves rising!

30 minutes later, and having been slaughtered by my son/photographer at "Phase 10", we have.....

four lovely and unbelievably fragrant loaves of bread!

"You know you want to try making my mamma's bread!!"

Once they are cool, I wrap them in plain old food storage bags, and freeze them. They thaw beautifully and are as fresh tasting as they can be!

Okay, so there you go! If you need help or some hands on tutoring, come on by on a baking day, and we'll roll up our sleeves! Happy baking!

Bread!

I have had many requests lately to share the bread recipe I use for my family. This is my trusty, tried and true wheat recipe that makes anywhere from 4-5 loaves depending on the size pan you use. Since I use a good sized 9 inch bread pan, I get 4 very large loaves from this recipe. It comes from Denise Fidler at www.countrybaker.com. Her cookbook, "WildFlour" has a bunch of amazing whole grain bread recipes. Just amazing!!! I highly recommend it!

And to answer your question, yes, I do now grind my own flour! So, I can finally follow her directions exactly. But this is very recent, and before now, I bought the King Arthur White Wheat Flour with a great result!!! I also use SAF Instant yeast. Now that I have tried it, there is no going back. It is amazingly easy!!

Here is her recipe, adapted to the way I used it BEFORE I bought the grinder!

Start with having 18 or so cups of white wheat flour available, the majority of a 5 pound bag.

6 cups warm water (120-130 degrees)
2/3 cup honey
2/3 cup oil (I use coconut oil, but any oil will do.)
5 cups of white wheat flour
(She calls for 4T of dough enhancer, but I have never used it. I plan to in the near future, though.)
3T. SAF instant yeast

In a heavy duty mixer bowl with a dough hook attachment or a large bowl if needing by hand, mix slightly until blended. Cover and allow to sponge for 15-30 minutes. This develops more flavor, but is optional.

Then add: 2T salt.

=>=>I can't emphasize enough how important this is. Without the salt, this bread is flavorless, over-risen and a waste of calories, in my humble opinion! I know, because I have forgotten this more than once. Ugh. Not good.<=<=

Now, add another 11-13 cups of flour, mixing in quickly, until the dough cleans the sides of the bowls. At this point, add enough flour just to keep it from being too wet. All totaled, I rarely use more than 17 cups of flour.

If needing with a mixer, need for 5-7 minutes, if needing by hand, it will take at the very least 10 minutes. Probably more. You want it to be a good, smooth, well developed dough. Divide evenly into your greased pans, whether 4 or 5, and allow it to rise, covered, to about an inch over the top of the pan. In my warm house, this takes about 30 minutes.

Put the bread into a 350 degree oven for about 30-35 minutes, and you have what for us is about a week's worth of bread! I allow them to cool on a wire rack until fully cooled, and then I freeze all but the one I am planning to eat next. That way they are "first day" fresh when we get around to them.

Okay, if you have questions, let me know. One of these days I'll do a pictorial on this whole process, but at least now you have the recipe! Enjoy!!!

Gardening in Indiana, Texan at heart

For several years now, I have had a special packet tucked away in the drawer of my bedside table. It was sent by a friend of mine, and I have longed to use it. Year after year, though, something has always stopped me. Sometimes it was an overly full schedule. Sometimes it was a pregnancy that had me so uncomfortable I didn't want to do anything at all. Not this year! Not this spring. I have finally used it!

I know you are DYING to know, "What was in the packet, Julie?" Well, I'll tell you! It was a packet of Texas Bluebonnet seeds. If you have never seen a field of Texas Bluebonnets in the spring, you have truly missed one of God's most beautiful creations on the earth! In April, the state of Texas is temporarily the most breathtaking shade of blue you have ever seen, like it has been covered in a giant, blue carpet!

I have had my doubts, however, about the ability of our heavy clay soil here in Indiana to grow a flower that thrives in the dry, sandy soil of the Lone Star State. With good reason, too. Here is what I found today on the internet about it. "Bluebonnets cannot tolerate poorly drained, clay-based soils. Seeds planted in poorly drained soils will germinate, but plants will never fully develop. Seedlings will become either stunted or will turn yellow and die." Sigh.

This year, since I am not pregnant, and I have carved out for us a very calm Spring, the seeds are in the ground. So far, they are just beginning to pop up. At least I think they are. Little green leaves have appeared recently, giving me hope that I may have a bluebonnet garden yet. However, some of the sprouting leaves appear to be weeds. And some appear to be the Japanese Spurge I have been trying to get rid of for the last 3 years. A few look unfamiliar, and my hopes are that these will be Bluebonnets.

So, the boys and I are on Bluebonnet watch. And we are anxiously awaiting Mother's Day, after which we can plant our veggie garden, according to our local gardening experts. We purchased a whole bunch of non-GMO heirloom seeds this year, and are so excited to plant them! In my heart of hearts, though, I just really want to see one, two, maybe a whole bed full of Bluebonnets!! I'll keep you informed of what happens with my sprouts!

I can honestly say that I don't miss much about Texas. I grew up there, but I appear to be a midwesterner at heart. There are two things I do miss about Texas: My family is there, and so are the Bluebonnets! Well, this summer my family is visiting. Let's hope the Bluebonnets will, too!

New Home, New Direction!

Welcome to my new home!!! Formerly "Bucketloads of Boys", this new blog will be a place where I can share the happenings of my very interesting and highly entertaining family!

I'll introduce myself for those of you who are new to my blog. My name is Julie, and I'm a Christian wife, mom, homeschooler and musician. These 5 words, (minus the "and") are the best descriptors I can use to give you a little snapshot of me. They are "me", listed in order of importance.

First, I am a Christian. There is nothing in my life that is as important to me as this. You'll probably see this as we go along! Hopefully you will see in my life a picture of a woman who passionately desires to follow Christ with her whole being!

Second, I am a wife. I have been married to my beloved husband, Jeff, for almost 13 years, and it is truly getting better every year. For sure, he gets better looking every year!

Third, I am a mom to four handsome, crazy boys and one precious, sweet little girl. (They are pictured above with me and Jeff.) They bring a lot of joy, excitement and angst to my life! Just keepin' it real, folks. They are my heart and soul and every day with them is an adventure to say the least!

Fourth, I am a homeschooler. Thankfully I am surrounded by a wonderful community of homeschoolers in my midwestern state that support and rally around each other, so we have a very fun, full life as home educators! The boys do so well in school, and are learning and growing at an alarming rate!

Lastly, I am a musician. At this stage in my life, I currently sing in my church as often as possible. This has been a very fulfilling ministry for me, and it fits in with my busy mommy life. In my past life, pre-children, I traveled and sang with a christian music ministry, and had quite a wonderful time at it. I gave it up to stay home with my kiddos, and while I would like to say I never regretted it, I cannot honestly claim that! Every mom has a hard day, right?? I can honestly say it was the best decision I ever made, and that God has given me a great outlet for the talents He has given me in the worship arts ministry of my church! He is so good to fulfill the desires of our hearts!

All right, there is the overview of this particular blogger and her life! From here on out you will be getting to look into my weird, wacky, fun, exhausting, blessed life! Aren't you excited??

More to come soon!