Part of our lifestyle is creating healthy recipes or healthier versions of favorites like chili, marinara, applesauce. We prefer natural, less sugar, more healthy food options to serve, but our budget is limited. I try to stay at $50 per person or less.
About 10 years ago, we had a bread recipe and baked 6 loaves once a week (this ended when we lost the big oven) but Louis wanted a better-than-sliced-bread recipe that tasted better than Publix fresh.
A few weeks of experimentation cumulated in these:
Beautiful artisan French loaves.
And gorgeous “regular” white bread in loaf pans that Louis slices to perfection and stores in our Tupperware bread box to keep fresh.
He has to bake a set every day to keep up with our demand, but at $0.36 per set ($0.18 per loaf!), it is well in our budget.
Sugar, salt, olive oil, yeast, water, and bead flour. That’s it. Of course, Louis is a special kind of baker in that nothing is every measured. (He says some of this and some of that and it always comes out great as it’s “all in the proportions.”) For super soft bread, (dinner rolls) he will use bacon grease instead of olive oil (not as healthy, but way better than crescent dinner rolls and so much tastier!) or for “French,” he’ll reduce the sugar and shape into logs brushed with butter.
The original recipe came from somewhere on google that he modified bit by bit. Temperature of the yeast and rising time are the most vital parts for chemistry.
I challenge you to experiment! Find ready-made foods your family loves and research how to make them and try it! You can make small batches and try them out today – added hint: homemade bread makes great inexpensive croutons and stuffing too!
We are a crazy outdoor family. After one 6am epic three-player (connected our little old computers together with LAN – the girls’ new love) Age of Empires (old school from like the 90s) game, we are technologically pooped.
As we are winning our Age of Empires, Louis made amazing waffles with homemade whipped cream (yummmmmmmmy).
Next step: Monopoly.
I’m having a bummer of a start… all the properties are gone except two and I have two railroads, one red, and electric company. I bought the last yellow. Louis quickly offered both railroads for the yellow (he had the other two) and I figured, sure, why not help him up on my way out.
WELL… turns out having three other people landing on my $200 a pop spaces continually led to me winning the first monopoly game in years!
Lunch was bean and rice burritos. (Louis cooked, I cleaned)
Next was outside. Waterslide (plastic sheet with a hose), mud, and gymnastics routines to whole songs pumping from one bass speaker that Louis DJ queued up. Thea took a nap, I typed up blogs, bread dough (for pizza dinner) was rising, and we spent the afternoon playing outside.
Thea had a little cup for her soda, but decided to learn how to pour her sister’s soda into her cup, then her cup back into sister’s soda can, and leave soda footprints on the carport:
Lucas left the waterslide to play in the mud pools:
The girls practiced their gymnastics routines. They did both the Show Routines to real floor music and did the ones they made up for each of the really popular songs they hear at Parents’ Nights Out because they want to do them with their friends during free time one night. The Speechless song from Aladin is by far the favorite. Jaquline’s “routine” is more interpretive dance than Kimberly’s focused skill-by-skill connected with dance moves gymnastics routine, but both were quite entertaining!
Just a little glimpse into our fun, crazy life.
Louis just left to go start the pizza. Thea and I are enjoying listening to Tron Legacy music as I finish this last blog for the week on my borrowed computer, then we’ll head inside… turns out they want to watch “Cheaper By the Dozen” with Myrna Loy and Clifton Webb and we’ll do “Yours Mine and Ours” with Lucille Ball and Henry Fonda (Lucy is their favorite!) while we eat.
Slow, relaxing day with our crew. Hope everyone is faring well through this trying time. Slow down and enjoy what you have.
See Lucas? See Louis? Yes. Louis is lifting Lucas up to get ice cream out of the freezer so they can use that milk on the counter because Lucas wanted to make cookies and cream milkshakes.
Sometimes you can’t reach what you want without being lifted up.
This made me think of how everyone where I live is helping each other. It’s like when a hurricane comes and everyone seems to band together and help each other. Those who cut trees up so people can get out of their driveways, those who give water or make lemonade for linemen, someone who shares their firepit or grilled food with the neighbors.
The same thing is happening now. Only instead of being shut down for a couple of days max, we are currently on the third week of shutdown. The end doesn’t seem to be in sight; especially for the young as my daughter’s senior friends are afraid they won’t get to walk for high school graduation.
Look for the helpers.
Look for the need and fill it.
This is how we pull together and make our world better.
This is how we will rise again stronger than before.
Help won’t be a pork barrel stimulus package passed because it included raises for those who passed it.
Help will be from the local community – friends, neighbors, family, churches, local businesses. We will stand up together and help each other as we haven’t before. I see it already in bits.
So instead of feeling helpless alone in your home wasting time worrying about what you can’t control (like the stimulus bill, a virus with long incubation, or the fact that your household just lost 3 of 4 jobs) do something!
Call your friends and give them an encouraging voice.
Call a church or community organization and offer to help in whatever capacity exists.
If you are one of the few with extra, support your local businesses right now by utilizing their services or buying gift certificates for later so they can pay their bills and open up when this is all over.
Brighten someone’s day (yes, especially if they live in your own home!).
Pray for wisdom in leadership.
Text and say “hi! hope you are having a lovely day!” just to do it… and expect a call or text conversation because they realize you care.
We can do these things to keep our sanity and help encourage others. Remember what a great man said after beating polio firsthand, living through the Spanish flu epidemic, and leading our country through the Great Depression… “We have nothing to fear but fear itself.” (Franklin Roosevelt)
Instead of just looking for the helpers… BE a helper! BE an encourager!
So for my entire life, until last year, I was the only February birthday in my family – by birth, then by marriage, and then including my children and the sister- and brother-cousins. I was the only February birthday! I had the whole month to myself (haha) but then our miracle baby was born three days before my birthday last year and I now share my birthday month with one nephew and my sixth daughter. Yes, same year, my eighth nephew decided to take February three days before Thea popped out.
This was the first birthday party I shared with Thea!
First off, on Thea’s real birthday I had to work at my office and then gym and Christina was at college. Grandma Joanne came over and Thea had her brithday cupcake, which she refused to get dirty with (little princess, as Becky calls her). Thea would dip her finger in the icing and eat it delicately.
Grandma brought Thea a helium balloon, her adorable birthday outfit, and cupcakes. Thea loved it! She was so exhausted after Grandma’s visit that she couldn’t come to gym in the afternoon, so she spent her birthday afternoon with Daddy and Lucas – giggling and goofing off.
Forward to Saturday and I’m off so we went to Aunt Becca’s for a planned get-together. I love doing anything with my family, so tried to get my sisters and mom to come. I had mentioned to Louis that all I wanted for my birthday was to hang out with my family (already planned) and maybe do a little birthday for Thea. So when the girls were hanging streamers in Aunt Becca’s house, I thought, “awesome, they are decorating for Thea!” and went to chat with Becca while she grilled. Then Mom came too!
Nope, turns out they decided to surprise me.
I love my family!
Sunday, we had even more cake and games with Grandma Tina!
I am so thankful for those I grew up with, married into, and am watching grow up. I love our closeness. I love that my children are growing up babysitting, playing with, and looking up to their sister-cousins and brother-cousins. I am so thankful that God provided my children with positive role models in their aunts and uncles (and now a future Aunt who my teens already consider an awesome friend).
I know by the time this gets published, we aren’t going to be allowed on our beautiful beaches anymore due to what my teens tease the history books will call “the corona shutdown,” but don’t judge us.
Anyway, after making sure you understand that my one-month of disabled computer leading to very-very late posts is what causes this to be published way after it happened…
We LOVE our beach days (usually evenings, it is surface-of-the-sun Florida, even in February and March). This lovely day was a perfect, breezy, sunshine day. Our beach was “crowded” today (aka, more than just three groups as far as the eye could see). We actually happened to know both of our distant beach neighbors!
The girls took our boogie boards and caught the tiny waves. They grew to some nice ones and a few surfers started dotting the decent ones past the distant sandbar (if you see a dark dot in the distance, that is a surfer).
The teens buried each other together so that their legs were “eaten by the hungry hippo.”
Thea thought the water was too cold. After Mommy tried to get her wet a few times, she continually raced back up to Daddy, the shade tent, and Mommy’s chair.
In the background you see Kimberly in a deep hole, the other legs belong to part of the kid squad trying to fill that hole with water using sand buckets in a bucket line! We laughed so hard as they kept shrieking “the water’s going down!” after each bucketful of water got lost in the thirsty sands at the bottom.
There were some very funny teenager-talk jokes passing around during the sand sculpture time.
Besides enjoying hours with my family – my absolute favorite activity in the Earth, the beach allows me to breathe like I used to. I dunk my head in the salty water, rinse my sinuses and after a half-hour or so, I can breathe like before the mold allergy. I love the beach. This is why I live in Florida. I am a surfer in my soul. I managed one wave where Lucas baby-surfed on me (I bodysurfed and he was clinging on) but he has learned how to bodysurf on his own and Thea isn’t ready for that yet!
I pray to be able to continue to live near these amazing sandy tapestries of God’s wonderful design where I can feel refueled and whole. We packed up, watched the sunset, and trudged back to our van.
We left our sanctuary and returned to “real life.” I refused the radio and we listened and tried to sing-along to uplifting fun songs.
Are we in uncertain times? Yes, but nature always makes me remember that God is in control and my job is to do what I am able to and leave everything else that I can’t control in His hands.
I love the reset my body gets from
the beach! The salty air does wonders
for my sinuses and makes me feel clean again.
On the first of September, a
beautiful Sunday afternoon, we took the whole family to the beach. The clouds were amazing, we had a few passing
over light rain showers – we love watching the cloud of “murkiness” slowly
approach, hover, and pass us. My littlest
love is too tiny for rough waves just yet.
She’s good at crawling in the sand.
Louis was monitoring the approaching
storm from his phone.
I like to leave all technology somewhere else. I know that means I seldom take pictures, but I’ve learned I’m more likely to enjoy the experience if I’m not tied to a phone, keys, or wallet. Usually, one of the girls now takes plenty of pictures! Louis didn’t want to get wet at all this round so I did go out twice. Thea doesn’t cling to me like Lucas used to so I haven’t attempted baby-surfing with her yet. Lucas jumped on my back for two rides before he took off to dig a giant hole with the girls.
They got this hole so big Lucas
could stand in it!
Kimberly and Jaquline were quite
excited about it. Like good little
beach-goers, they demoed the elaborate sand castle creation Lucas and Kimberly
had made back into the hole as we left.
Becky always reminds them to put everything back. We usually clean up any trash lying about,
but this time there was nothing to take back to the garbage bins. (Our beach is generally clean, which makes me
feel good about our community!)
Waves, water, sand, and beautiful
skies… perfect beach day! I love the amazing
tapestries painted in the beach landscapes, don’t you?
I’m looking at the man cross the coffee table as I talk. I knew even though he said it was okay to bring my baby (at this point, I’m 8 months pregnant) to work with me, there would come a time when my baby would be better off with Daddy and her siblings than at my office with three doggies, a kitty, and office phones.
Almost seven months later, I’m
answering Louis’ call while at work and we are discussing Christina and Becky’s
schedule for the night while Thea, hearing Daddy’s voice, is yelling at the top
of her lungs. Louis says “She really doesn’t need to be in the office.”
We’d been discussing it, but I was
very reluctant. See, I can’t stand being
behind a desk… I want to be active, moving, teaching. Other adults don’t help. I hate being still. (Maybe
why I don’t listen to midwives or doctors saying “get bed rest” and instead I’m
riding to gym with my girls and Louis – yes! He drove! – when Thea is hours old
to watch their practice.) I wanted
Thea with me.
Kitty shows up & Thea is in her
play seat. Kitty has stayed away from
her the whole 3 months the kitten has been in the office. Kitty jumps up on the table of the play area
and Thea giggles, excitedly pets Kitty, and rubs her hand over her face and
head. Spots break out – a rash… my baby
is allergic to cats! Now I won’t jeopardize her health so from then on she
stays home.
I’m sure that was God saying, “quit
being stubborn! Listen to your husband.”
Leaving her home is the hardest
thing ever for me. Don’t get me wrong, I’m
totally thankful for my job, I’m just sad that I can’t have my little love with
me.
I’m seriously living for the day when I can come into the office at 6am, even 5am, and leave at noon or 1pm. That is my working goal. I don’t care if that means less pay… I want to be home with my children. My loyalty instinct keeps me returning to work. I LOVE teaching. I LOVE coaching – and I get to take all my children! I feel that with the way the company wants to expand, I will be able to move to 5am to noon or 6am to noon one day soon. I’m praying that’s soon. I’ll even work from home on weekends or evenings if needed. I want to be home.
I think that’s an issue a lot of us women feel but are afraid to say. We just want to be home when they are home! We want to be around our teens so we can learn about these amazing young women. We want to counsel our preteens and research their deep questions alongside them. We want to guide and protect our elementary kiddos and watch our preschoolers, toddlers, and infants with wonder and awe as they grow and explore. We want to help mold their little characters as that is the reason God gave them to us. He knew we could mold them the way He wants. He gave them to us so we could be a part of their lives and our heart knows that. We desire to teach our children.
I feel a great empathy with those who can’t stay home or make their schedules work the way they want. I watch my single sister (who has an amazing daughter she pours everything into, by the way) struggle with the “failure” she feels for not being around as much as she wants to be. Girl. That is me too. I can’t stand being away. I wanted a job where I could keep my children with me. (Running a cab company, I was always home! Even gym coach, my kiddos are there with big sister or awesome ladies/young ladies or now, Grandma!)
God is teaching me patience. Also that I can’t be everywhere at once. He is also teaching me to look from all
angles.
Louis has been working 60 to 80+
hours at 2 or more jobs since Christina was born. He’s been so busy or sleeping between jobs
all their lives. Now, he has one job at
evening/night leaving as we are going to sleep.
He gets to cook amazing meals, homeschool them, and watch them
grow. He took Thea home one afternoon
instead of leaving her with my mom and Paige in the afterschool/babysitting
room at gym. He said he loved it. “I can
see why you miss taking her to work.” He said.
He loved “hanging out” with Thea for five hours by himself. She ate two jars of baby food, some rice,
some apple, played all kinds of giggling games with Daddy on the bed, and then
snuggled with him and fell asleep on his tummy.
Louis said he loves this part of being a Daddy.
Daddy and Thea
I was smacked upside the head with
the realization that I was being rather selfish in my desire to always be with
her. Louis wants to be just as involved
in our children as I do. He loves the
baby giggles, snuggles, and laughter just as I do. He feels powerful and insignificant and totally
blessed just like I do when one of our angels falls asleep snuggling. We are of the mindset that each may be the
last – but honestly, there is a feeling of finality with Thea that wasn’t there
for anyone else. (I’m not saying we won’t have another, just being honest about feelings –
I am totally open for whatever God wants)
I need to let Louis have as much baby time as he wants.
So, in this season, it’s the hardest of all for me; I’m away from my children ten hours a day. I’m willing to work for the day when we have four teams, a location I can show up at to make sure the vans are stocked, the teams are off with all their supplies, and I’m joined by someone else in the office who allows me to leave at noon. This is what I hope for. A little more at 8 to 4 and hopefully, I’m early morning and working from home.
My Thea, my little love, is at
home. I rest securely in the knowledge
that her Daddy is relishing his time with her, and her big sisters and brother
will help see that she’s entertained and well fed!
Louis
& I decided to join the church we have been attending. After attending a newcomers class, we brought
home our study books and Kimberly looked over it. (Our
purpose was to let Christina and Becky look over it. I wasn’t expecting Kimberly just yet.) Kimberly has been using the month-long study
guides our church publishes for about four months as Bible study & cursive
writing practice.
“I
want to be baptized.” Kimberly announces.
That
began some serious Socratic questioning to find out what she really understood
and believed. I mentioned that it wasn’t
required just because we were joining.
Kimberly was adamant. She said
she’d been considering it a long time and wanted to show everyone she was
really a Christian.
So,
my little third daughter decided to get baptized. Our Pastor met with her, went through the
same questions (He likes to make sure the
young person understands what they are doing), and allowed she could be
baptized. I was so buried that I didn’t
realize she’d been able to meet up and get the okay until Saturday!
My
word, though, the emotions that flooded my heart, realizing this was real to
Kimberly. She’s been delving into a lot
of deep questions over the last few months with me. Then to hear your child explain to you what
Jesus means to them – I love to hear their words straight from their
heart. Kimberly is a young woman. I call them “women-in-training” at this
point.
If
you are a mom, imagine the moment you look into your newborn’s eyes for the
first time. That adrenaline rush and
flood of emotions is what courses through me when I see my child publicly
announce their faith. I can’t help but
feel like I’m soaring, looking at a future where she is connected to God
through her own personal faith; I pray Kimberly allows herself to listen and
trust the voice of God. I pray for
strength to grow in the one relationship that will never fail her. I try, but it’s hard to put those maternal
feelings into words because I can say I am excited, proud, blessed, etc., but
that doesn’t capture the rapture of my soul at that moment.
My
little girl chose Jesus. My young woman
is choosing to begin a life-long relationship with Jesus based on her own
journey of discovery.
That
is my longstanding prayer for each of my children and those I love; that they
come to know a true relationship with the one who created them and loved them
since before I knew they existed.
We get home, have our “technology-free” family day, and I open my Facebook to see if my mom or sisters sent a message – to find that my oldest niece got baptized on the same day!
“Guys,”
(no shame, I’m so happy I’m crying again –
all three teen/preteens look at me like I’m odd) “guess who got baptized
today too!”
Christina
– “if you say Livy…”
Kimberly
– “Seriously? Who do I share a birthday
with!”
“Yes,
Livy!” And I show them their uncle’s post.
Kimberly is jumping with excitement now.
“We are sisters in blood and sisters in faith! We are birthday twins!” (They don’t call each other “cousins” but instead “sister-cousins” or “brother-cousins”
and sometimes just “sister” or “brother.”
Lucas always calls Liam, Isaac, and JJ his “brothers.”)
We had a few leftover cans of cranberry sauce from around Thanksgiving. (A few? Like a dozen or so!) We don’t like to waste stuff, you know, waste not want not, and since we’d given so much away our family didn’t need any more cranberry sauce for the next year, Louis decided to be creative. (This is always the BEST when he decides to dream up something new!)
So, 1 cup soy sauce, 8 ounces of cranberry sauce, some garlic, ginger, assorted seasonings, ½ cup of pineapple juice, veggies, and some meat.
It was the best sweet and sour we’ve had! This will likely be our go to dish in a pinch. We might just finish up our overage of cranberry sauce before Thanksgiving.
We have enough of a spot to set up our archery target (big fat canvas block thing) and our bb gun target (the windfresh bucket with three aluminum cans) and safely target shoot at those.
On perfect days when Mom and Dad are out, the question always comes, “may we set up the targets and shoot?”
Anastasia rode Lucas’ bike between turns!
Christina prefers the bow and arrow – her “weapon from a more civilized age” as she mimics Obi-wan and Kimberly laughs. Lucas is just learning to shoot with those. We have a 10 pound bow and he can finally pull that one back.
Jaquline and Jillian prefer using the bb rifle since our little Daisy is easier to load than the bows. (and they are in front of the metal beam! no ricochets here!)
Kimberly likes both. She’s a lot like me. My favorite gift ever was my crossbow (which no, we can’t shoot here, but when we got it, I had space enough to use it).
Today, we’d backed the cars off of the carport and set up the targets. Archery on the left and airgun on the right. I was overseeing (and assisting with loading) the airgun shooters. I’m not paranoid, but probably repeated “never point a gun at a person,” and “don’t load if someone is in your range of vision” a hundred times. I like them to know how to shoot, but I want them to treat every weapon with respect. Ocean, vehicle, weapon, hot stoves – anything with the possibility of causing injury – safety is the first priority. Always err on the side of safety and you will eliminate possible accidents.
So for about an hour, I loaded the little Daisy and Jaquline, Jillian, Anastasia, Lucas, and Kimberly took turns taking three shots each at the three target cans. A few “wow, you got all three!” and a few “oops, try again,” shouts. They encouraged each other.
Sometimes you feel like you were aiming at something and the site is off. You can’t hit it at all. Sometimes everything falls down perfectly. Life is unpredictable. Sometimes your perception is off. Sometimes something that looks perfect is lying.
Strange thoughts I have while the children are shooting? I couldn’t get out of my mind how thoroughly I’d believed in the good while the truth was right online for me to see if I’d just searched the county records. (I had to update my story) I heard “Black Eyes Blue Tears” and cried. I cried as the kids danced to “Fireflies” just a bit ago. I pray for her ex-husband. I pray that her babies remember her.
Briefly, thoughts like that interrupt my life now. I am there, helping to load the bbs and saying, “yea! You got them!” but I’m also crying inside because I was supposed to be there to protect her. I watch Christina patiently help Lucas aim his bow. I see her mouth move and I know she’s saying, “breathe out, release the string,” just like I did to her. I teach them safety. I teach them truth. I teach them about life. But I can’t protect everyone. That reality hurts.
I pray daily for my children, nieces, nephews, the boys and girls in my gym classes, those I influence. I pray they will find the true Protector in Jesus and follow His direction so their life will be anchored in love, truth, and joy.
I help Anastasia aim the rifle and she giggles when the bb hits the target box. (The targets are supposed to be the cans, but the box counts too.) I pray that God puts a hedge of protection around all of His precious children and keeps them safe from deceit.
Jillian and Anastasia are giggling while Jaquline grunts trying to pump the rifle because she’s too big for help. It doesn’t seem that long ago that I was helping my baby sisters aim our old “red ryder” bb rifle down at the pond, popping off pinecone targets. I can’t change the past. I can help mold the future.
Hope. Hope is what helps me through each day.
The girls are giggling again because Louis is pretending to close his eyes and act like he’s asleep. It is easy to choose joy with these angels around.
Joy. Yes, joy is my strength. Thank you, Jesus, for giving me the strength to choose your joy!
