Let's Teach Our Children to Work

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One of the saddest changes in this culture over the past 30 or so years is that children are no longer taught to work.  Instead of teaching our children a good work ethic and diligence, we are teaching them that everything else is more important. We have an epidemic of laziness in this country.

I know many of us feel that there will be enough time for work when our children grow up, which is true to a certain extent.  However, if they are never taught to work when they are young, they will not magically learn this when they grow older.

How do I know this?  Because we own a business that hires young people as our employees and it is a rare thing to find a hard-working, diligent young person.  Most applicants expect to be given a good salary, great benefits, and lots of extra incentives, but they don't want to work for it.  They expect it all to be handed to them on a silver platter, giving nothing in return.  Thankfully, there are still some hard-working, young people full of integrity out there and we have a great group of employees.

Of course, I am not suggesting that we use our children as our slaves, but we need to stop the sports and playtime long enough to have them join some of the family chores. Kids who know how to work are better citizens, less self-centered, and tend to look at what they can give to the world, rather than what they can get from it.

Have them join Dad in helping to fix the shed or do the lawn work on a Saturday or help Mom bake or do laundry during the week. Don't worry if it isn't done perfectly.  It is more important that your child learn to help fold towels, than that the towel is folded just right. Sometimes when teaching children to work it is hard to remember our priorities, isn't it?

And one more note on this-- your kids will complain.  If they don't complain when you ask them to do something, be pleasantly surprised. My kids complained most of their lives.  And sometimes they still do. But we have made it clear that if they are going to live here and take part in all of the benefits of living here, they will also take part in the work involved to have what we have. Most of the time, they do so with willing hearts and hands.  But that was not the case when they were younger.  Don't give up!  Make them do their chores and make them do them right. Your child's future boss will thank you!

p.s. Find this post and other great posts on Frugally Sustainable's Blog Hop today.

The High Price of Freedom

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Do you see the red, white, and blue

Waving in the wind?

Do you hear the message of freedom

That it gladly sends?

That freedom was paid for

all through the years

by those who fought bravely

ignoring their fears

Many were broken

Some never came home

While we live in peace

Their families mourn all alone

May we never forget

That freedom comes with a price

May we have grateful hearts

for their great sacrifice

 Let's all enjoy our picnics and parties today...but let's also take just a few minutes to think about the high price that many families have paid to enable us to live freely in this country! Happy Memorial Day, everyone! 

Big and Shiny doesn't always mean Better

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Berries from the Farmer's Market

Yesterday I decided to make strawberry jam.  I had some strawberries from my own patch and supplemented with a box from a local Farmer's Market.  As I sliced them, I couldn't help but think about how marked up they were with little soft spots. A few minutes later, my daughter came in and asked if she could try one. As she put that juicy berry into her mouth, she exclaimed how delicious it was, especially as compared to the large, beautiful grocery store berries we buy before strawberry season begins here.

There's a truth to be found here, isn't there?  And it can be applied to all aspects of life. As humans, we have this tendency to go towards the big and shiny.  We do it in the grocery store, don't we?  The large, regular apples are polished to a bright shine, while the organic apples are not so big and not so bright.  Most people, if given the choice, will go for the large, shiny apple. The same thing holds true for tomatoes, doesn't it?  Supermarket tomatoes may look lovely, but they rarely taste lovely. 

We do this with people, too. We see the "beautiful" people and assume they are beautiful inside, as well. And sometimes they are!  But we can't make any assumption based on how a person looks on the outside about what kind of a person they are on the inside.

As I finished up my jam, I realized that if I am going to be using the produce from my own garden, it will be full of little insect holes and soft spots. That is the nature of gardening.  But I know it will also have a much better flavor and be much juicier than those I find at the store.  

So when it comes to fruit and vegetables and people, we best not judge them by how they look.  A good lesson to remember for today!

p.s. I added this post to the Blog Hop at Frugally Sustainable.  Go check it out for some great ideas!

Non-alcoholic Strawberry Mojito

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I love strawberry flavored drinks.  Now, it can't be fake strawberry flavoring...only real strawberries will do! After enjoying strawberry teas and lemonades, I decided to try and make my own (see my method below). I had great results.

So when Crystal Light came out with a Mojito flavored drink mix, I wondered how it would taste to add strawberries to it.  I thought, why not give it a try?  What resulted was a yummy, minty, refreshing drink.  If you don't like the strawberry seeds, you may want to strain the strawberry liquid before adding it to your pitcher.

Here is the recipe:

Ingredients:
1 packet Crystal Light Mojito flavor mix
10 frozen strawberries
Water to fill pitcher

1.  Microwave the frozen strawberries for one minute to thaw them.

2.  Add just a bit of water and then use your blender to blend them into a thick syrupy consistency.

3.  Put your Crystal Light packet in the pitcher, add the strawberry mixture, and then fill with water.

4.  Garnish with mint leaves, if desired.

Notes:  

Try this same method with lemonade mixes and iced teas, as well.  Yumm!
           
Fresh berries can probably be used, as well, but I have never tried them.  Would you let me know how they work if you give them a try?

Ordinary is Beautiful

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Many of us read about movie stars and royalty and think "if only..."  If only I had that fame and money. Aah... wouldn't life be grand then?

But would it?  Is it wonderful to be royalty? All through history, royalty has been faced with pressures and situations that most of us would not find glamorous.  They have been murdered just for being related to the King.  They have had the well-being of their entire nation on their hands.  They have had to face rebellious peasants, betrayals, and wars.

Does a movie star have it any better?  If you watch any news at all, you will see that many of them deal with divorce, bankruptcy, and substance abuse. They never know who is truly their friend and who is just pretending to be to get close to them.  They would never know who they can trust.

Perhaps we do not realize that ordinary is truly a blessing.  It is not boring or humdrum.  It is beautiful. You see, we can go to the park without fear of paparazzi.  We can hire a nanny, go to the grocery store, go to church, and go to the post office without worry of people treating us differently than anyone else.  We don't have the destinies of countries riding on our shoulders and we aren't worried about being assassinated by some upstart revolutionary or lunatic fan.

We are blessed to be doing the laundry, cleaning our homes, making homemade meals, and caring for our children.  Living wisely means being thankful for the ordinary.  Let's remember that ordinary is truly beautiful.

P.S. I wrote about this same topic in a little more detail in my devotional blog today.  You can find it here.

This post is linked at Frugally Sustainable on their "Frugal Days, Sustainable Ways" blog hop.  It's a great site, definitely worth checking out :)

The Danger of Always and Never

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-I never eat onions.

-I always exercise in the morning.

-I never travel outside of the United States.

-I always spend Friday nights at home.

-I never eat meat.

-I always have meat with every meal.

While none of these things are wrong in and of themselves, I have noticed something about these two little words: they lock us into a lifestyle that is without new experiences and adventures!  While sometimes it is imperative that we use always and never, such as in parenting (you are never allowed to talk to me with disrespect), our Christian walk with God (I always want to please God), or in our marriages (I will always love you), there are many other areas where these words are used kind of in a default mode.  Let's talk about some of those areas.

First, in the area of food.  I grew up thinking that I did not like many things - spicy dishes, Italian dishes, sloppy joes, onions, tomatoes, just to name a few.  But as I got older I realized that perhaps these tastes were childish perceptions that were no longer true and started trying things I thought I had always hated.  Sure, I still do not like everything on that list, but I like most of what's on that list because, instead of using the word "never", I tried each one of them.  And actually, I keep trying them on occasion, because you never know!  Let's not lock ourselves into boring food choices because we "never" are willing to try something new and "always" eat the same thing.

Second, in the area of travel and activities.  Many are the options we are not willing to try for vacations and days away.   We "always" go to the beach or the mountains.  We "always" go to this restaurant on Friday nights.  Traditions are awesome and we have a few of our own, but, once in awhile, it is fun to try something different!  If you always go to an Italian restaurant on Friday nights, why not try Mexican this week?  If you always go to the beach for vacation, why not try a different beach?  Or do something totally different and go the lake or the city? Many of us are so incredibly blessed with options and choices, why not take advantage of them?  We also tend to lock ourselves into particular exercise routines.  I "never" run.  I "always" go to the gym.  Again, these statements aren't wrong, but sometimes there is great gain to be made in mixing up our exercise routine a bit...to try something new.  Dance classes, biking, kayaking and hiking are all good options to mix it up a bit.

And, most importantly, we need to be very careful of our use of these words in our relationships.  Let's not use sentences like, "you know I 'always' get angry when you do that!" or "I always take out the trash" or "you always spend too much money".  And then there are the "never" statements:  "I will never travel there with you" or "you never gave me the love I needed" or "I will never forgive you".  Negative and accusatory statements like these are never healthy for relationships.

We need to be so very careful when using the words "Always" and "Never".  We need to make sure if we are using them they are being used correctly.  Is the statement I am making true?  And if it is true, should it be true?

Let's live wisely by being careful with our use of these two words.  Have a great weekend, everyone! :)

Homemade Carpet Shampoo

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A good friend of mine found herself without carpet shampoo a few days ago. Her carpet desperately needed cleaning and she had a block of time to accomplish the task, so she went on a quest to find a homemade recipe for shampoo. She found a recipe which she tweaked a bit and it worked great on her carpets. If this worked for her (she has three boys and two dogs) it would probably work for anyone!

Here is the recipe she used:

1 1/2 scoops Oxyclean
1/4 cup white vinegar
1/4/ cup Febreze (or other generic spray)

Mix together with a gallon of hot water and add to machine.  Any vinegar smell will fade away quickly, although my friend didn't notice any smell at all. She said this worked great on dog stains and odors.

I can't wait to try it!

P.S.  I joined Frugally Sustainable's blog hop today.  Go check it out for lots of great ideas!

The Best Poppyseed Dressing Ever!

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I found a recipe for Strawberry Spinach Salad that was really good, but the poppyseed dressing took a whole cup of oil.  I decided to try to lighten things up a bit and the following recipe is my final version.  It is delicious, inexpensive, and low-calorie (as salad dressings go).  I usually use it for spinach, strawberries, and candied nuts but I imagine it could be used on almost any salad.  I have been asked for this recipe often and even my picky daughter will eat it.

INGREDIENTS:

1/3 cup canola oil
1/3 cup white wine vinegar
1/2 cup sugar
1 Tbsn poppyseeds

Mix the ingredients together in a salad dressing shaker or in a measuring cup with a whisk. Add it to a fresh bunch (or bag) of Spinach, a cup or two of sliced strawberries, and 1/2 cup of candied walnuts or pecans.  Yum!  It is delicious!  I calculated the dressing to be about 86 calories and 6 grams of fat per serving.

NOTE: Candied nuts can be made by adding 1/2 cup of nuts and a 1/4 cup sugar to a frying pan on low heat. Stir until sugar melts and coats the nuts and then move to a piece of wax paper to cool down.

The Lost Art of Hospitality

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Can anyone else remember when we actually visited one another? Growing up in the Mennonite church meant that fellowship was an important part of the church family. I can remember visiting many different homes for a Pennsylvania Dutch meal full of carbohydrates.  My mom, in turn, would have families in our home, as well.

But right around the time eating carbohydrates went of vogue, hospitality went along with it. People rarely have others into their home for a meal or even for coffee and dessert. It is much more common to meet at a restaurant or to just go to church provided functions than to worry about preparing our homes for company.

But is this a good thing?  Has our culture lost something by neglecting hospitality? I believe we have lost a connection to each other that is hard to replace with other means.

So, what is keeping us from having people over for a visit? A few years ago, as my kids started growing older, they wanted to have their friends over. This meant not only their friends would see my house, but often their parents would, as well, when they picked their children up at the end of the evening! We wanted to be a home where kids felt comfortable to hang out and so I had some reconciling to do. I really struggled with my home "not being good enough".  Here are some things I learned as I sorted through those feelings:

1) Your home does not need to look like a magazine. In fact, it may be better if it doesn't. I feel relief when I go into a home where everything isn't in perfect place. Spotless homes make me feel so inadequate and hopeless. I feel so much more comfortable in a home where it looks like people actually live there.  Now, I am not saying to just leave your house a chaotic mess. That is not a good scenario for anyone, including your own family. But if we have given our best efforts to the organization and cleaning of our home and there are still a few things laying around we don't need to worry about it.  It has been my experience that kids are geniuses at bringing in muddy shoes or dumping legos at just the wrong place and at the wrong time! Let's not let that keep us from opening our homes to one another.

2) Hospitality doesn't have to cost you a month's worth of groceries. This is a tough one, because many of us are on tight budgets. How do you open up your home to visitors without it costing a lot?  There are lots of ways!  We can have everyone bring a couple of dishes along so that we can all share the cost. Most families are happy to contribute and, in fact, prefer it that way. Or we can make homemade pizza. This is a really inexpensive meal - especially if we can make our own crust and sauce.  I learned of another idea a few weeks ago from a family in our church.  They invited us and another couple into their home for take-out Chinese.  We all split the cost and had a delightful evening getting to know one another better.  It was a fun, stress-free, and relaxed way to enjoy a meal together.

3) Keep in mind the real reason for hospitality.  We do not open our homes to impress our friends and neighbors. It isn't to show off our cooking skills or to make others feel intimidated by our creative home decorating skills.  Instead, hospitality is defined at dictionary.com like this: the friendly reception or treatment of guests or strangers.  Hospitality is about being friendly and warm in our treatment of those who come into our home.  That is what it is all about.  If we can take our eyes off of our own insecurities and discomfort and think about others instead (speaking to myself here!) we can then turn our thoughts to others and warmly welcome them into our home and be a real blessing!

Hospitality is almost a lost art. And I, for one, believe that to be a real shame. Can we ever bring it back in this age of technology and busyness? I don't know the answer to that...but I do know that I can do my part in making it happen!

Crazy Calendar Cure

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If you are like me, life can get so busy so fast you don't even have time to breathe. One day you look at your calendar and you realize that you have completely over-scheduled yourself and the consequences for you and your family will be costly. What to do?

We live in a world where busy is almost synonymous with productive.  If we aren't busy we feel guilty in this culture. Have you noticed that?  I will speak for myself.  I feel validated if my to-do list is long and feel lazy and unproductive if my to-do list grows short.

But sometimes the crazy calendar just has to change. Our families start paying dearly for our over-commitment and so do our bodies. A long time ago, when I was a young mom with 4 kids, I had to make a decision. Would I sacrifice things I loved to do (at church, in the community, even with extended family) for the good of my husband and my children? My answer was yes and I backed out of several commitments at that time which I thoroughly enjoyed. It was difficult but I have never been sorry.

If you have a crazy calendar, may I make a few suggestions to help:

1.  Examine every commitment you have coming up.  Can any be canceled? Can any be postponed? Make any changes you can as soon as possible.

2.  Now look at your long-term commitments...are there any that are just taking too much of a toll on you and your family right now. This doesn't mean giving them up forever.  You may be at a stage where you just can't juggle everything now, but - trust me- that will change.  Kids grow up, careers take a different path, relationships change.  Someday you will probably be able to do it again.

3.  Look at your kids' schedules.  Do they have enough downtime or have you over-committed them, as well? Kids need time to play. It is so important to make sure they are not committed to be somewhere 24/7.  Is there anything that your child is involved in that they just aren't enjoying?  Do you have plenty to keep your kids busy at home?  In our home, we always had cabinets and storage boxes full of craft items, math manipulatives, and games (yes, I was a homeschool mom!)

4. If you just can't possibly make any changes to the weeks ahead, then it is time to submit ourselves to the inevitability of it and to be as cheerful and organized as possible through it.  This happened to me recently when we had a secretary quit in the height of our business's busy season.  Suddenly, I was working more than full-time and still trying to get to soccer games, cook meals, and keep a clean house.  I was totally overwhelmed.  I wasn't always cheerful OR organized, but I tried! And eventually we found a wonderful replacement and I got my life back.  It didn't last forever.

5. You are in control.  A lot of times we want to blame our busy calendars on others, but the bottom line is that we are in control of our schedule.  Oh, there are times - the illness of a loved one, overtime required at work, a car accident - when we aren't.  But, generally speaking, we have choices to make.  It is so important for our families that we make wise choices.

May God bless you as you endeavor to keep your crazy calendar under control.  This has been no easy task for me, but I have a much happier husband and kids when I am not over-scheduled.

Glass Cleaner

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I found a glass cleaner recipe a few years ago that worked pretty well, but every time I used it everyone would complain about the smell of the vinegar that made up most of the formula. I went back to buying bottles of Windex until one day I found this recipe hidden in the recesses of a newspaper my mom had handed me. The first thing I noticed when I looked it over is that it didn't include any vinegar. I decided to give it a try. Here is the recipe, in case you would like to try it, too:

1 Quart Distilled Water
1 cup Rubbing Alcohol
1/2 Tbsn Prell

Mix together in a spray bottle and try it out. If it seems too sudsy, add less Prell the next time.

This glass cleaner does a great job cleaning and smells a lot better than the vinegar. Let me know what you think of it.

Fresh Flowers say "Welcome"

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My favorite time of the year has begun. The temperatures have turned warmer, the scent of cut grass often lingers in the air, the birds sing with all of their tiny hearts, and the flowers start blooming. I love flowers. Just looking at them lifts my spirits. Many is the day I take my pruners and head outside to find whatever is currently blooming.  Placing them on my kitchen table is an easy way to dress up my home. You see, flowers not only look pretty, but they say "Welcome!" and give a cheery appearance to your home.

So you say you don't have any flowers to bring in?  Why don't you plant some?  There are flowers that take a lot of work (tea roses) and flowers that do not take much work at all (lilacs, zinnias).  Whoever you are, there is a flower for you! Here are some of my favorites:

Spring:   Lilacs, Sweet Peas, Peonies

Summer/Fall:  Zinnias, Gladiolus, Roses, Garden Phlox, Sunflowers

If you absolutely hate to garden, then why not go to the store and pick up a bouquet for your table? They can be bought very inexpensively and will add just a little touch of cheer to your table.

I am so glad that God created flowers for us to enjoy. As we head into a lovely spring weekend, let's remember to be thankful for His many blessings!

Square Foot Gardening the Correct Way

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I have been square foot gardening for years...well, at least that is what I thought I was doing.  However, late this winter I attended a seminar on square foot gardening and realized some errors I had been making. This seminar renewed my enthusiasm for gardening and I was ready to start square foot gardening the right way.  Here is what I learned (see below for more resources on square foot gardening):

1.  If you plant your boxes in rows, it is not square foot gardening.  I was not really taking advantage of the space I had available. So, this time around I went to Lowes and bought some vinyl weather stripping that I was able to easily cut into strips to make the 12' planting squares. (If you notice from the picture, my boxes ended up being a little short of 4x4 and so I only have 9 planting squares per box).

2. Use 4x4 cardboard sheets on the bottom of each box.  I found these at Sam's Club. I put these in the bottom of each box before adding the soil. It is a great way to keep weeds from growing up through the bottom of your box. As my garden boxes are next to a weedy farm field, this seems like a great idea to me.

3. Soil is everything. I had made a huge mistake here. We just put in some topsoil mixed with mushroom soil. Sure, things grew okay in this soil but during the hot summer months this ground became rock solid, making weeding a dreaded chore.  But at this seminar, we were recommended to use 1/3 vermiculite, 1/3 peat moss, and 1/3 compost to fill our boxes.  This will keep the ground from hardening and can be used for many years.  The only thing that should be added each year is some extra compost.  More details about this breakdown of the soil are in the book.

4. Try something new. I have always been more interested in growing flowers, but was encouraged by the seminar teacher's success with vegetables. I decided it might be fun to grow some vegetables again. The only thing is, I was pretty much stuck in a mold when it came to vegetables - green beans, lettuce, spinach, and tomatoes. This year I am going to try some new things. If my family (or at least me!) will eat it, it is worth a try.  After all, what do I have to lose but a couple of dollars if it doesn't work?

I will try to give some updated pictures occasionally throughout the growing season. I would love to hear any suggestions or ideas you may have regarding square foot gardening. Have you had success with this method? Or are you still gardening the old-fashioned way? (which is a good method, too, by the way!)

Here is the link for the book:
Square Foot Gardening by Mel Bartholomew

And here is the link for a few helpful websites:
yourgardensolution.org
mysquarefootgarden.net