Family Favorites {Seeds Family Worship}

“You shall therefore lay up these words of mine in your heart and in your soul, and you shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes.” Deuteronomy 11:18

God has given me the desire to know his true word, keep it in my heart, and use it to inform my life.  But memorizing scripture is so difficult for me.  Remembering my childhood experience with G.T. and the Halo Express led me to seek out other scripture put to song.  

 

Seeds Family Worship music has been an enormous blessing to our family.  The music is scripture put to song, which I have found to be on of the most influential ways that God has used to plant his word in my heart.  

God has used Seeds to have an incredible impact on our family, aiding us often as we instruct our children, encourage one another, worship God, and seek to love and serve others with God’s truth.  So grateful for this wonderful ministry!

 

 

Family Favorites {G.T. and the Halo Express}

G.T. and the Halo Express had a memorable influence on me as a kid.  Bible scripture is put to song and weaved into stories about topics foundational to the Christian faith, like love, faith, and salvation.  It was so fun to start listening to the audio episodes with our kids.  Since “all Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness,” (2 Timothy 3:16), we’re regularly referencing the Biblical truths we’ve memorized from G.T. and the Halo Express.  

We’re singing scripture all the time, and Shae recognizes passages when we read them from the Bible.  (But it is REALLY hard not to sing them, at times when I’m trying to read…like around other adults!)  Having the scripture to music is such a wonderful and helpful tool for our family to keep God’s word in our hearts and minds.

Every Life {Is} Beautiful

Every Life {Is} Beautiful and its companion movie October Baby are not only incredibly captivating and insightful; God is using them to literally save lives.  This is one of my absolute favorite movies and celebrates the blessing of life as a sacred, beautiful gift from the Lord.

{EveryLifeisBeautiful.com}

Behold, children are a heritage from the LORD, the fruit of the womb a reward.  (Psalm 127:3 ESV)

It’s Beginning to Smell a Lot Like Autumn!

When Jack called to say he had to work late the other night, it gave Shae and me time to create pumpkin pancakes and try our hands at making homemade applesauce before he arrived.  Truly, if you love the warmth of pumpkin, simmering apples and spices, make this dinner!  Our house smelled amazing.

Sweet Pumpkin Pancakes by Bryn and Shae, Serves 4

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

2 1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup light brown sugar

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

3/4 cup milk

3 whole eggs

1/2 can organic pumpkin

Semi-sweet chocolate chips (optional.  Well, maybe for you.  They are not optional for us!)

Whisk the flour, baking powder, salt, brown sugar, and cinnamon in one bowl.  In a second bowl, whisk the milk, eggs, and pumpkin together until combined.  Add the dry ingredients to the wet, a little at a time,  stirring until well combined.  Stir in as many chocolate chips as you’d like!  Heat a griddle to 350 degrees and butter the surface.  Pour on the batter and flip them once little bubbles begin popping at the surface.  Keep in a covered dish in a warm oven while you wait for your husband to get home from work!

Thick and Rich Cinnamon Applesauce

Wash all your apple orchard apples, cut out the cores, cut into chunks, and cook in a big pot with a little water on high until they get all yummy and soft, adding cinnamon to your liking (or look away for a moment while the 3-year-old dumps an excessive amount in).  Puree until the peels are broken down.  Serve warm or cold.

The Stone Barn 2012

One of our family traditions is to take a day trip ending at The Stone Barn in Nelson, Wisconsin.  I’ve blogged about it before, but this year my cousin and her husband got to come with us!  She told all about it on her blog!  {Photo credit: MarthaJoy}

A Rustic Dinner Party

On truly the most glorious summer evening, some of those dearest to me gathered for a celebration of out-of-town guests.

The menu: a Salad Bar.  Everyone brought 2-3 salad ingredients plus a compliment to the meal (bread, dessert, dressing, and drinks).

Kraft paper ran down the length of the table the table and Mason Jars held end-of-summer hydrangeas, lemonade and iced tea.  Red paper straws, plates, and paper bag napkin holders juxtaposed the glass drinking jars and silverware.  A rustic dinner party.  Delicious, inspiring, and perfect.  Love you my sweet family! 

Caring for our Traveling Daddy

Jack travels very rarely for work, and so over paper, stickers, and markers, Shae and I had a great opportunity to talk about Daddy’s upcoming trip while we made cards for him to open while he was away from home.  I labeled them in envelopes (one for every morning and every night) and tucked them into his suitcase.  In the midst of being away from home and very busy days (as well as a fun dinner excursion into the mountains!!), Daddy had something special from home to look forward to opening and remind him how much we love him and missed him.

{Giveaway & Winner} One Month Subscription to My Healthy Meal Plans

This summer we decided to give a fresh look at healthy living, starting with our food.  (Yum, I love food!)

It’s a wonderful and big responsibility to teach and model a healthy lifestyle for our kids.   I started looking for something to give me a fresh take on meal planning, and found the Super Healthy Kids blog.  The whole idea is to support families in the effort toward healthfulness.  And the best part of all, is their meal planning site, My Healthy Meal Plans!  I signed up for the free 7-day trial, and had access to entire weeks worth of delicious meal plans and recipes for breakfast, lunch, snacks, and dinner.  I was so excited to have a starting block to build some new healthy eating habits on.  The work was done for me, and all I needed to bring to the table was some effort, and a commitment to try new things!  One step at a time, I’m taking tips from their 10 Pillars for Better Health, and adding them (and the really yummy recipes) into practice at our house!  

{Encouragement} My super-smart, super-healthy, and super-sweet friend, Sarah, is always encourages me, by reminding me that every step I take toward healthy living is a wonderful improvement.  So if an overhaul of your entire diet seems extremely unreachable, could you start with one improvement (such as adding another vegetable into your day, skipping out of adding sugar to your coffee, or drinking two big glasses of water a day)?

{The Giveaway} Amy and Natalie, who thoughtfully create My Healthy Meal Plans, have kindly offered to give away a month’s subscription to one of you!  To enter, please leave one comment sharing how My Healthy Meal Plans could benefit you and your family.  The winner has been chosen, and is…..

Amy Finn! 

Amy said “Wow, this would be wonderful!  I am a brand new first time mom and am really struggling with dinners 😦 I find that we are ordering dinner way too much and of course this makes me feel bad.  And it’s certainly not helping me shed the extra pregnancy pounds!”  

Amy, Congratulations on becoming a mommy!  What a blessing!  It is encouraging that you are being mindful and considerate of you family’s health.  I can totally empathize with you on all accounts.  I would encourage you to extend yourself some grace as you adjust to your new role in life.  Print out the meal plans and recipes, and as you have energy and time to commit, enjoy serving your family with your cooking!   And when you can, try freezing some of the meals for days when you don’t have the opportunity to cook!

 

My Favorite Kid Dishes!

I was kind of obsessed with picking the dishes the boys eat off of every day, with all the warnings against plastics and chemicals.  I landed on these, and they are one of my favorite purchases.  They are made from 100% recycled plastic milk containers, BPA-, phthalate-, PVC- and melamine-free, and dishwasher safe.  They are basically indestructible, an ideal size (we use the snack size right now), and we just toss them in the dishwasher and they come our perfectly clean no matter how many gunky food experiments were caked on 🙂  I really, really love these dishes!

{We use the snack size bowls and plates for our kids.  They are the PERFECT size!}

{Their cups are amazing.}

 

Revised Laundry Detergent Recipe

{There have been so many people who still ask me about my laundry detergent.  So for you, I’ve revised my recipe and added my tips!}

I love using the Duggar Family’s laundry detergent recipe.  It’s simple to make and saves a lot of money.  I make a double batch and usually ask Jack to grate the soap for me.  (I have a separate grater I use for this specific purpose.)  Cub Foods always seems to carry the ingredients, if you don’t find them elsewhere.

Homemade Liquid Laundry Detergent (adapted from the Duggar Family’s Recipe)

4  Cups Hot tap water

1  Fels-Naptha soap bar

1 Cup – Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda (Neither Baking soda or Arm & Hammer Detergent should be substituted – it needs to be sodium carbonate.)

½ Cup Borax

5 gallon bucket with lid 

-Grate the bar of soap (using the small holes of a grater…it will melt much faster) and add to a saucepan with water. Stir continually over medium-low heat until soap dissolves and is melted.

-Fill a 5 gallon bucket half full of hot tap water. Add melted soap, washing soda and Borax. Stir well until all powder is dissolved. Fill bucket to top with more hot water. Stir, cover, and let sit overnight to thicken.  (I use a long-handled sturdy grilling spatula to stir).

-Stir and fill a clean, laundry soap dispenser 3/4 full soap and then fill rest of way with water. Shake before each use (will gel).  Pour a capful into the machine.  (Your cap may be a different size, so give it a try, and adjust how much you pour in if necessary.)  I add extra for really soiled loads.