The Cottage on the Hill

Yeah, so I tried a modified fast. Smoothies for breakfast, brothy soup for lunch, a light afternoon snack and then a sensible dinner with no processed stuff. Ummm...yeah....I've been SO HUNGRY! I had to cave. The first day the smoothie wasn't enough, even with the addition of coconut oil. I had to have an egg. I didn't even make it to 10 o'clock. I started noshing on melon. Lunch time I made my brothy soup and heartied it up with squash from my garden. I ate it and was still having gnawing hunger, so I had a slice of whole grain bread (no artificials) with natural peanut butter and a glass of milk. Dinner was sufficient with salmon, potatoes from my garden and peas. I had a light dessert of yogurt and granola.....oh, and a small handful of m&ms. Doesn't sound much like a fast to me. This morning, the smoothie was heartier and I allowed myself some peanut butter, so it lasted until lunch time. The soup was not enough, so I had a slice of whole grain ...

Now, I'm not one to read or even visit the blogs of men. However, I came across this blog through a Christian women's site (a blog post of his was shared by his proud mother) and I had to read more. What a wise, young man of Christ! It is really uplifting to read what he has to write.

I read THIS ARTICLE in Yahoo News the other day and found it amusing as well as interesting. I have many of my own opinions on the article, but the general idea of initiating self-improvement for the benefit of another struck me. At first I thought that I would do a wife challenge, but hubby doesn't find me in need of much improvement....at least nothing drastic enough for a 30 day challenge. (Isn't that sweet?!) So, I figured I'd do an area of my life that needs improvement for the benefit of others. Motherhood. Yep, I admit it. I could really use some improvement there. Like the author of the article, I'm going to pick 3 areas within motherhood where I could improve: Pray Play Don't fray The kiddos and I pray. We pray at each meal. We pray before bedtime. We have impromptu prayers when needed or requested. But I don't really pray FOR my children. I pray about them, but not FOR them. Mommy doesn't do playtime too well. I still have it in my he...

July 15th is my set-aside starting date to sit down and organize a curriculum for my September Kindergartener. My 3 year old daughter is also interested in home schooling this year, so I'm going to put together a curriculum for her, too. I think she'll catch on quickly. She's pretty "school smart." Even though she's 2 years behind him, I think once we officially start schooling, she's only going to be 1 grade behind him. I'm excited and intimidated all at once!

4Moms has had a 31 day giveaway of their Mamaroo Plush infant seats. With only 3 days left, I won a Mamaroo! There's still 2 days left to the giveaway, so head on over to www.4moms.com to try to win one for you! Though my youngest is almost 13 months old, the Mamaroo will not lay in wait until I get preggers again. There are two new little ones in my family who will enjoy the Mamaroo. I'm so excited to have won this!

MY NEW ETSY SHOP!! YOU CAN VISIT THE SHOP HERE ! YOU CAN FOLLOW THE BLOG HERE ! YOU CAN JOIN ME ON FACEBOOK HERE !

Nope, not pregnant.

I've had an upset stomach all week. Despite that, I wanted take-out pizza for breakfast.....could it be? Am I really?!

Have you ever gotten opposition to home schooling under the guise of, "it isn't healthy to cloister your children at home. It's too over-protecting." As if putting your children in a strictly regimented institution under lock and key away from loving family members for 8 hours a day is any better. Ummmm....I'd rather let my children roam, explore, go on impromptu field trips, meet a variety of people (instead of the same inmates....I mean students day after day), learn what interests them, learn at their own pace, see the weather at 10 am, go pee when they need to (rather than asking permission and having the teacher tell them no)......

Oh, I've been busy! We had a really nice 4th of July weekend and hubby and I got a lot of talking done about different things. He has encouraged me to start selling the soaps I've begun to make! So, now I'm trying to come up with a name and a few other business tidbits. My mind has been racing as to how I could present the soaps at a farmer's market AND what types of soaps I could make!! This morning, I came up with a name for the pillows I make: "Pillhouettes" I want to make more now! In added news, hubby and I are looking at a piece of property in our local Amish country!