The Cottage on the Hill

As of today, my baby boy has officially given up crawling for walking! It's so strange seeing him upright, walking around the house. I am so used to seeing him crawl! Just yesterday, he was still crawling most of the time, only taking a few staggering steps. Today, he's walking all over the house!

It looks as if in 25 days, we'll be temporarily moving 4 hours away to be closer to hubby and his job. It is so scary for this homebody girl! Not only that, I only have 25 days to go through and pack everything and make all the arrangements! Not an easy task with 3 little ones. I keep praying and praying that the Lord will allow my husband a transfer back home. I'm not looking forward to moving out of my comfort zone, close to family and friends and all I know to city in a part of the state known for its terrible winters where I don't know a soul. But, we simply cannot bear to be apart from Daddy. I'm spoiled here in that it only takes 20 minutes one way to drive to a farm that sells raw milk. They're open all day every day, too, so it is very convenient. Where we are moving to, the nearest seller is 45 minutes away and is only open for a couple hours in the morning and a couple hours in the evening. That'll make it horribly inconvenient during the win...

Does this happen to you? I have noticed that I do not sleep as well in a bed that has not been made. My family does not seem to enjoy dinner as much or eat as well at a dining room table that this cluttered from the day. I do not cook as well or as healthfully in a messy kitchen. It is hard to relax in a living room that is cluttered. Shopping is more stressful when my purse (rather diaper bag) has exploded on the inside. Car rides are more uncomfortable when the car is unkempt. Life can get overwhelming. Days can get busy. Time does run away from us, but it is helpful to set aside a time, (and train up my children) to clean up the best we can. I've gotta be honest with you. I find it more relaxing to be able to sit down for 5 minutes after an hour of cleaning than sit down for an hour after 5 minutes of making up excuses not to clean. Here's to a clutter-free dining room table today!

Even though we're in the dog days of summer, August always lets us catch glimpses of the Autumn to come. This morning, I woke up to a chill in air and wild turkey near the brush line of the farm field. These are two sure signs that Autumn approaches. More signs? My son's pumpkin is turning orange on the vine. My thoughts turn to deep hues of purple, chocolate, royal blue, brick red. Woolens that were happy put away just a few months ago now seem inviting. They are missed, but only just slightly. Summer has its rewards and ease that I don't want to let go of. But, Autumn has its coziness and healthful cool crispness that I enjoy. I am thankful to live in a state that has all 4 seasons in a traditional Currier and Ives sense.

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!

My Hair That is, until a friend of mine sent me THIS link! Can you believe she has tailbone-length hair?!

Oh, the arguments out there in the world wide web, both for and against! This can be such a heated topic for sure, so please keep in mind that these are simply my thoughts for myself. I'm not imposing anything on anyone. If you are convicted you should not do yoga, then by all means, don't do it. A lot of Christians I know shy away from yoga simply because they don't understand it. They usually immediately think of someone sitting cross-legged in a garden "ohming" their brains into oblivion. I, too, shied away from yoga for many years, not wanting to cross that line and disobey God. Then, I got into Pilates. Funny thing is, a lot of Christians I knew thought Pilates was another pagan religious practice. Pilates is named after the man who created the exercises. I enjoyed doing pilates, loving the poses and stretches. I soon realized that there's some yoga in pilates, so I decided to look into yoga more. I was also spurred on by the inflammation in my...

I sent the kiddos out this morning to feed the ducks like I do every morning. They love to care for the ducks and do a great job at it. I suddenly heard my son calling me urgently. Upon immediate inspection, I saw my kiddos standing next to a dead duck in our front yard. Something had killed it. If that wasn't heartbreaking enough, my son informed me that there's no more ducks in the duck pen. I ran to the duck pen, calling "duck duck duck," but no ducks came out. There were feathers strewn everywhere, but no ducks. Looks like it may have been a coyote.

I saw "Blessed, Not Stressed" as part of someone's facebook name on a couponing facebook page this morning and it really struck me! I've decided to adopt that motto whenever taking care of my home and family starts to stress me out. I'm sick of being stressed out and forgetting about the blessings (or even cursing the blessings...I'm known to mutter, "this stupid little house"). BLESSED, Not Stressed!

I've been couponing lately and the best deals usually come in larger (bulk) purchases. But, one would think I'm hoarding. Why do I need 4 huge bottles of shampoo at an amazing price? What's with all that toilet paper? Are you saving up for some sort of natural disaster or something? Well, actually, I am. It's called an Upstate Winter! :) No, really. I'm taking advantage of the great deals I'm finding to store up for the winter like a little squirrel because it's too much of a hassle to bundle up my kiddos and drive snow-drifted roads to several stores to do weekly shopping. I'd rather stay home as much as possible this winter.

Anna over at Pleasant View Schoolhouse has a great post today called One Tiny Thing . I read her post this morning and it really struck a harmonic chord in me. I decided at once to consciously do just as her post said. So far today the chain reaction that occurred has been very pleasant! Suddenly the daunting doesn't seem so overwhelming. The deliberate effort is engaging to the mind. The action of love for hearth and home spreads quickly and is quite contagious. Even something as simple as taking 5 seconds to straighten the bathroom rug before I step out the door just makes everything feel better. I also think this would be a good method for someone who is ill or a woman who is dealing with the discomfort of pregnancy. Surely during the times we're in survival mode we can just do one tiny thing to improve a room. Just one. Pick up just one toy. Throw away just one crumb. Smooth out just one curtain. Then, I started thinking of so many other one tiny things we coul...