HOMEmaker's Challenge

May is right around the corner, which means the "Try it" challenge will be ending. I decided to find something else, not only to occupy my time, but also to cause growth. I'm happy to be partaking in the Homemaker's Challenge during the entire month of May!

I purchased my e-book yesterday for a mere $5. Basically the book is divided into 31 "chapters". Each day there is a short "encouragement" followed by two challenges:

• Mary challenge- this is an internal challenge. They help you evaluate your motives and focus on the important things in life.
• Martha challenge- As it implies, this is an actual task in the house that will have you feeling like you accomplished something when you're done. (Like wiping cabinet doors and washing curtains)

By the end of the month I'll have completed a good house cleaning and have a better idea of what I want to accomplish with my house.

Will you consider joining the challenge? Head over to Joyful mothering to link up. You can purchase the book at Amazon: 31 Days to Clean - Having a Martha House the Mary Way

Testimony time

My brother had an opportunity to share his testimony in this neat video. I know its a little long, but its worth listening to.

My favorite words happen at the end:

"Jesus is alive and real, and He wants you to know Him."

Please share this video if it has encouraged you.

Easter weekend

This past weekend our family drove approximately 9 hours each way to and from Michigan. While there we spent our time at a Bible conference. I've never been to one quite like it. It began Friday morning and ended Sunday afternoon. The bulk of the time was spent in meetings with very little free time. It was tiring, but it was also very good for our spiritual well being. I'm very glad we went and I'd like to share some pictures with you.

You'll notice that most of the people are Indian. It wasn't an Indian conference, it just so happens that the majority of the church members are Indian.

The captions for each photo are below the photos.

This first one shows a sweet reunion. Last May we went on a road trip. My daughter, Patricia (left) met Zaneta (center). They are the same age and they clicked immediately. In September Zaneta's family visited us for a day and their friendship grew.  Patricia was SUPER excited to see her again. Joseph (on the left) is a new friend we met this weekend (he's from a different family). He made it clear to Seth that he wanted to be his best friend. Too bad we live so far!

 There was LOTS of singing this weekend! It was great! The children performed in front of the adults several times.

Patricia and Zaneta in the group of kids. See how they love each other?! Notice the girl's outfit on the left. Beautiful isn't it?

 My first viewing of a live cricket game. :)

Enoch, my handsome hubby on the left, played cricket on the side with the kiddos.

 On the way to meal time! This is Sunday afternoon. The morning meeting was supposed to last 3 hours (no breaks in between!). But, guess what. It went over. By one and a half hours! It was supposed to end at 12:30, but it was closer to 2 when the meeting was dismissed. After that everyone headed straight for lunch! No one tarried around the meeting hall!

Try It Challenge- Week Three Review

 

Week three was a breeze!  I'll admit that I didn't do anything fancy, except drink a cup of green tea every day. I think I tried 5 different brands/varieties. I must say that it was enjoyable.

I used to drink green tea more regularly, but I've fallen out of the habit. Enoch and I have been enjoying a line of tea from Tetley. It's catered more towards Indians. We have three flavors at home: Masala, Elaichi and Ginger.

Anyway, back to the Green Tea! My very favoritest kind that I had all week was Lipton Green Tea, mixed berry flavor.

Tea is easy to make but I like to follow the steeping times given. Green tea is generally supposed to be steeped for around 2 minutes.  If you steep any tea too long, it can get bitter. If you steep too short, it'll be weak and we don't want that! 

I like to add a scant teaspoon of sugar to my cup. I don't like the way milk tastes with green tea, so I skip that!

Spiritual challenge: We were to do the plank three times each morning and pray while doing so. You can read about it on Peak313's blog. I did it. I don't like it, but I do like the way it makes my stomach feel. It feels like my stomach muscles are actually getting fit. I need to do lots of them in order to actually get fit!

This coming week our food challenge is avacado and the spiritual challenge is to pray scripture. I plan on trying Clare's avacado/black bean dip for sure!

This is the last week of the challenge... I guess I'll be on the look out for something else! 

Easter Time

Can you believe tomorrow is Easter already? I love seeing spring unfold with new life. Flowers that burst out of the ground and broken egg shells in the grass. It reminds me of Christ's resurrection. Rising from the dead is a form of new life. And His resurrection allows others to have new life in Him. That is the true meaning of Easter~ Christ rising from the dead.

However, like most kids, my children expect something at Easter time, preferably a large basket of candy. I wanted to give them something, but I really didn't want to spend tons of money or fill them with junk. Instead I gave them two things. I bought them a $5 movie ("The Little Rascals") and plaster eggs for painting.

Do you remember the plaster that the kids painted 3 years ago? I can hardly believe its been that long! Ian is showing Patricia's bug off here, even though he wasn't around at the time:

I bought 1/2 a dozen plaster eggs for the kids to do this year. It came with one "difficult to use" brush, so we each took turns painting ours.

We're spending our Easter weekend at a Bible conference in Michigan, so we were able to paint our eggs early.  The kids were slightly disappointed that they didn't get loads of candy this year. But I'm happy that we get to spend our time learning about our Lord who gave His life for us and then took His life back again.

Deal of the week

I can't write much, but I wanted to pass this deal along to you.  I bought Toy Story's Operation game two days ago. The price is $5 at Walmart. It doesn't even look like its a sale, that's just the price they're selling it for.

Also, if you buy any Hasbro game before April 30th (just a few days away), you can send away for a rebate for a free frozen pizza. A classic game and a free pizza all for $5. That's a good deal in our house!

Seth was occupied with the new game.

How to clean the fridge

This weekend I was cranky! Actually, I spent the last few days trying to be UN-cranky. Guess what I did while I was in a temper. Why, yes, I did stamp my feet and snap at my kids, but I'm talking about after that.

After I let everyone have a piece of my mind I cleaned out my fridge.

Not your average run of the mill wipe down some of the shelves cleaning. It was a DEEP cleaning. A cleaning which my fridge has never seen. Well, not from me, anyway.

The very first thing I did was open up a clean trash bag.

Then I filled it up.

With probably 30 pounds of food.

Wanna know what I found? Sure you do! Here is a partial list:

• an unopened pedialyte that expired 2 years ago
• a fuzzy package. YIKES! The whole thing went into my bag
• all of my lost containers
• 2 egg salads
• 3 dishes of black beans...

Wanna know HOW I cleaned the fridge afterwards? Sure you do!

This may seem like common knowledge, but I'll write it with the hopes that maybe I may inspire just one person out there to clean out their own fridge.

When I started I had a minimum amount of food in the fridge. Then I followed these steps.

• Start at the top. Its always best to work from the top down. If you start at the bottom you'll probably create crumbs when you're on top!
• Empty your current shelf. Even when you clean your fridge out you still have some things in there that'll need to be temporarily moved around.
• Take your shelf out of the fridge. This allows your fridge to stay cool and for you to find a comfortable spot to work in. If your shelves do not come out, make sure you let the refrigerator rest for at least 10 minutes between cleanings.
• Tools required are simple. I had a bowl with soapy water and a rag. I kept my scraper handy - this was an essential tool, so please read about it! I also kept a kitchen towel handy to dry things.
• Don't cut corners. Take your time thoroughly cleaning each shelf, drawer and wall. I couldn't believe how disgusting some areas of my fridge were!
• Categorize. When everything is clean, you now have the liberty to set your fridge up the way you want to. Condiments in one section, drinks in another. You really only need one section for leftovers and it shouldn't stay full!
• Soak rags in vinegar. I don't know how yours will be, but my rags needed a good cleaning themselves! I covered them in vinegar overnight then washed them in the morning.
• Don't stop in the middle. If you start it, make sure to finish that very same day! I started cleaning my fridge around 5 pm (dinner time!) I worked for 2 hours, then we went out to eat dinner. When the kids were in bed I finished up.

My after pictures are of very poor quality, but I'll show them to you anyway. Please share yours with me if you clean out your fridge!