Why My Kids Love Stale Bread & Mushy Bananas

Stale bread. Mushy, black black bananas. Some of my kids’ favorite things to eat.

As we’ve tried to slowly cut down on waste around here (because our growing family is eating more & more as they enter the teen years), we’ve found a few family favorites that taste almost better in their “stale” form than they do when fresh.

Stale bread makes the most amazing French Toast!!! All those bits and bobs of bread that are leftover at various meals…extra roasted bread from breakfast, Cuban Bread from soup and stew nights, hot dog buns and even bagels—all can be used for French Toast! We keep a bag in the freezer as our “French Toast” bag, and we tuck any stale bread we have into it. Whenever it’s full—it’s French Toast night! An easy, delicious and satisfying meal that everyone loves!

And those mushy black bananas? They make the most amazing banana bread! Our recipe uses 3 medium; but we usually double it so we can make one Bundt cake or muffins to freeze and one cast iron pan of bread to eat right away.

What’s your favorite way to use stale foods?

#Leftovers

#KidsInTheKitchen

#BananaBread

#FrenchToast

#MealPlanning

#NoWaste

#DebtFreeLoving

#WhatsForDinner

#DinnerIdeas

#BreakfastIdeas

#LargeFamilyLogistics

Kings Day Epiphany

Happy Kings Day. Feliz Día de Los Reyes.

In our family, today is the final day of Christmas; and the day our kids give and receive their gifts. The star 🌟 is removed from the tree and hidden, and the children dress as the Magi or Wise Men, prepare a gift for Jesus, (often making art to represent what they would give Him)and search the house for clues to find the star. When they find the star, their gifts are there waiting for them.

(You can see the missing star and the first clue to help them on their hunt waiting in its place on top of the tree.)

However you are spending today, may it be a wonderful final day of the season.

#Epiphany

#KingsDay

#DiaDeLosReyes

#WiseMen

#Magi

#Christmas

#Gifts

#Traditions

#Worship

Upheaval & Washing Machines

Good Morning, Mama. Did you ever have a day that you’d carefully planned out one way, and before you’d barely begin, your plans were totally thrown into chaos and replaced by something else?

We were unexpectedly gifted some items for our home yesterday (including a new to us washing machine to replace the one that’s been giving us trouble for the past year), and getting the space ready to put those things in place, and move out the old things, completely overtook our day.

As I went to bed last night, I realized that I’d done absolutely nothing of what I’d planned to do, either with my kids or on my to do list. And I still have remnants of yesterday’s upheaval to deal with today.

BUT…as I look on everything with fresh eyes this morning, I realize that all of yesterday was part of His good plan for me and my family. That I may make plans, but He orders my days. And that sometimes, upheaval can be a blessing in disguise. And now I’m off to make use of that new to us washing machine!

Have there been days of upheaval that you’ve been thankful for?

#UnexpectedGifts

#WashingMachine

#ToDoList

#Priorities

#Goals

#Rhythms

#Routines

#Laundry

#Planning

#Simplify

#Chores

#HisPlans

#Thankful

#UnexpectedBlessings

Today is a Fresh Start

Today is January 4th—how are you doing on those goals and resolutions, Mama?

I relish the “fresh start” of a new year each January 1st; actually, I am thankful for all fresh starts! My kids often repeat to each other what I’ve said to them since they were babies, “tomorrow morning is a brand new day, a chance to begin again”. I hang tight to the verse, “His mercies are new each morning” found in Lamentations…indeed, as a wife and Mama, I need His new mercies daily!

And so if today you find that you’ve already fallen off the wagon with where you thought you’d be this New Year… it’s ok. His mercies are new every morning. Today is a fresh start, a clean slate. You can begin again, or pick up where you left off. His grace is such a gift, for ourselves and also that we can offer others. Are your kids having a rough day? Tomorrow is a new beginning, a fresh start. Even if it’s not January 1st.

And if you are still going strong after those goals you set—keep going! I am cheering for you!

#NewYear

#Resolutions

#Goals

#Grace

#Momtalk

#MomTruth

#FreshStart

Graham Cracker Gingerbread Houses

One of the most anticipated seasonal activities our family does around the holidays is graham cracker gingerbread houses.

Each child (and adult!) gets:

◦ A large, sturdy Paper Plate to build on

◦ 1-2 sleeves of Graham Crackers

◦ A Tub of Vanilla Frosting

◦ An Assortment of Candy (usually M&Ms, Fruit Snacks, Twizzlers and Peppermints)

We started out using graham crackers because we had kids of varying ages…and each had their own ideas about how they wanted their house to look. Graham crackers are an affordable way to allow everyone to build their own creation. However, after we’d done it for a year or two, someone gifted us some houses, and we found that our family actually preferred the open-ended ness of the graham crackers! You can literally build anything you want; only your imagination (and building skills are the limit). Kids LOVE having their own tub of frosting. And…TBH, graham crackers and frosting taste waaaay better than the boxed houses.

This year we made our creations on New Years Eve…but you could do them any time during the holidays or throughout the winter!

What out of the box ways does your family spend time together?

#GingerbreadHouses

#GrahamCrackers

#FamilyTime

#FamilyCraft

#Parenting

#ArtsandCrafts

#OpenEnded

#Creativity

#IndoorActivities

#FunIndoors

#KidsIntheKitchen

#DebtFreeLiving

#DebtFreeLifestyle

2021 Family Bucket List

It’s 2021! How did you celebrate the ending of one year and the beginning of the next?

To celebrate the new year, we ate a lot of yummy food (our family usually does “appetizers” for New Years Eve, and we eat all the delicious things I wouldn’t normally cook. We also worked on a “Bucket List” of things that we’d like to do as a family before 2021 comes to a close. We printed it out, hung it up, and will work on it throughout his calendar year—it matches our family values and will be a flexible guide as we begin to navigate 2021 and all it has in store. There are 12 ideas listed, just enough to do one a month, although we might go quicker than that! There’s also space to write a few extra ideas as we discover them along the way.

I’m including a copy here (below) that you can download and print. There are extra lines to write your own family ideas as well!

Family Bucket List 2021

What are your hopes, dreams and prayers for 2021? What are you hoping to be and do as a family? How can you take one baby step today towards living into that?

Ou

Simple Gift Idea

Want a really simple homemade Christmas gift that you’ll actually feel good about gifting?

This homemade hot cocoa mix recipe only uses 3 ingredients (and two of them are sugar and salt!) with a few optional mix-ins; and let me tell you…it might be the most amazing Hot Cocoa you’ll ever drink. Rich, creamy and oh, so satisfying. Put it in a mason jar, tie it off with ribbon, and you’ve got a beautifully presented gift that actually tastes good! (Even my relatives who don’t like homemade gifts love this one!)

Our kids love sharing God’s love at Christmas by giving gifts to the people they love…and even young ones can help you mix up this easy recipe. Don’t forget to keep some on hand for yourself!

#ChristmasGift

#HomemadeGift

#GiftIdeas

#SimpleRecipe

#BudgetFriendly

#DebtFreeLiving

#DebtFreeLifestyle

#FamilyRecipe

#InTheKitchen

#CookingWithKids

#KidFriendlyRecipe

#HotCocoa

#HomemadeHotCocoa

#MasonJarGifts

Twenty Years Ago…

Twenty years ago today, he asked me to be his girl, and prayerfully walk towards marriage together.

Twenty years later, 2 college degrees, 2 masters degrees, 6 kids (5 this side of Heaven), 2 ministry calls (in vastly different communities) in which we have loved & engaged deeply, and 17 & 1/2 years of marriage later, here we are. We’re not kids anymore. We’re not young anymore. But through all the ups and downs, joys and sorrows, we’re still in love. And still so very glad to be adventuring together.

And so today, we celebrated. Not in a big way. Not in a flashy way. Perhaps not even in an Instagram worthy way. We flipped through old photos. We told our kids stories of our early days, before they were around. And we sat on our patio together, sipping coffee out of metal mugs, just the two of us (ok, three of us, if you count the sleeping baby) and shared our thoughts. Our musings and memories from the past. Our hopes for the future.

And then we went inside, and cooked dinner together, and sat at the table with our children and thanked God for His good good gifts to us…the ones gathered ‘round our table with us, whom we never even imagined twenty years ago.

When did you know you and your spouse were headed towards marriage? How do you celebrate together?

#Marriage

#Anniversary

#Parenting

#Family

#Coffee

#Firepit

#DateAtHome

The Gift of Waiting

It’s Advent, Mama. The time of year when we wait in hopeful anticipation for the coming of the Redeemer, the One who will save the world.

It certainly seems like this year, more than any other year that I can remember, that our broken world desperately needs a Savior.

I’m not one for waiting. If I have an idea, I act on it (ask my husband how many times this year I’ve changed around the furniture); if I make a plan, I want to start in on it right away. And yet, this season, this time of waiting, always seems do my hurried heart good.

Don’t miss the gift of waiting, friend. Don’t skip too quickly ahead to the celebrating. Take this time as a family to wait together. A little over 2000 years ago, the whole world was waiting, hoping, longing for a Savior. The future was uncertain. The days were long and hard. God’s people were waiting.

And so during this season, our family walks out the days of waiting. This year we’ve been using Advent Blocks to mark the days leading up to Christmas. Each evening after dinner we gather as a family and turn one block around, then read the corresponding story to go with it. Other years we’ve read the Jesus Storybook Bible or another Children’s Bible as we’ve walked together towards Christmas. It doesn’t have to be complicated or long—it can simply be a 3-5 minute reading of His story as you remember together.

How are you as a family marking this Advent Season? Is there something you could do each day, or once a week (we also light an Advent candle weekly with our church) to learn well the lesson of waiting, even as you celebrate the joys of this season?

There are beautiful lessons to be learned in the waiting, friend. As I’ve grown older, I’ve learned that sometimes, the waiting itself is a gift when my heart wants to hurry onward. May waiting and pausing minister to your heart this season as we all wait for the only One who can heal our broken world.

#Advent

#Waiting

#TheGiftOfWaiting

#FamilyTime

#FamilyDevotions

#FamilyBibleReading

#WaitingforChristmas

#Parenting

#Motherhood

#MomTruth

#AdventBlocks

A Gift for the King

Hey Mama. Do you have “perfectly good” toys in your home that aren’t getting any love?

This charming little dollhouse hasn’t been nearly as played with as we thought it would be. And so this afternoon, the kids had an absolutely wonderful time fixing it up, adding a few fun furniture pieces (because what is a house, without a toilet and bathtub?!?) and getting it ready to give away. We posted it on a local buy & sell site and are gifting it to a family in need in our community, so that their littles can have a few gifts this Christmas.

Our kids were so excited about this that they started searching for other “almost new” toys to share with other kids for Christmas.

Since they were tiny, they’ve been taught that whatever they give with love is a “gift for the King”. It’s been awe-inspiring to watch them give for His glory.

It’s been a challenging year for so many folks. Is there some way that you as a family can give a gift to the King? A sharing of your resources? A warm meal to a senior in your neighborhood? A card to someone lonely? Whenever you do, He is glorified.

#ChristmasGifts

#LovingOthers

#Toys

#Minimalism

#Simplify

#Give

#Family

#FamilyValues

#Parenting

#AGiftForTheKing