She Rises While it is Yet Night...

1. Time to Pursue God: I get to spend quiet quality time alone with the Lord. I use this time to pray, read my bible, talk to the Lord and receive instruction and encouragement. After taking this time alone I feel calm and ready for the day.

2. Begin Dinner Prep: Getting a jump start on preparing for dinner makes dinner time so much more manageable when 5'oclock rolls around. I choose at least one thing that can be done from my dinner to-do's. If dry beans are on the menu, I let them soak overnight. This way all I do is drain off the water and pop them in the crock pot in the morning. I also defrost meat in the freezer overnight and season it in the morning. Making a habit of doing at least one thing in advance makes life easier at dinnertime.

3. Quiet Time to Plan your Day: Planning my day give me direction and a measurable set of goals. Having a plan allows me to manage my home and care for it effectively. I use this time to schedule not only my responsibilities, but to also organize skill building chores for my children.

4. Get Started on Home Keeping Tasks: I like to begin homemaking tasks early in the day, rather than cleaning in the evening when I could be resting and relaxing with my family. My husband once told me that as a stay at home wife, I was my own boss. He also said that if I am still working in the evening when the rest of the family is relaxing then I need to fire myself. Planning my day, getting started early and setting a quitting time helps me to keep a cheerful disposition.

5. Make Breakfast for my Family: When my children were younger I made their entire breakfast for them daily. Now that they are getting older, they each take part in preparing our breakfast meals. I am training them to manage the kitchen by guiding them and and instructing them on how to work together. Our children will remember the things that we do for them and with them. Meal preparation is a very important bonding time for our family.

6. Personal Grooming Time for Myself: This is one of the tasks that is beneficial to myself and my husband. Taking the time to get dressed, style my hair and put on makeup really makes my husband feel special. When I initially made a commitment to get dressed each day-- as if I were going to be leaving the house, my family would look at me strangely. They'd ask "Mommy are you going somewhere?".

They had gotten so accustomed to me wearing PJ's or sweatpants and uncombed hair that they were puzzled by the change. After some time, not only did they respond well to this change in my morning routine, but I began to feel better about myself. I would smile throughout the day when I would catch glimpses of myself in the mirror throughout the house.

These are just a few beneficial reasons for getting up a little earlier than the rest of the family.

Do you have a morning routine and what time does your day start? I'd love to hear what works at your house.

Pre-Thanksgiving Cooking

Sweet Potatoes were .25¢ a pound are Walmart and Aldi, which is a fabulous price. It's the lowest price you'll find all year in my area. I bought about 30 or so pounds which will be cooked up and frozen to use throughout 2010.

In an effort to prevent feeling overwhelmed on Thanksgiving I pre-prep  some of my dishes in advance. I know from experience that their is no obvious difference in taste if the sweet potato pie filling is made on Thanksgiving or a few days before. I did not have to cook dinner yesterday since we had leftover lasagna in the fridge, so I used this time to work on sweet potato's.

 

This is the filling for the pies.

 

All bagged up to bake on Wednesday night.

 

This is my candied yam casserole. It's smothered in butter, brown sugar, white sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, sweet milk, vanilla and concentrated orange juice. This will marinate and be baked on Thursday morning.

 

I hope that your holiday plans are coming along well.

Modestly Fashionable Clothing

This is a Sponsored Post written by me on behalf of Talbots. All opinions are 100% mine.

I was offered the opportunity to write about Talbots clothing line and I must say that I have been exposed to a line that I had not been familiar with. Talbots challenged me to share with my readers what I would buy with a $500 Talbots gift card.

The thing I enjoy most about reviewing companies is that I get to learn about product I would not have most likely found on my own. I had heard of Talbot before, but never considered it as a store that would suit my needs. I do not know where I acquired this notion, but when I visited the site I knew immediately that Talbot's was the store for me.

If you are looking to dress modestly and have been having a hard time locating fashionable skirts and dresses that would sit below the knee or longer Talbots may be the place to look.

I will be the first to say that Talbots is not inexpensive, by any stretch of the imagination. Their skirts range $34.99 - $189 each, however I am a firm believer in the saying " you get what you pay for". I don't shop often, but when I do I like to invest in quality pieces that will last a long time when properly cared for.

If I had a $500 Talbots gift card I would buy several foundation pieces upon which to build a stylish, classic, modest wardrobe.

$159

 

$69

 

$51.99

  

$61.99

$34.99

$159

I went a little bit over $500 by $36, but as you can see Talbots has some really fashionable long skirts. I spent about three hours just last week searching the web for knee length or longer skirts only to log off frustrated. Most of the sites were families, mostly Amish, who were selling hand made dresses with styles more closely related to the styles found on the show Little House on the Prairie. I want to dress modestly, but I don't want to sacrifice fashion. Talbots is just the resource to meet my needs.

To stay up to date with Talbots you can subscribe to their blog RedChairConfessions.com.

Mary or Martha?

With the holiday season fast approaching some of you may be beginning to feel the pressure to make everything perfect before Thursday arrives. Let us bring to remembrance the lesson of Mary and Martha.

You know the story right? Mary and Martha have Jesus into their home. Martha fusses around making food and cleaning while Mary sits with the guests. Pretty soon Martha is upset with Mary and tells Jesus to tell Mary she had better get up and help.

How surprised was Martha when Jesus told her that Mary had chosen what was right.

In an effort to plan and host the perfect gathering this year, keep in mind what's improtant this holiday season. I will be sharing my home and food with my guests this season, but more importnatly I will remember to share my time.

Unwanted Holiday Guest

This is a Sponsored Post written by me on behalf of Victor® Rodent Control. All opinions are 100% mine.

As we prepare their homes for the holidays, we want to be sure to make presentable the things that our guest sees and perhaps the things they do not see. Some of us may have family coming in town to stay between now and Christmas, and if you have a bug or rodent problem, there is no better time than now to address the issue.

I do not have a rodent problem, but I can remember growing up in NYC and rodents being a part of everyday life. The purchase of snap traps, glue traps, mouse bait and pellets were a regular part of my family’s household maintenance expenses.

Just a week ago, I advised a friend on how to get rid of an annoying rodent he had at his place. I gave him some De-con which he place inside of a piece of bread rolled into a ball. He set the ball out before bed, hoping to rid himself of the problem. He awoke only to find the bread gone and the pellets sitting on the counter top.

After calling me back to say that the plan did not work, I advised him to crush the pellets into a fine powder and to mix them into to bread. He set the bait out again and headed off to bed. He awoke to find a dead rat a few feet from where he had set the bait.

Whether you have a bug or rodent problem this is the time to get a handle on it. The bad part about using a poisonous product like De-con is that it is not safe around pets and children. The other drawback is that you will need to dispose of the rodent carcass if it dies before making it out of your house.

I had never heard of ultrasonic rodent repellents before and came across a demo that explained how ultrasonic repellents work. The makers of Victor Pest products claim that the repellents emit high frequency sound waves designed to repel rodents from entering your home. The website a variety of repellent coverage ranges based upon the size of your home.

The main reason for rodent problems is due to homes that offer them food and shelter. Some tips on how to rodent proof your home found at Victorpest.com are…

• Keep your house clean. This especially includes the areas that you cannot see such as under the stove, refrigerator and dishwasher.

• Put away food. Do not leave any food or water out over night. If you have, pets be sure to clean out their dishes each night before bed. If you have a pantry, consider repackage certain items in plastic or metal containers.

A Good Thing

"Whoso findeth a wife findeth a good thing and obtaineth favour of the Lord. "

Proverbs 18:22

We, at times forget how much our husbands need us. Sometimes we can get so wrapped up in our children, our home, our blogs and life in general that we forget to get around to being his "help meet".

We often have good intentions when we fill our days with this and that. We may even believe that if our calendars are filled with activities and our to-do lists are a mile long that we are being good wives.

However, it is just the opposite. A good wife is sensitive to her husbands needs above everyone else's. She is concerned even to the point of clearing her schedule when he needs her, if possible. She purposely schedules time in her day for her husband.

She does not put her children’s desires, requests or agenda before her husbands. Fear not ladies, your children will no that they are loved and cared for even if they don’t receive 100% of your energy and attention. A godly husband will never put himself before his children.

When we place our husbands as a major priority in our lives we are teaching our children biblical family order. A good wife seeks to please her husband and adhere to her husbands wishes above all other earthly beings.(Ephesians 5:22-24)

One of the major drawbacks of neglecting to make our husbands a priority, is withdrawal. How many times have we all mis-prioritized and found that our husbands had withdrawn from us? They sought us but we were too busy. (Song of Solomon 5:2-6) They needed us, yet we were not there.

Because they are so strong, we forget how much my husbands need us. Because they rarely, if ever cry, we forget that they are vulnerable.

In an effort to be that “good thing’’ referred to in Proverbs 18:22; let us make a conscience effort to make our spouses a priority this week.