Neccessity.

Posted on 09/20/2010 by mrschelsearae

Now if you have ever read one of my daybook posts you know I {hate} laundry. I detest everything about it and because of that I tend to avoid it. For some reason I would rather scrub toilets than do laundry… anything!

I have come to realize that part of the reason I am never caught up on laundry is that we have WAY too much clothing for a family our size. This is {entirely} my fault and I take all responsibility. I love buying clothes for my kids and because I’m always behind on laundry I tend not to realize exactly how much we have.

Inspired by blogs like this, books like this, and this I have been bitten by a minimalist/simplifying bug. I really desire a peaceful environment for our home and clutter (seen or unseen) really doesn’t help that.

In order to remedy our laundry situation I brought all of our clothing and other laundry into the living room and put it into a {huge} pile. I thought about taking a picture but decided no one needs to see that. 😉

So I sorted everything into piles for everyone, {thoroughly embarrassed} at the clothing in my pile and then went through it pile by pile. How many pairs of pants does an 18 month old need? Probably less than 12. How many dishcloths do I need for my kitchen? I’m thinking 14 is too many. How many towels do a family of four {really} need? I cut ours down by more than half.

It is my hope that with the {significantly} reduced amount of laundry in our home I will be able to find a laundry routine that works for us.

Happy Birthday Mother Mary!!

Posted on 09/08/2010 by mrschelsearae

September 8th is the feast of the Nativity of Mary the Mother of God so naturally we threw her a party!

Mary was so excited that we were going to have a party for Mother Mary, we all wore blue today because that’s Mother Mary’s favourite colour and she told everyone she met why she was wearing blue. 🙂

We coloured pictures of Mother Mary and I had a craft planned but they were sidetracked by an unexpected guest this morning.

Mary decorated our cake with stars, it was a white cake symbolizing Mary’s purity with blue icing to symbolize her blue mantle.

Nathaniel said a special table blessing before dinner and we all sang happy birthday before dessert. The cake was very much enjoyed by all!

Simple Woman’s Daybook September 7th

Posted on 09/07/2010 by mrschelsearae

FOR TODAY
Outside my window… it’s raining. Honestly I’m enjoying it. I wish we could get outside more but I’m enjoying staying inside getting things in order.

I am thinking…

I am thankful for… a hand that has stopped burning!!! I will never ever stir anything that involves jalapenos with my hand again. In fact I went and bought gloves.

From the learning rooms… a basket full of fall books are being enjoyed by all.

From the kitchen… still canning. I have 40 more pounds of peaches to do… I didn’t realize my kids were going to love them so much!

I am wearing… yoga capris and a t-shirt. We’re having a home day.

I am creating… scrapbook pages. I fell dreadfully behind this summer but winter provides many more opportunities for scrapbooking.

I am going… nowhere in the foreseeable future. 🙂

I am reading… that Kimberly Hahn book still. Still loving it!

I am hoping… the echinacea and vitamins I’m pumping into Mary will help her fight off the cold that she seems to be coming down with.

I am hearing… my kiddos laughing and playing together. Such a happy sound.

Around the house… my floors need to be mopped again. I’m not sure what possessed me to mop them before I canned my salsa. They are a mess again.

One of my favorite things… pickled green beans!! So far these are our favourites, although the zucchini salsa is a close second.

A few plans for the rest of the week: We’re having a friend over for dinner tomorrow and I have peaches and more zucchini to can. We might head to playgroup Friday if everything is done but no plans other than that!

Here is picture for thought I am sharing…

Yummy Zucchini Salsa (alternately titled: YEEOUCH!!!!!!!)

Posted on 09/05/2010 by mrschelsearae

So remember the picture of the giant zucchini from last week? Well originally I had just wanted to get a zucchini to grate to freeze for baking but when the lady at the farmer’s market handed me that monster I knew I couldn’t freeze it all! I was brainstorming and searching my canning books when hubby offered a brilliant observation. He said “you know, when I was going to school one of the guys in my class brought a really yummy zucchini salsa one day.”

Zucchini salsa? I had never heard of such a thing but I definitely thought it was worth looking into. I found a recipe and it sounded pretty good so we decided to go for it. Since I doubled the recipe I had a had to find a really big non metal bowl to let it sit in overnight. As a relatively anti plastic family we don’t have any large plastic bowls or buckets. After wandering around the house a little I found this:

It is my laundry room garbage can and it always has a bag in it so I took it and washed it off really well and filled it with zucchini, onion, peppers, and some jalapenos. I then proceeded to stir it with my hand.

Stupidest.thing.I’ve.ever.done.EVER.

Did you know that jalapenos can cause severe chemical burns? Neither did I. Until last night. I have never felt such intense pain, my entire hand was burning and nothing helped. I tried sour cream, milk, baking soda, burn cream, and ice. Nothing worked. I sent hubby to the drugstore this morning for a burn numbing spray but it didn’t work either!

I didn’t sleep the entire night. Ouch. It’s 24 hours later and I am finally getting some relief. Fortunately the salsa is really good.