Am I True to Myself?

I've been so blessed with the opportunity to be mentored by a true Titus 2 woman for over a year now. Our current book that we're going thru is Developing the Leader Within You by John C. Maxwell. It's a good book and is causing me to stretch, grow, and stay out of my comfort zone as I have plenty of opportunities to practise what I'm learning!

In chapter three, which is titled "The Most Important Ingredient in Leadership: Integrity", Dr. Maxwell wrote: To build your life on the foundation of integrity, use the following poem ("Am I True to Myself?" by Edgar Guest) as a "Mirror Test" to evaluate how you're doing.

Am I True to Myself?

I have to live with myself, and so

I want to be fit for myself to know,

I want to be able, as the days go by,

Always to look myself straight in the eye;

I don't want to stand with the setting sun,

And hate myself for things I have done.

I don't want to keep on a closet shelf

A lot of secrets about myself,

And fool myself, as I come and go,

Into thinking that nobody else will know

The kind of man I really am;

I don't want to dress up myself in sham.

I want to go out with my head erect,

I want to deserve all men's respect;

But here in the struggle for fame and pelf

I want to be able to like myself.

I don't want to look at myself and know

That I'm bluster and bluff and empty show.

I can never hide myself from me;

I see what others may never know,

I never can fool myself, and so,

Whatever happens, I want to be

Self-respecting and conscience free.

Wow. It really makes you think. 

Integrity. When we have integrity, our words and deeds match up. We are who we are, no matter who we're with.

~Rachel 

Homemade Yogurt

It seems like everyday I'm thankful for another thing that my mother taught me how to do. Might have something to do with me turning 30 and finally starting to grow up. Lol! One of the things my mom used to make and still does make is yogurt. She got the recipe from a Russian lady we were friends with when I was a kid and we lived in Montana. I've made it twice now and I'm so pleased with the results. 

Pour one gallon of milk into an oven safe bowl. 

Bake in a 350 degree oven for 2 hours. When you pull it out of the oven, it most likely is going to look like this. Just skim off the skin and discard. 

Let the milk cool down to 50 degrees Celsius and then add 8 tablespoons store bought yogurt with live active cultures. For no particular reason, this is the one I picked and it worked great. I used the whole container. 

(Btw, the Superbowl commercial yesterday for Chobani yogurt with the grizzly bear was pretty funny. Lol!) If you add the starter yogurt before the milk cools down, it can kill the live active culture and cause it not to set. Stir it well and pour the milk into glass jars and place lids on them. I poured it thru a strainer to make sure I got all the stray pieces of milk skin out. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. When the jars are filled and ready, turn off the oven and place the jars in the oven. I put the jars on a pan which made it easier to move them. Close the oven door and incubate for at least four hours. A couple hours more is fine too if you want to leave it in there overnight. 

After incubating, put the jars of yogurt in the refrigerator. How easy is that?! 

My yogurt turned out so nice and firm. If you stir it up, it becomes creamy. I like to add honey and fruit.

~Rachel :).

My Fitness Plan 101

New year, new you, right?! Everyone and their neighbor has some kind of new fitness or diet plan they hope to stick with longer than the end of January. My husband and I have often talked about going to the gym and working out together which is an awesome idea and I hope we will sometime. But for now it's just another thing to make time for and we'd have to find someone to watch the kids. Anyways, so I was thinking about all this and realized that I don't really need to go to the gym. So many of my daily activities are totally workout material. ;) Check it out! Here is Rachel Ballinger's Fitness Plan 101:

a. Plant a Garden

b. Eat the vegetables you grow in your garden

There you have it, lots of exercise and a good healthy diet! Oh, and don't forget to also:

c. Drink lots of water 

d. Get plenty of sleep

The best part of this plan is that I'm actually doing it. I'll share some pictures for proof. 

Ok, I'm not making the kids do all the work! But they are very willing helpers and ask to help. Brittany says she just likes the sound the hoe makes as it hits the dirt. She's my country girl! 

Lol! Please don't laugh at me! It's hard work! The ground is hard and has quite  a few rocks in it, but I like it. I really do! I enjoy being outdoors and working in the dirt. 

Here's one for all you cat lovers. This is our cat, Pearlie. :)

Today was such a lovely day and to be outside working up the dirt was a great way to enjoy it. I'm happy with how much we got done but there's definitely still plenty of "exercise" left for us to enjoy in the days to come.

Happy Gardening ya'll! (And remember, stay fit and eat your own homegrown veggies!) 

~ Rachel ;)

(Disclaimer: This blog is in no way intended to be taken seriously or used for an actual fitness plan. It was created simply from the humor found resting in the author's cranium. BUT, gardening is a very enjoyable activity.) 

Be Encouraged

Hey there fellow parent! Take a moment and realize that you are an amazing parent. The parent that God hand picked just for your child. You have within you everything you need to raise up your child and to fill up their love bucket like no other person ever could.

We all have times when we feel more like a failure than anything else. Are we really giving our children what they need? Are our views on parenting completely wrong and we just don't realize it? Why else are our kids acting like this??? Will they grow up, leave home, and tell everybody what a horrible childhood they had? Lol! We know we love our kids, so why are we getting irritated at them so much? I was having one of those days the other day when I read a blog by Kylie from The How To Mom. It blessed me so much. It made me cry. It was such an encouragement to me and I want to share it with ya'll so it can bless you too. Check it out at The How To Mom.
~Rachel :)

Apple Crisp

The weather was pretty nice today. I had the windows open, the kids were playing outside, and the yummy aroma of the apple crisp I had baking in the oven, almost made it feel like summer! I've been dreaming and scheming about my garden this year too. Tonight I walked thru the gardening section of Walmart and thought about it some more. Lol! This year I want to order organic, non gmo seeds. I was looking at some online catalogs today. But anyways, back to the apple crisp.......

Apple Crisp is a favorite with our family and as you can see I had plenty of willing taste testers. Of course we add milk to it. We add milk to a lot of things! :)

I thought I'd share the recipe with ya'll. I guess you could say this is an Amish recipe. I got the recipe from my mom and we've made it ever since I was a little Amish girl! 

Apple Crisp

Peel and chop about 6 apples. Layer on bottom of a 9"x13" pan. Sprinkle 1 cup white sugar and 3 tablespoons flour on apples. 

Topping:

1 cup brown sugar

1 cup white sugar

1 cup butter

1 cup flour

2 teaspoons cinnamon 

4 cups oatmeal (I use quick oats)

Mix together the ingredients for the topping and spread it over the apples. Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes or until topping is brown. Enjoy! 

~ Rachel :)

Friday Fun Day!

I meant to post this yesterday but didn't get it finished so here we go! Yesterday I took the kids to one of their sweet little friend's 5th birthday party. The kids all had a blast playing together. I'm pretty sure we moms had just as good a time hanging out and chatting over cups of coffee and tea. 

      Here's Marcus and Isaac (the birthday boy!)

  The girls!

    There were lots of boys! :)

My friend had little red Solo cups with lids and straws for the kids. They were the cutest thing! I'd never seen them before but I'm definitely going to remember them when the next party rolls around. 

On top of an already good day, Isaiah and I went out to eat at Cracker Barrel last night. One of my birthday gifts was a Cracker Barrel gift card and it made for a lovely date. We are so thankful for some friends of ours that watched the kids for us. After eating we checked out the Unclaimed Freight store that opened recently on 287 just south of Haslet. We've been wanting to go there and it was fun to go sit on all the couches and chat with the sales representive. We are easily entertained! Lol! 

AND I found a bedroom set that has my name written all over it! It is so beautiful!!! I even took pictures of it. :)

Isn't it lovely?! The color turquoise is one of my favorite things! It just makes me happy! I think the sales guy totally expects me to come back and buy it soon and I'm just going to let him think that! Because maybe I will!

Well, that's it for this time! Happy weekend ya'll! 

- Rachel :)

Six Gifts We Gave Our Children

We've kinda gotten to the point where we laugh at New Year's Resolutions because we all know how many times at the beginning of a new year we've made wonderful resolutions about what we're going to accomplish that year only to arrive at New Year's Eve and and realize most of them didn't happen. So let's be realistic. If you make a resolution, also write out the steps you're going to take to accomplish that goal. Pray over your goals for the new year and invite the Holy Spirit to lead you. A new year is an exciting time for me. It's like being handed a clean slate, an opportunity to leave mistakes you've made in the past and start again. And it's a great time to reevaluate.  

Something that my husband and I have been noticing is the lack of creativity we've been seeing in our children and how often we hear the words "I'm bored. There is nothing for me to do." And yet when we look around our house and their bedrooms, there seems to be an endless supply of toys and stuff! The first thing we did was not buy them any new form of electronics for Christmas even tho they all had some form of it on their wish list. Even Lexi, who is 3, wanted a "pink iPad"! They were a little disappointed but they're ok! It's not like they don't already have enough gaming systems. :)

We came up with a list of 6 things that money can't buy. True gifts. I'm sure there are more we could've used but this is what we came up with it. Some of them are things we already do but we wanted to bring them to the kid's attention. I wrote each one on a piece of paper and placed them inside some adorable little ornament boxes I found on clearance at the dollar store. Last Sunday evening we hung the little boxes on the Christmas tree (yes, we still haven't taken our tree down. I like it and can't bring myself to take it down just yet!). We called the kids into the living room and told them that yes, Christmas was over but we had 6 more gifts for them! They took turns picking one off the tree and reading it. It definitely got their attention and it was a special time as we explained each one of the gifts to them. 

Here is the list of gifts we came up with:

1. The Gift of Love (our unconditional love and acceptance)

2. The Gift of Time (Monthly Dates/Quality Time with Daddy & Mommy) 

3. The Gift of Fun (weekly family game or movie night) 

4. The Gift of Reading (every month read a book and give an oral and written book report)

5. The Gift of Agreement (we will pray and agree with them concerning anything)

6. The Gift of Wisdom (Daily family devotions)

It's only been three days but we can already see small changes in the kids. Especially in the way they're playing together more and they thoroughly enjoy it when we spend time together as a family whether it's game time or family devotions. I look forward to what we'll see in the next weeks, months, and year. Bring on 2014!!!
I'd enjoy hearing any comments or ideas that ya'll have about this!

~ Rachel :)