My first wfmw! I've been reading for a while now, and decided to join the fun this Wednesday.

I dislike browning ground beef or ground venison. It takes a significant amount of time and makes a significant mess. But, alas, I've found a better way!

I load up my crockpot with ground beef/venison. When I was using ground beef, I'd buy 1 or 2 of the 5 lb. packs and stick it in the crockpot on low overnight. The next morning, voila! All the hamburger was brown. I drained it- be careful, it's alot of grease-, let it cool a bit and then divide it up between freezer bags. I put in about 1 1/2 lbs each ( I have a big family). When I need browned hamburger, I pull a bag out and let it thaw or pop it in the mike for 5 minutes and proceed with the recipe.

It works the same with venison but without the large amount of grease. You could also season it before you freeze it; make some batches with taco seasoning, etc.

It works for me. Read some more over at Rocks in My Dryer.

http://rocksinmydryer.typepad.com

This is a picture of me, my sister and our two cousins. I am the second girl, the one with the shorter hair. I just love this picture. It is so clear- it is about 37 years old but you would never know it. I love looking at old pictures, and when I came across this one a few weeks ago, I was thrilled! We had a good day today. We started cleaning out the junk side of the basement. I was appalled at how bad it had gotten. My 2 teenage boys have used this side as a place to throw stuff they don't want anymore and stuff no one wants to put away. We worked for an hour and barely did anything. It will take us weeks to finish but it will be well worth it.

I've got to do something different in our homeschool. It is flat, for all of us. No one enjoys it and no one has fun learning. I've let some stuff go over the years and I've got to turn us around. Please pray for us.

Thursday already. Where do the weeks go? I so remember my mom saying that time goes faster the older you get, and me, as a young teen, couldn't understand time going fast. Time crawled for me at that time of my life.

My oldest son will be 17 in a few weeks. My eyes tear up just at that thought. One more year with him at home. How could the sweet, black haired baby have turned into this man who towers over his dad and I?

I've had a hard time getting motivated this week and getting anything done. Just getting through the normal housework and kids schooling has seemed overwhelming. How do people with many more children do it?

The kids and I stopped at the little park after Wal mart today. I did NOT want to, but felt I needed to do something fun. I laughed till I cried at us running from the gander. The girls and I chuckled all afternoon about that. I want to have more times like that with my kids instead of always barking at them to get their work done.

This is a picture of my youngest son and husband from the newspaper. They were at the Silent Memorial Walk. I thought it was such a cute picture!

Monday, Monday

Another Monday morning. (well, afternoon already). I'm still laying in bed. I think I pulled a muscle in my hip/back this weekend and it pulls when I stand. My family-all of them- are at a silent memorial walk for the local pregnancy crises center here. I really wanted to go, but I knew I wouldn't make it through the walk. So I'm here alone, and I must admit, I'm enjoying the silence.

Church was great yesterday. The message was wonderful and spoke to my heart. My almost 2 year old fell asleep so I was really able to pay attention. Our church has undergone somewhat of a rebirth in the past 18 months. God has filled our sanctuary with like minded believers. These people, especially the women, challenge me on everything without knowing it. When I was the only homeschooler I really knew, I was my standard. Now that I know these ladies who do great work with their kids, I can see my standard is lacking. Problem it, I am lazy and do not like change. God is working with me on that.

I am going to try to really love my kids today. Not in big huge ways like a trip to Disneyworld, but in small ways, like talking nicely and having them participate with me. Maybe playing with them.

Beth

My baby

My baby will be 2 soon. He came to us about a year after we lost a baby in a miscarriage. He is doubly sweet because of this.

Oprah

I was watching a disc from Oprah's 20th anniversary special. Now, I can take or leave Oprah. Sometimes I really enjoy her show, sometimes she bores me to tears. I can't remember who she was talking to, but whoever it was, blew me away with her comment. This lady asked, "When your child walks in the door, do your eyes light up?" Oprah said, "What?" She said, "When you see your child, do your eyes light up? As mom's, usually when we see our children, we see what needs fixed, liked a zipper down or mussed up hair, and we focus on fixing these things and think our children see how much we care by fixing those things. We're wrong. Your children want to see your eyes light up just because they have walked into the room."

Wow. Was I under conviction. I can be totally honest and tell you my eyes do not light up except for my baby. What would that mean to my kids? I know when I was a kid (even now) if I saw my parents eyes light up, WOW! It would make my whole day. So why don't I do it?

God help me. Help me to love and enjoy my kids. And help my eyes to light up. Everytime.

Beth

Hello

My first post on blogger!

I will tell you I live in the southeast and have 5 children: 3 boys (17,14,and 2) and 2 girls (10 and 7) and am earnestly praying for more. I've been married for 18 years and I would marry my husband all over again without a second's hesitation.

I homeschool my children which brings about a whole new set of challenges and problems. Somedays I feel like such a failure, and other days I enjoy my children immensely.

God has blessed us so richly, even with all my inadequacies and failures. I thank Him that I do not get what I deserve. I am daily striving to be more like Him.

Beth