Banana Pudding: Can't believe I made this!

You're looking at an icon of southern cooking...Banana Pudding! Many southern women can make this dish blindfolded with one hand tied behind their backs. But this southern girl needs a good bit of help in the kitchen! My grandma is a great cook, but her version of a recipe is, "Well, you take about this much flour, and a little bit of buttermilk..." That just didn't help me!

The only way I was able to pull this off was to keep my nose in Christy Jordan's Southern Plate cookbook. Southern Plate is actually the website for which the cookbook was named. Christy has a vast collection of recipes for the southern food I love, translated into real recipes AND step-by-step pictures :) The recipes are accompanied by captivating tales that are sure to elicit a tear, a sigh, or a LOL. Go on over there and see if you don't agree. 

What about you? What resources have helped you become a better cook, homemaker, etc.?

Fashion Friday (...who am I kidding)

Notice the absence of an image of me in a cute outfit? There’s a reason. I am not fashion-oriented. My Daddy used to say I even had difficulty matching socks when I was younger.

That tracks—but I do have a little jewel to share with you.

I’ve heard that women dress to impress each other. This woman is neither able nor interested in impressing anyone. I just want to be clean, covered, and appropriately dressed for the occasion. When it comes to clothing, I really only have two priorities.

Comfort is imperative to me. Stable shoes. Quality brands. Pants that forgive. Clothes that don’t distract me or demand attention once I’m wearing them.

Simplicity is a close second. Fewer decisions. Pearl earrings that always work. Fabrics that don’t wrinkle. Nothing that needs ironing or special care.

When you figure out what truly matters to you and hold onto it, something wonderful happens: a lot of things quietly stop mattering.

And letting go of what doesn’t matter may be one of the best perks of getting older. Fortunately, it’s something you can practice at any age.

Sanity-Saving Discipline - Part 3

In case you're just joining us, Part 1 of this series covered House Rules, Part 2 covered the Daily Consequence Chart, and both can be found on this blog. Today is the fun part...well, at least the only part that involves any fun for the kiddos: the 5 STARS CHART!

As my children grew, I started to see that they had developed a belief that a normal day was one spent playing and that work was an annoying distraction. They saw it as perfectly normal to watch me WORK while they PLAYED. I felt genuine conviction that they needed to reverse their thinking: Work is normal, play is optional.

After reading the book by Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar, called The Duggars: 20 and Counting!, I became intrigued by chore packs. These are name badge holders that contain personalized chore cards (sounds really simple, but it isn't, and the kit from titus2.com provides everything you need to get started). Each child attaches the chore pack to their clothes and performs the tasks independently and in order. I ordered the kit and created the simplest of chore packs for each child. One day I hope to implement the full program, but, in the meantime, I've found an alternative method that's working for us.

One day, after we'd arrived home from school and work, I interrupted their sprint to their toys and asked them to do a chore. Of course this request was met with a bit of resistance, but I told them, "Work is normal and good! Once you do some work, you'll earn some play time!" Unconvinced, they begrudgingly set off to do their task. When they returned to report their accomplishments, I put a star sticker on a sheet of paper beside their names. I told them that they would receive 30 minutes playtime after completing 5 chores.

After using the 5 STARS chart (click here for ours) for over a year, I've found that it works really well, most of the time. Sometimes the tasks come from the chore packs. At other times, it's whatever seems most urgent at that  moment. Sometimes I have to help them along by setting a timer, and if the task isn't finished in that time, they get no star and are sent to another task. If they earn a writing consequence from the Daily Consequence Chart, I note that on the 5 Stars Chart, in the column labeled "Plus," to indicate that they have to write that verse or House Rule before they get their free time. I don't interrupt their chore time to have them write. 

I can imagine that reading about the House Rules, the Daily Consequence Chart, and the 5 Stars Chart is overwhelming. It was a bit overwhelming just to describe it! I would encourage you to give them a try, though. They have made a huge difference in the stress level of our family, and I hope they bless you too!