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The Most Popular Posts of 2011

Stephanie @ Keeper of the Home — Mon, 02 Jan 2012 11:00:48 +0000

I hope that you've all had a restful and memorable time with your family during the Christmas season! Our holidays were relatively uneventful, but still wonderful.

My husband and I took a couple days away the week before Christmas to do some dreaming and goal-setting for the coming year. Then we spent a quiet week preparing for our holidays, which included an evening with my family, Christmas Eve worshipping with our church family, Christmas day with our children focused on thankfulness and generosity (not to mention an amazingly yummy breakfast), then Christmas dinner and Boxing Day with my husband's family in Washington.

Though I am still trying to find a solid chunk of time to take a New Year's planning retreat (have you taken yours yet?), I was also reflecting on the past year and tried to come up with a list of words that sum up 2011 for me:

Burnout. Replenish. Growth. Compassion. Loss. Life. Mornings. Reliance. Friendship. Purge. Dreams. Risk. Trust.

What words would you use to describe your past year?

Most Popular Posts of 2011

It was also fun to go back through the archives and check out the statistics for all of last year's posts to discover which ones were the most popular. Some I expected, others surprised me.

Here are the top 14 posts of 2011:

(Why 14? I have no idea, it just seemed like a good number.)

11 Simple, Homemade Gifts
Seven Strategies for Having More Productive Days
My Frugal Beauty Routine
Treating Depression Naturally: Supplements, Herbs and Foods for Feeling Better
How to Make Water Kefir
Plan It- Don't Panic: A 6 Week Meal Planning Challenge (and I'm excited to announce that as a follow-up to this challenge, I have a new meal planning eBook coming out in the next couple weeks!)
The Thoughtful Parent's Guide to Thinking Through Vaccinations
Meal Plans from "100 Days of Real Food"
Two Recipes for Odor-Eliminating, Air Freshening Sprays
Gentle, All Natural Deodorant Stick Recipe
Homemade Herbal Vapor Rub to Relieve Coughs and Congestion
Non-Toxic Cleaners You Can Make at Home
Good Fats, Bad Fats, and Why I Eat Plenty of Butter
15 Fun and Frugal Memories to Make With Your Kids This Summer

Did you have a favorite post that you don't see in this list?

More importantly, what would you like to see in the coming year? Although I've got plenty of ideas and have planned out the first several months of the year already, I am always eager to find the topics that matter most to YOU.

My goal at Keeper of the Home remains,

"To be an encouraging, inspiring and Christ-centered resource for those who aspire to healthful and natural homemaking."

What would you like to learn more about this year? What are you struggling with? Are there types of recipes you're looking for? Aspects of more "natural" homemaking that are still a challenge? An area that you would like to make positive changes or baby steps in?

What would you like to see on Keeper of the Home in 2012?

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September at Our Home

Stephanie @ Keeper of the Home — Thu, 29 Sep 2011 10:00:24 +0000

I can hardly believe that fall is upon us already, but the beautiful crimson leaves outside my window attest to the fact that it's true. I am always sad to see the summer go, especially since we had such a short season of truly warm summer weather here in the Pacific Northwest, and yet I do relish autumn as a time to take stock of things, slow down, establish new routines and capture summer's last fleeting moments before we say good-bye for another year.

This summer was full of activity. At the end of May, my husband and I joined an amazing team of other bloggers and went to the Philippines with Compassion International, a brief but life-changing trip. Shortly after returning home, we joyfully discovered that we were expecting our 4th child! From there, the next two months became a blur of nausea and fatigue, pathetic suppers and overflowing laundry baskets, homestay students, and summer fun interspersed amidst it all.

In early July we lost a dear friend, and then spent a week on the Oregon Coast with her husband and children and some friends from church in early August. It was an emotional time, but a special opportunity, and we made many memories that we will cherish.

By mid-August, I was helping my husband full-steam ahead with registration and scheduling for our family business, Resound School of Music. Business is booming, which has made the business/daily life balance very challenging, but we're grateful for how the Lord has been blessing this work. From there, the weeks blurred together and somewhere in there we enjoyed family outings in the summer heat, my husband's and youngest child's birthdays, our 8th anniversary and then began the new homeschool year just the other week.

Homeschool This Year

With our oldest doing Gr.2 work and our second oldest now joining in and doing pre-kindergarten, it seems that the workload has increased significantly since last year. Here is our basic schedule for the weekdays:

Aim to be finished eating by 8:30am, with everyone dressed and ready for the day, so that we can do chores and get the kitchen tidy before we begin at 9am.
At 9am, I gather all 3 children together for a Circle Time, where we read a Bible story, work on memory verses, do one lesson from Get Wisdom (Biblically-based character lessons/devotionals for young kids), and pray together.
At 9:15, I get my 6 1/2 year old settled with a non-fiction book on any variety of topics (science, history, art, etc) for silent reading while I work 1-on-1 with the 4 year old. He and I are doing a few preschool workbooks, flashcard games and simple worksheets (he's loving these dog and cat worksheets right now), with the intention of getting him used to spending a short but focused period of time at the table with me, and introducing him to his letter sounds (we aren't doing letter names yet- I like the method for teaching reading in Ruth Beechick's A Home Start in Reading), numbers and counting 1-10, shapes, colors, patterning, etc.
From 9:30 until 10:30, we work on the basics- Language Arts (this year we're using First Language Lessons, Writing with Ease, Explode the Code, and Sequential Spelling, in addition to plenty of reading), and Math (Math-U-See Beta).
At 10:30, the kids have snack and recess (outside if the weather is good) and mommy takes a breather or hops on the computer.
At 10:45, we're back to whatever Language Arts we didn't get done before recess.
Around 11, we begin a more extended period of time to work on history (we're doing Story of the World, Book 1- Ancient History), geography (Legends and Leagues from Veritas Press), and science (we're using various books from Evan Moore to explore Simple Machines, Energy, and Habitats this year, as well as another book on Rocks and Minerals). We do history twice a week, science twice, and geography once.
We finish up by noon, when I begin to make lunch and Abbie can sit at the kitchen table finishing up anything that's not quite finished. Today she was drawing pictures of the tale of Gilgamesh (an ancient Assyrian folk tale) to complete our history lesson, for example.

What do I do with the 2 year old? Hmm, very good question. I still haven't really figured it out yet myself. I think that I'm going to train her to stay in a play pen, with various kinds of activities and toys for at least part of the time. Sometimes she sits in the high chair and either eats or colors. Sometimes she just plays happily. Sometimes she drives us all crazy and gets into everything.

We've definitely got some work to do in this area and I'm open to ideas. I really need to go back and re-read Natalie's excellent post with Seven Strategies for Home Schooling Moms (because I'll learn everything I can from a mom of 8!).

Pregnancy Update: 20 Weeks!

I love to hit the 20 week milestone. There's just something about being halfway there that is so encouraging for me.

I had the normal nausea and fatigue, but once I got to about 12 weeks, my stomach started to even out. I remained fairly tired until about 15-16 weeks, when I started feeling more like my usual self. My guess is that we're having a boy, since that's the same pattern that my son's pregnancy followed, whereas I remained both sick and tired right up until 16 weeks with my girls, but who knows?

Most days, I only vaguely remember that I'm pregnant. I suppose that's how it goes with #4! Life is so busy that it's only pulling on my maternity clothes in the morning, the achy muscles each time I get out of a chair, the evening indigestion or the occasional baby movements that remind me of this sweet little life growing inside.

I'm doing my best to simply eat well (lots of real, traditional foods- especially protein and calcium foods, and anything that's particularly nutrient dense), exercise often (this is key- a post on this topic is coming), and take my herbal nutrient supplements from Trilight Health (I'm using Tri-Iron and their pregnancy mineral formula). I'm also on a temporary, restricted diet to try to prevent having another baby with gut issues and food sensitivities, which you can read more about here.

Gardening and Preserving

Well, as I already alluded to earlier this summer, my beautiful new garden beds were a bit of a flop. Very nutrient-less, dead soil combined with a poor summer weather-wise to result in meager harvests. We did get a decent amount of garlic, heirloom tomatoes, green beans, carrots and greens, all things considering.

I've got plans to really enhance the soil this fall with composted manure and organic matter from the yard (leaves, grass, etc.) in hopes that by next spring, it will be bustling with life and ready to produce a better harvest.

I'm through with most of my summer preserving. At this point I've done:

1 double batch strawberry jam (I can't remember- maybe 8-10 pints?)
13 quarts of dill pickles
3 quarts of sweet pickles and 1 quart of sweet pickle relish
16 quarts of canned peaches
Almost 200 lbs total of frozen blueberries, strawberries and raspberries, plus a couple of large bags of dried raspberries
Over 50 pints of canned diced tomatoes
8 pints of canned tomato sauce, and probably one more batch yet to come (another 7 pints?)
A jar of dehydrated green beans, and a small jar of dehydrated zucchini
16 frozen cubes of pesto
4 pints of salsa

Still to come is 20 lbs of canned pears (my hubby's favorite), as much canned applesauce as I have time for (and maybe a small batch of apple jelly), and lots of dried apple rings. Phew!

What's Coming Up

In blog news, I've recently welcomed some amazing new writers. I am also being joined by a virtual assistant, Lindsey, who will help me keep my head on straight. I'm asked so often how I "do it all", and the answer is, I don't. I've previously had help in the form of an advertising manager (thanks, Kate, and I'll miss you!) and now I am adding significantly more hours in the form of this virtual assistant.

For those of you who will be attending the blogging conference, Relevant, I am beyond excited to announce that I will be speaking there! I attended last year and had the most fabulous time, learning and fellowship with other Christian bloggers. It's such an honor to be a speaker this year, especially alongside some ladies whom I respect immensely, not to mention rooming with my sweet Philippines teammate Emily (whose new book Grace for the Good Girl has just been released- check it out!). The conference will take place in Harrisburg, PA, October 27th-29th.

And that's what's going on in our home... how about yours?

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Why My Husband Rocks (and Union 28 Giveaway)

Stephanie @ Keeper of the Home — Mon, 12 Sep 2011 10:00:30 +0000

*Giveaway has now ended*

A few years ago, I remember seeing one of my dear friends in the cutest shirt. It said:

"I love skinny guys with glasses" and it had a stick drawing of a skinny guy wearing (what else?) glasses.

What makes this shirt awesome is that her husband just happens to be a skinny, glasses-wearing, computer-programming (but super cool) guy. And every time she wore this shirt, it made me smile to see that she was telling the world how much she loved her hubby.

Fast forward to this summer... our 8th anniversary is drawing closer and I am on We Are That Family, reading about her recent trip to Africa. I notice on the sidebar a little ad that says "My Husband Rocks. T-Shirts and More!". I just had to click.

What I found at Union28 made me smile all over again, at the thought of getting myself a shirt similar to my friend's, telling the world how much I love my sweet husband. T-shirts, long sleeved shirts, and hoodies, all proclaiming how much our spouse rocks or why our marriage is great.

What a beautiful way to celebrate your marriage and that faithful person who loves you day in and day out (even first thing in the morning, with bedhead and bad breath, even when you're selfish, even when you seriously mess up, even when you're just a plain old sinner).

So for our anniversary this year, I instantly knew what I wanted. Although we haven't opened them up officially yet (and yes, Ryan has been warned to stay away from my blog until tomorrow), this is what I got:

Are they fantastic? Totally cute his and hers sweaters, that aren't too cheesy or flashy, but the message is still clear. They do have at least one maternity shirt, but I preferred the idea of a hoodie because I could wear it both now unzipped and then continue wearing it after baby comes.

My husband really does rock. His heart belongs to Jesus. He works tremendously hard (often long, tiring hours) to provide for his family. He runs his business with integrity and gives to others generously. He adores his kids, and takes them on dates, wrestles with them, feeds them ice cream and other unmentionable treats when I'm not looking (yes, honey, I always know), loves to take us all out on family outings for hikes and picnics, and never fails to smother them in hugs and kisses. He puts up with our frequently messy house, laundry in baskets, the odd burnt or undercooked dinner, doesn't complain about (most) of my healthy experiments, and supports me wholeheartedly.

So happy anniversary, Ryan. 8 wonderful years, and looking forward to 50 or 60 more!

Do you love these marriage-honoring shirts as much as I do? Want to win some for yourself?

I have a $50 gift certificate for Union28 to giveaway!

Here's how to get entered (remember to leave a separate comment for each entry):

1. Visit the Union28 website and tell me which shirt you would love to win.

2. Subscribe to Keeper of the Home by RSS feed or by email (and be entered to win our monthly email subscriber-only giveaways!).

3. Share about this giveaway through your blog or favorite social media (find us on Facebook and Twitter here).

Giveaway has now ended.

Union28 is also offering 15% off any purchase to any of my readers when you use the coupon code U28keep15. The discount code is good from Monday, September 12th to Monday, October 31st, 2011.

Disclaimer: The hoodies were provided for the purpose of review by Union28. Since getting them, I have also become an affiliate of Union28 because I love their products and what they stand for. When you make a purchase through one of my links (which you are not obligated to do), I get a small kickback which helps to support this site, so thank you.

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Even Real Food Bloggers Get the Blues (and How to Keep Nutrition Up in Busy, Stressful Seasons)

Stephanie @ Keeper of the Home — Mon, 08 Aug 2011 10:00:18 +0000

**I shared our exciting news the other day, which entirely relates to the re-posting of this post from almost exactly one year ago. Morning sickness, fatigue and some other challenging circumstances have made it a real struggle to put decent food on the table (or desire to eat it, for that matter) these past two months. These tips and thoughts definitely still apply for our family, and for those of you who find yourself facing similar situations!**

For me, one of the most important aspects of blogging is being real. Being transparent. Admitting that I'm not a superwoman, and that just like the rest of you, I deal with the regular ups and downs of life as a mom, wife and homemaker.

Sometimes life flows along merrily. Other seasons are so much more difficult, where each day (and sometimes each hour and moment) can feel as though we are trudging through knee-deep rivers of sludge in a clunky pair of old rubber boots.

For me, this current season of life has had many rubber boot days, in the midst of much joy and blessing. By God's grace, I have the strength to keep trudging along, trusting Him to supply for all of my needs and to see me through this season, hopefully refined and purified and just a little bit closer to the image of Christ than I was before.

In order to be truly transparent with you, I needed to make a shocking "real foodie" admission. We haven't been eating all of the usual real food, prepared in the usual ways, that you would normally find us eating. Life has been hectic and at times, overwhelming, and I've been doing my best to keep my head above water. That doesn't always leave time for making sprouted flour bread and homemade mayo. Sometimes it barely includes enough time and composure to get some organic boxed cereal and raw milk on the table and call it breakfast (or dinner, for that matter).

One of my priorities through it all has been to find ways to keep the compromises to a minimum, and our nutrition (if not particularly great) at least sufficient. I'll let the video tell you the rest...

One other thing I didn't mention (because the video was already getting long) is that your focus should be on which ingredients you use, but not as much on their presentation or on how you use them.

What I mean is that if all you can do is make simple, comfort, convenience-style foods, at least start with really wholesome, nutrient-dense ingredients. High quality eggs, sea salt, beef and poultry, coconut oil or pastured butter, wild fish, whole grains, etc.

Even if you end up eating too many carbs, not enough fresh vegetables, or the same proteins over and over (all things that we have done lately!), at least they're still the right ingredients and even that makes a whole world of difference! For more on this topic, see my series Nutritional Foundations.

Does anyone else find themselves in a similar season of life? What are you doing to try to stay healthy and maintain a steady stream of nutrients in the midst of it all?

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All Our Little Ducks in a Row (And Baby Makes 6)

Stephanie @ Keeper of the Home — Tue, 02 Aug 2011 10:00:23 +0000

You know you must be tired when you're a writer and you have exciting news and the only way that you can think of announcing it is to simply blurt it out...

We're expecting baby #4!

Upon returning home from our trip to the Philippines with Compassion International (literally, the day after we got home), we were surprised and delighted to find out that God was blessing us with another precious little one.

According to the ultrasound tech, I am 12 weeks (our midwife requested a dating ultrasound because of my very sketchy remembrance of dates and my irregular cycle due to PCOS), but the more I piece it all together and consider how I am feeling compared to other pregnancies, I think he's wrong and it's more like 13 weeks. Mothers know these things, right? I'm going with my gut.

Either way, babies come in their own sweet and perfect time and sometime next February, God willing, I shall be holding another little one in my arms.

Thank you so much for your patience with me these past two months, as I have sought to maintain my blog, respond to comments, answer emails, etc. while in the midst of sickness and fatigue and somehow attempting to care for a household of a busy husband, 3 young children, and 2 homestay students.

It's been a challenging adventure at times, our food has been less than ideal, the laundry remains in baskets (at least it's clean!), and yet God is always faithful to carry us through and provide just what we need.

I am so excited that we are currently on a weeklong family vacation, staying in a house on the Oregon Coast. It will hopefully be a time of rest, rejuvenation and plenty of enjoyment with my family and the friends we will be staying with. There will still be regular posts all week, including the great summer giveaway that began yesterday, but I shall be avoiding my computer and playing at the beach instead.

And how are your summers going? Any exciting news to share with the rest of us (babies, jobs, new homes, etc.)?

Image by LamourMichelle Photography

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10 Posts I Didn’t Write in 2010

Stephanie @ Keeper of the Home — Mon, 20 Dec 2010 11:00:44 +0000

Tonight I've been sipping on tea and taking a leisurely stroll through my gorgeous new heirloom seed catalogue... hard to believe that this year is already drawing to a close and that I am beginning to think forward to next spring and summer.

It is also stunning to me that another year has flown by here at Keeper of the Home and I am now onto my 4th Christmas of blogging.

As you have read posts day in and day out over these past several years, surely at times you must wonder, "What does she not do?". Surely there is an end to the things that she is studying and learning, trying out in her home, and eager to share with us.

Yes, indeedy. Blogging offers a highly skewed perspective, as you continually see what I am doing, but you might not necessarily get a glimpse into the many things that I am not doing.

Just for fun, I thought I would go out in style this year by writing up a post full of the posts that I didn't write, couldn't have written, am certainly not qualified to write, or you truly would not have wanted to read coming from me!

In no particular order, here are 10 posts that I didn't write in 2010:

1. Keeping Up With Mt. Neverest: How to Stay On Top of Your Laundry Pile

They say a picture is worth a 1000 words. This picture is actually from my laundry room this very weekend. I have nothing to say in my defense. Yes, I'm tired this week and I was out of town and I'm a bit sick... but seriously, it looks like this rather frequently, so what's my excuse all those other weeks?

2. How to Move Without Losing Your Mind (and Have Your House Unpacked in Less Than 6 Months)

We moved into our current house at the very end of June. As we approach the 6 month mark, I am sorry to say that I still have cupboards and closets in need of organization, and we have recently dubbed our extra office room as the "weird/messy room". It is the place where things that lack a home find one. Then we close the door and walk away.

3. Three Simple Steps for Getting Your Garbage to the Curb in Time

I'm pretty sure we get hung up on step #1. Remember that garbage day is Friday. The same day that it has been since we moved to this area 3 1/2 years ago. Once of these days, we'll get it figured out.

Image by Balancing Bedlam and Beauty

4. Green and Frugal Ideas for Decorating Your Home Beautifully

Ha. I may be able to sprout and grind my own flour then bake bread with it, and grow enough organic garlic in my garden to eat for the next year and use for medicinal purposes... but decorating? Not my forte. I love watching how someone like my friend Jen wander around a thrift store and pick up all sorts of inexpensive lovelies that she can re-purpose to add charm and beauty to her home.

Sadly, not a skill that I possess. I've tried and all I see are piles of junk. Every so often I get inspired and come up with an idea for using some such item and inevitably it makes its way back into our garage sale boxes by the following year.

5. How to Grow a Great Garden in the Shade and Rain

I really miss my last garden. A large rectangle in a wide open, sunny spot. I gave it my best shot at this new house as we moved in this summer, but quickly realized just how much shade I was working with. Add in a wussy summer with not nearly enough heat and too much rain, and it was a bit sad.

There's no one good place for a central garden bed, and I was just not satisfied with really anything that I grew last year. This year I'm getting creative, building garden boxes from scratch to put over a sunny, gravelly area, using the side of the house, containers on the porch, etc. I'm determined that when there's a will, there's a way!

6. Sneaky Tricks for Getting Your Husband and Children to Eat Clay (but I'm working on it for 2011)

I'm sure you've read other bloggers talking about ways to sneak organ meats like liver into food without anyone noticing. My latest adventures have been in adding clay to our diet. Yes, you read that right. I'm now feeding my family dirt.

We're beginning to use Azomite clay to address some mineral deficiencies and hopefully help in the fight against tooth decay, and now we've just added in Bentonite clay for a gentle way to detoxify and draw heavy metals and other dangerous toxins out of my husband and two youngest kids (but hey, we'll all join in the fun). So far chocolate peanut butter banana smoothies seem to hide clay the best, but the jury is still out.

7. Handmade Christmas Gifts to Give to Anyone on Your List

Did anyone notice that I shared gifts that could be purchased, instead of gifts that could be made? There's no hint of homemade in our holiday celebrations this year. Mama is tired and there just wasn't the time to do it. For everyone else who looked at homemade gift ideas this year and thought "Hmmm, what a nice idea... maybe next year", you're not alone.

8. Meal Planning: Do As I Say, Not As I Do

If you've been reading here for long, you probably know that I'm a huge advocate for meal planning. For the past several months, however, I've been practicing the "wing it" method of meal planning. Oh, you're not familiar with that method? It's the one where each morning (or late afternoon, even) you suddenly panic and think "What am I going to make for breakfast/lunch/supper today?".

Granted, I have been doing careful planning long enough that I have a lot of simple meals tucked away in my brain, and I know the regular types of things to buy so that I have what I need to put together meals. I have been doing somewhat of a less-organized version of this type of planning, along with a whole lot of this type of cooking.

Image by familymwr

9. Conserve Water and Save the Earth by Bathing Your Kids Less

This is one is a bit tongue in cheek. :) I do think that there's some truth to us North Americans not needing to bathe nearly as often as we do, and that we could all certainly conserve water by lightening up on our washing habits.

That's not really why I've been bathing my kids less, though. I was spending some time with an older, wiser friend of mine recently and I confessed to her that one of the things that I drop when I simply get overwhelmed with life is baths for the kids. I figure they're fed, they're in clean clothes, we have washcloths for hands, face and bottoms. Surely they can go a week without a bath, yes? (Tell me I'm not the only mom who does this!)

10. How to Be Superwoman, Do it All and Never Get Tired

If there would be one statement about this past year that is absolutely NOT true, this one might be it. In truth, I did try to be superwoman and do it all, and guess what happened? I got tired. Really tired. And I couldn't do it.

I'll actually be sharing my own story coming up this January, as we delve into some really important topics for women like trying to do too much, adrenal fatigue, depression, and the bigger picture of what good health really looks like!

For all the things that I didn't write this past year, I have absolutely loved having the privilege of writing so many other things. I continue to enjoy running this blog and wonder at the kindness of God to allow me to do something I love so much from within my home, fellowshipping with the likes of women like you.

So now that I've told you what I didn't write in 2010, I would love to hear what topics you would like to read about in 2011!

Top image by d2k6

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Fresh Voices and Perspectives at Keeper of the Home

Stephanie @ Keeper of the Home — Mon, 09 Aug 2010 10:00:55 +0000

I love writing at Keeper of the Home. It has been a delight for me to be able to share daily these past (almost) 3 years, on topics like natural living, nutrition and real food, faith, gentle mothering, homemaking and more.

It has been a surprising joy to establish this ministry of encouraging and building up women in their roles as homemakers, with a solid Biblical perspective and a mind towards good and faithful stewardship of our bodies, our resources, our time and God's beautiful Creation.

As the years have gone on, my own family and home have changed and grown. The Lord has added to our little brood (and we hope will continue to add to it!), we have begun more active homeschooling as our children grow older, we have become full-time entrepreneurs with a family business (including a new website, Saving Naturally), and our home is ever bustling with homestay students, church gatherings and more.

Needless to say, life is busy! And although I adore the writing work that I do at Keeper of the Home, I simply can't do it alone!

Join the team at Keeper of the Home

This spring I was blessed to be able to add 6 AMAZING women who serve as regular contributing writers (although we are sadly losing Angela-- we'll miss you!). I am so grateful to have them, and the special and unique perspectives that they bring to you each Wednesday!

Now I am looking for more women who would like to join the team! I have 6 positions available for regular writers who will write somewhere between once a month and once every 6 weeks.

Criteria for Contributing Writers:

1. An active Christian faith and a strong Biblical worldview.

(Note: I do sometimes take guest posts from those who are not Christians and I have no problem doing this. I receive many wonderful posts from some incredible and very knowledgeable ladies this way! However, since the Biblical worldview is important to the way that I share about the topics covered on this blog, for my regular writers it is important to me that they be coming from a similar perspective as I am).

2. A love for homemaking, natural living, real and traditional foods, and good stewardship practices!

This is the heart of my message, and so it is crucial that my writers also have a passion for these topics. I do not expect all of my writers to be experts on these topics or to be especially advanced in how they implement natural living and good nutrition in their lives, only that they be actively pursuing these things. I currently have writers that range from taking lots of baby steps to being very experienced and knowledgeable, and I LOVE the different perspectives that they all bring!

3. Excellent writing and self-editing skills.

On my blog, I endeavor to post only high-quality articles, well-written and engaging, with attention paid to grammar, spelling, ease of reading, etc. To keep up this quality, I need writers committed to pursuing excellence in what and how they write, and who take care to edit their work carefully.

This keeps Keeper of the Home top-notch and makes being a contributing writer here of more value to you, as well!

I am now accepting applications to fill these contributing writer positions.

To apply (and relax... it's a very simple process!), please complete this survey below.

Complete the Keeper of the Home Writer's Application here!

I will be accepting surveys until August 15th and will begin contacting potential writers within the next two weeks or so.

Thank you to everyone who takes the time to apply! I will not be able to contact each of you individually (but only those writers who I am seriously considering), but I am so grateful that you would consider writing for Keeper of the Home!

Image by JuanRax

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Learning to Live With Less

Stephanie @ Keeper of the Home — Tue, 20 Apr 2010 17:00:08 +0000

In a little over two months, our family will be moving to a new abode.

This move is exciting for a number of reasons. The new house has more bedrooms and will allow us to have a girls bedroom and a boys bedroom (yes, we only have one boy so far, but we hope to have more one day!), in addition to an office and guest room. It will also allow my husband to set up his own studio for his music school- very exciting! It's newer than our current house, has a fenced backyard where the kids can play while I cook (hallelujah!), the kitchen is a dream, and the whole place just begs to be used for hospitality.

Those are all really great reasons to be excited about moving there, and yet I have one other reason that (at the moment) has me more excited than any other...

I want to use this transition as an opportunity to pare down what we own, seriously declutter, and more than anything, learn to live with much, much less.

You may wonder why this would matter to me since the new home will be even larger than our current one. It's not a storage issue, but it's actually a desire to simplify and learn to be satisfied with having less.

Reasons I'd Like to Live with Less:

1. When you have less, there is less to clean. Less to organize. Less to maintain. Less to figure out how to store and containerize. Less to do.

2. I want to adopt one of Simple Mom's favorite phrases, "Have nothing in your home that you do not know to be useful or believe to be beautiful". We're trying to learn to only keep and purchase things that we love or are truly useful.

3. We honestly just have too much stuff. I think most North Americans do in general.

4. I want us to value the things that we do have. Especially my kids- when they are overloaded with books, toys, and clothes galore, it's easy for them not to value or take good care of what they have. The same is often true for me.

5. Being a busy mom, wife, homemaker, cook, writer, gardener, etc. I want to spend less time keeping up my home and more time on relationships that matter and doing things that I deem more important. Stuff requires time and effort that I'd rather spend elsewhere.

Image by globevisions

6. A home that is more basic and uncluttered feels more peaceful (at least, to Ryan and I). When our home is tidy and clutter free, we feel less stressed and enjoy being there more. We trust this is true for our kids and for our guests as well.

7. Not only do we value what we have when we have less of it, but I think that we become more truly grateful for it and aware of the abundance that we have been blessed with. Gratefulness translates into generosity, a trait which I want to cultivate in my children and in myself.

The Challenge

My husband and I have decided that rather than waiting until the last month to pack everything (we don't move until July 1st), we are going to pack as much as we can in the early weeks.

The point? To see how little we can live with and whether we even miss the things that we've already packed away.

Additionally, as we pack things up, we are attempting to be as brutal as we can in eliminating things that we truly don't use, need or like. Our goal is to sell enough in a garage sale to cover all or most of our moving expenses.

My husband has actually already jumped into this, within a week of finding out that the house would be ours. He's probably packed more than 20 boxes, and I am already enjoying this challenge. Sure, the walls are a bit more bare, most of the books aren't accessible and I have wondered where a few things have disappeared to.

So far, the only thing I have truly missed is my small jewelry box that got packed by accident, which I plan to retrieve. The rest I can live without for now (and maybe forever?).

I'm eager to continue on with what he's started. The kitchen and the toy/school room are calling my name.

I'll update you from time to time as we prepare for the move, letting you know the challenge is going and how life is when we're living with less.

Is this a challenge that you need to take up yourself? What would happen if you began to simplify and learned to live with less?

Image by robyn michelle-lee photography

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An Update on Our GAPS Diet and Related Q&A

Stephanie @ Keeper of the Home — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 11:00:44 +0000

Last week I shared why our family is doing the GAPS diet and what it is all about.

We actually began this Monday morning. We haven't seen any amazing results come out of the first 4 days, but we are definitely noticing some die-off symptoms from the toxins being released (so far, only mild, but it's a good sign). Some upset tummies, slightly more eczema, a grouchy little boy, a really grouchy mama, some flushed cheeks.

I think this diet is really doing something, though. I couldn't really tell, until I cheated slightly yesterday. I was tired and emotional, and I caved and had 1/3 cup coffee with a tad of cream and unpasteurized honey. I paid for it. Oh, did I pay for it. My stomach reacted with the worst cramps I have had since I used to have Irritable Bowel Syndrome. I will NOT cheat again. At all.

What did I learn from my experience? That you cannot interrupt a gut that is being healed. It is a slow and careful and fragile process. My gut has obviously been beginning to heal more than I thought, and this teeny amount of coffee threw it for an absolute loop. Learn from my mistake and obey the diet, whether you're hungry, frustrated, emotional, or tired.

Making the Food

The food preparation has not been as challenging so far as I anticipated. I spent some time last week making beef bone broth in preparation, and then more time on Saturday and Sunday cooking a chicken, making chicken broth and making a soup for Monday morning. It was well worth it to spend some extra time preparing to begin. Making food in large batches and utilizing my crockpot and leftovers has helped so much.

We did find that we had to quickly adjust and make a few small changes to the diet. I had been hoping that we could stick to the first stage of the Intro diets (blended meat and veggie soups, with a bone broth base) for a week or so, but we just couldn't do it. We lasted 1 1/2 days before we were all starving and frustrated and felt like we needed something else to eat!

We added in a couple of foods, based on the GAPS diet/SCD (Specific Carbohydrate Diet, which is very similar). We chose to add in eggs (lightly cooked for the children and I, but hard-boiled for my hubby as he doesn't care for eggs very much at all). We also added organic, peeled and cooked apples, and small amounts of lacto-fermented liquids and some sauerkraut. Lastly, we've started eating some more stew or just meat and veggie type meals, but still ensuring that everything is very well cooked and that we all consume bone broth along with each and every meal. We will do this for the rest of the week, and then start to slowly add in other introductory foods.

A few of you have asked for recipes, but I don't really have any to share yet. I have been making soups and now some stews, but they are just out of my head. I'm going to share about soup making (without a recipe) early next week.

There were also two excellent questions from last week that I wanted to make sure I addressed:

lizzykristine asked: I am curious whether you are still nursing?

The answer is yes. In fact, Johanna is still exclusively breastfeed (meaning she does not eat any solids) at nearly 7 months. How does this affect me doing the GAPS diet?

For one thing, it means I need to eat and eat and eat. It's hard to stay full enough and eat enough calories on this diet while nursing a little chunky monkey of a baby. It also means that I need to control my toxin die-off and keep it slow.

That is why after feeling sick on Tuesday, I realized that I needed to add a few foods back in to help slow down the detoxification and keep me more full and able to produce enough milk. I have also kept my probiotic use very minimal so far, which is another way to keep the detox level low. For more on cleansing while breastfeeding, see this post.

Photo by everydaypants

Ali said: So when do you have time to fellowship with the body of Christ, or have a Bible study in your home? Do you invite unbelieving ladies in your community to your house and teach them your cooking skills and weave in the Gospel... I just think this takes it way beyond NT and cooking well and healthfully... It just seems to elevate our bodies and food to such a higher level than may be necessary (and I know our bodies are the temple of Christ, but I don't think this is a good example of applying that).

This is a really excellent question! I have a few thoughts on it. First of all, cooking healthfully does take more time, but I have found that the longer I do it, the easier it gets. I spend a bit more time in the kitchen than many of my friends, but I also enjoy cooking and nutrition, I do it with my children, and it is also a part of the ministry that I feel called to, both on this blog and sharing our lifestyle with those we know in real life. I don't spend my days doing much (if any) frivolous stuff or even hobbies that I enjoy. I'm busy, focused and try to be as intentional as I can.

I try to use my time wisely, and that includes making time for more than just church on Sundays. Serving and loving others has a definite place in our lives (though I wish it was even more prominent). We regularly have people over to our home, many of them Christians for fellowship, and sometimes unbelievers as well. I haven't found doing special diets to be incompatible with either fellowship or ministry.

When others invite us over, they are very often willing and eager to work around our dietary needs. If I think it's too much for someone, we might have them over to our house instead. I will happily cook up foods that we wouldn't normally eat to bring to others who eat differently than we do, when bringing a meal to someone. Just last night we had a couple over for dinner- I served them soup that we could all eat, and I made a batch of cornbread specifically for them (which we didn't eat). No problem!

Lastly, serving my family is one of my highest priorities. How can I focus my attention on others outside of my home when I haven't first attended to the needs of those whom God has specifically given to me to care for? If my family is in poor health, it impacts how we serve others. It is difficult to pour ourselves into Kingdom work when we are dealing with significant health problems. We want to be as healthy and whole as we can be, so that we can be fully available to the opportunities that God allows us.

More to Come

I will continue to share on some things related to GAPS. Next week I will post about how I make homemade soups from scratch, without recipes, a very valuable skill for doing this diet!

I have also planned another GAPS update later in the month, as well as some tips for improving your digestive health even if you aren't up for doing a specific diet like this one.

Anything else you would like to see covered the next time I write about GAPS? Has anyone else begun or planned to begin the diet?

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I’m Going to Blissdom, Y’all!

Stephanie @ Keeper of the Home — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 11:00:37 +0000

In two short days, I board a plane to go and do something I would have never imagined that I would do a year or two ago... I'm going to a blog conference!

I'm headed to Nasvhille, TN where I will be attending Blissdom '10 and I cannot even begin to tell you how excited I am! Myself and 500 other female bloggers will be gathering to meet, share, talk, learn, network, discuss, strategize, glean, laugh, eat... I have a feeling there won't be a dull moment.

Sadly, it means that for 5 days I will be leaving three of my most favorite people in the world:

Daddy playing with Abbie and Caden on Christmas morning.

Honestly, what will I do without my best friend in the whole world and the two sweet little faces I love to look into each and every day?

Abbie is one cool dude, eating her oatmeal.

My sweet Caden, surprised and thrilled by "too many Clifford" books on Christmas morning.

Fortunately, I'll be bringing one darling little package with me on my journey:

My not-so-little girlie, Johanna, who is still definitely too little to be left without me (she's 5 months old now). I'm glad to have her as a traveling companion. Someone needs to keep me in line. :)

I leave for Seattle tomorrow afternoon and will be flying out bright and early at 6am Thursday morning. I'll arrive in Nashville by the mid-afternoon, in enough time to get settled at the hotel, get gussied up and attend my first cocktail party where I will start meeting some incredible, inspiring, fantastic women... I'm absolutely stoked to meet the likes of Crystal (Money Saving Mom), Amy (MomAdvice), Amy (Amy's Finer Things), Tsh (Simple Mom), Jessica (Life as Mom) and so many others I can't even begin to mention them. Wow. Can you say way too much fun?

I'll be there for the conference all day Friday and Saturday, and then spend Sunday attending church and hopefully doing a little sightseeing. I'll fly home, weary but happy, on Sunday afternoon and evening, then drive back from Seattle on Monday morning. Phew!

If you're going to Blissdom as well and want to connect, please send me an email (stephanie (at) keeperofthehome (dot) org) or tweet me as soon as you can so that we can try to find a time to connect- I'd love to meet with you! Or if you live in Nashville and have some ideas for my Sunday, please get in touch with me as well.

While I'm gone, I will do my best to get up a live-blog post or two (and I will definitely be tweeting the conference- @keeperhome). I've also got a couple of wonderful guest posts scheduled for you to keep things going while I'm traveling and then back home recuperating/doing laundry/loving on my family.

I can't wait to share with you about my experience and some of the things I learned at Blissdom! And with that, I'm off to Nashville!

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