.....SSSSSSSSSSSSSSS or Rikki Tikki Kylie

The back of my house is mostly windows and today I am babysitting the neighbors 3 kiddos, so we are 6 kids strong from 2-9! Pearson and David (6) were bouncing on the trampoline and I was standing and watching them when the irritating dogs finally got my attention. They had been barking and barking (my one and the neighbors 2 puppies...).

"Huh they have a rope" a closer look"...a rope, please let it be a rope"

No under my dogs paw is a snake! Outside is no less than 4 kids and 2 with autism, 1 under 2 and a boy. This is not good not good at all.

If you are a snake lover turn back now because I am 'fixin' to get Biblical with this dude..."And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring [a] and hers; he will crush [b] your head, and you will strike his heel." Genesis 3:15
I've got the emnity, oh yeah.....

So like a good woman I start running around the house looking for my mud boots while saying to myself: "You can do it , You can do it....." I finally find my mud boots and go running to the shed. While running I'm trying to think how am I suppose to kill this snake? Shotgun, no we don't have one.....a hoe no its too far away, oooooo the shovel the flat shovel. So now I have the shovel and I am running from the shed to the house with the shovel. (This is why God made me athletic not for the glory I recieved in my youth but for the protection of my children in my older youth...)

I get there yell at the dogs to move and start breathing. Like I used to breath when I was psyching up for a big game. Then I did it I raised the shovel and slayed the beast! I daughter of the king, city girl, doctors daughter, wife of Wayne, Mother of 3, soccer player and now Snake Slayer!!

"I can do everything through him who gives me strength."Phillipians 4:13

Of course right before I killed him I was sure it was a copperhead and I had saved everyone from a horrible e-boli like death. But upon reviewing our disgusting make my skin crawl snake book and the internet it appears to have been a water snake, rat snake or something like that.

I do now have a new appreciation for my dog, Houston (a blue lacy) who caught the thing and guarded it until it lost its head!

Kyle, Snake Slayer McVay

P.S. If you have not seen or read Rikki Tikki Tavi you are missing out! This is a great little movie for family movie night. Now I say that but I have not seen it in a long time.

Sorry there are not pix but I cannot find my camera! :(

Living Hope's Heart

His name is Bill. He has wild hair, wears a T-shirt with holes in it, jeans, and no shoes. This was literally his wardrobe for his entire four years of college. He is brilliant. Kind of profound and very, very bright. He became a Christian while attending college.

Across the street from the campus is a well-dressed, very conservative church. They want to develop a ministry to the students but are not sure how to go about it. One day Bill decides to go there. He walks in with no shoes, jeans, his T-shirt, and wild hair.

The service has already started and so Bill starts down the aisle looking for a seat. The church is completely packed and he can't find a seat. By now, people are really looking a bit uncomfortable, but no one says anything. Bill gets closer and closer and closer to the pulpit, and when he realizes there are no seats, he just squats down right on the carpet.

By now the people are really uptight, and the tension in the air is thick. About this time, the minister realizes that from way at the back of the church, a deacon is slowly making his way toward Bill. Now the deacon is in his eighties, has silver-gray hair, and a three-piece suit. A godly man, very elegant, very dignified, very courtly.

He walks with a cane and, as he starts walking toward this boy, everyone is saying to themselves that you can't blame him for what he's going to do. How can you expect a man of his age and of his background to understand some college kid on the floor? It takes a long time for the man to reach the boy. The church is utterly silent except for the clicking of the man's cane. All eyes are focused on him. You can't even hear anyone breathing. Th e minister can't even preach the sermon until the deacon does what he has to do. And now they see this elderly man drop his cane on the floor. With great difficulty, he lowers himself and sits down next to Bill and worships with him so he won't be alone. Everyone chokes up with emotion. When the minister gains control, he says "What I'm about to preach, you will never remember. What you have just seen, you will never forget."

"Be careful how you live. You may be the only Bible some people will ever read!"

.... God doesn't call the qualified, He qualifies the called.

You shouldn't go through life with a catcher's mitt on both hands. You need to be able to throw something back.

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 1 Cor 13:3-5

with Love....

the story was re-posted with permission from Betty at http://country-charm.blogspot.com/

You know when you are learning to live beautifully, simply and focused on God. Everything gets a little better day by day you smile a little more, laugh a little more, have a little more fun and most importantly you learn more about Him each day. Therefore, rid yourselves of all malice and all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander of every kind. Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, now that you have tasted that the Lord is good. 1 Peter 2:1-3

As of late I have lacked contentedness, until the Lord brought it to my attention. Even that I was worrying over the future which I am not guaranteed. What a blessing are the words of Paul while he was in prison...

I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances.I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. Philippians 4:11-12

I am not in need either, except in need of a savior. To daily pick up my cross and help me remember how blessed I am. How the Lord has changed my heart and moved me from the world to the eternal .

Things that I never would have dreamed that I'd love to do are wonderful. Laundry becomes a blessing a time to pray over the clothes the family will wear. "Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience."Col. 3:12

I will remember to be thankful, grateful , overflowing....

Grocery, Shopping & More VI: The Clearance Rack

Okay, I went to Kroger today after some sale items. I remembered something I do not think I covered in my previous posts. The grocery store clearance racks. You have to search these out and they are in different spots in each grocery store. In the Kroger's on Rock Prairie it is between the frozen food on the back wall and the health food section, they also have a discount meat section right by the butcher shop. Anyways, in these areas they keep items they have significantly marked down. For instance today I purchased 6 graham cracker pie crusts for .30 each and I have purchased a 3#8oz can of brand name Nesquick for $2.99 because it was dented! You can get great deals in the meat section also, however, you either have to immediately cook or freeze the meat. Since it is close to its expiration date. The key to shopping in this area is to know what your family uses/eats and stock up if you see it but avoid buying "deals" that will go unused!

Yesterday, I realized I am restocking my home with common products that I usually try to keep in bulk. So as I restock I'll keep you guys abreast of what I'm doing and why. Hopefully, it will help someone to save a little money and some time.

By the way you should have your February meal plan posted by now. Go through it and mark the days that you know you will need a crock pot meal, dinner plans out, folks for dinner & H.O.P.E. Group nights! Hey you can even ask your dear husband if there is there a meal he'd love to see on the meal plan and add it....

Rejoice at Home!

Kyle

Grocery, Shopping & More VI: Cheap Trix

This is just a list of a few ways to save money. I can't wait to see all of the additional ways you ladies know so I can add them to my repertoire:

Money Trix

Carry a calculator
Quickly figure out new prices with coupons applied to it
Calculate the unit price
Keep track of your grocery tab while shopping

Calculate the unit price
Just because something has the lowest price on the shelf does not mean it is the cheapest! Step one:Make sure you are looking at the same thing, what I mean is if one item is 20oz make sure the other is 20oz and not 15oz in a big bottle! If they are the same then you are comparing apples to apple if they are different then you need to move on to Step two: Divide the ounces by the price of the item to determine the unit price. This is one of the reasons I carry a calculator with me in the grocery store.


Use Vinegar
Buy this stuff by the gallon because you can use it all over your house and yard! Instead of having a variety of expensive cleaners, bug sprays etc....
My favorite use for vinegar is in my dishwasher where I use it instead of jet dry & once a month I send a cup full through the dishwasher to clean and disinfect it. Remember vinegar used to be an antibiotic in the olden days and it is still a pretty spiffy disinfectant!
Visit site for hundreds of uses of vinegar: uses of vinegar

Save butter bowls and yogurt cups
Don't buy expensive Tupperware to store your homemade mushrooms soup, broths etc...Recycle your plastic butter bowls and yogurt cups.


Measure
...laundry detergent, floor cleaner, ammonia, bleach everything you use! Do not estimate you are either wasting product by using too much or you are not cleaning effectively by using too little! So measure your way to savings!
(There is no need to buy measuring cups use old ones as they wear out, save laundry detergent dips or yogurt cups and mark the measurements with a sharpie.)



Rags to Riches
Buy rags at Wal-Mart and treat your paper towels like the gold standard. Use dirty rags to clean up spills on the floor. keep a few clean rags by the paper towels to remind dear husband (dh) to grab a rag for clean up instead of paper towel. I use paper towels for things like toilets, chicken blood and little faces (when I'm out of baby wash cloths).

Thermostat
We keep our thermostat at 78* during the summer and at 70* during the winter. If someone is coming to your house in the summer you will have to lower it so it remains comfortable with the addition of more bodies into your home. Also install a programmable thermostat to maximize your heating and cooling....here's a website with more information: CPS Energy Thermostat Settings.

Saving Time with Cooking Trix

Cheap Lean Ground Beef
Rinse regular ground beef in a colander with water and let it dry.The fat washes away with the water. Place on paper towels to dry.

Chop and freeze veggies
You can chop and freeze a variety of veggies and store them in your freezer. These vegetables are to be used in cooked foods they cannot be used in things like fresh salads after having been frozen. A list of vegetables that can be frozen: onions, celery, carrots, bell peppers, cooked potatoes....
Once you have a bunch of pre-chopped frozen veggies in your freezer you will save hours a month in food preparation time. All I do is if I need some chopped celery I chop all of the celery right then, package, label & freeze it.

Pre-Cook Meats
Buy large amounts of ground beef (on sale) and brown 5-10# at a time. This saves lots of time with clean up, defrost, fry. When you need some ground beef just scoop out some of your flash frozen food!
Buy several chickens(on sale) and cook them at the same time (some night when you are having baked chicken (make 2-3 or more) then pull the meat off the chicken and freeze it 1/2 -1# baggies. Now you have saved an hour or more in cook time, clean up and baking! When you need some chicken just scoop out some of your flash frozen food!

save unused ends of vegetables
When you cut up onions, celery, carrots and other veggies you usually have the tops left. Get a gallon size bag and start freezing these bits and pieces and save them for making stock. These are perfect for stock because they are scooped out in the end and not eaten. After you scoop them out throw the veggies into your compost heap.

Use the McFood Pyramid


Compost
Take your biodegradable trash to your compost heap: coffee grinds, fruit rinds, egg shells, bits of vegetables etc...

Purchasing Trix
This is a list of places around town to get the best deal on the things we use....

Rosenthals
They carry a dozen eggs for $1.05 and they have great meat sales. This month they have chuck roasts for $1.59 that is a wonderful price!

Cartridge World
Black HP cartridge refill $9.69 with tax. You hand them your empty and they hand you an already refilled cartridge. Also if you get their discount card you get a free cartridge after you have purchased 10. So that's like paying $8.69 for each of the other cartridges! They are right by Greene Eyes in the Tejas Shopping Center. Quick, easy & Cheap!

Sam's club
Buy the Spices, cheese & snacks

Yadi's Co-op
whole wheat pastry flour, organic oatmeal....

Brazos Feed & Supply:
Buy 4 bags and get one bag free (Kim saves $60 year on dog food and they keep track of it for you!) Right now they have a 40# bag of dog food for 10.49!They are on Texas Avenue just before you get to the McDonalds.

Finally, is anyone interested in homemaking book club? I would probably cover 1-2 of my favorite books in a year. So this means reading 1-2 chapters per month and discussing them on line. Let me know in the comments....

F.Y.I., I have posted this series of articles on Kim & my website "The Homemaker" if you need to review or print them this is a good place to go. WARNING: This is a free website controlled by tripod.com and I am not responsible for the advertisements. I do not allow popup ads on my computer so I do not know what pops up! If anyone knows a Christian free website please let me know so I can transfer the information to the new site! I am also posting some of your comments as I have time on this site too!

Happy Homemaking!

......Rejoice for the King has come and is coming!

Grocery, Kitchen & More V:How the McVays Eat

We are very conscious of what we eat especially at home. We are undercover whole wheat and grains folks....SURPRISE!

I cook as much as I can from scratch which includes...breakfast, lunch & dinners. WE ARE NOT ALL ORGANIC folks. We do try to eat more simply. We eat some organics and avoid foods that have ingredients I cannot pronounce or sound like something I would use to kill rats! We are really big on the food pyramid, raw foods, whole grains, game meats, farm eggs, garden vegetables, organic or simple (few ingredients) cereals, milk & soy milk. I am not a food fanatic this represents the rules I generally follow...

So I guess I'll just go through a few products that I love ....


Bragg's amino acid (use it like soy sauce without all the bad stuff!)
http://www.bragg.com/products/liquidaminos.html



Water! We are some water drinking freaks! We drink OJ,Milk or water at breakfast and then we drink only water until dinner time. At dinner we have either water or Crystal light! Wayne is still a big diet soda (remember he's diabetic not on a diet!) drinker but we are trying to convert him. We want water to cleanse us just as throughout the Bible God uses water as an image of cleansing (and rebirth).

"but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life."John 4:14



Rice, Beans & Cornbread! My family loves this meal and it costs me less than a $1 to feed the whole lot. Except for the fact that every time I make it I feel compelled to make dessert we'd make off like bandits!

BULK FOOD

(No this is not my cupboard!)
Morningside food co-op where I can order healthier foods in large quantities at lower prices. I only order the following items: whole wheat pastry flour, brown rice, dried beans, oats, whole wheat tortillas, dried fruit. I rotate what I order so I don't blow my whole months budget!

Sam's Club
I just love this store because I can buy enormous Honey & Peanut Butter! We use a lot of honey in place of sugar and the kids love PB&H sandwiches. Plus who doesn't love the snacks they provide for the children while you shop? Be sure to know your prices because sometimes its not cheaper at Sam's!I keep my eye on prices in the store to see if there is anything else we can take advantage of!
We typically buy: Honey, Peanut butter, Cheese (save $4.07), Pretzels (save $2.26)
I love bulk food because it saves me both time and money!



This is not food but they really rock! These are the best vitamins and the kids love them! Mom & Dad take Supermom and Superdad vitamins and they have made a big difference in my energy levels! Made by www.beeyoutiful.com (free shipping orders over $125) or www.morethanalive.com also carries it (free shipping $50+).


What's important when you are determining what your family will eat is your family. What is going to work for you guys and what won't, how much time do you have? Do you have medical issues? Are you struggling with obesity or anorexia?....Look for God and see how he is leading you in this matter ....

"He humbled you, causing you to hunger and then feeding you with manna, which neither you nor your fathers had known, to teach you that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD." Deut. 8:3

Really....Cheap Trix in the Kitchen by the end of this week! This post was already written but now that I'm no longer ill I'll get to work on Cheap trix!