Bootcamp for Lousy Housekeepers

Homestead Lately, a Farm Life Day Book || Bootcamp for Lousy Housekeepers

noreply@blogger.com (Heidi S.) — Mon, 30 Jan 2017 18:37:00 +0000

Recently I walked by my daughter in the school room where she was blogging, and asked, “How’s it going?” “Good!” she replied. “I’m just reading the comments on my latest post.”
“Lucky girl!” I exclaimed. “I never get any comments.”
“Uhhh…that’s because you never write any posts, Mom.”

Touché.

Here’s the truth: When it comes to blogging, blogging takes a back seat in my life. Writing more (and posting more frequently) is one of my 2017 goals, but even as far as goals go, it’s not in the top 3. (Goal #1, if you’re wondering, is to find a diagnosis for my chronic illness and feel. good. again. I’ve already taken some big action steps, and I’m excited about progress!)

Sometimes I get great ideas for blog posts, but finding a big block of designated time for writing something worth reading (plus getting good photos!) does not come easily in this homesteading, homeschooling family of nine children. Often, by the time I’ve got time to write, the topic doesn’t seem relevant anymore. I’m spread out from helping a high schooler complete college applications on one end, and nursing a nine-month-old 3 times a night on the other. (You know how you mention your struggle with some child and another mom will say, “Oh, it’s just a season!”? That’s true for all mommas, but for large family moms, we’re going through all the seasons, all the time. It can be overwhelming. And EXHAUSTING.

Back to blogging: Later in that day, my daughter brought in the local paper which sports our favorite Amish cooking column on the front page. (Hey, small town.) I am a well-known Amish-phile, and my daughter is following in my barefootsteps.

Though we enjoy the recipes in the column, what we really love about the Amish Cook are the interesting peeks into her family’s life. What’s growing in the garden, who had a baby, what community activity they attended. Farming. Frolics. Quiltings. The plain life is attractive not for its ease, but for its simplicity; There’s no mention of what they binge-watched on Netflix or bought at Ikea. They work together, eat together, and enjoy each other, and it’s so simple that it’s refreshing.

“Mom,” said Hadassah, my daughter. “You should blog like this: Just tell people what we did today - not every day, but sometimes --
and sometimes write a bigger post about how you did it, like a recipe or something. I’ll take photos for you.”

Well, shoot. Why didn’t I think of that?

So, I’ve run out blogging time explaining what I’m going to write, and never really got around to writing it. But at least now I have a plan: Homestead Lately, a farm life day book, coming soon to blog posts near you, Lord willin’.

Now tell me, how do you find time in your busy schedule to blog? Leave me a comment below!

Stop Making Resolutions | Start Achieving Goals || Back to Basics Living Bundle

noreply@blogger.com (Heidi S.) — Tue, 17 Jan 2017 20:26:00 +0000

Are You Setting Goals?

January is a time for new beginnings and getting excited about planning for the year ahead. Maybe you made some resolutions or set some goals for yourself and your family this year. Was one of your goals to live more simply this year? What about growing some of your own food, or maybe getting chickens? Have you thought about taking charge of your family’s health by using herbs or essential oils, or even real food as medicine?

I took an amazing course by life coach Michael Hyatt in 2016 that taught me the difference between making New Year’s resolutions and setting goals with real actionable steps. The former will often fizzle out by the third week of January (that’s NOW!) because even though your intentions were great, the resolution was too broad, too intangible, too unattainable to make progress on. Instead, I learned to set goals - which can be fairly broad- and then break them down into smaller intermediate goals and assign action steps to each. I even learned to avoid overwhelm by not assigning 25 action steps to each intermediate goal…but just ONE AT A TIME. It’s all about baby steps. Assign an action step, complete it. Assign the next action step. Complete that. In no time at all, you’ll be reaching your intermediate goals, and then hitting your big one!

You Have to Dive In!

We’ve had “go off off-grid” as one of our goals for about 4 years now. That’s a BIG, GENERAL, oftentimes OVERWHELMING goal. So we have lots of intermediate goals built in, like develop independent food sources, and develop homesteading skills, (such as gardening, animal husbandry, woodlot management, tool usage and permaculture.)

At this point, we have to pick one skill we want to learn, and figure out HOW we’re going to learn it. In the past, this is where I hit a wall. There are a multitude of blog posts and YouTube videos out there, but so often I would find conflicting advice. I really needed a homesteader friend to come along beside me and tell me what I needed to do. And for years, this caused “Goal Paralysis”. Until last year, when I had this huge (simple) revelation: There’s always, ALWAYS, going to be more that I don’t know. But if I wait until I feel like I know it all, I’ll never move toward completing my goals at all.

So here’s the good news! If you, like me, wish you had a friend to come along beside you and teach you simple living wisdom and back to basics knowledge, Bill and Jennifer Osuch from the Self Reliant School (where they teach gardening, real food cooking and preserving skills), have put together an amazing Back to Basics Living Bundle.

If you read my blog at all, you probably know how bundles work: Multiple authors get together and offer their resources at an extreme discount so the reader gets an amazing value (while the authors get an excited new audience!)

This year's bundle includes more than 70 resources to help you get back to basics and will help you:

Plant and harvest your own vegetables
Cook from scratch using nourishing real food
Learn what it means to live a simpler life, with less stress
Create a wholesome, healthy food storage system
Learn how to create and use natural remedies such as herbs and oils
Learn how to live a more frugal life, do more things yourself, manage a small homestead, and much much more!

Who Wrote This Thing?

Simply put: these authors are some of the best in the business! A lot of them have official credentials, but more importantly they are bloggers and writers are who are "walking the walk" by living a back to basics lifestyle. They are out there on the front lines sharing what works and what doesn't. Even if you decide not to follow their advice, they are worth listening to!

It’s like a seasoned homesteader friend coming along beside you in your home, yard or farm, and saying, “Here’s a way I do it - let’s try this together.”

But it's also kind of like buying your first chicks and chicken paraphernalia; there's a ton of stuff and it can be overwhelming. That's why they have created a getting started guide that will help you utilize the most relevant information to you so you can begin getting back to basics immediately.

Plus, the Back To Basics Living Bundle has more than 12 bonus offers that are exclusive to the bundle. In fact, if you took advantage of just half the bonus offers you'd come out ahead. In other words, the bundle would be paid for by the savings from purchases made through the bonus offers.

How Much Is This Thing?

Buying each of these resources separately you'd pay over $800, but for this short sale it's 96% off!

Did I mention you can download your bundle INSTANTLY for under $30?
No more resolutions, no more overwhelm. Consider this bundle as one of the first, best, and most frugal action steps toward reaching your ultimate simpler living, self-sufficiency goals.

The bundle is only available for a few days: January 16-22, so don't wait too long.
Click here to find out more and get yours!

What are some of your goals and action steps for 2017? Tell me below!

Get Ready for Winter || Home and Holiday Organization Sales

noreply@blogger.com (Heidi S.) — Mon, 28 Nov 2016 11:00:00 +0000

Hey, Bootcampers! I hope y'all had a simply wonderful Thanksgiving holiday with friends and family. For us, it was a lovely time at home together, recounting the way God has showered his blessings upon us this year. One of those blessings was a wonderful garden - stay tuned in the next few days for some of the recipes I whipped up for our Thanksgiving feast - using produce from our own homestead!

In the meantime, you might be feeling slightly - or incredibly - overwhelmed by your to-do list as December approaches. It is a joyful time of year, no doubt about that. But if you're not organized, it can be exhausting, too. Do you feel like your wheels are spinning but you're not getting anywhere? Let me share three great products with you -- two of which are deeply discounted due to Cyber Monday!

Bootcamp for Lousy Housekeepers - Lulu Version

First off, my own book, Bootcamp for Lousy Housekeepers, is on sale over at Lulu - in both paperback and coil-bound. If use the promo code CYBER40 at checkout, Lulu will discount an additional 40%, giving you the book for half off! That's the best sale of the year!

Plan to Eat - Annual Black Friday Sale

Next -- and this one is EXCITING, y'all! -- Plan to Eat is having their annual Black Friday Sale for 50% off an annual subscription to their amaaaaaaazing meal planning site. Friends, I'm not the kind of blogger who gets a lot of free products to review and make money off of. If I'm telling you about a product, it is because I use it and love it. And I LOVE Plan to Eat. I've been a regular Plan to Eat user since 2010, and when I say regular, I mean DAILY. You just wouldn't believe how much the website and service improves every year. It's really fantastic. I blogged about it back in 2011, and though the site looks a little different, the service is still amazing. If you struggle with making a meal plan, or sticking to a meal plan, or creating and sticking to a grocery budget, or coming up with healthy things to feed your family, or just. not. having. enough. time. or maybe, like me, it was all of the above -- Plan to Eat is an amazing solution.

Please, go check it out! This amazing one-sale-a-year brings your cost to only $19.50 for a YEAR -- that's $1.63 a MONTH -- 5¢ a day -- less than 2¢ a MEAL -- for easy access to all your favorite recipe sites with simple importing, meal planning, even automatic calendar alerts to remind you when to thaw your meat or bake your bread! Click on over and take the tour. I think you'll love it as much as I do!
After you sign up, I'd love to share my recipes with you or help you use it to your best advantage. My user name is Bootcamp Heidi - just friend me!

The 12-Week Holiday Planner

The last terrific resource I want to share with you is Sheri Graham's The 12-Week Holiday Planner for the Christian Family. It is exactly what it sounds like - a planner that takes you from October through the New Year, helping you get and stay organized in all your holiday preparations, aiding you in your desire to celebrate deliberately and weave peace and joy through your festivities. It's a digital book with unlimited printing so you can print out all the pages you need year after year. I've been using this planner to help me organize my cooking, baking, gifting, and calendar for eight years now, and I'm sure I'd be lost without it.

Included in each printable book:

Blank monthly and weekly calendar pages for planning your year
Weekly “To Do” lists showing exactly what needs to be done each week
Thanksgiving and Christmas Menus forms
Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years Recipe Card forms
A Holiday Self-Evaluation form
Shopping Lists
“Sheri’s Tips”- tips to make your holidays meaningful, shared throughout the ebook
Christmas Craft and Gift Ideas
Memory Making Ideas for the Family
Holiday Journal Pages
Many, many forms such as:
Christmas Gift Shopping List
Gift Making Checklist
Christmas Card Checklist
Holiday Wardrobe Planner
List of Baked Items to Share/Give Away
Favorite Meals to Freeze for Later
Decoration Ideas
Needed Supplies to Purchase This Week
Holiday Baking Schedule
Kids’ Gift Idea List
Christmas Gifts to be Shipped
PLUS!!! Two bonus weeks with family tradition ideas, menus, and more!
PLUS!!! Some of Sheri's favorite holiday recipes!
PLUS!!! Holiday Coloring Pages!
PLUS!!! Brand new zipped folder with all the forms from the planner in editable PDF format

So, what are you using to organize yourself this busy holiday season? As always, I LOVE comments! Let me know how you're staying on top of things!

What Do I Do With All These Green Tomatoes? || Garden Day

noreply@blogger.com (Heidi S.) — Fri, 18 Nov 2016 03:53:00 +0000

The calendar says it's just a week until Thanksgiving, and yet here I am, tromping barefoot around the homestead. We've had an extraordinarily long, warm fall here in the Miami River Valley of Ohio, and though I've been pining a bit for cooler temps - I mean, November should feel like November, y'all! - it's been really helpful in a lot of ways.

The goats are still in the woods eating plenty of green stuff, which helps lower the hay bill quite a bit. We've been able to put off using the wood stove much, too, which means fewer through-the-snow trips to replenish the woodpile on the back porch this winter.

And this warmer weather means the garden has really never stopped producing. There is still a beautiful mess of heirloom lettuce and rainbow swiss chard out there, and until a few days ago, there were still 75 or so tomato plants growing their little tomato hearts out.

Looking at the 10-day weather forecast, I decided to take advantage of the warmer temperatures and finally take them all down before they just froze to death (and me right along with them, ripping up garden fencing in the coming 30˚'s!)

We tipped the scale at just over 2,500 lbs. of tomatoes this year -- our best year of tomatoes ever -- and I really wouldn't have felt bad about just tossing vines -- with their green tomatoes still attached -- to the chickens. In fact, that's exactly what I would have done just before the first freeze in years past. But last year, someone tipped me off to a little green tomato trick that I want to share with y'all.

First, just go ahead and pick your green tomatoes. Those that are salvageable have a sheen to them - the ones that don't are dull green. It takes a bit of practice to discern between the two, but if you save a dull green one, nothing will happen except that it will never ripen. No worries.

Now you must find a place to store them! We clear off a few shelves in the basement pantry and line them stem side down (so they don't roll away). You might want to put down newspaper or shallow cardboard boxes if you're worried about one rotting. When deciding where to store them, here are a few considerations: It should be a relatively dark, cool place, but not freezing (so not the garage or attic), and it should be in a location that you will visit often so that you won't forget to check on them. (Or, if you are very forgetful, you could set a reminder in your calendar!)

Now, just wait. Literally, that's all there is to it. In the photo below, every tomato was green when placed on that shelf 3 days before, and you can see how quickly some had already started to ripen. Last winter, most of our tomatoes ripened by the end of January, but a few held out until February.

Every three days or so, check your stock. Just make sure there are no rotten ones (you'll smell that!) and if you find any that are starting to pink up, bring them to your kitchen.

I sit them on my kitchen window sill to ripen a bit more in the afternoon sun. We either eat them like fresh-picked, (BLT's with Ohio-grown tomatoes in February!) or if I have a glut of ripe ones, I will halve them and toss them in a freezer bag (skins and all) for a stew later on.

We picked over 200 green tomatoes this week, so knowing that we can continue to use them is a real blessing. I hope it blesses you, too!

What do you do with your green tomatoes?

Love Calls Us To the Things of This World || Laundry Day

noreply@blogger.com (Heidi S.) — Mon, 31 Oct 2016 09:00:00 +0000

Here's wishing you a Laundry Day where you joyfully serve your family. May Richard Wilbur's poem, Love Calls Us to the Things of This World, be an inspiration to you today. Read more at The Homely Hours.

Free Shipping + Bootcamp Sale | Bootcamp for Lousy Housekeepers

noreply@blogger.com (Heidi S.) — Wed, 20 Apr 2016 16:24:00 +0000

Hello, Bootcampers! I'm just popping in for a moment on this busy day to let you know about a promotion that Lulu Press has happening right now. The Bootcamp for Lousy Housekeepers book is available in Kindle format on Amazon, and also in perfect bound paper through Amazon, as well. But it's also available through Lulu press in coil-bound format. Some Bootcampers LOVE the coil-bound version, as it makes it easier to print off pages and use it as a planning binder as they're getting their homes together.

Both paper versions are $24, so I usually suggest using Amazon, since so many folks have Prime (free shipping!)

However, this free mail shipping deal through Lulu means you can get the coil-bound version for the same price with FREE SHIPPING. To sweeten the deal, I'm offering the Lulu coil-bound version for 25% off - that's only $18 - no promo code needed! Just remember to use Lulu's code APRSHIP50 through April 22nd to get free mail shipping.

This deal is only good through Friday evening, so grab yours today while the price is great!

I hope this helps you get a jump on transforming your home from messed to blessed this spring!

A Million Things in the March Off Grid | Homesteading | Off-Grid Living

noreply@blogger.com (Heidi S.) — Fri, 25 Mar 2016 01:29:00 +0000

This post first appeared on the Beyond Off Grid blog. From the website: "Beyond Off Grid is a documentary film and media project that explores why we should strive to reduce our dependence on the modern economy and control grid, and how this can be accomplished." In addition to the film itself, they provide excellent educational webinars to provide information and inspiration to those seeking a lifestyle less dependent on modernity and all of the risks that it brings to your family’s safety and survival. Seriously, go check them out. We're big fans.

Everything I learned about homesteading this year can really be summed up in one sentence: I have so much to learn about homesteading. Because here’s the thing: Homesteading, though thrown around as a sort of general term — most folks hear it and have already formed a mental image of a “back-to-the-land” nature lover, or a hipster urban farmer, or super-rural gun-totin’ new pioneer — homesteading, really, is not one thing. It is a million things. It is a million things I did not grow up learning. A million things I did not learn in public school. A million things I barely even knew existed.

I grew up in South Central Kansas, in the heart of the Bread Basket. Farm country. By which I mean: huge combines, and huge grain silos, and huge amounts of pesticides and dust blowing in the ever-present wind and huge, incredibly smelly concentrated animal feeding operations, and “Hey, smell that? That’s the smell of money!” One thousand acres of prime, black soil, and the farmer’s wife buys all her produce at the local grocery store, shipped cheap from Mexico and California. Farming.

In college, I did what a lot of college students do. I learned that there was another way and I sprinted toward it as recklessly and with as little thought as possible. Back then it was called Christian Environmentalism - older, wiser me knows it’s barely the former and strongly the latter. Still, God opened my eyes to another way.
I lived in an environmental village in Central America where we grew our own food without chemicals and where we composted our own waste. Later, I visited a major factory farm in California and saw that it was not the money that I smelled — it was mismanagement. It was pollution. It was death.
So I did what any self-respecting, immature college student would do. I became a staunch vegetarian. Because, hey, that meat is gross (it is) and those animals aren’t treated right (They’re not.) I did not know there was another way. I did not know there was “organic” or “local” or “grass-fed” or “permaculture”. I did not know a million things. I still don’t know a million things.

My husband and I had been married for about four years when we started thinking about farming. We were living in Kansas at the time, and we knew we needed a little land. Hey, land should be flat and cleared, right? That’s what farmers need. We moved to a five-acre parcel of desolation bordering a huge wheat field. I drew up a few pictures of what we could maybe do with it. I discovered John Seymour’s illustrated classic, The Self-Sufficient Life and How to Live It. At that time, we also found Scott Savage and his Plain Reader. Those essays changed our lives. But there were a million things to learn.

I remember, early one spring, my husband suggesting we plant a garden. “Sure,” I said. “But I don’t know how.” And that’s as far as it ever got. We lived on that farm nine months before he changed jobs and we moved to a new state. We never planted anything on that farm. We didn’t even grow flowers.

We lived in an apartment in Amish country for nine months in that new state. We didn’t have any land to call our own, but the desire began to burn in us both. I read everything I could get my hands on, and we made major changes in our lives. Kind women taught me how to bake my own bread and how to can. We ditched the TV, we sought to simplify our lives. I even began to dress more “plain”. Our minds were changed, but we weren’t farmers.

We moved back to Kansas, and found a house in the city. That first spring in the new house, my husband rented a rototiller while I clenched one hand around these little organic seed packets I had bought online and the other around a used copy of “Square Foot Gardening” and prayed with all my might, “Lord, please let me figure out what I’m supposed to do.” There were a million things I did not know. But the garden thrived that year, and the next year we doubled it. I even coaxed a small crop of apples from the old tree in the backyard. I learned some things. But there were still a million things I didn’t know.

A few years later, we changed states again. While living on a little property that was beautiful and private and completely inappropriate for farming, we dreamed and talked and discovered Michael Bunker’s Surviving Off Off-Grid. Well, that was that. We read it. We read it again. We CAME TO TERMS. We had to finally admit that we don’t know a million things and that we could not let it stop us anymore.

I began to view homesteading like having children. I hear young (and sometimes older) couples say they’re not going to have children until they’re ready. Well, news flash: You’re never “ready”. You don’t even know what you need to be ready until you’re in the thick of it. You don’t know what you don’t know. And later, you do know what you don’t know. That’s even scarier. There are a million things. But you have to start somewhere. There will be a lot of flailing and mistakes and frustration and you will waste money and you will feel stupid and sometimes it is like you are DROWNING, but you will get to the other side and say, “That was pretty amazing.”

After two more years of farm hunting, we ended up on our homestead. We had land and we had strong young children (going on nine of them, now) to help us set our hands to this joyful work. There were simply no more excuses we could make.

We learned how to cut down a tree. And another. And another. We learned how to chop and season and store firewood. I learned how to not be terrified when I watched the seven-year old swinging his own axe. (Mostly.) We learned how to operate a wood stove without burning down the house. (Yet.) But I still can’t name the trees on our very wooded homestead. So our family is going to take a tree-identification course together this summer. There is one more thing - maybe twenty more things - I will know.

I learned that I am allergic to poison sumac. And I learned how to identify it. One more thing. (An important thing!)

We got our first farm animals - Nubian goats - to clear the dense honeysuckle and poison ivy and sumac on our property this year. Two-month old kids. There they were, in the shed on their first night and I was as panicked as a new mother on her first night home from the hospital. “Now what am I supposed to DO with this thing?” I picked up my Kindle and found some books, and read everything I could. What do you mean, de-worming? Trimming hooves? WHAT ON EARTH. A million things. I feel confident with our goats now. But when we breed them next fall, it will start a whole new chapter of “Things Heidi Doesn’t Know”. What about when it’s time for them to kid? Will I be able to milk them? And then there’s cheese making. And yogurt making. And soap making. I don’t know a million things. But I can learn.

We got chickens this spring, too. Again to the books, and to the things I don’t know. I didn’t know how exciting that first egg would be, or how hard it would be to butcher the few old gals someone gave us. I didn’t know that roosters wake up at 5am, and therefore babies wake up at 5am, even if the coop light is set for 7. (I kind of wish I didn’t know that.)

I thought I knew how to garden. Then I learned a new-to-me method that made me see how many hours I’d wasted weeding and watering and I wondered, “How many more millions of things don’t I know?” The garden was prolific. What a blessing. Now how do I store all this food? How do we dig a root cellar? Fermenting? GNOWFGLINS? (Is that even English?) And how can I start seeds more successfully this year? What do you mean, “Soil block maker?” What else don’t I know?

Two rabbits just arrived this past weekend, and my 11-year old daughter was sitting in bed by the light of a Kindle late Sunday night, taking notes for Mom on “How to Raise Meat Rabbits” while three of her younger sisters snored away, because there are a million things I don’t know. (But now she knows.)

And again I hear the little voice in my head: “There are a million things I don’t know.” But it’s March. So now a new voice whispers back: “You don’t have to know a million things today. Just start with one.”

Just one thing. One thing is what this month is all about at our homestead. It is why we deliberately refocus and “double down” each March in our effort to be more self-sufficient and productive — to March Off-Grid. This month, we are choosing to not ignore the panic and frustration of “not knowing”. Rather we are choosing to embrace the “million things we don’t know” and decide — resolve — that tomorrow there will be one less thing we don’t know, and one more thing we do. Because the joy in learning that one thing supersedes the fear of the million we don’t, every time.

Reboot: 2016. Are You Ready?

noreply@blogger.com (Heidi S.) — Thu, 31 Dec 2015 15:59:00 +0000

I love family traditions and I love hearing about how other families mark their time and make the ordinary special. Do you have fun New Year's Eve traditions for your family? We have friends who give their children all a fresh diary today, so tomorrow they can start writing in it. Many people are prepping for big-time festivities tonight. (With nearly 9 children, including a nursing baby and toddlers, it is a big-time achievement if I can make it till midnight!)

Here in our home, we have two traditions. First, since we are still celebrating the 12 Days of Christmas, the daily gift for every child today is their own calendar. Even though I maintain the family calendar (on paper, and on my phone, and my new favorite organization tool: Bullet Journaling, we encourage our kiddos to write on their own calendars and learn to manage their own time well.)

The other tradition we have for this day is DEEP CLEANING. I know, I know, that doesn't sound so fun. (Actually, cleaning and organizing is one of my favorite things to do, but I'm weird like that. ;) But seriously, there is something deeply satisfying about starting a new year with a clean house. I know in reality it's just another day on the calendar, or as Barry Manilow puts it, "Just a night like all the rest" -- But for me, mentally, it's a day to shift back into "make my home a better place for my family to thrive" mode.

There's no way I can do a deep clean and thorough organizing session in every room in one day, but I love to pick out the trouble spots that have been grating on me and chuck unneeded stuff, tidy up what's there, and deep clean all over. Seeing those freshly tidied spaces gives me the inspiration to keep going in the weeks and months to come!

Do you feel like you need help rebooting your home in 2016? Perhaps you lack motivation, or maybe you are seriously overwhelmed and have NO IDEA where to start? Good news! Bootcamp for Lousy Housekeepers is on sale from January 2 - 8, for just $1.99!

My hope and prayer is that many of you amazing, but overwhelmed homekeepers out there will be able to pick up a copy for yourselves and start the journey from being "messed to blessed."

Please write me or leave a comment if you need more help and guidance. I LOVE reading your mail!!

I sincerely wish you all a New Year full of blessings, overcoming challenges, and becoming the homekeeper you wish you could be.

Heidi's Golden Steel Cut Oat Granola

noreply@blogger.com (Heidi S.) — Thu, 02 Jul 2015 10:00:00 +0000

Hey, y’all!

I don’t know where you are today, but here is Southwest Ohio, it has been MUGGY. The rain's hit us at least a little every day, and it’s just enough to make you sweat buckets, but it never seems to clear the air. I almost long for a good hot August day. Almost. Ask me again in late July. ;)

For my family, especially the teenage boys, who’ve been working outside really, really hard getting our homestead rolling this spring, a hearty breakfast is essential. Our winter breakfast staple was a huge crock pot of steel cut oats (with eggs and fruit on the side) but it’s really just too hot to think about warm oats right about now. But as we buy hundreds of pounds of oats every fall for breakfasts all year, I still have plenty to cook. What’s a homesteading gal to do? Make granola, of course!

We’ve eaten plenty of rolled oats granola (the kind you think about when you hear “granola”) around here. Still, I love cooking steel cut oats. We love them for their higher fiber, fewer calories, and lower glycemic index than rolled oats, in addition to their amazing chewy, nutty flavor. But homemade steel cut oat granola was new to me. So I set out to create the perfect recipe. Considerations: It had to be whole, healthy, and delicious — because what’s the point of using up your store of oats if no one will eat it?

Using a few recipes online, I mixed and matched and played around until I finally came up with something so good that they are clamoring for it every morning. Flavor it how you like: You could add a little cinnamon and nutmeg for fall flavor, make it summery with whatever dried fruit you process from your garden or orchard, or by adding shredded coconut and chocolate chips, you could imitate that most delectable (but very expensive) grocery store delight: Love Crunch Dark Chocolate Macaroon (Oh. Yum.)

Here's how to make it:

Here on our homestead, I decuple the recipe on Kitchen Day each week (Pssst! Decuple means multiply by 10 -- Use that one at dinner and impress your children!) I dare you to snag a bowl before your family finishes it off. It's just that good!

INTERESTED IN NFP/FAM? GET KINDARA WINK - FOR $10 OFF!

noreply@blogger.com (Heidi S.) — Tue, 30 Jun 2015 01:56:00 +0000

Hi Y’all! I’m taking a moment in the middle of our barn-raising week (which has been not-so-delightfully extended by torrential rains here is southwest Ohio) to share something I’m excited about. If the following doesn’t apply to you at all, feel free to skip to another post. But if you are a woman who wants to be in charge of her own health, I encourage you to read on for a great deal on a great product!

I’m talking about the free Kindara Fertility Tracking app and their —well, not free, but seriously awesome — new, bluetooth-enabled, basal body thermometer.

Fertility what? Heidi, are you some kind of hippy? (I've been accused of worse. :) Let me ask YOU a question! Are you a woman who is just done — DONE! — putting up with the nasty and often times dangerous side-effects of chemical birth control pills and other contraceptives? Are you interested in a natural option that guides you toward your goal of getting pregnant — or avoiding pregnancy — equally easily? Natural Family Planning has been around for ages, and Fertility Awareness Method has been taught for years, but it’s amazing how many women have never heard of either method, or have been led to believe that they aren’t accurate, effective, or "safe" at all.

Now I know what you're thinking. "Heidi, you have eight children. EIGHT! So obviously, this method isn't working for you." It's true, our proverbial cup runneth over and our shoe is blessedly full. But you don't have to be actively PREVENTING pregnancies or TRYING TO CONCEIVE to track your fertility. For me, it's really tracking. Just tracking! I love knowing why I'm cranky, why I'm hungry, why I'm tired, or that I am, indeed, pregnant, oftentimes a full week before a urine test would tell me -- this knowledge helps me better formulate a personal health plan to get nourishment, rest, and quiet when I need it, which is pretty awesome.

If you are a woman, or know one (I think that covers pretty much all of you!) you might want to check this out.

Now Kindara brings you an app — and a smart thermometer — to make it pretty, easy, accessible, and maybe even fun? to track fertility. (Here’s a hint: You don’t even have to be Catholic to do it - I’m not!)

With the Kindara app, you can learn all about the Fertility Awareness Method, which is basically any form of Natural Family Planning where you cross-check your basal body temperature (the lowest (waking) temperature of the day) with your cervical fluid, and, optionally, with your internal cervical position. These three pieces of your fertility puzzle, when entered into the app, paint an amazing picture of what your body is doing TODAY, and gives you a great prediction of the weeks to come. (The more consistently you use it, the more accurate it predicts the details of your cycle.)

If you’ve never considered completely chemical-free birth control before, Taking Charge of Your Fertility is a good book to pick up. It explains everything in detail.

The App is intuitive and fun to use, but very versatile!

You can track your fertility to avoid, time, or achieve pregnancy or pinpoint health issues related to hormones.
You can predict ovulation, period, and fertile days.
You will have access to a large knowledge base with detailed information on how to use the app and how to track your fertility, even if you’ve never done it before.
You will be able to see a chart gallery and optionally share your own and look at other Kindara users’ charts to gain insight into your cycles.
You can use a completely customizable journal section to keep track of other activities that might (or might not) be related to your cycle, like moods, headaches, caffeine, exercise, foods, and anything else you can think of.

Hmmm… Interesting. What Would I Need to Start Tracking my Fertility?

A basal body thermometer is a must-have. It measures the resting temperature you take at a consistent time every morning, before you do anything else – no moving around or nursing the baby or getting up to use the bathroom before you take your temperature. You can get a basal body thermometer from any pharmacy or drug store for $10-$15. Most of the ones I've used are super basic. They take a long to read your temp. They beep while taking your temp. They beep when you’re done, or they beep 10 times when you’re done. (This is really annoying to husbands and co-sleeping babies!) They don’t remember your temp for long -- if your delightful three-year old turns it on, and you don’t catch it within 3 seconds, you’ve lost your temp for the day. Frustrating.

This is how I found Kindara’s Wink Basal Body Thermometer. My drug store version died (again) and when I mentioned it to my husband, his first words were: “PLEASE find one that doesn’t beep!” I searched the depths of the basal body temperature interwebs and was delighted to learn about Kindara’s Wink thermometer. It gently vibrates when you’re done taking your temp and sends that temp via low-energy blue-tooth to the Kindara app on your phone or iPod. You can take your temp when you’re half-asleep, and no one will be the wiser! If you’re not near your phone (or it’s dead) Wink will store up to 6 months of temperatures for you to download when you’re re-connected. No more lost temps!
What’s even better is that you get $10 off the pre-order special of $79 for this awesome blue-tooth-enabled thermometer, when you use my affiliate link: https://www.kindara.com/r/abJQw9U9S
And y'all. It even comes in PINK. I'm sold.

Wondering if it's worth it? Watch the video below to see Wink in action!

Wink will ship sometime this summer, so what until then? Do you need to buy a cheap version to tide you over? No! Kindara will send you a free basal thermometer in the mean time. Later on, the Wink Thermometer price will jump up to $129. Get it while it’s only $69 with my affiliate link.

Get Your Free Kindara App:

iPhone**:
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/kindara-fertility-tracker/id522674372?mt=8

Android**:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.kindara.pgap

**Don’t order the Wink Thermometer through your newly-downloaded app – you won’t get $10 off. You have to use this link to get the free $10: https://www.kindara.com/r/abJQw9U9S.

Don’t wait too long, because they will stop offering the pre-order price once shipping begins.

Feel free to share this link with your friends!

Here's to your good health!

DIY Computer Desktop Organizer

noreply@blogger.com (Heidi S.) — Sat, 16 May 2015 00:53:00 +0000

I don’t know about y'all, but for me, my day begins and ends on the computer. I know I could live without it, but at this point in my life, most of my projects-- homestead planning, homeschooling, meal planning, and organizing-- are digitally-based. But just like the real desktop in my life, my computer desktop can easily become an unmanageable dumping ground of folders and files and sticky notes, and I’ll spend more time looking for files than checking to-do’s off my list.

If your desktop needs a little love, too, then you’ll love this simple desktop organizer tutorial. It’s easy, and actually kind of fun, and at the end, you’ll be a bit more organized. (And if you’re like me, you may walk by your computer a few more times today, just to admire your handiwork! ;)

Here’s How to Create Your Own:

Go to PicMonkey.com. It’s an online photo editing site that, although not as comprehensive as software like Photoshop, is FREE and EASY TO USE!

On the home screen of PicMonkey, click Custom. A drop down menu will appear, asking what size you want to make your design. To see what size you should create, find your computer’s display size.

On a Mac, you click the Apple, click About This Mac, click Displays, and write down this size (or take a screen shot.)

Enter this size in the custom size boxes in PicMonkey. A very simple way (and the way I started) is to click “Canvas Color” under basic edits. Pick your color, and it will fill your custom canvas. But I think an even more fun option is to use a cheerful (or thematic) digital scrapbook paper. To find a free one, type “free digital scrapbook paper” in Pinterest or Google. There are tons of great ones out there. (I have some pinned here!)

If you choose the digital paper option, click the “Open” at the top of the screen in PicMonkey. Tell it where to find your paper, and it will bring it in. Then you’ll need to crop it to your display size. (The crop button is under Basic Edits on the lefthand menu bar.)

Now, click on Overlays. (The symbol is a butterfly.) The first option is Geometric. You’re going to pick a rectangle or rounded rectangle. The overlay will appear on your canvas in black.

You can adjust the size rotation, and position by dragging the rectangle around the canvas. You can change the color and the transparency in the tool box that will appear on the screen.

Now that I have it the color and transparency I want, I will right click the overlay, and click on “Duplicate Overlay”. It will make an identical box.

I’ll repeat this for as many boxes as I want, and adjust the size and rotation of each one.

How many boxes do you need? That’s up to you! Think about your ideal desktop. What kinds of folders usually clutter your desktop? Probably the ones you access the most. (Tip: If you’re using a Mac, be sure to leave room for the app dock at the bottom.)

Now that I have the boxes just how I want them, I’ll click the button on the top that looks like pages with a down arrow. That flattens all the layers I just created into one canvas. If I skip this step, I will probably accidentally move the boxes every time I try to add a type box! (It’s annoying, so trust me! Don’t skip it!)

Now to add text! Click on the Text tool in the lefthand menu - it looks like Tt. Choose a fun font and click “Add Text”. Name your box, adjust the color and font size with the pop-up tool box. I prefer to click the text center button (just like in a word processor) and stretch my text box across the full width of the box so it’s truly centered. You can use the arrow keys on your keyboard to fine tune its placement. Repeat for all your boxes.

If you want to add a little more cheer, go back to the Overlays tool (the butterfly) and search through the fun overlays. (My four-year old was helping me, and she wanted “Critters”). You just drag and drop, resize and rotate, like the other overlays.

When you love what you’ve created, click Save (at the top). You will name your new canvas and tell the computer where to save it. Choose the “Sean” quality, because you want it to retain its dimensions. Now go to your newly saved photo, and right click. Click on Set Desktop Picture (on a Mac).

Now you just move your folders into the right boxes, and voilá!

Your work surface is instantly more organized!

Can’t get your folders to move where you want them? Right click on the desktop, click Sort By, and make sure NONE is selected. Most likely, your folders are snapping to the grid.

Another tip: It can really slow down your computer to have very data-heavy folders on your desktop. Help it run faster in two simple ways. One, create aliases on large folders. Put the actual folder “in” the computer somewhere, right click on it, and click “Make Alias”. Drag the alias to the desktop and when you click on it, the real folder will open.
Alternately, you can create a simple folder on your desktop and store all your related aliases folders inside.

Bonus DIY!

I think the basic blue folders on a Mac are boooo-riiiiing. But they’re very easy to change! First, go online and search for Mac folder icons. There are a bajillion to choose from, but I prefer to keep them simple colors, like this one. Download the file, and unzip it. I store all mine in a folder called Folder Colors. (I have a lot! I love to keep it colorful!) Now, when you want to change a folder’s color, right click on the folder and click on Get Info. The information box will pop up, including a tiny picture of the folder at the very top left of the folder’s name. Drag the colored folder icon from your unzipped file to that tiny folder until you see the green + sign. Your folder should be the new color. Hope this tip brightens your desktop…and your day!

Last Chance for Your Bundle!

noreply@blogger.com (Heidi S.) — Mon, 27 Apr 2015 19:32:00 +0000

Hey, Bootcampers!

I know you've been hearing about the Ultimate Homemaking Bundle in every little corner of the internet this week. And I won't bug you anymore about it after this brief reminder.

But tomorrow about this time, I'm going to start getting desperate e-mails. A few of you will comment on the blog. I'm going to hear from wonderful people who got busy or distracted or thought, "I'll get to it tomorrow!" and didn't buy the Ultimate Homemaking Bundle I've been promoting all week long. And they will ask me, "Isn't there ANY WAY I can still get a bundle?" Unfortunately, the answer is always no. And these people are always so disappointed. (And I am so disappointed for them!) Don't let it happen to you!

Many of you have read these posts from me to remind you about this great deal. Some of you have seen my updates over on Facebook, my pins, my tweets. Maybe you wanted to buy one, but you've been putting it off until later. Friend, you won't get any more reminders! This deal is over tonight at midnight. If you've been waiting until the right moment, that moment is now! Get it today before it goes away forever.

Brief Overview of what's included:

✔ 76 eBooks  

✔ 6 eCourses  

✔ 1 audio download

 ✔ 2 online conferences, &  

✔ 14 printable packs

That's over $1200-worth of stuff for only $29.97. Do the math.

That's about a 97% savings.

Still not sure about the Ultimate Homemaking Bundle? They have a 30-day money-back guarantee, so you can buy it now and have a whole month to check out the products. You've got nothing to lose!

And don't forget that I am throwing in my own bonus if you buy the bundle using my links. I'll send you a free copy of my book, Bootcamp for Lousy Housekeepers. Just email me once you've purchased the bundle, and I'll send along your bonus!

Just so you know: Some of my links are affiliate links. That means I get a little bit back if you choose to purchase a linked item. It doesn't cost you anything, but it might help me buy another chicken...Win-Win! Thanks!

Need Some Organizing Inspiration? Here's the Deal!

noreply@blogger.com (Heidi S.) — Fri, 24 Apr 2015 19:56:00 +0000

Happy Friday, Bootcampers!

How are y'all doing? I know I’m having a busy day here. My husband was out of town working in another state for almost two weeks, and now that he’s home again, it’s full-bore homesteading today!

My menfolk (and some of the little ladies) are out moving split wood and shoveling compost, getting the property ready for fencing and chickens (I’m so excited about the chickens, I can’t sleep at night. Yes, I’m that that lady.)

Tomorrow, however, is supposed to be heavy rain. Again. Because Southwest Ohio, y’all. So we have the whiteboard filled with a long list of inside projects for tomorrow, and they all have a common theme: ORGANIZE. A big part of ORGANIZE is DISCARD. I’m a little more than half-way through Marie Kondo’s “The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up ”, and overall, it inspires me. (When I finish the book, and give it a chance in implementation, I’ll write a review.) I know the biggest task for tomorrow is to go through boxes and boxes and boxes of children’s clothes and give away a lot. We hope God blesses us with more children, so we’re not willing to give away all the clothes smaller than my youngest of each boy and girl, but we are willing to pare down significantly.

How many t-shirts could a kid possibly need?

When you’re the crazy family with eight (and hopefully more) kiddos, people looooove to give you their children’s outgrown clothes. While this is often a blessing, there are some outfits that I kept and hung up in the closet for 4 children in a row and they were never put on said children. Never. So away they go. There is just too much stuff and not enough space in here, and it’s a little suffocating.

So tell me, what organization projects do y’all have going, friends? If you’re looking for help or inspiration, let me tell you about this great deal: There are 4 organizing eBooks and Printables - worth $64.96 - in the Ultimate Homemaking Bundle sale that’s going on right now.

And the bundle costs only $29.97.

That right there would be an awesome deal, but of course, you won’t ONLY get those 4 eBooks and printables. You’ll also get 95 other amazing eBooks, eCourses, audio courses, and bonuses. For under 30 bucks! Altogether, the bundle is worth more than $1,200.

Personally, I’m really excited to try out Mystie Winckler’s Paperless Home Organization system. While I love the idea of binders, I’m generally a digital person in every other way. Sometimes I’ll print out all the pretty sheets and stick them in a binder and they’ll go completely unused, while I keep all my actual notes in the Wunderlist app on my iPod, or organized in the colorful folders on my computer desktop.

Hop on over to my blog post to check out all the resources in the deal, or head over to the Ultimate Bundle site to grab yours! But don’t miss out, because the doors are closing in just...

And don't forget: When you buy an Ultimate Homemaking Bundle through me, I'll send you an eBook version of Bootcamp for Lousy Housekeepersfor free! Just email me at bootcampforlousyhousekeepers (at) gmail (dot) com and I'll match your name with the ledger! Well, a big box full of homeschool papers to sort awaits me. I'd better get back to it! Have a great weekend, Bootcampers -- I hope wherever you are, you are warm, happy and productive!

The Ultimate Answer to Invitation Season (+Free Book Bonus!)

noreply@blogger.com (Heidi S.) — Wed, 22 Apr 2015 15:41:00 +0000

Dear Bootcampers,

Is it just me, or has anyone else noticed the ramp-up of mail now that it’s spring?

Of course, winter brought its delightful share of holiday greetings, and later, cheerful seed and hatchery catalogs. (I love those!) But spring brings a different kind of mail to the Schaap homestead.

It’s Invitation Season.

Darling babies are being born. Sweet young ladies are turning sixteen. Bright young men and women are graduating. Handsome couples are becoming One in marriage. It is a season of celebration. And all of this means I spend a fair amount of time thinking about gift-giving. And spend a fair amount of money, too, if I’m being honest.

Just last night I was discussing a few upcoming gift-giving events with my Mr., and reminiscing over one of the most fun and personal birthday gifts I’ve given.

For a dear friend’s Sweet Sixteen, I scoured all the free eBook resources I could gather and compiled a Homemaking Treasury on a USB stick. I included lots of vintage books with wonderful titles like The American Frugal Housewife and The Country Housewife and Lady’s Director in the Management of a House, and the Delights and Profits of a Farm. I also included articles, printables and of course, my book, too. There were 74 books in all. A tiny treasure trove of knowlege.

Photo by Charlotte Boyer

Can you imagine if I had given her a box with 74 books? Though that would have been insanely fun for her to open, I can’t imagine giving someone that much actual, physical stuff. Unless I also build her a bookshelf?! Plus, the price. One reason I had to resort to mostly free digital books is because I simply can’t afford to buy 74 books on homemaking as a gift. Even with a Kindle sale, at, let’s say, $3 a book? That's $222. Not in my budget, Bootcampers. And probably not in yours.

But what if you could gift an amazing library of digital titles to a sweet young lady for only $29.97?

You can!

I’m talking about 76 eBooks, 6 eCourses, an audio conference, 2 online conferences, and 14 printable packs, plus, bonuses like a course from Craftsy (she’d get to choose!), a ListPlanIt membership, credits for beautiful art prints for the home, a dinner planning service subscription…even a beautiful scarf! I’m thinking this gift would be amazing for a young homemaker or homemaker in training.

Of course, with 99 hand-picked resources in the bundle, you could streeeeetch the gift — and your budget — even further. Going to a baby shower soon? Gift that sweet new mom the books on pregnancy and babies, motherhood, and faith-building in children. Heading to a wedding shower this summer? Give that beautiful bride her own little package on cleaning, DIY, cookbooks, and marriage. Does your Mom or Daughter need some encouragement? Give her the books on faith and self-care. Do you know a young homeschooling mom who’s struggling? Send her a little encouragement with homeschooling books and printables. And after all that? You’d still have books and the bonuses left over for yourself! *FAQ's at the bottom of the post!

Gifting a bundle is easy.

1. Buy a bundle and download the resources you want to gift.

2. Transfer them to a cute USB drive (you could even decorate it with stickers)

3. Delete the files you gifted from your own computer.

4. Give the gift, and watch her smile. :)

I know I’ve shared my story before — I went into marriage, homemaking, and motherhood largely unprepared. I remember fondly when my Momma, who helped me set up our newlywed apartment, took me to a Barnes & Noble to look for a book on how to outfit a home. (We didn’t even have a wedding shower, so we were seriously starting from scratch, y’all!) The young salesman led us to a section of books and knowingly held up a volume on Feng Shui. Almost seventeen years later, and we are still laughing over that one! What a difference a bundle like this one might have made.

Can I make this deal a little sweeter?

Buy a bundle and I’ll send you an eBook copy of Bootcamp for Lousy Housekeepers to add to your bundle!

Give it away, or maybe just keep it for yourself! (I won't tell!) Just email me at bootcampforlousyhousekeepers (at) gmail (dot) com and tell me your name and whether you purchased a .pdf or Kindle version, so my eBook version will match yours. (When you buy the Ultimate Homemaking Bundle through me, I see your name so I'll be able to match you up!)

Don't wait too long, friends. Look at the countdown below to see how the time on this deal is flying by!

Want more details about what's in this year's Ultimate Homemaking Bundle? Check out my blog post about it, or click on over to the Ultimate Bundle site.

I know I’m buying an extra bundle for gifting away this Invitation Season. I can’t wait to make some young homemakers smile! Who’s with me?

Just so you know: Some of my links are affiliate links. That means I get a little bit back if you choose to purchase a linked item. It doesn't cost you anything, but it might help me buy another chicken...Win-Win! Thanks!

*From the Utimate Bundle FAQ, here's the fine print on gifting books: “Though sharing [that is, you have your own digital copy and ALSO give the same purchased digital copy to someone else] is not allowed, you can give an ebook to someone else if you decide you don’t want to keep it or have read it already and won’t use it again. You can do this by sending the book to the receiving person and then deleting it from your computer and any other electronic devices you own so that they have the only copy.”

What if you just want to gift the whole bundle via email and skip the USB stick? “If you’d like to purchase and give an eBook bundle to someone, that is perfectly fine! When you order a bundle, please forward the download email to customerservice@ultimate-bundles.com and let us know the full name (first and last names) and email address that you would like to give it to, and we’ll take care of the rest!”

Can I give someone a few of my bonuses and keep the rest for myself? "Unfortunately, no. You’re welcome to tell anyone about the bundle or these fantastic new companies you’ve discovered, but these offers are made available solely to those who have bought their OWN eBook bundle, and are not able to be used multiple times.
That said, you are welcome to redeem your bonus offers, and then give them away to someone else as a gift. The point is that you may not share the redemption codes or information with anyone." (If you'd like someone to have all the bonuses themselves, gift them an entire bundle directly, as in the point above!)

Surviving Off Off-Grid Radio Interview

noreply@blogger.com (Heidi S.) — Tue, 21 Apr 2015 10:00:00 +0000

Hi Bootcampers! A few weeks ago I shared our homesteading year in review, and mentioned our ongoing journey toward off off-grid living. If you read the blog, you know I credited much of our inspiration to do so to a book called Surviving Off Off-Grid: Decolonizing the Industrial Mind, by best-selling author Michael Bunker.

Happily, it turns out that my friend Scott from the North Country Farmer blog interviewed Mr. Bunker on his radio show last week. For those of you who are curious about what off off-grid means (and why anyone would be nutty enough to want to follow that path), take a listen.

Mr. Bunker always educates, and often entertains. To quote Scott: "[Bunker's] book helped countless souls break away from the industrial mindset and start down the homesteading path. Join us for a discussion of themes and ideas contained in this classic book and how to implement them in your life."

I know we've been changed by this book, and it could be that you will be, too.

The Ultimate Homemaking Bundle is Here!

noreply@blogger.com (Heidi S.) — Mon, 20 Apr 2015 16:59:00 +0000

Are you ready to feather your nest this spring?
The 2015 Ultimate Homemaking Bundle is here!

Dear Homemaker,

Are the inmates running the asylum?

I heard that question the other day, and I laughed. out. loud. Yep, even as I sit here typing, the two-year old and four-year old are being watched by the ten year-old, and the cute button-sorting activity I created for her has become a button-grenade launching session, and I'm hollering, "Get them off the floor! The baby will eat them and choke!" because she's crawling now. Fast. So they switched to watercolor painting, only to have the four-year dump the ENTIRE cup of water all over herself, her sister, and the church clothes I was going to iron today for next week.

(It's Laundry Day, ya know. And I was going to be ahead of the game. Sigh.) So, sorry to disappoint those of you who think I float around my home in a Donna Reed haze of joy and fresh baked cookies. Life is real up in here. Sometimes I look around my house and wonder how things get so crazy so quickly.

I'll admit it: When I was a little girl, I was not the type who dreamed about getting married, becoming a mommy, and having my own home. In fact, here's what I wanted to be "when I grew up": a third-world nun (even though we weren't Catholic), an astronaut on a long-distance space mission, and a Bible-translating jungle missionary. (Okay, so I still want to be a jungle missionary.) What I actually did become was a soldier. See the overarching theme here? Single! Adventure! The far ends of the earth (and beyond!) In fact, I didn't think about what married life meant until about 3 days before I was engaged. To quote Johnny Cash, "We got married in a fever." And I've don't regret it. But I went into marriage and homemaking completely unprepared. I had to imagine and re-imagine everything I ever thought about what marriage, family and homemaking was, and very quickly.
I knew a home that was more than just 4 walls, a roof, and a mortgage.
I knew I wanted to make a special place that was a miraculous fusion of:

a school,
a playground,
a farm,
a sanctuary,
a natural hospital,
an inspiration station, and...
a safe place to fall in to one another at the end of a hard day.

And then real life happened…
…laundry, diapers, morning sickness, stretch marks, tiny budgets, military deployments -- my husband's, and then mine -- and never-ending meal prep and dirty dishes, college loans and evening classes, post-partum depression -- eight times, gritty floors, filthy walls, more morning sickness and piles of clutter… holiday stress, potty training, hospital trips and chronic illness, teaching my children to read...and master long division...(and master calculus)… planting gardens that failed, children with the pukes, the sniffles, allergies and fevers… and a secret dream to write a book and try to help other homemakers learn more easily what I had struggled to grasp.

And that’s why Erin and Stephanie created the Ultimate Homemaking Bundle… because as rewarding as it is, homemaking is hard work and it doesn’t always come easily.

So let me tell you all about it!

To help you nurture the beauty and productivity in your home and family relationships with proven, simple, and effective tools that really give you a boost as a homemaker – help, inspiration, tips, encouragement, resources at your fingertips…

… the Ultimate Homemaking Bundle is just for you.

It is a complete library of carefully selected eBooks, eCourses, audios, online conferences, and printable packs designed to help you turn your house into a home… without all the overwhelm.

What’s in the Ultimate Homemaking Bundle?

The first step in putting together this collection was to find the critical homemaking skills that you need to transform your house into a home.

Do you want to a healthy, toxin-free home?

Do you want to discover fun and frugal ways to express your personal style?

Wish you could take a break from the daily grind to renew yourself?

Need help building a budget that works?

Could you serve easier, tastier meals in less time?

Want to brighten up old family traditions and create new ones?

Do you desire to homeschool with love, grace, and ease?

Want to learn how to be married to your best friend?

Looking for peace and joy as a mother?

Want to conquer the clutter and simplify your life?

Wouldn't you love to enjoy a healthy pregnancy and prepare to nurture your baby?

Need ideas for soothing aches & pains with natural remedies?

Do you harbor a secret desire to sharpen your skills, live your passions and earn money to help your family...from home?

Plus! Audio and eCourses to help you hone your homemaking, marriage, and mothering skills!

And even more: Planners and printables to help you get organized and create homemaking binders that really work!

In all, this is a complete library of 99 eBooks and eCourses to help you nurture the beauty and productivity in your home and family relationships. It is, in a single word, AMAZING.

Here are some questions you might have:

Are there too many books in the Ultimate Homemaking Bundle?

You just saw the types and titles available in this bundle, and you might wonder “Where would I even start?” It are a lot of books. But this doesn't have to be burden. It can be a joy! Just start somewhere. Pick one area of interest, or one place you feel like you're struggling with right now, and jump in.
Come back to the Ultimate Homemaking Bundle “buffet” as many times as you like. It’s all here for you whenever you want it or need it

.

But some of these books just don't apply to me!

What if you're looking at these titles and thinking, "I'm not a mom!" Or, "I don't homeschool!" Or, "I have no interest in working from home!" Guess what! You don't have to download any books you don't want to. Or -- and I think this is just plain cool -- it's perfectly fine for you to download the book and email to a friend, mom, aunt, daughter - whomever. Just delete it off your computer once you've sent it on. Isn't that great? Keep what you want, share what you won't use, and maximize the amazing deal you're already getting!

I'm on a really limited budget. It's a great deal... but it's still too much!

I totally understand that. With eight kids of my own, our budget for extras like this is itsy-bitsy. So here's the thing: Do you have a friend who would enjoy this kind of bundle? Send her the link to this page, and see if she'd like to share! YES! You can split the cost with a friend, (though only one of you will buy it and download it), and then both of you can share the books back and forth, since you're co-owners. How cool is that!

Is the Ultimate Homemaking Bundle worth it?

In a word… yes!
To be absolutely certain, Erin and Stephanie asked questions, tried techniques and just about drove themselves crazy making sure that the Ultimate Homemaking Bundle was the very best homemaking resource anywhere.
They dug through hundreds of websites and connected with dozens of authors and teachers.
And then we all worked together to make these resources the most affordable possible.

And They Were Delighted to Help…

The result? This collection is a fraction of the price of what someone would pay for each resource individually!
For a short time, the Ultimate Homemaking Bundle… a complete library of:

-76 eBooks

-6 eCourses

-1 audio download

-2 online conferences, and

-14 printable packs

…99 carefully selected resources designed to help you nurture the beauty and productivity in your home and family relationships… is only $29.97. (A total value of $984.74.)
That breaks down to 30 cents per book.

Your 30-Day 100% Satisfaction Guarantee

If for any reason, you decide that the Ultimate Homemaking Bundle is not for you, then please send an email to customerservice@Ultimate-Bundles.com and we will refund 100% of your investment. No questions asked.

Don’t Forget the Bonuses!

Of course, no Ultimate Homemaking Bundle would be complete without the generous, inspiring gifts donated by companies that understand homemakers like you. Every gift is yours to keep and enjoy.

-Choose 1 FREE Online Class from Craftsy (Select from 24 of Their Most Popular Classes – Up to $60 Value)

-1 FREE Kids Discovery Box from Green Kid Crafts ($19.95 Value)

-FREE $15 Credit to Hope Ink PLUS 2 FREE 8×10 Art Prints ($71 Value)

-FREE 90-Day “Good Deal” Subscription to She Plans Dinner ($15 Value)

-Choose 1 FREE Stylish Spring Scarf from Deborah & Co. ($20 Value)

-FREE $80 Healthy Moving Class Credit ($80 Value)

-FREE 90-Day Pro Membership to ListPlanIt ($30 Value)

-FREE 65 Tyndale Rewards Points to Be Used for a FREE Book or Towards Any Book of Your Choice ($15 Value)

Now It’s Your Turn

I think Laura Ingalls Wilder said it best…
“Just as a little thread of gold, running through a fabric, brightens the whole garment, so women’s work at home, while only the doing of little things, is just like the golden gleam of sunlight that runs through and brightens the whole fabric of civilization.”

The proven, simple, and effective skills you need to transform your house into a home are all waiting for you in the Ultimate Homemaking Bundle.

This is your chance to get all the love, support, guidance and inspiration you need to nurture the beauty and productivity in your home and family relationships with proven, simple, and effective tools that really give you a boost as a homemaker.

But time is running out! The Ultimate Homemaking Bundle will only be available from 8:00 a.m. EST on Monday, April 20 until 11:59 p.m. EST on Monday, April 27.

Click here for more info or to buy now:

Enjoy your Bundle and Happy Homemaking!

(Want to read the fine print about this bundle?

Need answers to frequently asked questions about the bundle?)

4 Simple Steps to Stress-Free Homemaking

noreply@blogger.com (Heidi S.) — Tue, 14 Apr 2015 04:34:00 +0000

Hey, overworked momma. Are you feeling stressed-out in your homemaking? Need a little hope and help? Check out this free eCourse: 4 Simple Steps to Stress-Free Homemaking!

Check out all the information about this FREE mini eCourse below, or you can go ahead and grab immediate access here!

But hurry, because this free eCourse is available this week only! The deal expires Monday, April 20 at 8:00 a.m. EST!

Can't quite climb to the top of Mt. St. Laundry? (Or even find a clean pair of socks?) We've all had those weeks. (Months. Years.)

It's time to make dinner but you can't find the counters or get to the sink? I feel ya, overwhelmed mom. I've been there, too.

Are you exhausted or frazzled when the day ends...and again before the next one even begins?

I'm here to tell you that it doesn't have to be this way! You do not want to miss this FREE 4-part mini eCourse that is available for a limited time: 4 Simple Steps to Stress-Free Homemaking!

Control My Spin’s Holly Dvorak, a popular speaker and home management coach, and her long-time homemaking mentee, Erin Odom, of The Humbled Homemaker, have put together this eCourse to help curb homemaking overwhelm and give you the tools you need to run your home like a well-oiled machine.

WHAT WILL I LEARN?

*How to never get behind on laundry again
*How to wake up each day to a sparkling clean kitchen
*How to avoid the 5 ‘o’clock scramble with a super simple meal planning method
*How to set yourself up for success with a quick nighttime routine.

4 Simple Steps to Stress-Free Homemaking will not take you long to complete, but what you learn through it can totally revolutionize your home.

WHAT COMES WITH THIS ECOURSE?
*Four videos: These videos are all less than 10 minutes long, so it won’t take up a lot of time to watch them. But they each pack a punch!

*Four printable worksheets: We don’t want to just leave you with the teaching; we want you to brainstorm ways to implement it in your life!
*

FREE REWARDS by sharing this FREE eCourse with your friends as well!

WHAT REWARDS WILL I EARN?

*Share this FREE eCourse with 1 friend to get $5 off the 2015 Ultimate Homemaking Bundle! This year’s sale starts next Monday, April 20!

*Share this FREE eCourse with 5 friends to get a FREE 1-year magazine subscription!

*Share this FREE eCourse with 10 friends to get the 2015 Ultimate Homemaking Bundle for absolutely FREE!

So what are you waiting for? Go grab a cuppa and watch the first segment right now (or when the kiddos go to bed ;) Today could be the first of better homemaking days ahead!

(P.S. Stay tuned for more info on the 2015 Ultimate Homemaking Bundle... It's an amazing sale this year!)

March-Off-Grid: A Year in Review

noreply@blogger.com (Heidi S.) — Thu, 09 Apr 2015 10:00:00 +0000

"From you have I been absent in the spring,

When proud-pied April, dressed in all his trim,

Hath put a spirit of youth in everything,
That heavy Saturn laughed and leaped with him.”

Sonnet XCVIII - William Shakespeare

It used to be that March was only on my radar because I was (am?) kind of crazy-into college basketball. Madness. Guilty as charged. But these latter days, March has taken on a much deeper meaning in our house.

You see, we're moving our family's life in an off-off grid direction. (No, that second "off" wasn't a typo. Keep reading.) Our family has been inching toward more provident living (that's self-sufficiency with less emphasis on "self" and more on "God") for about 12 years now, in teensy-tiny baby steps.

Last March, we felt called to really, finally, and completely take the plunge into homesteading. Stop talking. Start doing. A lot of this was due to our reading (and discussing again and again and again) Michael Bunker's book Surviving Off Off-Grid: Decolonizing the Industrial Mind. Get yourself a copy, friend. Soak up the off-griddy goodness. It seemed apt that March - the name itself imbued with the sense of getting off one's bum and moving toward something better, toward greener pastures- was the perfect time to take steps, even if they were teensy-tiny baby steps, toward the life we are desperate to lead: a life that is simple and intentional and separate from "the system" and self-reliant (inasmuch as we can be, acknowledging that all our self-reliance is really God-reliance.)

So for that month, we decided to dedicate every day to do something to move us toward our goal - even if that something was just an intellectual exercise. And we shared it with a friend who shared with with the world: You can read about last year's March Off Grid at the Beyond Off Grid Blog, or on the March Off Grid Facebook page.

A lot of folks have asked us about it (and it always reminds me a bit of John Lennon's Happy Xmas song): It's been a year and what have you done?

Without further ado, I bring you the monthly play-by-play for our March Off-Grid -- Our homesteading year in review.

APRIL, 2014:

We were really excited to keep the momentum going and we were bound and determined that, Lord willing, we would get the house ready for a late spring sale and be moving to our homestead -- some homestead -- in the summer. So our April was filled with fixer-upper projects on the home and property, like cleaning out the barn, scrubbing the outside of the house (our tiny piece of Ohio attracts green house-moss like an Oregon rain forest), clearing trails in the woods around our house and laying straw on those trails. We also stepped up our minimalism, working on getting rid of unneeded things we had collected in the four years in that property.

Reading list: You Can Farm: The Entrepreneur's Guide to Start & Succeed in a Farming Enterprise ; At Home in Dogwood Mudhole, Volume One: Nothing that Eats ; Barnheart: The Incurable Longing for a Farm of One's Own

MAY, 2014:

We stepped up our homestead search in earnest. This isn't the easiest thing in the world to do with seven children in tow (and one more that I was towing in utero), so sometimes Jason would go look at a property alone or with the realtor and then we would go to a second viewing. Gone were the days of urban house-hunting where we could check out 6 homes in an afternoon. We covered lots of miles in every direction to check out potential properties. My heavy-with-child help often came in the form of hours and hours of internet searches. I can now manipulate (with ease!) the county auditor's property web databases for most of Southern Ohio. This is a skill I will use... probably never again. :)

Reading List: Wick - The Omnibus Edition ; How to Grow More Vegetables (and Fruits, Nuts, Berries, Grains, and Other Crops) Than You Ever Thought Possible on Less Land Than You Can Imagine ; One-Woman Farm: My Life Shared with Sheep, Pigs, Chickens, Goats, and a Fine Fiddle

JUNE, 2014:

We found our homestead! Lots and lots of work ahead. Now to quickly finish up our homeschool year. (Up to this point in our educational journey we had schooled year-round, but we decided that to dedicate ourselves to homesteading meant we would simply need more hours and hands in the summer, so we rounded out the year and had our first. ever. summer. vacation!)

We continued to get rid of unneeded possessions, mostly so we would have room to buy homesteading tools. The simple life -- well, it kind of takes a lot of STUFF, and that STUFF isn't STUFF we had need of before. Henceforth, I shall call the stuff TOOLS, which makes their purchase seem more intentional and less cluttery. Jason bought a chainsaw, which is like Christmas every day for him. He's happiest when he's out there cutting wood. It's sort of Zen, I think, if he was the type to believe in Zen (which he's not.)

Reading List: Family Friendly Farming: A Multi-Generational Home-Based Business Testament ; Born-Again Dirt: Farming to the Glory of God

JULY, 2014:

Closing and move-in day, at long last. We had tons of fun playing musical chairs with all the large pieces of furniture. This is the dining room. (Move the table and chairs.) No, this is. (Move the table and chairs.) No, THIS is. (Move the table and chairs.) It would be so helpful if there was a special font for sarcasm.

General unpacking and clearing out areas near the house ensued. The property was very well-loved by the previous owners, who treated all creatures, great and small, with loving kindness. In other words, we had to "convince" the huge raccoon family to move on, and we had to overcome large colonies of spiders and flying ants in the house. Good times.

Reading List: Natural Homestead: 40+ Recipes for Natural Critters & Crops ; The Backyard Homestead Guide to Raising Farm Animals: Choose the Best Breeds for Small-Space Farming, Produce Your Own Grass-Fed Meat, Gather Fresh Eggs, ... Rabbits, Goats, Sheep, Pigs, Cattle, & Bees

AUGUST, 2014:

The men-folk picked up our winter's worth of cord wood and began stacking, stacking, stacking. They also cleared a lot of dense growth from the woods nearest the house. Inside, we got an off-grid grain mill. Got rid of lots of on-grid things, so we could buy more off-grid things. Consumerism. Sigh.

The men-folk ripped up the living room carpet, because that is what we use for a dining room, and well, white carpet and toddler are archenemies. This is a well-known fact. Beautiful wood flooring was installed, and a rocking chair in the corner next to the wood stove. (In a few months, this "hot seat" becomes the most coveted spot in the house.)

We also got a beautiful baby girl and I got really exhausted.

Reading List: At Home in Dogwood Mudhole, Volume 2: Best Thing We Ever Did ; Homemade Living: Home Dairy with Ashley English: All You Need to Know to Make Cheese, Yogurt, Butter & More ; Keeping A Family Cow

SEPTEMBER, 2014:

This month brought a lot of excitement to the homestead as quite a few HUGE trees very close (or overhanging) the house had to come down. It was too big (read:unsafe) for us to do ourselves with little experience, so we hired a crew for the cutting. That was fun and excitement for a few days, to be sure, safe behind the glass.

My men-folk began making trips back and forth to the horse farm that aligns our property, as the owner generously offered us all the composted manure a girl could wish for. We also geared back up for a new homeschool year, although in the pioneer tradition of the past, when Pa announces it's a work day we drop school and line up to receive our detail. (This was hard for me to swallow at first, having been a ~~dictatorial~~ schedule-oriented homeschool mom for so many years, but I'm actually really loving it. There is always a rainy day around the corner to get caught up on history reading. Always. This is Ohio, after all.

We also picked up 895 pounds worth of bulk organic basics for our pantry. Teenage boys, y'all. This involved creating an inventory and learning how to properly store bulk goods, and I became a food-grade bucket finding ninja. Hy-yah!

Reading List: Survival Pantry for Beginners: The Definitive Survival Guide for Food Storage, Water Storage, Canning, and Preserving for Emergencies (Practical Preppers) ; Real Food Storage (with Excel worksheets) ; City Preppers: How to Build Your Pantry and Develop the Skills You Need to Survive

OCTOBER, 2014:

My brilliant husband sold off some of the walnut trees that were cut last month, which paid for the tree crew. So more big trucks on the homestead. Presently, the men-folk spend every available moment cutting, splitting, and stacking wood, as this will be our first winter heating with wood. Jason learned to clean the chimney and use the indoor wood stove (which had been converted from a coal-burning stove, had a lot of moving parts, yet had no instruction manual). The soundtrack to October would be something with a fast-moving fiddle and a lot of chainsaw in the background. Speaking of chainsaws, Jason got another one. Merry Christmas, Babe.

Personally, I joined the Traditional Cooking School at GNOWFGLINS, and began an Essential Oils course from Vintage Remedies.

Reading List: Root Cellaring: Natural Cold Storage of Fruits & Vegetables ; The Winter Harvest Handbook: Year Round Vegetable Production Using Deep Organic Techniques and Unheated Greenhouses ; Ten Acres Enough: The Classic 1864 Guide to Independent Farming; The Survival Medicine Handbook: A guide for when help is NOT on the way

NOVEMBER, 2014:

"How much Wood would a Wood Schaap cut if a Wood Schaap could cut Wood?" Cue the chainsaw buzz and the thump of axes. Even the seven-year old is handy with a half-size axe, and the older boys are now requesting things like mauls and wedges for Christmas. It brings joy to this homesteading momma's heart!

We began burning the wood this month, which meant hauling it in from the Holz Hausen "beehive" stacks they built earlier in the fall. The prior owners added a lovely screened in porch "for company" on the back, and we turned it into a lovely facility "for wood storage".

Jason, our eldest son and I all mastered the art of using the wood stove. When I say "art", I mean it. I had no idea it took so much thinking and timing to get a good burn going, not wasting wood, nor hot air, nor burning down the house.

Reading list: Modern Rustic - Small Game and Bird Hunting: A Basic Primer for Adding Game Meat to Your Freezer and Table ; The Harrowsmith Country Life Guide to Wood Heat ; The Backyard Lumberjack

DECEMBER, 2014:

Not too much we could do outside in December, apart from lots of romps in the snow and sledding down Caesar Creek Dam. And shoveling. So much shoveling. It's a strange time - I've always loved winter, but this year I was very anxious for warmer weather to come, as it meant getting back outside and PROJECTS. Always lots of projects.

I researched various methods for doing off-grid laundry, and Jason gifted me with a laundry plunger, which I use for small batches. I am still coveting a James Washer for outside use in warmer weather. We'll see. We installed a laundry line in front of the wood stove and can move two laundry loads a day through it when it's really cold outside.
Meanwhile, I'm still working through my personal courses, and I'm learning how to Knook - a cross between knitting and crocheting - because my fingers need to keep busy while they're not digging in the dirt.

We also pushed through homeschool double-time, and enjoyed three feast days. December is always such a wonderful month.

Reading list: Plowing with Pigs and Other Creative, Low-Budget Homesteading Solutions ; The Five-Year Guide to Self-Sufficiency ; Grow Your Own Groceries DVD Series

JANUARY, 2015:

Oh! Seed catalogs! What a wonderful glimpse of spring, even in the dark, cold days of winter. We begin planning the actual garden. Mouths watering, imaginations soaring!

Happy New Year and a Flash Sale!

noreply@blogger.com (Heidi S.) — Thu, 08 Jan 2015 16:51:00 +0000

Happy New Year, Bootcampers! My family of ten has had a bit of a rough start, recovering from influenza just before Christmas, and then being hit with another fever-laden virus just after New Year's Day. We are on the mend, though, and finally getting busy with deep cleaning the house and preparing for a new homeschool year.

Do you feel renewed by the replacing of the calendar? Or do you feel overwhelmed? Maybe one of your New Year's resolutions was to organize your schedule, or simplify your household, or make this the year you finally get on top of the stuff of life - whether the literal "stuff": maybe counter clutter or an overflowing closet - or perhaps the stuff of daily life: finally getting on top of menu planning, conquering Mt. St. Laundry, and tackling crunchy carpets galore.

If you haven't picked up a copy of Bootcamp for Lousy Housekeepers yet, today's a great day to do it! The book is still on sale through January 10. Kindle copies are available at Amazon for $3.99, or you can get a real hands-on copy at Lulu for 25% off today only- January 8. Just use promo code FLASHY15.

Even if you've already picked up a copy for yourself, would you do me a favor and share these links with your friends? I don't put the book on sale too often, but I want everyone who might be interested to know when I do!

Get your Kindle copy here: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00ICMYRES
Get your coil-bound copy here: http://www.lulu.com/shop/heidi-schaap/bootcamp-for-lousy-housekeepers-coil-bound-edition/paperback/product-18163806.html

I hope your 2015 brings you lots of joy and satisfaction. I pray that Bootcamp for Lousy Housekeepers brings you a little peace and order -- let me know if I can help you in any way!

Grab Your Bundle Before It's Too Late!

noreply@blogger.com (Heidi S.) — Sun, 27 Apr 2014 19:27:00 +0000

Hello, Bootcampers! I hope and pray that you are having a GLORIOUS Sunday!

First, I wanted to say THANK YOU to those who have already purchased their Ultimate Homemaking Bundle. I am SURE you are as thrilled with it as I am!

To my friends who are still hemming and hawing a bit, I'm acting as your alarm clock. BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! Time is almost up! This sale is only good through Monday, April 28. (That's TOMORROW!) There will be no reprisals. Once it's done, it's done!

I know y'all are on a budget, just like me. That's why I love this bundle. My readers can buy a package of 80+ eBooks and Resources (plus over $200 worth of free bonuses!) for under $30 (or under $40 if you'd rather have all your books for Kindle, like I would.)

I know that many of y'all are just like me, and can't bear to spend money on yourself. So I wanted to let you know a few ways to make the deal even sweeter.

1. Did you know you can buy 3 bundles for the price of 2? This is a wonderful way to stretch your dollar EVEN FURTHER and share the savings with a friend or gift them! (Mother's Day is coming up and I know my Mom would love these books!) Going in on the deal with a friends and buying 3 for the price of 2 means you and 2 friends would each spend around $10 for 80+ books. Can you imagine??

2. Another way to lower the cost is to split the cost with a friend and divvy up the books between the two of you.

Are you ready to purchase your bundle? Click on one of the links below!

But maybe you'd like to take another look at what you'll be getting first! Look at all these AMAZING books and resources!

Did that convince you? I thought it might! This is the deal of the year in the Homemaking community, and it only happens once a year! After tomorrow, it will be a loooong wait till next year's bundle!

Oh, one more (kinda) important detail:

I am an affiliate for The Ultimate Homemaking Bundle which means that for each sale I will earn a small commission. My earnings - 100% of them - will go toward my family's upcoming purchase of an off-grid homestead - our life's dream and my heart's desire! (Want to read more about our off-grid journey? You can do so HERE!) So thank you in advance for purchasing this bundle through me via the links on this site! You're making this plain girl's dream come true!!

E-mail me with any questions you might have! And enjoy your new books!

Are You Ready to Feather Your Nest This Spring?

noreply@blogger.com (Heidi S.) — Tue, 15 Apr 2014 20:23:00 +0000

Hey Y'all!
Have you seen all the bundle sales lately? I know I have. I've even thought about posting some of them, then life got in the way. But I absolutely must tell you about this one. If you're like me, and the new shades of green outside, the open windows, and the birds singing MOTIVATES you to start getting things done, you'll want to hear about this bundle!

The Ultimate Homemaking Bundle doesn’t launch until next Wednesday (which is still 8 days away) but I wanted to give you a heads up - fair warning - check your change purse - kind of alert. :)

What you get:

Here’s the basic gist: You'll get over 80 books, printable resources and products for just $29.97 (or $39.95 for Kindle versions). Plus, 10 amazing bonuses. There's only ONE catch! The sale runs only from Wednesday, April 23 through Monday, April 28th. And then the deal is gone.

I'm afraid I'm sworn to secrecy until the sale opens - I can't tell you the exact books you'll get until then. But I can tell you that the books will cover important topics like:

Homemaking
Pregnancy and Babies
Motherhood
Homeschooling
Health and Wellness
Holidays
Healthy Eating
Self-Care
Home-Employment and Blogging
Marriage
Financial Stewardship, and
Faith

It is going to be soooo good.

Listen, I know even 30 bucks seems like a lot for some digital books. I get it, I do. I hem and haw when a book I'd like goes on sale for $6 or $7 in the Kindle store. I'm on a budget, big time, like a lot of you. And what if you don't like/want/need some of the books? Isn't that a waste? It might seem so, until you think about how much these books from the Ultimate Homemaking Bundle would cost if you purchased them separately. OVER $850! WHOA!

In a few days, I'll be coming back to tell you about a few of the books that are part of the package (and why I love them!) and of course, I'll remind you that you're able to buy! I know I'm really excited to buy my own Ultimate Homemaking Bundle package, because it's the only way I could ever purchase this many amazing books for this low price - almost 95% off!

Oh, one more (kinda) important detail:

I am an affiliate for The Ultimate Homemaking Bundle which means that for each sale I will earn a small commission. My earnings help support my family in our search for an off-grid homestead, and help keep Bootcamp for Lousy Housekeepers up and running. So thank you in advance for purchasing this bundle through me via the links on this site starting April 23!

.

Laundry Day Project - Super Laundry Sauce Success!

noreply@blogger.com (Heidi S.) — Mon, 14 Apr 2014 20:05:00 +0000

Today is Laundry Day! We had some beautiful weather over the weekend, breezy and warm, and we were able to hang laundry out on the line, which is such a treat compared to cranking up the dryer. Fresh-dried laundry is simply superior to electric-dried, in my ever-so-humble opinion. :)

Of course, today - Monday - Laundry Day, a cold front has moved in, it is raining buckets, and tonight it’s supposed to dump an inch of snow. Hello, spring! So we’re back in the laundry room, doing our work.

One of the projects I did today was make some more homemade laundry soap. For years, we used the standard homemade gel recipe, or one of its variations. Then I saw this interesting looking pin on Pinterest

Photo (and recipe) courtesy
of Liss Burnell, Budget101.com

a few months ago and decided to give it a go, if only to save space. (For this family of almost 10, (plus animals,) we had to store our homemade laundry soap in a mega-sized frosting bucket we got from the Kroger bakery. The new recipe contains the same ingredients, but in a highly concentrated form so that the same number of loads fits in a few quart-sized mason jars. I love Pinterest for inspiration, and this project didn’t let me down. It was a complete success. The soap whipped up beautifully, and a tiny bit works very well. (Want to see some more of my Laundry-licious pins on Pinterest? Check them out! And be sure to follow me so you can see all my fun new pins every day!)

Still, I have a few notes for whomever decides to whip up this recipe:
First, feel free to add essential oils if you like your laundry to have a scent. There are SO many to choose from, and with multi-level marketing being all the rage, I’m sure you can find a friend who sells some. If you’re only using oils for laundry purposes, you could probably find some at the local health food store, or a cheaper brand on Amazon.

Second, the instructions encourage you to use a regular-mouthed mason jar and attach it directly to your blender. This was so exciting to me, not just for making laundry soap, but I thought of all the things I might be able to blend without dumping them into a blender (such as butter). Providentially, my blender’s rubber sealing ring had gone missing a few weeks before, and I had ordered a 2-pack replacement that showed up the day before. I say “providentially” because when I attached the blender to the jar in the way shown, it immediately sucked the sealing ring into the blender and shredded it. I was able to pick the pieces out, but needless to say, I won’t be trying that again. If you feel brave (and have a spare ring), you could try it with a jar of water first. I don’t suggest trying it the first time with soap. However, it works very wells to scrape the soap into a blender. It’s SOAP, after all, so it washes out very quickly. Or, an immersion blender would work well, too, if you own one.

Third, keep your soap covered. If your beautiful nine-year old is in charge of the laundry and she leaves the soap jar open, the top layer will dry out completely. Ask me how I know.

Fourth, if any of your children (or your husband) ever help out with the laundry, make sure they know how VERY little it takes! It turns out my darling son was using two big scoops to wash the boys' linens because he thought it was the same recipe as the former soap. Yikes!! Tape a label to the jar and keep a tablespoon next to it. (Seriously, a tablespoon is all it takes!!)

Finally, once you’re comfortable with the process, make it in bulk! It takes up so little room and really, melting four (or eight) bars of soap takes the same little time that it takes to melt one. For our large family, one batch lasts about a month and a half. That's only eight batches a year! (For those frugal mamas out there, like me, that's under $30 and less than two hours of work for a YEAR'S WORTH of LAUNDRY SOAP!) For the summer, I intend to switch out one or two of the Fels Naptha bars in a bulk batch and replace it with Zote, which contains citronella oil. Besides smelling lovely, it also keeps away mosquitoes and chiggers. (Now that’s laundry soap I can get behind!)

Have any of you tried this recipe and loved it (or hated it?) What other tips do you have for making Laundry Day go smoothly? Let’s chat!

(Laundry Day - What's That? and all your homekeeping questions are answered in my book, Bootcamp for Lousy Housekeepers, now available for Kindle. Go download yours today!)

Worksheets, Re-Re-Loaded!

noreply@blogger.com (Heidi S.) — Sun, 06 Apr 2014 01:16:00 +0000

Well, it was brilliant in theory. I did a bunch of googling and found that an "easy" way to put .pdf's on a Blogger blog is to build a simple Wordpress blog, and link my .pdf's through it. Except, apparently, not being used to blogging in Wordpress, I had the settings marked to private. Can I blame our family's month-long sickness and the mama-sleep-deprivation that goes with it? My pregnancy brain? Anything? :) The worksheets are available HERE.

It should be fixed now. I would LOVE comments from those who ARE ABLE to download the worksheets, as well as any who still cannot. I really do want to share these free goodies with my Bootcampers! I really hope it's working for everyone now. Talk to me!

Some "Bug" Fixes -- Making it Easier for You to Download Worksheets!

noreply@blogger.com (Heidi S.) — Thu, 27 Mar 2014 16:47:00 +0000

Over the last few weeks, I've had a number of dear Bootcampers email me to say they were having trouble accessing the worksheets via the Google Docs site. I think I have found a solution, and I'm reposting the worksheets HERE so you can download them as needed.

I don't have a designer or a blog team working for me - I'm just a homemaker and homeschool mom to many littles, so I appreciate your being patient with me as I work through these issues and try to get you what you need to succeed in transforming YOUR homes from messed to blessed!

Please leave a comment if it works - or doesn't - and I'll make adjustments as I get a chance.

Have a blessed weekend!

Bootcamp Worksheets, Reloaded

noreply@blogger.com (Heidi S.) — Thu, 27 Mar 2014 16:01:00 +0000

Here are the worksheets that correspond to the Kindle version of Bootcamp for Lousy Housekeepers. I hope they are a blessing to you!

Daily Maintenance Block - Evening

Daily Maintenance Block - Afternoon

Daily Maintenance Block - Midday

Daily Maintenance Block - Morning

Daily Focus Area - Cleaning (Weekly)

Daily Focus Area- Office

Daily Focus Area-Kitchen

Daily Focus Area-Town Day

Daily Focus Area-Laundry

Daily Focus Area- Garden (Weekly)

Monthly Focus Area - Cleaning (Weekly)

Daily Focus Prep - The Lord's Day

Monthly or Yearly Focus Area - Garden

Freezer Inventory

Master Shopping List

Weekly Shopping List (Perishables)

Monthly Preparation Worksheet

Monthly Menu Planning

Children's Chore Worksheets

Area Standards Worksheet - Common

Area Standards Worksheet - Child's Room

FEMA - Red Day

FEMA - Yellow Day