Today, I am Thankful for the Letters on My Fridge

Just a while ago, as I was cleaning the kitchen, I got incredibly angry.  While I was obviously trying to clean, Princess M was in a mad frenzy to drag every stuffed animal she owns into my living room.  Mr. C was folding towels.  The same 15 towels, mind you, that he has been "folding" for an hour now.  (He knows how to do this, and when we work together, he can do a whole load in ten minutes.)  In the midst of his folding, Princess M decided to start unfolding to wrap her babies in "blankies".  Mr. C started whining, Princess M started screaming, and me, well I was on the verge of tears because I was so incredibly frustrated.

I settled the argument and walked back into the kitchen thinking about how nice it would be to have a clean house that wasn't destroyed every morning within the first hour of waking up.  I thought about all of the things I could accomplish if I had the time I spent cleaning up after others, calming fights, and re-doing all of the chores I ask for help with.  I grabbed a rag and settled in front of the fridge.  As I did so, I silently prayed.

Lord, please give me patience with my children.  Please help me to stay calm in these trying times and remember that they are just kids, and that my house is their home too. Grant me understanding and wisdom.  Amen.

I opened my eyes, and starting pulling the letters off of the fridge.  As the it was emptied of the plastic alphabet, a sadness started to come over me.  It was blank, and it was so boring.  This struck me because so many times I have looked at these same letters on this same fridge and thought about how nice it would be for it to be organized and clear of the clutter.

How could I, the same person who just thought how nice it would be to have organization, be so sad because these clutter-causing letters were gone?  And then it hit me. 

I think God used that moment to show me that in the middle all of the chaos that is being at home with kids all day, there is a happiness that the clutter and the craziness creates as well. The sadness was because I couldn't imagine it being so blank.  Organization would mean that there were no kids there to play with those letters, no Princess to drag out all of her toys, no little boy there to help with the towels.  

A life without those letters on the fridge would be so...sad.

So today, I will be thankful for the letters on my fridge, and the chaos and the clutter and the kids that those letters represent.  I will be thankful for the hour-long towel folding sessions in my living room, and the babies wrapped in blankies all over my floors.  I'll have to work on being thankful for the screaming fits, but I'll try to appreciate them as well. 

Because one day, when the kids are grown and there's no longer the chaos and the craziness that comes with little ones, I'll have to face the sadness that comes when nothing but a blank fridge remains.  

Simple Summer Lunch

Last night, I made this

And today, I made this

Let me tell you, nothing compares to the taste of homemade bread. Except for grilled homemade bread. And grilled homemade bread with pimento cheese on it.  Oh my.  How good it was.  So good, in fact, that both kids at it.  And I might have ate two.  Maybe.  

What are you having for lunch today? 

Killing Time

The last two days I've had a little more time on my hands than usual.  I've been forced to sit back and "relax" a little.  Monday night I found myself in the ER again with getting IV steroids and fluids for another skin rash, this time on my face.  So from seven until three in the morning I found myself with not much to do, besides get stuck over and over and over and... a total of 8 times.  It doesn't seem to matter how many times you tell  a nurse that you are a hard stick, they still seem to like to give you the "oh I'm really good at this", followed by three failed sticks, and the inevitable "I'm so sorry I can usually get it, I'll find someone else."  So, in between sticks, I was able to start creating this scarf and hat set for my daughter.  I finished it today in between cleaning  up the poor princess's puke as I sat with her on the couch and we watched cartoons for the greatest part of the day.

I know it is a little out of season, but I bought some yarn on the way to the ER thinking that I just needed something to pass the time, and the scarf was quick and easy.  And I'm not real great at finishing projects, so  quick and easy is just up my alley.

The scarf was a very basic pattern of double stitches.  I got the idea off of a website, although I can't for the life of me tell you which one, and I didn't really follow the whole pattern. Basically, you just start out with a chain as long as you would like the scarf to be.  Since this was for a two year old, it wasn't terribly long.  I just wanted her to be able to wrap it around her neck at least once.  After you have a foundation chain, you work in 3 double crochet into each stitch.  When you get to the end, chain 2 and work in 2 double crochet into each stitch.  Chain 2 and work in 1 double crochet into each stitch, and then your done!  How easy is that!?!  And easy to remember too if your on the go and need something quick to do.  

The pattern for the hat can be found here.  Well, something similar anyway.  I didn't add the scalloped edge, and I added an extra row at the end.  The princess has a big head.  The flower turned out a little different as well, because I'm not sure I fully understand the concept of back post stitching.  But overall, I think it turned out pretty sweet!

So its been an interesting evening/day. But at least I feel like I accomplished something.  AND Princess M feels much better! 

So next time your looking for a project to start that can be done pretty quick and doesn't take a whole lot of concentration, try these and let me know how they turn out.  I would love to see pictures!

Happy crocheting, 

Momma Box

Trying New Things

I love to cook.  I'd say it is probably one of the things I am most passionate about, as long as the dishes are done and I can start with a clean kitchen.  Which means I don't cook every day.  Because we still don't have a dishwasher.  Meaning my kids aren't old enough to wash dishes yet.

So anyways, I tried something I've never made before last night, sweet and sour chicken with fried rice.  I'm not a going to have a job as a Chinese cook any time soon, but I will say it did turn out pretty good.  I just wish I had been smart enough to take pictures.  Fail on my part.  But, I do have the recipes that I half tried to follow, and you can click on the links below.

Sweet and Sour Chicken

Fried Rice

My only suggestion is that if you prefer a more crunchy coating on your chicken, you might want to use flour instead of the corn starch.  Or a combination of both.

Also, if you like your fried rice a little on the crunchy side, don't give up too quick if it doesn't seem right. It takes a lot longer that the recipe says to cook for to get the rice just right.  Or at least just right for our family.  

The best part of the recipe was the sweet and sour sauce.  It was dead on perfect.  So, give it a try and let me know what you think!

We've Found that Caught Up Feeling!

Eh, not really caught up, but we are getting...somewhere!  At least its starting to feel like it.  I mean, I actually have clean floors today!  And with two little ones, that says a bunch.  I've been battling some serious allergic reactions since about the start of spring, and through the many steroids and antibiotics from subsequent infections caused because of the allergic reactions, I haven't felt like doing, well, much of anything.

One of the biggest accomplishments we celebrated here at the Box household was finally filling in the rest of the garden!  It has been successfully weeded and planted to the fullest for the time being.  We are even starting to see some rewards out of our late started garden.

Isn't it pretty?  I can honestly say it is the best looking I think we have ever planted, and I'm quite proud!
You can catch more pictures of our awesome garden by following me on Instagram or Facebook.

Major Fail. Life Lessons from the Maker Himself

So, once again, I thought I had life by the horns, and our loving Savior decided to show me otherwise.  Through several very blunt and to the point reminders, He's shown us here at the Box family household that this LIFE is not ours to decide where we  live, what we do, or in what ways we shall do it.  It's been a little over 6 months and our lives have been totally flipped upside down, torn apart and had us all in tears, but we're slowly regaining our bearings, our faith is stronger than ever, and through a lot of prayer and some changed "plans", were ready to start on this Made From Scratch journey again!