Some Random Home Making Points

I've decided on a direction for this blog. Kind of obvious, considering the first post and all, I suppose.

I always wanted to be June Cleaver's kid. My mom was not June Cleaver. My grandma kind of was, though, and she taught me all kinds of fun, useful homemaking things. Knitting and crocheting, for example. Mom baked brownies in the microwave. Grandma made pineapple upside down cake with fresh pineapples.

So, now, I have kids of my own. For some reason, it recently occurred to me that I can totally BE June Cleaver! Or, well, some version of June Cleaver, I guess. The version that wears yoga pants and owns a business outside the house, and really, really hates to iron.

But, besides those things, I can, as previously mentioned, knit and crochet. I can sew and can even follow a pattern; for the most part. I can, do and love to cook from scratch; I even bake my own bread. And one of my absolute favoritest things to do is have people over for dinner.

Look, I'll never be the chick who's ironing her napkins with heels on, or vacuuming in my pearls. But, I think I do a pretty good improvisational impression of a modern day June. Most of the time.

Confession: Despite my first post about my chic Home Management Binder, truthfully, I am a woeful housekeeper. As we speak, in fact, I am sure that my home is overrun with clutter and that the garbage needs to be taken out. Again. My darling almost one year old has most likely pulled every single DVD off the shelf on the entertainment center. And her three and a half year old sister has, undoubtedly, begun using them as frisbees. In their boxes. And, let me assure you, somewhere in my house, okay...EVERYWHERE in my house, there is dog fur.

So, I'm working on that. When I keep up with my HMB's lists, my house can stay clean for, like, an entire DAY at a time! When I'm not keeping up with them, like right now, everything gets totally overwhelming and I want to eat out a lot.

One thing that needs to be done, RIGHT AWAY, is a thorough purging of DD1's toys. She is looking forward to this, and asks me about it every day. She is very excited to share her toys with boys and girls who might not be getting much for Christmas, otherwise. The truth is, she was fighting me tooth and nail about going through her toys, until I mentioned that there are little boys and girls who sometimes don't get toys for Christmas, because they need other things, like warm coats and mittens.

Well, first she asked me to make them all pink mittens. But, after we talked about it some more, a little light went on behind her green eyes and she said "We'd be like SANTA!" Since that day, last week, she's been super excited and can't wait to bag up toys. She's started sorting them on her own, in fact. There's a small pile of mismatched stuff on her floor next to her toybox. When I asked about it, I was told, "Those are for the boys and girls, mommy!"

She's got such a beautiful soul. I wonder what this world would look like if we all approached the prospect of sharing things with others from such a place of wonder and gratitude.

And now, a small holiday gift for my readers. This is what we're having for breakfast Christmas morning. I found it online a while ago, and would gladly give credit, if I could remember where I found it.

6 eggs, beaten
10 slices of bread
1 1/2c milk
2 c grated cheddar
1/2 lb sausage
salt and pepper to taste

Brown and crumble the sausage. Drain the fat. Cut the bread into quarters. Beat the eggs and milk together with salt and pepper.

Grease up the inside of your crockpot. Layer the bread, cheese and sausage in the crockpot adn then pour the egg mixture over everything. Cook on low overnight; 8-12 hours.

Happy Holidays!