home management – Treasuring Home

August 2025 ~ Apple Butter; Farmer’s Market; Thrifting; A Baby Quilt!

Published on August 24, 2025August 24, 2025 by JenniferLeave a comment

I’m making apple butter! I pulled out the canning supplies for the first time in years, scrounged up some jars from hither and yon, and heated up the kitchen (albeit during a fierce wave of heat and humidity–if a heat wave can actually last months.)

I first used the McIntosh apples from our backyard tree. It produced like crazy this year and the fruit was ready early. Then I acquired two buckets of Golden Delicious, which I am now processing. They are soft, so easy to cut up with the apple corer, and they cook up so nicely for apple butter. For the Golden Delicious, I have boiled the apple butter down a little more on the stove, after the crock pot cooking was done, for a thicker finished product.

Apple butter made in the crock pot is amazing—smells wonderful, tastes delicious, and Steve has been very appreciate of it. On a biscuit or raisin toast… yum. No need to even peel the apples during the process.

I used my immersion blender {affiliate link} to blend it up after cooking, and an apple slicer {affiliate link} has been marvelous, especially for the Golden Delicious which I mentioned are quite soft.

Farmer’s Market
I’m hoping to sell some jars of apple butter at the Farmer’s Market in a few weeks, too. Since my last post —a Farmer’s Market has appeared in our town! My mom is hosting it every Saturday morning. During the last several weeks of summer, the girls baked items for it every week. Micah sold lemonade (a dream come true for him!) and homemade mint iced tea.

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July 2025 ~ Being there; Gifts for Dads; Projects on the farm; Pumpkin patch and more…

Published on July 12, 2025July 12, 2025 by JenniferLeave a comment

This was supposed to be a June post, but it has now become a July post. Somehow we always have too much going on around here, but as Steve said recently, “That’s just how we roll.”

It’s good to remember that your own crazy life will look a little different (or maybe a lot different) from anyone else’s. God isn’t in the comparison business; He knows you, and He made you and your family unique.

So here are my ponderings and ideas for this month (updated from June to July!), along with a few happenings, for whatever they’re worth!

Thinking: The Gift of Being There

I hear the door open and a family member enters the house. I may be in the kitchen cooking, or in the back room folding laundry, or working at my desk. After a few moments I inevitably hear the words, “Where’s Mom?” And I call back, “I’m in here!”

My husband or big kid comes to chat for a few minutes about wherever they’ve been, or whatever they are doing next. What a gift it is to be able to simply be there, to be a grounding presence in the lives of my people.

As women we may often feel inadequate. We may not always know what advice to give or how to respond to various situations, but let’s remind ourselves that just being there, lending a listening ear when needed, and providing a steady foundation goes a long, long way.

Gifting: Two gift ideas for Dads

Alas, Father’s Day is over for this year, but dads also have birthdays and may need a few Christmas gifts… so here are two items you may want to consider.

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April 2025 – Quiche; Child-raising; My new favorite soap… and more

Published on April 14, 2025 by JenniferLeave a comment

Cooking: Quiche

With all our farm eggs, I decided to make quiche recently. This easy recipe turned out to be delicious (I didn’t put any veggies in it, this time). I used frozen pie crusts and it came together in literally minutes.

Happenings: Grandparents’ Day

Grandparents’ Day at the children’s school was a special, heart-warming occasion. As I observed all the grandparents with the grandchildren, and heard the memories and “favorite things” shared by the children, it made me think about this role in new ways. (Food was mentioned most frequently of all.)

Toby, Olivia, Annalise, Micah, with my Mom (Grandma). It was so special having her there.

Here’s my grandbaby… look how big she is already! ~Little Miss Autumn~

Thinking & Growing: The Journey of Child-Raising

Each child truly is an individual for whom God has a plan, a unique path.

As parents we have the trick of at first choosing for them, then guiding them, then eventually seeing them take flight to chart their own course, all while praying and providing advice and feedback along the way. It’s a process of relinquishing control.

There is no box; no magic formula. Although we can’t be certain of the outcome, we can be certain that God will push us out of our comfort zone(s) in parenting, in ways we never expected.

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March 2025 ~ Daily List, Easy Menu, Gift Idea, Thinking & Growing…

Published on March 17, 2025March 17, 2025 by JenniferLeave a comment

At our house we have had kids playing outside, and laundry hanging on the line! It’s been a whole new world after a long a bitterly cold winter. These warm early spring days can be some of the most enjoyable days of the year, when your skin remembers what it feels like to have sunshine soaking into it.

Thanks to Annalise for the amazing action shot!

Daily Planning & List-Making

I love my daily list. In my early years of homemaking, I used those narrow little $1 notepads. Oh for the days when all my tasks could fit so neatly into such a slim space!

Then I upgraded to a journal size, then a school notebook size, and then I recently found my ultimate dream in list-making… what is called an “Organizing Notebook” and is actually 9.5 x 11.5! It allows me to have a little more “margin in my days” literally, haha. I found it at Staples and hope to have such good fortune the next time I need a new notebook.

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February 2025 ~ Soup Recipe, Parenting Pre-Teens, Chickens & Eggs…

Published on February 16, 2025 by JenniferLeave a comment

Eight short sections this month!

A Meal We Love ~ Ground Beef Vegetable Soup

I have probably made this soup recipe more than any other. I love making it in the winter with fresh rolls. It’s simple and adaptable, and it makes great use of those frozen garden tomatoes. (This summer I will have to share about the no-fail, simplest-ever method for freezing tomatoes.)

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Happy New Year! – Patchwork Post {January 2022}

Published on January 2, 2022 by JenniferLeave a comment

Hi dear ladies, congrats on making it to January. We can all take a deep breath and also take a minute to realize what we’ve accomplished. We’ve navigated another holiday season. Although it was done imperfectly, the fact remains that we served our families to the best of our abilities, did all the shopping, choosing, planning, decorating, cooking, wrapping, sizing, baking… and all the other things. God is gracious to give us such a reason to celebrate and the strength to make it special for our dear ones.

The last link of the Christmas countdown chain!

You can read our family Christmas Update 2021, here.

Just two things have been on my heart for the year ahead.

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Patchwork Post {September 2021}

Published on September 1, 2021 by Jennifer3 Comments

So much to share! I’m popping in with some various links, ideas, and news!

Rise and Worship Album

We’ve listened to this album countless times since Joshua brought it to our attention early this year. Refreshing, convicting, artfully done, worshipful, Christ-honoring. I want to fill our home with this kind of soul food.

An idea for children’s artwork

Children go through (sometimes lengthy) stages of wanting to create various types of art. What to do with all the masterpieces? You hate to throw them away, but can’t line all your walls with coloring pages held up by painter’s tape, either. (Side note: Painter’s tape does work well for temporarily hanging art work.)

I have ended up stashing the artwork papers in a “file” (using that term very loosely) and then going back to the collection on various occasions. Does someone need a letter sent to them in the mail? Or a birthday card? Do big brothers need a care package? We pull out the stash and look through. Such cries of delight as my young ones find treasures they had forgotten about. They select the perfect one, we write some words on it, and voila! Ready to go! Now to gather up the artwork spread out all over the floor…

History Recommendation
In my February Patchwork Post, I recommended a history book. Unfortunately, I will have to retract that recommendation, since the denominational and doctrinal ideas ended up being just too distracting from the history we were setting out to learn.

Now THAT’S a fish!
Sammy has been fishing as much as he possibly can, lately. Here’s a 4 pound bass he caught while out with his Uncle Tim. (Uncle Tims are just the best. Everybody needs one– and we are blessed with one on each side of the family!)

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Sharing the gospel with our children through family devotions

Published on June 30, 2021 by Jennifer1 Comment

Q: I am taking a look and considering our schedules at home in light of promoting the gospel to our children. I was wondering what a typical day/schedule/routine looks like for you in summer and school year. 🙂 I know it sounds like a strange request, but I was curious seeing what you do…also especially curious on how you approach devotions with the kids.

A: Promoting the gospel to our children takes so many forms as it interweaves itself into our family life. All of Christ for all of life… a phrase that says so much (not original with me). But specifically for this post– family devotions! (I will try to answer the daily schedule question in another post… my answer to the devotions part is long enough for one post!)

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Fun Stuff We Love {June 2021}

Published on June 10, 2021June 11, 2021 by JenniferLeave a comment

Not just four products to share this time, but six!

From Jennifer: I love these microfiber cleaning cloths from Walmart. They are only 98 cents for two. These microfiber cloths are great for cleaning pretty much anything. The BEST thing about them is they can be used to clean windows. This was a revelation to me recently. No more wasting paper towels on windows. Window cleaner is also optional. A damp/wet microfiber cloth followed by a dry microfiber will clean the glass just fine! 😱 How did I not know this sooner?

I recently discovered these bags. They are perfect for storing a loaf of homemade bread (which don’t really fit well in a ziplock bag). Also much cheaper than ziplocks. I got them to make up some goodie bags for an event and they worked well for that too. I always feel bad about throwing away ziplocks and so I try to wash them and keep them. These are more of a use and throw away type of item. Also good for keeping leftovers, etc.

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Fun Stuff We Love {February 2021}

Published on February 28, 2021 by Jennifer2 Comments

Before this month completely gets away from us, here we are with the second edition of our product share feature!

From Jennifer:

We use this rice cooker all the time. We eat quite a bit of rice and it used to be that the rice would so easily burn when being cooked on the stove. Now it never burns, which is the best part of using a rice cooker. It also has some convenient settings such as a delay start option. I have made different types of rice in it, and all has turned out well. Read the instructions carefully, because the measurement for the rice is a little different than you might expect. The only thing I don’t like is that, when cooking the rice, it doesn’t tell you how much time is left until it gets down to 10 minutes, and then it gives you a countdown. It usually takes about 40 minutes to make a batch. It will keep the rice warm and ready to eat for hours, if you need to cook the rice ahead of time.

From Beka:

I absolutely love the milk frother whisk I got recently. I use it to blend anything in a cup, like hot chocolate or my daily greens powder. What’s amazing about this little tool is that it works wonders for mixing things that tend to be lumpy. I made homemade hot chocolate earlier, and getting the cocoa to incorporate is usually quite a challenge. I took this quick video to show you.

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