umi-fashion: September 2012

Friday, September 28, 2012

Fall Fun Treats--Acorn Love

There is something about fall that make me just fall in love with acorns. They beckon me, they romance me, and cause me swoon over them in stores when I find cute decor that feature them. Just the other day I was at Hobby Lobby and found some beautiful acorns adorned with sequins, glitter and fabric that were made to be bells. I was in love! I also have been inspired by all the great ideas I have been finding lately on how to make acorn treats that I would like to eventually try, so I thought I would share some of them with you:

These acorn donuts from Family Fun are so cute and SOOO simple, just two steps! I also love how they used napkins to cut out some festive fall leaves.

This simple idea is cute too and a good idea for the children or making some for friends...

If you like brownies, you could make an acorn from that using cookies to pair them up from this gal.

Acorn pans are so cute--you can make half an acorn and frost the sides together to make a full one. Some of these pans can be expensive and the lowest I have seen them is over at Amazon.

The great thing about all of these ideas is that they are super easy and low stress. As a mom with a large family of 10 that can be a great blessing!

Oh and lest I forget...Dayspring is having a sale off of some of their cute fall tableware that have Bible verses on them:

Let there be thankfulness to God. -Ephesians 5:4

These items are on clearance (as low as $4.99) and many are half off!

You can find them here.

There is also free shipping on orders over $50.

Hope these inspire you to try some new fall fare, decorate, and create some fun memories at your home for the autumn season!

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Wednesday, September 26, 2012

Simple Fall Decorating and Wise Woman Linkup!

Yesterday I had someone ask me about how to decorate for fall on a budget. The simplest way I think to do this is using natures bounty that is all around us. I love the fall decorating ideas they have at Better Homes and Gardens like this acorn picture frame above--they keep it natural and low cost. So be sure to click on the link and get inspired! Also check out this pumpkin candle centerpiece --I love it!

Now onto our linkup:

A Wise Woman Builds Her Home is a place to be encouraged in your high and noble calling of role of wife and mother and daughter to the King and we want to encourage each and every single reader out there to build up strong Christian homes to the glory of God.

We would love for you to link up with us---share your posts on building up your home, homemaking, character, hospitality, femininity, family, tea, recipes, parenting, marriage, etc. we would love to have you share it with us!

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Tuesday, September 25, 2012

Fall Celebrations--How to Throw a Harvest Party

When the leaves dance in the wind and begin falling and that cold rush of air blows through we know that that autumn is making its grand entrance and every year we look forward to gathering up a bunch of people and celebrating with a Harvest Party at our home!

This day is special because it is fall themed---everything from the food, to the music, and the games. I am going to share what we do here so in case you are interested in doing something like this you will have some inspiration to go by.

This year we did it with our church family and had a worship service outdoors beforehand. It was lovely to celebrate with God's people and worshiping the Creator to jumpstart the day.

We plan in advance and decorate the house and outdoors with a fall theme. We decorate with pumpkins, gourds, scarecrows, candles, haybales, mums, cornstalks, and the like.

We ask people to bring to the potluck a fall dish, a fall side or fall dessert and a gallon of apple cider. We also like to serve cocoa and marshmallows as well. I usually try to make a crockpot chili and cornbread. People brought all kinds of amazing soups, and fall dishes galore. It was soooooo deliciously good. For dessert we had pumpkin pies, pecan pies, apple cobbler, taffy apples, popcorn balls, pumpkin rolls, etc.

We also told people that they were welcome to dress up in cowboy clothing such as flannel shirts, jeans, overalls, bandanas, cowboy hats, cowboy boots, etc. It is optional and up to them if they'd like to. Sometimes we just wear fall colors.

And then there were the games...

The games are SO fun! Here is a sample of what we have done over the years:

three legged races
potato sack races
wheel barrow races
pumpkin rolling contest
pumpkin relay races
throw the hula hoop over the pumpkins (a set of three a few feet away--great for small kids)
hot pumpkin (same as hot potato instead with a pumpkin)
whip cream "pie" eating contest (a piece of bubble gum is hidden in it and the one who can blow a bubble first is the winner)
apple bobbing
corn shucking races
corn doll craft
slack lining
Pumpkin, pumpkin, gourd (same as duck, duck, goose)
Hay bale jumping (this is the biggest competition that is everyone's FAVORITE)

During it all we like to play some clean country music or blue grass just to get everyone in the mood. Here is an example.

Here are some of the pictures:

Apple bobbing

Kicking off the three legged races

Pumpkin rolling relay races

Cute homemade corn husk dolls

Slack lining

Whip cream pie eating contest

Adults taking in the fun

Hay bale jumping--sometimes stacked at three bales high!

The adults even got in on the fun!

And later after that we had a bonfire going with some smores. We usually we have a good friend come out and sing some interactive country folk songs to the kids during this time but this year he had moved away and we did the smores instead.

Adults and children alike all had a grand time of fun and fellowship--I don't think I have every laughed so hard! It was also a great way to reach out to our neighbors, several of whom showed up. We can't wait to do it again next year!

What ways do you celebrate fall?

Do you have any other ideas to add?

Monday, September 24, 2012

Let the Fall Fun Begin!

Since this is the first week of fall, I am going to share some fall-themed posts this week. The picture above is one taken by my daughter of a recent picnic we went one and collected some lovely acorns for decorating our home. Me and my son, Christian picked the two above--we also like use them as math manipulatives for the younger children. They are great for playing games, tucking into glass and nesting fall candles in too.

We were even able to make the first the first homemade apple pie from apple picking. This one was made by my daughters, Naomi (14) and Joy (9) using a super easy recipe that their Nana taught us. See the heart? It was delicious! All you need is:

Apples
sugar
cinnamon
butter

and pie crust (you can either buy it or make your own)

We like to add a few layers of apples then add some sprinklings of cinnamon and sugar and dot with butter at the top before adding the crust. We put it in a 350 degree over for about an hour and voila- homemade goodness!

We also made some apple crafts out of paper tissue for school using paper plates, yard and construction paper. We decorated the dining room with them.

Last week we spent the week decorating our home for all and hosting a Harvest party which we had yesterday for our church and neighborhood. We decked out the house with scarecrows, haybales, pumpkins, cornstalks, gourds, candles and much more. It was fun and the kids all helped out to make the work light. I will do a post on this tomorrow!

Have you decorated for fall yet?

What would you like to do/experience this fall?

Friday, September 21, 2012

Discerning Women

Times have changed greatly and it is hard for a Christian woman to discern the truth in a culture that tends to blur the lines. I remember as a young Christian mom naively thinking all books in my local Christian bookstore were all trustworthy from faithful sources and saddened when I learned that false teachers were also mixed in with the bunch.

I liked these posts I came across not too long ago which reminded me of how I felt as a young Christian having to sort out what would be good influences and what I would need to be careful about.

Sarah over at Joy-Filled Days wrote:

We Need Discerning Woman

and I also found this one interesting and would like to hear your thoughts on it:

When Younger Woman are the New Titus 2 Woman

I don't agree with everything she says here ( perhaps the painting of young moms with a broad brush but maybe that has been her personal experience) but she does hit on some very good points. As a mother with an adult child, and of course my other seven, I am encouraged by women who have gone the path of raising young adults before me as this post definitely helps younger mothers to understand older women.

Do you struggle with discernment?

What do you think women struggle with most in the area?

Note: While we occasionally share links to other posts we do not always share or endorse everything on their sites.

Wednesday, September 19, 2012

Where to Invest a Child's Time and Wise Woman Linkup!

"Think long and hard about the way you invest your children's time.

Time is treasure.

And where your time investment is, there you will find the heart of a child.

Invest the majority of his time in entertainment, and his heart will be turned to love of pleasure.

Invest his time in peers rather then family, and his heart will be with the peers more than his family.

There is a time and place for all good things in balance, but wise parents will steward the treasure of time, and in so doing, shepherd their children's hearts."

-Doug Phillips

Balance is always needed when approaching the investing of time of our children--we never go wrong when we invest time in teaching them about our Lord, His Word, the character He expects from us, and His mission of loving others and sharing the gospel with them!

" But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you." -Matthew 6:33

Now onto our linkup:

A Wise Woman Builds Her Home is a place to be encouraged in your high and noble calling of role of wife and mother and daughter to the King and we want to encourage each and every single reader out there to build up strong Christian homes to the glory of God.

If you link up here please use the image below or link back to let others know that you have linked up here so that they might join in the fun and be encouraged as well:

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Monday, September 17, 2012

This is War

While this is a call to men, it moves me, pulls at my heart, and inspires me to live a holier life...

Video description:

Paul Washer unsheathes his sword and utters "This is war!" The line has been drawn in the sand. Where will you stand? "And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto death." Revelation 12:11

Friday, September 14, 2012

Do You Have a Complaining Heart?

...A murmuring mouth is particularly grieving to God because it reveals discontent in God.

Psalm 106 says that one of the reasons God made the people of Israel “fall in the wilderness” was because they “murmured in their tents” (v. 25, 26). This has serious consequences...

1. It Models Satan

The angel Lucifer was the first grumbler. The onset of his fall from heaven was a result of dissatisfaction in his position and the desire to be like God. Writes Burroughs [author of The Rare Jewel of Christian Contentment}:

“The Devil is the most discontented creature in the world, he is the proudest creature that is, and the most discontented creature, and the most dejected creature. Now, therefore, so much discontent as you have, so much of the spirit of Satan you have.”

2. It Is Contrary to Who You Are

You are a son and daughter with a heavenly Father who loves you, the deeply beloved bride of Christ, and actual members of Jesus’ body. When you bellyache and complain about every little thing, you mar your royal and treasured position.

“Are you the King’s son, the son, the daughter, of the King of Heaven, and yet so disquieted and troubled, and vexed at every little thing that happens? As if a King’s son were to cry out that he is undone for losing a toy; what an unworthy thing would this be! So do you: you cry out as if you were undone and yet are a King’s son, you who stand in such relation to God, as to a father, you dishonor your father in this; as if either he had not wisdom, or power, or mercy enough to provide for you.”

3. It Is the Opposite of Prayer

In prayer we come to God with requests and with praise and thankfulness in order to commune with him, but when we grumble, complain and murmur we essentially reverse prayer and rehearse all that we aren’t getting or all that God is not doing that we think he should be doing.

“By murmuring you undo your prayers, for it is exceedingly contrary to the prayer that you make to God. When you come to pray to God, you acknowledge his sovereignty over you, you come there to profess yourselves to be at God’s disposal.”

4. It Is Simply a Waste of Time

It accomplishes absolutely nothing. It accelerates personal stress and is downright annoying and draining to listen to.

“How many times do men and women, when they are discontented, let their thoughts run, and are musing and contriving, through their present discontentedness and let their discontented thoughts work in them for some hours together, and they spend their time in vain!”

5. It Swallows Up the Blessing of Mercy before It Arrives

If you covet a particular mercy of God (say, a big raise), when it finally comes, you won’t be thankful for it but will waste it. Coveting a blessing can turn the blessing into an idolatrous curse.

“Discontent and murmuring eats out the good and sweetness of a mercy before it comes. If God should give a mercy for the want of which we are discontented, yet the blessing of the mercy is, as it were, eaten out before we come to have it. … There are many things which you desire as your lives, and think that you would be happy if you had them, yet when they come you do not find such happiness in them, but they prove to be the greatest crosses and afflictions that you ever had, and on this ground, because your hearts were immoderately set upon them before you had them.”

6. It Worsens Sufferings and Afflictions

A murmuring attitude in the midst of affliction increases the affliction. Having a bad attitude in the midst of pleasant or mediocre circumstances poisons your heart and the hearts of others, and how much will this increase if this overwhelmingly negative spirit continues and truly difficult circumstances arrive.

“It in no way removes our afflictions, indeed, while they continue, they are a great deal the worse and heavier, for a discontented heart is a proud heart, and a proud heart will not pull down his sails when there comes a tempest and storm. If a sailor, when a tempest and storm comes, is perverse and refuses to pull down his sails, but is discontented with the storm, is his condition any better because he is discontented and will not pull down his sails? Will this help him?”

7. It Wears the Hopeless Costume of Pessimism

This simply means consistent pessimism is not in line with the sure hope and life-changing power of the gospel. There is an inherent optimism within the gospel that produces hope, love, joy, peace, etc. Positive commands like “rejoice in the Lord” and in everything “give thanks” and negative commands like “do not be anxious” and “do not grumble” all reveal that there is a gospel optimism about the Christian life that is to flavor the personality of a Christian.

By BJ Stockman drawing from The Rare Jewel of Christian Contentment

Tuesday, September 11, 2012

Trusting Him & Wise Woman Linkup!

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding, in allyour ways acknowledge Him and He will make your paths straight."

Proverbs 3:5-6

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Confused Parenting

There is a trend in America today that is ever increasing and being promoted from magazines, books, and TV shows that we need to be aware of --it is a form of parenting that hinders a child instead of helps a child to reach his maximum growth. It is a form"molly-coddling" and it needs to be addressed.

I have read some very sound books on parenting and some very bad books on parenting. The good books will stick to scripture and follow it's guidelines. The bad books are based on psychology that can be confusing and literally stunt the growth of a child.

We need to be Christian women who can discern the difference. Just because a book made it to the top 10 bestselling list or has a splashy cover does not mean it contains wisdom. It might contain wisdom of this world but not true wisdom which comes from God's truth.

Some of these books talk about how we need to talk the child through every little thing--to find out how that child "feels" and how we "feel" and how we need to allow the child to vent, do what they want and be out of control. I know there can be a time and place for talking, but that is alot different from what I read about having self control and self government in the Bible. Sometimes sin is just sin and we need to deal with our children biblically, with a firm hand of truth combined with love.

"Correct thy son, and he shall give thee rest; yea, he shall give delight unto thy soul. "

Proverbs 29:17

False methods exhaust and exasperate the children and the parents. The scripture above speak volumes of truth on parenting. His way is always perfect and right.

We need to raise up children who can do things for themselves too. Not a child who cries and whines for everything. We must understand that we can't do everything for them. When we do this we are giving them life skills that will prove to be valuable one day. These children will eventually turn into adults who cannot do things for themselves because they have been handicapped while they were younger.

We also need to teach them to serve others. Children are born with folly bound up in their heart, they feel that the world centers around them and a parent needs to step in and let them know that this is not so. We need to teach our children to having loving hands that share and give and thinks beyond themselves.

We try to do that around here by giving our children the Word of God, teaching them to serve and do jobs that help others, to serve by helping at church, and minister in our neighborhood. Now we don't do this perfectly by any means, but it is a starting point. We are laying down seeds that will grow one day and that is what matters.

Parents need to do their part. They are responsible to God.We are commanded in Scripture to raise them up in His ways---not the ways of this world. We cannot grow weary or be swayed by all kinds of false teaching.

Mothers, my prayer for you today is that you would have wisdom as you walk alongside your children ever dispensing truth, patience and mercy. Forgiving and learning along this great journey of motherhood as He molds you as a parent-- that you and your husband, together as a team, raise up godly seed for Him, and would have wisdom to discern His truths over the fallible wisdom of this world.

Saturday, September 8, 2012

The Little Things

Wednesday, September 5, 2012

Being Gracious with Our Speech

Times have changed from the old days when women were more careful and restrained with their speech. Today we are encouraged to vent and not think twice about what we say, not considering that it might hurt others. We have fallen from gracious speech to unrestrained speech unwittingly tearing down those in our path.

We need to be careful and examine out hearts before speaking. Is this building up? It this a legitimate concern? Am I accusing people without knowing the full story? Am I judging from a prideful heart?

Our words expose us for what we really are. They say when you falsely point a finger at someone, three more are pointing right back at you.

With the onset of internet access we have even more opportunity to "share" our thoughts and opinions in a split second, but it should never be done with out taking into consideration a few things.

1. Do I know the whole story?

2. Am I making assumptions of which I am unsure of?

3. Is this person having a bad day, week, or year? If they are, and I should give them the benefit of the doubt--can I extend grace?

4. Am I overly sensitive? Did I misunderstand something and fly off the handle or accuse too quickly? Am I prone to taking things wrong or handling criticism improperly?

5. Am I being a busy body putting my nose into other peoples business? I will also add, are we taking care of our own business at home?

6. Can I offer a kind word instead of a harsh one, even if I think the person deserves the latter? Is this an opportunity to build up?

7. Is what I am saying lining up with scripture? Am I honoring God with what I am saying?

Christian women should be known to have "the law of kindness of her tongue". That doesn't mean we are perfect, we will fail and are children will too (there is no one perfect except Christ), but we need to be careful that we are not jumping the gun in how we respond to others or circumstances in our life.

A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.

Proverbs 15:1

“A quick-tempered man does foolish things” Proverbs 14:17

“An angry man stirs up dissension, and a hot-tempered one commits many sins.” Proverbs 29:22

"But what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this defiles a person." Matthew 15:18

"Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry." James 1:19

"When words are many, sin is not absent, but he who holds his tongue is wise." Proverbs 10:19

**************

Grasping for Riches & Wise Woman Linkup!

"It is not what we take up,

but what we give up

that make us rich."

-Henry Ward Beecher

If you link up here please use the image below or link back to let others know that you have linked up here so that they might join in the fun and be encouraged as well:

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Monday, September 3, 2012

The "Perfect" Titus 2 Woman

The perfect Titus 2 Woman is...

not the supermom you see on the cover of mom magazines doing it all.

She is the humble woman.

The gracious woman that comes along side you.

The woman that is always pointing toward the Lord and not to herself.

The woman who has been through the battle and now wants to share what she has learned by showing you her battle scars. She makes mistakes and shares her imperfections to exalt Him and encourage you.

The woman that loves you unconditionally.

The woman that doles out mercy to all those around here and it overflows.

The woman that has served privately, without recognition, behind four walls.

The woman who will slow down her day to tend to the ones who matter.

Her arms are always welcoming, always beckoning, always loving-- smoothing over rough edges with her words of peace.

She is always hoping, always building others up.

She gets on her knees and prays for you.

Lord, we need your strength to be this woman. This imperfect picture of beauty- a real woman who humbly loves you.

A ray of light of Your love on earth.

Thank you, Lord, for the godly women you placed in our lives and

for the godly women you are shaping us to be...