You want me to eat what??

You want me to eat what?!

Anna went to her four month check up a couple weeks ago. The Dr said she was ready to start eating baby food. I have to be honest, feeding babies solids is one of my favorite things about this stage. The faces, the mess, the excitement. Yes, I am easily entertained and amused.

Apparently the thing to do now (So much has changed since Alex was born ten years ago. Heck, even since Addison was born five years ago!) is to start with green vegetables. We skipped cereal because it is not that nutritious, and if you were too see Anna's thighs, you would agree that she clearly does not need any extra carbs in her diet. They are adorably cute and epic...but still...she does not need the extra carbs from cereal.

So we started with green beans, then sweet peas. She LOVED the green beans! She laughs and MMM Mmm's all the way through it.
The sweet peas were a bit 'Eh' for her. She ate them.

Then I thought I would jump ship and give her bananas. I figured she would enjoy them. The other kids loved them.

Nope! She hates them.

So I figured we would try apples.

Nope! They make her gag and she whines through the whole feeding.

I gave fruit a break and tried sweet potatoes.

Loved them!
(Are you sensing a pattern here?)

After the sweet potatoes we tried Pears.

Nope! Even more gagging!

Carrots?

Serious win!

OK? Seriously?!

Since when does a baby not like fruit?!

This is a new one for me people. I have never seen a baby turn her nose up at fruits.
I'm hoping she gets used to them. Studies show that it can take up to ten times to adjust to a flavor and texture.
So, forward we shall trudge through these tiny jars of fruit.

She serious cracks me up though. She savors every bite of the green beans, sweet potatoes and carrots.(We only tried sweet peas twice , because she had a less than desirable reaction to them. We will be trying those again in a couple weeks.)
However, the moment you give her a bite of fruit she gives you this look of, "Seriously Mom? You expect me to eat this?"
She is such a happy and laid back baby. She takes her dislike of fruits very well. She eats them, gags occasionally and then laughs about it. Then a couple bites later she whines at me about it. Then I tell her, I feel her pain and clearly she is suffering..and she laughs some more.

Have you ever had a baby not like fruit?

I'm curious to see if this carries on into her childhood...

Well it is Friday..which means I have a menu to plan and a grocery list to make. So I had better run...and run fast...because I have been rationing the coffee for the last few days. I literally just drank the last cup! I don't know about you, but that is an emergency level 10 at our house!

I guess I shall loud up the children and trek to Sam's club for a really BIG box of coffee, and some more baby food to torture Anna with. Muahaha. ;)

Happy Friday!

Lyndsay, THHM

How To Save Money On Hair Cuts....

   Not long after we were married, Dustin bought a clipper set on sale at Sears. He had decided to cut his own hair. (He made this decision while standing in front of the sales display in Sears ;).) His first few attempts were less than desirable. The torch was quickly passed to me...because I can actually see the back of his head. hehe.

  Don't get me wrong..I was not exactly a pro at hair or anything..and this was before youtube was a big thing. Sometimes, I was very thankful that he wore hats to work!

  We were flying by the seat of our pants. But it was saving us money. So we pressed forward.

Over time, I got better at cutting hair. I cut Dustin's, trimmed my own and expanded with each new addition to the family.

Am I a professional?...absolutely not.

Have I screwed up everyone's hair at least once? Oh definitely!

Have I accidentally caught the husbands ear in the trimmers? Mmmaayybe...*side glance*

 ...sshhh...I still deny that this happened, even to his face...even though his ear was obviously bleeding. I also may have done this to our son as well. I can't help the fact that the men in this house can not sit still! Anytime I screw up, I am always quick to remind Dustin that I am saving him money and that this was HIS idea about 14 years ago. hehe
 

  Have I saved my family a LOT of money? DEFINITELY! :)  
   
  We have been doing this for over 14 years. I can't even begin to imagine how much it has saved us over the years. At a minimum I would say it saves us $15-30 a month. Between 5 heads of hair, (Babies don't count. At least not my poor, bald headed babies) that's around $180-360 dollars a year. 

  I will occassionally take the kids and get things straightened or refreshed..I did it for myself as well. I do not claim to be a professional, and firmly believe that there is a time and a place to go to a salon. There is something awesome about going and getting your hair done. It feels fresh and crisp afterwards. 

  Recently, I have been going and getting mine cut. Last Fall, I decided to go with a shorter cut..one that requires upkeep. I felt really guilty about the money for a while..then I reminded myself that I'm already saving the family enough money in the hair cutting area....as well as...this is my one thing. I am not high maintenance. Almost all of my clothes are from clearance, or from ebay. I do not wear loads of expensive make up or get my nails done. So I decided my hair is something just for me. :) It even got its own line in the budget. Thank you EveryDollar!

  Last Friday was my scheduled hair appointment. All of my helpers went with me. 
(Have I mentioned how great my hair lady is? She didn't even bat an eye at my crew.) 

   Emma had been on the fence about cutting her hair for months. It was really long and had been that way for over two years. Well, she decided on Friday that 'today was the day' and she couldn't wait another moment to have it gone.
  It had been a long time since I had done a girls short style, and I was nervous! I even tried to talk her into waiting and going to the lady who does my hair. She would not wait. 
  
  So...we cut her hair. Eight inches shorter and lots of layering...and she is happy. I got really worried about half way through with the layers. Once it was washed and dried and I did a little more trimming it was ok. Her hair has a lot more body than it did a few years ago, I was not prepared for that. 
(I am probably going to take her to have it thinned this week. I have thin hair and have never had that problem. LOL We do not have the tools for thinning.)

  I'm pretty happy with how it turned out and Emma has been bouncing around like it's Christmas for three days now. ;) You can't deny the wonderfulness of a new hair cut. Even at that age! 
She loves it and I love the fact that we saved some cash. 

  Like I said above...I have absolutely no issues with Salons. I admire the people who do it.
 I dread  cutting hair sometimes...especially in the winter. Hair cuts are so much easier, in the Summer, when you can do it outside. So much less mess! 

  We just feel that this is one of the areas in our lives that we can cut some corners and save a little cash. 

  If you decide to give this a try, there is not much to starting up. 

  The supply list is short.

  -Comb
  -Squirt Bottle With Water
  -Clipper Set (If you have men/boys in the house)
  -Scissors (I usually get a medium priced pair at Walmart)
  -Towel (you should already have that)

 The start up cost is fairly low maybe $30...Then all you need is time, practice and good bit of YouTube!  
This is not for everyone. I know quite a few people who have tried it and it didn't work out. That's OK! There are certain things that I'm not comfortable doing to save money.(Homemade Laundry Detergent, UGH!) It is all in what you feel comfortable doing.

 Do you cut your families hair? 

 If you read this and try it for yourself, I want to hear about it!


Blessings and Happy Money Saving!

Lyndsay..THHM
  
 

 

The Plumbing Disaster

Remember just yesterday, when I was telling you about how cozy and relaxed of a day we were having?

Well...an hour after I posted that post...the main drain in our house backed completely up!

Yep, one minute I am sipping coffee and cuddling the baby after finishing up cleaning the house...the next thing I know, I am watching Dustin cut holes in my utility room floor. *shakes head*

When we got this house..the plumbing was a disaster.

 EVERYTHING was a disaster.

The house before we started.

 That is why we gutted the entire house, including electric and plumbing, and started over. When we were doing the plumbing the main drain looked good. So, we hooked all of our new plumbing to it. Had the septic emptied and checked. Everything looked good.
*Note to self. When the house is that bad, Always tear it all out and start over.*

Then we moved in. We would often hear a gurgling. Dustin looked into it. We kind of figured it was because we had not finished running the vents all the way out of the house yet. We had those finicky vent caps on temporarily. We finished running the vents.

The problem did not go away. It got worse, but kind of came and went. It just wasn't something that screamed 'Serious Problem'. Dustin is a busy man, and it wasn't at the top of his list.

 Until, one day in August, when I was VERY pregnant, the entire thing backed up. The tub was full, both of the sinks, etc.

We called a plumber, because Dustin was stuck at work. They cleaned the main drain from the septic to the house. The 'Brilliant Genius' who update the plumbing,(and the rest of the house before we bought it.) thought it would be a good idea to put the main clean out UNDER the utility room floor.  The plumbers were not very nice gentlemen and seemed to be in a hurry. They didn't bother to come in and check the drains or anything.

They did say that, judging from the amount of build up, it was probably mostly from the last residents. They also suggested that we dig it all up and replace the main drain. I was 36 weeks pregnant. There was no way we were taking that on at that moment in time.

$290 later and we could at least use the toilet again  (Something this pregnant lady was thankful for. ;) )...and things did drain.

Oh, we had the septic emptied also, $125. I was so thankful for our emergency fund that day. 

However, that gurgling never completely went away. It would come and go and Dustin did what he could.

We were trying to avoid tearing up the floor to get to the clean out.  Finding the drain and making an access hatch was on the 'To Do' list...but not until we actually got to finishing the utility room. That room is currently last on the list of rooms to finish.

Then yesterday happened.

We attempted Drano at first, $15.

It did nothing.

Then he started tearing up the flooring.
The stick down tiles that I got on clearance..because it was discontinued. *Facepalm*

Yep.

*Deep Sigh*

He had to cut five holes in the floor before he was able to find the clean out. Then he had to cut a bigger hole to get to the clean out.

 **Deeper Sigh*

AND THEN...he had to go to Lowe's and get one of those BIG electric drain auger snakes, and some very thick and long orange gloves, $430

One very messy hour and $450 later...the drain was officially fixed.

The gurgling is gone. We are pretty sure that the plumbers didn't officially get the problem taken care of to begin with. We are also fairly certain that this was probably an on going issue with the past residents.


 We then did what we always do when this old tiny house throws us for a loop. We laugh about the disaster, give each other a kiss, clean up the mess, praise God for our debt free house and emergency fund...and order pizza for dinner. 


Needless to say, the chilli did not get made yesterday ;) ...and I had to clean the house again today..at least parts of it.

  Dustin filled in the holes in the utility room floor. Thankfully we have a few of the tiles left.
Looks like we will be putting something different in there when we get to finishing that room. ;)
 This crazy house has thrown us for more than one loop along the way. We love it..and we keep moving forward. 
Because...it's worth it.

The tiny house now.

 On the bright day side, the next time we have to clean out a drain...the auger will have paid for itself! ;) 
I don't know about you...but I'm always happy when something pays for itself. LOL

I'm now making the chili, school is finished for the day and the washer is no longer draining into the bathtub...VICTORY!
All is back to Warm and Cozy in the Tiny house. :)

Blessings,
Lyndsay

Winter...

Winter was reluctant to show up in Ohio this year.

The view out of our front door.

Not that I am complaining,
 I'm a warm weather girl.
Winter could stay away until Spring for all I care.
However, if Winter didn't come.... we would miss the absolute best part about this Tiny house of ours.

Our Tiny House Is A Winter House!

The entire time we were tearing down and rebuilding this house we would talk about how wonderful it was going to be on a cold winter day when the snow was flying. We would be all snug in the house not noticing the cold, spending time together, drinking coffee and and watching the snow fly..with a pot of chili on for later in the evening.

 It is just, at its BEST in the Winter.

 It is so warm and cozy in here when the snow is flying outside.
The Winter months are also the cheapest months on our budget, especially the electric...Strange but true. :) We contribute it to the triple insulation, design/layout of the rooms and the super efficient furnace we installed.  
*We put a lot of thought and planning into every aspect of the house, to keep our over all living expenses low and to maximize on every bit of space.

Well, TODAY is the first real Winter day since the house has gotten relatively close to being finished.
The wind is blowing, there is a serious bite to the air and the snow is flying. We are only expecting about an inch...but that's ok.
We are all warm and snug....

See our unfinished dining room walls. Thankfully the dining room is one of the  next rooms to be finished. 

 Including the dog. :)

 The baby is enjoying her Christmas present. (The one I just now got around to putting together for her.)

That is my new 12qt stock pot. It holds so much!

 There are beans on to soak for chili this evening. (I just recently started to make my beans, instead of buying them, for recipes. A post is coming for that shortly.)

 There is coffee and chatting..while the wind blows...and you can't tell because this house is so warm and snug.
*Any other house we lived in, you could tell when it was really cold outside. The house just had a different feel. This house is very different. We planned it that way. No Winter chill is getting into this place. :)

The girls love their new room. It is designed in true tiny house fashion...Lots of storage built in!

And everyone is enjoying their space..in our tiny house.
*The girls room was finished just this week...a post is coming for that as well! Hmm...clearly I have a lot of blogging to do in the very near future. I had better get on it. 


Happy Winter Sunday, from our house to yours!

~Lyndsay

Paleo Cabbage Soup Recipe

 My cousin told me about this recipe.
 In fact she told me about it for over a year before I actually tried it. Because, honestly, just hearing about it over the phone, it didn't sound that great. lol

 I finally agreed to at least just make it to try once.

 I have to admit the first time I made it I was a bit skeptical. Once you put everything in the pot it doesn't look that appetizing. Then it all cooks down.
 The recipe itself is not difficult and the ingredients don't sound all that great together...
But...
Something magical happens once it all cooks down and the cabbage absorbs all the flavors. 
It's absolutely delicious!


This has quickly become a family favorite. Especially with the kids...but what can you expect from kids who eat Brussels Sprouts like they are candy? Addison (5) frequently asks when we are having this soup again...and she is the picky one.
The best thing about this soup..besides the fact that it is delicious, nutritious and fast (about an hour start to finish)..is the fact that is makes a LOT of soup!
  We can eat it for dinner one night, Dustin can take it to work for lunch and the kids and I can eat it two days for lunch. It fills my 12 Quart stock pan almost completely to the brim before it cooks down. Normally, after we have multiple bowls of this for dinner, it is not uncommon to have a gallon of soup for leftovers.

We are not a 'Paleo' family, but I never shy away from a nutritious meal..and Paleo is the place to find a lot of really nutritious, filling meals for my, ever hungry, house full of kids. :)

Paleo Cabbage Soup

Ingredients
1 lb Ground Sausage
1 lb Ground beef
1 Onion chopped
1 heaping TBSP Garlic (minced)
4  15oz cans, Diced Tomatoes (Or two of the big beef steak tomatoes, if you prefer to avoid canned items)
2 1/2-3 cups Carrots(sliced)
2 1/2-3 cups Celery(sliced)
2 cartons Beef Broth
1 medium Green Cabbage (chopped)
1 small Red Cabbage (chopped)

To Prepare

-Brown ground beef and sausage in a skillet, drain.

-While the beef and sausage are browning..chop and slice the onion, carrots, celery and both cabbages. Put all of it into a LARGE stock pot.

-Add the garlic, tomatoes and beef broth to the pot.

-Add the browned meat to the pot as well.

-Bring to a boil, turn heat to medium high and simmer. Let it cook down, stirring frequently, until the carrots and cabbage are cooked through.

Season the soup with pepper and season all salt (Or regular salt)

*We typically serve this with oyster crackers or crescent rolls.

Now that Winter seems to have finally arrived in Ohio, we will be having this in the meal rotation frequently.
One of the reasons I was reluctant to try this recipe, was the cost. It is around $20 to make this soup. However,  we eat on it multiple times..and the nutritional value is fairly high...I feel it is worth the $20.

Enjoy!

~Lyndsay
 THHM

Merry Christmas!!!

~Anna~

 See this beautiful little girl?
 Her name is Anna, and she is 14 weeks old. She is the fourth little blessing to be born into our own little crazy part of the world. :) This little one has taught me so much..well, truthfully, they each have taught me a lot.
But, Anna, she changed me in more ways than one. She was  my first 100% non medicated delivery. She was also my fastest delivery. (3cm-holding her in 26 minutes flat. Pit induced contractions, after my water broke at 38+1, and was born in 3 pushes. The Dr walked up just in time to literally catch her.)
She is also my first bottle fed baby. Due to circumstances beyond my control, she ended up on formula. She is thriving and doing well..so I have let it go and given it to God. I am normally an AVID breast feeding mother..I loved nursing my babies. But, it truly just sometimes doesn't work out. So I let it go...and have just focused on enjoying this happy ray of sunshine that has been placed into our family.

 Anna is such a sweet little thing. She is so calm, and laid back. She has been since the day she was born. She typically sleeps through the night, is always smiling at us and only cries when she is hungry. Also, the Christmas tree is her best friend, she will talk to it for half an hour! Such a precious thing. She is such a snuggler, I'm eating it up!
It is also so fun to watch her relationships that she has developed with her brother and sisters.
She is rotten with her brother, Alex,(he claims her his little buddy in training).
She treats her oldest sister, Emma, like her second Mother(which fits perfectly with that child's love of mothering).
Her older sister (Addison, age 5) only has to glance at her and you can see the excitement in her eyes. Anna just knows that she and Addison will be forever the adventurous duo. Partners in crime. 

 She is never at a loss for arms to hold her. She is a snuggler and also knows that the moment she makes a peep she will have at least 3 faces awaiting to tend to her every whim.

 She thinks her Daddy is the best thing ever invented...and saves her best smiles for him. The moment he walks in the door, her head is craning to the sound of his voice. According to Anna, Daddy hung the moon and stars and makes them glow at night. He also chose her name...

But she knows the best hugs come from Mama. She is my moment of calm in this whirlwind of activity we call our daily lives. She is my reminder to soak it up, because they aren't little for long.(She also knows Mommy is busy, and will sometimes hang onto my shirt for dear life in order to not be put down) She has learned quickly to call out "Ma" when the rest of the world is just too much. We sneak away to our recliner and rock the troubles of the world away.
She is precious, she is sweet, she is the girl with the kissable cheeks...she is Anna. <3

Speaking of, I hear her calling 'Ma' from the living room right now. Time to rescue her from the big kids and all their crazy.

Until next time...
~Lyndsay, Tiny house Mom.

Bacon and Brussels Sprouts

I grew up eating the occasional Brussels Sprouts...they were normally boiled, mushy, bland and seriously gross. 
This past Winter I set out on a mission to add in some veggies to our lives that we didn't normally eat. It is a new day and age and you can find a recipe to make almost any vegetable taste good.
When I came across this recipe I knew it would be a winner. I mean, seriously, bacon makes everything better! When I fix this recipe I get the big 2lb bag of fresh Brussels Sprouts at Sam's Club and there are zero leftovers! The entire family always goes back for seconds, and the kids eat them up like candy. I usually serve them with a chicken as a main dish.
So much better than the sad version of Sprouts from my childhood.

~Bacon and Brussels Sprouts~

Ingredients

6-8 slices thick cut Bacon
2 lbs of fresh Brussels Sprouts (I normally get them as Sam's club because they have them fresh all year long. If they are in season and on sale, I will but them else where.)
Olive oil
Garlic (1-2 Cloves crushed, I use the jar version..and one heaping table spoon.)
Salt and Pepper to taste

First, pan fry the bacon until well done. Drain the bacon and chop. Set a side. Save the grease, you are going to cook the Sprouts in it. That is what makes them so wonderful.
While the bacon is cooking, prep the Sprouts. Wash, cut off the stem and cut in half.

 When the bacon is done, turn up the heat to medium high. Add the garlic and let it brown slightly. Then toss in the Sprouts and let them cook. Keep them moving and browning. The olive oil is only needed if the bacon grease is not enough to keep the bottom of the pan moist. Sometimes I need it, sometimes I don't.

 Keep cooking until they look like this. They will be soft on the outside but firm on the inside..not crunchy..just firm. Add the chopped bacon back in, salt and pepper to taste and remove from heat.

 I highly suggest putting a lid on this until the rest of dinner is ready...I have to do this in my house..or there won't be any left by the time dinner is done. My kids sneak in and steal them constantly.
I usually pair this with a healthy oven "fried" chicken and a baked potato.

Enjoy!

~Tiny House Mom

10 Months

I'm sitting here trying to wrap my mind around the fact that we have been living in our tiny cottage for 10 months. It has went so quickly!
So much has changed in that time. When we moved in we were living in the utility room, with a partially finished bathroom and kitchen. Only about 1/4 of the house was insulated and there was zero siding on the outside. It was an interesting time in our lives. We were cramped but organized and we made due.
Now...our lives look much different.
The utility room is now actually a utility room. The bathroom is so close to being finished (Post on that to come. It looks awesome btw). The dining room is functional, the living room is 100% finished...as well as one bedroom upstairs. (minus carpeting...that will happen all at once upstairs) We have central air(Praise Jesus~this pregnant lady needed it), siding, real furniture in the living room, a back door and a screen door on the front entry. Life is so different.
We have, what might appear to some, a long way to go. But, for us...it feels like the home stretch.
My plan is to start blogging regularly, about our progress on the house. I plan to go room by room as we finish and explain why we did what we did in each room. I will also be posting about our homeschool, children, new baby, debt free living, budgeting and life in general. Including pictures. I mean seriously, who wants to read a blog without pictures...especially a blog about living in a tiny cottage. Everyone wants to see pictures of that!
Sincerely,
Tiny House Mom

New Beginnings and Blessings

Shortly after the move to our tiny house in the Fall, I started to get sick. I had no clue what was wrong and ended up at the Dr. Office in tears from the pain. At first he was concerned it could be ovarian or uterine cancer. Tests ruled that out and I was given a handful of medicines to try to straighten things out. I was quite the mess for about 5 weeks. We finally discovered what the issue was shortly after Thanksgiving. I had a copper IUD and it had been shifting and moving around. It had poked my uterine lining and had caused an infection as well as thrown my hormones into quite the tizzy.
In the midst of all of this the Lord was also working on me. See...a few years ago we had decided that I shouldn't have any more children...even though it pained my heart to make that decision at the time. I was so sick during and after our youngest that I was terrified to be pregnant again. But somewhere in my fear I had developed a negative attitude toward having more children. Which is what I never intended to happen. I love all children and think every one is a blessing no matter the circumstance. I had hardened my heart toward more children. The Lord took the time while I was sick to show me and I had to really work to over come that feeling and the fear.
I had toted that I had worked too hard to get healthy to throw it all away. That, another would be a lot of work because we just got all the kids old enough to have fun with them. I had used all the excuses. The ones that I used to be pained to hear from others had become my mantra.
Once the Lord opened my eyes to how I had become it took me a couple weeks to come around. I was painful. But I realized that my health and safety isn't made by how well I eat or how many miles I walk...Sure it helps...but my health and safety comes from the Lord and if He wants me to be sick..I will be sick no matter if I am pregnant or not.
I had my IUD removed shortly after Christmas and refuse to ever go near one again. That thing did a number on me to the point I was concerned I would need treatment to heal the wounds.
Well low and behold shortly into the New Year we found out we are expecting our fourth child. We were both taken by surprise at first and frankly it took a while to wrap our minds around it.
I am almost 13 weeks now. The morning sickness was definitely not fun, but has lessened. I am thankful for this chance to have a baby again, although I am still a bit overwhelmed.
We got rid of everything baby when we moved. I know we will be provided for and everything will fall into place. I just have to trust in the Lord and remain calm.
Everyone is surprised when I tell them we are expecting again. They keep saying, 'but you said you were done' I have been replying...'I know, but God had other plans and who am I to question it.'

Blessings,
Lyndsay

Caramel Apple Tea

Let me start this off by saying I am a BIG coffee person. I only dabble in hot tea. I love iced tea in the Summer months..but hot tea has never been my thing.
Recently though I have developed a bit of a taste for hot tea. I drink it unsweetened..and honestly I think that is why I have been drinking it lately. My coffee has more calories added to it than it should. The tea is zero calories. Plus the tea is cheaper than the coffee per cup.
Yes, I am one of those weird people who knows the calories and the price of each cup of coffee and tea....and I think about both while I am sipping. It is a number sickness, really, it is.

I did not used to be a cold natured person...but recently I have been. Given the fact that I basically lost an Olsen twin in the last four years (a.k.a. 90 lbs) I'm guessing that could be partly to blame. I have a lot less insulation that I used to.
Needless to say..I crave warm liquids throughout the day to make up for the chill I feel.

I have been branching out lately and trying different flavors. My daughters (3 and 7) love to drink tea in the mornings as well. Between the three of us there are about 8 boxes of different flavors in the house at the moment. lol  Thankfully, tea has a long shelf life.
Oh well..I know they will have memories of snuggles and sipping warm tea on cold mornings in our tiny house.
My most recently favorite flavor is pictured above. Caramel Apple Dream. It is amazing..and the apple flavor even gives it a sweetened taste. YUM!

It is the perfect addition to the very chilly Fall weather we are having right now.
I like to make a cup in the afternoon and sip it while I watch the kids play outside after our school work is finished. It is very relaxing.
Speaking of relaxing...my preschooler recently discovered 'sleepy time' tea and absolutely loves it before bed. I'm not sure if it actually helps her sleep but it definitely is a reason for her to take a pause in the evenings and sit still long enough to drink it..which then in turn equals, a passed out child.
You know how three years old are though...they are a force that stays in motion..if they stop, it is all systems failure until morning. :)

Well, I'm off to sip my tea and finish up the dishes.


Happy Friday!

Lyndsay

How We Came To Call The Tiny House, Home

I am sitting here thinking back on how we came to be living in this tiny house of ours.
The story starts about 11 months ago.
It was December 10th 2013. My husband and I have made some big changes in our lives the last few years. We had made the continuous choice to pray for God's will to be done in our lives. That had brought about a lot of changes both emotional and physical. Along these changes my husband had been lead to leave his position at his work and work full time from home. He had wanted to do it for so long. This time last year we were working from home, we were very busy. It was a good business and my husband was very popular...but he turned to me and said..'I'm not sure this is what God really wants for us.'
We had prayed endlessly before he left his position and we knew we had made the right decision when he left..but it turns out, that wasn't where God had planned for us to end up.
So, once again we prayed for guidance and the Lord's will. We got our answer a couple of months later.  On December 10th...my husband came to me and said he had found a house and he felt God wanted us to buy it. We had looked at a couple other houses but it just wasn't the right fit. This house however..it was God sent. It was a disaster lol but never the less a God send.
I did not even see it before we put the money down to hold the property. My husband had come up to look at it(in 4 inches of snow) and instantly called to tell me to call the realtor and put a hold on it. I did.
He took me up a couple of days later. The house took my breath away..literally. It smelled and was a mess. But then again...must 100 year old foreclosures are. lol It had a garage (if you could call it that), out buildings, woods, county water, cable access, was away from town, but not too far out. Everything we had prayed for in a house.
But..the best part?? We paid for it with cash!
 We did not do anything to the house until after the first of the year. We climbed into the van with all of the children (they helped every step of the way) one snowy January day..and set to work.
We decided that tearing out the drywall and carpet would give us a good look at what we had to work with.
As I sit here I am picturing flash backs. I had a dead mouse fall out of the ceiling on my head. We found roaches in the walls and it was so dirty and gross.  The kitchen plumbing ran through the living room on top of the floor. You had to step over it to get into another part of the house.There was a huge hole and leaking in the roof around the chimney. The original part of the house was clearly built well..the additions and later 'improvements' were not built well. The people who lived here before had clearly not taken good care of the house or the buildings and grounds.
That was ok though..that is why we were here.
We decided later that day that part of the structure would have to come down due to it being poorly built. My husband is a stickler for things being down correctly and the way it was at the time, just was not going to work.
We filled 3 huge construction dumpsters, took off three additions and gutted the entire house back to studs.
Popped out part of the original roof and put in four dormers(we had 5 inches of snow and it was -7 that day), put on a new roof..rebuilt two of the additions, put in all new windows, door(s), insulations, plumbing, electric. basically we have built a brand new house inside the bones of a 100 year old house.
I just adore the hand crafted solid oak beams in the original structure. The history of the house just fascinates me. My husband loves to build and I am a descent helper...so we were almost made for this. :)
The house started out at 1400 square feet..it is now just a little under 1000 square feet. Probably closer to 980 square feet.
We love this house. It has taken us 11 months of blood sweat and tears..but it is finally livable. At least parts of it. We moved in the second week of September and live in a little less than half of the house at the moment. It is a bit cramped but it is home. Every week we get more accomplished and the house grows in comfort and space.
We made a purposeful decision to downsize when we were looking for a house. Part of asking God to show us His will involved the decision to be debt free and to downsize and live minimally. We are still working on some of these things... and Lord willing we will accomplish all of them in due time. This debt free tiny house was a huge step in right direction for our lives.
It you had told me a little over a year ago that our lives would be as different as they are today..I'm not sure I would have believed you. The past year has been a roller coaster of emotions and changes. It was painful at times but progress is never painless. It is painful and new and makes you feel vulnerable. It changes parts of you that you never expected. This past year my husband and I have growled at each other, worked together. We learned a lot more about each others strengths and weaknesses and have grown so much closer. When one of us reached the point of breaking, the other was strong enough to pick up the other and move forward. Our family has worked, rested, cried and rejoiced together on this new journey of our lives. The children worked so hard to lend a hand and have grown so much this year.
I am so proud of my family and what we have accomplish with our tiny home this year.

I will be adding pictures to this post as well as keeping up with the renovation with posts from this point forward.

I look forward to sharing our tiny house journey with you all. :)

~ Lyndsay

Homemade Noodles= Free Therapy

I grew up making and eating homemade noodles quite often. Then I married my amazing husband and he was not a fan of homemade noodles. So I rarely ever made them. A couple times for church functions and family get togethers. That was it.
I have missed them. I finally pinned down why he didn't like them and we came to a compromise.
He says they are not filling and he is always hungry an hour later. He suggested I serve them with something else...like a baked potato. I grew up eating them with mashed potatoes...so the baked potato part seemed very foreign to me. I figured anything was better than nothing at that point and agreed to baked the potatoes instead of mashing them.
I'm glad we agreed on this because the noodles were a big hit. Each of the children had seconds, if not thirds. I enjoyed them and loved bringing a new meal to the family table.
I think I enjoy the process of the noodles even more than I enjoy eating them.
Cooking and picking the chicken. Seasoning the broth.
Mixing the All purpose flour with baking soda and salt(I do not purchase self rising flour)..adding the eggs and stirring.
Kneading, rolling and flouring to dry.
Waiting, and waiting...
Then letting the children help roll, slice and tear the noodles.

My favorite part is adding the noodles to the broth and watching it dip and twist. Seeing the clear broth thicken and turn into a creamy gravy just makes the world seem a little more right...a little less unpredictable.

I am not the type to add food coloring to my food..and I keep that rule with my chicken and noodles. Why go to all the trouble of making a meal from scratch and in the healthiest form (less chemicals) possible to turn around and add more chemicals to it.

The compromise seemed to have went over well here at the tiny house. The husband was happy and his belly was full, the children got to experience one of my favorite childhood meals and I got to make one of my favorite meals.

Plus the process of making noodles is so relaxing and therapeutic...and the end result of a steaming bowl of noodles on a rainy fall evening...is a very rewarding feeling.

Oh and as for the compromise. I took the skin off my potato, smashed it in my bowl and added butter and then put the noodles on top. ;) Because a country girl has got to have her mashed potatoes under her chicken and noodles.

Happy Fall!

-Lyndsay