Under Construction

Posted on February 20, 2014 | Leave a comment

If you happen to find the time to pop over to visit me on the ole blog and find it a little quiet, there is a reason for that. For the moment, both the blog and I are under construction.

I have so much that I want to write about and share with you. I have far too many great photos of of my latest projects and plans. I have interesting stories to regale you with of my adventures with the kids. Throughout it all, life has given me so many “God moments” to share that I hope you will find encouraging and uplifting.

I also have an Optional gymnast that is in the middle of her competition season. Birthday season is in full swing, springtime on the homestead brings about its own incredibly long to-do list, and let’s not even get into the school to-do list that encompasses pre-school to our first graduating senior.

What I don’t have is time. Sadly, I have been only given 24 hours in a day, and despite my most valiant efforts to shove and cram 30 hours of accomplishments into that 24 hours, I cannot.

I am also making a personal transition, as a mom, that will be reflected in my writing.  Mark and I are moving into a new phase in our lives, and it takes a little bit to test these waters!  It is exciting, scary, and a little sad all wrapped up together.

I hope you will stick around and see what we are up to.

All for God’s glory,

~Rhen

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Scripture Stickies Giveaway Winner!

Posted on December 17, 2013 | 2 comments

Thank you to everyone who entered the Scripture Stickies giveaway and helped to share this fabulous small business with others.  Prayerfully, because of you, their business will continue to grow and bless others!

Now, onto the winner as chosen by random.org.

And the winner is…

RestInHisLove with this comment:

I like Yes They are All Mine on FB.

Congratulations!!

If you didn’t win, you can still get your own Scripture Stickies by visiting their store and checking out the variety of lessons they offer.

All for God’s glory,

~Rhen

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101Reasons I Love My Husband

Posted on December 16, 2013 | Leave a comment

There is nothing quite as romantic as spending  a portion  of your weekend taking apart and deep cleaning your kitchen with your husband.   A little goofy sounding, I know, but it was a lot of fun and yet another reason I love my husband.

While pulling out the stove and giving everything a good scrubbing,  we laughed as we shared the antics of our little children and their adventures over the week.

While cleaning out and disinfecting the fridge, we marveled that seemingly out of nowhere our oldest daughter’s upcoming graduation from high school has snuck up on us.

While cleaning out and reorganizing the kitchen cabinets, we put great thought into plans for our upcoming 20th anniversary and enjoying the honeymoon we never had.

There were sly looks and grins while scrubbing the vent hood and degreasing underneath it.

There was a little pinch on the tush here and little pinch there while whitening the porcelain sink.

There were jokes and hilarious comments zinging that had us laughing so hard we were leaning on the counters to keep from falling over.
All of this and more while deep cleaning the kitchen!

My favorite moments come in our every day life enjoying the husband that God has blessed me with and the children that He has given us to raise.

Awesomeness.

All for God’s glory,

~Rhen

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Posted in 101 Reasons I love my Husband, Family Life, Large Family Life, Mr. Muscles, Rhen, Thankful

Scripture Stickies ~A Review and Giveaway~

Posted on December 12, 2013 | 21 comments

THIS GIVEAWAY IS CLOSED!

As a mom who has been educating her kids around the dining room table for more than 12 years now, I have learned the value of teaching through constant small reminders.  Some time ago, I began using the little sticky note method to help them learn different subjects and concepts easier.

I have found great success in being able to teach foreign language, spelling, and vocabulary using sticky notes that I write either the word, definition, or translation on the sticky note and put them around the house.  Constantly seeing the little lessons throughout the day helps our children to remember and really learn each lesson.

When Scripture Stickies, who follows that same concept by putting verses on little sticky notes that you then place throughout the house, asked me to review their product, I knew they would be a huge blessing for our family.

What a great idea!  Every time the kids see one of the Scripture Stickies, not only is it encouraging to their hearts, but it helps them to learn and memorize God’s word.  It is wonderful to hear the kids quoting the scriptures that are on the Scripture Stickies.

I have experienced numerous times when the first scripture that I read in the morning ends up being a theme for my whole day or God uses it as an encouraging word that I need during a difficult moment.

With so many girls in the house, the first place that I put the stickies was around the bathroom mirrors.  Those are the most often read and remembered Scripture Stickies of all of them!  *grin*

They are also in the kitchen, by the front and back doors, and on the door to the pantry.  Where else would you put them when you have teenagers?!

Scripture Stickies make a great gift, and they are a wonderful way of encouraging and sharing the word of God with someone who needs it!  They even have a Scripture of the Month Club that blesses you with a new pack of Scripture Stickies each month all year long.  (Also an awesome gift idea!!)

Enter in to win your own set of Scripture Stickies to keep or share!

How?  You know I like to make this easy!

Initial Entry:

Additional Entries:

  • “Like” Scripture Stickies on Facebook and leave a comment here telling me you did.  1 entry
  • “Like” Yes, They Are All Mine on Facebook and leave a comment here telling me you did/ do.  1 entry
  • Share this giveaway on your FB page (preferably tagging Yes, They Are All Mine and Scripture Stickies FB pages in the post).   Leave a comment here telling me you did.  1 entry per day
  • Tweet about this giveaway with a link to the giveaway (preferably mentioning @ContentedRhen)  Leave a link to the tweet in the comments.  1 entry per day
  • Pin this giveaway on Pinterest.  Leave a link in the comments to the pin.  1 entry per day

Rules:

  • You must do the initial entry before you can earn additional entries.
  • Some additional entries can be done once each day for the length of the giveaway.
  • Winner will be chosen via Random.org
  • Winner will have 48 hours to respond or a new winner will be chosen
  • Giveaway closes Monday (Dec 16th) at midnight (12 am CST)

Thank you for entering this giveaway and helping out a small business!

All for God’s glory,

~Rhen

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Posted in Contests and Giveaways!!, Faith, Family Life, Happening Daily, Spiritual Health

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Winner of the Natural Linens Giveaway

Posted on December 10, 2013 | 4 comments

It is time to reveal the big winner of the Natural Linens giveaway!

The winner was chosen via Random.org, and the blessed commenter is:

.

.

.

Amy B.!  (This was the winning comment)

Congratulations, Amy!  I will message you.  🙂

Thank you to each and every one of you wonderful people who joined in this giveaway.   Even if you didn’t win, you can still come out on top, frugally and eco-friendly speaking, with the great products offered from the family at Natural Linens.  Stop by and check them out!  So many great gift ideas!

Ready for another giveaway?  I am putting the finishing touches on the next one right now!

All for God’s glory,

~Rhen

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Fabulous Cranberry Sauce

Posted on December 6, 2013 | 2 comments

One of my favorite staples in the holiday meals is cranberry sauce, but we all know just how processed and unhealthy the average canned jellied cranberry sauces are.

I have tried several recipes to replace the store-bought stuff with something healthier, but none of them had the sweet and sour cranberry taste.  To put it nicely, they were horrible.

This year was different!

Let me share with you the Jewish cranberry sauce recipe that won over our whole family at Thanksgiving!

What you need:

  • 12 oz chopped cranberries
  • 1 orange chopped
  • 1 1/2 cups sugar (we used raw, unprocessed sugar)
  • 1 tbl lemon juice
  • 1 cup chopped walnuts
  • 1 cup chopped celery

Here’s how you do it:

  • Chop the cranberries first, then mix them with the sugar and set that bowl to the side.
  • Finely chop and mix the rest of the ingredients together.
  • Combine the two bowls, mix thoroughly, and place in fridge to chill.

We used a hand chopper and it worked well, but I am going to try using the food processor next time to see how much finer we can get everything chopped up.

That’s it!  We made ours the night before to allow the flavors to mingle, and it was delicious.   It was even a huge hit with those of us who were pretty hard-core fans of the canned stuff.  *wink*

This is now the new cranberry sauce that has earned the privilege of being on our family table for all holiday meals and feasts in our home!

I hope you enjoy it!

All for God’s glory,

~Rhen

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Posted in Being Healthy, in the kitchen, Rhen

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Homeschool Classroom ~Christian Studies

Posted on December 4, 2013 | 4 comments

One area of our older kids’ high school curriculum is their Christian Studies.

Some of what Christian Studies includes studying is God’s word and taking opportunities to serve in our community.  I have previously shared one of their assignments, and you can check it out here.  Today, I want to share one of my absolutely favorite assignments for this class.

Once a month each one of our oldest four students presents a teaching (aka sermon) on a topic they choose.  This gives them a different method of studying God’s word than the verse by verse method we use for our morning Bible study.

The requirements for this assignment:

  • minimum of 5 minutes in length
  • must contain 3 different verse references
  • 1 Greek definition
  • 1 Hebrew definition
  • 1 story to illustrate the teaching

How I score this assignment:

  • time length of teaching- 10 points
  • 3 verses- 5 points each
  • definitions- 5 points each
  • story- 10 points
  • overall presentation- 5 points
  • = 50 point assignment.

Though this is a part of our high school curriculum, Emily Grace (13- 8th grade) and Hannah (11- 6th grade) also participate to expand their knowledge of God’s word and be better prepared for the more difficult topics and higher expectations of their high school years.

Each of them get to choose their own topic, but they have to clear it with me before they get started.  Sometimes the topics they choose can be too broad and need to be a little more focused.

A few of the chosen topics so far:

  • Biblical Courtship vs. Worldly Dating
  • Drawing Strength from God
  • Intentionally Be An Encouraging Person
  • Having a Thankful Heart

I greatly enjoy listening to their presentations and hearing what they have discovered.

What are some other topics do you suggest?

All for God’s glory,

~Rhen

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Posted in Faith, Family Life, Homeschooling, Ms. Firecracker, Ms. Lovebug, Ms. Serious, Spiritual Health, Young Man

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Natural Linens ~A Review and Giveaway~

Posted on December 3, 2013 | 48 comments

THIS GIVEAWAY IS CLOSED!

Our family, like so many other families today, is always looking for ways to reduce our spending and give a little more wiggle room to our budget.  We also take great pride in producing less garbage than a family half our size, and I encourage our children to get creative and find new ways of further reducing our family’s garbage output.  (These are great lessons in stewardship for Mark and I and our children!)

When the wonderful family at Natural Linens contacted me, I saw this as a great opportunity to take another step in the direction of saving money, reducing waste, and I get to give a great organic product!

When looking over their store, I was intrigued by the thought of unpaper towels.  We go through a good bit of paper towels in this house, much to my aggravation.

Unpaper Towels

Being the retired cloth diaper pro that I am, the moment I opened up the lovely hand-wrapped package of unpaper towels I soaked them in a container of water for a few days.  (This greatly increases their absorbancy)

So, what did we use the unpaper towels to do?

  • They are awesome for cleaning glass and windows without leaving streaks or fuzz.
  • They worked beautifully when disinfecting the kitchen counters.
  • I was able to clean all of our doorknobs, door frames, and light switches with only one unpaper towel as opposed to 7 or 8 paper towels.
  • They make quick work of bathroom sinks and counters with only one unpaper towel for three bathrooms.

I love how thin, yet absorbent they are.  I much prefer them to wash cloths when cleaning the bathrooms and kitchen, and they are perfect southern napkins!

Next, I would love to make the switch to cloth coffee filters and tea bags!

Reusable Coffee Filters

Reusable Tea Bags

Now YOU get the chance to win a set of their fantastic unpaper towels!

You know me, I like to make entering giveaways and getting additional entries easy.

How do you enter?  Simple!

Pop over and visit Natural Linens Etsy store and choose a product they offer that you are not already using.  Post a comment below telling me what that product is.  That’s it!

Earning additional entries:

  • Subscribe to Natural Linens newsletter (post a comment telling me that you did)
  • Like Natural Linens on Facebook (post a comment telling me that you did)
  • Share this giveaway on Facebook (you can do this once per day ~leave a comment each time telling me that you did)
  • Tweet about this giveaway (you can do this once per day ~leave a link in a comment)
  • Like Yes, They Are All Mine on Facebook (leave a comment telling me you did)
  • Share this Giveaway on Pinterest (you can do this once per day ~leave a link in the comments)
  • Share Natural Linens (Etsy store or FB page) on Pinterest (leave a link in comments)
  • Follow Natural Linens on Twitter (leave a comment telling me you did)

This giveaway will end at Midnight (12:00 am) on Sunday December 8th.  One winner will  be chosen via Random.org.  The winner will be announced here on the blog and emailed and will have 48 hours to respond or a new winner will be chosen.

Any questions?

Thank you for joining in this giveaway and supporting a small family owned business.  Every time you share them with someone or make a purchase, you make a difference for their family!  Thank you!

All for God’s glory,

~Rhen

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Posted in Being Frugal, Contests and Giveaways!!, Family Life, Home, in the kitchen, Product Review

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Congratulations, Winners!

Posted on November 20, 2013 | 2 comments

Congratulations to the winners of the Frugal Fashionistas giveaway!

And our THREE winners are…

1.  Country Lyz

2.  Lorraine

3.  Debbie Jackson

Please respond to my email telling me your address, and I will get your jewelry right out to you!

Thank you to everyone who participated and a huge THANK YOU to Melissa from Frugal Fashionistas for sponsoring!

Didn’t win?  That’s okay.  I have several more giveaways coming in the next few weeks that will give you the chance to win a great product and support small businesses!

All for the glory of God,

~Rhen

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Answering the call of your inner fashionista. {GIVEAWAY}

Posted on November 13, 2013 | 14 comments

This giveaway is now closed.  If you are looking for great ideas for gifts that won’t break your budget, pop over to Frugal Fashionistas and check out her accessories.  If you are looking for a way to supplement your income, contact Melissa about becoming a Frugal Fashionista yourself!

Accessorizing is fun.

The right jewelry will highlight your playful side, accent your eye color, or add that pop to your outfit.

So, when I was contacted about reviewing and giving away multiple pieces of super cute jewelry, I decided I would love the opportunity to bless a work at home mom and my readers at the same time!

Where can you find this great selection of jewelry pieces that are super cute and inexpensive?   Frugal Fashionistas!  Thank you to Melissa for sponsoring this giveaway!!

What do they offer?  A variety of necklaces, earrings, rings, bracelets, hair jewelry, as well as jewelry for kids.  The best part about accessorizing with items from Frugal Fashionistas:  all items are $5.  That’s it!  The items for kids are even less.

Gorgeous chandelier earrings

Beautiful ring

Stunning necklace

This is a great way to gift the fashionistas in your life with beautiful pieces and still keep on budget.  You can also gift yourself with a gorgeous statement piece of your own.  *grin*

Before I move on to the best part, the part where I get to bless my readers with free jewelry, I want to share a little more information.  If you are looking for a way of adding to your family’s income and work from home, Melissa has a great opportunity for you.

A business can be started for only $40!! Everything is $5, but the children’s line is even less if you choose to carry it.

No catalogs. No shipping costs for guests. No waiting.

You earn a 45% commission and you keep your earning as soon as the piece sells!!! No waiting for payday.

If this sounds like something that would be a blessing to you, contact Melissa by visiting her site.  All of her info is there and she is ready to help you!

On to the giveaway!

There will be three winners in this giveaway, and each one of the winners will receive a beautiful necklace and earring combo.

I like to keep the initial entry simple and still offer plenty of other ways to earn additional entries.

Initial entry:  Visit Melissa’s site, Frugal Fashionistas, and comment on THIS blog post which piece of jewelry you would love to accessorize the perfect party outfit with.

Additional entries (Make sure you leave a separate comment for each of the following that you do):

  • Request to join her Facebook group: Frugal Fashionistas
  • Invite other people to join her Frugal Fashionistas Facebook group.
  • Share this giveaway on your Facebook page (personal, blog, or business FB pages are fine!)  Can be done once per day.
  • Tweet about this giveaway.  (provide tweet link)  Can be done once per day.
  • Pin this giveaway on your Pinterest account.  (share link to pin)
  • Like Yes, They Are All Mine on Facebook.

The rules:

  • Continental US residents only, please.
  • You must complete the initial entry before additional entries will be counted.
  • Winners will be chosen via Random.org
  • Giveaway will close at 12:00 am (midnight CST) on Sunday, November 17th, 2013.
  • Winners will be announced on this blog on Monday, November 18th.
  • Winners have 48 to reply to the email or a new winner will be selected.
  • You do not have to have a blog to enter!

Good luck and earn those entries!!!  Three lovely people are going to be looking quite fabulous in these necklace/ earring sets!  🙂

All for the glory of God,

~Rhen

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Posted in Contests and Giveaways!!, Product Review, Rhen

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