Happy New Year!

Happy New Year and Welcome to the Homemaking Party! It's been a year full of family, food, and fun! Here are some of our highlights. Make sure to link up at the end. I want to see what you've been up to, too!

We started off the year with a Kindness Party hosted by Avalon. This was our first introduction to Frozen, having never seen the movie. Ahhhh...those were the days!

Later in the spring, I hosted my first Spring Spoolie Swap! Lots of creativity there---maybe we should do it again!

This summer, I hosted a Mad Hatter Tea with a beautiful cake decorated by my husband. I want to do that again too!

In August, I introduced my literature blog, Belle's Library.

Then, in the fall, we made a trip to the one-room schoolhouse.

Now winter is on us and the new year has come and we're looking forward to lots of fun and blessings in 2015! What might your new year have in store?

Moms Need Lunch Too! #LoveLunchIn #Ad #cbias

 This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #LoveLunchIn #CollectiveBias

I know I've got a lot of readers who are stay at home moms. Do you all find yourself, like me, absolutely starving come lunch time? In my case, it's usually because I've skipped my breakfast in favor of diapers, dishes, and sometimes, drama. By the time I have a minute to eat something, it's almost lunch---so I wait. Then I end up throwing together pb&j and finding a quiet place to wolf it down---while the kids are occupied with theirs and not asking me questions. 

As a homeschooling mom, there's not much down time around here during our school days. With our large family, nothing goes quickly, and I've got to take whatever open opportunities are available to get our goals done each day. I try to fill the few minutes between bottles, diapers, potty breaks, and never-ending questions with reading, discussion, lessons, and creativity. This doesn't leave me a whole lot of time for creativity in the kitchen---not at lunch time, anyway.

Recently it occurred to me that I've served my time with pb&j. If I have to resort to hiding in the closet to get a few bites of lunch, I'm going to make sure they're delicious and hearty bites! I need more than a sometimes-sandwich to get me through the afternoon.

Yesterday I sent Jamie and Cainan to Walmart for me after church and they found several varieties of Campbell's Slow Kettle Soup. I'd never seen this before and was really excited to try the two flavors Cainan chose for me: Tomato & Sweet Basil Bisque and Baked Potato Soup with Applewood Smoked Bacon.

I love that it just takes minutes to warm this up on the stove. There's no need to add any milk or water---just let it simmer in a pan until it's warmed through and then pour into a bowl (or even right back into the container) and enjoy. There are also microwave directions on the container if you'd prefer to warm it that way. It felt so good to have something warm and yummy to enjoy for lunch. Sometimes when things get chaotic---even good chaotic---I wish my mom was here to make me something homemade and pamper me a bit. With the Slow Kettle soups, I can give myself a bit of extra love---and, in the long run, that's good for everyone!

It's true that they'll always find me, no matter where I try to hide, but that doesn't have to be a bad thing. It's amazing how much better I can enjoy the rest of our day when I've had something nourishing to eat.

Are you a busy mom at home, as well? I'd love to hear how you fit filling meals into your day!

Make sure to grab a coupon so you can try out Slow Kettle soups too.

Linking with:

The Art of Homemaking

Good Morning Mondays

Inspiration Monday @ Your Homebased Mom

Motivate Me Monday 

Modest Monday @ The Modest Mom 

Living Proverbs 31

Inspire Me Monday @ Create With Joy 

Masterpiece Monday @ BoogieBoard Cottage 

A Round Tuit @ Creating My Way to Success 

Monday Funday @ C.R.A.F.T. 

Marriage Monday

Making Your Home Sing Monday

Salt & Light

Inspire Me Tuesday @ A Stroll Through Life

A Return to Loveliness @ A Delightsome Life 

Women Helping Women @ Teaching What Is Good 

(Titus 2)s Days @ Time Warp Wife

The Scoop @Stone Gable

Kids Gift Ideas on Sale at Family Christian & a Giveaway #FCBlogger

This is a sponsored post for Family Christian. All opinions are honest and are my own.

I've been shopping Family Christian a lot this year, stocking up on fun Christmas gifts for Jamie and the kids. I'm really excited to give them quality gifts that will encourage all of us to live more Biblically-minded. Read on to find out about a great sale, a giveaway, and two of my favorite gifts for kids!

Now through December 24th, Beauty and the Beet is on sale at Family Christian for only $9.99! This, the newest Veggie Tales winter show, is a fun play on a favorite classic and a great story about unconditional love. 

About the movie: In Beauty and the Beet, Mirabelle and her traveling family band, the Veggie Tones, are determined to make their next gig at Vegetable Square Garden. On their journey, a fierce winter snowstorm hits, and the family gets stuck at a run-down resort! Mr. Beet, the grumpy manager makes them sing - and clean - for their supper. Why is Mr Beet such a beast? And can Mirabelle’s kindness change him? Find out in this hilarious and heartwarming VeggieTales story of unconditional love.

I was a teenager when Veggie Tales first came out and I've loved them ever since. From the silly songs to the Bible stories done right, (read: no religious overkill) it's hard not to giggle whenever they're on. I'm super excited to share this newest DVD with my kids this Christmas. 

The second gift I'm excited about gifting is this book from the son of the original Berenstain Bears creators. Mike Berenstain brings us the first Christian-themed Berenstain Bears book that I've ever seen, God Loves You! Now, I'll just be honest with you all. I don't usually let my kids spend a whole lot of time watching the Berenstains. The old books and cartoons sometimes featured themes we're not into---like Halloween or cruddy attitudes---and there always seemed to be this undercurrent of feminism going on that bugged me.

I'm really over-the-top excited to see a Christian-themed one come out from this brand. The back of the book says, Living Lights Berenstain Bear books help children learn how God wants them to live every day. I'm all for that! The whole salvation message is clearly given in a way that makes it easy for young kids to relate to and understand. I can't wait to get the rest in the series---this is definitely something I want to support!

I'm giving away a $25 gift certificate to Family Christian. You can use this either online or in store. Check out the Rafflecopter widget below and be sure to share the giveaway with your friends!

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