Summer Homemaking | How I've Changed as a Mother

foreign I remember what life was like when I first became a mom 10 years ago I was so excited to raise this precious baby boy but I also felt so overwhelmed my life was no longer revolved around Andrea's schedule or to-do list I constantly had to put my plans aside and take care of this helpless baby that God had graciously blessed us with I got frustrated more times than I'd like to admit and oftentimes I saw homemaking and motherhood as something I had to do rather than something I was called to do my firstborn turns 10 years old this year and oh how I wish I could turn back time and do some things differently today I'd like to share my heart with you as I speak more on this topic big sourdough bread play with flowers from our Gardens and give you a little bit of an update on some things we've added to our home recently before I get started I want to thank Birch living for sponsoring this video we have had our Birch mattresses for our boys for a while now actually over a year and they absolutely love them um I actually had a friend come over just this past weekend and she slept in one of our boys rooms with her little girl and she texted me that night and said oh my goodness this mattress is so cozy which made me so happy they are the comfiest mattresses you guys Birch makes mattresses and sleep products that are stylish comfortable and environmentally conscious Birch mattresses are non-toxic and they are made right here in America which I absolutely love they are made with Organic and natural materials that have been sustainably sourced so they're good for you which I absolutely love I can sleep easy knowing that my kids are avoiding harmful oh gassing that can happen in the manufacturing process of mattresses Birch mattresses are green guard gold certified meaning there's no harsh chemicals that are used in making them in addition to being a better mattress for me Birch is committed to being a better for the planet throughout the creation of their mattresses Birch ensures that their materials are produced and harvested sustainably Birch also works with ethical partners that adhere to strict social environmental and economic standards again and guys I've had these Birch mattresses in my kids bedrooms for over a year now they are so comfy and cozy uh some of the most comfortable mattresses I've ever I've ever laid down on and I love the fact that they are 100 non-toxic they're environmentally friendly um I love how fast my boys fall asleep in these mattresses and I love how easy it was to buy them online versus going to a store with your Birch mattress you get a 100 night sleep trial which I think is awesome um and there's also a 25 year warranty which is amazing Birch delivers the mattress straight to your door for free within the United States also if you're looking for Birch mattresses for little ones they also offer a kids line which is awesome we love our Birch mattresses and I think you would too if you're looking for a new bed check out Birch living their fourth of July sale is running now it's the perfect time to upgrade your sleep with 25 off a birch mattress plus two free Eco rest pillows click the link below or go to birchliving.com Pine and Prospect to find out more about this limited time offer Isaiah woke up at 20 after five this morning so I I was up very early rolling out sourdough cinnamon rolls in the kitchen and even though I wouldn't consider cinnamon rolls healthy I whipped up the dough the night before on the slow fermentation of the flour over a 10 hour period helps to break down the gluten and make it more digestible for my little guys this recipe turned out so delicious and I'll be sure to include the link for it in my description if you're interested so like I was saying before my view of motherhood and homemaking has changed so much since I first had Ethan I think that God really uses children to refine us and show us our weaknesses and I smile thinking about the fact that I have four boys when I am such a neat freak that enjoys peace and quiet my boys have truly helped me to let go of so many things that I thought I could control and that's not to say that I don't try to keep a tidy home but I'm sad to admit that I used to feel anger and even sadness when a crying baby interrupted my cleaning routine I would sometimes view my children as secondary to the quote important things like laundry or dishes or house projects or even Ministry rather than understanding that they were the most important thing I guess I just want to encourage that Mama out there that feels maybe overwhelmed or frustrated with her kids maybe you log on to Instagram or YouTube and you find yourself comparing your home to others wondering how that Mom gets it all done when you feel like you're drowning in diapers and laundry let me encourage you to get off of your phone and stop trying to do it all and embrace this beautiful and sacred calling of motherhood allow your kids to slow you down being pensional about the food you feed them the time you spend with them the talks you have with them I want my kids to look back one day and think wow Mom really loved us she enjoyed being with us I want them to remember a mom who smiled at them when they approached me who paused to lick them in the eye and truly listen to them anyway if you can relate I'd love to hear from you in the comments I'm sure we can all encourage each other in some way but these thoughts have been heavy on my heart recently and I just wanted to share them can you guys believe that it is almost been a year since we gave this Nursery a little makeover and painted my childhood crib Mike made the little bed after we found that headboard that matched it it's such a cute space but I have not been able to figure out the bedding I have tried several different comforters and ended up returning them just nothing has clicked for me and recently I thought about maybe trying that fabric that I have in the basement laundry area up in this space to see if it would maybe make for a cute duvet cover if I sewed one I think it might work what do you guys think I feel like all the different checkered patterns in this space just really go well together and they just feel like boy to me so I think I'm kind of loving it and I'm gonna have to maybe order more of this Fabric and get crafty and make myself a duvet cover I've actually never made one before but anyways I thought I would share that with you today hopefully I can get this space finished but just peeking in there from the outside I feel like it looks really cute so maybe I'll get that ordered [Music] one of the things that I have been making now for about three years is homemade kefir it's so simple to do at home and we used to buy store-bought kefir but it was expensive because we use it for smoothies every single day and once I figured out how to make my own it was a no-brainer I knew it would save us so much money in my sweet friend Lisa from Farmhouse ham Boone I'm sure a lot of you guys follow her she actually sent me my milk kefir grains so I just use a jar and keep it right on my counter and the kefir I'm using today was actually quite fermented so it's pretty thick you can see I'm trying to scrape it from the strainer so this is what the greens look like they sort of remind me of like cauliflower and basically once you push all the kefir through the strainer I just drop the greens right back into my jar and I'll fill it up with milk again and leave it out on the counter for 24 hours you can leave it out longer if you like for it to be a little bit more sour but this is what the kefir looks like once I've strained it through and that will be the base for my smoothie so usually in our smoothies we throw two bananas in there and that not only adds some sweetness but it also makes the Smoothie a little bit more creamy instead of so like icy but we are out of bananas so today it's just gonna be strawberries and some mango I have had this Ninja blender for almost nine years I got it when Ethan was a baby and it is still going strong it's not my favorite blender in the world because you have to hold it manually in order for it to blend you have to press it down but it does the job and Until It Breaks we're just gonna hold on to it one thing we also like to add to our smoothies is honey we like to use raw honey and that just helps to sweeten it a little bit you don't have to do that but especially since we're missing the bananas today I added quite a bit probably about two tablespoons one to two tablespoons something like that I have been checking thrift stores for new glassware because all of our cups are mismatched different sizes but I have not found anything that I loved yet so I might just have to buy something new I know glassware isn't super expensive but we use metal straws so that we can wash them every day and my boys love smoothies they are so delicious and so good for them [Music] another thing that I like to make on repeat around here is homemade sourdough bread my sourdough starter I believe I started about two years ago so I think I tried it in 2020 and kind of gave up and then I decided to give it another try in 2021 so I will say you might not be successful the first time but try try again um I have just loved playing with so many different sourdough recipes and this bread loaf is actually the recipe is on my blog so I'm still working on learning how to make these beautiful patterns on my bread and sometimes they turn out and sometimes they don't but it's just trial and error and my husband always jokes and says why do you care about what they look like I'm just gonna eat it as long as it tastes good that's all that matters to him but I put a loaf in the oven on this particular day that I was filming and you'll see how it turns out it's not perfect but I was happy with it [Music] excuse me so you may or may not be hearing my boys play in the background with their cousins we actually recently got a swimming pool for our backyard and this one is so beautiful I had to share it with you guys I told my husband if we're gonna get a pool it might as well be a pretty one and the fabric is almost it looks almost woven even though it's not and I cannot tell you guys this pool has already paid for itself they are in it all day long every day and it's just a small one it's just 12 feet in diameter but it's perfect for them and they have been loving it another thing that we recently added to our yard are these beautiful Limelight Primes they're a little bit shorter than regular limelights but I just thought it would be really beautiful to line our fence with them and I'm so excited to see that they are already flowering and I just love limelights so I'm excited about that we also grabbed this raspberry plant at Walmart it was on clearance and we're already seeing raspberries our strawberries are almost finished now but we have raspberries popping up and the boys are so excited about it [Music] I refuse to believe the lie that motherhood and homemaking is mundane or boring or insignificant we have so much influence over the atmosphere and culture within our homes and I have learned so many new skills and have been able to pursue so many interests including this very Channel all because of the blessing that is home making ten years ago I was trying to survive motherhood but today I've learned to embrace this calling and create a home filled with love and warmth and beauty foreign [Music] s to do this is to make beautiful the ordinary everyday tasks and spaces that surround you switched out a blue Scotch sponge for a pretty wooden dish scrubber look for vintage kitchen bowls and dish towels that make you smile as you dry the hundredth dish of the day pick flowers right in your yard and learn to make homemade bread for your family summertime is the perfect time to try sourdough my starter thrives this time of year you should try it I've loved having you guys today friends and I'd love to hear how you make homemaking beautiful in the comments below thanks for being here today foreign [Music] I want to thank Birch living again for sponsoring today's video be sure to click the link in my description below so that you can get 25 off of your Birch mattress plus two free Eco rest pillows during their fourth of July sale if you missed this limited time offer you can still get 20 off using my link so make sure you check it out thanks again for watching guys bye

Channel: Pine and Prospect Home

Views: 54,977

Keywords: summer homemaking, blog mom, day in the life, balance, boy mom, daily habits, daily routine, day to day, day to day in the life of a mom, family time, motherhood, motherhood and blogging, planning, summer, homemaking, homemaking tips, summertime homemaking, homemaker, season of rest, homemaking vlogs, motherhood vlogs, homemaking hacks, homemaking motivation, homemaking in summer, homemaking in summertime, stay at home mom, motherhood in the summertime, mother of boys, Boys mom

Id: a1MLpXRTcrI

Length: 17min 4sec (1024 seconds)

Published: Fri Jul 07 2023