Sweet Meadow Musings

The tastes of summer...

2011-05-20T07:09:00.000-07:00

Here's what I harvested on Monday. I enjoyed a yummy strawberry salad.

With the left over strawberries, I made this:

Chocolate Strawberry Shortcake... My family was singing my praises!

Where'd April go?

2011-05-10T18:31:00.000-07:00

It's May. It was a long April. First, this happened...

My oldest went to the prom. This is the beginning of his final month of high school. I can't really discuss this. I'm just a little bit of a wreck...

Then, this happened. Siloam Springs received about 14 inches of rain in 12 hours. Our lovely basement couldn't handle the water. We brought up every single thing that was in our basement. We put it here in the family room,

In the entry way by the front door,

and in the living room with the piano.

We also had stuff in our bedroom and in the garage. These pictures just don't do the mess justice. On top of all that, during the same week, I had a dogwood festival booth to take care of, as well as a home school reception to organize. It was a rough month. Ironically, the rooms I had planned to "simplify" for the month of April were the entry way and the living room. I'm giving myself the freedom to do those rooms in May instead.

The basement is now dry, and we're slowly getting everything put away. It's been a good excuse to clean the basement.

In other business... I am still "wearing what I have". I could probably go ahead and post some new pictures now that I'm wearing summer stuff. I was tempted to do a little shopping for my birthday, but I resisted.

The garden is going strong and I had my first harvest of lovely lettuce about 10 days ago. The strawberries have come back strong and we'll have a huge crop in about 2 weeks. We've spent the last 3 days outside trying to soak up the wonderful weather...we know what's coming in about 4 weeks.

As we head into May, we have our last day of home school on Friday. PTL!! Zack graduates on the 21st and there will be various receptions, luncheons, assemblies the day before and after. Zane continues school, and Katie continues band, till June 4. Once again, the school year has flown by. Just trying to soak up every moment...

March Simplify Results

2011-03-30T17:54:00.000-07:00

It's March 30th and I'm so thrilled with the results of my school-room project. I wasn't sure it would work for me to get it all done in about 10 days, but things turned out so well. Our school room had become a catch-all for chunky, wooden, furniture. We are so grateful to have a room for school, but if we're going to be doing school in this room for many more years, we should at least enjoy our room. I just love how this turned out. The first thing was to take everything...I mean EVERYTHING, out of the room and paint. The name of the color is Greenhouse Basil and even the name makes me happy! I cleaned and painted all evening on Friday and finished the 2nd coat on Saturday night. My other plan was to get rid of some of the furniture and replace it with items that were cleaner looking, more streamlined... I made a mad dash to IKEA on Tuesday and brought back the computer desk/hutch, and the kids long desk. I also found the red shelf brackets and the chairs. We put everything together on Tuesday night and I got busy for the rest of the week putting all the stuff back in the room.

Here's a picture of the wardrobe and the bookshelf and a picture of the "new" corner of the room. We found this wardrobe at a warehouse sale and Roger added a hinged desk to the front. I don't really use that as a desk anymore, so I removed it and then cleaned up the inside. I got rid of the book shelf. These shelves hold a year's worth of books. I replaced the book shelf with the wall shelves. You can see in the new picture the little boxes under the kids' desk. Once they're done with one of their books, they can put it in their case so we don't lose it.

Here's a picture of the computer corner. This wooden computer desk is supposed to be able to close when you're not using it, but because of the way it's against the wall, and because the printer is right next to it, we've never used the doors. And, it gets so dusty in the back. And, I threw out about 100 computer discs that either don't work, or I have no idea what's on them. The amount of outdated stuff was unreal! It felt good to get that out of the room and replace it with the new one from IKEA. You can also see in the left side of the "old" picture a small desk next to the window. This was given to us but is just too small for Sam. And, it takes up more space than it's worth. So, Sam and Nate use the new long table/desk in the picture above. Also, I removed the wipe board from the window, It was so old and stained, so I got rid of it. I used a credit that I had at Office Max and bought a new one and hung it on the wall behind the door.

I think this is the best part of our new room. In the old room, I had an oak table in the middle of the room. This served as Nate's desk as well as just a place for the kids to create. The problem is that it was just so intrusive in our room and made it difficult to get around. I got rid of it! The only piece of large furniture that I kept was the wardrobe. I moved it to the opposite corner and got it all cleaned up. Katie's desk sits next to it.

Finally, I have a few things hanging on the wall and the door. I really tried to use wall space wisely, but also to make it attractive.

I just can't tell you how much I love the new look. The kids love it, I love it...we will just love walking into that room every day to do school... Right?

And, I now have a boat load of furniture that I hope to sell to pay for the new stuff. Maybe I should have a little "blog garage sale".

April is turning into a real bear on our calendar, so I think I'll choose a room that is a little less involved. I'm thinking about it.... I'll let you know.

Saturday

2011-03-26T07:56:00.000-07:00

Not a lot to post right now... Just feeling very thankful on this rainy Saturday.

Thankful for a lovely spring break... Productive. Relaxing. Fun.

#44 A last little blast of cool weather to make us feel cozy at home
#45 Hot chocolate in a favorite mug
#46 My much loved house shoes and fuzzy socks
#47 A green shoot poking out of the soft dirt for a future pumpkin

Odds and Ends

2011-03-05T14:25:00.000-08:00

February is over. It seemed like a long month. Perhaps the 40 plus inches of snow made it seem a little long, or the fact that winter just seems long, period. Anyway, it's wonderful, glorious, lovely March and little snippets of spring are peeking through the dreariness of winter. Gone is the snow...as the daffodils poke up their little green fingers to let us know that rebirth is coming. Most importantly, the sun is shining more than it isn't. And, the temperatures are teasing us with a day every now and then in the 70s... YES!!

For the month of February, my plan was to simplify the dining room. Mission accomplished! We have a beautiful buffet in that room that hadn't been cleaned out since we moved into this house 8 years ago. It's all clean, and mostly empty :-) And, the big news is that I got a new dining room table and chairs. Our old table was given to us by Roger's mom, 22 years ago. She had owned it several years before that. It was beautiful...antique-ish... but it was old, and sagging... But the worst part was the 8 chairs. They didn't match the table, which is fine with me, but they were truly falling apart. They creaked and moaned when anyone sat in them. And, the bar underneath several of them had long since broken off. I realized that I avoided using that room because I really didn't like the table and chairs. The table was too low for most men, and it was just not in good shape. I began to look for replacement chairs and was shocked to find out how much they cost! It was cheaper to buy a new set, with the table, than to buy the chairs separately. If I must, I guess I must. I'm so thrilled with the new table...we've eaten on it almost every evening since we got it. Here's a picture of the old table. I made a Valentine's dinner for my family and we at in the dining room. You can't really see much of the table, but that's ok, you'll just have to trust me.

Here's the new table. I went from oval to rectangle...seating for 6 (we'd squeeze in 7) to seating for 8-10. I love it!

I even cleaned the chandelier! It looks brand new.

So, now that I'm really feeling good about the dining room, I'm moving on to a more difficult room. I'm going to "simplify" the school room. It would really make more sense to wait till we're done with our school year, but I have a couple of reasons for tackling it now. First of all, we're just tired of that room. It's sooo crowded with desks, tables, bookshelves, computer, etc... None of us really enjoy that room. So, I'm having the kids help me with this one. We'll do the bulk of the work during spring break. Also, I plan to get rid of several pieces of bulky furniture... I already have a plan for what I want to do in that room, but to pay for it all, I'd like to try to sell some of the thinks I'm going to get rid of. There's going to be a large rummage sale during the Dogwood Festival and I plan to have my things ready to sell in April. That means I need to get this room done during March. I can't wait to get rid of the dark, heavy furniture. I still have a potential of 9 years of home-schooling left! I'd like a cheery room that we enjoy being in, especially in the winter months.

What else? I'm reading a book... One Thousand Gifts. I can't really tell you about it because it's just so personal and challenging. But, I will say it's one of the most life-changing books I've ever read. It speaks to me very deeply. Go get it and read it please... I've started a "Gifts" notebook and am on #35.

I still haven't purchased any clothes this year. I'm wearing my winter clothes, but have a few pictures of fresh outfits to post later. I did wear a pair of shorts last week! My Salvation Army pile continues to grow...

The garden planning is continuing, new baby chicks arrive on Monday, the kids are playing outside a little more each day, we have 9 weeks of school left, and life is good...

2011-02-12T18:40:00.000-08:00

Here's what I've been working on. I was able to purchase a share of a CSA of a gal in upstate New York. She's dreaming of being a shepherdess and sent me my first shipment of yarn from her few sheep. One of her sheep, Maude, is an ornery old thing with a personality that I can't help but like. So, my project had to be Maude-worthy. I used Maude's angry wool and made a matching scarf and pair of fingerless gloves. Her yarn is the cream color. I didn't have enough to make it all from Maude's contribution, so I used Classic Elite 100% merino for the orange color. I think it turned out pretty nice.

It's Feb. 12 and I haven't spent a dime on new clothes this year. Today was tempting. I took Katie and her friend shopping and saw a few things I really liked, but I resisted. I'm still wearing repeats...the same stuff mixed and matched.
And, I finished "simplifying" the master bathroom and have moved on to the dining room. I have an antique buffet in the DR that hasn't been cleaned out in 8 years. I went through the whole thing and was able to get rid of a lot of stuff. I've started a nice pile of things for the Salvation Army. And, I think I'll put some of the stuff in the Band Yard Sale in April. I'm looking forward to getting the DR in order so we can use it as a family much more often.
Finally, my son Sam, prayed for snow a couple of weeks ago. He's convinced that it was his prayers that brought 24 1/2 inches of snow to Siloam this past week. It was amazing. I have absolutely loved having no place to go.
Monday we get back to real life. Maybe :-)

January - A "Simplify" report

2011-02-02T13:58:00.000-08:00

Just a little update. Yes, I'm still wearing the same clothes over and over again. Nothing new lately. I do have a pile of clothes to take to Good Will, and I have a couple more outfits that I need to let go of... I got 4 J Jill catalogs in January (not to mention about 10 other catalogs) and I tossed all of them before I even looked at them. Money spent in Jan: $0. I suspect that J Jill will notice the decrease in revenue and will begin to pour on the pressure :-(

And, I finished "simplifying" the bathroom. I went through all the cabinets and closets. I have a lot of junk! I've found that simplifying = deep cleaning, but even though my junk was put away, it's still junk. So, I dived in and got rid of lots. I ended up with a large trash bag of stuff. I had makeup in my drawers that was over 20 years old! 20 YEARS OLD!! I hadn't used it in about 18 years...but I couldn't throw it out because it was still good. Well, it's gone now.
Simplifying by getting rid of junk is good, but I'm also trying to have a more simplified focus. One thing at a time...avoiding the rush, rush, rush...using and being thankful for what I have.
Next assignment: "simplify" the dining room in February. I may even get a few pictures of the process.

For those of you in My Town, I hope you're warm. Drink lots of hot chocolate, please!

2011-01-27T18:11:00.000-08:00

Here's a little bit of humor. You don't need to adjust the color on your computer...it really is neon lime green. Just a word of wisdom for any of you expectant moms out there. I know you feel big when you're 8 months pregnant. And, it seems like a good idea to get a Dorothy Hamil haircut, or to change your hair color from brown to platinum blond, or to spend money on outfits you think will make you feel better about your blossoming figure. Please! And I say this with all the heartfelt sympathy a person can have who has been there... Don't do ANYTHING! Once that baby comes you will be saddled with the repercussions of these disastrous decisions. Hence...a neon lime green capri outfit. I bought this when I was 8 months pregnant with my 4th baby. (That means I've had it for over 11 years!) I was on a trip with my husband. While he went to conference meetings all day, I hung out at the hotel with all the wives. I felt huge. I was in a hotel that had an adjoining mall and I wandered into a shop that just looked so bright and fun! I came out with this.

I planned to wear it after the baby came. I honestly don't think I've ever worn it. Maybe once. It will make someone really happy, but not me. When I see it in my closet I always have a twinge of guilt that I don't wear this. Eleven years...
Here it is: I wasted my money on this outfit and now I'm getting rid of it. Simplify.

Simplify

2011-01-27T09:53:00.000-08:00

I love my new blog picture. Each of the 3 youngest got to take a friend and use our season passes and buddy passes at Silver Dollar City. My two youngest are in the maroon and the green...one of our friends is in the stripes. Unbridled excitement/fear/surprise. I laugh every time I look at this picture.

I have some more pictures of Wear What You Have, but I've decided to make an adjustment. By now, I'm wearing the same outfits over and over. Boring for anyone that happens to read this blog. So, I'm going to post when I wear something new. And, I've got a few pictures in my camera of "I can't believe I bought that!" items that I think you'll get a kick out of.

One of my dear friends has decided to sort of define her year with "one little word". Something she can use to try to give herself direction...something to work on this year...something to pray about and for. I'm not a big fan of resolutions, and I initially didn't think I'd do something like this...but there is a word that is ringing in my head these last many weeks. It's the word "simplify". There are so many ways to apply this word. Things, thoughts, spirit, desires, etc... I have a lot of ideas bouncing around in my brain, but I know myself well enough to know that I need to do just one or two things at a time. I tend to jump into the water with both feet and then find myself crumbling under the waves as I'm pulled in so many directions. So, while I contemplate simplifying myself internally, I'm putting effort into simplifying externally. Lately, my concern for the poor has transferred into some self-guilt. I am so incredibly blessed, but don't deserve a darn thing. Why do I get the great family, the warm home, a pantry full of food, cars that make life more convenient, a closet stuffed with clothes I don't wear, stuff that fills my home but not my heart? How do I continue to try to teach my children that more is not necessarily better, that money doesn't equal happiness, to be thankful for what you have, and how to say no?
All good questions...I'm still working on answers. Anyway, for this month, I'm going to simplify my bathroom. No earth-shattering changes...just simplify. Why do I find it hard to let go of a full bottle of nail polish that I haven't worn in 5 years? Do I really think I'll wear it? No. But it's as though I'm admitting I made a mistake if I throw it out. So, here it is...I'm laying it out for you to see read. Are you ready? I wasted my money on some nail polish and now I'm going to get rid of it. There you go. Holy cow! Are you still there? Who knows what'll go next?

Wear What You Have...Week 2

2011-01-19T20:05:00.000-08:00

Sunday, Jan.9

Well, I have no picture because I played hooky today and stayed home in my "lounge wear". Shhhh....

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Monday, Jan.10

Black turtle neck, maroon tweed vest, green velour pants (everything J Jill)

The Verdict - Yep, I've already worn this before. I like it, even though the pants are a little short.

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Tuesday, Jan. 11

Black waffle shirt with white trim, light blue Levis

The Verdict - this is a good "stand-by" shirt. I'm not crazy about it, but it doesn't bother me. It's one I wear when I'm behind in the laundry :-) I love these jeans. They're loose in the seat, which has a tendency to make my hips look a little bigger than necessary, but I don't care. They are so comfortable...I love them.

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Wednesday, Jan. 12

Super soft pink sweater (J Jill), Levi jeans

The Verdict - Yes, I wore the same jeans 2 days in a row...so sue me! I like this sweater but I wish it was just a little longer. I find myself making pulling it down often... but I still like it. It's super fuzzy and warm on a cold day.

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Thursday, Jan. 13

Purply blue sweater (J Jill), white tank, Authentic Fit Jeans (J Jill)
The Verdict - I like this sweater because it's really comfortable and hangs over my backside. These jeans are a little tighter around the hips than I'm comfortable with, but I like the boot cut and the length, so this sweater is perfect with these jeans.

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Friday, Jan. 14

Blue striped top, white tank, Lee Riders Jeans

The Verdict - I really like this top. It's actually sort of thin, so I wouldn't wear it when it's really cold, but it's really comfortable and I like the fit. I've had these jeans forever... I like them.

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Saturday, Jan. 15

Black tuxedo shirt (Walmart), gray Authentic Fit Jeans (J Jill)

The Verdict - simple but I like it. I finally got a belt that fits and it helps keep these jeans from falling down.

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Sunday, Jan. 16

Black turtleneck, black tweed vest, black/white hounds tooth skirt, black boots and tights.

The Verdict - This is the first time I've worn this skirt. I had originally figured on wearing just the turtleneck, but I felt like the skirt made my hips look big. So, I added the vest to give me a waist. I felt comfortable, but wasn't really crazy about the look.

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That's it for last week. I think I threw out about 10 clothing catalogs this past week, and they still keep coming.

I've also included a picture of one of my favorite articles of clothing...my socks. I love a good pair of socks. I had purchased some good socks a few years ago, but they're beginning to wear out. So, I came across these and I loved them. So, I got a few pairs in Dec. Everyone needs a pair of red socks...don't you think?

Wear What You Have

2011-01-09T14:11:00.000-08:00

Well, we've hit the ground running in 2011. We enjoyed such a lovely vacation. Oh the joy of waking up with no real plans, only to spend the day with each other. Perhaps a little outing here and there...playing with Christmas toys and finishing projects that were put on the waiting list during the Fall. Have I mentioned that I love vacation... Not to be confused with a vacation. Going somewhere to visit/tour/sight see is a ton of fun. But I love the other vacations... summer vacation, Christmas vacation, Spring Break vacation, even Thanksgiving vacation. The go nowhere vacation. Love them!
Here's what I got for Christmas. It's a little 6'x9' spot o' sunshine!

For the week after Christmas I got to do a little planting. I've since been up to my elbows in seed catalogs and gardening books. I really want to try to do year-round gardening, so my Handy Man got me this to help me out. And, he got it on sale with free shipping! Even better.

We lost one of our chickens a few weeks ago and replaced her with a new Aracauna. The new one is called Muffin and she's so sweet. She gave us her very first egg this week. I'd forgotten how small their first eggs are. We all just oo-ed and ah-ed over her first delivery. She can stay now.

Also, after quite a bit of purging last month (I made 3 trips to the Salvation Army), I've been a little convicted about how many clothes I have. So, I'm going to be trying a new project this year... It's called Wear What I Have. Honestly, it's embarrassing all the clothes I have when I consider the poor. So, I'm going to keep track of what I wear and get rid of anything that doesn't go on my body this year. Don't worry...I will buy new underwear and socks as needed :-) but that's it...I hope.

Jan. 1 - Black tuxedo shirt (Walmart), brown boucle sweater vest (J Jill), cozy knit pants (J Jill)

The Verdict - Love this. Very comfortable and I like the way it makes me feel. Casual but not dressing down. I suspect you'll be seeing me wear these a lot this year.

Jan 2 - Black skirt, long sweater, black boots, tights.

The verdict - I wore this to church and I liked it. I don't wear this sweater too often, but I like the way it looks and feels. I'll keep this.

Jan. 3 - J Jill Arctic sweater, J Jill True Fit jeans

The verdict - I've had this sweater for over 4 years. It's gotten too stretched out over the years and I just don't like the way it feels anymore. Notice that I had to roll up the sleeves... The sweater is going into the "give away" pile. The jeans stay.

Jan. 4 - Cozy knit pants (J Jill), black tuxedo shirt, heather gray knit jacket (J Jill)

The verdict - I really like this. I got the jacket so I could layer without having to do a sweatshirt. I like things that hang down a little over the "back side". I feel good in this and can remove the jacket if I need to. This all will stay.

Jan. 5 - Black turtleneck, brown vest, green velour pants (all from J Jill).

The verdict. I like this too... The pants are almost too short, but their are so super comfortable that I just ignore it.

Jan. 6 - Cozy knit pants, gray striped shirt (J Jill)

The verdict - This is really comfortable too. The shirt is a little tighter around my behind than I'm used too, but not enough to make me get rid of it. And, I like the way it looks with the pants.

Jan. 7 - New blue button down shirt, blue boyfriend pants (all from J Jill)

The verdict - I love this. I like that the shirt has a little bit of shaping and is super comfortable. The pants are a little thin for the winter time, but I just love them. I feel casual and put together, but very comfortable.

Jan. 8 - Purple heater sweater, gray straight let jeans (all from J Jill). The red house shoes are from Land's End.

The verdict - This is a sweater that I really liked until I washed it. It's just a little tighter around the behind than I like. I suspect it will be "eliminated" sometime this year. I really like the gray jeans for the color, but the cut is not good. These ride really low on the waist. When I first put them on, the stay put just fine, but as the day goes on, I'm constantly having to pull them up. Because they ride low, I don't have a belt that fits around my hips! Right now they will stay in the game because I like the color and the look of them, but I probably need to find a belt for them that fits or I'll probably start avoiding them.

There you have it. The first week of Jan. Can you guess what my favorite clothing store is?

I'm Better Now

2010-12-26T16:18:00.001-08:00

Well, after reading my last post again, I should gave given more time to the fact that, even though I'm a blubbering mess...I have the best kids in the world (thank you Lord!). Zack has become such a wonderful young man. I think another part of the reason I'm so emotional about him is that I'm so eternally grateful that he's turned out so well. So many friends have experienced the heartache of children walking away from their faith. There comes a time when our child must make his faith his own... he can't continue to "ride" his parents' belief. They must choose for themselves. It is the epitome of letting go for mom and dad...we can't force them to believe. We can only hope to walk through the uncertainty with them. My heart is full of thankfulness that Zack is walking with the Lord. I wish I could bottle some magic potion that would guarantee he never walks away... So, sometimes I'm overcome with a heart of thankfulness that he is such a good boy, and acknowledging that only God could have accomplished this. Of course, I wonder if he'll be able to keep his room clean when he goes to college, because he sure doesn't keep it clean here.
Thanks friends for your sweet comments and encouragements. I'm sure that once I get through with this one, I'll be an expert and won't have any problems with the other four. Right....? Right? :-)

Here we go...

2010-12-21T21:09:00.001-08:00

Can it really have been that long since I've written. The last post was lamenting the end of summer. Now, Christmas is just 3 days away. I'm sitting in my cozy living room with a toasty fire in the fireplace, the lights shining on the Christmas tree, and the family is asleep...all but me. My head tells me that I really don't have anything new to say, and who would really want to read about me anyway? But, I know that there are just a couple of you that might like to know what my heart is feeling. And, these recent feelings are new for me.
I'm a relatively down to earth, get 'r done kind of gal. I don't really like to get all mushy or cry much. I'm pretty analytical about things and tend to see a problem and will look at it from all angles and then make a decision. However, I've become a blubbering idiot over these last several months. I have been second guessing my decisions and completely unsure about things. I must say that I don't like feeling this way. The root of all this anxiety? My son. My 18 year-old son. Do you understand what I'm saying? I HAVE AN 18 YEAR-OLD SON! How is this possible. Even as I write that, my throat is stinging a little. What is wrong with me?!
This child of mine is now old enough to vote, has been driving for almost 2 years, and Lord help me...he has a girlfriend. He's applied to, and been accepted, at several colleges. It's coming people. Now my nose is starting to sting a little. This child has become an older young man. I can't bring myself to say he's an adult man yet. He is still in high school, still lives under our roof, still asks if he can borrow the car, still has chores and gets and "allowance". He has a curfew, has a limited amount of computer time, and I've even found him, from time to time, sitting at the Lego table putting something together. These remnants of youth keep me from feeling like I've completely lost him to "adulthood". He's so sweet and has never really caused us a moment of trouble...you know what I'm talking about. He has had his moments here and there, but really, no Trouble with a capital T. Even with all that is happening to him, there are deeper feelings I have that cause me grief. The cause of my emotional meltdown is because the sweet mother/son relationship has changed. (Throat and eyes tingling now...) He's still so sweet to me and very loving, but something's different. He is much more introspective...not a lot of sharing. He answers my questions, but there's no real deep conversation... He's making his own decisions about when/if to study. He spoke to us about having a girlfriend, got counsel from a few others, and then made a decision. He's 18. It's not like we can stop him. Roger says that this is a good thing, and in my head I know he's right. Roger tells me that Zack's beginning the early stages of "leaving and cleaving". And, he says that Zack will continue to need to feel like he's becoming independent of us (me?) and that eventually, he will realize the blessing of our relationship and will come back to the deeper parts of it. Really? Why do I feel such loss? I feel like there's some strange unwritten rule that says I need to keep my mouth shut. if I offer guidance, counsel, or even an opinion that it's viewed as a mother that's trying to be controlling...who won't let her son grow up. The tears are flowing now. It's emotionally exhausting. I feel such extremes. I'm so very proud of him and thankful to God for helping Zack to be such a fine young man. But I miss him. I miss that little boy that needed me. I miss knowing what he's thinking. If this is the way God intended for boys to become men, why is it so hard for me? I have several friends that have been through this and they assure me it's completely normal. But good heavens! I have 3 more boys coming up right behind Zack. Does it get any easier? And what about his future wife. What if she doesn't like me? It makes me wish that I'd encouraged Roger to call his mother every once in a while...just to tell her about his day.
In my effort to be analytical about all this, I remind myself that the first one is always the hardest in respect to the unknown. If I can get through this, the others will probably be a piece of cake. Of course, we can't forget about Katie. She deserves her own blog post.

Summer...

2010-07-17T09:06:00.000-07:00

The summer is flying by. I mean it! It's really flying by! One month until school starts and the glorious freedom of summer turns into the daily responsibility of school and all that goes along with that. Actually, fall is my favorite season. I love the cooler weather, the harvest, the football games, and even the excitement of a "new year". But, I really love summer vacation. Not so much the heat of it, but the freedom it brings... What will we do today? Where will we go today? So many options...or, just doing nothing.

We've enjoyed our summer thus far and are trying to savour each day we have left. We did an 8-day vacation to Florida in early June. It was a fabulous trip until we reached Birmingham, AL on our way home. Our van broke down...actually, our van died! It wasn't going to move another inch. We ended up renting a van to get us home and then had to buy a new car a week later. Bummer... We're thankful we were never in danger, and that we were able to find a used vehicle that we could afford.

My sister-in-law and our 11 year-old nephew came to AR from New Jersey for a short visit. We showed him the small town life and made a day trip to Branson. He had a great time and lamented that he didn't want to leave. He didn't know how fun AR with his cousins could be.

Now, our big boys are at New Life Ranch participating in their leadership training program. The day they left for camp, our 3 little ones went to spend 4 glorious days at Aunt Gayle's. I am so thankful for an aunt that welcomes and loves my kids. They adore her and Uncle Jimmy and think their house is one of the best places in the world to be.

The littles came home on Thursday afternoon, right after I had oral surgery to remove 3 wisdom teeth. I had contemplated having the teeth out early in the week while the kids were all away, but decided against it. This was the first time in almost 18 years I had been this home alone...4 whole days! I figured I'd like to enjoy those days, not spend them with puffy cheeks in a drug induced stupor.

So, that's what's going on around here. The big boys have another week of camp, but they get to call home today! And, I've been doing a lot of knitting... I love summer!

Here are some fingerless gloves... Thank you to my lovely model, Katie.

This is a hat that converts to a neck warmer. The bow around the top can be untied and pulled down over the face and then scrunched up again to keep your neck toasty. Again, thank you Katie.

No need to explain these... adorable.

I'm particularly happy with these slippers. I was a little nervous about them fitting, but they turned out great!

This is a scarf I made in early summer... It's a lovely brown and has red beads throughout.

Here are a few things that Zane has completed this summer.

Finally, this picture should make everyone feel really good about themselves...

Today's Harvest

2010-05-19T13:57:00.000-07:00

This morning, the sky looked like it was seriously going to burst and we mere mortals would need to roll our pants up because of the flood waters... Ok, maybe not that bad. But it didn't look good. As the thunder got closer I got myself outside and did a little garden gathering before everything got wet. Here's what I got...

I harvested a big bowl full of lettuce and spinach. Do you see those strawberries? Yep, they're ours. We're conducting a "strawberry experiment" this year. I'll tell you more about that later...but it seems to be working. Finally, the eggs are from our girls. I hard boiled them, so one of them looks white...but it's not...it's brown... but white on the inside... You get the picture.

Here's what I did will all of it.

Strawberry spinach salad. I'd share it with you, but it's all gone.

Look What I Made!

2010-05-16T19:11:00.001-07:00

More Randomness...

2010-05-10T12:03:00.000-07:00

What's goin' on here? I'm glad you asked.

--Went to a local dairy and bought 3 gallons of fresh milk...just to try it out. We let it sit overnight and then skimmed the cream off the top. Fresh butter...nice! The kids seem to like it. I'm optimistic this might work out...

--Made cards with some lovely ladies Friday night. I have fabulously creative friends.

--Went to a mini-reunion on Saturday to see several of my high school girlfriends. It's amazing how quickly a person can revert to adolescent silliness :-) It's a good thing my kids weren't with me to see me spiral downward.

--Mother's Day = Awesome Day. Awesome kids. Awesome husband. Thank you God.

--Mother's Day = Sad... Still think about my mother every day.

--Only 5 days of home schooling left! Must. Keep. Going...

--Severe weather predicted here tonight. If anyone needs a basement, you're welcome to come over. We can make cards!

Random...

2010-04-29T14:11:00.000-07:00

I know, I know... Pick yourself up off the floor. I have been thinking lots of thoughts, but just haven't been writing. Here's a few things I've been doing or thinking about...
---I have learned to knit. And I love it! I've done a couple scarves, a hat, a couple of socks, and am working on a summer scarf.
---I've started my garden. We ate some fresh lettuce and spinach a few nights ago.
---Only 2 weeks of school left!
---Why do so many 15 year old girls show so much cleavage? Some of the prom pictures I've seen just make my eyes pop! Not in a good way.
---It's only April and I'm already getting recorded political phone calls...ugh!
---I'm planning to redo my recipe book. My current one is stuffed and too small...so I got a new one that I love and I am looking forward to organizing it.
---The "farm"... Windmill is spinning, chickens are laying, bees are buzzing, grapes are growing... Nice.
---Baseball season is...busy.
---I would like to eat more organically. My kids would like to too, if it tastes good. Baby steps.
---Handyman and I are taking a little trip to Eureka Springs for my birthday. I always get a little nervous spreading out the kids...
---I'm looking forward to making some fun plans with the kids during summer. Zoo, parks, perhaps a little road trip here and there?

OK. That's just some of the random stuff in my head.

So good, but sooo bad....

2010-01-26T14:44:00.000-08:00

Why is it that the recipes that sound so yummy to me are the ones that are so bad for me? Take a look at this! I particularly love the black and white pic. Yummm!!
href="http://orangette.blogspot.com/2010/01/nasty-habit.html">

The Boob Tube

2010-01-15T14:33:00.000-08:00

You probably think I'm going to write about the television. Well...not exactly. I can write about this now because it's over. I had an MRI on Wednesday because of an increase in calcifications that showed up on my last mammogram. An MRI. It sounds serious, and it is definitely not a walk in the park. My last mammogram was 2 days before Christmas and when we compared it to the mammograms from the last 4 years, there is an obvious increase in calcifications on the right side. Sometimes, if there is a cluster of calcifications, that can indicate pre-cancerous tissue... Not good. But, it's normal for calcifications to increase as a woman gets older (joy!). So, since my mother had breast cancer, the radiologist encouraged us to find out for sure. Therefore, I allowed myself to be rolled into a long, metal tube to be x-rayed with super, duper strength stuff. I'm sure there was all kinds of radiation bouncing around the room. The days leading up to my appointment were incredibly stressful. Often, I would wonder if Wednesday was the day I'd receive a cancer diagnosis... Thankfully, everything is fine and the doctor saw no inkling of anything remotely suspicious. I slept for 2 hours after I got home...

One of my friend's grandmother passed away that evening, and as I read about her passing... and a letter from her husband, I was struck by the different feelings we had about death. She was ready to go. She spoke of wanting to go... She was ready to meet the Lord. There's a hole where she used to be, and the sadness of her absences is so fresh...but there's some comfort in knowing she longed to go home to heaven. I'm not ready to go. And, the main consideration I have is not for myself, or even Handy Man...it's my children. They need me. Is there a time in our life when we feel that we've done what we were supposed to do? We've finished the job and ready to go "home"? I don't know the answer, but I know that I still have a job to do, and it looks like I'm going to be allowed to keep at it...

I can't end on such a melancholy note...so, here's a short video of what we did after Christmas. This is my #1 (on the drums), #2 (on the guitar), #4 (on vocals), and a brief glimpse of #5 sitting on the couch completely engrossed in his new Nintendo DS. My boys....singing Ghostsbusters. It told you I had a lot of work to do...

An early Christmas present...

2009-12-21T12:13:00.000-08:00

I have a little story to tell today. Once upon a time, a girl fell in love with a blog. (Technically, after the birth of 5 children, I guess I could be considered a woman...but it makes me feel old, so I'm going with "girl".) The blog is The Pioneer Woman and Ree Drummond is her name. She doesn't know it, but she's my BFF. I love to read about her conversion from city girl to country girl and all the things that go on with a working cattle ranch. And, her ranch is in the same area as my grandparent's home, so I know exactly where she is and where the towns are that she discusses on her blog. It makes me feel like I know her better than all the other readers because I've been to her town and could probably stalk her if I wanted to...which I don't... well, maybe I do want to, but I won't.

Anyway, a few months ago she wrote a cookbook. Now, I don't usually buy cookbooks, unless they have something to do with slow cooking. But let me tell you dear friends, I love her recipes. I've tried several and each one has been fantastic. So, when she posted her "Griswold Book Tour", I noticed that her very first stop would be Tulsa, my old stompin' ground. So, I thought it would be fun to go over for the evening, do a little shopping at Utica Square, eat somewhere fun, and then go to her signing. I figured I'd get a book there and then have her sign it. Sounds good...right.

The signing started at 7:00 p.m. and I figured I'd get there 10 minutes early to get a spot... Well, I knew something was wrong when I got to the driveway of the location and the line to get in the parking lot was all the way in to the street....hhhmmmmm.... Looks like a lot of people. When I finally got into the parking lot, there were simply no places to park. I drove around for about 25 minutes and finally found one about a block away. Of course, I now realize that the entire city of Tulsa has decided to attend and it's going to be a long night. I don't really care because I'll get to meet my hero...The Pioneer Woman! And, get her lovely signature in her beautiful cook book that I'm even willing to pay full price for!

I get to the door of the location and honestly, I can't get in. Women are stuffed into the building and I truly cannot get in the door. Some people are coming out and one of them told me that all the books sold out in about 10 minutes....there aren't any more books. What!! Because some people are leaving, I'm finally able to get in the door, but I can't go anywhere. I was pressed against the wall with about 500 women. I can't even see PW. I can hear her, and she sounds lovely....but there is no way I'm going to be able to see her with all these women. I stood there, against the wall, for about 40 minutes. By now it's almost 8:00, and I've got a 1 1/2 hour drive home...there's no books, so there's no reason to even stand in line to see her. So, I left. A little disappointing, but I'm positive that the organizers had no idea there would be such a turnout.

I posted about my experience on her blog...encouraging others to bring their own books and to get there early.

Guess what!!

She saw my post and emailed me personally!! I got an email from PW...she felt badly that I hadn't gotten to see her after my long drive, so she said she'd mail me a couple of signed copies. I emailed her back and told her that I thought it would be so wonderful if she'd send me some books...one for me and one for my friend, Adelia. Well, I waited, and waited, and waited... She was on her tour and really busy, so I just figured she'd get around to it eventually. Then, one day, she posted on her blog that if anyone wasn't able to come to her signing, she'd be happy to sign their books if we'd send them to her. Ohhhhh.... I'm pretty sure she meant for me to SEND her some books to sign...

Well, I noticed that she had tacked on one more stop on her tour...in Tulsa... And, it wasn't really publicized much... So, I thought I'd try again... I went over on Saturday. Here's where I went...

The signing started at 1:00, so I got there around 12 noon... I wasn't taking any chances this time... I got my number and hung around for an hour in a bookstore. At 1:00, she arrived.

I was number 30, so at 1:30, here's what happened... I met my BFF for the first time...

We had a really deep one minute conversation!

She was lovely and she signed my books...one for me and one for my friend...

Adelia...give me a call... I have your book. Merry Christmas friend...

December Drama...

2009-12-14T18:47:00.000-08:00

It's been an eventful 2 weeks. You probably don't remember, but last year I went to an auction at a restaurant that was closing. I was able to win a new freezer. Not just any freezer, but my DREAM freezer. It has 3 doors and 75 cubic square feet. It's beautiful!! It was only 1 1/2 years old when I got it. It's so tall that it wouldn't fit through the garage door. Not a regular door, but the door you raise up and down to drive your car it... it's tall. Anyway, it's such a blessing and I use it a lot. I mean it. A LOT. It is packed to the brim. Ten days ago I went in to the garage to put something in the freezer and when I opened the door the light didn't come one. I looked at the thermostat and saw that the temp in the freezer was 38 degrees. It's usually -3. So, I knew it had been off for a while. My ice cream was already squishy! Roger came home and looked at it and couldn't find anything wrong with it. I called a heat/air guy and he said he'd come look at it the next day, which was a Saturday. I waited for him all day. I called him 4 times! He never showed and never picked up and never called. I was so frustrated because my food was defrosting! I called another heat/air guy and he came out the following Monday and said it looked like the compressor was out. So, I spent the next 2 days farming out all my stuff. We had 1/2 a cow, 5 turkeys, all my veggies/fruit from my garden, about 20 lbs. of chicken breasts...the list goes on. Thanks to the generosity and empty freezers of good friends, all our food is taken care of. The compressor should come in this week and I'm hoping it will be fixed before the weekend. It's going to cost a lot... Merry Christmas.

Then, to top it all off... Our neighbor's dog, of of the 2 that run loose, got into our chicken yard and killed 3 of our chickens. Thankfully, my Reds were in the coop and were safe. But the young chicks we were raising to try to get another female were in the yard and he got 3 of the 4. Naturally, the one that survived was the rooster! Ugh!! My Handy Man was able to go ahead and butcher 2 of the chickens, so I guess it's not a total loss. One of my friends has a rooster that she needed to get rid of, so she brought it over this weekend. He is gorgeous and crows every morning and evening. Handy Man likes to hear the crowing...he says it reminds him of his time growing up in Africa. I don't think the neighbors will appreciate it though, so he has to go...

But, not everything has been so full of drama. I had a few ladies over last week for a cookie party and it went really well. Of course, I didn't slow down enough to take pictures, so you'll just have to believe me that it was fun. I was chosen to host a Betty Crocker Cookie Party. They sent me a package in the mail that had several cookie mixes, treats for goody bags, recipes, and a $15 visa card for supplies. Fun.
I've just been chosen to do a Fun and Fit party in January. They are sending me a package with a special game for the Wii and also some healthy treats. If you're interested, let me know.

We're winding down our school and beginning to get excited about Christmas break. The kids have their piano recital this week and I have a get-together on Wed. evening. I think that's about it for us. Not a lot of things schedule after that... I like it that way :-) Handy Man has been working on his windmill and he's hoping it will be up in January. I keep telling him there's no rush, but he is excited to get it done.

I pray that anyone reading this is able to enjoy the holidays and celebrate the birth of Jesus. Much joy to you....

Christmas...It's begun...

2009-12-01T18:23:00.000-08:00

I'm feeling a little more bloggy lately. There's a lot going on right now and I'm reminded again and again how blessed I am. Friends that I love are struggling and I don't know how to help. So, I pray. And, I try to spend time with those I love most. So, here's what we did this evening.
Typically, we put up our tree on Thanksgiving night. This year we were in Dallas with our extended family and didn't get home until Sunday evening. The kids were all for putting up the tree, but after 6 hours in the car with heavy rain the whole way home...well, the tree would have to wait. Tonight was the night and they were very excited. I had gotten a Lego set about a month ago during a sale and I brought it out tonight for an extra surprise. It's the Lego Christmas Village... For one blessed hour, the punks worked together and helped each other get their village put together. Now THAT'S a gift!

This Week I Learned....

2009-10-02T09:03:00.000-07:00

I have a write-board in our school room that I use to put a new journal entry up every school day. The kids have a notebook journal and are required to write at least 3 complete sentences for each entry. I thought that I might participate on my blog... no promises as to my consistency, but at least it will give me something to write when I have nothing to write.
Oct. 2 2009 Journal Starter -- This week I learned...

This week I learned that The Walmarts carries over 4000 items that are made with or from corn or corn products, including pudding, marshmallows, and graham crackers. Is that bad? I don't really know. I also learned that the Right Choices Corn Maze in Southwest City, MO, is really 45 minutes away...not 30 minutes. I also learned that the Everglades in Florida are a national park. And, I learned that during the Great Depression, one of FDR's many programs included hiring a few hundred thousand men for the CCC...a conservation program where the men worked at national parks, forests, and monuments. They made $30 a month. They lived in what looked like army barracks and had early morning calisthenics each day...and they were thankful. I've caught bits and pieces from the PBS special by Ken Burns on America's national parks. Even though the contents is surprisingly interesting, all his shows are alike... Even the music sounds like the music from his civil war special.
OK, I think I've reached my minimum of 3 sentences.

I'm back...sort of

2009-09-26T16:33:00.000-07:00

It's been a while... I'm re-evaluating my time and the way I spend it. Not sure what this means for this blog... I guess I am trying to decide why I do it and if it's a reason that justifies the time. On top of that, I don't really have much to say :-). I talk about my chickens, my garden, my kids and family, but I'm not certain it's of any interest to anyone other than my aunt.

For example: Here is a picture of our grapes. Not enough to make wine, but plenty to make homemade grape juice.

It might not look like much, but when you have to take the stems off of all of those grapes...well, it seems like the mountain of grapes don't get any smaller. Handy Man and I worked on these grapes for about 4 hours. Of course, we didn't even get started until 9 o'clock. PM!! Why do we always do that?! By the end of the night/morning, I was in a grape juice induced stupor. I think there was about 50 lbs.

Anyway, once I got the stems off about 8-10 lbs, Handy Man would cook them so that the juice was about to burst out of the grape skins. Then, he'd put the purple blob in a straining bag and allow the juice to drip into a bowl. Once he had squeezed all the juice out of the hot grapes, we'd ladle it into quart jars. We ended up with about 15 quarts of grape juice concentrate. We went ahead and canned the juice in a water bath. Now, we just pop open a jar and add about 2 cups of water... It's heavenly. The yummiest grape juice EVER!! You wouldn't necessarily need to add water, but it still tastes amazing and makes it last longer. Now, I can pretend to be a grownup and have a wine glass of grape juice while Handy Man has his evening glass of red wine...for his heart, of course.

Hatching a chicken...

2009-08-22T19:06:00.000-07:00

Here's what's been going on at my house. We happened to peek in on this little one as he/she was beginning to hatch, so we caught the whole think on the camera. Science!!

What's Growing...

2009-08-13T19:31:00.000-07:00

Some people grow roses... I buy mine (actually, Roger buys them).
Some people grow cucumbers and zucchini...I just wait until my firends (thanks Rebecca and Karan) have more than they can possibly eat and are giving it away. We just don't eat those veggies very much...so I don't want to expend the energy or space for them.

Here's what I DO grow...

Lovely cantaloupe! I've harvest 2 so far and they are fabulous. I have about 14 on the vines right now.

Tomatoes...

Tomatoes...

and tomatoes... I've harvested about 75 lbs so I can make tons of spaghetti sauce.

I planted the green beans because we had the extra space. I've been getting about a handful each day and have harvested about 2 gallons. I think we'll plant more of those next year! They're yummy!

My Summer Reading

2009-08-08T08:22:00.000-07:00

Yes, yes...I know. You haven't been able to sleep at night because you've been wondering what in the world has happened to Trish! Thanks for the thoughts, but you needn't worry. I'm here. I'm still trying to hang on to every last drop of summer... I'm gardening for the first time ever and am enjoying it immensely. And, I'm working on getting my act together to start school. But, enough about all that...
One of the things that I have enjoyed so much this summer is getting to read. So, I thought I'd do a little book list/review... I checked several of these books out from the library, so I don't have them in front of me, so I might not be able to give you the authors. You're smart. You can find it if you want to.

A Handmade Life - written my the gal that has the blog www.orangette.blogspot.com. I really liked this book. It is a memoir that chronicles her life and the food that she associates with the times of her life. It has 50 recipes...including the Winning Hearts and Minds Chocolate Cake. I've made this twice and it's fantastic.

The Egg and I - By Betty MacDonald -- This book was written in the 40s, I think, and was a bestseller, which was rare for a woman. It tells about her and her chicken-loving husband living on a farm in Washington state. It was a funny book. I liked it.

Onions in the Stew - Betty MacDonal - Continues her story after a divorce, and a new marriage. She and her husband and 2 daughters move to an island in Washington state. It was ok, but I like the first book better.

Country Matters - Michael K? - Another book about a New York couple buying a farm and how they came to love it. It was a good book...easy to put down and pick back up. Has some language.

The Curate's Awakening - George MacDonald - A fabulous fiction book that deals with questions about God and faith. I try to read this book at least once a year.

A is for Apron - a book of apron patterns. I actually made an apron to hold clothespins and harvested produce. I love it.

The Magic Apple Tree - Another book that chronicles a life on the farm. Written by a gal that's famous in England. Another book that's easy to put down and pick up. I like reading about this stuff...do you see a pattern?

I read several books about raising chickens. The one that I actually bought as a reference is The Joy of Keeping Chickens.

Made from Scratch - I loved this book. The author is Jenna W. and she has the blog www.coldantlerfarm.blogspot.com Her book tells about her transformation from a city dweller to a country dweller in the city. She tells about her first attempt to raise chickens and other endeavors. And, she gives info on how you can start small as you head towards the goal of homesteading.

Hobby Farms - a sort of reference book on how to do things on a farm, but as a hobby.

I subscribed to 2 magazines that I really like. Hobby Farms is a magazine that deals with mainly the outside stuff...barns, pens, gardens, tractors, etc... The other magazine is Hobby Farms Home, which deals with the inside stuff. I like them both, but would go with HFHome if I had to choose one.

I read LOTS of cookbooks and information about canning and preserving...

Wow... I guess I was a little single-minded this summer.

Unattended Kids

2009-07-16T20:25:00.000-07:00

I'm trying to savour each day of my summer vacation...and not let it get sucked up by the black hole that is "the internet". I don't know about you, but hours can just fly by when I'm online... So, I've been a little MIA on my blog... but I had to share this. Of course, it would NEVER apply to MY kids :-)

This librarian's heart swells with happiness...

2009-07-06T17:32:00.000-07:00

Isn't this a lovely picture?

So you won't get lost...

2009-06-28T19:48:00.000-07:00

I was looking through a book that I had checked out from the library, and I saw a picture of something similar to this:

I thought it would be fun to have something like this in our backyard since we seem to be utilizing more of our land... We don't want anyone to get lost!

Roger cut out the arrows and I painted the words. I think you can make out most of the words, but for some reason the camera didn't pick up the bottom ones too well. There's school room, garden, chickens, shop, tree house, vineyard and orchard, beehives, and firepit.

And, I mentioned in my last blog post about my hatred of the Japanese Beetles. This is what is hanging from the arbor in my backyard... and if we didn't fight the JB's, these beautiful grapes would be all shrivled and black. Don't you think my hatred is justified?

Ode to the Japanese Beetle

2009-06-20T17:50:00.000-07:00

I don't toss around the word "hate" too often, but I have to be honest. I hate Japanese beetles. I hadn't seen too many around until these last two days. They are getting worse each day. I even called Handy Man at work yesterday a little freaked out because I was seeing so many flying around outside as I looked out my kitchen window. They're just evil looking...straight from... well, you know...

These are pictures of some JB on our lovely grape fines!! Argh!! On the picture below, it's hard to see, but there are about 6 beetles on that leaf. Double Argh!!!!

I am so bothered by these horrible creatures, I wrote an Ode.

Ode to a Japanese Beetle

How do I hate thee, let me count the ways.

You fly into my forehead causing me to slap myself unnecessarily.

You land in my hair leading me to dance around flailing like a spasmodic idiot.

But worst of all, you foul creature, you eat the leaves off my lovely fruits and vegetables.

I loathe you.

I dread the time of year you emerge from your hellish cocoon,

roaming to see what you can devour.

(Yes, the biblical analogy is intended.)

We will fight you oh formidable foe...

Insecticide is our friend as we wrestle to save our beautiful, sustaining crops.

Be gone you miserable, repulsive mass.

What do you think? You didn't know I had it in me, did you?

Meet The Girls

2009-06-05T11:21:00.001-07:00

We have chickens. I can't even begin to explain how unlikely it is that this city girl, a lazy city girl at that, has decided to welcome these feathered creatures into our life. I have come a long way baby!

We have 3 girls that we hope will supply us with fresh eggs. Here's what they looked like when they arrived. They were little balls of puff that gave the sweetest chirps. They eat and poop like pros. Their first home was a box. It worked well for about a week. We then expanded their apartment to a larger box and it's worked well as they grow big enough to put outside in their permanent home...the Chicken Castle...otherwise knows as the chicken coop. They are named after our grandmothers. There is Bertha, Mildred, and Irene. They were much easier to tell apart when they were little...we've since had to put a black spot on their feet to make sure we keep them straight... Not that they care.

Here's what they look like now. They are about 4 weeks old and we have been putting them in their Castle during the warm days and bringing them back in the house during the chilly nights. We have a warming lamp in their Castle and in the evening they chow down on the unsuspecting moths. The hole in the floor leads down to the bottom of the coop which is fenced in and lets them be on the grass. They haven't really figured that out yet.

I think this is Mildred. She's the leader of the pack...just like grandma.

Here's a picture of their Castle. There are screened windows on the sides and a large door to check on them...or just visit with them. The nesting box goes over the porch so I don't even have to put my shoes on when we need to start gathering their eggs. Aren't I smart? And lazy?

A Little Cow Patti

2009-05-28T08:10:00.000-07:00

This is for my friends Adelia and Wendy, who've never heard this song. This was one of my dad's favorites.

What's Up With the Garden

2009-05-21T11:15:00.000-07:00

The garden isa growin'!!

Someone... someone anonymous asked for pictures of my square foot garden. I'm happy to oblige!

We have 2 boxes that are 8' x 4'. Technically, that's considered 4 boxes...they just happen to be connected. So, here's how it's goin'.

Box number 1: It is loaded with 4 roma tomatoes at the top, peppers in the second row, 2 plants of basil and 2 oregano in the third row, and the 4th row has on square of marigolds and then 3 squares of onions. Yum!!

The other half of that box (or you could call it box #2) has: 4 more roma tomatoes (for all that yummy spaghetti sauce I'm going to make!), 1 pepper and 3 squares of bush beans in the second row, 4 squares of beans in the 3rd row, and the last row has 2 squares of onions, a bean, and a marigold. I heard that marigolds are supposed to keep pesky pests away, like rabbits and such... we'll see...

The next box has this on one side: The top row has 2 roma tomatoes and 2 beefsteak tomatoes (for Handy Man's hamburgers :-), the 2nd row has 4 cantaloupe, the 3rd row has one parsley and 3 onions (I had the extra space so I just planted them last week), and the last row has one marigold and 3 beans.

The other side of this box looks a little sparse because we're staggering the corn. It has: on the top row, there are 4 cantaloupe. Here's the deal with the cantaloupe... I started these from seed during the cold in Feb. Well, I planted extra just in case some of them didn't make it to the garden. The problem is, they ALL survived and I'm to emotionally involved in all this to kill the leftovers. So, that's why we have 8 squares of cantaloupe. In the 3rd row, there are 2 empty squares saved for corn and then 2 squares of corn. In the last row, it's a marigold, then empty, then corn. Some of the corn didn't come up the first time and we had to replant a few of them, so we'll see how they turn out.

Finally, here's something that has absolutely nothing to do with my garden... It's my lemon tree! I have about 10 lemons that are growing every day!! Fun!!

Somebody, Somewhere, is Bleeding!

2009-05-12T14:45:00.000-07:00

Here's a scene I come upon at least twice a month.

Where: Utility room bathroom

What: Open Band-aid box

What else?

Band-aid trash for, like, 5 Band-aids.

Where else?

All over the bathroom. NOT in the trash. Come on! The trash can is right there!

And these pics were taken AFTER I'd already put a hand full of Band-aid trash...well, in the TRASH!

Seriously kids, if your injury requires 5 Band-aids, you should probably tell mom.

Terrific Taters

2009-05-10T19:36:00.001-07:00

It's Mother's Day. I've had a lovely day and thought I'd blog a little. I had been meaning to post about baked potatoes for a while now. I don't know why, but baking potatoes always intimidated me. That, and making rice. Thanks to my crockpot, and my beautiful electrified rice cooker, I am now a rice and potato goddess. I discovered about 2 years ago that I can make baked potatoes in my crockpot. Since I have the "Big Mama" of crockpots, I can make 7 humdinger sized potatoes with no problem. Awesome!!

The details?

Wash your taters and scrub them clean. Or, if you like to eat dirt, and I've heard that there are those that do, then just skip that step. Next, I take a fork and poke each one about 5 or 6 times. I'm not sure why, but that's what all the recipes I've seen tell me to do. I have visions of potatoes exploding and covering my kitchen ceiling, so I don't mess with this part of the recipe. Always poke the potatoes!! Then, I take a stick of butter and I smear it all over the potato. Now, if you're not going to eat the skin, or you like the taste of dirt, I don't suppose you need to do this. However, it makes me feel a little bit gourmet when I drench them with butter...and I know how much you love butter! Who doesn't I'd like to know!! I plop those babies in the CP and cook on low for about 8 hours...or high for about 4. They come out steaming hot and fall-apart delicious. Then, you can put MORE fat on them... butter, cheese, sour cream... mmmm. I'll take two. After all, they ARE vegetables.

This and That

2009-04-28T12:05:00.000-07:00

I keep thinking I need to post something... but I don't really have any earth shattering news or exciting events to write about. Wait! My oldest was talking at the dinner table last night and with his exuberant hand-waving, completely flipped over his plate of spaghetti. Most of it flipped into the butter tub. That's it. That's our exciting event. Is your heart racing?

For our family, the end of April and then through May is probably our busiest time of year. As we wind down our home school, warm weather taunts us as we get our algebra and spelling finished. And, it's time for my yearly "Project Surge". I am suddenly inspired to get busy with all these projects I keep seeing around the house. But, I. must. stay. focused... I've got to finish up May before I can tackle the fun stuff. That doesn't mean there's been no fun around here. My garden is up and running and I must say that I'm just tickled with it. Everything looks really good and we found beans poking through the fresh soil yesterday. I transplanted my cantaloupes today and will get a few marigolds in this weekend. See... not all work and no play.

I also had a birthday last Saturday. The yearly melancholy-ness came and went without too much ado... Birthdays and Mother's Days without a mother stink. But, my family came through and I had a lovely day. The weather was beautiful, and I felt loved.

The Human Body

2009-04-17T09:16:00.000-07:00

When I quit teaching in the public schools to stay home with my first son, I packed away all my stuff, thinking I'd save it for when I went back to work. Five children later, and with a decision to home school, well... I haven't had a (paying) teaching job is almost 15 years. Since I taught 3rd grade, it's always fun when one of my kids goes through that grade and I get to pull out some of the stuff I saved from those early years. Actually, I pull out saved stuff for almost every grade since we seem to go over the same stuff every year, just a different difficulty levels. For example, the human body. My 3rd grader and my 1st grader were covering that topic in both of their science schedules. So, I made a few schedule adjustments so they'd be going over that topic at the same time, and then I pulled out my human body stuff. I have copies of all the major components of the human body. We took butcher paper and traced and cut out their body so we could attach the parts as we studied them. These are so fun!

You can't see it, but the top of their heads will "flap" down so you can see their brains. And, behind the floppy lungs is a heart. You can see it peaking out from behind. The big pink/brown thing under the lungs is the liver, which is attached with a brad so you can look behind it and see the stomach, the gall bladder, the spleen, the pancreas and the kidneys. Under the liver is the intestines. The large intestines is a darker orange and is connected to the small intestines, which is a lighter orange. The whole group is also attached with a brad so you can look behind them and see all the other stuff. Then, one leg shows muscles, while the other leg shows bones.

These guys have been hanging in our school room since January, but it's time to roll them up and put them away. I told they boys that their "bodies" were blog worthy.

Spring Break in Italy

2009-04-15T06:20:00.000-07:00

It's a really long, boring story...but through a twist of fate, Roger and I were able to go to Italy last month. I went with my girlfriend last year, and I was able to go back and take Roger with me. We were there over spring break...5 nights and 6 days. We had a blast! I was able to be a "tour guide", and I loved it. Our hotel was in ancient Rome, so we just walked out the door and down the block to visit the Colosseum, the Forum, and all the ruins of ancient Rome. We visited the Vatican and went to the top of the dome in St. Peter's Basilica. We went into the basement of St. Peter's and walked by the crypt of St. Peter himself! Ok, this man knew Jesus! And his remains were right there! Behind the rope, behind the glass, behind the security guard... We also saw the casket of Pope John Paul in the next room. Anyway, it was a fabulous trip.

The one thing we did this time that I didn't do on my first trip was take a train down to the city of Pompeii. Pompeii is about 2 1/2 hours from Rome by train, so I was tempted to just skip it. But, my 6 year-old actually studied Pompeii this year. When he found out that we were thinking about visiting Pompeii, he said, "Mom, all I want is something from Pompeii." Oh brother! I could have picked up something from Rome and faked it...told him it was from Pompeii...but I just couldn't do it. So, off we went. 5 hours round trip! It was the town that was buried about 2000 years ago from a volcanic eruption. The volcano, Mt. Vesuvius, is really there!! And the town, well, it's really there too. It was completely different than I imagined it. The town of Pompeii is about the size of Siloam Springs, not some little, tiny village that you can just look at and see the whole thing. It was really quite big. We were there for about 5 hours and still didn't see it all. I took a few pictures, but eventually, they all begin to look the same.

This is at temple in the Pompeii Forum, where they did all the government stuff. Sort of their version of Washington DC. Their worship of gods was intricately interwoven in their government. Imagine that!

Below is a picture of their small amphitheater. There are 2 more, and one of them is about the size of a football stadium. They had their own version of gladiator events.

This picture is to prove that we were actually there :-) I'm holding the Rick Steves guidebook, like a true tourist.

The museum had the plaster casts of the people that they found buried. When the volcano erupted, it spewed so much soot and debris that most people were killed when their roofs caved in on them. If they weren't killed by that, they suffocated. When they excavated the city, they would send small sensors down into the ground. When they would find a pocket of space, they would send plaster down into the tiny hole to fill the space. They would often find that the space was in the shape of a person, which meant that the person had been covered, and then had decomposed, but the shape of his body had been left behind.

I wonder if this person was praying when he died? Or trying to cover his mouth so he could breathe.

This person's skull was still intact when they recovered him.

Fabulous trip. Fabulous time.

Easter Cupcakes!

2009-04-13T18:46:00.000-07:00

Here's what the Easter Bunny made for our Easter celebration! Aren't these adorable?

They are cupcake pops that I made on Good Friday. Some of you may remember that my BFF, the Crockpot Lady, used to post a recipe on her blog every single ding-dong day during 2008. Well, when Jan. 1, 2009 rolled around, for some reason, she thought she should go back to her real life. While she still post recipes every now and then, she's not providing me my instant recipe gratification, so I've begun to wander around the blogosphere a little. Hence, my 2nd BFF, Bakerella. She posts pictures of yummy cupcake pops that she makes, and if you aren't inspired by her pictures, well... I don't know what. Anyway, I figured I'd try to make some of my own.

The picture above looks like little cupcake soldiers, all in a row...excited, I'm sure, at the thought of being eaten. I used red velvet cake. I cooked it according to the box. Then, I crumbled it up and added a whole can of cream cheese frosting. That's right! A whole can! That moistened the cake up...A LOT! Then, I used a melon ball scooper to scoop out the cake and shape into balls. I chilled them overnight because I started way too late at night and was really tired. The next day, I shaped each ball into an oval and pushed one end into a little flower cookie cutter. This caused the other end to sort of mushroom over the cutter, hence... it looked like a cupcake. This was easy to do, but took a long time. The cake mix made 62 of these babies!! Once the cupcakes were shaped, I chilled them again. Then, I melted chocolate and dipped the bottoms of the cakes and added sticks. That's what your seeing in the picture above.

Once I finished the dark chocolate, I melted white chocolate and dipped in the tops. That's what you're seeing in the above picture. Then I used what I had on hand to decorate each one. I used regular m&m's, sprinkles, and sanding sugars. I can honestly say that the red velvet cake was the most awesomely moist cake I've ever had. I guess if you add enough fat, you can make just about anything taste great.

Once again, the kids think I'm a kitchen goddess... They have gone on and on about how yummy they are. And, each one is really only one bite of cake, (Ok, maybe 2 for those of you that would eat it nice and daintily instead of shoving the whole thing in your mouth like me), but they think their getting a "whole dessert" when they have one... This leaves more for me!

I bought a Styrofoam block to push the sticks into so they wouldn't get smashed, but I had no idea one recipe would make so many. I explained my quandary to my Handy Man, who immediately reached out and grabbed a box of Kleenex, grabbed the nearest ink pen, and proceeded to stab holes into the bottom of the box with questionable glee. Problem solved. That's why you see a Kleenex box in the last picture. And, that's just one of them... there's another Kleenex box full of pops, but it isn't in the picture. Happy cupcake Easter to us!

Beautiful Compost

2009-04-11T12:11:00.001-07:00

After I posted about my endeavor to garden, I got a couple of requests for pictures of my compost barrel. My Handy Man cut a door into the side and attached it with a hinge. Since we don't really need a lot of compost, we figured this barrel would produce about the right amount for us.

This is what it looks like when it's composting... Just a barrel, minding its own business...producing good enzymes to help the stuff inside become yummy compost, quickly. Notice that my boxes have their trellis poles up. These will be used to hold up the tomatoes and cantaloupes. I know what you're thinking... "Aren't cantaloupes too heavy to be on a trellis?" My friend, Mel Bartholomew, assures me that they can be trellised. And, when they get heavy, he says to use pantyhose to make a nice little cradle for them to use until they're ready to be picked. Walmart has their Hanes pantyhose (queen sized in brown) on sale for $1.00 this week, and I had 6 coupons for $1.00 off any Hanes product! Free cantaloupe cradles!! Awesome!

Handy Man bought the stuff and made the trellises last week. He enjoyed showing our boys how to weld the corners.

Here's a picture of the top. Handy Man used chicken wire to allow air inside to circulate. Isn't he smart!

In this picture, you can see the bottom. I'm not sure how Handy Man made the holes, but I'm sure he used one of his super-duper tools in his shop. The knob on the door just screws into a piece of wood that he attached to the inside of the door. I don't think we need to worry about anyone stealing our compost, so there's no lock :-)

I couldn't resist showing a pic of my beautiful little onions. Aren't they cute! It will be a shame to eat them...OK, maybe not.

Becoming a Gardener

2009-04-10T17:09:00.001-07:00

It's the Friday evening of Good Friday and I've got a little time to waste. Two of my chickadees are spending the night somewhere else, and it makes a huge difference. I've been tossing around all kinds of bloggy ideas and thought I'd go ahead and write about one of them.

Anyone that knows me knows that I am no gardener... I even posted about it last year. However, my desire for homegrown stuff has exceeded my aversion to dirt. So, I'm doing a Square Foot Garden. If you want to know about SFG, you need to check out the book and read up on it. The author, Mel Bartholomew, makes all kinds of promises about weed-free, quick growing, easy to maintain gardening. Lord knows I wouldn't even attempt this if he didn't promise that it would be easy. I looked up SFG online and found lots of other people blogging about their garden, and singing Mel's praises. So, I'm jumping on the bandwagon.

My Handy Man built me 2 boxes, each of them 4' x 8'. Then, we went and bought the stuff to make "Mel's Mix", which is what he says will make the gardening so easy. The mix is made of 1/3 peat moss, 1/3 compost, and 1/3 vermiculite. They are close to the house because I know myself well enough to know that I won't take care of them if I have to trek across our 5 acres to get to them... I know...I'm so lazy!

Here you can see the boxes... Technically, I have 4 4'x4' boxes, they just happen to be connected. Mel assures me that it's fine. We put that plastic stuff on the bottom before we added the dirt.

My plan was to have a Spaghetti Sauce garden... only tomatoes, onions, peppers, oregano, and basil. Well, once the boxes were complete and the mix was in, the kids got interested. My first instinct was to tell them no way was I going to let them plant stuff... I just want to keep it simple and I don't want to be responsible for their stuff. But, being the good home school mom that I am, I put away those selfish thoughts and told the kids they could plant some squares. My littlest is going to plant a square of Catnip. Isn't that nice of him? Now we can use our precious soil to help the cat become even more of a spaz... Awesome. Sam loves corn, so we're going to let him plant several squares of corn while Katie is going to plant marigolds because we've heard they are natural pest repellents. Then, Handy Man thought that it would be silly to waste any soil and have empty squares, so he bought a bunch of bush bean seeds... Meanwhile, I'm thinking, "Keep it simple. Keep it simple."

So, I went ahead and planted 3 squares of onions because Mel says I can plant them up to 6 weeks before the last frost. Guess what!! They're growing!! I'm growing onions!! And, to prove that I'm really serious about doing this, I actually started seeds for tomatoes, peppers, and cantaloupe inside. Did I mention the cantaloupe? Keep it simple...keep it simple.... Anyway, I started them and they're growing. Hopefully they'll do well when I transplant them outside in another week or two. And, I know you won't believe this, but I've even started composting. Handy Man took a plastic barrel and sliced off the ends. Then, he put screen over the top and bottom, and made a door on the side. Now, I take our compost stuff outside, open the little door and dump it all in. Then, I close the door and roll the barrel so it all gets mixed up. Truthfully, composting has always intimidated me. The thought of having to use a shovel to turn everything over and move it from one pile to the other has always been overwhelming to me. But, we don't really need a whole lot of compost and I can at least roll a barrel.

I'm pretty excited to see if I can do this. Is this a small measure of what "real" gardeners feel?

Pay it Forward

2009-04-07T06:54:00.000-07:00

Oops, I forgot... I was going to post this today. My friend Wendy posted this on her site and I agreed to pay it forward with her.

For the first 5 people to comment on this post, I will make something for you. It will be something specifically for you... I don't promise that it will be in your hands soon, just sometime before the end of 2009. The only catch is that you make the same post on your blog, or facebook, or where ever... I love to pay it forward... Now you can pay it forward too...

P.S. To Bekah G.... I haven't forgotten... I'm still working on an idea :-)

I'm on the way back...

2009-04-07T06:45:00.000-07:00

Wow! It's been a while... I think that doing the Christmas Picture Challenge in December (I posted every single day), wiped me out! I'd burned out a little. But, I'm feeling a little surge to get back to blogging, even though I have no idea why anyone would be interested. Isn't it funny that I love reading blogs of my friends, even the daily routine stuff, but I think it's silly that anyone would be interested in my daily routine stuff. Oh well, I'm sure that there are times you may read my blog and think, "Oops, I just wasted 2 minutes!" But, that's the risk you take :-) I have several bloggy ideas bouncing around in my head and I'm waiting until the right time to write... I'll be back. Consider yourself warned...

Can't Sleep...

2009-03-23T14:03:00.000-07:00

Not too long ago, I posted a blog about how much I love to sleep and that I can sleep almost anywhere. Guess what? I can't sleep sitting up...as in, sitting in an airplane. Even if I'm exhausted and on a 9 hour flight!!

Toilet Paper Epiphany!

2009-03-02T17:11:00.001-08:00

If you've spent any time with me in the last year, you know that I've become a "good deal" seeker. I try to fine our necessities as cheaply as possible, and then buy as many as possible. One of those necessities is toilet paper. I'm just guessing here, but I bet it's a necessity at your house too! Anyway, my target price for toilet paper is $.25 a roll. I will not pay more than $.25 for a regular roll of toilet paper. If it's a double roll, then I just divide the price in 1/2 to see if it comes out to $.25 or less per regular roll. So, for the last year, I've been buying TP at my target price and feeling pretty proud of myself when I'd stumble on a good deal. I have quite a stash of TP and the main brands that I have are Angel Soft, Charmin, and Cottenelle. This weekend, I was moving my stash and took a look at the fine print. WHOA!! Not all TP is created equal!! Here's what I discovered: I'm an idiot!

OK, I'm not really an idiot, but it sure took the wind out of my sails when I realized my error.

The size of the squares of TP are all the same for all the brands. They're each roughly 4" x 4 1/2". So far, so good. BUT! The NUMBER of squares is different.

Charmin - 1 regular roll is approx. 100 ft.
Cottenelle - 1 regular roll is approx. 150 ft.
Angel Soft - 1 regular roll is approx. 172 ft. Yes! 172 ft.!!!!! And! It's even a 2-ply!

So, consider yourself informed!! Spread the word!!

Just Like Heaven

2009-02-23T18:48:00.000-08:00

Roger's dad tells the story of when Roger was about 5 or 6 years old, he asked his dad what heaven was like. His dad told him to imagine the best place in the world. That's what heaven would be like. Roger thought this over and said, "You mean, heaven is a big dirt pile?"

What is it about piles of earth? I remember one summer when I was about the same age and a house was being built next to ours in our suburban neighborhood. The house belonged to the construction workers from 8-5, but after dinner, it belonged to about 30 neighborhood kids who would climb, tunnel, build, and create with the excavated piles of dirt. I'm sure the workers would curse us under their breath each morning when they saw all of our shoeless footprints all over the place.

We had a pile of gravel delivered last week, since the grass in front of the shop was becoming a mud pit. The kids had a ball... Actually, I'd say Roger had as much fun on the tractor as the kids on the gravel.

Notice that the kids have exhausted the dog...

Hey Trish! What's for Dinner?

2009-02-15T21:22:00.000-08:00

Did you ever watch Hee-Haw? I used to love that show! Roy Clark lived in Tulsa and I would pass his rather large house when I drove anywhere near Utica Square. Anyway, on the show, Grandpa would give the menu for dinner by listing a heart-stopping, grease soaked, butter drenched meal. Now that we know all that stuff is bad for you, our meals are much less entertaining... Nevertheless...here goes.

Breakfasts
Sun -F - We have your choice!! Cereal, oatmeal, whole wheat toast with honey/jam/peanut butter, eggs, fruit smoothies
Saturday - Whole wheat waffles w/syrup or jam, bacon, fruit smoothies

Lunches (Our lunch menu is almost always the same every week. I can barely keep up with dinners, so I don't want to expend brain cells thinking about what to fix for lunch!)

M - sandwiches (PBJ), chips, veggies/dip
T - chicken nuggets, applesauce
W - pizza, orange slices
Th - sandwiches (ham/cheese), sliced apples
F - mac/cheese, crackers,
Sat - leftovers
Sun - potluck at church

Dinners -

M - CP Chicken Fettuccine, green beans, applesauce
T - Honey Dijon pork chops, bow tie pasta with veggies, whole wheat bread
W - Manicotti, salad, bread sticks
Th - Hamburgers, whole wheat buns, corn, whole wheat chocolate chip cookies (these really are the best cookies I've had...they're fabulous!)
F - CP Taco Soup, Frito's, cheese...
Sat - leftovers
Sun - breakfast (make a big batch of waffles to freeze leftovers for following week)

Whew... I'm trying to sneak more fruit and veggies into the plan. I need to do a little research on it because I tend to do mainly apples and oranges, which can get old. I have blueberries and strawberries in the freezer for fruit smoothies, but I need to be more intentional in getting those into the plan. Any ideas?

Back in the stamp room...

2009-02-07T13:56:00.000-08:00

During Christmas vacation, I had a list a mile long of things I had wanted to accomplish...one of those things being an opportunity to clean and organize my stamp room. I got it done, about a month late! But, better late than never, right? What a difference! Clutter truly does inhibit the creative juices. Before, I dreaded trying to find what I wanted. Now, it's so nice that everything has a place, and I have space to play. I've stamped more in the last couple weeks than in the last many months. And, today I did Kristina Werner's color challenge. I haven't done one of those since the fall! Her challenge was to use these colors.

This design is totally copied from the Stampin' Up catalog. I used a similar patter for a recent swap and thought it would work for these colors too. What do you think? I really like it. You can't really see the words, but it says, "You're a wonderful reason to celebrate." The teal is a little more vibrant in real life, but I think you get the picture.

Blah, Blah, Blahging...

2009-01-28T18:52:00.000-08:00

Well, it's been a while. Why? I have no idea. So, what will I write about?

How about the weather? There be ice out there! Thank the Lord, we haven't lost power. But, many of our friends have. We've checked on several people and everyone seems OK at this point. Here's the irony... I have been contemplating a 72-hour emergency kit for a couple of weeks now. My goal for January is water. FEMA suggest a gallon of water per person, per day, minimum. So, that means I need a minimum of 21 gallons of water stored. The main question is how/where to store it. Thankfully, water is relatively cheap, and can be treated easily to store for a long time. But, you have to put it somewhere. I could do a bunch of bottled water, but that's more expensive. So, I think the easiest thing would be to go ahead and get some big water containers and put them in the basement. Of course, if there's snow outside, you have unlimited water...as long as it isn't yellow :-)

What else? Kids? Zack got back for the inaugural parade last Friday. They had a super time and everyone stayed safe. It's amazing how one less person can create a totally different family dynamic. But, now everyone's home and momma is happy. School has been cancelled since Tuesday and they've already announced no school for tomorrow. We have been doing school anyway. Honestly, it's just easier to stay on schedule. And, that's a few days less in May that we'll need to make up! I'd rather do school when it's freezing outside than when it's beautiful and warm. Of course, the kids can't think that far in advance, so there's the usual complaining about "everyone else" getting a vacation. Don't worry though...I'm not THAT mean...they did get to play outside for a couple of hours today. But, doing school work keeps them busy and out of each other's hair. And, again, that makes momma happy.

What about you? What do you do with the kids on snow days?

Adjusting My Clock

2009-01-17T18:43:00.000-08:00

I. AM. POOPED!

First things first: I went to bed Thursday night at 10:15. (If you missed my New Year's Challenge, you'll need to go back a couple of posts.) I woke up Friday morning at 6:30. OK, now I'm no dummy, but who knew it would be easier to get up early if you go to bed early? OK, maybe I am a dummy. But, I actually woke up without too much trouble. AND! Are you sitting down? I made WAFFLES for my family! My kids sang my praises as they squeezed cups full of sugary syrup over their hot, buttery towers of waffles. Now, I've heard that for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. Hence, I could hardly keep my eyes open Friday evening... I'd been up since the ungodly hour of 6:30 a.m. for heaven's sake! No reading in bed for me. I guess I'm "adjusting" my internal clock.

Today, I slept in. :-)

After I leisurely got myself together, I began cooking....and cooking....and cooking. Actually, there wasn't a lot of cooking, but more like a bunch of preparing. I had shopped for about 3 hours on Friday (maybe THAT'S why I was so tired Friday night...?) and had all my stuff ready to go. So, today I assembled 15 freezer meals. And, I have the supplies for 8 more meals that will go in my crock pot. AND, I have 4 lbs. of ground meat cooked and frozen for things like tacos, spaghetti sauce, etc... I cooked for about 4 1/2 hours with a break for lunch. It went really well! And, I've finally transferred all the food out of my old freezer into my new freezer! It runs like a dream! Speaking of dreams... hope yours are sweet. I'm off to bed!

Getting my act together...

2009-01-15T08:57:00.001-08:00

Basically, I'm a lazy person. That doesn't mean I don't work hard at doing things, but my nature is to take it easy... I won't go into my life's story and try to blame my mother for the way I turned out, but I have had to learn to run a home by trial and error...lots of error! And, believe me, our first several years of marriage were no bed of roses...poor Roger...he's a saint! Anyway, having lived a few years now, I know myself a little better and know that I operate best when there's structure in my day. As a matter of fact, I've been surprised at how calm and peaceful it can be when you set goals and boundaries in your life, not just with what you want to get done for the day, but in what you choose NOT to do (sports activities, church activities, computer,etc..). I was reading Crystal's blog and I've been re-inspired to get something in my life taken care of: My morning routine. I had mentioned in a previous post that I love to sleep. I like napping and can do it just about anywhere and at any time of the day. I like laying in bed after I wake up and just thinking... or praying... or listening to my Littles as the are getting around downstairs. Here's my dilemma... I have 5 children between the ages of 6-16. The bottom 4 are home schooled and my oldest goes to school. When they were younger, I taught them how to get their own breakfast. This was during the childbearing years when, between sleepless nights and nursing, my poor older kids wouldn't have had breakfast until 10:00 a.m. if they didn't learn how to do it themselves. However, this has allowed me to not have to be involved in breakfast...they can do it all by themselves. Well, now I feel like I'm missing out. I usually come downstairs as they are putting their dishes in the dishwasher (yes, we'll definitely continue with that!), but then my oldest is off to school while the younger are off to get ready for the day...etc... So, my little challenge to myself is to get myself up and downstairs to be a part of breakfast. Unfortunately, this means I'll need to get up earlier. Ohhhh, I wish I was a morning person. I WANT to be a morning person. In order to meet this goal, I will have to make myself go to bed earlier. So, here it is...
I, Trish Y., do solemnly promise to do my very, very hardest to go to bed no later than 10:30 each night. It's official...you are my witness...
The rest of my oath...
--get up at 6:30 (quiet time and get dressed)
--7:00 - breakfast with family (unload dishwasher)
--7:30 - set out dinner, start a load of laundry, make sure kids are ready for the day, tidy kitchen
--8:00 - start school

What do you think? I'm going to start tonight, just to give myself a running start for next week. How is your morning routine? Any of you "morning people" have any tips on how to make the most of my mornings? Or, any of you "night owls" that have good morning routines...how do you do it!

Laughter...

2009-01-14T19:21:00.000-08:00

Today, I was working in the school room and I heard lovely giggling from the living room. I figured that Nate was playing with a sibling, or watching something on TV. I went in and found him sitting with a Calvin and Hobbes book, just laughing and laughing... Sweet. I was even able to snap his picture before he realized it. I remember how much I loved those kinds of humorous books when I was a kid, but my books were Charlie Brown. All of my kids like those comic strip books and they will often get their colored pencils out and choose their favorite to color.

Have I told you about my new freezer? It's quite a super story, but I'll save it until I can put a picture with it.... I will say that I'm working on getting it filled up. How crazy is it that I can be so excited about a new freezer! I'm old.

Sleepless in Siloam

2009-01-10T22:32:00.001-08:00

Why am I up this late!! Well, it's because Roger has gone on a little fishing trip with Zane and I just don't like it when he's gone. I don't like it when Zane's gone either, but I can't sleep when Roger is gone. So, I ALWAYS stay up way too late and have to really focus and not let me imagination run away with me. It's so amazing how one or two less people in the house changes the whole dynamic. When I was tucking Sam into bed last night, he sighed and said, "Oh good. Tomorrow's Saturday. We can sleep in." Sleep in!! He can't stay in bed past 7:00 a.m. Ever! Now I, on the other hand, could stay in bed indefinitely. When Roger wakes up, he's shoots out of bed and is off to get ready for the day. Not me. I like to lay in bed for 5 or 10 minutes and just do a little thinking, especially when I'm snuggled under my down comforter and it's cold outside.
What else... Nothing. I got nothing. Actually, I do have some things to post about, but I guess I'm tired enough that I'd rather go to bed.

Getting Inspired....

2009-01-07T16:58:00.001-08:00

Well, after a wonderful and relatively relaxing vacation, it's time to reflect a little on what I got done, things I worked on, and some plans I've made. I did get to do a little reading, which I hardly ever get to do. I read several books:

--The Shack

--The latest Mitford Book (the one where Father Tim goes back to his hometown...I can't remember the title...)

--Revolutionary Road

--Some scrap booking books that had to do with using color in your layouts...I got them to use for my card making.

--Don't Panic, Dinner's in the Freezer

--Making the Best of Basics - Family Preparedness Handbook

--Frozen Assets

--Pantry Cooking

--And about 5 other books on food storage and preparedness

Do you know how it feels when you have this desire to do something, and you just need to kick yourself in the fanny and get it done? You know...when you look at your garage and think that you need to get it cleaned up. Or you see your closet with all the clothes from the last 20 years and think that you just need to weed and simplify. Those projects that you know would be such a benefit, but seem huge and overwhelming. I'm feeling that way about food. Now that I'm pretty adept at coupon use and the Grocery Game, I've developed quite a stash of some necessities, like shampoo, soap, deodorant, toothpaste, toothbrushes, chocolate chips, peanut butter, cereal, etc... As I've become a more savvy shopper, I'm feeling a desire to become more organized in my food storage. As I began to do a little research, I've been pleasantly surprised to find that there are lots (and lots!) of blogs out there done by women who already have a great plan in place to help people with food storage. Now don't get me wrong. I'm not a gloom and doom sort of gal and am not feeling this way out of fear. But, with prices skyrocketing and our system of food delivery/transportation so delicate, it would be nice to have a few months of food stored up, not only in emergencies, but just because it's so much easier to have food on hand. Plus, it really makes sense to have at least a 72-hour emergency kit. Our illustrious FEMA recommends a 72-hour kit because it usually doesn't take any more than 72 hours to get basic utilities back on after some sort of outage...(unless, of course, if you live in a hurricane prone area...). So, that's what I've been "studyin' up" on. I found a blog,www.funwithfoodstorage.net, that will send out an email that helps me with a plan for building up my storage. If found that website through another blog called everydayfoodstorage.net .

I'm also making plans to use my new freezer and do some bulk cooking. With that in mind, here's a picture of one of the things I did over vacation. I price matched ground beef at Walmart and cooked it up. I had almost 6 lbs. of meat.

I brown it up, then drain it, then put it into sandwich bags. I made the little bags into 1/2 lb. and 1/4 lb. portions. Aren't they cute!

We usually only eat ground beef in chili/soup, spaghetti sauce, and tacos. In the summer we grill quite a bit, but for now I just browned it and then froze it. Now, I just get the amount I need and add it to my recipe.

And, for Christmas I got a handy-dandy ziplock bag sucker (I'm sure it has a really catchy name, but I don't have the gumption to go look at it and see what it is...and I certainly didn't waste any brain cells to remember it's name!) It makes it really air-tight to keep any freezer burn out.

So, that's about it right now. I wonder if you have any food storage ideas? Let me know!

Projects #2 and #3 - And the end of the year...

2008-12-31T08:06:00.000-08:00

OK... I should have saved Project #2 until later. Or, I should have done it a long time ago. Actually, I don't think it really matters when I do this...it's just not fun. I'm revamping our "Must Have Papers". I made a Power of Attorney for Health Care in case Roger or I are ever needing someone to make health care decisions for us. That's always fun to think about... I am also in the process of making a Living Revocable Trust. Having gone through the death of my mother and my grandmother, I am appalled at how much it costs to put a will through probate. So, by making a Trust, our estate won't have to face the courts, judges, or lawyers. Even though it's a good thing to do, it is still sobering to have to answer questions about guardianship for the kids...etc... And, since we're doing a Trust, we also have to update our wills. Fun... Anyway, I got 1/2 of my project done yesterday and will try to finish today. Our computer is SO SLOW...so it's hard to get my groove back and get it all done. And, our printer is having problems, so everything is just saved instead of printed out.

But, Project #3 is looking much more enjoyable. I'm going to reorganized my stamp room! Doesn't that sound like fun! It does to me... I'll try to remember to take some before and after pics. I'm figuring out that some of the really fun blogs that I follow seem to always have their camera with them and can post fun pictures. I'm trying to train myself to carry my camera, and then remember to use it! I read a post on a friend's blog about taking the kids out for a treat in their pajamas and I thought it was a great idea. So, on Monday night, around 9:15, I rang a bell and we got all the kids up and into the Beast and went to Sonic. They were so funny... I wish I'd taken a picture of all 7 (well, I wouldn't have been in the picture) of us loaded into the Beast...the kids in their pajamas, smiling ear to ear in anticipation. We are sure enjoying our Christmas vacation and I'm beginning to feel the noose tighten as we head towards the weekend. Real Life is just around the corner...

We're hanging out here at home tonight...Hope you all have a super New Year Celebration as we look forward to 2009. God Bless...

My Week of Projects -- #1

2008-12-29T18:34:00.001-08:00

We had such a lovely Christmas. Now, how can I make the most of our little vacation before we have to start school again? I have my list, and I'm checking it twice, of projects I'd like to try to get done before Jan. 5. Today was Project #1. I went to an auction last Sunday and I "won" a new freezer. I know, I know... Roger reminds me that we didn't really "win" anything... "We're paying for it, aren't we?" But, it FEELS like you win... Anyway, today, my Project was to get the garage cleaned up and rearranged so we can put the new freezer in it's spot. It's so beautiful! (The freezer, that it...) It is a commercial freezer and, quite frankly, it's a lot bigger than I realized it would be. It didn't look so big in the shop where I won it...but it's big in my garage. I'm so excited.

So, I got Project #1 completed early this afternoon since the weather was so gorgeous. I'll let you know how my other Projects go...

Did I mention one of the other reasons our Christmas was so great? Granddaddy has arrived! He's been in Siloam for about 3 weeks now and is working on getting unpacked. He's been over many times and we were able to spend Christmas Eve with him, and then Christmas Day with him and Roger's sister Grace and her family, the Davises. We are so very blessed to have him close.

I'm Mother of the Year with this one!

2008-12-25T21:36:00.000-08:00

Ahhhh... Christmas. I am pleasantly tired from our lovely day of celebrating. I must say that I'm rather happy with the way our gift giving went this year. We scaled back on the presents and I think it went really well. We got one large (expensive) gift for the whole family and then each child received 3 presents. Jesus only received 3!! Limiting the number of presents really helped relieve a lot of pressure as well as saved us money! Of course, they also received gifts from extended family, so don't feel sorry for their seemingly small number of gifts. I'm just tired of buying stuff just to buy stuff!

There was one gift worth mentioning. Zane has been wanting some sort of pet of his own for several years now. We got one of our dogs on his birthday hoping that would fulfill his need for pet ownership. Unfortunately, it didn't work. What he really wanted was some sort of rodent, like a rat! Or, a snake...even worse. I can't believe I agreed to this, but we got him a snake. It's a female corn snake...about 8-10 inches long. Even with my aversion to all thinks remotely slimy, scaly, or slithery...she is sort of cute. She has red and white stripes/dots and a little pink tongue. Roger has been keeping her at the office for the last 2 weeks and the staff has sort of adopted her. One of the gals at the clinic named her Shelia and Zane has decided to go with that. If your name is Shelia...no offense intended. Before we discovered she is a girl, I thought we could call her Satan...

If you click on the picture, it will enlarge and you'll see her pink eyes... ugh!

Chocolate Peanut Clusters! YUM!

2008-12-23T12:44:00.000-08:00

I know, I know...I've slacked off with my December Photo Project. The truth is, I just didn't have any pictures that I thought were really interesting. They weren't "blog worthy". But, today's pictures will make up for the last few days! These are definitely "blog worthy".

Have I told you about my new BFF? It's the Crock Pot Lady. She doesn't know that she's my new BFF, but she is. If I knew where she lived, I might stalk her. I am a crock pot junkie and I'll be sad when she stops posting every day. Anyway, Roger has a party at the office this afternoon, so I thought I'd make a little "something something" to send to the shin-dig. I decided to try Crock Pot Peanut Clusters. They are sooooo easy. Here's how I made them.

Crock Pot Peanut Clusters

-- 3 16 oz. jars/cans of peanuts (I used "Party Peanuts" and the Crock Pot Lady says to used "lightly salted" peanuts -- I'll address this in a moment

-- 24 oz. milk chocolate chips

-- 8 oz. semi-sweet chocolate

-- 8 oz. unsweetened chocolate

Put it all in the CP (I used a 6 quart size) and cook on high for 1 1/2 hours, or low for 3 hours. Here's what it looked like...

It doesn't look much different after it's cooked than it does when you dump it all in. Don't be fooled though... and don't open the lid "just to make sure it's working". It really is melty gooey...

After it's cooked, you can mix it all up with a wooden spoon. You'll have to put a little muscle into it...

Then, I took one of those ice cream scoopers that is really for melon balls and I scooped out little lumps on to waxed paper.

Let them harden for quite a while...like, over night. Or, you can put them in the freezer to harden them quickly. If you don't let them harden nicely, they are really messy...

Here's what I discovered: The "party peanuts" are salty. I don't really care for a lot of salt on things, but I love the peanut clusters. Perhaps the combo of sweet and salty makes it OK for me. Now, here's the greater discovery... my kids were not crazy about this. They thought it was too salty! WHAT! So, if you're looking for a yummy candy to make that you won't have to share with the kids, this is what you've been waiting for!!

I made them a little bigger than I should have... I ended up with 113, some of them big. Here they all are on my kitchen island...they look like little soldiers all lined up, waiting to be eaten! Yum!

We've Adopted!

2008-12-19T17:11:00.000-08:00

Well, I'm doing much better today. I had a mammogram follow-up yesterday and today I got the results...everything is fine and I don't need to go back for a year. Talk about an emotional roller-coaster... Anyway, enough of that!

Here is my picture for my DPP. This is Emmanuel. We selected him at http://www.compassion.com/. Isn't he precious? We went to the website and looked at page after page of children waiting to be "chosen". We wanted a little boy, and, we wanted someone that has to deal with the epidemic of AIDS. He doesn't have AIDS, but it's a good bet that someone in his little world has it. His page indicated that he'd been waiting over 6 months for a family. He is from Rwanda and is 5 years old. His parents are farmers and he is one of 4 children. We're crazy about him! I just love his little, round face. There are several reasons I like Compassion.com. I'd like to encourage you to check it out. This has been yet another opportunity to take the focus off of ourselves and allow our children to take part in expanding their world. We're writing him a big letter with a picture of each of us. He and Nate are about the same age, so I hope he feels a little connection. We hope we can help him have a merry Christmas.

No Picture Today :-(

2008-12-18T20:05:00.000-08:00

It was a long day...I'm really tired...thanks for understanding...I'm going to bed!

He is Sam!

2008-12-17T19:01:00.000-08:00

Hot chocolate... mmmmm.... just saying it makes a gal feel warm and cozy. I've never been a coffee drinker. I love getting hot chocolate (with whipped cream of course) at Starbucks. And, with all of our great Christmas mugs, I feel obligated to dring hot chocolate out of each one at least once during the holidays. I guess that's where my kids get the idea that one of the many traditions of our Christmas is hot chocolate. And, with weather temps below the freezing mark for the last 3 days, hot chocolate becomes our beverage of choice. So, every night, the kids get to split a package of hot chocolate. Here's Sam with his special mug. The picture at the top of my blog is also Sam... about 2 years ago. I keep thinking I need to change that picture, but it's just such a great representation of Sam. He's such a happy guy!

What a Motley Crew!

2008-12-16T18:53:00.000-08:00

December Photo Project...Dec. 16th.
Isn't this a cantankerous looking bunch! This picture may not make you think of Christmas, but this is what we did while at Silver Dollar City this weekend... the kids had a ball!

The Inside of an Apple Pie

2008-12-15T20:25:00.000-08:00

Several times today I stopped to thank God for shelter... The high today was about 22 degrees. School was cancelled because of ice. We had a fire going all day. Since there was no reason for us to cancel home school, we went ahead and did our work. It's amazing how quickly we can finish on days like this. Anyway, for my December Photo Project, I'm showing you what I cooked in the crock pot today. Katie had brought home a bunch of apples from her American Girl Book Club last week, so I figured I needed to use them. I went on to The Crock Pot Lady's blog and found a recipe for homemade applesauce. I used my Pampered Chef Apple/Peeler/Corer/Slicer. The apples were slightly over-ripe, so it was not quite as easy and usual... a little mushiness makes the peeler difficult to use. But, I pressed on! I put the whole batch in the crock pot, added a little brown sugar, some cinnamon, and a little water. I cooked them on low for about 7 hours. The house smelled fabulous! After they were cooked, I took my potato masher and mashed them all up. For a snack, I served it to the kids with a dollop of whipped cream. It tasted like the inside of an apple pie...it was a hit... and once again, my kids think I'm a kitchen goddess!

Christmas in Branson

2008-12-14T20:22:00.000-08:00

Well, we're back. We left Friday evening and spent 2 nights in Branson. We used the last of our free passes to Silver Dollar City. We'd not been there during Christmas before, so we decided to face the crowds and go on Saturday. It wasn't bad... at least it wasn't bad at first. The lighting ceremony was at 5:30, and then it was crowded. So, we left. We'd been there since 2:00 that afternoon and we were ready to get back to the condo. I had taken my crock pot and there was chicken and veggies waiting. So, for my DPP photo for Dec. 14, here we are at Silver Dollar City.

The Wise Men are Coming!!

2008-12-12T14:47:00.001-08:00

For my December Picture Project today, I'm putting up a picture of our wise men. They're on their way to the manger... They're currently in the dining room, on their way to the windowsill in the living room. This is the first year we've done this and the kids are intrigued.

I'll be out of pocket tomorrow, but will be back on Sunday...

Zane's Christmas Stocking

2008-12-11T19:38:00.000-08:00

After a relatively slow, calm, peaceful week...tonight was not. The kids had a band concert at the high school tonight. We were there from 6-8:30. And, there was a parent meeting afterwards about an upcoming trip. So, I just got home about 15 minutes ago! How is it that sitting in a fine arts building listening to lovely Christmas music can just zap your energy? Our youngest muffin slept through about an hour of the concert.

So, I was trying to decide what kind of picture to post for my DPP. As I gaze around the house, I came upon one of my very favorite Christmas items. It's Zane's Christmas stocking. My mother was a avid cross-stitcher...and I picked it up after many years of watching her sit in her rocker with her needlework on her lap. When Zane was a baby, he used to sleep with one arm over his head. Sometimes he'd sleep with his arm over his eyes. When I saw this pattern, I knew I had to do it! It looks just like him! Well, it was a ton of work, and I had to sew the stocking together...ugh! But, it turned out beautifully, and he's worth it! He loves to have something that is his and no one has anything like it. I think it's kind of nice that he has something special...just for him.

A quiet day...

2008-12-10T18:14:00.000-08:00

Today was nice. It's pretty cold outside, so the fire in the fireplace today was delightful! No big plans tonight, so we finished up our school this morning and then had a nice afternoon. However, after dinner, I got a little motivation to go downstairs. I worked on some Christmas cards and listened to Michael Buble... how fun! Now, I need to clean up the creativity!

What a lovely mess...

New "Christmas Trees"

2008-12-09T19:52:00.000-08:00

This is definitely a rushed post... I'm ready for bed!! As I was thinking about pictures that will show what is going on at our house this Christmas, I thought about how we love the traditions and pulling out the familiar stuff, but was there anything new this year? And, did I really WANT to try to incorporate anything new. Then, I realized that we did have something new this year. We have 2 beautiful hibiscus plants that I brought in for the winter. I have already posted about my aversion to gardening, but container plants are more my speed. These had bloomed and grown so faithfully this spring and summer, so I didn't want to lose them to the cold weather. So, I brought them into the house to see if I could keep them alive. I added "watering the plants" to each child's chore schedule so the plants will get watered every other day. Well, they have continued to bloom...and are doing great! And, since the lights we used on the Mustang for the parade we just lying around, we decided to light up our new trees. So, here they are...with lights off, and then the lights on. And, having these in the house gives us a place to put any ladybugs we find in the house!

Christmas the Cat

2008-12-08T20:05:00.000-08:00

What would Christmas be without animals? The truth is, I'm not what you would call an "animal lover". Don't get me wrong...I like animals, but I'm not someone that's going to treat an animal like my baby, let it eat from the table, buy it a burial plot, etc... Not that there's anything wrong with that! It's fine, if that's who you are! But, it's not me. However, I do love having a cat sleeping at your feet. If contentment had a sound, it would be the sound of purring. So, for my December Photo Project, here is a picture of our cat. His name is Christmas. We call him Chris. We got him on Christmas 5 years ago. I was looking at the blogs of other people doing the DPP and came across a gal named Clare who had a picture of her cat on her blog...he looks just like Chris! The funny thing is that we joke that Chris has his "other family", because he will disappear for a day or two...then show up and stay with us for a few days. We joke that he goes to be with his "other family", but he always comes back to us. So, I showed the kids the picture and I emailed Clare and explained that we think she may be our cat's "other family". She got a kick out of it. It would be quite a trek for Chris since Clare lives in another state! Anyway, here he is... our Christmas kitty.

More Chirstmas traditions.

2008-12-07T17:42:00.000-08:00

For my DPP Challenge, Dec. 7.

Here's a picture of what we do every morning during the month of Dec. This is our advent calendar. In each pocket is a little pillow boy or girl, representing children from countries all over the world. I find it interesting that it has children from countries like Brazil, France, Canada, China, Russia, even the USA, etc... but there is only one child that represents the entire continent of Africa. Anyway, on the back of each pillow is a little piece of Velcro and it attaches to the wreath around the earth. There's also a couple of angels, a trumpet, a heart, and a dove. I got this about 15 years ago and it's beginning to show some wear. When it finally begins to come apart, I will have to put aside my aversion to sewing and do everything humanly possible to keep it together. My children love this thing and have even had discussions about who gets it when Roger and I die. It took me a couple of years, but I finally figured out how to keep 5 kids from fighting over who gets to take the next little person out of their pocket. I wrote each name on a piece of paper and every morning I draw a name. That person gets to pull out that day's little person. Seriously, every morning when I come down the stairs, there is at least one child that will immediately ask me to draw a name and see which lucky child gets to be the chosen one today.

Everyone Loves a Parade!

2008-12-06T18:44:00.001-08:00

Seriously folks...is there anything more "feel good" that a small town, home town Christmas parade? I've been to "big city" parades before. While the effects may be magnified by the big corporation floats, and the numbers are always larger...well, I'm just a sucker for the smaller version. I love to see floats from the companies where my friends work. How about the bands? Usually just one or two...and I know the children/parents of about 1/2 of the group. In our parade there are no less that about 20 floats from local churches. No hiding behind "Happy Holidays" around here. It's a full blown "Merry Christmas" many times over. So, my DPP for Dec. 6 is actually a video. It's an awful video... it came out way too dark when I uploaded it to YouTube. But, I think you'll get the idea. The holidays have officially started in Siloam Springs. This is a video of our local high school band with the 8th grade included. My 2 oldest are marching...they're the best in their row! Enjoy. (You'll need to click the pause on my music if you want to be able to hear the band perform...)

Here's a video of me in the Mustang advertising for the body shop that fixed her up.

I may as well add a pic of my smallest muffin...he watched with Dad on the sidelines.

Christmas Puzzles

2008-12-05T21:24:00.000-08:00

It's 11:30! I'm cutting it close... Here's my pic for Dec. 5.
Each year I get a Christmas puzzle for us to work on at our leisure. Sometimes I get an easy one for the Littles and a more challenging on for the big kids and adults. Right now it's on our dining room table, but I usually put it in the living room on a card table that allows us to work on it whenever we feel like it, but our table bit the dust this fall and I haven't replaced it. There's just something about a puzzle...sitting together, looking and trying pieces...I think it allows for conversation to flow. No pressure...just working on a puzzle.

Candles of Christmas

2008-12-04T16:27:00.000-08:00

Wow! I've posted for 4 days in a row! I'm feeling some pressure now... But, I've enjoyed keeping my eyes open for Christmas snippets... Today's picture is about my candles. I imagine that everyone loves the look of candles. I like candles too, especially at Christmastime...but they really need to have a good scent for me to really love them. Lately, I've been a little disappointed with my Yankee Candles. I don't smell anything unless I'm really close to them. Anyway, I'm sharing some pics of my all-time favorite brand of candles. These are sold by Partylite. Why do I love them? For one thing, they burn clear. Once you light it, and let it burn for a little while, the whole thing turns to liquid wax. It's just so pretty. That leads me to another reason I love them... since they turn to liquid when they burn, that means they burn straight down... so when the candle is done, there's nothing left. Finally, the smell is fabulous. I'm a baking scent kinda girl...I like vanilla, cinnamon, cinnamon roll, etc... I like a few other scents, like lavender or anything citrusy... but baking scents are my favorite, especially around the holidays. So, here they are...

You can see a little before/after in these shots. The tea light below heats the wax above. (Ignore the center of the wax where my son poked his finger during the last time it cooled down.)

In the second set of pics, I wasn't patient enough to take the picture after the candles had completely melted... but hopefully, you get the idea.

She'll be comin' around the mountain...

2008-12-03T18:11:00.001-08:00

What is it about trains? All of my children have gone through a train stage at one time or another. Actually, I think they like just about anything that "goes"... cars, trains, planes, trucks, tractors, rockets, etc... One of the best investments we made when Zack was about 1 1/2 was a beginner set of Thomas the Tank Engine Tracks. Over the last 15 years, we've added to them and have quite a collection. Nate has pretty much outgrown it, so the whole set is packed away very nice and neatly in the attic, waiting future grandchildren that will think I'm the coolest grandma because I have the best toys.

For my Christmas picture today, I have a picture of a train that is set up around our Christmas tree. Truthfully, I'm not crazy about having trains in the way of the presents, but our kids love it. And, since Thomas has been put away for a while now, having a running train is a novelty to my boys... We weren't sure it was going to work... it's an old track and is held together by lots of black electrical tape. And, the battery connections were corroded, so even after fresh batteries, it wouldn't go. But, thankfully, dad can fix anything! After a little cleaning, our train is running it's route without any trouble. Thank goodness!

It's Begun!

2008-12-02T19:01:00.000-08:00

It's day number 2 in the Christmas Picture Challenge. Here's what I dealt with today.

The Christmas goodies are already stacking up...and it's only Dec. 2!! The cake in the pan is the last piece leftover from my daughter's 3 birthday cakes! I used to feel sorry for people that had holiday birthdays, but I'm not feeling so sorry anymore. Since her birthday usually falls on or around Thanksgiving, we usually have a family celebration on her actual birthday. Then, we celebrate again with our extended family when we get together on Thanksgiving day. But, she doesn't have her party with her friends until later because they're all busy with their families. So, she gets to have a week long celebration. That's why she had 3 birthday cakes...and she made 2 of them herself :-). In the picture is also a brownie leftover from some purchases at a bake sale, a baggie with homemade pumpkin bread. The plate has leftover goodies from our secret pal party last night. The other 3 items are gifts from my secret pal...Miss Maita (who was a super secret pal, by the way). So, I'm being very agreeable when the kids ask for dessert these days because if they don't eat it, I will! They're able to work it all of much easier than I am. Of course, I could just throw it all away...but I wouldn't want to be wasteful, now would I? :-)

Christmas Pictures

2008-12-01T20:07:00.000-08:00

Dec. 1 -- Day 1

The sweet owner of The Homespun Heart blog has invited her readers to participate in a Christmas Picture Challenge. I'm going to give it a try...but no promises that I'll be able to post every day. I hope to post a pic that will give a glimpse into what's going on with us this Christmas. And, hopefully it will help me to keep my eyes open to the little things that mean so much... If I had been on the ball, I would have taken a picture of the snow this morning. For us to have snow that actually left a thin blanket of white on the ground...and to have that snow on Dec 1...well, that's just not normal around here. There was much delight at our house. But, it melted before I could take a picture. Instead, I took a picture of something that I love...my crock pot. I love the smell of dinner cooking throughout the day. I made a big pot of chili. It was perfect on this cold day. So, that's my first picture. My crock pot. Perhaps not very Christmas-ee, but definitely a cozy, feel good feeling as we went about our day.

What Are You Thankful For?

2008-11-25T19:16:00.000-08:00

What are you thankful for...
Here is just a small sampling of my list.

10. That my children all seem to like each other (most of the time).

9. That deer season will be over in 2 months.

8. Plenty of food, warm clothing, and a cozy roof over our heads.

7. My dear, dear friends that live far away .... the ones that you would jump on a plane for if they needed you.

6. My friends that DON'T live far away and I'd only have to jump in the car if they needed me.

5. Finally realizing that chaos is difficult to live in... and allowing the Lord to show me how to get out of it.

4. The blessing of being able to enjoy the creativity that God has given me...

3. 5 healthy, happy children that continue to show me the love of our Father in ways I couldn't dream. Can God really love me as much as I love my children. He assure me that He does. What a mystery!

2. A husband that is truly a man that pursues my heart, and points me to God... He takes such good care of us.

1. The undeserved love of the King of King, and Lord of Lords. Even as a baby, He was my saviour. Wow!

There are many other things I'm thankful for...too numerous to list. How about you?

Reaping the Savings!

2008-11-17T17:32:00.001-08:00

I did OK at Walgreens today. I purchased about $75 worth of stuff and paid about $25. Isn't that great? Well, here's my dilemma... I'm able to get some really good deals on stuff that I'm already stocked up on... but it's really hard for me to not go ahead and buy it. Walgreens has Skippy peanut butter on sale 2/$3 right now. And, I have coupons for $.55 off a jar, which brings the price to $1.05 each. That's really good. But, look at my stash.

I have about 40 jars of peanut butter!! Granted, we go through 1 jar about every 2 weeks. Still, we certainly don't need to worry about peanut butter for a while. So, you all are my witness... I will not buy any more peanut butter until we are down to our last 10 jars! It's time to reap all the savings... (but oh, it's hard to pass up a deal!)

Same thing for spaghetti sauce.

I don't know.... I only have 15 jars of spaghetti sauce. We eat quite a bit of spaghetti, so maybe I'll keep working on that stash.

The Clutter Battle

2008-11-12T17:02:00.000-08:00

This week, the sweet gal at http://www.thehomespunheart.blogspot.com/ has been doing a week of making your home a haven. I would love to say that I have been participating successfully... but, I didn't discover the plan until late and wasn't really able to get geared up for it. On Monday, her plan was to tidy your home. You know, just pick up some of the clutter around the house that has piled up. So, I made a plan to clean up a couple of places. I decided to tackle the fireplace. It gets so messy with soot, chunks of wood, just your all around basic fireplace yuck. So, here's what it looked like before:

After a little attention, I was able to get it cleaned up in about 10 minutes...

The other place I wanted to tackle was the kitchen counter. It's the clutter magnet in the house. Here's what it looked like before I got after it:

You can see stacks of coupons, cleaning pads for my stamping, some hand soap that I got a good deal on, and just your basic normal paper clutter. I got to work and got it cleaned up. I finished around 2:00 on Monday afternoon.

So, I took a picture of it around 6:00 pm. Here's what it looked like afterwards:

What do you notice!!! It's still totally cluttered, but with TOTALLY DIFFERENT STUFF!! I wasn't able to get a picture while it was clean... it only took about 4 hours to make it worse than it was before. So, I'll see if I can get it cleared off this evening. I've had a couple of things going on during these last couple of days, so getting extra stuff done has been a little difficult. The rest of the week is a little slower, so I'm hopeful to get some other things done. Thankfully, mercies are new every morning... so, I'll ask the lord (again) to order my day so I can get some things done tomorrow.

Simply Chocolate!

2008-11-03T17:26:00.000-08:00

Is it really fall? This weekend I wore a summer dress to a wedding. I think the bank clock said it was 80 degrees! We're plugging along with life. When the seasons change I always feel this strong desire to change as well. Simple, simple, simple... that's the call of my heart right now. My friend, Sam, spoke to our homeschooling moms' group last week about celebrating. She encouraged us to use what we have and celebrate the little things. As my oldest drives off to church, my heart sighs as I think about how little time I have left with him. So, celebrate we shall! I've discovered a wonderful blog and she gave me the recipe for making fondue in the crockpot. Now, if you know me at all, you know I love, Love, LOVE my crockpot. I have 3 and use at least one several times a week.

So, here's her recipe for Chocolate Fondue -- In the crockpot.

1 1/2 c. chocolate chips (we used semi-sweet)

1/2 c heavy cream

1 tsp vanilla

(You can add some sort of liquor if this is for grown-ups only :-)

marshmallows, graham crackers, strawberries, apples, bananas, pound cake, or what the heck...just get a spoon and eat it straight out of the crockpot!

Put everything in your smallest CP and put on low. It took about an hour for everything to melt, and it stays melted for as long as you keep it on. We didn't finish it, so I just let it cool and then put the ceramic pot in the fridge. We have eaten it for 3 days now :-)...

The kids thought I was a hero!!

Oh, and here's a pic of my littlest muffin... he was the ring bearer at our friend's wedding. All but one of my children have been in a wedding...

Be still my heart....

She's A Beauty!!

2008-10-21T13:17:00.000-07:00

A lovely lady is sitting in my garage. My 68 Mustang is home. Her name is Beauty. Isn't she sweet?
I guess I hadn't mentioned her too much....several of you emailed me because you didn't know about her. She belonged to my brother. He had gotten her from a friend and had planned to fix her up. Well, she sat in his yard for 2 years!! No cover, no protection... poor thing. Anyway, he figured he just wasn't wanting to take care of her and he was needing some cash. So, he gave us a good deal. That was around Mother's Day last year. We saved up and finally took her to get some TLC this past January. Originally, she was orange. When we got her, she was rust colored. Roger did some work inside, but she really needed some specific updates, etc... so, we took her to the shop. We had hoped it would take about 4-5 months. Well, we finally got her back today, almost exactly 9 months after we took her in. The next item she'll get is new tires/wheels. I'm not much of a tire/wheel expert, but Roger and the guys at the shop assure me she needs new ones. I'm not even sure which is the tire and which is the wheel. I just want it to be pretty :-)
I picked her up at noon and had to go get new tags. This afternoon, I loaded up the kids and we had to make a trip to Happy Hour at Sonic. Here's my 4 youngest muffins with their drinks, next to Beauty. We were happy.

Good Deals

2008-10-19T18:44:00.000-07:00

We went to the corn maze today... Beautiful weather, hay rides, pumpkin patches, corn as high as an elephant's eye. I may break into song!! But, that's not what I'm writing about. I will be speaking at our Siloam Bible Ladies' Retreat next month on the "Grocery Game". So, I thought I'd give a little tease of what's to come. This is a picture of one of my shopping trips to Walgreens last week. Here's a run down:
-----1 Clorox Shower Cleaning System--On sale for $19.95 (I had a coupon for $10 off. And, there is a WG rebate this month for $10 back.) = Free
-----2 Crest Toothpaste reg. 1.99 - On sale for .99 - I had 2 coupons for $1.00 off = Free
-----Bought 5 Windex/Fantastic on sale for 2.50 each (total of $12.50) - WG has a rebate of 1.00 back on each. I had coupons for 2.00 off each windex and 1.50 off each Fantastic. So, they paid me $1.50 to take it all home.
-----Reach Toothbrush reg 2.50 on sale for .99. I had a coupon for 1.00 = Free
-----Palmolive on sale for .99. I had a coupon for .75 off - Cost me .24.
-----4 bags of candy on sale for $10. WG is offering a rebate for $4. And, I had 2 coupons for $2 off 2 bags. So I ended up paying $2 for 4 bags of candy...the good kind!
-----Chemical Shampoo/Conditioner is 7.99 - WG is offering full rebate, so it's free.
-----Finally, Lyp-sol lip balm is 2.99. WG is offering a full rebate, so it's free.

Final totals.... About $71.50 worth of stuff....I will have paid .75 after all the rebates arrive! I'll take it! It's not always like this...but it's sure sweet when it is...

Life Continues...

2008-10-17T19:53:00.000-07:00

Things are good. Several of you have emailed your encouragement...thanks so much. Dad arrived on Monday and will be here until next Wed. The kids are so thrilled! He will then go back to Princeton to wrap up loose ends. Then, he'll move to Siloam in time for Christmas. He's looking forward to being with grand kids. Roger's sister, Joy, lives in Princeton. She and her hubby, Steve, have one 9 year old son, our nephew... So dad has been blessed to be around him since he was born. Now, he will spend time with his other grand kids. Not only are my five children here, but another of our nephews, Jon, also lives in Siloam. Even though he just turned 22, I know that Dad will want to spend time with Jon as well.
So, this week we've eaten lots of meals with Dad, taken Dad to the cabin for some repairs, he's taken the kids out for donuts once, will take them to Cathy's Corner tomorrow, and tonight, we spent an hour around the fire pit eating Smores and telling stories. The beginning of good memories!
In other news, my Mustang is almost done! No matter what Roger says, the color is NOT hot pink...it's called cranberry. It is lovely. I hope to pick it up Monday. I'm sitting here in my fuzzy robe and slippers...it's been a good week and I'm looking forward to a nice weekend.

Cry Me a River

2008-10-10T21:51:00.000-07:00

Do you remember the last time you cried? Not just wept, but really boo-hoo, sobbing sort of crying? Now, some of you may be saying to yourself, "Well, what time is it...?" Not me. I really don't like crying. To me, crying is so annoying. It makes my throat hurt, my nose run, and usually gives me a headache. Not to mention, the effect on my eyes and my makeup. There have been times that I've had the tears come to my eyes, for whatever reason, but I thought to myself that it was just not a good time to cry...I'll save it for later.
Anyway, Roger and I flew to Princeton last weekend to attend Beverly's funeral. Beverly was married to Roger's father for the last 11 years. We were so sad to see her go and so sorry that she suffered during her last few days. But, her death isn't what made me cry this weekend. When I cry, it very often has something to do with my mother. I miss her terribly, and going to a funeral usually brings back memories of her funeral, more so than the absence of the person whose funeral I'm attending. So, when I saw the pain that Beverly's daughters/granddaughter were feeling, I cried for myself, and for them, because it never really goes away. When Beverly's daughter told me that Beverly had commented many times that she thought I was a good mother and was proud of me...I cried. Even now, as I sit here, I'm tearing up...but resisting. There really is no bigger cheerleader than a mother, and I yearn for my own mother's approval and validation. I want her to be proud of me. So, even though Bebs wasn't my mother, she's the only "mother" I've had for the last 11 years...and I suppose she filled in some gaps. The other time I cried was when I thought about my sweet father-in-law. This is the second wife he's buried who suffered from ovarian cancer. He has been such a faithful and loving husband to both of them...and the last days of both were so difficult. What can I do to help him? Nothing... at least, nothing that seems significant to me. I can make him food, I can sit with him, I can take care of his grandchildren... but, I can't take away the pain, or loneliness.
I can only think of two times in my life when I sobbed uncontrollably. The first time was about 20 years ago. Again...my mother... She had died about 3 months earlier and my father was getting remarried. Yes, remarried. I can't even tell you how big a mistake it was. We were at a friend's house for the ceremony, and almost immediately after it began, I began to cry... I mean, sobbing in a way that sounded like I was having an asthma attack! I couldn't stop. Here's the crazy thing...I cried through the whole ceremony! I didn't leave, and they didn't stop, so on their video, you couldn't hear anything, because I was crying!! How weird is that? I remember thinking that I shouldn't have to be there. It was probably a bad omen because they were divorced within 6 months... no tears then though.
The second time was about 2 years ago. I had my first mammogram and the doctors had found a spot and wanted me to have a biopsy. I wept in the doctor's office, but when I got in the car, I lost it. Honestly, all I could think about was leaving my kids motherless. I sat in the car with Roger and sobbed for about 5 minutes. Then the Valium kicked in and I went to sleep. The biopsy was clear and everything was fine, but it was a rough 2 weeks.
I don't think I was always an anti-cryer. But, after going through my mother's death, I actually remember thinking to myself that I was so tired of crying. Maybe I learned to control it some. Or, maybe I deny myself that outlet and express my feelings in other ways. I don't FEEL like I'm somehow denying my emotions. And, I do cry. Usually, when I'm watching my son as he drives down the driveway...I get all teary. And, I cry when I think about what the Lord has done for a sinner like me.

Katie's Tea Party

2008-09-30T20:29:00.001-07:00

I have a daughter...just one. She's right in the middle of my 4 boys. I love her with all my heart and would lay down my life for her, but to be honest, I think she may have been switched at birth. If she wasn't the spitting image of me when I was her age, I'd be considering a DNA test. I am so not a fru-fru kind of person. Actually, I wish I was a little more interested in frilly things...you know...the kind of person that buys a Victoria magazine and then is actually able to copy the ideas. But alas, I am more of a black/white, practical, Pottery Barn girl. Katie loves all things beautiful. And, she loves to bake. The reason I have put on 10 lbs. in the last year is that she bakes cookies non-stop. When I make cookies, I cut open the package, break apart the square cookie dough portions and put them in the oven. I throw away the package and pat myself on the back for making "home-made" cookies. None of those nasty store-bought packaged cookies for me!! Then there's Katie...she pours over my cookbooks, looking for the one recipe that grabs her eye, or her stomach. Then, she actually makes cookies using flour and sugar. I've bought more flour and sugar in the last year that I have in the last 10 years combined!! And, she doesn't just do cookies. She makes it all...brownies, cakes, muffins, bread, rolls... If I let her, she will bake it.

All that to say, she and I decided to have a little Mother/Daughter back to school tea part a couple of weeks ago. We made the invitations and invited 7 girls and their moms. Five were able to attend. With a little guidance, she came up with a menu. I helped with the schedule, but she made almost everything herself. The day before the party, she began baking at noon and didn't stop until 6:00. We had a little budget for the tables and were able to do everything pretty cheaply. Here's a few pictures.

This is a picture of the Girls' Table

Here's a picture of the Moms' Table

These are pictures of the place settings. Our theme was Flowers and Bees. The colors were pink and yellow. The table that had the yellow place mats was for the girls, and the table with the yellow table cloth was for the moms.

The menu was:

Appetizers: Cheese/crackers, mini blueberry muffins

Lunch: Sandwiches (chicken salad, ham/cheese, cheese), broccoli salad, Pringles,

Dessert: Honey Lemon Bee Hive Cake, Chocolate Crinkle Cookies

Beverage: Water, Aunt Cathy's Punch

Here's a picture of the beautiful cake. It was surprisingly easy to make and it was delicious.

These are the Chocolate Crinkle Cookies.

We ate on the back porch under the awning. It's covered with wisteria and grapevines. The weather was absolutely beautiful. We played a game, ate lunch, and then the girls went downstairs to make a little craft while the moms stayed outside and visited.

I think my girl has gotten her fru-fru fill and will be satisfied for at least a little while.

The Leading Cause of Death

2008-09-24T20:10:00.000-07:00

Roger's step-mother, Beverly, (we called her Bebs) passed away Wednesday night after a long battle with colon cancer. She and dad had been married for 11 years. And, even though she is now pain-free and with the Lord, we are very sad...especially for dad. Roger's mother died from ovarian cancer in 1994, so we are so sad to see him have to go through this again. Dad tends to be quite a philosophical man, and one of his many lofty quotes is, "The leading cause of death is life. And we all have a terminal case." I've thought about this many times over the last few weeks as we've known Bebs' time was coming to an end. Even though I understand, and can even appreciate the meaning, it doesn't really make me feel any better. When my mother died, there were several well-meaning people that would say things like, "You should be glad she's in a better place." (What? I should be glad?) Or, "You can be thankful she's not in pain anymore." (I'm supposed to be thankful?) Or, my favorite, "God will always bring good from our pain...perhaps someone came to know the Lord because of her death." I look back now and know they weren't trying to intentionally be unkind... but all I could feel was the pain of her absence. I didn't care if somebody got saved bcause of her death! I wanted her here. Our relationship with Bebs is obviously not as deep as the relationship with my mother, but we are still sad that she is gone and would have liked for her to be around a lot longer. She is the only grandmother my children have ever known.

A Mother/Daughter Color Challenge

2008-09-16T18:06:00.000-07:00

It's amazing, but I actually had time to do Kristina Werner's color challenge...2 weeks in a row is a record for me! When I decided to go to the stamp room and play, Katie came with me. I explained the color challenge. She wanted to play too. She had really liked the "cute as a pumpkin" stamp and wanted to use it. I had the idea to do the masking...so we both created a card. Here's the challenge:

We were supposed to use Chocolate Chip, Bravo Burgundy, Pumpkin Pie, So Saffron, and Old Olive.

Here's my card.

Card stock--Pumpkin Pie, Bravo Burgundy, Very Vanilla

Ink--Basic Black, Chocolate Chip, Pumpkin Pie, Old Olive, So Saffron,

Supplies--Aqua Painters, Pumpkin Pie and Burgundy Ribbon,

Here's Katie's card:

I can't figure out why it's turned. It doesn't look like that in my camera or in the file where I've saved it in my computer. Another cybermystery!

I love this craft! It gives Katie and me the opportunity to "play" together but still work on our own projects.

Color Challenge 22

2008-09-11T10:58:00.000-07:00

Well, I haven't been able to do a color challeng in a while. This is from Kristina Werner's website at www.kwernerdesign.com/blog. I love the shower curtain! While we were in Branson last weekend, I got this beautiful paper...and it matches the challenge perfectly. Let me know what you think. I had trouble using the Regal Rose. And, I wasn't sure where to put the "bow". Anyway, it was quick and I think it turned out ok.

3-Year Curtain Drama

2008-09-02T09:46:00.000-07:00

Here are some pictures of my 3-year curtains. "Three year old curtains?", you say? No...not 3 years old. Three years is how long it took me to get around to making them! Isn't that pitiful!!?? I have a small balcony off my bedroom and I thought it would be so nice to have some little panels to soften up the corners of the house. I found the fabric on Ebay 3 years ago. We're not talking super, complicated curtains here. These are just rectangular panels! Come on!! You just need to cut and sew around the edges. The fact is, I hate to sew. Actually, I don't hate the sewing part, I hate the fact that I can never just sew. Running the fabric through the machine is no problem. The problem comes when the bobbin runs out, or the tension is wrong and messes up the stitches, or the spool runs out of thread, or the thread on the bottom just gets knotted up, etc... I can't remember a time that I've sewn something and it's gone smoothly. So, 3 years later, I had put these panels on my "To do" list. Naturally, I saved it until the very last week of summer. Will I put it off again? On the last Thursday of summer, I got out the fabric and went ahead and cut the panels and pinned all the hems. My plan was to ask Roger to do the sewing part. He's much more patient than me... but he thought doing it myself would be a good lesson in my patience and perseverance! Well, I don't know about that, but he sure ticked me off. So, I put on my most wounded and abused attitude and gave it a try. Sure enough...after about 5 minutes, the thread was completely knotted in the bobbin. I couldn't even pull the string out! So, with the proverbial wind out of my sails, I folded everything up and put it away. I'll teach him!! See how much I'm suffering!!

So, you're wondering how I took a picture if they're folded and put away. Well, after about 3 days, Roger asked me where the curtains had gone. I matter-of-factly told him that the bobbin was messed up and I decided to just forget it. "No, no, no...don't help... I'll get around to it...eventually... no, you obviously don't want to help, so just don't worry your little head about these curtains. I'll get them done...someday...." Roger wasn't fooled by my drama. He told me that if I wanted his help, go get them and let's get them done. Why does the sewing machine always work perfectly for him!!

Out With the Ugly, In With the Pretty!

2008-08-23T14:32:00.000-07:00

In my effort to get myself together for the beginning of our new school year, I dutifully decided I needed to clean our carpet. Have you ever had new carpet? If you have, you probably remember how wonderful it felt under your feet. And, I always make the sweeping proclamation, "By order of the Queen, there shall be no eating or drinking in the royal family room!" But, what do you do when the King decides to eat his nightly bowl of cereal in said family room? Or, he makes popcorn for everyone watching the movie while the Queen is at Walmart? Anyway, I was an IDIOT for choosing light colored carpet when we built this house. Anyway, as I tried to clean it, I became progressively depressed. It is truly disgusting. Do you see those dark places that look like shadows? They're NOT! They are stains. When we built the house, we chose the carpet at a local carpet store that is now out of business. Unfortunately, we have no idea what kind of carpet it is...or the maker. So, we don't know if there's even a warranty.

These are pictures of our family room. The lighter patches by the wall, that has been hidden under the couch, are what the carpet is SUPPOSED to look like..
Here is a picture of our school room. That large dark patch is where every one's feet go as we sit at the computer. Ugh!! The light spot in the corner is what the carpet is SUPPOSED to look like. What was I thinking!!??

It was with great trepidation that we decided to recarpet the family and school room. I chose a darker color of carpet. I ordered it 3 weeks ago, hoping against hope that it would be here before school started. Naturally, it wasn't. So, after many painstaking hours of cleaning, planning, organizing, and moving stuff around, I had to completely undo everything I had done and moved everything out of the school room, as well as the family room. Well, the carpet was installed on Friday, and it is lovely. It only took them about 2 hours...it took me 2 days to put everything back where it belongs...but it was worth it.

I got it on sale at Lowe's and then signed up for a credit card for an extra 10% off. I would have loved to have done the stairs too, but the budget wouldn't allow it right now. It's a light, slivery blue. It looks darker in the school room because there's not as much light...just one window. The family room has lots of light, so the carpet looks lighter. So, we're going to try to go at least one week without eating in either room... wish me luck!

Slipping Away

2008-08-06T14:25:00.000-07:00

With every ounce of my being...I am trying to resist the passing of each day as summer slowly slips by. In less than 2 weeks school will be upon us and then we just put our heads down and press forward. Oh, it's sort of fun and exciting for about 2 weeks...but then the reality that we have "educational obligations" that must get done every day. When my kids complain about doing school, I've been known to tell them that I will go to jail if they don't do their school! Who will make their dinner and do their laundry then!? So, because they care for my well being, they reluctantly get their work done. Oh...for just a few more weeks of reading, and naps, and picking blueberries, and hitting tennis balls, and riding the go-cart, and making s'mores... and...just doing a lot of nothing.

Anyway, I've included some videos for Granddad and Bebs.

Nothing Is Ever Easy

2008-07-20T21:03:00.000-07:00

Are you sitting down? I know this is really going to come to a shock to you, but here goes.... Zack, my biggest baby, got his drivers license Friday. Breathe...In...Out...In...Out... I truly don't know why they give little boys drivers licenses, but they did. He won't be 16 until next month, but now he has it. And, it was something we had to work for. The nice officer that does the driving test only does the driving part on Thursdays and Fridays from 12:30-2:30. We were encouraged by veteran parents to, "get there early". Roger took Zack at 12:10. Now the reason that Roger took Zack is that I am basically freaked out the entire time I'm in the car and Zack is behind the wheel. It's not because he's a bad driver...he's not bad, just inexperienced and I don't handle it well. Meanwhile, Roger reads...or is looking at the pretty scenery... I sit in the back seat trying to see over Roger's head so I can have enough time to brace myself if needed. Anyway, when they arrived for the test, there were already 3 people in front of him. There was no way they were going to finish by 1:00 so Roger could go to the hospital. So, he called in the backup! Me! Drat those cellphones!! I was instructed to bring the van to the test so Roger could take it to work and Zack could drive the Toyota. Unfortunately, I was right in the middle of defrosting the freezer and had coolers and sacks of sweating food all around me. I quickly gave Zane a crash course in how to us a blow dryer to melt ice and how to put everything back in the freezer. My younger kids wanted to go to the library for the afternoon movie at 2:00. "Surely I'll be home by 1:30", I told myself. I couldn't be more wrong! The officer finally got to Zack at 1:30. I figured we were still ok. Each test was taking about 15 minutes. That would still give me enough time to take Zack back to work, pick up the kids and take them to the library, then hi-ho home to get the food in the freezer. We were good... Unfortunately, the nice officer pointed out that we had a tail light that wouldn't seem to light up! And no, you can't take the driving test with a busted out tail light. The nice officer told me I could go get it fixed and then come back. So, I took Zack to work with no license. On my way to pick up the kids, Roger called and said I should come back to pick up Zack and let him take the test in the van! Genius! So, I drop off the kids at the library, pick up Zack and go back to the test. The nice officer is happy to let him test but needs to see our insurance and registration. After Zack gives it to him, the nice officer kindly points out that our registration is EXPIRED! And no, you can't take the test with expired registration. I KNOW I put the registration in the van...where is it??? So, we prepare to drive off and I find it. This year it is not printed on the obvious yellow paper that we are used to...it's on white paper, and it's smaller, so we had overlooked it. So, we turn around and head back. It's 3:00 now. Did I mention that the armory where the test is given is unairconditioned? And, there's nowhere to sit inside, so everyone just sits on the porch, on the ground? And, that the bank thermometer read 97 degrees when I passed it the first time? The nice officer agrees to let Zack test, but puts him at the end of the line. At 3:30, I jump in the van and go to the library to pick up the kids. They want to stay at the library, so I drive BACK to the armory. We finally do the test, pass, and leave the parking lot at 4:30. I pick up the kids from the library and imagine all the defrosted food in my kitchen. Thankfully, Zane had stuffed it all back into the freezer. Even with all that food in the freezer, we went out to eat that night.

The Sounds of Summer

2008-07-06T19:55:00.000-07:00

What a great holiday weekend! I love it when the holiday falls on a Friday. It fools my brain into feeling like Friday is Saturday. Then, on Friday night, it's so exciting to realize, "Hey! It's only Friday! We get one more day!!" Even though Sunday is technically part of the weekend, to me it's not really a "free" day. When you have to get up and get dressed up and make a real lunch...well...it's just different. I do try to do the resting thing on Sundays. I used to do all my grocery shopping on Sundays, but that is definitely NOT resting...so I stopped. Not stopped shopping, but shopping on Sundays.

We went to our friend's house for dinner and to watch the big firework show from their backyard. Burgers and potato salad...watermelon and homemade ice cream...swimming until dark...loading sleepy kids into the van after great (not to mention free) fireworks... Lovely.

We worked on the yard this weekend. A couple months ago, my friend Wendy had a girls' night out at her house around her fire pit. It was great!! We do quite a bit of burning and have a mound in the backyard, so I told Roger we should make a little pit like Wendy's. We had some of those bricks that go around a tree...so we used them to go around the fire. As usual, Roger's idea was a little bigger than mine...so now about 20 people could sit around it. We've already used it for smores twice. We had another family over last night with their 3 kiddos... Our boys and their boys with chocolate smeared all over their faces...riding bikes and chasing hundreds of fireflies... Perfect.

Speaking of perfect... I had mentioned in my last post that I got my little bird feeders up and going. I was sitting on the back step this afternoon trying to sit really still so some of the birdies would come to the feeder. The dogs were laying at my feet, asleep. Zane came out and was sitting next to me and I was explaining to him that you have to be really still and quiet so the birds will forget you're there...then they'll come and eat. So, there we sat...trying to be really quiet, listening to the sounds of nature, when all of a sudden, the dog gave us a 3 second fart! Talk about spoiling the moment!! I never really thought about it, but I guess dogs can get gas too. We tried to compose ourselves, but she did it 3 more times!! Well, no birdies were coming near us, so we went inside.

Finally, tonight we got everyone and a visiting little friend loaded into the van to go hit tennis balls at the courts. Naturally, 5 minutes after we arrived, my 6 year old announced that he had to go to the bathroom. We realized that he'd never had the opportunity to pee outside. So, Roger took him behind a tree. All I heard was a lot of giggling. He has officially joined the "pee on a tree" club. If he's anything like my other boys, I'll have to explain that the tree is only if there aren't any bathrooms around...It shouldn't be the first choice...and it surely shouldn't be in the neighbor's yard!

Fireworks, lots of giggling, chasing fireflies, dogs farting... What a great summer so far!

Wonderfully Boring

2008-06-25T08:37:00.000-07:00

The very thing I feared would happen has happened. I have nothing to say. I actually enjoy the fact that things are pretty boring/relaxed right now. I see people write that they have nothing to say on their blogs and I always think to myself that it's silly because I like reading about people's lives....especially people I know. There are ladies that I hardly ever see, but now I feel more connected because I read their blog. So...here are some boring snippets of my wonderful but boring summer...

---deep cleaned the school room. Books SOOOO dusty. Would you like to take bets on how long it can stay that way?

---Packed up last year's school books and computer. They're in boxes next to our door, ready to be returned when I get the UPS labels in the mail.

---Rearranged Katie's room. I think I pulled a muscle in my back.

---A lady I know introduced me to her husband as, "This is Trish Youmans. She's a supermom." I don't think it was a compliment. Spent a day obsessing about that. Decided to ignore her.

---Taking Zane to swimming at 7:30 in the morning 3 times a week.

---Got a hook to hold our bird feeders. Roger chopped down a tree right outside our breakfast nook while I was in Italy. Now, my little birdie friends have gone! So, I got a hook and put it next to the new baby tree. I hung the feeders, and even added a little bird bath, and hoped for birdie forgiveness. I got it...and they're back.

---Did a little birthday shopping. My baby turns 6 on Friday.

---Took the kids to hit tennis balls a couple of times in the evening last week. We had a great time! I'm trying to keep us away from the TV.

---Had a followup to a mammogram. Everything is fine. I held it together until the Dr. told me I was fine...then I fell apart.

---Contacted a realtor in Tahlequah to sell our land/cabin. We just never use it.

---Went to the library...again, trying to keep kids away from the TV.

---Started a new book...and actually read past the first chapter!

---So thankful for my summer and the freedom to do nothing...or anything... Still 9 more weeks!!

Everyone Home - At Last

2008-06-18T18:28:00.000-07:00

Well, my men will be home tomorrow night, and we'll all be together. Roger and the big boys are in Dominican Republic with our youth group building a new church for a group of believers that don't have a place to worship. They left last Wed. So, I took the 3 little ones and we went to Branson on Tuesday. We stayed 5 nights and had a blast. We returned on Sunday and I hit the ground running with my list. I always get so much done when Roger isn't here. I don't have to stop and cook, or clean. We can have cereal for dinner and everyone loves it! With my trip done, and the boys' trip almost done, we're staying put for a while. No other plans but work and trying to stay cool as the temps rise.

When In Rome...

2008-06-04T17:26:00.000-07:00

Well, I have news... the Colosseum is real!! So is the Vatican!! I went. I saw. I was moved...
I will refrain from giving you all the details that are only interesting to me, but it really was a fabulous trip. The only thing that would have been better is if my family had come with me. But, going with a girlfriend comes in a close second!

I won't bore you with all the pictures that you could easily find online or in a book. Plus, they really don't do Rome justice. Do you remember when you visited a historic place in the US? Perhaps you've been to Washington DC, or to Gettysburg, or to Philadelphia. When you visit those places, you often have this feeling...almost a solemness of what occurred on the place you're standing. The idea that you're standing on a piece of history is quite awesome. Well, imagine that history being multiplied by about 20. Where the US is about 200 years old, Rome is about 3000 years old. I stood on the place that the apostle Peter was martyred. The apostle Peter!! He knew Jesus for goodness sake!! I stood in the cathedral where Peter's remains were right under my feet. I saw the place where Julius Caesar was stabbed. I walked the halls of the Colosseum where the gladiators fought. I walked under to ceiling of the Sistine Chapel where Michelangelo painted the most important piece of art in history. When I stood in the Sistine Chapel, is was so moved by the gift that God had obviously given this man. We just don't see art like that anymore. I'm not even a real "artsy" person, but I know an incredible gift when I see one.

This picture shows a small portion of The Pieta, a statue which shows Mary holding the crucified body of Jesus. Yes, I know that this didn't really happen, but look at it! Michelangelo did this when he was 24 years old!! Anyway, I was moved.

And...the food was amazing. The driving was frightening. The language is beautiful. Now, I'm going to say something here, but I'm depending on you to not read anything into this...but, I could listen to a man speak in Italian all day! I don't need to know what he is saying...and he doesn't even need to be speaking to me... Actually, watching Italians have a conversation is as entertaining as the language itself.

OK, I lied...just to prove that I was actually there, here are just a couple of pictures :-)

Here's me on the way to the Colosseum.

Here's the inside of the Colosseum. I was right...a picture just can't do it justice... It had a seating capacity of about 50,000. The magnitude of what went on as "entertainment" was very sobering.

Here's me next to a big marble bathtub. A girl could really relax in this. This is in the Vatican Museum, the place that houses the Sistine Chapel. We weren't allowed to take pictures in there, but it was amazing.

Here's the view from my hotel room balcony. That long blue thing you see going across the picture is an awning that covers seating for a parade they were going to have the next day. Just past the awning, you can make out some arches, which are a tine bit of the ruins of The Forum. This is like the "Washington DC" of Rome. It's the center of ancient Rome's government, trade, etc...

Here's a picture of me sitting in front of the famous Trevi Fountain. I believe that is a statue of Triton...he's huge! Tradition says that if you make a wish and then throw 3 coins in the fountain, your wish comes true. The city takes the money in the fountain and gives it to a local orphanage. All the water in all the fountains in Rome is fresh and clean. You can take your water bottles to any fountain and fill up! This is one of the largest and most beautiful fountains. During the time we were at the fountain, we saw 3 wedding parties taking their pictures there.

OK, that's all. I don't want you to fall asleep at your computer!

Summer Transitions

2008-05-21T20:18:00.000-07:00

Do you ever have one of those days when all is right with the world? As the kids are finishing one subject in school after another, our homeschooling time is less and less. And, with the beautiful weather, it's a good thing that we're spending less time on school, because then I would be very grouchy! I have finished some major, time consuming projects in the last week, and I can really feel the weight lifted. It's funny, because I don't feel particularly weighted down during that time, but when it's over, it's obvious to me that I've been a little stressed. And, my family thinks I'm a lot nicer afterwards :-)

Anyway, there have been some afternoons where I actually didn't really have anything to do, or plan, or ponder, etc... (except of course the regular household stuff, which I promptly put off!). I've been doing less driving too, which I LOVE to not do...OK Becky, I'm certain that is NOT the way to write that, but I'm going to go with it...you all know what I mean. One afternoon I took my magazine and my drink out to the chair under our big tree and sat there for a full 30 minutes. The dogs slept at my feet while I looked at a couple of outdated magazines and catalogs. Then, I threw them away! The weather has been glorious...perfect in my opinion. Not too hot, nice breezes...wonderful.

I got my suitcase down last night. One list that I have enjoyed making is what to take on my trip. I'm so very excited, but I'm already missing my family. I've never been away from all of them for this long...8 days. And, I must say, I feel a little guilty for being so excited to do something they aren't going to be a part of. Not guilty enough to stay home, mind you :-) I'd classify it has a healthy guilt. I figured the kids wouldn't really be too excited for me to leave, but they've entered into all the preparation. And, they're excited to get to visit some of their friends during the day while I'm gone. ...I suppose they have no idea what it will be like with me not here to do all the dishes and laundry. But, I know they all know how to do it, so they'll all just have to pitch in. Perhaps this will be a double blessing... I get to go on a great trip, AND perhaps they will be VERY excited, and VERY appreciative to have me home.

Songs!

2008-05-12T12:25:00.001-07:00

I finally figured out how to post music to my blog! I am such an un-techno person...it's like learning multiplication in third grade...one step at a time. Anyway, I love the first song. It's for my wonderful hubby. I especially like the line about buying Rogaine. Even though, if heredity is any indicator, Roger will never need it :-). Enjoy.