My Little Corner of the World

Link to New Blog

2010-06-03T20:18:00.001-05:00

I hope everyone checks out my new blog:

A Long Weigh Home

New blog coming soon.....

2010-05-21T06:12:00.002-05:00

Okay...please don't hate me. I know I've been gone for a VERY long time. I have a lot of things going on in my life.

I will be starting a new blog soon for those of you who might be interested in following my weight loss journey. I want it to be an encouraging site for those of you who are either on the same journey as I am or who wants to start the journey, but just doesn't know where to begin.

I hope you will join me. By the way, I've lost 35 pounds in 11 weeks!\

Have a great day!

Going back to work

2009-11-24T13:15:00.002-06:00

I hope to start blogging again next week. It's been kind of crazy here the past month, but I'll tell you all about that next week.

On a whim, I took my resume to one of my customers I used to do business with a few years back. Two days later, I get an email saying they would like to meet and talk with me. Two days after the interview, I was offered a job. Now, this is doing pretty much the same thing I used to do when I worked full time years ago and I have had around 20 years experience in the field so I feel pretty confident I can do a good job. The money is good and will go along way to ease the financial stress we are currently in.

It will be much easier working full time now because I no longer have small children and I am not homeschooling. So my two teenagers (and husband) are going to have to pitch in a little more around here..it won't hurt them! My husband will be home during the day, so I'm glad my son will not be coming home to an empty house.

It will also be nice to have a little money to spend on Christmas as we are usually financially strapped for cash this time of year.

All in all, I cannot wait for 2010....I think it's going to be a great year. I have to say that I am so thankful to God for meeting all our needs these past few months.
There were times when I felt all hope was lost, but God faithfully provided and reminded me that he is in control and that I should not worry (easier said than done).

I hope everyone has a blessed Thanksgiving!

Taking a Blogging Break

2009-10-13T07:48:00.003-05:00

With everything that is going on right now, I just don't have the time I would like to have to blog.

Our house that we are purchasing was supposed to close on the 27th of this month, but it looks like we will be well into November before closing...sigh.

We met with the couple that we are currently renting from this past week and let them know that we are in the process of buying a house. Our lease here doesn't expire until the 15th of November. So, they have decided to put the house on the market. The realtor is supposed to come by today and put the lock box on the door and a sign in the yard.

It kinda stresses me out because the house will now have to be in pristine condition in order for it to show. Not only that, with my husband's crazy work and sleep schedule, it will make it difficult to even schedule a showing.

Put all that with me still babysitting, trying to stay on top of the loan for the new house, decluttering and packing this house is making me a little on the stressed side.

I know it will all work out. God is in control. I will put my trust in Him.

BTW...today is my youngest's birtday. He is now 15!! We are heading to the DMV this afternoon so he can take the written driving test so he can get his drivers' permit.

Have a blessed Tuesday!

Faith Like Potatoes

2009-10-03T14:51:00.002-05:00

Yesterday I picked up this movie from Blockbuster - Faith Like Potatoes.

Faith Like Potatoes is a true story about an African farmer, Angus Buchan. He leaves his farm and takes his family to start over again further south. He and his wife struggle and things seem hopeless, then one day, Angus goes to church with his wife and family and is called by God. He decides to give his life, his family, and his farm to Jesus. He puts his total trust in God.

What a testament!! This is truly a movie worth watching. It is inspirational, uplifting, and motivating.

It made me wonder about my own faith. Is my faith that strong. You can't pray to God in the hopes that it will happen. You should pray with the belief that it WILL happen.

God loves each and every one of us and knows us better than anybody...even better than we know ourselves. I know God is watching out for me....I have seen it so many times. I know the power of prayer works! God has ALWAYS provided for my needs....not necessarily for my wants...but always for my needs.

I don't always have the right words to communicate with others, but I know my God is awesome, amazing, full of love and grace and he has blessed me so much!!!!

Paperwork, and yes....more paperwork.

2009-10-01T09:18:00.002-05:00

It seems that all I have done for the past few days is paperwork for our house loan.
Just when I think I might see an end, you got it....more paperwork is needed.

It has been extremely stressful for me trying to get everything in order. For those of you who do not know, my hubby has worked really hard to pay off past debts and become debt free. But due to his diligence, his credit score was reduced to "0". Yes, no credit rating. We were fortunate to find a lender who will do a no credit score loan using non-traditional credit such as rent, utilities, etc. You can have NO 30 day late payments.

We had a hiccup last week when our utility company reported to the credit agency that we had 9 - 30 day late pays! I was incredibly upset as I know that we have never had a 30 day late pay. It took 4 days to get it cleared up. We couldn't move on with the loan until it was cleared. We are already pressed for time due to the closing and the type of loan we are getting (Rural Development loan) and this was a week's time to get it cleared up and looks like it will possibly put us behind on the closing (sigh).

I have to remind myself that God is in control and knows our needs and will provide. I find myself not worried about it, just a bit discouraged.

So, today, I am taking the last of the requested paperwork to our realtor so she can email it to the lender. Then the wait begins. It will also have to go to the USDA for them to approve the RD loan...and according to our realtor...RD takes time.

So, if I could ask for your prayers that the paperwork gets to the right people and gets handled in a timely and efficient manner, I would appreciate it.

Other than that, today I plan on dusting the living room and working on my couponing and grocery list. Hubby is working a 12 hour shift tonight. Blake has a soccer game. And I'm going to do my best in just taking it easy for as much of the day as possible.

Tomorrow I will hit the ground running again.

Have a blessed Thursday!

Schedule....what schedule?

2009-09-29T07:47:00.002-05:00

I haven't been able to keep to my "schedule" for weeks now. But, the house IS clean and there IS food in the cupboards and fridge. However, when I'm not operating on schedule, I feel like my day is out of whack. But at the same time, I am enjoying the freedom of not having a schedule...crazy huh.

So yesterday was the most perfect beautiful day! Fall is HERE! When I got up yesterday morning and after I sent Blake off to school, I got my cup of coffee and sat out on the front porch just watching the sunlight as it touched the top of the trees and then the light would move farther and farther down. It was just so peaceful just being able to sit outside.

Yesterday, I did wash the bed linens and our clothes as well as put them away. I tidied up the kitchen (I do that every morning), vacuumed all the floors and did clean the bathrooms. I didn't do any baking or cooking yesterday (gasp!) as we were eating with family that night.

The little boy I watch during the day and I stayed outside and enjoyed the fall weather. It was just too nice to be indoors all day.

Hubby was off work yesterday and it was nice to have him home and just hanging out and having a relaxing time.

Last night we went to my husband's uncle's house for a cookout. Got to see some family we haven't seen in months. It's a shame because we live so close and don't visit more often. Will try and change that. Hubby's aunt is really good and sewing and doing embroidery and has offered my sewing lessons anytime I want to bring my sewing machine over, so I think I might just have to take her up on that.

For today, hubby and I are going to go 4-wheelin! It will be nice to spend some time together just the two of us. Then we will head back home to do some much needed yard work. It's been raining so much here, that we are just now able to get the yard mowed after about 2 weeks. But what a great day to be outside!

Hope everyone has a blessed Tuesday!

Getting Bargains

2009-09-22T07:15:00.003-05:00

I am all about finding bargains. Whether I am grocery shopping, buying clothes or looking for just about anything else, I hate to pay full price.

My husband has affectionately labeled me as "cheap". He gets a kick out of my motto "If it ain't free, it ain't for me". And yes, I do get lots of stuff for free! Just check out your local freecycle. People will list things that they no longer need and its just yours for the asking! I have picked up some great solar patio lights, iron patio chairs, buckets for my tomato plants, bathroom mirrors, and even a practically brand new upright freezer! (My husband was really impressed with that last one).

Go to freecycle.org to find your local freecycling group.

Another one of my favorite bargain finding places is craigslist.com. If you are one of those people that have to have "brand new", this isn't for you. However, if you don't mind something gently worn, you can find great deals. Some of my finds include a mahagony dinning table for $75.00, a computer for $40.00, and our couch that has recliners on each end for just $40.00! We love this couch and it looked brand new when we brought it home! If we had bought that couch new, I know we would have paid over $400.00 for it.

Why pay hundreds of dollars when you can get it for so much more less?!

So, as stated before, we are in the process of buying a house (it's the most nerve racking period for me right now - so please pray for me) and the appliances are not in the best shape. The dishwasher is white and is dented. When you open it up, it is yellowish and has an unpleasant odor. The stove/oven is o.k....but I really wanted a smooth top (I've become spoiled with the one I have). So, I started searching on craigslist and I can't believe what I found!! We go and pick up the dishwasher today and we'll probably go get the stove and the over the range microwave next week. They are all black and stainless steel and only 2 years old!
Posting pics below. And the amazing part of this deal is the price! I'm paying just $75. for the dishwasher and $50 for the stove/oven and $50. for the over the range microwave. That's just $175.00 for all three!

Great House News!

2009-09-19T15:17:00.002-05:00

Well, we got the call yesterday from our realtor that the sellers accepted our offer! Whoo Hoo!!!

We are so very excited. We just know that this is where we are supposed to be. We drove out to the house yesterday, because the first time we saw it, it was just "a house"....but now it is "our" house. (or will be once we finally close).

We are looking at a closing date the last week of October. That will give me plenty of time to finish getting the needed paperwork to our loan officer and start decluttering the house we are in and of course, packing.

So, as promised, here are some pictures of the new house we are purchasing:

MIA

2009-09-18T09:12:00.002-05:00

Sorry, I have been missing in action....so much has been going on lately.

We have been house hunting. Last week we put in an offer on a house that we liked. It needed some work. The kitchen and the bathrooms were wallpapered in this hideous pattern. But I figured I could take it down and paint and make it like I wanted it. I even went to the store and picked out the paint colors. However, they rejected our offer without even a counter. I was disappointed, but figured that was just not where we were supposed to be.

So, on the same day we received word that we didn't get that house, we found one we liked better on a full acre out in the country.

So, we talked to our realtor and went to see it on Wednesday. There was another family looking at it at the same time. I knew immediately that this was THE house. The kitchen opens up to the family room and it has a split bedroom plan. It's on a full acre out in the country, but only about 15 minutes from the city limits. Hubby only has about a 15 minute drive to work...so that's great!

We went to the agent's offer that afternoon and put an offer on it. So now, here we are just sitting on pins and needles waiting to see if they accepted our offer so we can proceed. Dealing with that and the lender's office however is very "trying". I have been trying to get everything together so we can close on 10/30 if they accept.

We are very excited!!

In the midst of all this, our very good friends from Michigan came down for a visit. We only get to see each other once a year and the time we are together always seems so short. We had such a great time together and miss them already.

As soon as we know if we are going to get the house, I'll post some pictures...don't want to jump the gun yet.

Hope you have a blessed Friday.

Cleaning Schedule

2009-09-02T07:37:00.002-05:00

I have had a cleaning schedule for many years now. Every now and then I will change it up a bit. Some people do "task" cleaning, which I have tried. But, personally, I like "room" cleaning. Whichever you choose is fine as long as it works for you.

Some days I might not get everything done, but having a schedule helps me have direction and a little control (LOL).

So, with that being said, this is what my schedule looks like:

Mondays - Bedroom cleaning.
Tuesdays - Bathrooms
Wednesdays - Kitchen and laundry room
Thursdays - Living and Dining Rooms
Fridays - spot cleaning and grocery shopping
Saturdays - spot cleaning only
Sundays - I try and do as little as possible

I also have certain things that I do everyday...such as wiping down bathroom counter tops and toilets; wiping kitchen counter tops, sweeping kitchen floor, and vacuming living spaces.

I do laundry on M-W-F only.

Starting Monday, I will give a detailed list of all cleaning that I do each day. For instance, since Monday is bedrooms....I will post everything that I do to clean the bedrooms on that day. Your list may have more or less...

On another note, today my granddaughter is coming to visit..YAY! I haven't seen her in quite awhile and am really looking forward to seeing her cutesy face.

The weather has been stupendous here and I want to get out sometime today and enjoy the nice pre-fall weather. Makes me want to go out and buy some mums.

Hope everyone has a blessed Wednesday!

Goings on......

2009-08-28T13:27:00.002-05:00

Wow, I can't believe it's almost been a week since I've posted!

Well, we are in the process of house hunting. Who knew it could take up so much of my time. When we aren't out looking at houses, I'm online looking for houses.

We haven't decided if we want to renew our lease where we are at, or go ahead and bite the bullet and buy. It's a great time to buy, but we are having a hard time finding what we want in our price range. I know it's got to be out there.

Starting Monday, I am going to start babysitting again. I really miss having a little one in the house. The little one I'm keeping is so sweet. He's 18 mos old and is just a joy to have around. I'm sure my schedule will have to be tweaked a bit.

Today is supposed to be my grocery shopping day, but I'm having to put that off since we went house shopping today. Let's just say....we're gonna keep looking.

We have really been enjoying the fall like weather and I hope it doesn't end. Ready to toast some marshmallows! Hubby is gearing up for duck hunting season and has been spending his days getting his boat ready.

I did write out my grocery list and menu for this coming week and the new menu is posted on the side.

Hey...I know this post is mostly random stuff just thrown together...hopefully, I will do better and have more interesting stuff to write about soon.

Have a blessed Friday!!!

New Weekly Menu Posted

2009-08-23T08:51:00.002-05:00

Yesterday was such a glorious day that I didn't want to do anything but be outside. Can you believe that the temp here was only 80 degrees and NO humidity....in August!

Yes, the windows were up and I was enjoying the fresh air blowing throughout the house.

This type of weather makes me yearn for fall. It's absolutely my favorite time of the year. I love the colors it brings and the smells associated with it...like cinnamon and pumpkin spice..mmmm!

I know...we still have a ways to go before it gets here, but I'm enjoying the fall like weather for now.

As promised, I have made out my menu for the upcoming week and have posted on the side. Just let me know if you want any of the recipes.

Have a blessed Sunday and go out and enjoy the glorious day that the Lord has made!

Way Behind

2009-08-21T19:28:00.002-05:00

O.K....so I'm a little behind.

We have had a lot going on here and I haven't been able to stick to my normal schedule.
Usually, I will make out my grocery list and my weekly menu on Thursday and do my grocery shopping on Friday.

So, here it is Friday night, no groceries have been bought and I haven't even made out my grocery list or my weekly menu (as you can see from the right hand side).

No worries, it will all get done tomorrow morning. Hubby will be asleep and Blake will be at his dad's for the weekend, so I have all day to get things done and get back on track.

Once I get it written out, I will get back here and post the menu on the sidebar, which I will try to do every week. If there is something that you want the recipe for, just leave me a comment and I'll post the recipe.

With that being said, our little "project" will be taking up some of my time, so I might not have as much time to blog as I would like.

And oh, my camera is on the fritz...so no pictures right now....sorry.

Have a blessed Friday (and weekend)!

Whirlwind Days

2009-08-18T07:19:00.002-05:00

This weekend went by so quickly! With my 3 stepkids here, plus two 5 year old twins I was babysitting, I was in constant motion all weekend. My sinuses kicked in on top of that and felt I was in bit of a haze this weekend. Even though it was extremely busy, I loved having all the kids here!

Yesterday started off rough....I woke up still feeling sick. Woke up and noticed my son hadn't left for work yet (he has to be at work at 6 am). He was having car problems....but his boss came and picked him up. Got up and got Blake off to school, took some medicine which made me sleepy and went back to bed.

I must have really needed the sleep because I didn't wake up until 10:00 !!!! Wow, that really threw my schedule off. Hubby had already come home from work and left and was back from the chiropractor. Son called and asked me to pick him up from work...so off I went. We came home and then had to turn around about an hour later so I could take him to the cardiologist for a check up. Then rush back home so I could pick Blake up from school.

Dropped Blake off then left to run some errands....came back picked up Blake and went shoe shopping (it's been awhile since he had new shoes).

Came home started dinner....it was done about 6:30. After that, I was done....Blake and I watched America's Funniest Videos...hubby woke up and ate dinner and then I was in bed at 9:00.

Whew!! That make's me tired all over again just reading it.

Have a blessed Tuesday

I'm Not Superwoman

2009-08-13T09:39:00.002-05:00

So, I was reading another blog this morning. She was saying that she had a friend that was discouraged after reading so many blogs from women who seemed to have EVERTHING under control ALL THE TIME. This friend had just had a baby and felt after reading from others that if she wasn't superwoman, that there must be something wrong with her.

So, let me be the first to tell ya...I'm not superwoman. Sure, I've had plenty of people tell me, "Wow, you are so organized"..or "How do you always keep your house so clean?"

I wish I was more organized...just open up some of the cabinets and you'll see how unorganized I truly am. Truth is if there was a club called Procrastinators Anonymous, I would be a member. Procrastination is truly my downfall. I make lists not just to be organized, but if I don't make the list....stuff just wouldn't get done!

There are days when yes, gasp...there are dirty dishes in my sink! Somedays, I might not get the laundry put away....and yes, there have been times that I thought...please no one open the microwave door and see how dirty it is.

I don't bake soaked whole wheat sourdough bread...tried it and guess what - my family didn't like it! But I do try and make my own bread along with baking a lot of other stuff as well. I don't make my own laundry detergent...I can buy a box that will last a long time for a little over $2.00.

I wish I could garden more, but lets face it - I just don't have much of a green thumb. I'm blessed to have my two tomato plants living! (and producing...an extra bonus!)

I get up every morning with a game plan and sometimes it works and sometimes life just takes over and my plan has to be put on hold.

That's just all part of it.

I just strive to be a good wife and mom and keeper of my home and do the best that "I" can. So, I'm not anybody else, I'm just me. You should be just you and not worry about trying to be someone else. Just do the best that YOU can.

Have a blessed Thursday!

Feeling a Bit Tired

2009-08-12T13:14:00.004-05:00

The above picture says it all. I'm so tired and sleepy. Want to take a nap, but have no time. This may be what I look like at dinner tonight...my head in my plate.

I think I'm coming down with a cold. They always wear me down. Stuffy head that feels so heavy I have a hard time holding it up.

We've been contemplating our housing situation lately. Our current lease expires in November. We've been trying to decide if we want to stay here, or try and buy somewhere else. I love my house here, but not sure this is where we want to stay. Ahhhh....decisions, decisions. Lots to think about and try and put in order no matter where we decide to go.

I know....short post today. Gotta run and finish cleaning the kitchen floor before I have to pick Blake up from school.

Have a blessed Wednesday!

Public School Adventures

2009-08-11T11:29:00.003-05:00

Here it is Tuesday (sigh) and I find myself missing our old homeschool routine. Blake started public school last Wednesday. It has been quite a change...for both of us. The day starts at 6:15 when we both get up and start to get ready. He leaves for school at 7 am and school lets out at 2:20 and I pick him up.

He only has 4 classes this first semester...Auto Tech; Wellness; Chemistry; and World History. Of course his favorite class is Auto Tech..he loves cars and racing, so this is perfect for him. His least favorite class is History - no surprise there. He didn't much care for it either when we were homeschooling. The history class is covering the exact same things we covered last year minus it coming from a Biblical point of view.

I was worried about his organizational skills, but he has proved that he can be organized...so that's a good thing.

He is learning that I do teach differently than the teachers at school. For instance, when doing answering questions at home, I always insisted on using complete sentences. I felt that this would help when studying and also helped me when checking over correct answers...not to mention improving English skills. However, his teacher now tells him NOT to answer in a complete sentence that all he wants to see are just the answer on the paper and that by doing this it will help them be able to study better.

In one class, they have been told that they can use their notes at test time. Supposedly this will help improve their note taking skills...but what about their study skills?

Some of the teachers do not have a handle on keeping the classroom under control and the students will just keep on talking. How does this promote a learning environment?

Also, here it is the second week...and still no lockers. Everything has to be toted around in a backpack. My son's pack is so full and heavy that there is no possible way anything else can fit into it.

O.k....enough of the negative. I know that this experience will be good for him. He loves his Auto Shop class and this is what he wants to pursue in the future..so this is a good thing...right?

He is getting a good dose of what it is like in the school system and will be able to make up his mind if he wants to continue with this next year. By the way, next year, if homeschooled, he will actually be old enough to dual enroll in college. That way, not only will he get the high school credits, he will already be earning college credits as well!!

I miss homeschooling...my days are quiet. Blake is at school, son Brian is at work, hubby Brian gets home from work and goes to bed in the morning. Sigh....I should be getting so much done...just don't have the motivation sometimes.

With that being said, I have done the following today:

Hung a load of clothes out to dry
Swept kitchen floor
Loaded dishes into dishwasher
Cleaned shower in master bath
Cleaned counter, mirror, and floors in hall bath
Put a roast in the crockpot for dinner tonight
Swept the dining room and living room floors
Called ALL around town getting pricing for tires and oil change
Made breakfast for son
Changed trash in bathrooms

I still need to clean the toilets, take Blake to get his hair cut, cut up veggies for dinner and take care of anything else that pops up (you know something always does)

Well, I've rambled on long enough - time to get busy!

Have a blessed Tuesday!

Yay!! Blog Fixed

2009-08-11T08:07:00.001-05:00

I worked on correcting the problem to my page this morning. Don't know exactly what I did, but just glad whatever it was worked.

I'll get a regular post up shortly.

Blogging Problems

2009-08-10T09:50:00.002-05:00

I don't know why, but when you visit my blog...it automatically directs to another page to which this is not related.

So, please bear with me. I have notified blogger and hope this issue gets resolved soon.

Simple Pleasures

2009-08-06T10:00:00.006-05:00

Do you ever just stop and truly enjoy your day. Sometimes I hit the floor running in the mornings thinking of everything that I need to get done during the day. I tend to get caught up in trying to get everything done, that sometimes I fail at just enjoying the "now".

Here's some simple things that I enjoy during my day.

Hanging clothes out on the line to dry. Our dryer broke down a few weeks back and I've been hanging everything outside on my patio. It's just a peaceful time for me while I'm outside hanging clothes. You can (usually) feel a breeze and hear the birds singing. I find myself singing too!

Watching and caring for our tomato plants. There's just something so satisfying about watching something you planted and cared for grow and produce. While we have only picked a couple of tomatoes, we have about 20 something growing on them right now.

Watching the kids and hubby playing board games.

Just driving around town with my husband. We don't have to spend money, but we do like to go window shopping sometimes or just take a drive out to the country.

What simple things do you enjoy?

Have a blessed Thurdsay!!

All I Ask of You from The Phantom of the Opera

2009-08-05T16:41:00.001-05:00

I finished watching Phantom of the Opera again yesterday. I am just in love with the music. Unfortunately, for my family, when a piece of music gets stuck in my head, I tend to sing it over and over and over again.

Here's the song that I'm stuck on now. It's just simply beautiful!

School days, school days....

2009-08-05T07:27:00.007-05:00

Another school year has begun, but this year is quite different. After homeschooling for the past 9 years, my youngest child (the only one who is still school age) is off to public school for the first time! It's hard to let go, no matter what age your child is.

Here's a picture of him I snapped this morning before he left.

He's in the 10th grade this year. This is what he wanted to do...ya know just to see what school is all about. I'm excited for him...but a little sad for me.

We went to new student orientation last night and met his first semester teachers. This school operates on a block schedule. They take 4 90 min classes the first semester and then 4 different 90 min. classes the second semester. This gives you a total of 8 classes or 32 credits by the time you graduate.

The first semester he is taking Auto Tech, Chemistry, Wellnes, and World History. The second semester he is taking Honors English, Accounting, Spanish I and Algebra II.

School starts at 7:15 and ends at 2:15. He was up at 6:15 this morning...the earliest he's been up in a LONG time. He didn't get much sleep last night..nerves and all. I'm sure he will do great today and will be ready to get to bed early tonight.

I will be sitting on pins and needles all day today waiting for him to get home so I can hear how it went.

As for me, I am looking to do childcare and tutoring again. I have some leads that I'm hoping will come thru. I might be keeping a 19mth old 3 days a week and maybe do some tutoring the other two. I'm also going to be keeping 5 yr old twins every other weekend. I met them yesterday, a little girl and little boy. They are so cute! The extra money will really help out as well.

Well, gotta go. Hubby will be home soon and today is his birthday!!

Have a blessed Wednesday!

Just Passin' Time....

2009-08-03T17:51:00.002-05:00

Hope everyone had a good weekend. We had my husband's kids here this weekend until today, so it was a busy house with 5 kids to cook, clean and do laundry for. I will probably miss the hustle and bustle come tomorrow.

Today, I managed to get a couple of loads of laundry done (the weather has been a little more cooperative). I have sheets hanging outside right now. Don't you just love the smell of sheets that have been outside - mmmmm!

I tidied up the kitchen after breakfast and moped the floors. Our cute, sweet kittens are making such a mess of the floors! I need them gone - NOW! We have 6 kittens that are now 6 weeks old and are ready to find their new homes. Gotta get them out before my hubby becomes to attached. He's already named one Tuna. I love kittens...I even like cats. I don't like, however, having to smell and clean a litter box. YUCK!

I would also like to find a home for my sweet pomeranian, Mitzi. She is a doll...but poms are notorious for their yappy barking. And since my husband works nights, and sleeps days....the barking has become a problem and is disrupting my husband's sleep. I've had Mitzi since 2004...(longer than I've had my husband - LOL).

I'm just ready to go back to one pet...that's all I can handle.

On another note, wanted to pass this along. This is a great schedule to use to read thru the bible in one year. I try to do the reading on a daily basis, but must admit, I have slipped in the past. But it is a great tool for keeping me on schedule. I keep it in a notebook and use a highlighter and mark thru the passages as I read them. On a separate page of paper, I will write down verses that I want to remember. And then, on another sheet of blank paper, I will write down my prayer requests.

Anyhow...here's the link. Bible Reading Schedule

Oh....sorry no pictures this time. Need to get my camera hooked up. The boys did something when they were trying to get the wireless network up and running.

Thunderstorms, Tornadoes and Flooding...Oh My!

2009-07-31T10:58:00.004-05:00

Last night a series of storms rolled by leaving in it's wake some terrible damage. Fortunately, where we were, the storms just skirted around us producing some heavy rain.

My family lives about 80 miles southwest of us and their area was hit hard. My youngest son was staying with his dad and experienced the horrible weather as well. None of my family was hurt and their properties are still intact.

About 4 tornadoes touched down (two confirmed). At one of the malls, it did considerable damage and shattered the windows of the cars in the parking lots. There was an 18 wheeler that was turned on it's side and a gas pump that was actually turned over on top of a vehicle. Visible roof damage and various debris from nearby business was also found.

Here's some photos from the area. Please pray for those who were injured and suffered storm damage.

This and That

2009-07-30T12:22:00.003-05:00

It's still rainy here. I don't really mind that much. It's made the weather much cooler for this time of year, however, it is still a bit muggy. My dryer started making some weird noises a few weeks back, so I stopped using it and have been line drying my clothes. Yes, it's a little more work, but I don't mind. There's something quite peaceful about hanging your clothes outside.

I found some rope and tied it up between the posts on my back patio. I can usually hang a full load out. With the weather turned rainy, I have been drying my clothes inside. I and them on wire hangers and then hang the hangers on my fireplace mantle. I can usually get a 1 load done a day. It works out o.k. since there is usually just 4 of us here at one time.

I don't like how my towels come out. Anyone have any suggestions? What did people do way back when...you know...when there were no electric dryers and the only choice you had was to hang them out to dry?

My hubby is going to fix the dryer when he has some time to fiddle with it. He has been working so hard lately. He doesn't get a day off until Wed. 8/5. By that time, he will have worked 12 days in a row and some of them were 12 hours a day. He has a very physically demanding job, and is usually just plain wore out when he gets home. I hate to bug him about the dryer...I know he will get to it.

I managed to get my kitchen completely cleaned yesterday in spite of the headache I had. I have been getting them much more frequently lately...and as usual, they will last approximately 3 days. I tried to not take any "meds" for my headache yesterday and drank some tea and kept warm moist heat on the back of my neck/head to relax the blood vessels...but to no avail. I finally broke down about 3:30 and went out and bought some B.C. powder - something I haven't taken in years. About an hour or two after taking it, I started to feel some relief and was able to get dinner done and clean the kitchen up afterwards. Today, I am so much better. Was up at 6:00 am...did my morning chores (wipe bathroom counters, toilets, wipe down kitchen counters, sweep kitchen floors) dusted the living areas and vacuumed the floors, worked on my grocery list and menu (still working on those), washed a load of laundry - still have to hang to dry.

This afternoon, I go and pick up Blake. He's been staying with his dad for almost a week now and I miss him. Tomorrow, we pick up Brian's kids for the weekend. So my now very quiet house will be full of kids and noises this weekend. Then the quietness will return next week as school starts.

Ah well, more on that later.

Hope everyone has a blessed Thursday.

Watch Out...I'm Back!!

2009-07-29T08:43:00.002-05:00

To those of you who have faithfully been checking my blog, I haven't quit. I just needed to take a blogging summer break.

I will "officially" start blogging again starting this Monday, August 3rd. Wow! Can you believe that it is August already!!

So much has been going on this summer and I just needed to step away from the computer and take care of everything else.

But I have missed blogging and am ready to start up again.

What do you want to see on this blog? Anything particular, or are my ramblings o.k.?

Drop me a comment anytime!

Today is cleaning the kitchen day and I have woke up late (have been doing that lately since there are NO kids here - I'll go into why later). My 18 yr old is at work, hubby is at a friend's house helping with their broken fridge...so I'm enjoying a quiet house. The sun is shinning...although, I believe it will only be brief today as the rain is supposed to be here for 8 days in a row....that's right, time to build that ark! LOL!!!!

I need to clean out the fridge and freezer today and get some more baking done. Yesterday I made two loaves of banana bread and a pan of honey rolls. Today, I need to get some pizza crusts made and hamburger buns. We'll see as I have been battling a migraine for 2 days now, it does slow me down.

Have a blessed Wednesday!!!

Happy 4th!

2009-07-04T12:26:00.003-05:00

Hope everyone is having a wonderful 4th of July celebrating with their family and friends!

Huh?

2009-07-01T18:54:00.002-05:00

Sorry everyone for such short posts. I just haven't been in the "blogging" mood the past few days.

Anyway, soooo, I forgot to take pictures of the bumper pad before my friend came and picked it up. It was my first time making one and I think I did pretty good. If I ever make another one, there will be a few changes that I make.

I didn't use a pattern, just did my own thing. It took about 3 yards of fabric to make it along with the ties. Sewing wasn't hard at all and didn't take long. The most time consuming was pinning and making the ties. All in all, it took me about 4 hours to complete. I bought the foam insert at Walmart and had a lot left over to use for another project.

I had some material left over that I used to make cloth napkins this morning.

I used up the rest of the turkey that I roasted yesterday and made turkey teryaki sandwiches with a curried bean salad ( I love this salad!).

It's just me and two of my stepkids here tonight. We'll probably watch some T.V. and then read.

I've got to work on my checkbook...somehow the bank messed something up and now it's messed us up.. A LOT!!! We've got to get this figured out. Can someone tell me how when we have not used the checking account in over a week that charges are still appearing on our account....one was for 22 cents!! We have not used the account at any time for just 22 cents...come on! Ok....breathing now. I know it will get taken care of. I just need to let it go for now. There's nothing I can do about it tonight. Tomorrow is another day. This maybe one of those things I let my husband take care of just because I can get so emotional.

Take care and have a blessed Wednesday night.

Not Much

2009-06-30T10:11:00.002-05:00

It's been a few days. I hope everyone had a great weekend. We were blessed yesterday with cooler weather. The high yesterday was only 88 degrees. It was nice to be able to walk outside without feeling like you were suffocating.

Today, I'm going to be sewing a crib bumper pad for a friend. I have been promising it for the past 2 months, but just never have gotten around to actually doing it. But today is my deadline that I need to have it finished. I don't think it should really take me that long to get it done. I'll post a picture when I've finished.

Other than that, it's pretty quiet around here. Not much going on, so not much to post.

Later I'll be making White Chili which I will post the recipe and directions.

Have a blessed Tuesday!

Quickie Post

2009-06-26T08:04:00.002-05:00

Hope everyone is having a wonderful Friday.

This is just a quickie post. I'm working a temp job at a law firm today. It's just a one day thing...but hey...every little bit helps and we can really use the extra $$$ right now.

I'll post later tonight and let you know how it went.

Have a blessed Friday!!!

***UPDATE*****
Work went great today! Everyone was really nice and I really enjoyed working the front desk. I hope it leads to more jobs that are similar in nature.

Ahhh...the dentist

2009-06-25T10:44:00.002-05:00

Last week I took my 18 year old to the dentist for a regular check up and a cleaning.
When we left, we were told that my son would have to have extensive dental work done and that I needed to come back next week for a "planning" meeting. When you have to come for a planning meeting, you know that it's bad.

So, I went today, and I was right....it was BAD! How did my son's teeth get into such bad shape? One of the answers I was given was : too much soda. So, we have tried to cut out the soda...I don't really drink it anymore, but Brian does. So, he has snuck one in here and there, but for the most part is trying really hard not to drink sugary drinks. We mostly drink water here...occasionally tea or a sugar free drink like Crystal Light.

So....with all the work that needs to be done, the total comes out to be over $6000.00. You saw that right...$6,000.00!!!! Praise the Lord for dental insurance. It will reduce it by $4,000. But that still leaves us $2000.00 that we will have to pay out of pocket. Fortunately, we do not have to pay that all at once. If we did....he probably wouldn't be getting dental work done because we just don't have the funds at this time.

Anyway, we will start small and get some work done a little at a time as we can afford it. Luckily, nothing is causing him any pain at the moment and hopefully, we will be able to get stuff done before it does cause any pain.

I'm not going to freak out over this and will just try and go with the flow and know that God is in control...he will provide, he will provide.

On another note, I sent in my resume to a temporary staffing agency. Took my tests on Tuesday and they called me for a temp job yesterday for tomorrow at a law firm. It's just a one day job, but it's a little extra $$$ and I like that I'm not tied down to something everyday.

I'm going to try and get some pizza crusts made today for pizza tomorrow night. Other than that, I'm going to stay in (where it's cool) and try not to get into too much trouble :)

Have a blessed Thursday!!!

Monday madness

2009-06-22T13:57:00.002-05:00

My youngest son made it back yesterday and I also brought home my 17 yr old nephew to spend a few days with us. It will give my 18 yr old someone to just hang around with. Wow...three teenage boys can sure eat A LOT!!!

I hope I have enough groceries to last the week.

My hubby has to work on Sunday's, so we are celebrating Father's Day today. He is off today and tomorrow so that works out well. He's taking it easy catching up watching the NASCAR race that he recorded from yesterday. Then we are going shoe shopping....for him. That is what he asked for - a new pair of gym shoes. He wants to get back in the gym. Both of us have kinda let ourselves go. Maybe he will inspire me to get back in shape as well.

We are having grilled New York Strip steaks for dinner. This is a real big treat for us. I have them marinating in the fridge right now.

Right now, I am emotionally exhausted. Maybe, I'll feel comfortable posting more about that some time in the future. However, right now, I just don't feel like doing anything but taking a nap. I have washed and dried one load of clothes, have another load that needs to be dried. I've cleaned up the kitchen, cleaned my room, baked a loaf of bread and made lunch for me and hubby. (Youngest spent the night with a friend and the other two boys are still asleep...so they are on their own for lunch).

It is hot, hot, hot, here...which is MISERABLE. I hate summer! Love spring and fall, but can't stand the extreme temperatures. Is there somewhere you can live that is just mild year round?

Well, I think I'm going to lay down for a bit while hubby is still watching racing and then I think we will be out the door for a bit. Thank goodness our car has air conditioning!!!

Dinner Menu for the Week

2009-06-21T11:19:00.002-05:00

Here is our dinner menu for the coming week:

Sunday: Tacos

Monday: Grilled steaks, fresh corn on the cob, baked potatoes

Tuesday: Creamy spinach sausage pasta with garlic bread

Wedneday: Meatloaf, mashed potatoes, baked beans, homemade rolls

Thursday: Crock pot steak with baby new potatoes and seasoned green beans

Friday: Homemade pizzas

My Trip to the Farmers Market

2009-06-20T17:17:00.002-05:00

We have a farmers market here every Saturday. Last weekend was the first time I went.
We met someone who owned a local cattle farm. It was great to learn that all his cattle and sheep are grass fed...no antibiotics and no hormones. Also, they only supplement the grass with feed in the winter. My husband and I really want to be able to buy a 1/4 cow and was delighted to find out that they do this for .90 cents a pound (live weight). Now we just need to save up the money (about $250.00).

Today I did buy 10 pounds of ground beef - I'm going to use one in some spaghetti tonight. This farm also sells lamb, chicken and eggs - so I also bought a dz eggs. We just love the brown fresh eggs so much more than the ones at the grocery store.

Along with the above, we visited several booths. I bought another pound of home churned Amish butter and some Hickory smoked cheese; small red potatoes, 1 dz ears of butter sweet corn, and some pure honey from a local beekeeper.

I am so glad we found this place and I'm looking forward to making it a regular Saturday trip.

Have a great weekend...gotta go and get the spaghetti started.

One Thing After Another

2009-06-19T09:46:00.002-05:00

Yeah....its Friday! I love Fridays...I don't have a "cleaning schedule" to follow on Fridays because if I have done what I'm supposed to have done during the week...it should really all be done.

Today I am baking a couple of loaves of bread because I am on my last loaf and I didn't bake any earlier this week. Laundry is done, except for my clothes that still need to be put away. I also need to go ahead and make out my weekly menu and grocery list...I'll try and share that later today or maybe tomorrow morning.

Like my post title says, this week and really been one thing after another.
Earlier this week, I was washing a load of clothes and came back into the laundry room to check on where the cycle was when I noticed there was water all over the laundry room floor. I immediately shut off the washer. Our washer is on the wall that backs up to our outside storage room. Sure enough, the storage room was flooded as well...uggh! With my husband's schedule, he wasn't able to check it out until Wednesday. Poor guy....it was raining that day and he needed to climb on the top of the roof to check something out - don't ask me...he told me, but I can't remember.

He worked on it all day and after making two trips to Lowe's was able to get all the piping worked out and low and behold...I was able to wash clothes again!! I had LOTS of clothes to wash. It really starts to back up after a couple of days. Luckily, it was just three of us here and not the usual 8, the amount of clothes could have been a lot worse.

Also on Wednesday, our air conditioner was just not doing a great job cooling down the house. With the humidity here, the temp has been in the low 100's. Just miserable to be outside, and it wasn't much better inside. The inside temp was 82. And while, that may be ok for some of you, we couldn't stand it. My wonderful husband brought home yesterday and guage and determined that we were really low on freon. So, fortunately hubby has a friend in the business and was able to come over yesterday and put more freon in, check everything out and pronounce it good to go. Wow....what a difference!!! The air that is now coming out is 68 degrees. Yay...it is soooo nice to have a cool house again. I just couldn't bake in a hot house.

Hubby also had to work on our lawnmower yesterday, but was able to get that going as well.

I feel that we have been attacked from all sides lately. I am so thankful that God has blessed our family with such a mechanically inclined husband who is able to take care of things around our house.

Have a blessed Friday!

It's Okay to Have a Lazy Day Sometimes

2009-06-18T07:00:00.002-05:00

Let me first say this....I have been dealing with guilt issues a lot here lately. I won't go into all the details, but let's just say that it has been weighing me down more than I think I can bear sometimes. With that being said, I'm am learning that it is okay for me to just step back sometimes and not put so much pressure on myself to get it all done on a specified day.

I love having a schedule and it makes me feel so good when I can mark off my list things that I got accomplished that day. However, it can also be a two edged sword...when I don't get everything done that I wanted to get done, it can make me feel extremely guilty. I'm sure some of you know what I mean...oh, I didn't get this done, or that done...I'm a bad housekeeper, bad wife, bad mom....and this list can go on and on.

It's okay to let it go sometimes...but just don't get in the habit of doing it everyday.

Yesterday, I took my son to the dentist. We had to be there at 8:00 am. We didn't leave until a little after 10:00 am. Well, that little trip threw a wrench in my schedule. My husband was still home and thankfully had my washing machine fixed (I had been without a washing machine for 3 days..YIKES!)so I proceeded to go ahead and get some more clothes washed. Before I knew it it was lunch time. I hadn't so much had begun to clean my kitchen like I normally do on Wednesdays.

So I took a schedule "time out". You know...my kitchen will still be here and I can do a deep clean another day. So yesterday, I did as much laundry as I could before it got too hot in the house(another problem I am dealing with) and spent most of the afternoon on the phone with our mortgage officer.

So cleaning for the day was pretty much out....and you know what...it's okay! I spent the afternoon renting movies and watching T.V. with my husband and son....

So, I was "lazy" for a day...so what! Maybe we all need to be lazy sometimes.

Sorry if this post doesn't make sense. It is early here and I haven't had my morning cup of coffee yet - but I have given the dog a bath!

Have a blessed Thursday!

The Best Banana Bread Ever

2009-06-16T11:22:00.011-05:00

I usually try and bake on Wednesdays, but I have some bananas that I need to use TODAY. So, I'm going to make banana bread. My family absolutely loves banana bread and I've tried many different recipes. What I am using now is acutually not for banana bread, but I tweaked it a bit and now it is super! My son says it is the best banana bread that he has ever had. I will put nuts in it, if I have it on hand...if not, I just leave it out.

Best Banana Bread Ever
1/3 cup butter, softened
1 cup sugar
1 egg
1 1/4 to 1 1/2 cups ripe mashed banana (sometimes, I will use even more)
1 1/2 cups bread flour (or all purpose flour)
3/4 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg or pumpkin pie spice
1/2 cups nuts of your choice

In a large bowl, you will need to cream your butter and sugar. We went to our local farmers' market this Saturday and picked up some home churned Amish Butter.

This is what it should look like once you have "creamed" your butter and sugar.

I had three bananas that needed to be used up, so it equaled a little over 1 1/2 cups when mashed.

Next add your bananas and 1 egg to bowl. Then mix well.

In a separate bowl, comine the flour, baking soda, connamon, baking powder, salt, and spices.

Mix your dry ingredients into your banana mixture using a large spoon. Once mixed well, you can fold in the nuts if you want to add them. Your dough should look like this:

Pour into lightly greased loaf pan.

Bake in a 350 degree oven for 1 hour.

I have to say that it will make your home smell so WONDERFUL while baking.

Take out and let cool.

Just a Tuesday

2009-06-16T07:55:00.002-05:00

Sorry, I didn't get the pictures and recipes posted the other day for my homemade barbeque and coleslaw. Storms rolled thru on Friday and I didn't want to et on the computer much.

We also had bad storms come thru yesterday afternoon. We were under tornado warning for quite some time. There was a funnel cloud spoted about 2 miles south of us.
We cleared out the linen closet in our bathroom so we could get in...there was just the three of us yesterday. It did get extremely dark and it hailed. The hail was about nickel or quarter size. My son was very grateful that there was enough room to pull his car under the carport.

But we made it through that, and then about an 1 1/2 hours later, more storms came thru, but we were just under a flash flood warning and a thunderstorm warning at that time. Whew!! It made for an exciting late afternoon!

Other than that, things are pretty quiet here. Other than the fact that we are dealing with......FLEAS! We have been trying to bathe our 2 dogs everyday and I vaccum the entire house everyday. We have hardwood floors and not carpet, which I am thankful for. Does anyone have any good remedies for getting rid of and keeping the fleas away? I really don't want to use harsh chemicals.

Sigh

2009-06-14T06:27:00.003-05:00

My dogs are driving me crazy! My pom woke me up early...actually, she has been whinny/barky all night long, but I just tried to ignore it. So, here I am up early, really early for me lately. And I don't want to be up yet. I just want to be back in bed. I let the dogs out and turned my back just for a minute and the next thing I know my pom has run out of the yard and down the street...she's that quick!

So, out I go in just my bathrobe calling down the street for her. I knew she was out front and down the street because I could hear her barking at a woman jogging.

Finally get her to come back to the house. Bad doggie!

This is not how I wanted to start out my morning.

Big Sigh.....

Work at Home Ideas?

2009-06-11T10:11:00.003-05:00

O.K...here's the deal. I would like to bring in some income to help my family. I always have been able to until we moved here.

Before I did some part time accounting work and I did in home childcare/preschool. I haven't had any luck here with the childcare, but it is something that I truly love.

Does anyone have any other suggestions? I do NOT want to do any time of MLM program. I don't have a land phone line either. I can do small bookeeping, and can type 75 wpm.

I can sew a little, but I'm still a beginner. I have tried selling my bread and stuff, but it's hard when you don't really know anyone and don't really have friends here since moving.

If you have something that has worked for you, could you PLEASE leave me a comment?

Upcoming for tomorrow: Today I am making homemade barbeque sandwiches, homemade buns, homemade coleslaw and potato wedges. I am documenting and taking pictures which is will post tomorrow along with all the recipes, so check back tomorrow!

Random Pictures

2009-06-10T07:44:00.008-05:00

I know I have been promising some pictures, but our computer went whacko and my husband had to erase our hard drive and start over...uggh!

So here's some random pictures I took this morning.

This is one of my loaves of bread that I baked yesterday. We just love homemade bread. I have in the past made the sourdough wheat bread, but my family really doesn't like it. This is potato bread, which is one of my husband's favorites. You can find the recipe by going to the left and clicking on recipes.

These are our upside down tomato plants. We originally planted them in a half gallon milk jug, but transplanted them into these 5 gallon buckets I was able to pick up for free from our local freecycle group. As you can see, we only have one tomato at this time. My husband says he will really be disappointed if we only have the one. Keeping my fingers crossed for more.

This is my weekly dinner menu that I started posting on the fridge. I started putting it there because after awhile I really got tired of hearing 5 million time a day "What are we having for dinner?" Tonight we are having bacon wrapped steak fillets and baked potatoes and probably steamed veggies...yummm!

This is our T.V. showing what I have on in the mornings....Contemporary Christian music...My radio doesn't pick up K-Love here, and if I put it on the computer, I wouldn't be able to hear it in most of the house. So, I just listen to the contemporary music channel from our cable company.

This is the inside of my fridge today....pretty messy huh? Well, today is "Kitchen" day and the day that I clean out the fridge. Since I worked the past two weeks, unfortunately, the fridge was neglected. It needs some love. I usually try and not let it ever get this bad. Maybe I'll post an "after" picture tomorrow.

Here's the picture of the fridge after I cleaned it out. I took out the bottom bins and washed them out and wiped down all the shelves. Looks much better now. Also, I know that looks like beer on the bottom, but its non-alcoholic (for my hubby).

Well, I guess that's it for the random stuff. Like I said before, today is "Kitchen" day, so I've got lots to do. I try to schedule it the day before my garbage man comes so I can clean the fridge and stuff and not worry about it sitting out in the garbage for days.

I hope everyone has a blessed Wednesday!

Productive Day and Bathrooms

2009-06-09T20:05:00.003-05:00

Today was a productive day. I did get my three loaves of bread baked..yay! It's been over two weeks since I've baked bread. I actually had to go and buy store bought bread last week.

Since today was Tuesday, it's the day I have set aside in my schedule for cleaning the bathrooms. Normally, I will, on a daily basis swipe the toilet seats and wipe down the bathroom counters. However, on Tuesdays, I really clean the counters, sinks, inside and outside of the toilets, scrub the tubs/showers and clean the tiles. I also clean the mirrors, wipe down the light switch covers and wipe down the doors. The area around the handles can get really dirty with so many little hands touching it, so it is important for me to clean those once a week. I also will sweep and clean the bathroom floors.

If you do this once a week and just swipe the toilet and the counters on a daily basis, you can keep the bathroom clean.

I have a fear of someone coming over to visit and then asking to use the bathroom and my bathroom be nasty. Years ago, when my boys were little and I was working full time outside the home, this would be a problem. I cringed whenever anyone wanted to use the bathroom and would fly down the hall to check it out quickly and make sure the boys didn't leave it in a total mess (you know how little boys can be sometimes).

Now, I don't worry so much about that....It's not always spotless, but I'm not embarrassed by it either.

Great News!

2009-06-09T09:02:00.002-05:00

Just a quickie here while I have a moment. Great news, my 18 yr old is moving back home with me! I have missed him terribly since we have moved.

Please pray for all of us as he will be looking for a job and we will be moving things around in the house to make additional room. This will be a big change for all of us since he has not lived at home in over a year.

Well, gotta go and clean those bathrooms!!!

Monday, Monday....

2009-06-08T12:27:00.003-05:00

I hope everyone had a great weekend! Wow...it sure is quiet here with all the kids gone. My husband came home this morning and oops....I slept in. I didn't mean to. I woke up and looked at the clock and it said 6:40, so I thought that I would just lay there until 7:30 and get up and get things started. Well, about 8:30, my cell phone rang and it was my husband. He was at the back door without a house key. He took my vehicle last night and my house key wasn't on the set of keys, it was in my purse - oops!

He decided that he was hungry and wanted to go out to breakfast.....it has been AGES since we have done this, so off to IHOP we went. Yummo!!!

We got back and I really needed to get busy...so I've managed to get two loads of laundry done, deep clean my bedroom, deep clean the computer room/stepdaughter's room, and get one loaf of bread started, tidy up the kitchen and living room.

I still need to get another loaf of bread started, deep clean my son's room (while he is gone), deep clean the boys' room, get to the post office and bank (I might put off the bank until tomorrow), and get dinner going.

Hubby just went to bed and I hope to see him up around 7:00 or 8:00 tonight...otherwise, its just me!

I'm going to try and post a little later (but can't make any promises).

Have a blessed Monday!

Changes AGAIN

2009-06-05T17:06:00.002-05:00

I promise that I am not trying to neglect my blog. It has been a difficult week this past week. I can't believe I haven't written since Monday...wow! I will definitely have to do better with that.

I took off work Wednesday because my son Brian was having some health problems and we ended back at the cardiologist office that day. Fortunately, his EKG and his blood pressure were fine. They determined it was probably just a panic attack. He is still here with me until Sunday. It will be hard to see him go. However, there is a chance that he might move back here permanently in the near future. We'll just have to see how that goes.

As far as my job goes, I hated it...so after talking it over with my husband, we decided it just wasn't for me. So yesterday was my last day. I know...short lived. It's not that I am opposed to working, but this particular job was just not for me. Plus I have decided that if and when I do go back to work, it will NOT be full time ....part time only. It was a difficult and emotional decision for me and I did cry because I felt that I was letting my husband down. He works so hard and I wanted to be able to give him a break. But it was truly making me miserable. And you know the saying, "When momma ain't happy, no one is happy".

So, here I am back home. Still trying to figure out where my place is and what I want to do. Going to try and leave it in God's hands and trust in his promises that He is in control and will provide for all of our needs. Sometimes it is easier to say than do.

My step kids just left about an hour ago and it will be much quieter around here. My youngest stepson and stepdaughter and I watched a movie last night and they gave me a great massage at the same time...how nice! They will be gone about 3 weeks before we see them again. My two sons will be leaving on Sunday for 2 weeks. I will have to find something to occupy my time while they are gone. It will be a good time to try and catch up on my sewing. I STILL have a baby bumper pad to sew that I promised almost a month ago....bad me!

Well, I guess that is all for now. Blake is bugging me to get on the computer. I hope your weekend is off to a great start!

Just a Followup

2009-06-01T20:35:00.002-05:00

Well, dinner has been eaten and the kitchen cleaned up. Laundry has been folded and put away. I wash all bedding on Mondays and the kids are responsible for putting the sheets back on the beds.

The three oldest boys(18, 14, 13) are in the living room watching a movie. My stepdaugher, Kaylin (9), is in my son's room watching a movie and my stepson, Jared (10), is lying on the bed next to the computer reading a book. And my husband is in bed sleeping before he has to go into work tonight.

It is nice to just have a (little) break. Of course, I still need to pack my hubby's dinner for tonight, which I'll do in just a bit. But after that, I'm done for the night.

I realized I never elaborated anything about my son's surgery. We had to be at the hospital at 8 am on Friday morning. I went back with him around 9 am so they could do his blood work and the IV. While this was being done, his face turned scarlet red and he almost passed out. I had to rush to the bathroom to get a wet towel to put around his neck. After that, he felt much better.

Then they took him to the Cath Lab Pre/Post Room where we said our goodbyes before they took him into surgery. Back to the waiting room I went. I received a call about 10:30 that morning telling me that they were about to get started.

The staff was very good at calling me to give me updates throughout the procedure. His surgery lasted until about 2:30 or 3:00 at which time the doctor called me and said that they found something totally different than what they thought they would find.

In a previous post I wrote that my son has a condition known as Wolf-Parkinson-White Syndrome. When they did the catheter abalation this time, they discovered that the cause of his rapid heart rate was known as Atypical AVNRT. They said while this is common, it is very uncommon for a patient to have both Wolf-Parkinson-White Syndrome and Atypical AVNRT.

Brian was finally brought up to a room on the Cath floor of the hospital where we were informed that he was the youngest patient (18) on the entire floor. It was a rough night. The anesthesia gave him a very bad headache and he also suffered from severe nausea which caused MUCH vomiting (I know, yuck!). I felt really bad for him.
Also, after the procedure is done, you have to lie completely still for 6 hours. You can raise your head only 20 degrees. So you can imagine how hard it was being sick to your stomach.

It would take an hour for the nurse to get to our room after we made a call. Also alarms would go off in our room and the nurses would never come to check on them. This made no sense since his room was directly across from the nurses station. A couple of times, I had to open the door wide open and then ask them if they heard the alarm. Thank goodness there was not something going on that was life threatening!

Anyhow, he was released from the hospital on Saturday around 12:30 pm. I have called the cardiologist today to try and make a follow up appointment, but so far...no such luck. I'll try again tomorrow.

Again, thanks for all the well wishes and prayers!!

Why I Am Working

2009-06-01T17:51:00.002-05:00

My first and foremost love is staying at home and being a supportive wife to my husband, keeper of our home and a caring mom.

If my children were younger, I would NOT be working outside of my home. However, since that is not the case, I decided it would be nice to be able to be caught up on our bills and give my husband a much needed break from working so much overtime.

Last week he worked 72 hours..he worked 21 days straight with only 1 day off. He has been great doing whatever is needed to provide for our family, but I can see that it is taking a toll on him.

And yes, it is only day 4 working away from the home and we are still adjusting. The kids have really stepped up by doing whatever is asked of them. It is really nice coming home to a cleaned up house. Since I made a computer schedule for everyone, there is no more fighting...whoopee!!!

My son, Brian, is home with me from surgery...so we have a full house - 5 kids...three of which are teenagers. I can tell you that my grocery bill was sky high this time around....they can eat A LOT!!!

Next week, however, it will be very quiet as we will have no kids. That's right...two weeks with no kids! I will miss them much probably after a couple of days (but I'm still looking forward to the peace and quiet and control of the T.V. again...LOL).

For tonight, I make Baked Penne Pasta with a tomato zuchinni sauce. My oldest stepson is a vegetarian so I try to incorporate some vegetarian meals into our menu.

Well, dinner is about done and I still have two loads of laundry to get done.

Have a blessed Monday!!!

Son Out of the Hospital

2009-05-31T17:52:00.002-05:00

Just have time for a quick post. My son did great in surgery Friday and is now home with me resting comfortably.

I wasn't too pleased with the care he received in the hospital however.

I will go into more details tomorrow evening. Just wanted to let everyone know.

Taking a Posting Break

2009-05-28T16:41:00.002-05:00

This will probably be my last post until Monday. As many of you know, my son will be having heart surgery tomorrow and I will be going out of town so I can be with him.

I know the Lord will take care of everything and I'm not really nervous about it especially since we recently went thru this in October.

My husband and his kids will be staying here. I know they will enjoy having their dad just to themselves. And I know he will enjoy spending time with them.

I know I have been lacking putting up pictures lately and I hope to remedy that next week.

I've also got some great recipes I want to try and get posted as well.

Well, gotta go. I still need to make dinner for everyone and get my stuff packed and try and leave in about 2 1/2 hours.

I hope everyone has a great weekend!!!

Working Outside the Home - uggh!

2009-05-27T17:10:00.002-05:00

Okay...I started a new job yesterday. I already realize that I HATE this job...its just not for me. I'm glad it's only temporary, lasting just 90 days. I think I can tough it out for that long, but it will be nice to have the extra money. We can really use it.

My hours are from 7:00 am to 4:00 pm with an hour for lunch. I get up at 5am and take my shower and start the coffee. I then put a load of laundry in the washer and go ahead and unload the dishes. While drinking my cup of coffee, I make out a list of chores that I want the kids to accomplish by the time I get home. Realistically, they SHOULD be doing them before any computer or video time...we are still working on that. I will also write out a menu for the day...it lists breakfast, lunch, snack and what I will be making for dinner when I get home.

Just to give you an idea, here's the chore chart from today. I put everyone's name in front of the task (but I'm not going to list their names here, only the chores)

sweep kitchen floor
spot clean kitchen floor
vaccum living and dining room
feed animals
put laundry from washer into the dryer and turn on dryer
clean outside refrigerator
clean bottom kitchen cabinets
clean ALL kitchen counters
clean outside microwave
clean outside of stove/oven
wipe down bathroom counter
wipe down counter & table after lunch
put away dishes that you use - everyone
sweep laundry room

I know that looks like a lot, but with 4 kids, it only comes out to be 3 tasks per child.

I also have to list the following or they won't do it :(

eat breakfast
brush teeth
brush hair
get dressed
make bed
tidy room

Yesterday was our first day with the routine, and we had some issues with one child...and we had issues today with the same child. Hopefully, tomorrow will go more smoothly.

I come home for lunch and try to fix everyone's lunch before I have to get back to work. I can tell, this is just not the life for me.

Anyway, I am leaving tomorrow night to travel to the hospital as my son will be having heart surgery Friday morning. My mother-in-law will be coming over to spend the night with the kids since my husband works night shift - otherwise no one would be here. I am hoping to be back in town sometime on Saturday and will be looking forward to some down time.

Children and Lying

2009-05-25T10:08:00.002-05:00

My stepkids are here for two weeks, so we have a full house and it has been quite busy. It will be interesting to see how it goes since I will be starting my new job tomorrow. I am looking forward to it and dreading it at the same time. My anxiety level is extremely high right now.

How do you teach a child that lying is just plain wrong? It is something that we struggle with my stepkids. In the past, this is what we have done. I made a "lying" bag out of a ziploc baggie. In the baggie, I included 5 blank index cards along with a pencil. On a separate index card, I wrote down 4 questions:

1. Is lying wrong?
2. Why is lying wrong?
3. Have you ever lied?
4. Is there ever a time when lying is acceptable?

I will usually "ground" this person form T.V. and video games until this assignment is complete.

The child is instructed that he must interview 5 adults. The child will ask the adult to sign his/her name at the top of the blank index card along with the date. The child will ask the adult the questions and will write the answers down on the card. The child is NOT required to tell the adult why he/she has this assignment.

Once all cards have been completed, the bag is returned and the assignment is completed and the child can be "ungrounded".

The child is put in control of how long he/she is grounded.

The next time the child lies, give him/her the assignment bag again. This time tell the child that he/she has to interview 10 adults and 5 of them MUST be from the previous interview.

It has worked for us in the past.

Big News

2009-05-21T12:28:00.002-05:00

Well, my Big News is........I got a job! It will really help get us back on track. I love, love, love being able to stay at home. But this is the right decision at this time.

It has been 10 years since I worked full time and a lot things have changed since then. One, I won't have little ones to take care of or worry about daycare, so it should make it MUCH easier.

However, I go into this with concern and worry. Will I be able to keep up with everything? Will I be able to keep my house clean (to my standards), cook, bake, laundry, and still have time with my family?

It will definitely be a big change for everyone involved as I will be seeking more help from them to keep things running smoothly.

I will be working this weekend on writing out a new routine which I will be happy to share with you. My step-kids are coming tomorrow and will be here for two weeks so I want to make sure EVERYONE has something to do while I am away. Luckily, my husband will be home during the day to supervise...LOL.

On another note, we just found out that my son Blake probably will NOT be going to public school in the fall. I talked with the school this morning and was very upset. The will not accept any of his highschool grades/credits! They will require him to come and take their final exam in each of his subjects. Whatever grade he makes on their final exam is the grade that he will receive for that class. He would have to go and take 9 final exams which is ridiculous! My oldest son went to public school in the 10th grade and just had to take a placement exam...no problem.
But this other is just..plain STUPID.

He was really looking forward to going to "school" in the fall. I guess we will just have to look at other options. I checked into some of the private schools, but the tuition is just way too expensive and not at all feasible.

Well, I've gotta run. There is so much stuff that I need to get done.
Hope everyone has a great Thursday!

Times They Are a Changin'

2009-05-20T14:40:00.001-05:00

Big news coming tomorrow....anyone care to take a guess?

Another Graduation

2009-05-19T07:02:00.003-05:00

Another milestone came and went Friday...my son Brian graduated highschool!
We started homeschooling Brian in the fourth grade when I removed him from public school and it was the best decision that I made.

It has not always been easy, you'll have to trust me on that. In fact, when he started 8th grade, we decided to put him back into public school because he was such a strong willed child and I was having some difficulty. However, putting him back in public school was a disaster! He hated it, I hated...it was awful. We both stuck it out for the entire year and that was enough. He came back home to school when 9th grade rolled around.

Homeschooling thru highschool CAN be done. Brian is my second son to homeschool graduate. Also, they DO have a graduation ceremony and the DO get a valid diploma...and the DO NOT have any problems getting into college. If you have any questions about homeschooling in highschool, just leave me a comment and I'll get back with you.

Back to the Land of the Living

2009-05-18T10:24:00.003-05:00

First, I want to say thank you for all the well wishes and prayers. I rarely get sick but watch out when I do.

So this is what happened....Thursday morning started out as any other Thursday morning. Got up, started my daily routine...yada yada yada. My husband, since he was off, decided he wanted to go to a nearby town to eat lunch. He had been talking about this place for a couple of days. He used to eat there when he was a teen and wanted to take me there. It was about a 30 minute drive. When we left, I mentioned something about my legs being a little achy, but no big deal.

Food was good, and I was full. On our drive back, I started feeling a little sick, ya know, queasy. Hubby wanted to stop at store before we arrived home to pick up a couple of things. By the time we got to the store, I didn't even want to get out of the vehicle. I wasn't feeling well at all at this point so I stayed in the car and he ran in and quickly picked up what he needed.

When we got home, I layed down on the couch for a couple of minutes and then decided maybe I needed to go and lay down on the bed and take a nap. When I awoke a couple of hours later, I was hurting ALL over. I mean my head hurt, my legs hurt, my toes hurt, my arms, and even my fingers. I was running a slight fever and had chills. My head felt like it was about to explode. I had never had anything come over me so quickly.

I stayed on the couch under the cover and alternated tylenol and ibuprofen to try and ease the pain and reduce my fever. I threw up what I had eaten for lunch (yuk!) I conked out later, but didn't sleep very well because my head was hurting so bad.

Friday morning, I woke up and stayed on the couch. Still felt very nauseated. Head was pounding. My body was still achy, but not like the night before. Hubby had some errands to run first thing that morning, but when he got back, he decided that was it....he was taking me to the doctor. So off we went...3 hours later I returned home. They couldn't be sure what exactly had happened. However, this is what they did know....I had an ear infection and my blood pressure was high - 169/118! The rest...they don't know exactly what brought it on. I was given a steroid shot in my hip for the body aches. He gave me a mild pain reliever - Tramadol.

Let me stop before going on further....I am highly sensitive to pain medication. It may say mild and won't cause drowsiness....but it will knock me out every time!

So...Tramadol...it is supposed to be a much more milder pain reliever than say Loritab or Hydrocodone. But, for me, it had the same effect...snoozeville.

Okay...I also was prescribed some antibiotic eardrops which I have to take twice a day for 7 days. The doctor thinks my fever might have been caused by the ear infection, but they are not sure.

And lastly, I was given sample meds for migraines. I am a migraine sufferer and have been for over 10 years. I have had MRIs, gone to chiropractors, taken homeopathy type meds...just about everything. I was told to take Imetrix (sp?), but I had a bad reaction. Then I was prescribed a med called Topomax...but I refused to take it after reading all the side effects. I have what's called occular migraines and they are concentrated on the right side of my head in my eye. Sound doesn't bother me, but light does. One day, I'll go into how I've learned to live with migraines...but that's another story.

Back to this....by Friday evening I was feeling well enough to make it to my son's graduation (I'll post pictures later). Come Saturday morning, I was back to feeling like I was dying. It was a long day full of medication and mostly sleep. Luckily, my youngest son was at his dad's that weekend, and my step kids were at their moms. So, I was able to get the rest that I needed.

Yesterday, I started feeling much better, no headache, just weak and woozy from not being able to eat. I was able to eat last night and keep it down..WhooHoo!!

So, here I am today...I woke up with a small headache. Took only one pill to keep headache from turning into something major. I feel a little lightheaded, but have been able to get things done around the house. I took my blood pressure today and it is back down where it should be 121/87.

I am hoping to be able to make some cookies today and some hamburger buns. I'm still going to try and take it easy and not over do it too much.

Hope everyone has a great start to their week.

MIA

2009-05-15T12:32:00.000-05:00

Sorry, ladies. I'm taking a short break from blogging as I am sick. Hopefully, I will be over it SOON and will be back to blog land.

Have a blessed Friday.

Spending Time with Hubby Today

2009-05-13T16:02:00.002-05:00

Due to my husband's job, he has a weird schedule. His days off change every four weeks or so. This week he is off today and tomorrow. So, I am breaking from my regular routine to be able to hang out with him today. It's more of a weekend for us...since he works on Saturday and Sunday (bummer). Next week, however, he will rotate again and his days off will be Friday and Saturday. You just have to learn to roll with it.

So, today I got up way early for me at 5:30. Okay...I know this isn't early for some of you ladies, especially the ones with little babies. But 5:30 IS early for me. We have a small tree outside our bedroom window and our bed backs up to the window. Every morning like clock work, there are these birds that begin their chirp chirping. Usually, I can roll over and go back to sleep. But not today, too many things going on in my mind. So I got up and dressed and did a deep clean of my bedroom. Yes, I took out a large garbage back of "stuff" that was cluttering up a corner in my room. Whew, I had been meaning to do that for some time - I mean for months!

Keep in mind, my husband works nights, so he wasn't home and it is extremely easy to get things done in the morning. Next I tackled two loads of laundry (today is my regularly scheduled laundry day), started a pot of coffee - I absolutely HAVE to have my coffee. Yes, I am one of THOSE type of people (haha).

I unloaded the dishes and loaded up what was in my sink. I know - GASP! I left dishes in my sink overnight! Yes, it does happen on occasion. I hate dishes in my sink. I swept the kitchen floor as I try to do this everyday. And I swept up the living room and dining room. I have to sweep and/or vacuum everyday because of our dogs. I mean to tell ya....I could make another dog from the amount of hair I sweep or vacuum everyday.

So, no...I did not do my full blown kitchen cleaning - I haven't cleaned out the fridge. Not a big deal. And I didn't do my baking. I cleaned all the cabinetry yesterday. You know how you see one spot and you go to clean it then you see another and another. Well, that's what happened and before you knew it, I had cleaned all the cabinets and drawers. I really should do this once a week or at least twice a month. I'll have to remember to write it down on my list.

House was pretty much in order when my husband made it home from work. He had worked a 12 hour shift. He is always smiles when he gets home in the morning and I try and make sure that I greet him at the door with a smile too...even though sometimes I may not feel like smiling too much (more about that some other time).
The first thing he asks me every morning is "How did you sleep?". Usually followed by, "I love you" "I'm glad to be home".

He checked his email on the computer and then played Texas Hold'em Poker (not for money) for a bit. He loves playing and it helps him wind down after work. Then we decided we needed to run some errands.

He wanted to go to the bookstore to look for a book to help him prepare to take his ham radio test to get his license. But no such luck...they didn't have it and can't order it. Hopefully, we will be able to order it online. He was in communications in the military, so he should probably ace the test.

Last week a storm whipped thru and knocked one of our tomato buckets down and crushed our plant. Hubby was disappointed as this was our biggest plant and had a lot of promise. So, we headed out to Lowe's to buy a new tomato plant and we also bought a squash plant too. When we came home and planted them in our hanging planters ...yes even, the squash we are hanging upside down. Our other original tomato plant is doing great and even has some blooms on it!!

While we were out, we decided we needed to head to the store to buy some beverages and pick up something for lunch. It's so funny, but we were thinking about the same exact thing for lunch! Breaded ravioli...which we haven't had in 6 months. We had to go to two different stores just to find it. I know...not the healthiest...but oooh so good!

We watched a movie that I picked up yesterday. It's been awhile since we have been able to just sit down and watch a movie together. Aahh..the simple little pleasures.
I took a shower and then decided to take a nap...just because I could. By this time, it was 1:00 and hubby had been up since 7pm the night before - 18 hrs straight and was pretty tired as well. Let's just say, he decided to take a nap and is still napping. I expect to (try to) get him up in a couple of hours. If I don't, he won't sleep on a normal schedule tonight.

I'm just gonna take it easy the rest of the night. We have another movie we want to watch, and for once, I don't know what I'm doing for dinner...something simple and light - maybe a salad.

Yesterday, I had a job interview. And yes, I'm thinking of going back to work. It would help us out so much financially. Blake is my only child home full time now and he has decided he wants to go to public school (10th grade) in the fall. So, I wouldn't have to worry about homeschooling and him being here by himself. I would be able to get him to school and my husband would be home when he got off of school so I wouldn't have to worry about him coming home to an empty house.

Actually, I'm really excited about it. If you would have asked me a couple of years ago...I would have said "no way". Anyway, they are supposed to make a decision sometime this week. If I don't get it, I'll just keep on looking.....

Have blessed Wednesday!

Why Men Are Never Depressed

2009-05-12T10:00:00.002-05:00

Okay...this is not what I had intended to post today. I found it on another blog and thought it was just too funny. So have a laugh today, you deserve it!!

Men Are Just Happier People--

-Your last name stays put.
-The garage is all yours.
-Wedding plans take care of themselves.
-Chocolate is just another snack.
-You can be President.
-You can never be pregnant.
-You can wear a white T-shirt to a water park.
-You can wear NO shirt to a water park.
-Car mechanics tell you the truth.
-The world is your urinal.
-You never have to drive to another gas station restroom because this one is just too icky.
-You don't have to stop and think of which way to turn a nut on a bolt.
-Same work, more pay.
-Wrinkles add character.
-Wedding dress $5000.
-Tux rental-$100.
-People never stare at your chest when you're talking to them.
-New shoes don't cut, blister, or mangle your feet.
-One mood all the time.
-Phone conversations are over in 30 seconds flat.
-You know stuff about tanks.
-A five-day vacation requires only one suitcase.
-You can open all your own jars.
-You get extra credit for the slightest act of thoughtfulness.
-If someone forgets to invite you, he or she can still be your friend.
-Your underwear is $8.95 for a three-pack.
-Three pairs of shoes are more than enough.
-You almost never have strap problems in public.
-You are unable to see wrinkles in your clothes.
-Everything on your face stays its original color.
-The same hairstyle lasts for years, maybe decades.
-You only have to shave your face and neck.
-You can play with toys all your life.
-One wallet and one pair of shoes -- one color for all seasons.
-You can wear shorts no matter how your legs look.
-You can 'do' your nails with a pocket knife.
-You have freedom of choice concerning growing a mustache.
-You can do Christmas shopping for 25 relatives on December 24 in 25 minutes.

No wonder men are happier.

Have a blessed and wonderful Tuesday!!

Today is My Birthday

2009-05-11T11:10:00.003-05:00

Yes, today is my birthday. I guess I will have to correct my profile to show the right age....43. I was thinking this morning about my life in decades.... In my 20's, I got married, started a career, had three children (at 21, 24, 28). Yes, it was a very busy time in my life. You think you know what you want...but really you have no idea (you can only say this looking back). As I approached age 30, I couldn't wait! I know most people dread turning 30. However, I was working outside the home in a male dominated career. I felt that when I turned 30, I would be taken more seriously in my job. I loved turning 30.

My 30's was a very unpredictable decade. At the age of 30, my now ex-husband and I separated...then got back together. I quit my job and became a stay at home mom and began homeschooling. I sold a house, bought another house. Separated again and this time divorce followed. Watched my oldest son graduate from highschool. Met and married a wonderful man that I love very much. Became a step-mom to 3 kids. Became pregnant, but had a miscarriage.

Here I am now in my early 40's. I became a grandma just a little after turning 40. We have sold our house and moved 100 miles away. My middle son graduates on Friday. Is it true that "Life begins at 40"?

I now wear bifocals (unlined, of course!). Just a sign of the times I guess. I have grey in my hair (but try and keep it hidden). All in all, I really do look young for my age. I thank my husband for part of that...he keeps me young. For those of you that do not know...I married a younger man!!! When we met, he was 30 and I was 39. Now I'm 43 and he will be turning 35 this fall.

We are looking forward to the years that come when the kids are grown and we can go when and where we want. Knowing my husband, we will have to get matching wheel chairs and have wheel chair races!

Life is what it is....UNPREDICTABLE!! You can plan, but you have to be able to be flexible and understand that sometimes STUFF just happens and you have to be able to go with the flow. (Lesson I'm still learning after all this time).

Oh....here's a picture of my boys..this was taken yesterday. It is rare now that I can get all three of them together at one time.

I hope everyone has a blessed Monday!

Laid Back Thursday

2009-05-07T10:47:00.003-05:00

I had a couple of great posts swimming around in my mind that I wanted to get out.

But....I'm just having such a great laid back day that I think I will wait and post them another time.

Guess I'll just have to keep you guessing :)

Finally after over a week's worth of rain, the sun has once again graced us with its presence. My computer desk is set up right next to the window. I have it up and a sweet breeze in blowing. My cat loves it too....as she has decided this is her new favorite spot...she gets a kick watching the birds.

We are pretty much done with school this year, which makes me a little sad. I've been homeschooling for 9 years and next year Blake wants to give public school a try. He'll be in the 10th grade.... I know he will be o.k. and do wonderfully.

So right now, he is still asleep as he stayed up late last night playing some video games....what do ya expect...he's a teenager, right? I don't mind...it's quiet.

My husband was supposed to be off today, but decided to go in and work dayshift. It's unusual that he is not home during the day.

Let's see, what else....my housework is pretty much done...I'm washing some bedding and I need to make a loaf of bread and make out my grocery list and menu and start dinner for tonight.

That's pretty much it for today. God is good!!

Have a blessed and wonderful Thursday!!

Free Meal from KFC

2009-05-06T09:42:00.002-05:00

The Oprah Winfre Show/Kentucky Grilled Chicken Two-Piece Meal Coupon.

Great Deal! Go to link below to print out your coupon for a FREE KFC meal.

Coupons can only be printed out from 9am CDT on 5/5/09 to 11:50pm CDT on 5/6/09.

So, don't delay..print yours now.

KFC Grilled Chicken Two Piece Meal Coupon

Contentment

2009-05-05T12:25:00.002-05:00

Is true contentment really possible?

To be honest, I have struggled with this for a long time. The dictionary defines contentment as being satisfied.

I think that in today's society, we are bombarded through the media that whatever we have is not enough. We need large houses, expensive cars, prestigious jobs, extravagant vacations, private schools for the kids. We need these things in order for us to be happy.

Do we really need all this stuff to be happy? Is it possible to be happy with just what we already have?

Don't get me wrong, I don't think that we shouldn't strive for more or not want things. But what I'm saying is that you shouldn't do it on the basis of "If I had a new car, I would be happy" or "If only my house were bigger, then I would be happy".

My house is not big. It was built in the 60's...so it doesn't have the newer things that are in the new construction. I do love to go into newly constructed houses and ooh and ahh at all the cool stuff and how big and spacious everything is. But would having that big house make me any more or any less happy than I am right now in my house? I don't think so.

Don't get stuck in the "if only" mindset. If you do, you will NEVER be happy.

Have a blessed and HAPPY Tuesday. Find contentment in wherever you are today.

Easy Strawberry Freezer Jam

2009-05-04T10:01:00.009-05:00

We were blessed this weekend with 14 quarts of freshly picked strawberries from a local farm. I had been asked by my mother in law if I would make some strawberry freezer jam.

For those of you that may have been scared off from making jam in the past because of all the canning equipment needed, you will be pleasantly surprised just how easy freezer jam can be as an alternative to traditional canning.

The recipe below makes between 5-6 8 oz jars....but I used 12 - 4 oz jars.

Before you begin, thoroughly wash and clean the jars.

What you will need:
2 quarts strawberries washed and stems/leaves removed.
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 pkg pectin

After removing stems and leaves, I washed, rinsed, and drained my strawberries.

After they were all clean, I sliced the strawberries to make it easier to mash. Once your strawberries have been sliced, you will need to mash them. You can use a potato masher, but since I don't have one of those, I just used one the beaters from my mixer. You want to keep mashing until the strawberries are in small pieces.

In another bowl, you will want to measure out 1 1/2 cups of sugar. Then add your pectin. Here's what I used. There are two packages in it..you only need one. The pectin is what makes it gel.

Pour your pectin in the bowl with your sugar and mix completely.

Pour your mashed strawberries in the bowl with your sugar mixture and stir for about 3 minutes until completely mixed and sugar is disolved.

You are now ready to ladle into your jars. Once done, put the tops on and let sit for awhile out on the counter. I usually leave mine for several hours before putting into the freezer.

The jam will keep in your freezer for a looong time....but if you want to refrigerate...it will keep in the fridge for about 3 weeks.

Well, I've got more jam to make today.

Hope everyone has a blessed Monday.

What I'm Doing Today

2009-05-03T15:14:00.001-05:00

Today I'm making strawberry jam. Check back tomorrow...I'll have pictures and the recipe.

Hope everyone has a blessed Lord's Day!!

Days Gone By

2009-05-02T07:44:00.002-05:00

I have the house to myself this morning...my youngest son who still lives at home is away for the weekend and my husband isn't home from work yet (third shift).

It's quiet here with just me and the animals.

The peace and quiet has given me time to reminiscence about what seems long ago days when my kids were little. There was no such thing as a "quiet" Saturday, or any other day for that matter.

I can remember looking forward to going grocery shopping on Saturdays so I could "escape" and have some alone time. I know that some of you moms with little ones can relate. But let me remind you, our little ones are only little for a short time. Sometimes it doesn't seem so...I know...been there, done that.

You begin to wonder if you will EVER be able to just go to the bathroom in peace without the knocking on the door...

Will you ever be able to have a COMPLETE uninterrupted phone conversation...

Will there come a time that you will be able to walk thru the rooms of your house without stepping on a toy....

Those days will come and they will come with mixed emotions...

I'm very proud of the men that my boys have become and are still becoming, but there are days like today when the quietness is around me that I miss the little boys that they once were.

Nothing Much and a Funny Video

2009-05-01T10:10:00.003-05:00

Sorry everyone...I just have writers block today. Some personal things going on that I want to keep for my self...hope you can understand.

It's a very cloudy, rainy day today. Kinda reminds me of my mood. What can I say...even the best of us sometimes have days like this.

This too shall pass....(sigh).

On another note, I am starting a new sewing project this weekend...a baby bumper pad.
A friend of mine was having a hard time finding one that already matched the bedding she had, so she purchased some material and asked if I would sew one for her.

I will definitely post pictures once I am finished.

Here's a funny video that I thought I would share:

Guess Who's Coming To Play

Look Who's Coming To Play @ Yahoo! Video

Have a blessed Friday...

Wolff Parkinson White Syndrome

2009-04-30T08:29:00.002-05:00

My son was diagnosed with Wolff Parkinson White Syndrome when he was rushed to the emergency room this past October just a day after his 18th birthday. His heart started racing and would not slow down.

By the time he reached the hospital, it was beating at more that 200 beats per minute. They tried twice using the paddles to shock his heart back into a normal rhythm, and after an iv was able to get him stabilized.

Of course they did a drug test because when they see a teen with a high heart rate, drugs are usually the culprit...but not so in this case.

We didn't realize just how serious it was until the nurse told us that if he had waited any longer to get to the hospital, he would have died. Also, his age also played a factor in his survival...if it had happened to someone in their 30's or 40's, they would have died right on the spot.

After many, many hours in the emergency room, he was moved to the Cardiac ICU floor...he was the youngest patient on the floor. After several tests, the doctor concluded that he had Wolff Parkinson White Syndrome. If you want to read more about it, click here.

The heart has electrical conductors...in my son's case, he had an excess of electrical circuits.

WPW Syndrome can sometimes be controlled with medication - beta blockers, but the doctor felt that surgery was needed in his case. Fortunately, open heart surgery is no longer necessary and a less invasive type surgery - Catheter Ablation can be performed.

What is Catheter Ablation:
(copied from The American Heart Association)
"Once a CA is scheduled, patients usually stop taking medications previously used to try to control the tachycardia because on the day of the procedure, the electrophysiology (EP) doctor often needs to start an episode of tachycardia to determine what type it is and where it is coming from. After discussing risks and benefits of the procedure and giving informed consent, the patient is brought to the EP laboratory. Local anesthetic is used before catheter insertion in the groin and perhaps in one side of the neck, the elbow, or the area under the collarbone; 3 to 5 catheters are often used simultaneously. Once catheters are in the veins or artery, fluoroscopy (x-ray) is used as they are moved toward the heart and positioned in strategic locations. Recordings of the heart’s electrical activity are made from inside the heart. After tachycardia induction, a special ablation catheter is then maneuvered so its tip electrode is in contact with the abnormal tissue. The location of this ablation target is determined by a process called mapping, in which the ablation catheter is moved from spot to spot until the appropriate area is found. At this point, RF energy is turned on and, if the catheter location is correct, the tachycardia is eliminated (Figure 2). Testing is performed to see if tachycardia can be initiated again and the procedure is repeated if necessary. If tachycardia cannot be reinitiated, catheters are withdrawn from the body. The procedure usually takes 2 to 4 hours. In experienced laboratories, most types of SVT can be cured in over 95% of patients. "

My son did very well with the procedure, and after it was completed, was able to move off of the Cardio ICU floor into a regular room. You do have to lie still for a long period of time to prevent bleeding at the site in the groin.

He was released from the hospital a day after the operation.

However, the following month, he started having symptoms again, a racing heart...not to the degree that put him in the hospital, but enough to make him panic. The cardiologist gave him a 30 day heart monitor to wear... No other abnormal heart rhythms occurred while wearing the monitor. We all could breathe a sigh of relief.

Now, 6 months later, another episode sent him back to the ER. The doctors decided to try him on beta blockers after keeping him for observation, they sent him home. The next day, he was again back in the ER. The beta blockers lowered his blood pressure too much and he bottomed out. Doctors took him off the meds and he scheduled an appointment at the cardiologists office for yesterday.

At the cardiologist, they discovered more electrical circuits that were not removed during surgery. Also, they decided that he could not tolerate the medication as they already gave him the lowest dose possible. Now the only other alternative is surgery ---- again.

We are going to speak with the cardiologist today or tomorrow and schedule his surgery, which will take place in 1-3 weeks. I am just praying that this will be the last time.

Preparing Your Fields for the Rain

2009-04-29T07:14:00.003-05:00

God has laid this on my heart for days to post. I have to be honest, I have been fighting it. I didn't want to do it. I am not an eloquent writer...I kept telling God, I don't know what to say. But He kept pressing me. Each night I would hear the words over and over..."prepare your fields for the rain".

What does this mean? If you have ever seen the movie, Facing the Giants, you will remember the scene where the coach was in his office...wondering if he should stay or go, wondering what does God want him to do, and feeling...lets just say....really down. A man walks into his office and quotes Revelation 3:8 - I know thy works: behold, I have set before thee an open door, and no man can shut it: for thou hast a little strength, and hast kept my word, and hast not denied my name.

The coach walks into the hall after the man and tells him that his has been praying to God, but hasn't seen him working. The man then tells the story of how two men had fields and both had been praying for rain, but only one of the men actually prepared his field for the rain. Which man do you think received the rain? The one that prepared his fields....

God wants to pour down on us, but we have to be ready to receive it. When praying to God, don't pray half heartedly...believe that NOTHING is impossible for God to do in our lives. Believe it....live it....share it....

This is a lesson that I am still learning. I think that is why God wanted me to share this.

I have gone thru my share of troubles....but I serve an awesome God who has been right there with me every step of the way.

What are you doing to prepare your fields for the rain?

Update on My Upside Down Tomatoes

2009-04-28T12:07:00.002-05:00

I have my tomato plants hanging right outside my back door on the patio. In the mornings, I go and check on them. Call me strange, but I like to smell the leaves. It reminds me of my grandma's and the large gardens she used to have.

The plants are starting to outgrow their containers, and we are going to transplant them into five gallon containers. We will cut them the same way we cut out the jugs...with a hole in the bottom and insert the plant in the bottom upside down. Then we will fill the container with more soil.

The great thing about using a five gallon container is there is enough room at the top to plant something else if you wish...I'm not sure what I'll plant yet and will have to do some additional research.

I'm actually going to pick up my containers today. I posted on our local freecycle and a couple of people have some five gallon containers that I can have...nice. If you are not familiar with freecycle..you have to check it out. It's a great way to give away some things that you no longer need and use and pick up things that you can use. Click here to find a freecycle group in your area.

Also, for free containers, you can check the following:
Walmart Bakery (frostings come in these containers)
Burger King (pickle containers - just ask them)
Local Chinese Restaurants
Local Bakeries

Just remember to clean them thoroughly before use.

I'm off to do some baking. I have a friend coming into town tomorrow, so I'm doing my baking early.

Have a blessed Tuesday!

Saying Good-bye to the Debit Card

2009-04-27T09:59:00.002-05:00

A couple of years ago I wrote an article for Associated Content weighing the pros/cons of cash vs. debit cards. Click here to go to the article.

Since the writing of the article, we have slipped back into using a debit card. I can vouch that you WILL spend more using a debit card instead of just using cash. We have finally made the break from the debit card and will be going to all cash again. It is much easier. You know how much cash you have to spend and once it is gone, you are done. Plus, you don't have the worry about writing down receipts in your checkbook or the possibility of missing writing a receipt.

So, how do you go to cash? It's easy....use the envelope system. If you are unfamiliar with this, check out Dave Ramsey's website...www.daveramsey.com.

Here's how it works: We have a separate envelope for categories used each week.
For instance, our categories include: groceries, "blow" money, gas, eating out/entertainment, and a miscellaneous fund.

Each payday, we will fund our envelopes with the cash. When the money in the envelope is gone, you are done spending.

This has worked very well for us in the past, and I'm glad to be making the change back to this system again. Let's face it, when you have cash, it makes it a little harder to turn it loose. You will look and question each of your purchases a little more closely.

Prayers Please, My Son is in the Hospital

2009-04-26T15:35:00.002-05:00

Another crisis has reared its ugly head today. My 18 yr old son, who is currently living with his dad a 100 miles away, was taken to the emergency room this morning with a racing heart.

He has a condition (I hope this is right) called Wolff-Parkinson-White Syndrome or WPW. He was diagnosed in October of last year and had heart surgery to correct the problem. When he was brought into the ER last year, it was so severe, that they had to shock him twice to try and get his heart rate down. The nurse and the doctor plainly told us if he had waited even 30 mins longer to get to the hospital, he would have died. They said if it had happened to someone older, it would have killed that person instantly.

So, I feel very blessed that my son arrived at the hospital in time. We were told that the surgery would take care of the problem, but as you know, nothing is 100% for sure.

In November, he felt that his was was racing - not as before, but enough for him to panic. He also was very dizzy and of course any strenuous activity just completely wore him out. He was put on a heart monitor that was linked to the cardiologist...this was done for a month. Nothing happened during the time he had the monitor..we hoped it was all behind him.

Now, six months after the first episode and heart surgery, he is back in the hospital. I have not been able to make it to the hospital today, but if they keep him tomorrow, I will be driving there. His dad is with him and will be with him all day. Fortunately, he is NOT in the Cardiac ICU as before and is in a regular room.

I am waiting to hear from his dad to see how his ECG (electrocardiogram)turns out and if they found anything. He did say that the doctor was optimistic that surgery would not be needed and that hopefully they would be able to control his condition with medication.

The medication (beta blockers) will be something he will probably have to take for the rest of his life.

If you could please keep us in your prayers, I would be grateful. It is difficult for me, as a mom, to be so far away from my child.

Thank you.

Branson, MO is Great for the Whole Family

2009-04-25T13:14:00.006-05:00

Recently, my husband and I went to Branson, Mo for the weekend (a quick getaway). We weren't really sure what to expect. I knew Branson had lots of shows and expected it to be a city that catered to the over 50 crowd.

Wow, was I surprised....there is SOOO much to do there - from waterslides and go kart tracks...to dinosaur museums, and train rides. Oh...don't forget all the cool nature stuff to do, after all, it is in the Ozark mountains. There is boating, fishing, hiking, etc.

The downtown scene is really alive for the younger adult crowd with shops, live music..and it's all on the river.

We had a blast! We went to the damn and the fish hatchery (FREE). The fish hatchery is right on Lake Taneycomo. If you have kids, it's a great field trip/learning experience. It was a beautiful sunny day in the mid 70's..perfect for being on the lake. My only regret is that we didn't have a boat to go out on the water. Oh well, maybe next time.

We visited the Butterfly Palace...once again-great place to take the kids. We got to meet and talk with the entomologist. The butterflies fly all around you, but they ask you not to touch the butterflies, let them touch you. Here's some pictures of the butterflies we took.

The item that the butterfly is sitting on is a yellow kitchen sponge submerged in....GATORADE! That's right...gatorade.

However, be prepared to come up with some cash....the Butterfly Palace is $18.00 each for adults. I'm not sure what is price for childrens' admission.

We will definitely plan and go again when we can take the kids....I know they will have a blast.

Money is Tight...

2009-04-24T12:36:00.002-05:00

Today has been a pleasant day. It's been in the 80's and I have the windows up and a good breeze is blowing thru.

It's been kinda quiet today, my son and hubby slept in and I grabbed a cup of coffe first thing this morning and sat on the back patio just enjoying hearing the birds singing.

Money is a little tight right now...not a big thing, but a bit frustrating. My hubby's paycheck was shorted quite a bit over the past two weeks. Co. forgot to pay him his holiday pay and his overtime. So, he is not a happy camper right now. But this too shall pass.

I have a VERY limited amount of money to spend on groceries this week. But I really don't mind. It challenges me to be really creative with our menu planning and looking for good deals at the store. Luckily, we still have lots of meat in the freezer, so I only need a handful of items to round out our meals. Some things are essential that I buy now...like toilet paper. You know, that's something you just don't want to run out of..hehe.

We will be fine...have been here before and I'm sure that there will be times that we will be here again. God always provides so I'm not worried. I have a roof over my head, food in the house, gas in the vehicles, healthy children, and a husband that loves me very much. What more do I need?

I will leave you with that. I hope everyone has a blessed Friday and a wonderful weekend!!

Enjoy Your Children

2009-04-23T12:41:00.003-05:00

We have a tendency when our children are small of being in the "I can't wait" mode.
What I mean is I remember when my children were babies, first it was, "I can't wait until he's old enough to hold his own bottle", then it was "I can't wait until he can crawl", then..."I can't wait until he can walk"; " I can't wait until he can talk".

Now my oldest is 21 , middle is 18 and my youngest is 15 and I wonder..where has all the time gone?

Each day is precious with your child...yes, even when he throws the remote or your cell phone in the toilet, or when he sticks a peanut butter sandwhich in the dvd player. Actually, these are the times that when you look back, you remember with laughter..."Can you believe that he did this?"

I can remember when my middle son talked my youngest into drawing all over his closet door with crayon and chalk. Yes, he did this just to get his little brother in trouble...and poor little brother's excuse was - "He TOLD me to do it". Wow, what teachable moments these are if we can just get past our anger.

I remember when my oldest got a gash in his forehead because his buddies thought is would be fun to play frisbe with a shingle that had fallen off the house during the storm....(yeah....it was fun to get those stitches!)

Or when my middle son was at school and during P.E. he ran into a wall and knocked a tooth out. (hey, he was in a race!)

And how could I forget when my youngest at the age of two decided to lock himself in the car and refused to unlock the door!

Of course, there were sweet moments too....my youngest two boys would have "brother day"....this was a special day where they would just spend all day together playing games, etc.

I love my boys and as I look back there are times when I wish I could have enjoyed "Today" instead of always looking towards "Tomorrow"...do you know what I mean?

Enjoy everyday with your children...because once that day is gone, you can't get it back. Your child will NEVER be the age again that they are today.

I hope everyone has a blessed Thursday.

Playing hookie today....

2009-04-22T14:57:00.003-05:00

Well, we all played a little "hookie" today. My husband came home a little after 8:00 this morning and is off tonight. So, we decided to go to a baseball game. I cancelled school (yeah...they had to twist my arm..LOL) and off we went.

I love going to see a good baseball game in the spring. However, I'm not much for watching one on T.V. It's just not the same.

Today was a PERFECT day for baseball. It has been sunny with a beautiful blue sky...and it was 76 degrees...like I said...PERFECT! And on top of that our team won 7-2!

Sorry I don't have any pics to post, but I forgot to take my camera.

I had already done my deep kitchen cleaning, my morning chores and a load of laundry, and pulled weeds in the flower beds...so now that we are home Blake and I can just relax.

Usually I bake bread on Wednesday, but I'm going to put it off until tomorrow as I still have a loaf already.

I hope everyone has a blessed Wednesday.

Homemade Cinnamon Rolls

2009-04-21T15:23:00.009-05:00

Sorry I didn't get to post my pics yesterday. As I said, I haven't been feeling to well lately and frankly, I was just in one of those "weepy" type of moods. I'm sure some of you know what I'm talkin' about.

Today started off much better, got up and dressed...the sun was shinning outside, birds were chirping and I had my contemporary Christian music playing over the T.V. I was able to get my morning routine chores done and my Tuesday Cleaning done (thoroughly cleaning the bathrooms), and homeschool has been completed and worked checked.

I went to Goodwill and purchased two dresses (I only wear dresses now...maybe I'll post about that at a later time) for a whopping.....drum roll please.....$8.00!!!!
I love going to thrift shops! I am hoping to find some canning equipment there, but so far, no such luck.

Anyway, here's recipe, instructions, and photos for my homemade cinnamon rolls. Hope you enjoy them. Also, please leave me a comment sometime...I'm startin' to feel pretty lonely.

HOMEMADE CINNAMON ROLLS

1 cup warm milk - about 70 to 80 degrees
1/4 cup warm water - about 70-80 degrees
1/4 cup softened butter
1 egg
1 tsp salt
4 cups bread flour
1/4 cup instant vanilla pudding mix
1 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp dry active yeast

FILING:
1/4 cup softened butter
1 cup packed brown sugar
2 tsp ground cinnamon (sometimes I use more..just depends on your taste)
FROSTING:
4 oz. softened cream cheese
1/4 cup butter, softened
1 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar
1 1/2 tsps. milk
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

Place the first nine ingredients in your bread machine and select the dough setting.
When it is finished , turn dough onto a slightly floured surface. Roll into a rectangle about 17 in. by 10 in. (doesn't have to be perfect.)
Spread with butter; sprinkle with brown sugar and cinnamon.

Roll up , jelly-roll syle, starting from a long side.

Pinch Seams to seal.

Cut into approximately 21 slices...sometimes I usually slice into about 18.

Place 12 slices, cut side down, in a greased 13 in X 9 in baking pan and 9 rolls in a 9in sq baking pan. Okay...my other pan isn't square.

Cover; let rise in a warm place until doubles, about 45 minutes.

Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown. Cool for about 5 minutes.

If you want them frosted, just beat frosting ingredients in a mixing bowl and spread on your cinnamon rolls.

You won't believe how great these smell while baking in the oven.

YUMMY!!!

Monday, Monday......

2009-04-20T10:29:00.003-05:00

It's great getting away for a small vacation, but I really look forward to getting back home. And since I was busy getting ready to go last Wednesday, I didn't get to do any baking, so I'm trying to do some "catch-up" baking today.

Here's what I've got going on in the kitchen today:

Cinnamon Rolls - (goodness, I just love the way these smell when they are baking!)

Oatmeal Peanut Butter Cookies

Pineapple Coconut Bread

I'll try and post some pictures of the goodies later when they come out of the oven.
I wish there was a way you could SMELL them on the computer...but oh well....

On another note, I'm feeling really blah today. Don't know what's wrong...who knows, it could just be hormones. I guess I just need to get past it.

Since it is Monday, and Monday is bedroom cleaning day...I have stripped and re-made the beds, dusted everything in the bedroom and decluttered anything that happened to be laying around.

I got my morning cleaning routine done - wipe down tables, counters (kitchen and bath), wipe down toilet seats, and sweep the kitchen floor. I also went ahead and swept the living and dining room floors as well. I have two inside dogs and it's that time of year for shedding. I think I could make a whole other dog from the dog hair that I swept up this morning.

Blake and I have gone over History and Biology this morning and he is off to the computer to do his Health.

My hubby went into work at 8pm last night and got home about 8:30 am this morning, so he is beat and has headed off to bed for some much needed rest.

Well, I've got laundry to reboot (today is laundry day) and baking to be done!!

Hope everyone has a great Monday and I'll try and post some pictures later.

Prayer Request..............

2009-04-19T08:36:00.003-05:00

Good Morning Ladies,

I do not normally post on Sunday. But I have a prayer request. I have had a menacing headache going on four days now. It is really putting a strain on me and my ability to function normally.

I have suffered from migraines, but this does not feel like a migraine. My migraines are usually centered in my right eye...the doctor calls these ocular migraines.

However, this headache hurts all over, but feels like someone has taken a baseball bat and hit me in the back of my head.

I did take a "strong" pain reliever last night, and it did give me some relief, however, it completely knocked me for a loop and I could not function. I have to be able to function...I can't be laid up somewhere all the time.

So, I am aksing for your prayers that this headache will cease. And if any of you know of some additional remedies other than medication, that will be appreciated.

Thank you and I hope you have a wonderful Sunday.

Thursday Ramblings and Pet Pictures

2009-04-16T06:54:00.005-05:00

Good morning!! It is a sunny day here and it's going to be warm! I love warm spring weather, but the heat of summer wears me out. No sooner has summer began that I am looking forward to the crisp cool air of fall.

I know we shouldn't be wishing away our days, but it seems that way sometime. You hear yourself say..."Oh, I can't wait until it gets warmer" and then it's "I can't wait until it gets a little cooler" "I can't wait until Christmas"..the list goes on and on.

I don't really have anything "brilliant" to post today, just some ramblings.

My husband and I do not have any kids for the next few days, so we are sneaking away to spend a couple of days together...woohoo!! It has been awhile since we have done this....and we are both looking forward to the break.

My mother-in-law will be house sitting and pet sitting for us while we are gone, so I spent time yesterday making sure that the house was clean and ready for her visit.

I actually should be finishing up my packing and taking my shower instead of blogging, but here I am (we are leaving in a little over an hour... )

So, I 'll just finish up here....

Here are some pictures of my fur babies that will be staying here...

This is Peanut...he just turned 9 years old. He is such a smart dog...you should see the things that he can do!

This is our pomeranian, Mitzi, or as I call her...Miss Barksalot.

We have one indoor cat whose name is Bear. Bear is a female, but we named her when she was a small kitten thinking that she was a he. Bear is the sweetest and will be a year old next month.

Spinach Artichoke Dip

2009-04-15T11:52:00.002-05:00

I usually bake on Wednesdays, however, since we are leaving tomorrow...I'm trying to keep a clean kitchen and not doing any baking today...besides nobody would be here to eat it!

The following recipe for Spinach Artichoke Dip is one that always gets requested. I have been making it for years now. It is a standard at all get togethers and I never come back with any left.

My husband requests it often and could sit and eat off of it in one sitting if I didn't put it away.

SPINACH ARTICHOKE DIP

1 tbsp. oil
1/4 - 1/2 cup chopped onions
1 (10 oz) pkg frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed dry
1 large jar of marinated artichoke hearts, drained and chopped
8 oz sour cream
8 oz pkg cream cheese
2 cups monterey jack cheese (you can use mozzarella if you cant find mont. jack)
1 cup shredded parmesan cheese (not grated)
crushed red pepper flakes - about 1 to 2 tsp (optional)

In a large skillet, heat oil and saute onion until tender. Add chopped spinach and artichokes over medium heat for about 2 minutes.

Add sour cream and mix well.

Add cream cheese and mix well.

Add 1 1/2 cups of mont jack cheese and 1/2 cup parmesan cheese...stir until cheeses are melted and blended.

Add crushed red pepper flakes to taste.

Pour mixture in a 8 X 11 ungreased baking dish.

Sprinkle remaining mont. jack cheese and parmesan cheese on top.

Bake in a 350 degree oven for about 10-15 minutes or until cheese is bubbly.

Take out and enjoy with your favorite crackers!

Upside Down Tomatoes

2009-04-15T08:25:00.004-05:00

I'm going to be running around today trying to get things done. We leave on a mini-vacation (2days) tomorrow. Even though it is short, it will be nice to just get away for a bit.

I'll be doing some short posts throughout the day (I hope)..if I don't get to them, I'm sorry.

Anyway....

Have you ever seen those commercial for Topsy Turvy Tomato Planters. You know, those are the ones where you can plant the tomatoes upside down.

My husband has been fascinated with doing that. Last time the commercial came on we watched it. They went thru the spill talking to people who owned them, how easy it was and how abundant the tomatoes were. My husband was all set to place his order....that is until they showed the PRICE. On TV it was 2 payments of, get this, $19.99!!! But wait, you get not one Topsy Turvy, but two! Still $19.99 for each was ridiculous.

I guess the frugal side of me is starting to rub off on my husband because he decided there was no way he was going to pay that. He went online and found how to make the same thing out of milk jugs. You can also do it with large plastic containers.

But since I had been saving my milk jugs anyway, he fashioned some hanging containers out of them. I only had 1/2 gallon containers. I imagine that when the tomatoes get larger, we can transplant them.

It was easy to make. Just cut off the top portion of your jug, then cut a small square at the bottom. Insert your tomato plants upside down thru the bottom after filling the jug with your "dirt". Hang and water as necessary.

Your tomatoes plants will start to grow upward, but when they start producing tomatoes, gravity will take effect and they will hang back down.

We only have two plants right now...we'll see how it goes and maybe add more. I know you can do it with cucumbers and peppers too!!

Pillowcase Dresses

2009-04-14T14:24:00.004-05:00

Making a pillowcase dress is fun and easy. You have the option of using a traditional pillowcase or using fabric that measures the same as pillowcase.

A couple advantages of using a pillowcase are 1) it is already hemmed and 20 the only cutting to done is for the top of the dress.

However, if using fabric rather than a pillowcase, you will have many more fabric designs to choose from and you can create a longer dress if you child is tall.

Below are a couple of pictures of two dresses that I made for my 9 year old step-daughter. The pictures did not turn out that well. Also, please keep in mind...I am still a beginner when it comes to sewing.

The first one is made from a standard size pillowcase. Around the neck line, the elastic is sen in the casing and the ribbon ties are also sewn on the front and back and then tied at the shoulder.

The second is not made from a pillowcase, but from material purchased at Walmart for $2.00/yd. This dress took about 1 yd of fabric. I told Kaylin that I would make her a dress and she could pick out the material....she chose pink panther. It is one of her favorite cartoons. This one I embellished with lace. Instead of wearing it as a dress, she decided she wanted it to be a nightgown....oh well, works for me.

You will notice that the neckline is different from the first picture. Instead of elastic in the casing, I threaded the ribbon thru the casing. This was done in the front and the back with it being tied on the shoulder.

I'm thinking with a little practice, that I would like to make and sell these on etsy.com...what do you think? I could just buy the material and embellishments and sell the pattern and materials as a kit...hmmm.

If you have any questions, just leave me a comment and I'll get back with you.

I hope everyone has a good day...it is cold here again. I can't believe I had to turn on the heat!

Tour of My House

2009-04-13T13:23:00.015-05:00

Here's a tour of my home. I absolutely love my home. We have been here just about 5 months. At first I wasn't sure if it could "feel" like home...but now I feel so comfortable here.

So, here we go.....

Here's the front of the house. We just put up window boxes a few weeks ago. I have always wanted window boxes...and now I finally have them.

When you come in the front door, you come directly into the living room.

Here's what it looks like from the dining room..the front door is to the right of the photo.

And this one is taken from the front door.

The dining room is open to the living room. The item standing next to the fireplace is my husband's wader dryer. And yes....we just got done playing Monopoly.

Here's a picture of the kitchen which is also open to the dining room. This is the first time I have ever had a breakfast bar...

Next to the kitchen is the laundry room

We have one bedroom that connects off of the kitchen. It is used by my stepdaughter and we also use it as our computer room.

On the other side of the living room are the other three bedrooms.

My step-sons' room

This is my son's room...he is on his bed doing his schoolwork.

And here's a picture of our bedroom. We just bought the bed frame. The walls are painted a dark red.

Here's our tiny master bath...really tiny, but functional.

Now, if you go out of the master bedroom and back down the hall toward the living room, the hall bathroom will be on the left. It is a large bathroom with plenty of counter space and it has a large linen closet as well.

I'm trying to upload picture of the bathroom, but blogger.com is having some problems.

Sorry you won't get to see my bath....but oh well...that was the last room.

If you head out of the bathroom, you'd be back in the living room

Hope you enjoyed the tour.

Making money with CashCrate

2009-04-13T09:24:00.004-05:00

I love staying at home and being a wife, homemaker and mom. However, there are days when I feel deflated because I am not contributing financially to our family.

Cashcrate is a great way to earn a little extra money by spending a few minutes each day on the computer. It won't make you rich, but it's enough for gas money or groceries or that little something extra you've been wanting.

CashCrate is legitimate and I have received "real" checks from them as payment.

Their program consists of completing offers and surveys. I must tell you that I do not complete anything that asks for a credit card. There are plenty of "free" offers and surveys without having to use a credit card.

If you have any questions about this program, please let me know in a comment and I'll get back to you promptly.

I've included CashCrate's link so you can get started immediately!!

Pancakes for breakfast

2009-04-10T09:54:00.003-05:00

I make pancakes a lot for breakfast. Matter of fact, that is what we had for breakfast this morning.

Before, I always relied on ready made pancake mix such as Aunt Jemima, or I used Bisquick and the recipe that was on the box. You know those pre-made mixes can get expensive. I just never knew that it was so easy to do yourself.

I have adapted a recipe that I found to make it my own...so here it is:

My Yummy Pancakes

2 cups milk
2 medium eggs
2 Tbsp oil
1 to 1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp vanilla
1 Tbsp lemon juice
1 tsp salt
3 tsp baking powder
3 cups flour (I just use the bread flour that I already have)

In a med to large bowl, mix the first 7 ingredients. Beat with a fork or a whisk.
Add the last 3 ingredients. Beat again. Mixture will be lumpy.

In a skillet or a griddle, heat on medium heat and melt a spoonful of butter or use a little oil to grease it.

When heated, drop about 1/4 cup of batter...if your skillet is large enough you can cook two or three at a time. As your pancake cooks, little bubbles will begin to form. When the pancake has plenty of bubbles and the top is beginning to dry out, it's time to turn it over to the other side and let it cook.

Repeat until all the batter is used.

The above recipe will usually make enough for 3 pancakes each for 7 people.

Enjoy!!

Cloth Diapering and a new venture...

2009-04-09T11:33:00.002-05:00

In an effort to help with our finances, and still be able to stay at home, I have become an affliate for Kelly's Closet.

Kelly's Closet is the Web's Premier Cloth Diaper Store.

Just check out all Kelly's Closet has to offer:

Cloth Diapers
One-Size Cloth Diapers
All-in-One Cloth Diapers
Pocket Cloth Diapers
Fitted Cloth Diapers
Prefold Cloth Diapers
Flat Cloth Diapers
Diaper Covers & Diaper Wraps
Cloth Diaper Packages
Cloth Diapering Accessories
Inserts
Liners
Doublers
Cloth Wipes & Accessories
Wet Bags & Pail Liners
Diaper Pins & Fasteners
Swim Diapers
Training Pants
Make Your Own Diapers
ON SALE
For Mom
Underwear
Nursing Bras
Nursing Pads & Creams
Menstrual Care
New Mama Care
For The Home
Changing Pads
Washcloths & Burp-pads
Blankets
Natural Laundry
Natural Skin Care
Earth Mama Angel Baby
Baby Gear
Baby Carriers
Sun and Swimwear
Baby Basic Layette
Leg Warmers
Baby Feeding

Faith, Fear, Worry, Peace

2009-04-08T07:54:00.004-05:00

I am writing this from the heart. I apologize beforehand if doesn't make sense or if I start to ramble (I have a habit of doing that)...o.k., here it goes.

A dear friend called me the other day. She is going through some stressful situations in her life. While talking with her, it made me take a good look at myself and how I handle stress in my life and how I need to handle it.

I am a worrier, I admit it. My husband even says I worry too much. I do. I try not to, and I think I'm getting better. But it leads me to question "Why do we, as Christians, worry"? No matter what situation I have been in, God has been there and has met my needs. He has always provided for my needs. (You need to be able to discern between needs and wants).

Matthew 6:25 NIV

25 "Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes?

What does worrying about anything do? Absolutely NOTHING!

I looked up the definition of worry...

Worry: to torment with cares, anxieties, etc.; trouble; plague.

To torment..wow that's a strong word. When you worry, you are tormenting yourself. That isn't what God wants....that is Satan using fear in our lives.

Matthew 6:27 NIV

27Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?

I believe that fear is an emotion that Satan uses to get hold of our lives.

How do we overcome this fear and worry? By prayer and getting into the Word of God.

Isaiah 41:10 NIV

10 So do not fear, for I am with you;
do not be dismayed, for I am your God.
I will strengthen you and help you;
I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.

Isaiah 41:13 (NIV

13 For I am the LORD, your God,
who takes hold of your right hand
and says to you, Do not fear;
I will help you.

I have been in situations that at times, I felt hopeless. Worry and fear dominated by days. I still struggle with it. We are not perfect and we have human emotions. I have faith that no matter what is going on in my life, that God is there. He wants to hear from us. We NEED that communication with HIM.

Prayer....Pray each day that God will take the fear and worry out of your life. Ask God to keep Satan out of your day. Pray for peace over your situation.

Romans 15:13 (NIV)

13 May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

2 Thessalonians 3:16 (NIV)

16 Now may the Lord of peace himself give you peace at all times and in every way. The Lord be with all of you.

It is with this that I leave you for the day.

I pray that God's love and peace washes over you today.

Today's Freebie and Contest Giveaway

2009-04-07T08:13:00.005-05:00

I have a long post I wanted to write today, but it will just have to wait until tomorrow. I woke up today feeling a bit under the weather ...stuffy nose, sore throat, headache and just generally groggy. Doesn't make a good combination for writing a serious post.

I want to make sure I come across well and coherent, so I will try and post tomorrow.

To give you a sneak peak, I want to talk about Faith, Fear, Anxiety, and Peace. It is something that has been on my heart.

So, I will leave you today with a give away and a freebie.

De of Oh Sew Dollin' is having a grand opening giveaway. All you have to do is visit and sign up for this sweet Annie Doll.

You can automatically download the pattern for this little cutie right away so you can get started on making your very own Annies.

A Day in the Life of Me...

2009-04-06T09:00:00.015-05:00

Thought I would share what my day today is like. I'll be updating the post throughout the day.

I woke up late this morning - 7:34. I haven't been sleeping well as alergies have kicked in and my nose gets stuffy at night making it difficult to sleep.

My cats always greet me as I open my bedroom door. They are ready to be fed. I have 3 full grown cats and 6 kittens. I am trying to find a home for the kittens as soon as possible as they are slowly destroying my house.

After feeding the kittens, the next thing I HAVE to do is make coffee. Yes, I'm one of those people that absolutely must start my day with a cup of coffee. I have a Gevalia Coffee Maker that has worked great for a few years now.

Time to do my daily routine:

Wipe down kitchen counters, sweep kitchen floor

Wipe counter and toilet in hall bathroom

My son keeps his hamster in the bathroom at night because he is too noisy.

Cleaning the master bathroom

Time to check the email....my computer pooped out on me this morning. Had to wait to check email.

It's now a little after 8:00 time to get dressed before Brian gets home from work. Here's what I'm wearing today (I've gone to all dresses and skirts) Sorry the picture is sideways.

It's 8:30 and time to get Blake's schoolwork written out for the day

It's now 1:00 and I just got back from taking hubby to the dentist...we left about 10:30 this morning - he had to have two teeth pulled.

Now it's off to get prescriptions filled. Blake was on his own for lunch today.

2:00 - back from pharmacy. Time for me to eat lunch...starving.

Since I didn't get to finish making the bed this morning...I only stripped the sheets, I need to put on fresh sheets.

All done, much better. Don't forget to clean the mirrors, windowsills, and ceiling fans.

Now, time for a quickie clean of the kitchen. Took all of 5 minutes.

Before:

After:

Oops! Forgot to unload the dishwasher...better do it now.

It's now about 3:20 pm. Since our homeschooling was disrupted today by going to the dentist, I'm going to go over some school work with Blake.

4:00 school is done - yea!

Time to take laundry out of dryer (I put it in this morning), fold and put away.
Just had one load to do today.

Here's a picture of hubby relaxing on the couch.

Laundry is all put away. On to dinner. Tonight I am just making vegetable soup and cornbread. I don't use a recipe for the soup, I just throw in whatever I have on hand. Here's all of laid out on the counter....

After putting everything in the pot, I decided to work on my coupon binder while dinner is cooking. I have lots of coupons that I need to cut and organize.

Dinner is done. Time to eat.

After eating, time to tidy up kitchen...again.

Wow, now time to relax. It's about 6:30 and I'm going to just chill out with my hubby and watch some t.v. Blake is on the computer. Later I'll take my shower and get to bed about 10 pm.

I hope everyone has a good evening, go and enjoy it with your family.

Quiet Saturday

2009-04-04T10:39:00.003-05:00

It is a beautiful warm and sunny day here. I have the windows open and our next door neighbor is cutting his grass. I just love the smell of fresh cut grass...it just smells, well...clean.

I have no kids all day today and my husband worked night shift and is now sleeping, so it is just ME!!!

I have lots of things to do, but part of me just wants to take it easy and chill out in front of the T.V. I know...sounds pretty lazy.

Well, I did manage so far to do a load of dishes, vacuum the entire house, dust, clean the counters, and start a batch of hamburger buns. I am also going to bake a chocolate cake today. I honestly don't know who loves chocolate more, me or my husband. It's definitely one of our downfalls...sigh.

I need to get outside and transplant some plants. We have two large oak trees out front with flower beds. The family here before planted some monkey grass in the flower beds that I want to transplant as a border for our beds out in the back around our patio.

It's a great day to that, however, I woke up with a stuffy nose and a sore throat and just don't know if I feel like tackling that project today...it may have to wait a little bit.

Oh, and I HAVE to work on some homeschool work for the next week. I can't believe that the school year is almost over. My son, Brian, will be graduating next month!!
So, I have graduation stuff to do as well.

I hope everyone has a great weekend and I'll be posting again on Monday...hopefully with some pictures. I want to do a tour of our house.

Broccoli Cheese Soup

2009-04-03T07:52:00.003-05:00

I will be running all over the place today...gotta go to the bank, pay the utility bill, then have to drive an hour each way to take my son to a weekend birthday party.

Guess what? We found the cords to our digital camera! Yea! Now I will be able to post some pictures---finally.

We just love Broccoli Cheese Soup and thought I would share this easy recipe with you.
(I usually double this recipe)

Broccoli Cheese Soup

2 cups water
1 tep. chicken bouillion or 1/2 veg. bouillion cube
1 pkg (16) oz frozen chopped broccoli, thawed
1 med onion, chopped
1/4 cup butter, cubed
3 Tbsp all purpose flour
1 cup milk
1 pound process cheese (Velveta), cubed

In a large saucepan, bring water and bouillion to a boil. Add broccoli. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 3-4 minutes or until crisp-tender. Drain, reserving 3/4 cup liquid. In aohter large saucepan, saute onion in butter until tender. Whisk in flour until blended. Add the milk and cheese. Cook over medium-low heat until thickened and cheese is melted, stirring frequently. Stir in broccoli and reserved cooking liquid.

4 servings

The Dreaded "L" word.....

2009-04-02T07:59:00.003-05:00

No silly, not Love. LICE

If you have never had to deal with the disastrously little bugs, pray that you never have to.

And if you have, you know what I'm talking about.

When my three boys were much younger (one was in grade school, one was in preschool, and the other was in daycare) those horrid little creatures decided to come and visit. And they liked at our house so much that they decided to extend their vacation at our house for many months.

It was very stressful for me...I felt like such a bad mom. How could this happen to MY children. They clean their rooms, I wash their clothes, they take baths, etc etc.

Usually, if your kids are in school or daycare, they are susceptible to picking lice up from other kids and it will have nothing to do with how clean your house is or your child.

After months of combing and picking and trying different brands of lice remedies, I was finally able to get rid of these things by doing the following:

--- wash ALL bed linens
--- throw away any brushes that the child has used
--- spray cloth furniture and mattresses (I had to use an over the counter spray)
--- I used mayonaise on each childs' head and then wrapped it in plastic overnight.
Rinsed it out the next day and combed the hair thoroughly. You need to check
your child's head every day to get rid of these little buggers.

O.K., you're probably wondering why I am posting about lice. Let me say, it wasn't what I had intended to originally post.

My stepdaughter was here over the weekend until yesterday. I had noticed that she had been scratching her head...ALOT. I asked her about it and she said that it had been itching for over a week now. Uh Oh!

Sure enough, I took her over to a sunny window where I could see better. At first I didn't see anything because she has such thick hair. When I checked around her hair line and behind the ears - BINGO...there they were.

I found out that there had been a math night at school involving various games, one of which involved wearing different hats that the teacher had for the game. I think she probably got it that way, because there were several children taking turns wearing the hats.

Anyway, I have thrown away the brushes that she used and am in the process of washing all the linens in hot water (I usually wash in cold).

The only thing that worries me is that I was using the same brush that she was, so I need to keep a close eye on my own hair, Ugh!

Free Eyeglasses for Children....

2009-04-01T09:20:00.002-05:00

This was posted on one the groups I belong to. I haven't checked it out myself, so I'm not sure of all the details:

In case you have a child or know of someone who does (ages 12 and under), they can get a FREE pair of eyeglasses from Target:

Target is doing a special promotion for their optical service.
It could end any time but will definitely end no later than April 29th.. Children 12 and under can get a free pair of glasses.

They need to bring in a valid prescription for glasses from their doctor and Target will let the child pick from about 40 different frames. They will place their best lenses in the frames which are non-glare and scratch resistant and normally sell for $200.00. There are no income guidelines. Any child 12 or under is eligible.

You can find stores with optical departments at www.target.comto confirm they are participating beforemaking a trip to their store.

Please pass this information on to anyone who can benefit from this promotional offer. If you know someone with lost or broken glasses please share this information with them ASAP, as the promotion could end at any time. They would like families to come in as soon as they can. Feel free to forward this information to others!

New Cleaning Schedule

2009-03-31T10:26:00.002-05:00

I'm changing around my cleaning schedule a bit - back to my original schedule that I had been doing for a couple of years:

Mondays: Bedrooms - change bed linens
clean ceiling fans
sweep/vacuum floors
wipe down doors and
light switches
wipe window sills
clean mirrors and
dressers/tables

Tuesday: Bathrooms - clean tubs and showers
including tiles
clean inside and out toilets
wipe down counters and cabinets
clean mirrors
wipe down doors and switches
check supply of toilet paper
take out trash
clean out drawers if needed
put bathroom rugs in laundry
mop bathroom floors

Wednesday: Kitchen - declutter all counter tops
wipe counters and kitchen table
clean inside and out microwave
clean oven and stove
wipe down and wash out coffee pot
clean and declutter top of fridge
clean out fridge
clean outside of fridge
wipe window sills
sweep/mop kitchen floor

Laundry room- wipe down washer and dryer
change kitty litter
sweep and mop floor
declutter

Thursday: Family Room
Dining Room - Dust everything including T.V.
tables, pictures, window sills, etc
Move couch and chair to vacuum
Sweep and vacuum and mop floors
Declutter and put items either in trash
or back in proper place
Water indoor plants

Friday: Computer Room - dust tv and computer. Clean computer
keyboard.
Declutter computer desk
Sweep and vacuum

It looks like a lot, but really it doesn't take that long to get it done.

Tomorrow, I'll post "A Day in the Life of Me" and show you exactly what I do and when I do it along with how long it takes.

Oh...also 5 Things that Went Right - Monday

1. My husband was off of work and did a beautiful job on the yard
2. I actually had time to sit and read a WHOLE book outside while enjoying the sunny day.
3. It was nice so all the kids got to go outside and play
4. We met our neighbor who lives next door - very nice lady
5. I was able to make it thru the day without spending any money

Check out this talented artist.....

2009-03-28T10:20:00.003-05:00

My husband has a friend who is a VERY talented artist. We feel very privileged to be able to have one of his prints.

He has made some youtube videos of his work -

Please watch below and be prepared to be amazed!! I know we were.

Have a great Saturday. I'm going to go enjoy some time with my kids and step kids!

Not much to say....

2009-03-26T13:20:00.002-05:00

I wish I had something interesting and inspiring to post today...but I don't. I really want to be able to uplift and encourage women in their roles as wives and mothers. However, today is just one of those "blah" days we all have once in awhile.

I haven't been feeling to great lately and I don't know what's wrong. I am tired all of the time, and I mean ALL of the time. I feel as though I am in a haze and just going thru the motions of keeping house and cooking. I hope this feeling goes away and goes away SOON!!

Today, I was supposed to mop all the floors, but it will just have to wait as I have other things to accomplish.

I have made 4 pizza crusts for tomorrow night. My step-kids will be arriving tomorrow night and I always try and fix homemade pizzas on those nights. My son says that they are better than Domino's pizza. I know it is something everyone looks forward to twice a month and it is sooo much cheaper than delivery. I pre-bake the crusts a day ahead and wrap them in plastic wrap and put them in the freezer until the next day.

I am also making my kids' favorite cookies - Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Peanut Butter Cookies...Yummm! I hope I can keep myself from eating them...but probably not!

I have to sort and file my coupons today and make out a grocery list. I went and picked up a Kroger flyer yesterday. We don't have much choice for grocery stores here, just Kroger and Walmart. It's hard to get the great deals I see so many people posting on the yahoo groups I frequent.

About 8 or 9 years ago, I was a grocery shopping queen. I loved going grocery shopping because I got amazing deals (that is when I lived elsewhere and had various of grocery stores to choose from). I took cash with me and never spent over $65.00 per week. That was for 5 people and 1 dog. It also included all of my paper products as well.

Lately, I have been spending WAY too much at the store and its got to stop! So, I am going to pay attention more to the sales and my coupons and see how I do. I would like to eventually spend no more than $85.00 a week for groceries. I know, some of you do much, much better than that.

I'll be going grocery shopping tomorrow (hopefully) and will let everyone know how I do.

Depression Cooking

2009-03-25T14:24:00.004-05:00

I was reading another blog and she mentioned Depression Cooking with Clara on youtube.
Clara is a 93 yr old woman who lived grew up in New York during the depression. While she is cooking she talks about her family and growing up during these hard times.

I was so inspired after watching her video, and will continue to watch and learn.
In the episode below, she goes on to tell that she had to quit high school because they could not afford to buy socks.

It really makes you think....sometimes we think we have it bad off...when in reality, we are truly blessed.

Monday Madness and......A Recipe!

2009-03-23T14:33:00.003-05:00

My husband and I went garden shopping yesterday. He had seen the "topsy turvy" commercial on T.V. You know..those are the things that you use to grow your tomatoes upside down. He was really wanting one, but was shocked at the price.

I guess I am rubbing off on him because he went online and found out how to make his own using milk jugs. So, off we went to get some tomato plants. We also bought two strawberry plants (Blake loves to grow strawberries) and I bought a pineapple sage plant. You can't believe how wonderful it smells ---- just like a pineapple!!

We also bought some flowers and some window boxes. I have always wanted to put window boxes up out front. We couldn't do it at our last house because the windows went almost all the way to the ground.

We found some boxes for $7.00 each. We finally got them planted and hung today. They look so beautiful. My husband did such a great job hanging them. I planted potato vines, red petunias, verbena and dianthus.

I'm glad my husband felt o.k. to do it today as he had a dentist appointment to get a tooth pulled. Long story short, it didn't get pulled....they deadened his mouth, but the spot where the tooth was would not get numb enough for them to pull the tooth. So off we went to get more antibiotics and hopefully he will be able to get it pulled next week.

On another note, I found someone who would barter eggs in exchange for my homemade baked goods. I took some to her today with a list of things that I have available, and she emailed me saying that she has co-workers that want to order some goodies from me! Whoohoo! I was hoping that somewhere down the line, I might be able to make a little with my baking.

Here's a recipe for the day courtesy of Candy at www.keepingthehome.com

I changed mine around a little bit:

BAKED FRENCH TOAST

12 slices of bread ( I use the white potato bread)
1 1/2 cups of milk
4 eggs
1/3 cups maple syrup (I have used pancake syrup)
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 tsp. cinnamon

1. In a mixing bowl, beat the eggs, and then mix in the milk, syrup, vanilla, and cinnamon.
2. Butter a 9x11 baking pan
3. Place 5 or 6 slices of bread in the pan, and pour 1/2 of the mixture on top of the bread.
4. Place 5 or 6 more slices of bread on top of the other slices, and pour the rest of the mixture on top.
5. Cover the pan over with plastic wrap, and put the pan into the fridge overnight.
6. The next morning, remove the plastic wrap and cook in the oven at 350 degrees for 40 minutes. You will not believe how amazing this smells when baking.

Busy Saturday

2009-03-21T09:31:00.003-05:00

I won't be able to get to the computer for the rest of the day...

My wonderful husband woke up early this morning and made a big breakfast for us all - eggs, sausage, biscuits and milk gravy - YUMMM!! I love him so much!

Busy, busy day. Blake has a soccer game this morning and then I have to drive about an hour to drop him off at his dad's. Then its back and try and get a quick shower.

My hubby and I are going up around Reelfoot Lake to meet some friends for dinner.

Here's the latest picture of my granddaughter....I miss her so much.