Our Weekend

LB got her driver's license!!  I know you will sleep better tonight knowing there is another 16yo on the road.   Our hope was that she could drive herself to school every day.  But I always forget the special rules that come with new drivers.  And since she didn't have her permit for a full 6 months, it'll be November before she can drive alone.  So scratch that.  

The good news is that it was my first time to have all the correct paperwork without having to turn around and go back home.  Or more like just forget it and hope for better luck next time.  

Also when we got to the revenue office and picked a number, we were only 5 behind the one being called!!  Wonder of wonders. 

We are super excited about the new children's home coming.  Maggie House should be mostly completed by February.  Saturday, Honey and 5 kids went and worked on some demolition and outside work.  There were over 100 people from all churches and denominations in our community sweating and working together to get some work done before the construction crews come in.  

The boys were working in old insulation and moldy stuff so they stripped in the backyard and got a good hosing down before stepping into the showers.  

I stayed home with the younger kids and baked cookies and cut up watermelons and read books and went to a garage sale.   But at lunch time we got to help serve lunch to the Maggie House workers.  

It was a good day.  

Well Lane has done it again.  She found this little tiny baby that needed some love and a trip to the vet.  She weighs just over 1 pound, is dewormed,  and ready for a new family.  As in a different family that isn't mine.  

She's super laid back and just precious all the way around.  She loves taking a nap with you and just snuggling up in the crook of your arm or neck.  

Her name is Belle.  

First 2 Days Of School

I love seeing everyone's back to school pictures.  Kiddos all dressed up with their backpacks sporting a HUGE smile.  Precious!!

And I know you don't usually see a whole lot of college pics but I just couldn't help it.

Oh I love them.

And Monday morning they headed off for the first day of non-home school.  As in COLLEGE ya'll.  And you may not believe me but I promise they were just babies yesterday!!

They both had a great first day, saw many friends, and didn't get lost.  I love that they are at the same school.  They can ride together and meet up in between classes.

In the meantime, I dropped this one off at high school.

HIGH SCHOOL!  She is taking 2 concurrent enrollment classes this semester and three next semester.  If you aren't familiar with concurrent enrollment, they are classes that count for both high school and college at the same time.

Her classes are online but take place in the public school classroom.  Big change from sitting at the dining room table with her little siblings!

I was so proud of her.  I dropped her off and she just waltzed in with full confidence even though she'd never been there, didn't know anybody, or have any idea where she was going.  I'm pretty sure I would've died if I had attempted that at her age.

She has a long 2 hour gap in between classes so she takes her homeschool work and does it while she waits.  Both days she has been completely finished by the time she comes home at lunch.

As for the younger set, we are chugging along with all the new books, pencils, and other back-to-school gear.  I'm enjoying having a little more time to concentrate on them....though the past two days I've been hugely distracted waiting on updates of the day from my other kids!

Yesterday Christian called me on the way home from school with some very big news.  Months and months ago, he interviewed for a big scholarship from Bank Corp.  They called him yesterday to say he GOT IT!!  And I just keep praising God.  His other scholarships were more than enough but this is just over-the-top.  I immediately called the high school counselor and thanked her.  When the school found out about his interview, they included him in a special scholarship interview class with a few other students that had similar opportunities.  I am humbled and so very grateful for the many people that God uses to contribute to my kids' successes.  I'm glad it's not all up to me!

Football is in full swing for 3 boys.  Between running back and forth to school, the football field, and Laney's work I found myself in the car 7 different times yesterday.  I'm so glad everything is close!  And even though it doesn't sound great, I have to say that I enjoyed every minute of it.  It's a small way that I can help them now when they are growing to an age of not needing me quite so much.

It is shaping up to be an awesome school year!

My Consolation

Well now.

I was all bummed about winter bee feeding ya know.  But then when I started looking for the feeders I needed I was  happy to see that they were much cheaper than I thought.  AND I won't have to open the hives.  AND it holds 4 gallons at a time. BINGO!

There was this cheapy frame cleaning tool I've been wanting for a long time and was waiting to add it to my next order.  But with 2 feeders plus the tool, I was still $60+ away from the $100 minimum required for free shipping.  Shipping for those 3 things was going to be over $26.

And since I just couldn't see spending that much money for nothing, I went ahead and added a BEE SUIT to my order!

And I have to say it does soften the blow a little bit  a LOT!!

Hungry Bees And Unhappy Beekeeper

We checked the bees this week.  My kids are becoming quite the beekeepers.  They are eager to suit up and head out and be hands-on.  And I have one who is particularly good at smoker lighting which is hugely helpful since the rest of us aren't.

And while the bees look happy and healthy, there was not a bit of honey. Like not a drop on any frame in either hive. There was also no nectar or pollen to speak of. Since this means I'll be feeding bees all winter, it did not make my day. Especially since I also have no winter feeding equipment. I had planned to discuss this at Bee Club that night but after driving all the way there, I had a sick kid that was threatening to puke and we had to leave.

On the way out, we ran into Mr Hardin who had a big watermelon he has brought for us.(!) He also told me he just bought a 50 gallon barrel of sugar syrup for winter feed that he would share with me and he'd come by next week to see why my bees were acting lazy.  That helped.  But I'm still not happy about feeding bees ALL WINTER...like starting now.

This Week's Phone Pix

Our library has had some fun stuff going on all summer.  This was one of our favorites.  They called it Jedi Training.  Their costumes were crazy good.  And Darth especially was huge and mean looking and authentic sounding. 

  

Looking over their dad's shoulder at fishing pix. 

LB has been gone all week at Grandma's house and Mally has taken over her bed.  Lane's a sweet sister! 

Shirts my mom made for New Fire Athletic Club.  Charleston will no longer be soccer-less!!

Jess made Puppy Chow to take to his friend's house.  Tracy brought this over recently and I had completely forgotten it was a thing.  Jess fell in love and we bought all the ingredients and saved them for a time when we could share it with somebody.  Today he made this all by himself. 

Puppy Chow

9 Cups of Chex cereal 

1/2 Cup peanut butter

1 Cup chocoate chips

1 1/2 C. powdered sugar 

Melt the peanut butter and chocolate chips in the microwave for 1 minute.  Stir.  Then microwave and stir in 30 sec. increments until its all melted.  Pour over the cereal.  Put the powdered sugar in a gallon ziploc bag and pour in the cereal and shake it up.  It works better if you divide this into 2 bags.  Yummy!!

Racing In The Living Room

Just a funny video of my crazies doing what they do....



Oh how I love them!

Two Weeks of Food And Some Thoughts On Coffee

I'm reading one of my old faves again.  First We Have Coffee.  And truth be told, I'm hardly ever not reading it.  It's not a book I just finish and put away.  It's a book I finish and then leave it out and read snippets here and there and then start over at the beginning.  Every time I get something new out of it and this time it was the simplicity of coffee.

Coffee speaks hospitality.  When you invite someone for coffee, it means fellowship.  Period.
Here in the south, sweet tea is a close second but there is nothing like the invitation of coffee that speaks warmth, sweetness, and friendship.

Now Mama Tweeten was the queen of hospitality and love.  She had the tightest of budgets yet she was continually prepared for whomever the Lord would bring to her.  Sometimes there were pies, or bread, or soup included.  But oftentimes it was just coffee and that was enough.

It's enough to make me want to take up the habit.  But I'm guessing I'll just stick to tea for now because I've always thought of coffee as a very adult drink and I'm not grown up enough to participate.

Anyway, the point is that hospitality doesn't have to be fancy or expensive and I need to practice some more simple hospitality.

This week I tried a new way of menu planning that made much more sense to me than the old ways I was going about it.  Before, I would survey what I had left, plan meals around that, look at the events on the calendar to see how many easy/fast/crockpotted meals I needed, and then plan the rest.  But it was slightly overwhelming trying to think of lots of different dinners to fill in the blanks.  (I menu for 2 weeks b/c that is when we get paid.)

So this time I started with the weekends.  In this pay period we have 3 weekends.  The weekend means more food and more time to make stuff that is more involved.  It needs a bit more consideration than I usually give it and I end up mad that I didn't plan it better.

So I drew boxes for Friday, Saturday, and Date Nights (Sunday).  This is scratch paper that my kids use for drawing and the opposite of fancy.

Friday is always homemade pizza. (Or tuna for LB since she has decided she is not a fan of pizza and somehow tuna is better.  I don't get it.)
So Fridays were done and that's 3 nights of dinners I don't have to think about.

Saturdays...
One weekend was busy so I picked 8 can soup since I can make that in 3 minutes, put it in the crockpot, and feed whoever happens to be here.

Burgers and chips for one week, and chicken spaghetti with peas for the next.  I can add salad and watermelon to these and they will be perfect. 3 more dinners done.

Then I moved on to date nights, or otherwise known as Sundays.
I want to keep Sundays as simple as possible.  When we come home from church we just eat leftovers and clean out the fridge.  For dinner, I'm letting my kids make their own sandwiches and clean up the mess.  We don't have many sandwiches so they are happy with this.  Then I planned dinners for us that didn't require a lot of prep or clean up but that was still a bit out of the ordinary and different from the kids' dinner.
1. Deli tray with cherries
2. Grilled cheese and french fries
3. Pizza (frozen) and salad

9 dinners done.  8 to go.

1. BLTs and potato salad
2. Extreme Nachos
3. Waffles and drumsticks with salad
4. Chicken Baked Potato Casserole and broccoli
5. Lasagna, bread, salad
6. Enchiladas with refried beans, chips/salsa
7. Tacos with Grandma
8. Breakfast Burritos
9. Southwest salads

Lunches are quick, easy, and filling.  One of the lunches is Bacon Soup.  It's that cheap bag of different kinds of beans at Walmart that you soak overnight and make soup out of.  My kids think it tastes like bacon even though there's no meat in it anywhere.  Apparently they have very sophisticated taste.

And then I planned for extra stuff for snacks and things the kids had been asking for recently. And popsicles of course.  Add lots of lettuce and fruits and vegetables.  Ta Da!!

And now I don't have to think about it for 2 whole weeks.