Just Some Stuff I Want To Do Just Because....

Ten Things.....

Plant flowers...which is unfortunate since I'm not very good at growing things.  But maybe things are changing!


Learn to weed eat...because nobody wants to do it in the bee yard and I hate it to be overgrown.


Switch my honey supers to shallows..... light weight and allows me to harvest solo.


Re-paint my whole house....It's time.


Paint the entryway table coral....bold and pretty.


Finish a big stack of books that I wanna read.....but I have to actually have them first!


Spend more time hanging out with my kids in their rooms.....I love them.


Have more picnics and bake more cookies.....life is short.


Learn to load my own music on my own phone.....because its ridiculous that I don't know how yet.


Be less afraid....of disappointing people, of trying something different, of failing, of whatever.  Except mice.  There is still a place for that.

How To Have A Get Away Without Actually Going Anywhere

---

Here's what happened.

We needed a little break.  Just me and Honey.  And we thought and planned about what it might look like and when would be the best time to go and how the kids would manage.  So finally we decided that this Thursday and Friday would be the days.

I made reservations at Bull Shoals because that's just about the greatest camping place we know of and we were planning a camping trip.  I got this awesome spot (so the lady said) very close to the best bathrooms.  Then I got to work making a camping menu plan and a stay-at-home menu for the kids.

But then.

Well as the time got closer I started thinking about all the things that probably wouldn't work.  For one...I'm terrible at being gone.  Especially at night.  I went to LR with friends a few months back and once it hit bedtime I was super close to melting into a puddle of tears and panic.  It's not like a clinical anxiety type of thing as much as I just miss my kids and I want be to home when it's bedtime.  Number two...I am in the car several times a day taking kids to various places.  My teenagers are gone all day and aren't able to help with the chauffeuring.  That leaves a lot to my mother-in-law.  Number three...kids would be at home alone for 3 nights.  Four...we would miss Joshua's football game.  Five...the tent.  

So I chickened out and cancelled the reservations and lost our deposit money and cried because I felt so horrible about it.

But my man....well I do believe he saw it coming because he wasn't the least bit surprised and tried not to sound disappointed.  Really y'all, he's awesome.

At first he said we'd wait until after football season.  Life would be slower, easier, we wouldn't miss as much, and I would have more time to warm up to the idea.  But then he changed his mind and came up with a different idea.

Thursday we took LB to school and loaded up the littles for a day of Grandma fun.  Then we headed out for breakfast.  And it was so quiet in the car!  No music, no noise from the backseat, just the background of road noise as we had uninterrupted conversation.  We ate at a new place and just enjoyed doing something different than working on a Thursday morning.  We spent the whole day in town shopping and eating and talking.

We got home in time for the football game, except a huge storm came up and it was cancelled.  Strong winds, big lightening, and NO POWER.  This tends to happen at this house.  And I must say that I would've totally freaked out if we were camping 4 hours away while the kids had no electricity.  Later my friend Sharon reminded me that the kids might've been better off since they would've been at Grandma's house and they don't lose power like we do.  But nevermind.

And then today was lots of fun.  After taking LB to school and leaving good instructions for the others, we headed to Alma to Cracker Barrel.  Such good food!  Then we walked across the way to the RV place to look at campers.  And that was really good because it gave us a better idea of what might be a good fit.  Pop ups sleep more people but the Toy Hauler can take more stuff and sleep people.  And since most of our kiddos are good with tents, that might be the way to go.  SOMEDAY!!  Until then, we keep looking on Craigslist and saving some money.

After that we headed to the lake and walked the pretty trail and took pictures.  The weather was perfect!  We turned around at the pretty waterfall and headed back.  A quick stop for drinks and snacks and we were headed home to get back in time for football practice.

This is homecoming week and that means PARADE!!  They are such fun around here.  The police stop traffic, the kids line the street, lots of smiles and waves and honks as the trailers and fancy cars drive by and the band marches.  Jes rode on the Young Tigers trailer with his football team.  And this was Honey's first parade to get to watch around here because he's always been at work.  FUN!!

This was the perfect way to spend time together without actually being gone too long and too far.  And maybe sometime I'll actually grow up to the point of being able to leave my kids for a night.  In the meantime,  I think we'll be hitting Alma Lake a little more often!

Irritated

 See that?

 
LB came in with 2 pieces of bad news. 

1. Korrie was carrying around a chicken wing that did not have a chicken attached to it.  Bad dog.  They've been getting out a lot this week.  On the one hand, I like them to eat the bugs in the yard.  On the other, Korrie is just not trust worthy enough to let it continue.  And now we cannot find the rest of the chicken. 

2.  The bees were swarming again. 

Why oh why are they being so difficult this year?  It's a tiny swarm and I can't figure out which hive it came from.  If I catch it and put it back, they will most likely swarm again.  And it's too late in the year to catch for a new hive.  There would be no way to feed them enough to keep them alive through the winter.  So I'm just going to watch them and hope they return on their own. 

Too bad it's not early in the spring.  I feel pretty certain it would've been an easy catch. 

The bad thing is that I was just going to check them this week.  And if I had done it today, I could've cut out that queen cell and this couldn't have happened.  Grrrr......

 

3 New Things

There are three super simple things that we started this year that has made our school days easier.

One of the new things is moving paper lists to index cards.  I adore index cards and I use them for all sorts of things....

This journaling project I've been doing for a couple of years.
Kid's notes to grandparents.
Lunch box notes to kids.
Flash cards.
Illustrating Scripture memory verses.
This memory project we use at school.

I used tabbed dividers with every kid's name and put colored index cards behind each one. I wrote a job on each card that I wanted them to do each day after waking up. 

Mally's (8yo) cards look like this....

Brush dogs and cats.  Clean Belle's litter box.
Clean clutter in living room.
Make bed.  Pick up floor and closet
Brush your pretty hair.
Bathroom: swish and swipe, dirty clothes, pick up floor


(I think some crafty moms could make these really cute.)

When they finish the job on the card, they move it to the back of the stack.  They are not allowed to take the cards off the bar.  I don't want them getting lost as they cart them around from room to room.

These are the cards that stay the same.  But sometimes there's an extra card so they have to pay attention!  It might be an extra job like clean the microwave.  Or it might be something special like
Congratulations! You are COW this week!    It might even be a special privilege for fun.  I'm still working on making extra cards. 

When the job cards are done, (and after breakfast) they can start on school.  I used to print off check lists for school.  This was ok unless we were out of paper or the computer was tied up.  I'm liking these cards better.  They don't check them off or cross them out, but it serves as a reminder of all the things that need to be done before they are finished with school. 

Mally's School List ....

1. Fill your water cup.
2. Bible.  Be careful and NEAT!
3. Writing
4. History w/Nate and ZBoy
5. Science with Z
6. Math
7. Wordly Wise
8. Spelling
9. Piano
10.  Clean up everything and check with Mom. 

The second new thing is a turn-in tray.  This is just a plastic tray I pulled out of the kitchen.  We set it on the table and when anybody is finished with anything they place it in the tray.  This has eliminated kids wanting me to check their work all at once or read the letter they wrote to Gram.  It also keeps papers from getting scattered.  Everything I need to check or file away is in one spot and the table is a lot neater. 

Number three is one of those things that I can't believe I didn't think about years ago.  A trash bowl!
Just a mixing bowl from the kitchen placed in the middle of the table.  Now there aren't wadded up papers anywhere or those annoying little pieces that are on the edges of the spirals. 

These 3 things have made school neater, cleaner, and more organized...and that makes for a happier momma!

A Dozen Things That Are Boring To Read About But Not So Boring In Real Life

One.   The fairs are over and I'm glad. 

Two.   G'ma and G'pa had a huge tree trimmed in their front yard.  That meant that we had a clean up party with chain saws and muscles and of course, some food.  It looks much nicer but G'ma WAY overpaid her clean up crew when grandsons do that kinda thing for free.  I guess that's just the way Grandmas are.  But with Christmas coming up, my kiddos are very happy with a little more cash.  And Grandma is happy with her "naked" tree. 

Three.   We have a car in the shop.  :-(  This was hard today when Lane went to work and forgot that she was taking the only car left in the driveway.  Meaning I had no way to take Josh to school for football or to pick LB up later.  We are hoping they are finished with it soon...and it's a cheap fix. 

Four.  Football is crazy.  But it's fun.  A lot of fun.  This week we have at least one out-of-town game.  And it looks like Josh will be the next kicker.  We like this, because he's one of the smallest guys on the team.  Plus, being 8th grade, he actually gets to play quite a bit where others don't.  He's following in his brother's footsteps and making almost every field goal and PAT. 

Five.  We've had lots of eye doctor appts this week.  Josh has decided he needs contacts because his sports glasses mess up in his helmet.  He is doing great with them!  I remember it took me a sweet forever to learn to put them in and take them out.  He's gotten the hang of it in no time.  Mally is getting some much needed glasses this week.  She's thrilled, but it's taken me some time to get used to the idea. 

Six.  Meg texted to say her work has ice machines that are Sonic style.  Life is good. 

Seven.  When football is over, two of us are going on vacation.  Two of us.  Not ten. 

Eight.  I'm fixing to delete my Road To Wellness blog.  I don't like talking about RA and I've done this long enough to not need a different way to track anything.  But for my last update I will say that I feel A TON better!!  Like 94%.  And I'm so thankful.  So I'm moving on with life and putting that blog to rest. 

Nine.  I'm working on a new wax melter.  The other one didn't work.  I kept thinking it would work.  It should've worked.  Mr. Hardin even said it should work and he pretty much knows everything about this kind of thing.  But it didn't.  So I let it sit in the yard for a month while I thought it over.  Now I have a better idea.   Stay tuned...

Ten.   We are eating out of the freezer and I'm trying not to spend much on food these next two weeks.  So far I've spent $189.  I'd like to keep it under the $300 mark which is $250 under budget for 2 weeks.  Why do we spend so much money on food?  Our "baby" chicks are starting to lay and every egg helps! :-)

Eleven.  The ASSA (Arkansas State Soccer Association) accepted our membership application for New Fire Athletic Club.  I don't remember exactly why Honey said this was a big deal but my man is thrilled and we are one step closer to soccer in Charleston.  Word has gotten around and now strangers are approaching me and asking about it. 

Twelve.  I've taken a Facebook fast.  For over a week now, I've only checked notifications instead of looking over every body's statuses.  I also took the app off my phone.  So I can only check it on the big computer (which I share with everyone else).  This means I have no idea what you had for dinner or how many miles you ran today unless you tag me and it shows up on my notifications.   I think I'll keep it this way forever.  I love being set free from that distraction. 

Twelve.  And even though I hate not knowing what you are having for supper, I will share my menu with you.....

Breakfast - cereal and green smoothies
Lunch - bean burritos with chips and salsa
Dinner - sloppy joes and French fries and broccoli
Snack - ice cream!  Horray for freezer clean out!

Never Again

So after making the big drive into Ozark for various and confusing fair related obligations, I thought we were done. 

Our last visit was judging where Josh scored 2 (TWO!) blue ribbons!!  And he was just about the happiest guy on earth until he glanced over at his favorite rooster to discover that he had been separated into a cage all by himself.  Turns out he was fighting and had beaten up his cell mate.  The other poor rooster didn't look so great and so obviously didn't fair so well with the judge.  Have I mentioned that roosters are MEAN?  And that's why all our rooster cages had a For Sale sign firmly affixed. 

The next day I got a call from a man wanting to buy them.  YES!!  And while he certainly didn't pay top dollar, I was more than happy to pawn them off on someone else. 

We would go back Sunday after church, collect the money and the ribbons, and take some pictures of my happy boy. 

The big sign leading into the fair, as well as my free pass, said the fair ran from Sept 10-14.
Meaning Sunday, September 14, 2014 the fair would be OPEN.  And after the 14th it would be not be open.  But if you came on Sunday, since it was the 14th and all, you would be good.   Especially in the middle of the day and not anywhere near a time when it should not be open.  Because it was the 14th!!

SO WHY WAS IT CLOSED!!????

There were no chickens.  No animals.  No food places.  No rides.  No blue ribbons to pick up.  No money to collect.  AND NO PEOPLE!!  As in everybody else knew this but US!!  AGAIN.
How am I such a doofus that I can't figure out a small town county fair?  Or maybe it's the other way around and I'm the only one in the county that knows how to use the calendar. 

I drove all the way back home rehearsing my entire vocabulary of cuss words in my head and wondering how I'm ever going to collect my sweet boy's ribbons and the rooster money. 

Never again.  EVER.

This Is A Lot To Figure Out

This fair thing is hard.

 

First we missed the Charleston fair because of the chicken testing thing. 

 

Then it turns out we missed the Ozark one too!!  Does this chicken testing lady come in the middle of the night or something?  How does everyone know about her except us?   The nice 4-H folks gave me her number to see if she would make an exception and come out to do a special testing. 

 

And she said yes!  So we met her at the extension office since it was an off-site location from the fair.  Let me tell you...this lady knew what she was doing with those roosters!  She wasn't the least bit scared even though we warned her that they could be feisty.  In fact, she showed Josh a special way of grabbing them that immobilizes them, then she tucked his head under her armpit and got down to business.  Even though the roosters couldn't move they were still trying to bite her and she acted like she didn't even notice.   This lady is NOT to be messed with. 

 

 

The whole time she was sweet talking the rooster like he was a cute puppy and explaining what she was doing.  Hilarious!! 

 

By the time she finished all 5 of them, she was pouring sweat, filthy, and gross!  I'm sure she had no choice but to leave that place and subject herself to a high-powered car wash when it was over. 

 

She was the nicest lady ever.  I don't know what she had to cancel or how far she had to drive to make a special trip to do blood testing on our chickens.  Then she only asked for fifty cents a bird!  There was no way I was only paying her $2.50 for all that work, so we dipped into our grocery money for the week to make sure she didn't spend all that time (and clean laundry) for nothing. 

 

I'm sure we thanked her a million times.  Without her, we wouldn't be in this fair either. 

 

While I was at the extension office, I paid the $25 that we were supposed to pay if we didn't have the 4 poultry chain pullets to enter/sell.  Josh decided he wanted to keep those girls.  And then I found out that we could actually drop off the rooters that same day. 

 

This was fantastic news!  Not only did we save a good amount of gas money but we also didn't have to take those roosters home, unload them, then load them back up to drop them off tomorrow.  Bingo!

 

 

When we got to the fair grounds, they weren't exactly happy to see us.  The extension lady gave them the heads-up that we were coming.  But since we didn't pre-register, they didn't have cages assigned to us.  Pre-register?  What's that?  And how do people know about this? 

 

But they were very forgiving and gave us 2 big cages by the fan...which Josh was happy about since his chickens wouldn't be so hot.   They also got wind about the $25 and were not too happy about that either.  Apparently that's only for kids who lost all their pullets to predators.  If you have the birds, then you have to turn them in. 

 

Sigh......

 

So today we made another trip to Ozark with the required 4 chickens and they shredded my check. 

I held my breath wondering what other fair rules we had broken and what we needed to be set straight on this time.  But it appears that all is in order.  Finally. 

 

These people have been so helpful and patient with us.  I imagine they are tired of hearing me apologize and glad to almost be finished with us!

 

Tomorrow we go back for judging.

 

But before we left, we took advantage of the empty fair grounds to pet every body's animals.

 

This pig was sweet.

 

 

Camels like taking selfies! 

 

 

Pretty eyes!

Can We Talk About Books?

My Friend, Emily, tagged me in a FB post to list 10 books that were inspirational to me.  It was fun to think about.  So many books!  And to narrow it to only the top 10?  It took some thinking but here's what I came up with....

 

1. the Bible.  Of course!!

 

2.  First We Have Coffee.  I love all Margaret Jensen books, but this is my fave.  It's actually my favorite book of all time and I re-read it all the time.  Every time it is new even though I have a lot of it memorized.  I can't even explain it. 

 

3. Experiencing God.  I first "met" Henry Blackaby as a new believer and this book helped me understand so much that was unclear.  It changed my life in big ways.  Later I got to meet him for real and he signed all my books.  But now one of my pastors worked under the Blackabys in Canada for several years.  I LOVE his preaching.  It's so Blackaby style and I'm just a sponge soaking it in on those Sundays.  I absolutely love it.  And to think God brought him here to me in this little town!!  Pam, I think I really AM God's favorite.  :-)

 

4. My Utmost For His Highest.  My read most mornings for years.  And as the years go by, I'm understanding him a little more. 

 

5. The Hiding Place.  Corrie Ten Boom....oh my goodness.

 

6.  Don't Waste Your Life.  This is how I want to live. 

 

7.  Created To Be His Helpmeet.  Don't throw rotten tomatoes.  I know most people don't like it.  But I do.

 

8.  Little Women.  I can't even watch the movie.  It's like my life.  And I want to read the book again now that my own little women are older but I just don't know if I could handle it.  So Real. 

 

9.  Kisses From Katie.  I think Pam recommended this one to me.  I do believe I could be Katie. 

 

10.  Another Place At The Table.  My first foster care book.  So much to think about. 

 

As I was looking through recent pics on my phone I ran across some more books that I thought I'd talk about for fun. 

Ms. Turner is THE BEST story time teacher ever.  I spend 20 years loving story time with my littles.  This is one of the books she read when Lane was little.  It was her favorite.   We had it checked out all the time.  Now we have our own copy and Lane still loves it.  We all do.  In fact, many of our favorite childrens' books came from Ms. Turner. 



This is what came in the mail for me last week!!  Pam is awesome.  It totally made my day.  And when I posted it on FB, I immediately had comments about how everyone loves these books.  I'd never heard of them.  Where have I been?  I'm eager to start. 

 

 

The newbie.  And I can't put it down.  I think I would add this as #11 on the list.  It's everything that Misty and Honey have been trying to drill into my head but I wouldn't listen.  But now it's starting to make sense. 

 

 

 

 

Because We Needed Something Else To Feed

 The fair is in town!  And this was our first time. 
It was the cutest thing ever.  No rides.  Nothing fancy.  Just booths of fun, music, square dancing, food, animals, and getting to see everybody you know in town. 

 Not everybody got to go.  Some of us had to stay home and study.  Growing up is hard.  Amen?

  

We walked around visiting with friends and looking at all the booths. 

 

Josh especially enjoyed seeing all the livestock.  He didn't get to enter his chicken in this fair but we are hoping to enter the Ozark fair this week.  We watched the judging and asked about how it was done. 

 

Then..  we happened upon the fish booth.  You had to throw a ping pong ball into those little blue cups of water.  And OH! how they wanted needed a fish!  It was *only* $1 for 5 balls.  And we saw kids walking around with multiple fish....so it couldn't be that hard.  Except it was.  So we needed to try again for only $5 for a whole bucket of balls.  Surely that would do it. Right? 
 

Oh yes it did!  Now I had to buy these kinds of fish for Meg's wedding and I remember them costing twenty-seven cents each.  But some nice kid had fish his dad wouldn't let him have and gave them all to us.  So one fish grew to 5 and that helped us not feel so bad for spending $5.73 unnecessarily. 

The fair was a great time.  Next year I predict it to be even funner since we will be able to participate more and even have our own booth for New Fire Athletic Club!

Farm News

Our dog, Korrie, is a better hunter than our cats.  She loves roaming free and bringing home small rodents. 

Yesterday it was an animal with the body the size of a softball!  So nasty.  I got close enough as I dared to see what it was.  I decided it was a hedgehog.

I asked the boys to get a shovel and clean it up but when they went out there....he wasn't dead!!! 

He was hurt enough that he couldn't get away but he was still alive enough to be moving. 
Not for long.  4 boys and several darts from their dart guns later, and the hedgehog was finished.  Turns out it was a rat.  Rat, hedgehog, whatever.

But since they were already out there, Josh decided to take care of some other farm chores.  His dad has been wanting him to put down 2 crippled chickens for awhile now.  The chickens are having a hard time getting to food and water and we didn't want them to die of thirst or be picked on by the others. 

I knew this wasn't something he wanted to do but I had NO IDEA.  He brings the chickens out into the yard and loads his pellet gun.  Nate was helping.  One of his jobs was to hold an extra pellet in case Josh missed and didn't kill them the first time and he could re-load quickly. 

Remember that time we thought we were the Ingalls family and could kill our own chickens and have fried chicken for supper?  Well this turned out to be almost as terrible as that day.  Kids were crying, Nate was sobbing, they were all asking me about where chickens go when they die.

There was nothing to do but hug and wipe tears and go to the library.  The library heals many hurts. 

Well today I got a call from Mr. Hardin saying he could come out and look at the bees.  Remember that nifty new bee suit I got?  Well today I got to put it into service.  The kids were suiting up while Mr. H and I were talking and Zekey was pulling on his boots. 

All of a sudden....SQUEEL SCREECH SCREAM!!!   Every kid was freaking out!!  Zekey is hopping on one foot.  His boot falls off and out zips a mouse a MOUSE!!!  In his boot!  That had his foot in it!! I would've died right then and there. 

The mouse runs straight at Nate who gave him a swift kick into the yard where Korrie pounced.  She kept him contained long enough for Nate to grab his BB gun. 

No more mouse. 

Bees are looking good.  One hive is strong and has made a lot of progress since I last checked.  They have HONEY!  And maybe, just maybe, I won't be feeding them.  No sign of beetles.  All is pretty. 

We opened the other hive to see 8-10 beetles running around.  I've never seen this many!  We killed as many as we could with our hive tools.  There is a nice brood pattern but not as many bees.  Not much honey at all.  They are still strong enough to drive the beetles to the top but things could be better.  Part of the problem is that their once sunny spot is now fairly shaded.  Tomorrow night, after dark, we will move them to a sunnier spot.  Hive beetles hate sun.  Bees love sun. 

They still have some time to work before the cold weather, so I'm hopeful we will see even more progress next time. 

Too Small To Save Rose In A Fire

The girls and I hit the Savers sale Sunday after church.  

Every time we go, Mally looks at the Barbies hanging in the bags on the wall and is appalled at how they are naked and unkept and nobody takes better care of them.  That would never do in her room.  She is also on the lookout for a Ken.   She has several barbies and barbie kids but no Kens.  

Well this time they thought they hit the jackpot with 2 Kens in the same bag.  Naked of course.  All for only $3.99  I was a little skeptical because these guys had huge muscles and I don't remember Ken frequenting the gym.  They weren't "real" Kens and I didn't think the standard clothes would fit.  

Well there was no way I was taking those ugly dolls home naked so we pulled into Walmart for an outfit.  

Mally picked out a shorts outfit and a formal tux for special parties.  Turns out "Ken's" hands were too big to fit through the sleeves for the tux.  He barely squeezed into the other shirt.  

But.  

We have this rule about boys having to be big enough to be able to save girls in a fire.   It's a practical matter really.  

And as you can see, Barbie ("Rose" actually) is way bigger than Ken.  His shorts are more like capris!  So I'm afraid he didn't pass the fire test and Mally is back to the drawing board.  

The good news is that with the exchange of the fake Kens I was able to get her a pair of pants, her brother a shirt, an index card box for school and got $.81 back in change.  

She wasn't impressed.  

Creepy!!

This was in the hay bale my kids use for target practice!

But look what happened when the chickens saw it!

A School Update Complete With Food And Football

First week of college....

His room is a wreck and I'm not sure if he is studying, sleeping, or praying for the Lord to return.  

This picture just says it all...books and papers everywhere, his cleats, a football, a couple of disc golf discs, and his brother's chest of bionicals.  I just love it all in a sappy momma sort of way.  

So with 4 of my people gone for a good portion of the day, I'm working on making snacks and portable foods that transport well and are not high maintenance with refrigeration and re-heating.  And  because of ease, I know I will include plenty of pre-packaged foods and sandwiches but I want to be creative and as healthy as I can with the time and money I have.  So this week included both...   

For week one I did Cheezits, pretzels, sandwiches, cheese and crackers, chocolate protein bars, and cookies.  I flash froze the cookies and protein bars then wrapped them in twos.  

This recipe is perfect in every way.  Easy, delicious, and freezes well.   I got this from Six Sisters and modified it a bit.

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
• ¾ cup sugar
• ¾ cup light brown sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 2 cups whole wheat flour
• 2 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
• 1 cups milk chocolate chips

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. In a large mixing bowl, beat together butter, sugar and brown sugar until creamy. Add eggs and vanilla and beat until smooth.
3. In a separate bowl, stir together baking soda, salt and flour. Add flour mixture to the wet ingredients and mix until combined.
4. Fold in oatmeal and chocolate chips.
5. Drop rounded tablespoons of dough onto baking sheets lined with parchment paper. Bake 10-12 minutes, or until golden brown.
6. Makes 60 cookies.

This week I made bean and cheese burritos, summer sausage and cheese, and Lane made muffins and more cookies.  I'm experimenting with some things to see what will work best for them at school.  I also bought them new water bottles that clip on their backpacks.

Grandma pitched in with some boxes of pop tarts.  And it's now a collective effort to make sure our college students don't starve to death. 

LB is doing great at the school.  As a matter of fact, she was offered a JOB!!  She will be the assistant to the tech guy and will work around her school schedule.  This was a big unexpected surprise blessing.  Lance asked her to help him one morning with a simple project and the next thing she knew he and the principal asked her if she'd be interested in doing it for pay.  She explained that she really knew nothing about computers, and his response was, "Well now you can learn."

We are grateful for this new opportunity for her.

Back at home, school is great.
ZBoy has gone from this pencil grasp....

To this......

So much better in a short amount of time.

He's also experimenting with all kinds of new words he's learning in his Wordly Wise.  His favorite word at the moment is "unfortunate".  Problem is that he has no idea how to use it so he just interjects it as any sort of random adjective.  Like..... We bought a new unfortunate bowl at the unfortunate garage sale yesterday.  

And of course with the start of the school year comes FOOTBALL!!  

Oh Tigers, how I've missed you.  

This year we have boys playing 5th, 6th, and 8th grade.  Tomorrow kicks off the first real game of the season.  I've made a list of game necessities including snacks, chairs, drinks, snacks, umbrellas, and all manner of snacks.  And some money in case we need different snacks.  

Jes' #6 was taken so he got the next best thing.  His brother's #3.  SWOON!!!

Tomorrow I get to watch this new KICKER in action (!) and help out with his team's pre-game meal.  

And I couldn't be more thrilled.

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.