Bee News

I just got home from our monthly bee club meeting and I WON!!!

2 TIMES EVEN!!!

There used to be a 50/50 split with money.  And that was fun.  But now it's changed to a free drawing and a few experienced bee keepers will donate prizes.  Tonight the prizes included candy blocks (for feeding) and inserts made from that peg board wood for closing off screened bottom boards.

I WON BOTH!!
And in case you couldn't tell, I'm just tickled to death.

In the interest of full disclosure I should mention that I only won one of those things.  But Mr. Hardin gave Zeke his ticket because he is awesome that way and Zekey won the second one.  Z was so excited that he was quite the show and everyone had fun watching him.

I've already installed my bottom board insert.  Like as soon as I got home in the dark.  Also, someone gave me their mouse guards that they didn't need.  Happy!

My bees are looking good.  This will be my 2nd winter and rumor has it that it will be a hard and cold winter.  Tonight we learned some good tips for winterizing hives.  I needed that.

Both hives appear to have plenty of honey for awhile.  But this winter I plan on checking them any day that the temp gets above 55.

I learned a lot of different things that I didn't need to know last year.  I split a hive and caught a swarm.  Both of those are pretty huge.  Mr. Hardin also taught us how to build frames.  But I also learned some preferences that are working for me. Last year, as a brand new bee keeper, I just muddled through the best I could and learned as much as possible.  This year I've figured out what is working better and the things my bees seem to like.

1. They do not like upper entrance queen excluders.  This prevented them from making as much honey.

2. Starting in early March they need to be checked a LOT for queen cells.

3.  Double brood chambers mean lots of bees.  Lots of bees mean I can afford more die off in the winter.

4.  Hive beetles are an issue that I need to figure out.  Keep the grass super short and make sure those hives are in the sun.

5.  Using wood chips in my smoker keeps my smoker going longer than pine needles.

I love my bees!

10 Things That Make Me Smile

1. Taking Mally to Dollar General just for fun.  And it was fun.  She talked through each aisle and exclaimed over every little thing that I would've never noticed. 

2.  The whole reason she wanted to go was to get Damon a birthday card.  We recently learned that she and Damon share a birthday.  Mally has the unique gift of picking out perfect little presents for people.  When she learned they shared a birthday then she pulled out some money to buy him a card.  Her thoughtfulness makes me smile. 

3.  Little boys that are having a blast playing with shaving cream that I bought them at Dollar General.  My bathtub will smell so good when they are done.  In the meantime, they are laughing it up and having the greatest time. 

4.  A new keyboard that LB's boss gave us when he cleaned out his garage.  Now we might not have to take ours back and forth to church every Sunday and Wednesday. 

5.  Jes's piano playing. 

6.  Josh giving him a sincere compliment on his piano playing at the last youth service. 

7.  2 surprise checks totally almost $30 that Josh received as "add on and premium" from showing chickens at the fair.  A fair lady texted and told me they'd be waiting at the court house.  Don't even ask me what that means or why he got them.  And just to show you how confusing the fair stuff is, when I texted my man to tell him about them he said "Did they say checks or chicks?"  And then I had to think about it and read it again because I had no idea what they were talking about.  I still don't.  But my boys is happy with his money and will be able to start helping financially with his chicken feed. 

8.  Also his chickens are laying enough that he can start selling a few eggs. 

9. Our van is fixed! And it wasn't nearly as bad as originally predicted. 

10.  It's Friday! 

Hope you have a great weekend!! 

Some Of This And Some Of That

Part of my sporadic blogging has been because school has been so busy.  We've added new things and it's been a good semester but GOODNESS with all the work already!   Yesterday was easier, not because the work load has decreased but because I tried some new organizational tricks.  What this means is that I have the time, and most importantly, the energy to do something besides nap in the afternoon.  Hello messy kitchen drawer....I'm looking at you.  And now I can even blog a little bit more too. 

I just set that up as if I had something very important to tell you that I've been waiting forever to finally put out there.  But you will see that's not the case.  I will just bore you with another post of phone pix......

 First of all.  I'm officially old.  The reading glasses says it all.
 

 

 The Tower Of Babel with math manipulatives.  Because it's more fun to do that than math.
 

My kitchen window sill.  On the left, pumpkin sprouts growing from the pumpkin. 
This was a Pinterest thing.  It's been fun to watch it grow but the pumpkin part is starting to rot so it'll be on its way to the horse pasture soon.  The middle one is my attempt to grow lettuce in a bowl of water.  And the right is a cactus that Lane bought for me that should bloom again sometime soon. 

My husband made some comment about me killing everything I try to grow.  But I feel that is entirely unfair considering I haven't killed a single one of his kids yet. 

Now I'll leave you with this text from Meg.  It still makes me laugh....
 

 

Have We Really Not Talked About Football All Season?

Where Have I Been???!!!

 

I woke up with a determination this morning to catch up on some blogging.  It's been way too long because.....

 

1.  Football

2.  School

3.  The rest of life that happens in between those things.

 

So let's discuss some football, shall we?  Last week was HUGE for jr.high/sr.high football. 

Our neighboring town, Booneville, is a 3A school this year which meant we got to play them for the first time in something like 17 years. 

 

Both Booneville and Charleston were undefeated in junior high AND senior high.  So yeah, it was a big deal.

 

The junior high game was in Booneville and my friend Mr. H came to sit with me and cheer on that good looking kicker of mine. 

 

 

I love this picture.  This is my favorite angle.

 

 

But I really LOVE this picture.  An extra point attempt out of the hold of Mason. 

 

 

Our boys played a hard game but just couldn't pull off a win against the Bearcats.   And this picture is precious.  Praying after the game with coaches and team mates.  I tell you Charleston has the BEST coaching staff and I'm thrilled that 3 of my boys will benefit from that next year. 

 

 

The next morning the kids all got a text from their coach telling them that God gave them a new day , that he (Coach S.) loved them, and he would see them at school.  Have I mentioned how awesome these coaches are? 

 

And here's a picture of one of my favorite ball boys.  He and Jes had a lot of fun doing this for their brother's team. 

 

 

And then it was Friday night. 

You gotta love a town that postpones trick-or-treating festivities for a high school football game.

 

Both teams undefeated.  Big pep rally.  Super excited town. 

 

And after last season, I never thought I'd miss a Tiger game.   But I'm ashamed to say I didn't make one single game at all.  NOT ONE.  And I blame it all on little league football because it's CRAZY!! 

It has killed most of our family time this whole football season and so we soak up our Friday nights at home. 

 

And we actually thought about missing this one too except somebody asked my man to go special to take pictures, Christian said he COULD NOT miss this, and Mr. Storey let our kids in for free. 

 

So we made a last minute decision (meaning 3:00) and I called my teenagers to hurry to the field to tape down our blankets on the seats to reserve our spot.  The stands were full of blankets that were put down days before.  Even Booneville's fans drove up to reserve their seats in advance.  And of course my favorite spot that's half way up on the 50 was long gone.  The best they could do was the first row on the 50 which was plenty good enough at times like this. 

 

I also had Lane drive up an hour and a half early to wait on our seats because OF COURSE!!  And even then she had to park at the library because everything was full. 

By kick-off time the entire stadium was surrounded.  There was not even standing room!  And our 50/50 split had an all-time high of over $1000 that was won by a Booneville fan.  Meaning it was not me. 

Now I've kinda wondered all season if I would really enjoy the game the same way since I didn't have a son on the field.  And ....well, it wasn't the same.  But it was still the most fun I've had in a long time.  Love me some Tiger football!!

Well I'm happy to say that our big boys did awesome and are STILL undefeated.  Looks like another state championship in the future and I don't plan to miss it!

 

 

 

Just A Few Pics From My Phone

 

Taking out the chicken plate and this one met her on the way.  She got first picks.
 

 

Two of my favorite people. 

 

 

Isn't this an incredible picture!  He stole some pumpkin when Josh was making this.....
 

A jack-o-lantern with boogers coming out his nose.  You mommas of little girls will NOT understand this. 
 

LB helping Nate with his science.

I've had a hard time coming up with anything to say this week so I thought I'd just check in and show you the week in pictures!  Have a fun day...


 

A Thirty Pound Catch

It was a good afternoon.

School was over, the big kids had been picked up, and the little boys were fishing.  That's when Zeke came running up to the house at full speed with his mouth wailing out words at the same pitch as a siren.  DISASTER!!

Our dog Korrie had gotten a big fish hook stuck in the back of her tongue while she tried to steal some catfish bait.  There was no getting it out.

Now I woke up this morning with two significant things on my mind.  It was a busy day and promised to be a late night.  Number one, I had a friend coming over that I haven't seen in a long time.  Number two, there was a ladies' thing at church and I had invited my neighbor and she said yes.

But by 9am both things were cancelled for various reasons and my busy day was now a regular day WITH NOWHERE TO GO.  And I think you know how big that is to me.

It totally dictates my wardrobe for the day.  No standing in my closet making decisions, no holding anything up to see if I can get away with not ironing it.

And that's why the disaster found me at 3:30 still in my pjs....which happens to be shorts and a t-shirt that don't even come close to matching.

So while Jes carried Korrie back up the house, I found some jeans and a different t-shirt (FANCY) and gave instructions to the kids staying home.   My nowhere to go turned into an emergency trip to the vet.

I started fighting back tears about half way into town.  I wasn't worried about Korrie...the fish hook didn't even seem to bother her much.  But just thinking about the last time I went to the vet.  My sweet JoeJoe was very sick and wouldn't get well.

There are a few things that I relate to Nathan's babyhood.  We bought our washer and dryer, my parents got divorced, HL died, and we got a new puppy.  That new puppy would turn out to be such a sweet good dog that would bless our family for 10 years.

And we sure miss him.

Korrie had to be left for an hour or so while they sedated her and pulled out the hook.   Meanwhile Honey and I took Jes to Sams for pizza.

By the time we picked up Korrie, she was bouncing around like nothing ever happened.  They even saved the hook for us.

Hopefully next time the boys will use it to catch a catfish instead of a puppy.

Recent Randomness

~First of all, chocolate cake.  I wanted chocolate cake all week but there was no reason/time to make it.  I asked Honey if he thought there would be chocolate cake in Heaven.  He said it wouldn't be much of heaven without it.  I like his thinking.

But finally on Friday I realized something amazing.  WE HAD NOWHERE TO GO!!  And if that's not a reason to break out some chocolate cake nothing is.  I made this recipe from Pinterest and Oh My Word!!  I don't know if it really was incredible or if I just wanted it so much that I imagined the incredibleness....but wow.

~Next up.  2 different friends gave me a jar of their homemade jelly and it has made lunches all the sweeter around here.  My friends are talented.

~Yesterday there were several garage sales in my neighborhood.  Honey, Mally, and I walked the street and hit them all.  We came home with lots of baby gear for our fosters.  A stroller, swing, exersaucer, bumbo, and baby bath.  They are soooo cute and Mally's baby doll has been testing them out ever since.

Tomorrow is our first foster care meeting.  Classes don't start until January but this is the first step and will include our background checks and all.

Also, there has been some great news about Maggie House.  This week the board voted and approved all the money for construction to begin.  So if all goes well, we should have our new children's home next year.

I saw a lot of this all weekend as my man prepared for worship.  I will never get tired of it.  

Baby Girl and I were going to make some candles but we didn't have the right scent to add and it won't be here until Wednesday so we did something different.  We took an old candle that wouldn't light anymore and melted it down in a jar like this.

Then we made 2 new candles out of it.  I was a little concerned that the scent wouldn't be as strong but it seems to be exactly the same.  I'm pretty happy with how they turned out.  

~I also made toothpaste.  Don't even ask me why.  I guess because I had most of the stuff and I was in a Ma Ingalls mood.  That's the only explanation.  It was a very easy recipe but I didn't have the calcium powder it called for.  I made my own by throwing some calcium tablets into my spice grinder and it worked fine.  The end result was kinda gross though.  I can't say that I'll never make it again because you never know when a snow storm will come up and make it impossible to get to the Dollar General just at the time when you are really hurting for toothpaste.  But until then I'm sticking with the real stuff.  

~Saturday was also pumpkin day.  The kids painted little pumpkins that I don't have pictures of, the bigger boys carved a goofy face into a big pumpkin, and we filled a pie pumpkin with potting soil.  

If the pie pumpkin does what it's supposed to do, then the seeds will sprout and it will have lots of pretty green coming from the top.  

~I am in the middle of the clothes exchange.  It's going slow.  And I'm not enjoying it.  Last week we opened a tub of Jes' clothes to find stuff that I'm sure I have never seen before.  I have no idea who gave those to us but I'm so thankful for them.  Then today a friend at church gave me 2 bags of her daughter's clothes for LB.  I love the generosity of our friends!  

~As I look out my window, I see 5 dogs running, playing, barking, and having the best time.  My next door neighbor's dogs, my two, and Blue are all enjoying the day while my neighbor hits golf balls in my other neighbor's yard.  Blue broke his leg several weeks ago and had surgery.  We haven't seen him in awhile and today his leg looks terrible.  Blue's family has had a rough go at life lately.  Their little boy has a brain tumor and is undergoing chemo.  Please pray for 3 year old Eli.  

And now it's Sunday afternoon and that means only one thing. NAP TIME!  

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.