catsnmore on the farm

Been busy, I guess.

08:49 AM, Tuesday, April 29, 2008 .. 2 comments .. Link

I haven't posted in a while I'm afraid. I had decided to not be on the computer as much as I had been. Like some others I have read, I found myself spending far too much time on this thing. Not just on this blog, although I did spend a lot of time here, reading and learning. But also, I have 2 email address to keep up with. I also had joined up with a few groups. I just couldn't keep up. And when Patrick, my DH, said something about spending more time on the computer than with him, I had to look at my priorities. When Patrick is home, I'm off of the computer unless we look something up together. He is much happier when I spend that time with him. And I'm talking about at night when the boys have gone to bed.

So, now I'm starting again. I'll be checking my time. It's almost 9am so I've got to go for now. School starts for us in a few mins.

Elizabeth

It's sunny now, however...

09:21 AM, Friday, March 14, 2008 .. 0 comments .. Link

it's suppose to rain again today. We got some rain last night. And I think it is suppose to rain this weekend for the most part. Patrick and I talked this morning about getting the garden ready to plant and some other things this weekend.

I have a chance to do some work from home. The company Patrick works for needs someone to do some of the collections for them. I have experience in that, from years ago, so I talked to them yesterday about doing this. They want me to do it as a 3rd party, a contractor, my own company. I was pretty excited about that as I could work from home, and still homeschool. Last night Patrick said that if I did this, and he wants me to, that I wouldn't be homeschooling any more. I was heart sick. I absolutely love to homeschool my boys. And I had expected that next year I would keep all 3 boys home. The night before last he was at a friend's house for a while that I don't really associate with anymore as they are the ones who had convinced Patrick that homeschooling was bad. They think that anyone who wants to school their children are stupid to think that they are smarter than the teachers and are stupid for taking their children's education in their own hands. Especially if your child is a slow learner, because they have "special" teachers for those "special" needs. I stopped going over there with Patrick because I was tired of hearing the reasons and it being their house, I didn't feel right trying to defend my actions. Note to that they do not go to church and because of their actions and the words they use (a lot of profanity) they are not saved. And they will tell you that they will not go back to church because it is full of people, and people are stupid. They use the word stupid a lot. I keep my children away from them too because of their language.

We started out being friends with them at church, a different one from the one we go to now. He owns and drives a jet powered drag racing car. And that was the initial attraction I think for Patrick and his Dad.

Back to my situation, we haven't talked about it any more. I think that if I show him that I can do both, then he will be more apt to let me homeschool next year. I was even thinking of starting the next week that they, the 2 that are at public school, were home from school. Just have school for about 3 hours in the mornings, and not exactly year round, but almost.

I do not want to go against my husband. I really feel called to teach my children. I would appreciate some feedback from y'all on this. I couldn't go to sleep because of worrying about this. And we are getting along so well these days that I don't want to rock the boat either. I will be praying about this too.
Blessings to y'all, Elizabeth

Good Morning Y'all

08:11 AM, Monday, March 10, 2008 .. 1 comments .. Link

Good Morning Y'all!! I only have a very few minutes before I have to go to town, Patrick forgot somethings he needs this morning for work. And then we have to get feed, groceries and such...

But I wanted to tell y'all about our weekend real quick, or as quick as I can. Saturday was our 11th anniversary!!! We got to go to Branson for our anniversary weekend. It was totally last minute. We had talked about it but it was a money issue. But on Friday, when I was suppose to get feed and groceries, I went to the bank to cash a check and Yepee.... our tax return was there. I literally ran across the street to Patrick's work to tell him. After the funeral of our friend, I had to get a few things taken care of, and got the boys from the bus, went home to pack, picked up Patrick from work, dropped the boys off at Grandma's, headed to Branson.

I use a travel service there to get a better deal on hotels and shows. We had so much fun. I, nor Patrick, realize just how much we needed this weekend. Just the spending the time together was precious. We have decided to have a date night every couple of weeks. We haven't had time to ourselves in a couple of years. Don't do that!!! Not a good thing for your, at least our, marriage. I missed my boys terribly, but I really had a wonderful time with my sweetie, my best friend.

I have to get. Patrick just called for something else. Have a wonderfully blessed day!!! Elizabeth

My Friend

09:16 AM, Thursday, March 6, 2008 .. 0 comments .. Link

Tuesday night I had a couple of messages on my answering machine from my MIL. They sounded urgent. I called her back thinking that Patrick's Uncle had taken a turn for the worse. He was in the hospital, he only has one kidney and it is going bad. But he is back home and doing much better! Praise God. It wasn't the Uncle, it was a girl. A friend of the family, who was about 25 yrs old had passed away. She was a sweet soul. She was disabled and had a trake in her throat. This was very sudden as she seemed to be doing well. We are so surprised and sad. She wanted so badly to find someone and get married and to have children. She loves the Lord so much. I can imagine her dancing, singing. She wanted to sing, but she wouldn't because of her voice and the trake. I can imagine her saying, it's ok, I'm with Jesus now. I'll see you when you get here. I'm sad because I'll miss her. I'm happy because I will see her again.

Blessings to y'all, Elizabeth

I forgot this about Butter

06:44 AM, Tuesday, March 4, 2008 .. 0 comments .. Link

I forgot to tell y'all about this one little thing about Butter now. A couple of weeks ago one of the dogs got a hold of him. Butter has no tail. Didn't tear up his body, just pulled all of the long tail feathers out. I think Butter struts more because of this. I'll try to get photos posted sometime in the next couple of days. He's a hoot. Well, not exactly an owl, but he is funny.... :)

Blessings, Elizabeth

YEAH YEAH YEAH

06:32 AM, Tuesday, March 4, 2008 .. 0 comments .. Link

IT' SNOWING!!! IT'S SNOWING!!! IT'S SNOWING!!! IT'S SNOWING!!

Good morning, I know after this past weekend I was ready, like most everyone here, for spring and planting and such. However, I absolutely love the snow. And it's really snowing out there. I mean the kind that we can't see the field across the street kind of snowing. So cool!!! I have coffee going and checked to make sure school was out for Tommy and P.J. and it is. That just means that they will have school with David. They say we might get between 6 to 12 inches of snow. YEAH!!!!!! Then I will get this snow thing out of my system for the year and be totally ready for spring!!

Thank you Jesus for the extra snow! That's what I say and that's what the boys are saying upstairs. Remember I can hear them when they don't know I can hear them...lololol...

Now the only thing is that I'm not crazy about Patrick having to get out in this stuff. I'd feel better if he could stay at home. But he already has a furnace to fix this morning. And probably several more by the time he gets to work. So pray with me please that he stays safe, along with the propane drivers that have to be out in this weather too from his work.

I need coffee and to get dressed, the boys will want breakfast. I'm not sure why, they ate last night. hehehe..

Blessings to y'all, Elizabeth

Butter

07:10 PM, Monday, March 3, 2008 .. 2 comments .. Link

I haven't had time to set up any photos but I'd still like to introduce Butter to you. Butter is our rust/orangy colored rooster. He is a character!!! We free range the chickens for the most part. Days like today we leave them locked in their coop. It's been raining all day and this afternoon it changed into sleet and ice. Anyway, Butter sometimes chases us and I'm ashamed (not completely) to say it's my fault. Our other rooster is Rocky. And Rocky doesn't chase anyone. I started chasing Butter just a little. I really wanted to see if I could pick him up and pet on him. But he had other ideas. So I would chase him a couple of steps, then stop all the sudden. Butter would turn around and come after me. Just the past month or so he finally is growing spurs so now I have to be careful. He just pretty much flaps his wings at my legs. Although the last time Patrick was watching, he said that Butter was trying to spur me. I don't want him to hurt the boys and he really doesn't go after them unless they are running through the yard.

I can go outside and call "BUTTER" and he comes running. It's so cute!!! Well, I think so. We have so much fun watching them all from our porch swing in the evenings, not necessarily in the winter. :)

Blessings to all of y'all, Elizabeth

My turn?

05:24 PM, Sunday, March 2, 2008 .. 1 comments .. Link

Hi, y'all. I guess it was my turn, I woke up this morning with a sinus headache. I do not get them very often. When I do, it's what I can imagine a migraine to be like. We didn't get to church today. The boys cleaned up their rooms and went out to play. I slept on and off. My headache is somewhat better. I figure that by tomorrow it will be gone. I have been busy with school, cleaning, laundry and such for the past few days.

Our goat, Missy, still hasn't kidded yet. Yesterday we let her out of the barn as the weather was great. I'm thinking that in a couple of days, we will put her back in. I'm still looking for the signs of her getting ready to kid and really don't see much. Tomorrow David and I will clean out the barn. And tomorrow also, I am going to make a list of things we want to get done around here. Things like we have a fence to finish, for the new piggy pen. And a new piggy house to build. Major work to be done on the barn. Patrick has to finish his new shop. Then we get to clean out the old shop and part of that will be mine, for storage. Well, I use it for storage, but I will be able to organize it much better. I also need to clean out my studio so I can use it in the spring & summer. I'm painting in the house now. And am almost done with a dog done in oils on a canvas. I have some other commissions to paint. Some I have done before and some I haven't.

I've got to get supper ready for the boys. Patrick isn't home yet and really it's left overs from yesterday.

I pray that y'all have had a very blessed day. Elizabeth

Thank you

07:14 AM, Thursday, February 28, 2008 .. 0 comments .. Link

I just wanted to thank you my blogging family. Thank you for your prayers for David about Warrior. David is doing much better. He wants, as soon as it stays warmer, for us to start working with Star. She will be 2 in April. And he is wanting to check out books and websites on breaking horses. I'm so excited that he has found an interest that he seems to want to learn about. Of course I haven't told him yet that his reading will jump leaps and bounds as he is learning about breaking horses. We also have a couple of friends who work with horses who have said that they would come out to work with me and David with Star and Jack.

I was afraid that David wouldn't want to get attached to these horses because they might "leave" him too. But that fear was not true. Most fears aren't. They come from the deceiver.

I have to go to the county seat to take care of some land issues, and it's about an hour away. So I have to go this morning. Blessings to y'all, Elizabeth

Always on my Mind

08:07 AM, Tuesday, February 26, 2008 .. 1 comments .. Link

Good Morning y'all. The title sounds like a song. :) This is how I feel about Jesus these past several days. I'm not saying that before I didn't think about Jesus during my days. However, when I say ALWAYS, I really mean ALWAYS! Cool, huh? I have been studying more about being a Godly person, wife and mother. I can't explain it, but I feel like a different person than I was even a few months ago. I have been saved by the blood of Jesus for many years, but I know that my relationship with Him is greater now for some reason. I want to be in His presence as we can here on earth. I talk to Him as I am washing dishes, making the bed, dusting, etc. I have read the Bible at different times for different reasons, but now I've been scouring it to see how can I live more for Him and not for the world.

I have had to stop and start this post a couple of times now. I have started laundry for the day. Cleaned the kitchen up. And earlier made Patrick's lunch, made breakfast for David and me, took the 2 boys up to the end of the dirt road to catch the bus.

I still need to make bread, make some cookies, start supper (cooks all day), finish school with David, pick up the living room some more, dust & vacuum, and clean the bathroom oh and darn some socks. I recently learned how to do that. It's kind of cool too. All this today because I have to go to town tomorrow and we didn't get much done yesterday having to deal with Warrior. David is much better today. He decided that God needed another horse. Thank you so much for your prayers yesterday. Have a wonderfully blessed day! Elizabeth

P.S. IT'S SNOWING IT'S SNOWING IT'S SNOWING.....LOLOL... can anyone say, play time this afternoon???? hehehehehehe...

A sad morning

07:49 AM, Monday, February 25, 2008 .. 5 comments .. Link

Things are sad around here and my David has tears pouring down his little cheeks. He went down to the barn to feed Warrior, our old old horse, and found him dead. Warrior was 30 years old. We had put him in the barn when just before the freeze. Today it's suppose to get almost 60 and we were going to let him out and give his stall a super good cleaning. Patrick has to go to work this morning and see if there are any emergencies or anything that he needs to do that can't wait. Then he is coming home to get us to go get the tractor. He loaned it to a friend.

Warrior was a good horse. The boys could ride him either with or without a saddle. I can't say he was gentle all the time. He still had quite a spirit in him. But he did have a gentle side to him. It was as if he knew when the boys got on him to be more gentle and safer than if Patrick got on him. Horses are so smart. We are going to miss him. And Tommy & P.J. are going to be upset when they get home. Tommy is so sensitive. We will have a small service for Warrior tonight. I know that might sound silly. But Warrior was a part of the family. We even had a wedding for our sow & boar pigs, but that is another story.

I need to go get my day started. I am going to spend extra time with David today too. I want to be ready when Patrick gets back home. Blessings to all, Elizabeth

Church cancelled for the day

09:28 AM, Sunday, February 24, 2008 .. 0 comments .. Link

We got the call last night. It hadn't warmed up enough for ice to melt enough. Our little church sits on a hill side and the parking area and road was still covered with ice. So even though it's a day of rest, Patrick and the boys are going to use the extra time to cut some more wood. Tonight when they get back, we will have a family devotion. I absolutely love those times and we don't have them as often as I would like because of Patrick's work. I have devotions with the boys, but it is something special when it's all 5 of us.

The reason they have to go cut more wood is last weekend Patrick had to work the entire weekend. He was on call and was called out. We almost ran out of wood this week and that is not good. We have a ventless propane heater for a back up. At the price of fuel and propane, we try to not use it.

I already had my personal devotion. The rest of my day looks like this.

1. Clean up the kitchen.
2. Start more bread, I was hoping to have someone answer my question in the previous post, but i'm just going to wing it or check out some of my older cook books.
3. Get supper started early.
4. Do some mending.
5. Start knitting some socks. My first. And as I will have the day to myself again, I can concentrate.
6. Practice. I'm learning to play the fiddle.
7. Relax. The house is picked up. Laundry is done until tomorrow. Actually I do at least a load of laundry a day. Except for Sunday. That is one of my ways to honor the Sabbath. I try to not do too much on Sundays. I figure that God intended for us to get some rest so we can be charged up for the new week. Now that doesn't mean that I won't clean up the kitchen during the day, or pick up the bathroom if it warrents, or make my bed and put the dirty clothes into the hamper.

Anyway, I'll share our devotion tonight if anyone is interested. Blessings to y'all. My kitchen is calling my name! :) Elizabeth

Bread

07:41 AM, Sunday, February 24, 2008 .. 1 comments .. Link

Yesterday I made bread for the week. I had tried a new recipe last week for white bread. Then I used it for 1/2 white and 1/2 wheat. It was great. I thought wow, now maybe Patrick will like homemade wheat bread. Before when I made it, it was heavy, thick and tasted like cardboard. So yesterday, I was going to try to make almost 100 percent wheat. I did however, instead of 6 cups of wheat flour, I used 5 cups of wheat flour and 1 cup of high gluten flour. I had read somewhere about doing that. I can't remember where. Anyway, it was tough kneeding, I thought well, it's just the wheat. It couldn't have been. Let's just say that the pigs had a treat last night with their feed. So what did I do wrong? Was it because I was following a white bread recipe? Please help. I do not want to go back to buying bread. Thank you in advance. Blessings to you, Elizabeth

Menu for the next 2 weeks

10:57 AM, Saturday, February 23, 2008 .. 0 comments .. Link

Here it is again. I am using some of the same recipes from the last 2 weeks as they were a big hit. So here goes.

Saturday:               Crockpot Enchiladas

Sunday:                New England Boiled Dinner (corned beef with turnips,                                     carrots, potatoes, onions and I forgot what else.

Monday:               Tomatoe Soup & Grilled Cheese Sandwiches

Tuesday:               Ham, Baked Sweet Potatoes & Spinich

Wednesday:         Potatoe, Ham Scallop

Thursday:            Chicken w/ Homemade Noodles

Friday:                  Crockpot Ham, Potatoes & Cheese

Saturday:            Chicken Pot Pie

Sunday:               Company Casserole

Monday:               Chicken & Wild Rice Casserole

Tuesday:             Sausage & Cornbread Casserole w/ Fried Potatoes

Wednesday:       Crockpot Chicken & Gravy & Rice

Thursday:            Beans & Cornbread

Friday:            Biscuits & Gravy & Bacon

Alternative suppers are Waffles and Pancakes and Salmon patties. So there you have it. I absolutely love having dinners planned. I always know what to fix. No more "What can I do for dinner?" at 4:30. Well, I'm off to get bread started. And I promised the boys I would bake some more cookies. My plan is to keep the cookie jar pretty full. I washed up a bear cookie jar that my mom had when I was little. I want to use it again. So now it sits where the boys can reach it easy. But they know, we talked about it again, they have to ask permission. And they are good about asking before they have snacks.

Y'all have a wonderfully blessed day. Elizabeth

The Past Couple of Days

09:56 PM, Friday, February 22, 2008 .. 1 comments .. Link

I've been here at different times the past couple of days reading other's blogs, just haven't done any writing myself. Yesterday was just a "blahh" day. I woke up crabby for no apparent reason. By the afternoon, I was asking for forgiveness of the boys for my attitude. Then I had to ask the Lord for forgiveness. I'm usually not that crabby. I don't know if it was a hormonal thing, or just a thing. I didn't get much of anything done. We did a little school and that's about it.

Today things have been better. Much better attitude and got a lot done around here. Not perfect, but better. No public school again today due to ice. So today I let the boys, all 3 of them, play. They were up on their own before 6:30am, got their chores done without being told, so after breakfast I let them go play. They went sledding, rode their bikes on ice, and put on slicky boots and went "skiing". They came in for lunch and were out all afternoon. I think they came in once for a banana for a snack. Then I didn't see them until after they were done with evening chores for supper.

I kept the kitchen cleaned up after each meal. Swept and mopped the floors real good. Picked up the bathroom (tomorrow I'll be scrubbing it.). Kept the living room and dining room picked up. And did a couple of loads of laundry. I also spent some time in prayer for several different people. Several of our friends are sick, full families. And some of the families here. So I spent some time in prayer for them. We have been blessed with being healthy so far this winter. At the beginning of winter, we had a quick 12 hour bug. But that has been it.

Oh and today I made homemade noodles for the first time. I probably won't buy them ever again. I make homemade bread, bake our treats, want to make granola for cold cereal. But I had never made homemade noodles. I needed them for the Family Casserole and hadn't bought them yet. So I made them. And they turned out pretty good. I thought. Patrick and the boys liked them. Cool, huh?

I might post my menu for the 2 weeks tomorrow. I'm tired and need to get to bed. Blessings to all, Elizabeth

Ice Again

06:17 AM, Thursday, February 21, 2008 .. 1 comments .. Link

I woke up during the night, to let the dog out, to find the storm has indeed hit. Outside now, there is about an inch of ice layered about. So school has been cancelled. And probably will be tomorrow as well. All that means for my 2 boys is that they will have to have school with David. Maybe if they miss enough school, Patrick will relent and let me keep them at home now also. I can only pray. Well, I will post more later. Even if the boys do not have school, Patrick still has to go to work. So, I will be making his lunch and getting coffee for the both of us. We like to sit and have coffee so we can talk for a bit before either of our days get too crazy. And before he has to go off to work. He has worked so much overtime lately that I cherish anytime that we have together. Have a blessed day y'all and stay warm. Elizabeth

Last night's Supper

12:13 PM, Tuesday, February 19, 2008 .. 1 comments .. Link

Have you ever made homemade waffles? Well, last night was my first time. I have an old waffle maker that was my Dad's and step mom's. I have had this since 2002. Never have made waffles in my life. About a month ago, I cleaned out cabinets in the kitchen and found the waffle maker. I forgot that I had it. When I made out my menu for the 2 weeks, I included waffles. My idea of waffles before were the frozen kind that are about $1.00 at Walmart. So last night Patrick got home on time for a change and helped me in the kitchen. This doesn't happen very often, especially in the winter time, I was smiling big. Oh I almost forgot. We almost couldn't have waffles. The plug on the maker was partially broken. When I plugged it in, you could see sparks. Patrick just cut off the old plug and replaced it with another one. He seperated the eggs for me, did some mixing. He also got the first of the waffles. Oh my they were good. The boys and Patrick loved them. I sort of get excited when I find something they like. So far on the menu, we have only had one thing they weren't excited about. They said it was good, but no one wanted seconds. It was one of the crock pot meals.

Have a wonderful day in the Lord. Blessings, Elizabeth

Accident Prone

04:57 PM, Sunday, February 17, 2008 .. 2 comments .. Link

Almost as soon as I pressed the "Add New Entry" button, I wanted to recant some of those words. Our message this morning was the power of the word and Power of The Word. I'm not accident prone. I am sporting a broken big toe. One of the boys dropped a split log of wood on my toe, edge first. This happened about 2 to 3 weeks ago. Doesn't hurt, except once in a while.

About 2 weeks before that I got burned on my face. I did something stupid. I rarely use that word. And rare to never in front of the boys as they are not allowed to say it. However, after you read what I did, you will say either that or "What was she thinking?" The answer to that is that I wasn't thinking. I thought I would get that out of the way before I start. LOL... Ok, here goes. I'm actually cringing. Now you will know just how well, human I am. I was trying to get our furnace going before Patrick got home from work. We had a couple of warm days, in the 60's so we had let the fire go out. Now I know how to start a fire, when we go camping, I usually am in charge of the campfire. A little paper (feed sack) kindling, then small sticks, then bigger ones, till the fire is going pretty good, then the bigger stuff and fill it full. We were out of kindling. Yes out. and I didn't think about what else I could use. Our wood was a little green, and we sometimes use charcole lighter fluid. We were OUT. So I got the gasoline can and yes, poured it on the wood. Tried to light it with a bic lighter. It went WOOOSH . The boys said that it looked like a ball of flames hit me in the chest and went up to my face and caught my hair on fire. The length was put up in the back, but I had to trim some bangs. I had blisters in my nose and on my hand. My face was burned, but not real bad. I went to the E.R. mostly because I was scared and in severe pain. In a couple of days I was much better. And let me tell you, I have been teased to no end. I knew better. Just wasn't thinking. And actually the only thing I was thinking was that Patrick wanted a fire going before he got home. Now you know the rest of the story. :) And I know that God was shaking his head at me as he was protecting me. I am blessed. Blessings to y'all, Elizabeth

A peaceful Sunday

04:41 PM, Sunday, February 17, 2008 .. 0 comments .. Link

My morning started out about 5:30 or so. Ok, I went back to bed, but not until I found out that we didn't have any tornado warnings. The wind woke me up. It was blowing so hard. Just some wind gusts. I woke up again almost 7:30. That is late for me. The boys were already up and dressed in church clothes. They had "done a surprise for me and Daddy". They were up before we woke up, got dressed in play clothes, went out and did their chores, came in, cleaned up and dressed for church. I absolutely love when they do this. We have been praising them when they take the initiative. This has been a word that about a month ago, I explained to them what it meant. How I explained it was when they do something they see that needs to be done without being told to, whether it's chores or just something else, that's initiative. Tommy loves to let me know that he took initiative to do something. And I love it when he does.

Patrick is on call this weekend, and yes he had to go out this morning. He is going to be a little on the tired side this week. He worked all day yesterday and went out again this morning. He missed church. :( When he finally got home, I had to give him yet another message. Out he went again. Right now, he and the boys are cutting up part of a tree that was blocking out road by our driveway to burn in the furnace. We are getting low on wood. And because of his schedule at work, we might have to actually buy wood this time. As accident prone as I have been lately, he doesn't want me around the chain saw. Can't say that I blame him. Although we have insurance again. :)

But today has been a really good day in the Lord. Wonderful at church, wonderful at home. Praise God for all the blessings. Blessings to all of y'all. Elizabeth

Cost per Pound

02:27 PM, Saturday, February 16, 2008 .. 1 comments .. Link

I get so excited when I get a good deal, even more excited when I get a great deal. We got back from all of our running around. And I was putting the 50 lbs of wheat flour in gallon and 2 gallon containers, when I started figuring price per pound. The wheat flour comes to 38 cents per pound. I don't know what it is running these days as I haven't been shopping in Walmart in ages and when I was looking for wheat flour at our regular grocery store in town, they had non. I think I got a pretty good deal??? They were out, already, of the 50 lb bag of sugar. It usually runs about $20.00 a bag. So that is about 40 cents per pound. Good I guess. I just know it is very convenient to have that around. One of these days, we will use something else for a sweetener, but for now it's still sugar. I have made a lot of changes to our diet over the past couple of years. Break them in easy.. :)

Have a blessed day, Elizabeth

Back to work!!!

{ Last Page } { Page 1 of 2 } { Next Page }