• Saturday, August 16, 2008 - YAY!
Today I go to get my kiddos back from a week of Grandma Camp! It was a fulfilling week in that we accomplished a lot of chores and projects around the house, but I am very ready to have my babies home! Unfortunately, Duane has to work this weekend, so he can't go along. He was tempted to call in sick, but as he said, that little voice in the back of his head kept saying "Thou shalt not bear false witness." So, he's working, and I'm off to Iowa. I did promise that we would time our arrival tomorrow night to coincide with his arrival home from work- he wants to see their faces when they see all of the painting he did in the house, particularly their bedroom.
Gotta run- want to be at mom's by noon.
Sara |
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• Tuesday, August 12, 2008 - Grandma Camp
It's Grandma Camp this week, that wonderful and weird time when my mom takes all grandchildren 3yo and older for a week of fun and adventure. Wonderful, because you can get so much done when there aren't so many kidlets underfoot; weird because it just feels strange not to have so many kidlets underfoot. This year, our three oldest got to go, leaving us with just the 18 month old at home. She was fine yesterday, but today, the second morning of being the only child, she has wandered around after mom, crying. Every time daddy gets out of sight, it's "where's daddy?" I think she's afraid he'll disappear like her siblings. She also continues to insist that her siblings are just outside, playing at the Mennonite church, and that I should go get them.
Dh was scheduled to have Wednesday, Thursday, Friday off, and used vacation time for Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday nights, so he's home with us for the week. We made a huge list of projects and chores to do while the kids are gone. I know we won't make it through them all, but it's good to finally get some of these things done. We are painting the living room today, and will hopefully paint the kids' bedroom tomorrow. The carpet will be torn up in the toy room, to expose the wood floor beneath. We've already done a lot of yard work, but plan to cut down trees tomorrow, and cut up fallen limbs in the pasture. I still have lots of canning to do, of course.
We picked crabapples on Sunday after church, so I have applesauce and jelly to make. I think I'll just freeze the juice for the jelly though, and make it after tomato season is past. I am despairing over my pepper plants. The plants look healthy, but the peppers are just rotting as soon as they get about as big as a golf ball. I'm afraid I'm going to have to turn down orders for salsa, and just concentrate on getting salsa and spaghetti sauce put up for my own family this year, or I'll run out of peppers. It just hasn't been a good season for growing here.
A friend did say she has plenty of pears and apples on her trees this year, though, and is willing to let us pick them. Last year, we didn't get any of either, so we'll be glad to have them this year to make apple pie filling and green tomato mincemeat. The kids love to have homemade apple pie filling just heated up and served as cinnamon apples. I'm not a big fan of mincemeat pie, but I have a recipe for mincemeat bars that are really good. Somewhat like a spice cake, and so very moist.
Well, the kitchen is calling my name. Must respond!
Sara |
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• Saturday, July 26, 2008 - It Feels Like Fall in the Mornings. . .
And the tomatoes are just starting to turn red. It has been unusually cool here in our part of Missouri this summer. That has been nice, since we decided to go without air conditioning this year in an effort to save money and pay off our debt quicker. We usually spend an extra $150 a month in electricity when running the air conditioner. That money is instead being used to pay bills. I've been worried about the garden though, for more than one reason. Back in April, dh took our tiller in to be serviced. We didn't get it back until the first week of July. I would have been all for getting it and taking it to someone else, but the guy had torn it all apart, and it was sitting in his shop in pieces for that long! Dh borrowed a tiller from someone to get my salsa ingredients planted in late May, but the rest of the garden just got planted at the beginning of July. With the cool weather and huge amounts of rain, the peppers and tomatoes just haven't done as well as they usually have. Mine have a decent crop, but no where as big as usual. My various family members' gardens have mostly been washed out or rotted off.
We've been busy the last month, with the Fourth of July, the local air show, home-town celebrations, and county fairs. I posted quite a few pictures on our other blog, willtodayhold.com, if anyone is interested. I don't have time to re-post here, and most of our family checks the other site.
We pulled every last scrap of carpet out of our house yesterday (only two rooms, and our house is small, but it seemed like a huge job!) and exposed the wood floors. They are in great shape, and the carpet was not- four little ones had left the white carpet that the previous owners installed in terrible shape! We started at 2:00 yesterday afternoon, and pulled the last carpet tack at 7:00. After moving all the furniture back, I made supper and put the kids to bed. Needless to say, putting all the "stuff," books, etc. back is today's project!
Better get to it!
Sara |
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• Wednesday, June 25, 2008 - Any Mulberry Lovers Out There?
As a child, I loved mulberries. During mulberry season, you could bet that every spare minute would be spent under the mulberry tree behind the school across the road, stuffing my face. I was forever bringing home bowls of mulberries and begging my mom to make them into something. She never did; she would simply encourage me to eat as many fresh berries as I could hold. Perhaps because of this, I have neglected to utilize my mulberry trees here on our little acreage as I should. Oh, one year I made spiced mulberry jam, but it never got eaten, as I'm not terrible fond of seeds on my toast. This year, my own little ones are big enough to trek to the mulberry tree on their own. The two eldest even climb the tree, and sit happily among the branches for hours at a time. Their hands are stained purple, their clothes are stained purple, and when they use the toilet. . . you guessed it. ;)
Through my children, I have re-discovered my childhood love for mulberries. We have made mulberry jelly (goodbye, seeds!), mulberry pancake syrup, and are considering canning mulberry juice. We tried mulberry ice cream- I didn't put in enough berries, they said! Mulberry pancakes were good. Next up- mulberry muffins. I'll let you know how they turn out! |
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• Thursday, May 29, 2008 - Life is busy. . .
Here on our little acreage. We are still taking time out for the small things though. Caught a few tadpoles two weeks ago, and have been watching them grow. When I went out to get fresh water for them from our itty-bitty pond in the pasture, I noticed what appeared to be small fish swimming around. Now, there is no possible way fish could get in our pond. It's too small and too isolated. I caught a couple, and up close they looked more like long skinny tadpoles, but they had a feathery mane behind their heads. I called the local conservation office, and the man there said they were probably tiger salamanders. He is mailing us a booklet on salamanders so we can make a positive i.d., and learn more about them. It is making a great science lesson for us- school is never over when you're home-schooled!
We have a tornado watch tonight, and dh is working, so I'm home alone with the kids. It always worries me; having to get four littles to the basement in the middle of the night when we have to go outside to reach the basement. I have to try to get everyone in one trip, or the ones I take first are panicking and screaming in the basement while I get the others. The only thing I can do is put it in God's hands and pray that the storm passes us by, or that He gives me the wisdom to make the right decision in time and the strength to accomplish the task.
I have been busy with my flower jellies. So far, I have made violet jelly, dandelion jelly, lilac jelly, and dianthus jelly. I have peony petals steeping right now for peony jelly. It has been fun finding out what each of the flowers tastes like, and seeing the colors of the jellies. My dh is not anxious to taste any of them, but the kids have loved them. Dh did finally taste the dandelion jelly, and liked it. There are several more flowers that I want to try making jelly with, but I have enough now to start making gift packs to try and sell at the farmers' market. We're going to take other jellies and produce as well, but I thought these would definitely be unique.
That's been our life for the past few weeks. Nothing too impressive, but lots of running around. Ball practice, ball games, family picnics, graduations, etc.
Take care, all!
Sara |
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• Wednesday, April 30, 2008 - I haven't been on here in a while. . .
for several reasons. The kids have started t-ball for the spring, which really takes up our evenings. I've been trying a new project- flower jellies. So far, I've made violet jelly and started on dandelion jelly. The violet jelly was beautiful, and the kids and I loved it. Dh hasn't tried it yet. I took pictures throughout the whole process, but haven't yet gotten them to the computer.
I bought two Nubian-pygmy cross does to be milk goats, and they need some taming, which is also time consuming. They weren't bred, as the people I bought them from had no billy, so I'm hoping to have kids in the fall.
Finally, we went and bought our garden plants Monday afternoon. Seventy-two plants each of Roma and Better Boy tomatoes, 72 green peppers, a few eggplant, lots of onions, too many seeds to mention. We had also started plants at home this year, and I have way too many jalapeno plants, twelve heirloom tomatoes of various colors, and lots of basil. I have a recipe for homemade pesto that is supposed to be wonderful, so I'm expecting to use lots of basil!
Please forgive me if I don't keep up with all of this going on. I'm going to try to post tutorials of some of the jellies and other canning I do this season, but it will be as I find time!
Sara |
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• Friday, March 14, 2008 - Canning Season's Coming. . .
and I'm getting ready! I have about 20 dozen flats left that I bought at the local Mennonite bulk food store last summer. Last month, I took the advice of several of you ladies here at HSB and started canning my own beans instead of buying them. We eat lots of black and red beans, and twice I've bought just enough beans to can about 12 pints. So, in preparation for the REAL canning season, I'm going to get the bean canning out of the way now! I'll be visiting the bulk food store next week, and buying enough beans to can to hopefully last us through the summer. I don't know about anyone else, but there is always a point in the summer when I say "I DON'T CARE IF I NEVER CAN AGAIN!" It's usually somewhere around the 115th quart of tomato product, when I'm tired of cutting tomatoes, tired of washing out jars, tired of running up and down the steps to the basement (I have to go outside, to the back of the house to get to the steps!), and just plain tired. Then, I take a break, think about how nice it will be to have a stocked pantry, and not have to eat store-bought, and get back to work. I know, though, that if I run out of beans in the middle of tomato season, the last thing I will feel like doing is adding bean canning to the already packed schedule. Therefore, I am going to get it out of the way now!
Enough about beans- I'm trying to find someone to shear my goats for me, and it's amazingly difficult! One of the ladies in our homeschool group has sheep and lamas that she has sheared, and the guy who does her shearing comes from almost four hours away, in the middle of Missouri! I didn't realize it would be so difficult to find someone. Last fall, I only had one goat to shear, and I sheared him myself with heavy duty scissors. I have five that need sheared now, and would really like to have a professional do it. I have been offered the use of clippers by our friends who show sheep, so I could do it myself. We'll see what happens, I guess!
I let the kids each pick out one packet of flower seeds when we went shopping Wednesday. We ended up with sunflowers, violas, and nasturtiums. My 6 yo, without my knowledge, went right outside and planted hers when we got home! I didn't realize it until Thursday morning, when I couldn't find her seed packet, and she informed me that they were already planted in the flower bed. She put a few in a pot, she said, but there wasn't enough room for them all, so then she picked a spot in the flower bed! I explained to her that it's still too cool for planting those types of seeds; that if they do grow, and then we have a frost, they will all die. She didn't take it very well. My husband is also getting antsy to start planting- he wants to go buy everything at our favorite greenhouse this weekend! I'd prefer to wait on the plants until we're ready to put them in the soil- it's just more work for me trying to keep them alive, what with the kids, the animals, and the lack of storage space! We are planning to bring in the plant nursery that my FIL built us several years ago. It has three shelves, with grow lights. Then, early next week, we'll plant our seeds that need to be started in the house.
I also need to get the freezer cleaned out, as we bought a half a beef that should be ready early in the week. I always put a lot of sweet corn in the freezer, still on the cob and unhusked. It takes up a lot of space, so we're eating it up this week to make room for the meat!
We also finally got the dining room painted- a beautiful yellow color. I say we, but my dh actually did all the work! Then, he looked around and suggested that we move the living room into the dining room, and vice versa. So, we moved furniture all day on Tuesday, and I've been spending the rest of the week just trying to get things organized I'll post pictures later, when I've gotten them downloaded from the camera.
Have a blessed weekend!
Sara |
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• Saturday, March 1, 2008 - Let's Go Fly a Kite!
 Today, March 1, was a beautiful day here in northwest Missouri. Anna thought it might just be windy enough to keep our heavy-duty kite up in the air. She was right! The kids spent all day (except meal times!) outside.
 The three eldest took turns flying the kite. It only got away once, when the 3yo was flying it. Anna quickly ran inside to yell for me to come chase it across the pasture!
 It was a bit muddy though! Matthew had no reservations about stomping through the muddiest parts of the yard!
At 10:55 a.m., I realized that there was complete and total silence in the house. My husband didn't think this was very remarkable when I mentioned it at the lunch table. He is often home by himself. Those of you who also have young ones around 24/7 will understand, I'm sure! With four kids six and under, there's rarely a quiet moment. Even now, when they're all asleep, the dryer and washer are both running, I'm typing, etc. But this morning, dh put the baby down for a nap, and was himself secluded in the bedroom. The other children were outside, and had wandered far enough from the house that I could no longer hear their voices. I enjoyed the silence for about five minutes. Then, I thought "The chicks aren't cheeping!" Of course, I had to go check and be sure they hadn't all expired- there had been constant noise from them ever since we brought them home. Nope, they were all just sleeping. Of course, I then had to go check the kids- I opened the door, walked halfway across the yard, and from the backyard heard a voice say "But I think we need to go back to Earth now!" Yep, they're fine. Just lost in the land of make-believe!
In other news, we had another baby goat this week. Matthew's nanny, Alexa, gave birth to a baby girl. He named her Sharla. I asked if he had heard the name somewhere, or why he decided to name her that. He gave me one of those looks, the "are you crazy?" type of look, and replied, "It was just in my head."
And finally, a picture of the baby, playing outside in the warm weather today:
 |
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• Thursday, February 28, 2008 - Bittersweet Endings
My mom gave me some unexpected news last weekend: she and her siblings have decided to sell the family farm. When Grandpa and then Grandma passed away, instead of selling the farm, they each had a share in it. My Uncle Brad had never left the farm, first farming with Grandpa, then for Grandma, and finally, taking care of it for the family. He made the day-to-day decisions, and got the lion's share of the profits; after all, he was the one doing the hard, physical work. Everyone else got as much beef as they needed, or wanted, and use of the land for recreation. For the last several years, my uncle has run a hunting preserve on the land, with elk, buffalo, and wild boars, as well as native animals like white-tailed deer and turkey. He said they had no intention of selling, but one person made an offer, and he turned it down. When the second, and third offers came, he talked with the others about it, thinking that if they had no plan to sell, and kept receiving offers from different people, maybe it was God's way of saying it's time. They eventually decided to sell the land.
They close at the end of March, and then Uncle Brad and Aunt Laura have seven months to buy or build a new house before they have to be out. And really, when I think about it logically, it does make sense to sell. The siblings agreed that when they start passing it on to us, their children, it would become to difficult and inefficient to make decisions. There's so much potential for family disagreements when you have so many people wanting different things from the land. Besides, it solves a lot of immediate difficulties for each of them. My mom will be able to pay off her house and have a bit to invest for her retirement besides, which means she can quit working at the job she hates, and take the lower-paying job she was offered last month, at a place she will enjoy working. Two of the uncles have houses that are reaching their limits- settling foundations that will be costly to fix, leaky roofs, etc. They will both be able to build or buy new. It's just a little hard to think logically about such things, when your heart wants to cry out to stop!
I know it's just land, that we can't go back to the days when we walked through the fields with Grandma and Grandpa, picking daisies, heading to the ponds to feed the fish, or working cows alongside them. Picking crabapples for applesauce (I've never found another crabapple tree of that type, though I've searched and searched!), pears, hickory nuts, and walnuts. We always made a visit to the buckeye trees out on the back 40 every fall. Grandma's perfectly kept strawberry patch and garden have been gone for years. My aunt, bless her heart, is just not much of a gardener, and the flower beds that Grandma worked so hard on have lost their glory. But still, it seems like just yesterday we were sitting under the trees, the whole family gathered to clean corn, or butcher chickens. I know I'll always carry the memories of ice skating on the pond, mushroom hunting, sledding of Oak Hill. Somehow, though, it seems as though selling the farm will cut the final strings, that the drifting apart that has already begun with my cousins, will multiply.
We used to gather at the farm every Sunday, aunts, uncles, cousins, friends. I miss those happy hours. I guess this just makes me realize how much I still miss Grandpa and Grandma. |
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• Thursday, February 21, 2008 - A Busy Day
I feel like we accomplished quite a bit today. I baked a batch of Amish Cinnamon Bread, and a batch of chocolate chip cookies. We got all of our usual schoolwork done, plus read a big pile of library books that we checked out yesterday. I canned some red beans and some navy beans. My dh went to town and bought supplies to patch the cracks that had appeared in the plaster of some of the rooms. He got the dining room patched, and tomorrow we will paint. Then, we will work on the living room, kitchen, and so on. We have lived in this house for almost five years, and have never painted, so it is time! The people we bought it from had painted everything before we bought it, but it's nice to pick out our own colors. The kids are full of great ideas- "Let's paint the ceiling like an American flag!" and "I like this bright blue." I think we'll actually go with a shade of yellow called "Gold Coin" in the dining room. When dh started taking down the border so that he could begin patching, our 6yo dd came running to tattle. "Mommy, daddy's taking down the hearts!" Thank goodness, it's about time! I couldn't justify re-painting when we first moved in, because it had just been done, but the colors and borders weren't really my style.
On a completely different note, we watched "The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe" for the first time over the weekend, and I loved it! I'm not usually a movie/tv type of person. Maybe that's because we never had a tv in the house when I was growing up. . .Anyway, the whole family loved this movie. It's the first movie I have seen in a long time that was fit for children and adults. Lately, they've slipped so much "adult" humor into even the cartoons that it's almost impossible to find a good film, but this is one that we'll watch again.
Speaking of movies, dh is waiting for me to come watch one with him now. The kids are in bed, so we get to have a little quiet time together.
Good night ladies!
Sara |
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• Monday, February 18, 2008 - Chas' Contest
• Saturday, February 16, 2008 - Have a Great Weekend!
Ok, so maybe I shouldn't have been sassy to my husband about him getting the stomach flu when I didn't. Punishment for my actions: I've been out of commission with strep throat for the past week. Two of the children got it first, and then I got it. I'm still feeling pretty tired, but much better overall.
The kids and I are headed for Iowa today. It's supposed to start freezing rain tonight, followed by snow tomorrow, so we're packing extra clothes just in case we have to spend an extra night at mom's. Dh will have to drive to work no matter what the roads are like, poor guy.
It has been difficult to stick to my planned menu when I don't feel like cooking, or like eating anything, for that matter. I will try to do a better job in the coming week; I must get back on track, or I'll have spent all of my grocery money before the next pay period !
Hope everyone has a blessed weekend with their families.
Sara |
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• Saturday, February 9, 2008 - A Somewhat Less Than Comforting Story
On Wednesday, our 3yo dd woke up with a fever. She doesn't often get sick, but when she does, her temperature usually shoots sky high right away. This time, it was only 100.5, so I didn't worry too much, as she had no other symptoms. Thursday, more of the same. She did throw up one time Thursday morning, but then ate and drank normally all day with no more problems, just this mystery fever. Friday morning, she wakes up with a bright red rash in her armpits and on the back of her neck. I called our doctor's clinic, and the nurse said they'd have to see her. I take her in Friday afternoon, they look at her, tell me it's strep, write out a prescription for antibiotics, and we head home. By 10:00 pm, her fever has broken, and she's doing much better. This morning, our 5 yo ds wakes up with a fever. His is higher; 102 F. We're scheduled to attend the local homeschool group Valentine's Day party, so dh stays home with the three younger kids, and 6 yo dd and I go to the party. Of course, everyone wants to know why the other children didn't come to the party. I give them the whole story. One of the ladies pipes up, "You know, recently one of my husband's co-workers had a 17 month old who had a fever with no other symptoms, and the doctor told them to go home, it was just the flu, and she died two days later." Now, this lady is very sweet, very kind, and I'm sure she meant no harm but what kind of a story is that to tell a mother with a sick child?! If I were a worrier (which I'm not!) that would probably have thrown me for a loop! My sil, who I love dearly, is the complete opposite of me, in many ways. We have the same faith in God, and the same conservative values, but when it comes to day-to-day life, we're very different. She is a worrier. If her children cough too loudly, or look flushed, they're at the doctor. My children have to be running a fever for days before they get to the doctor. I rarely give tylenol, etc, because I believe God designed our bodies to take care of themselves, for the most part, and a fever has a purpose- it's burning up the illness. Now, I'm not totally against medications, don't get me wrong. If my children are truly miserable, I don't make them tough it out. I just want to give their bodies a chance to work as God intended. I would never keep them from seeing a doctor; I just don't believe doctors are necessary for every little pain. We have a joke that her house is museum clean, while mine is carnival clean. We both come by our traits honestly- while my mom was always up for a mud pie contest, her mom was outside, sweeping not just the sidewalk in front of her house, but the street as well! Her kids get bathed every day, ears cleaned out, hair brushed, fresh clothes. At my house, you might hear- "Didn't you wear those pajamas two nights ago? Have you had a bath this week?" Now, part of it is that I don't believe a daily bath is necessary- every other day is fine. Too often just washes away the body's natural oils and leads to dry skin. However, I'm not very organized, and sometimes I just don't realize they haven't bathed for three days. We always laugh together, because she's constantly trying to be more laid-back like me, and I'm constantly trying to be more organized and mindful, like her. Oh, the dangers of comparing ourselves to others!
A funny story about my 3 yo on the way to the doctor: We got halfway there, and she says plaintively, "Mommy, I decided I don't want Doctor Burke to take the itches out of my armpits."
"You don't want him to take the itches out? Why not?" I ask.
"I think it's really going to hurt when he cuts them out." she replies.
After I stopped laughing, I explained to her that she didn't need to worry, they might give her medicine to take or ointment to rub on the rash, but that was it. Nothing scary happening to her underarms! |
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• Tuesday, February 5, 2008 - Our Neighbor's Goat
Yesterday, I went out to feed the animals, and there was an extra goat in my pasture. I assumed it belonged to my neighbor, so I shut it in my barn, and planned to pay them a visit when my husband got home so he could watch the kids. By the time he got home 45 minutes later, the goat had somehow managed to escape from the barn, and was just standing on top of our hill, just outside the fence. That evening, she was still there. I thought maybe she had her head stuck through the fence, so I hiked out there to check on her. A visitor was just leaving our neighbor's house, and yelled that my goat was out. I replied that it wasn't mine, and he said no, it was Waylon's, but since he got rid of his mules the goat has been lonely, and is trying to get to my miniature horse. At that point, Waylon himself appeared, and told me the same thing- it seems to be my goat, as it's been living in my pasture for the past week. I told him that if it's my goat, I'm shutting it up in my small pasture and taming it. I think it may be pregnant by now, as it is obviously in heat and my billy goat has been after all week. He just laughed, and went inside. So I have to wonder- does he seriously mean for me to keep it? I don't know him well at all- he sits in his front yard during the summer and yells things at me like "If you'd quit mowing that yard, you wouldn't have to keep dumping grass out of the bagger" and "It's too hot to be working, I can see you sweating from here!" but we've never really met him or had a conversation with him! It's an odd little town we live in. . .
I went to cast my vote for my candidate of choice today. The man I wanted to vote for has dropped out, and his name was still on the ballot, but I cast my vote for my second choice, just to try to keep McCain from winning. I think McCain would be a terrible choice for the Republican party. He's more of a moderate Democrat than a conservative, and I don't believe he should be on the Republican ticket. He's Republican in name only.
It's snowing like crazy here. It's beautiful, as long as we don't have to go out in it! Hopefully it will be cleared by tomorrow afternoon when Duane goes back to work.
Have a great evening ladies!
Sara |
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• Friday, February 1, 2008 - Sick, sick, sick. . .
That's how everyone has been at my house for the past week! I feel like the only thing I've done all week is wash vomit-soaked sheets, towels, and clothes! My 6 yo dd started it off last Sunday night, vomiting through the night., followed by diarrhea on Monday. Tuesday was ok, until bedtime, when my youngest, who just turned one, started the same routine. Wednesday the 3 yo joined in, and Thursday our 5 yo ds came down with it. Tonight, my husband says he's beginning to feel queasy. He asked why I haven't gotten it, and I told him- I don't have time! Someone has to take care of everyone else!  He kind of took offense to that, saying "And I do have time?" He is very good about helping clean up after the kids when they're sick, but he works twelve hour days, and has an hour drive there and back, so when he's working, we don't see much of him. He's at his 7 day break right now though, so if he does get sick, he won't even have to worry about calling in. I'm hoping he doesn't though, as we were supposed to have a "date" tomorrow. He received a gift card to Applebee's from work because he was scheduled to work during their Christmas party, and we were going to go eat lunch, go to the library, and maybe see a movie. His mother is going to come watch the kids at our house, and then on Sunday after church, we're going to his parents' house.
I haven't been baking this week, since the kids were all sick, and dh is on his low-carb diet. Today I mixed up a batch of my Amish cinnamon bread though, because it had been a while, and I wanted to clean out the sourdough bowl. I usually bake a batch every 3-5 days, because the kids eat it so fast. We called it Hermann when I was a kid, but now it seems like everyone calls it Amish cinnamon bread, or Amish friendship bread. The recipe that gets passed around says to feed it a lot, and give away four bags of sourdough every ten days, but I just feed mine less, and use up all but enough to start a new batch. I did feed it a bit extra this time though, because my sil asked for some starter, so I'll take her some on Sunday.
Hopefully by Monday everyone will be back to normal, and we can get back into school routine. We mostly spent this week (when we weren't hanging over a big bowl) cuddled on the couch reading stories, and stayed away from anything to physically or mentally taxing!
Have a blessed weekend, ladies!
Sara |
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• Tuesday, January 29, 2008 - New Garden Seeds!
The first batch of garden seeds arrived in the mail yesterday. The kids were really anxious to try their hand at gardening this summer, so we're planting a children's garden in addition to mine (yes, I know this really just means way more work for me!). They picked some of their own seeds- Matthew chose popcorn, Anna wants sugar snap peas, and Cora wants watermelon. In addition, I chose some that we've never grown, but I thought the kids might enjoy. We got a rainbow mix of carrots- red, purple, white, etc. We got brussels sprouts, kohlrabi, rutabaga, broom corn, Indian corn, bushel gourds, heirloom tomatoes in a variety of colors, and parsnips from Gurney's. I also ordered a pixie crunch apple tree, which will, of course, be delivered at planting time. I'm also planning on buying bright lights Swiss chard, huckleberries, Job's tears, and possibly some others for the children's garden. In mine, I always plant 100 tomatoes, 1/2 Roma, and 1/2 beefsteak. This year, I'm increasing to 75 bell peppers, as I ran out again with 50 last year. I'm decreasing jalapenos from 30 to 15. I also plant sweet potatoes, red potatoes, cucumbers, zucchini, spinach, lettuce, eggplant, onions, and garlic. I may try a few new plants in my garden as well this year. The strawberry patch needs to be tilled under and started anew. We're planning on putting up a tee-pee trellis in the children's garden, and planting kiwi on it. Oh, yes, and I'd like to plant some pawpaw, pear, and persimmon trees this year! The apple trees, apricots, and cherry bushes should have fruit this year- they had tons of blossoms last year, but then a late frost came along and wiped them all out. The red and black raspberries did wonderfully last year, so I expect another good harvest from them. The rhubarb patch should also be ready to pick from this year; and hopefully the blueberry bushes, currants, and saskatoon blueberries will have small crops. We have a huge patch of wild asparagus that we pick from, and lots of gooseberry bushes in the pastures, as well as several mulberry trees. And finally, the rose hips from my rosa rugosa bushes should be plentiful this year as well. I can't wait for spring and summer!
A cold, windy, snowy day like today just makes me long for it all the more, although I am glad to have my pantry shelves stocked from last summer's bounty. |
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• Saturday, January 26, 2008 - Low Carb Diet- Ugh!
My husband has decided to go on a low-carb diet again. I always hate it when he does that, because bread, pasta, and potatoes are some of my favorite foods, and although I still bake bread and make the others for the rest of us, it's not as much fun when he's not enjoying them. I have discovered and created some really tasty low-carb recipes throughout the many times he's done this, but I'd prefer that he change the portion sizes of our regular menu and add exercise, rather than just cutting all carbs. I'm not going to argue with him though- it's easier to make two meals than to try to change his mind! Some meals are easy to fix- we have tacos, he has taco salad; we have homemade pizza, he has homemade cheese-crust pizza. When we have something like pasta, he gets a hamburger or a chicken breast. He has started taking a large lettuce salad with him everyday for his lunch at work, so that's pretty easy. I want him to be healthy, but I just don't like the low-carb diet. I think that there are some types of carbs that are very good for you, and he ought to eat. But, this too shall pass!
On a completely different note, we are off to Iowa today to celebrate my nephew Remington's fourth birthday. Of course, we will spend the night and then go to church tomorrow. I better get started packing, as we're supposed to be there at 2:00, and it's a two and a half hour drive to their house.
One last thing- our family would appreciate prayers, as my niece Stella is undergoing medical tests throughout the month of January and February. She is five, and has always seemed healthy, but has lately been complaining of accelerated heartbeats and leg pains. When they took her to the doctor and he checked her heart, he said her aorta was enlarged, and that with her other symptoms, he thinks it may be Ehlers Danlos Syndrome. They are taking her to specialists in February. Her mother is a worrier anyway, and this has really thrown her for a loop. If you would please pray for both of them, I would appreciate it.
Have a blessed weekend.
Sara |
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• Tuesday, January 22, 2008 - Sweet Potato Pecan Bread
At Christmas time, my husband and I had just finished Dave Ramsey"s Financial Peace University course, and decided that we were going to stick to a budget, and give from the heart rather than the wallet. One of the gifts that we ended up giving to his parents was a gift certificate for 52 weeks of homemade bread. So far, I had sent breads that I make a lot, such as zucchini, banana, and such. Today I tried a new recipe, sweet potato pecan, and it was scrumptious! I greased the loaf pan, and coated it with cinnamon and sugar before I put the batter in, and then sprinkled more cinnamon and sugar on top before putting it in to bake, so the whole loaf had crunchy, cinnamon sugar crust. Yummy!
Sweet Potato Pecan Bread
1 1/2 c. sugar
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp. baking soda
3/4 tsp. salt
1 2/3 c. flour
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1/2 c. oil
1 c. mashed sweet potatoes
1/2 c. water
2 eggs
1/2 c. chopped pecans
Combine all of the dry ingredients. Add the liquids, potatoes, and eggs; mix well. Fold in pecans. Pour into greased bread pans (makes three small loaves). Bake at 325 degrees until done.
I didn't realize until I started mixing that I didn't have any ground nutmeg. Luckily, I did have whole nutmeg, so I just grated one of them and used it. It had a wonderful taste!
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• Saturday, January 19, 2008 - Edible Fingerpaints
Yesterday, we decided to finger paint. The only paints in the house were tempra and watercolor, so we made our own. We used jell-o for two colors, peach and purple. The peach was sugar-free, and only made a small amount of paint (just add enough boiling water to get the jell-o gooey). The purple was blackberry-raspberry, and had sugar in it. It made a much larger amount of paint, and the sugar didn't dissolve, which gave it a glitter-paint effect. It was quite fun! Then, we mixed up a box of vanilla pudding, let it set, and then divided it up into different bowls. Each bowl got it's own color of food coloring, and we were ready to paint! It not only made beautiful pictures, but it smelled and tasted good as well. No need to wash our hands; just lick that paint off, kids!
On a completely different note, we also did a major sorting of clothing yesterday, with more yet to be done. I continually struggle with keeping up with the laundry. With six people in the household, there is always a pile to be washed, and a pile to be folded. Our house is small, and early 1900's, so there's not much storage space, and it's discouraging for me to fold clothes when there's no place to put them. So, after reading several blogs on here that said- YOU DON'T NEED SO MANY CLOTHES! I took it to heart. For every piece of laundry I folded, two pieces went into bags to go to charity. My daughters' still ran out of space in their dressers, so I told them that the next step is to attack the dressers and do the same thing with the clothes that were already folded and put away. Surprisingly enough, there were no tears shed (my 6yo usually cries great crocodile tears anytime anything has to go). She didn't see everything that went into the bags, which is probably why !
Well, it's time to start packing for the weekly trip to Iowa. Have a blessed weekend, everyone!
Sara |
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• Friday, January 11, 2008 - How the time does fly!
Our youngest will be one year old on Saturday, January 12.
What she looked like then. . .
What she looks like now.
She has been on such a sharp learning curve, she has blown me away. She started walking around 7 months; she is a terrific climber (made it all the way to the top bunk bed today!); a terrific problem solver. In the kitchen, she will open the cupboard, take out the flour canister, and stand on it to reach the counter. They don't seem like babies once they can run away from you, and she reached that point way too quickly!
I'm off now to bake a birthday cake!
Sara |
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