moon info
moon info |
Country Critters | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Updates from the Homestead Yesterday was such a nice sunny day.. a day to enjoy our pond and the sunshine
 . Today is promising to be the same. The nice weather is an appreciated change from the stint of cool wet weather we had; looks like we are back to summer weather for a few days. I am not really ready to head into fall quite yet. The cooler weather however did get me in the soup making mode. Yesterday I made veggie beef soup and it was yummy. I put a couple individual servings of it in the freezer for Tobin’s lunches while I am gone.My oldest daughter, Carolyn, is due to have her baby in about one week. My friend Sarah and I will be flying out there as soon as she gives the word that things are looking serious. We don’t want to arrive too early but we don’t want to arrive to late either! Sarah and I delivered Carolyn’s first baby. That was a bit easier since at that time she was in California (I am in Washington) but this time she’s in Maryland so there are less flights out daily and the flight time is a lot longer… but if it is meant to be that I am there, all will work out as it should so I am leaving it the Lord’s hands and not stressing over it all.
While I am gone Emily and Leanne will be holding down the fort. I have meals lined up for them to cook, groceries in the house, and should have just about everything I need to do, done! It is a blessed feeling to know that my girls are able to handle the house, the kids and the meals and pack dad’s lunch while I am gone. I will try and update you when I leave and who knows, maybe while I am there if I am not too busy.
 -
I started school this week with the kids. I usually don’t start until well into September and in the past it has even been October before I finally got things going. I think the wet cool weather just made all the kids think “school” and they were ready to get going. I have only started math with them. We will add in the rest of the subjects on the 8th.. even if I am not here Emily and Leanne have said they will get the ball rolling with everyone.
I really only have 3 students this year! It seems like such a nice relief in many ways. This will be my 21st year of homeschooling and like anything done for that many years I have lost some of the newness and excitement I had for homeschooling way back when.. but I have not lost the reason my hubby and I chose to homeschool and we are both committed to continue onward. I still value and treasure the time I spend with my children and would not have it any other way. I have enjoyed the “new school year” excitement this year.. Just watching Isaac get all excited about new note books, pencil sharpeners and all was sweet.
This school year Leanne will be getting ready for her GED and working through Saxon’s Calculus book as well as teaching Isaac his math. She taught him last year and did a great job. She will also be deciding if she would like to join Emily in working towards a degree of some type through College Plus. Right now Leanne is looking at an English degree as a possibility.
On Wednesday the girls and I (and Isaac) went to town. Emily took her Western Civilization 2 CLEP test and passed (YEA!!). Then we went grocery shopping at Costco and then went to Starbucks and got our coffee and ended up at Ikea perusing the store with coffees in hand. Emily bought a book shelf for her bedroom. She has a really small room and was drowning in lack of organization. So now the books have a place to go. We saw some cute little baskets that hang on the wall.. but they were out of stock. We will check back next week (or when I get back.. something I keep saying often now). She thought that would be a perfect way to make a place for things and look pretty. She will be all organized before you know it and then there won’t be ANY reason why we can’t see her bed on some days.. right???
 Today I have house cleaning on my list and laundry. I really need to get some soap made before I go so I will try and get things set up to do that so I can make it tomorrow (if I am still here
). Sierra, Isaac and I will be heading to the recycling center to take in our recycling. Jacob has been working all week for a neighbor and will continue that today. And we have school to do as well. Dinner tonight will be chicken pot pie and a salad. Emily and Leanne won’t be here so I will have to adjust my recipe so I don’t have too many leftovers. Emily and Leanne are house sitting and watching Miss Margaret. I have mentioned her before. She is the little 90 something year old lady they watch when her son and daughter in law go out of town. She loves playing Skip Bo but has very little recent memory so she never can remember how many games she has played and would keep on playing all day if the girls were willing! The girls don’t mind but after 12 games they are ready for a break..
That is all for today… Hope you all have a great weekend on your homesteads!
Giveaways @ Moms In A BlogI wanted to share a couple of giveaways going on over at Moms In A Blog.We have a really cute child's Chef Hat & Apron from Princess Linens and a 4 oz bottle of Skin MD Natural Shielding Lotion for Mom If you haven't had a chance to get to know us at Moms In A Blog please come on over and take a look around. We talk about everything from Bible Based Living, Crafts, Frugal Living, Health & Wellness to Moms In Business and Books to Read and Moms Living Green We are always looking for Moms In Business to profile and we're looking for guest bloggers in our Frugal Living & Moms Living Green categories. Email me at Tracy@momsinablog.com if you're interested. I"ve missed reading all the blogs here at HSB and I'll be around more. Follow me on Twitter @Tracy_Roberts & @MomsInABlog Find the joy in your day, Tracy School books for saleI am listing a ton of school books for sale on E-Bay. I have so many that we never used nor will we use as my baby is a Junior this year I have many book for women and a few really old books for the kids to read or for someone to collect. My ebay id is : fishen4me. I have listed about 20 items and have about 80 more to go. At least until I get to the other boxes God Bless, mj Leanne’s Mission Trip, Part Three After arriving in Egypt Leanne’s team rested up and then it was time to unpack and get a glimpse of the orphanage in the daylight. I was surprised to see how big it was and how green! The orphange is near the Nile River and is an agricultural area so there was a lot green to be seen
Here is a picture of the girls on Leanne’s team. Leanne is sitting on the top row in the middle…
When the Egyptian girls saw them on the balcony for the first time they quickly swarmed around wanting to have their pictures taken..
The main portion of their time at the orphanage was spent laying concrete walkways. It was heavy duty work! They had no equipment to do the mixing the kids mixed it all by hand and carried it by bowlfuls to dump. Leanne said she learned so much about concrete work that she could give lessons now! Here is a look at the work they did… They had large piles of sand and rock that they mixed with bags of cement. They filled and carried the sand and rock by hand and then mixed it.
Exhausted!!
Laundry was done by hand on the roof top of the building they stayed in. This is the way everyone does their laundry. If you look back at some of the pics above you will see laundry and mattresses hanging over the tops of the roof drying.
In the evenings they had chapel time and Leanne was befriended by a couple of girls that were about her age. Leanne said the girl on the right really attached herself to her and she said she was so sweet.. she wanted to take her home with her..
The team spent more time with the children and got to see the town of 13 Things About ThomasIn honor of my only son's birthday, I'm following my tradition and posting all about him!! 13 Things About Thomas 1. He's loveable, loving and respectful 2. He's handy 3. He's quite capable, whether it's building, fixing or creating. 4. He's very smart 5. He's our only son 6. His birth was our first homebirth...and he was birthed into Daddy's hands...as Daddy was the "midwife"! 7. He's all boy. 8. He's Daddy's right hand 9. He kills bugs for his Mama and sisters. 10. He's confident 11. He's a great big brother to his younger sisters 12. He's outgoing 13. He's my baby....squishy cheeks and all... Happy Birthday, Thomas...our man....our Thomarom....we love you!!!! iBlackFriday!!Are you a fellow Black Friday shopper?? I know many people don't want to be bothered with getting up so very early the day after Thanksgiving to get the deals...so here's the answer for you! Last year, I found iblackfriday! What a treasure this is..whether you hit the stores or not! What I especially love about this site is that you can see the ads ahead of time. This is great so you can compare the best deals and map out your shopping plan. OR....you can order those items directly and not even leave your warm, cozy home after that huge filling meal the day before (and those late night snacks of turkey sandwiches that we all love!). Here's one that I'll be checking out... my favorite store for a bargain...and the only major retailer in our town.... Wal Mart I'm interested in the Kodak Z710 they have listed for $149. And can't forget the Littlest Pet Shop whirl around playground for only $15! I can already see my Christmas shopping being made so much easier with iBlackFriday! You can also sign up for e-mail alerts when they post each Black Friday ad. Can't get much easier than that! Bring on the holiday shopping season!! Making Homemade Chicken Soup in PicturesFall time is just around the corner. I start thinking about soups and stews to feed my family. They just seem to go hand in hand with the cool months of the year. One of my favorites is chicken soup. Chicken soup from scratch is very easy to make! Here is a step by step photo tutorial to show you how to make this yummy meal for your family. To begin with you will need one whole chicken and salt.
Put your chicken in a large stock or soup pot. Mine is a 14 quart size pot, but it is a little on the big size for the job. An 8 or 10 quart stock pot would most likely work just fine.
Now add 1 ½ gallons of water.
Add 2T of salt
Bring your chicken and water to a boil
Turn down the heat, cover and let is simmer for a few hours (2 to 4 hours or so) I never really time it I just cook until my chicken has kind of fallen apart.
Now it is time to separate the chicken and broth. I do this by putting a large pan (large enough to hold all the broth) in my sink
Then I put a colander inside the pan to catch the chicken
I pour the broth and chicken into the colander.
I remove the chicken and set this aside to cool.
Return the broth back into the stock pot
Now it is time to make soup! You will need about 4 to 5 cups of pasta. You can use any type of pasta you would like. Egg noodles are traditional but I like to use the rainbow rotini pasta that I get from my food co-op. You will also need one large onion and a few carrots (amount is up to you).
Chop up the onion and carrots
Add them to your broth
Bring this to a boil and add your spices. I add 1T chicken broth powder that I buy from my food co-op and about 1t of poultry seasonings. After it has come to a boil cover the pan and let this simmer for about 1 hour or until the veggies are tender.
While that is simmering you can debone your chicken. Remove all the meat from the bones and discard the bones.
When the cooking time is up add your chicken meat and pasta to the soup.
Let this simmer for about 12 to 15 minutes. Now you can taste it to see if you need to add any more salt. I typically don’t add any thing else. Serve this yummy meal to your family with a salad and some whole grain crackers and enjoy!!
Leanne’s Mission Trip, Part TwoAs boot camp came to a close the kids began the task of packing up their belongings and getting ready to head to Egypt. Not all teams left on the same day and their team was a few days behind most of the others. The last few nights they were able to sleep in the dorm rooms. And after 2 weeks in tents that flooded often with all the summer rains in Florida, they all appreciated this quite a bit!
 Here are a few pics of them packing up their gear….
 -
 -
 -
You can see everyone’s duffle bags and carry-on’s lined up and ready to go.
 There were a total of 70 duffle bags packed for the trip. Thirty five of them were the belongings of the team members and leaders and the rest were food.
 They packed up the bus and headed to the airport to catch their first flight…
 -
 -
 -
 There first stop was in Paris. Leanne took this picture as they were approaching Paris…
 They had to wait for their plane to Cairo so everyone found some way to catch a bit of sleep while they waited.
 -
 They arrived in Cairo and had a 10 hour bus trip to the orphanage. They finally arrived to their destination late at night and this is what they saw:
 I thought you might like to read Leanne’s own words on what boot camp was like and how she feels about it now that she is home. The next posting on her trip will begin at the orphanage.
Boot Camp
Leanne Miller
The first day I arrived at boot camp was a little hectic. The fist thing I went through was getting registered, transferring all my things to a duffel (which was challenging due to the fact everything had to be on chairs and nothing was allowed to touch the floor) they issued me, and getting acquainted with most of my team mates that had already arrived. We then took our stuff to our camp site that had already been taken over by mosquitoes. I had no idea what boot camp was going to be like, but I could tell they weren’t joking when they said this was no pamper camp.
We woke up every morning at five-thirty to one of our leaders singing some happy energetic song that not one of us appreciated at that time in the morning. We had exactly five minutes to be outside our tent with our boots on, name tag on, and a clean tent ready for inspection. We ran an obstacle course every morning, which included anything from climbing over a huge mountain of tires, using ropes to swing across water, crawling through barrels, etc…then it was on to breakfast! Meal time was always a highlight to everyone. We always had to eat everything we took or we got a SB, which stands for special blessing and we have to work them off during our free time. After that we had devotional time, listened to a couple speakers, had our brick laying class, lunch, some other classes, puppet class (which was one of my favorite classes), bath and laundry time, free time or SB time, dinner, and then we finished every day with a rally with all the teams.
We learned how to wash our clothes by hand, we took bucket baths, which was done in public so for two weeks we never really got clean, and how to do everything very quickly. Just about everybody’s level of vanity dropped drastically. There was no time for make-up, and not much time for clean clothes (it rained just about everyday and so it was hard to get your clothes dry), clean hair, and basic things like that. As unsanitary as this may seem, looking back I can see how important it was to get us used to this kind of environment. It prepared us for the field. We also had to learn a verse everyday. There was rarely a time when we didn’t have something to do.
The hardest parts for me were getting used to having everyday of my time planned out by someone else, and while I was there I was asked to write a brief testimony of why I decided to come to Teen Missions, what I had learned from boot camp, and that kind of thing. This wouldn’t have been a big ordeal if I had had time to think it out and had plenty of time to write it, but they needed it in three hrs, all of which I had classes. It was hard to write something personal under pressure. Not to mention in one of those classes we had a lady who walked by making sure everyone was paying attention. It just added to the pressure.
Boot camp was hard, and it was definitely a stretching experience, but it prepared us thoroughly for our trip, and it showed us what it is often times like for missionaries. Though it was tough it was worth it, and I would recommend Teen Missions to anyone who is interested in missionary work and wants to see if they would like it.
An award!!My friend Julie at Hatfield House (in the city) awarded me with this very thoughtful award. Thanks, Julie!!!
Here are the rules that go along with it: Only 5 people are allowed to receive this award. Let's see....only 5.... 1. Ellen....a friend I met on a message board...and have so enjoyed getting to know her. She lives on the other side of the pond as they say! 2. Misty...an IRL friend of mine whom I just love to pieces!!! 3. Michele...another IRL friend...and an inspiration in her family size and eagerness for more blessings! 4. Beth, a good friend..and one I hope to have forever! 5. Tiffani...another friend from a message board...and one that I treasure!!! I'm off to comment them with their awards!!! Almost time for bed....The clock reads 7:25pm...and that means it's almost time for slumber... But, I realized today that I hadn't blogged in almost a week, so I thought I'd take a minute while my children are brushing their teeth to post. Today is my folks' 43rd wedding anniversary!!! 43 years. One big thing they've taught me is that even when times get tough (and they will), stick together, work it out and keep on lovin'. You can weather most any storm TOGETHER. Today is also my FIL's birthday. Happy Birthday Ken!!! Just two days remain for Thomas to be 12. I tell ya, I can't believe he's almost 13!! I do wonder where the time goes.... School is going well. I will admit that this is proving to be my hardest year yet. This is our 12th year of home education...and the first year that all four of our children are in "official" school. Teaching 1st, 4th, 8th and 10th grades is tough! But, I can't imagine my children learning anywhere else. I've never thought of letting anyone else teach my children, and I'm not about to start now! Honey will be celebrating his third anniversary at Home Depot this Friday. I'm so proud of him...he was told today that he will be going to another store for two days next week to help them out...since their IMA isn't doing a good job. The district manager and his boss decided he was the best person for the job. That's my Honey! I've spent today making a pot of homemade tomato sauce, and baking cakes..in between the schooling. Friday is the big day here...a double party for Thomas and Natalie. I need to print off some decorations for Thomas' cake, but both should be pretty easy cakes. Much easier than last year...that was the year of an airsoft war cake and a tea pot and tea cups cake. This year, it's a boy's life cake and a dress up cake. Easy. I like easy! Especially right now! Life is constantly flowing....and I feel sometimes like I'm paddling against the flow. This is how I've been feeling lately. Like I could use a summer vacation...except the time for that is long gone. A flyer came yesterday for a small farms expo in November. It's to be held in Missouri, which isn't too terribly far away. It's a two day deal...and not expensive to attend. I'd so love to whisk Honey away just the two of us for a trip there. Not like we could afford to rent a car, pay for the gas and hotel....and leave our children for three days or so. It's one of my pipe dreams...I have alot of those sometimes! I've been kissed four times during this entry...guess that means it's time to turn in myself. Busy, busy day ahead tomorrow. Cake decorating, house cleaning, laundry, school work, cooking.....much to do...much to do. Some of the boys are spending the night after the party on Friday...so I think Saturday afternoon is gonna be Mama crash time! Have a blessed evening! { Last Page } { Page 1 of 5 } { Next Page } |
About Me My Profile Archives Friends My Photo Album
LinksCategoriesRecent EntriesWho's Life Is this!Teenagers ...... Our Day Today Feeling Cranky Today..... In search of shorts..... FriendsFern Amber belovedlamb quiverfull KingsCastleFarm Roberta67 Soapyspinner countrydreamn SimplifiedLife dlynthomas abundantblessings LoriSeaborg Trina homesteadinthemaking smmagers peachyfiglet farmchick MyThreeDaughters Emily23 jenna yearspassingby Kitty Pattisea hanemlee robertsroost b1aluciana |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
. Where did time go ? 
.
