Posted in A Day in My Life
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So much has been happening around here that I don't even know where to start. Last Monday, we received a call from my cousin that my aunt wasn't expected to live very long. Now, Aunt Bea had diabetes, dementia and a touch of Alzheimer's, but this was shocking news. She had come down with a very bad urinary tract infection that would not heal in spite of some very strong antibiotics - I believe there were three different kinds that they tried. She was in a nursing home in Fort Worth and they admitted her to the hospital. She was doing pretty well at the hospital, but when she went back to the nursing home she started going down. She forgot how to swallow and could not eat or drink and was put on hospice when my cousin called. Mom and I went out on Tuesday while Hannah babysat my great-niece, Faith, for Mom. Aunt Bea had been given morphine and was out of it the whole time we were there until right before we left. She roused a little as we were leaving and actually said something but no one really could understand what she said. My brother went out Wednesday night but she was not conscious at all, and remained that way the rest of the week. Mom and I went back out Thursday and stayed most of the day. We weren't going to go back on Friday but decided at the last moment to go ahead. My niece, Charity, called her grandparents-in-law to watch Faith for Mom so we could go on out there. I am so glad we went! We could tell it wouldn't be too long, and we were there, along with my two cousins, when she went Home. We left this Monday to go to Arkansas where she was buried, and came back Tuesday after her funeral. I'm still tired from all the travel. While we were there we learned that it is only a matter of time for another cousin, who is battling a brain tumor. Please keep her and her family in your prayers - Missy is only in her late thirties. On a happy note,Tuesday was mine and Keith's 19th anniversary! On Wednesday, my niece Charity found out she was going to have another little girl - now we will have a Faith, Hope, and Charity, and the greatest (oldest) of these is Charity. Is that cute or what?!!! Today the kids and I picked up my Mom and went to church to pack shoeboxes for Samaritan's Purse Operation Christmas Child. That was our Awana mission for this month and in all our church donated 62 boxes. Awana is a new program for our church that just started this year. I'm so proud of my family - we are all involved in it in some way or other. My husband is a Cubbie Leader, Shera is a Leader in Training in Cubbies, I am the Secretary, Hannah helps out where ever she's needed, my niece Charity is the Cubbie Director, my brother is a T & T Leader, and Luke, my niece Jenna and my great-niece Faith are in the program itself. I really love this ministry! Anyway, while we were at church today, Shera started getting a sore throat and headache with chills. She's had a fever and has slept most of the afternoon and evening. Poor baby! School has pretty much been on hold for the past couple of weeks and now that Shera is sick, it's going to be hard to get much done before Thanksgiving. Well, that's been my last couple of weeks. It's been hard, but God is always so good! Blessings, Carol |
Posted in This and That
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Sigh. I found my dream house. But it's out of my reach! Blessings, Carol
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A little too far away and a little more than we can afford, especially because it looks like it needs a little tlc. But I sure love looking at it! Posted in A Day in My Life
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September is our city's library sign up month. I got a call from our librarian a couple of weeks ago asking if the kids and I would pose with the mayor for a presentation. Hannah, however, wasn't able to be with us. Luke was very impressed with getting to meet the mayor, especially since the mayor made him feel very important by giving him a business card, lol. The librarian submitted the picture to the Dallas Morning News and our picture and the story is now on the website. Check it out! http://www.neighborsgo.com/stories/20602 Blessings, Carol |
Posted in Health and Nutrition
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According to an article on Dr. Mercola's site, the energy drink Red Bull may cause a stroke in some susceptible people. You are warned NOT to drink Red Bull if you:
Apparently, the drink has so much caffeine in it that it causes blood to be sticky, which may cause cardiovascular problems such as strokes. Just one hour after drinking a Red Bull, your blood system becomes abnormal, such as a patient with cardiovascular problems. I only touched on a few things, but you can read the entire article here: http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2008/09/06/red-bull-can-give-you-a-stroke.aspx?source=nl Blessings, Carol
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Posted in Recipes
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I very rarely make any type of desserts, but this one is a family favorite that I have tweaked to make it healthier. Hope you enjoy it! Blackberry Cobbler 2 10 oz bags of frozen blackberries 1/4 C Rapadura (honey would work as well) 1 C whole wheat flour 1 C Rapadura 1 1/2 tsp. baking powder dash of salt 1 tsp vanilla 2/3 C milk 2 sticks of butter, melted 1/4 C Rapadura Place frozen berries in a bowl with 1/4 C of Rapadura or honey. Stir; set aside to thaw and make a syrup. When thawed and juicy enough, cut butter into pieces and place in a 13 X 9 inch baking pan. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and place the pan in to melt the butter. In a medium bowl, combine flour, Rapadura, salt, and baking powder. Add the milk and vanilla and stir well. When butter is melted, pour the berries and syrup on top of the butter. Pour the flour mixture on top of the berries, then sprinkle about 1/4 C of Rapadura on top of that. Bake in a 350 degree oven for about 40 minutes.
I enjoy it warm with a pat or two of butter on top. Yum! |
Posted in Recipes
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I have found the very best homemade ranch dressing you could possibly ever make! Crystal has a WONDERFUL website that has all kinds of recipes, some of which she has posted here on homesteadblogger. I didn't have everything she uses in her recipe, but it still turned out so good. This is how I made it: Homemade Ranch Dressing 1 C mayonnaise 1/2 C sour cream 1/2 C milk 1 tsp onion powder 1/2 tsp garlic powder 2 tsp parsley dash dill weed 1/2 tsp salt Mix it all together and let set in the fridge for awhile before using. It is SO yummy, you just have to try it! We used it all up in just a couple of days. We had salad a couple of times, then used it as a dip with raw zucchini, and then tonight I used the little bit I had left to throw together a smoked salmon pasta salad. Here's my recipe: Smoked Salmon Pasta Salad brown rice rotini (or any kind of pasta) frozen mixed veggies (I used carrots, peas and corn) mayonnaise left over Ranch Dressing (I had maybe a couple of tablespoons; I would have put it all in if I had enough!) smoked salmon (I got from Whole Foods) Fix enough pasta for your family; during the last 5 minutes add the frozen veggies. Drain and rinse with cold water. Chop up about a cup of smoked salmon; add to pasta and vegetables. Add about a cup of mayonnaise and the rest of the Ranch Dressing and mix well. My entire family loved it - which is saying A LOT. With the five of us, there's usually someone who doesn't like a meal, but everyone loved this! If you have never been to Crystal's website, you really must. She has all kinds of wonderful information there! Blessings, Carol
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Posted in This and That
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This is awesome! Hope you enjoy it! Malachi 3:3 says: 'He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver.' He explained that in refining silver, one needed to hold the silver in the middle of the fire where the flames were hottest as to burn away all the impurities. 'He sits as a refiner and purifier of silver.' She asked the silversmith if it was true that he had to sit there in front of the fire the whole time the silver was being refined. Blessings, Carol |
Posted in A Day in My Life
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It rained on and off all day today, and is supposed to rain again in the morning. I love rainy days - especially when the weather cools down from the usual 105+ degrees to the low 90's. Right now, it is 75 and feels so good. After dinner tonight, Luke and I took Dixie for a walk and it felt so much like fall. Fall is my favorite season. I love watching leaves change colors and fall from the trees, and the cooler temperature. I know the temperature won't last, but it is such a nice respite from the heat. The Lord is so good! Blessings, |
Posted in A Day in My Life
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Trying to catch up with laundry today. I've got a few loads washed, dried, and put away and have another in the washing machine. It's the worst time of day to use the dryer because it is just so hot, but I don't have a clothesline right now. I miss hanging them out on the line; such a homey, comfortable feeling seeing laundry on the line, lol. I need to buy a new clothesline and ask Keith to put another one up for me. Since we don't have an "official" clothesline, he has just rigged one up for me between the fence and the swingset. Time (and children) have pretty much torn the old one up, so it's time for a new one. I'm keeping my niece, Jenna, and her stepbrother and sister today for a couple of hours. They have been playing really well together. I let them change into some old clothes and play outside with the hose. Now they are down the street at the school playground, where my older daughters cheerfully offered to take them. I don't think they'll stay too long since it's so hot, but the quiet house sure is nice! They even took the puppy. Dixie sure is growing, and can be quite mischevious at times. Take a look at Luke's blog for a naughty picture of her. She loves tearing up toilet paper! :P I'm giving away two bags of clothes to Jenna's stepsister. Why I kept them so long I don't know, but they're perfect for Madison right now, so I guess everything happens for a reason! I'm working on decluttering, which has always been very hard for me. It feels good to be getting rid of some things, though! I'm supposed to start tutoring my niece and her stepbrother and sister before they start back to school. Madison is pretty well on target in reading, but my niece and Parker aren't. The new Christian school they will be going to uses Abeka, which I hear is pretty advanced, so I'm afraid they may have a bit of a problem at first. They are both really smart, though, and I think they'll catch up pretty quickly. :) Well, they are back now. They lasted longer than I thought! It's actually much cooler today at 90 degrees; it has been 105 or so for the past week. Still, they are hot, thirsty, and tired. Dixie went straight to the cool tile in the bathroom to cool off and rest, and the kids are putting on a movie to watch. It's time for me to get off and get some more work done. Thanks for stopping by. Have a great day! Blessings, Carol
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Posted in A Day in My Life
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Today was a really busy day, and it's not over yet. I got up this morning, took the puppy for a short walk, went to the Post Office, drove out to hubby's work and picked up his check, brought it back and deposited it in the bank, drove out to the dairy and picked up 6 gallons of fresh raw Jersey milk (yum!) and 2 dozen eggs, drove a little further on to an orchard and picked up some peaches, strawberries, blueberries, zucchini, black eyed peas, cucumbers, okra and tomatoes. Came home and ate a fresh peach with some yogurt, nutmeg and pecans sprinkled with agave nectar for lunch. (Okay, I was still hungry so I had some chips and hot sauce afterwards!) I put the peas on to boil, and I think we'll have some fried okra, cornbread and fresh tomatoes and cucumbers for supper tonight. Then we may have some strawberries and blueberries with a little whipped cream for dessert. Yum! I sure miss having a garden this year. I'm thinking about starting a fall container garden and planting some greens and maybe carrots. I've never had a fall garden so I'm not even sure yet what I can plant. But anything we can grow will sure help the grocery bill, especially now that we have four rabbits. The kids have wanted to have a rabbitry for the past few years and we finally got them some. They have two English Lops and two Mini Rexes. They are so cute! Hannah just brought them in to relieve them of this Texas heat. Dixie (the pup) wants to play with them so bad, but for some reason they really don't want to, lol. We got something interesting in the mail today from an organization called People to People. Our daughter Shera is invited to travel and study in England and France next summer. I've never heard of this organization, but it was founded by President Eisenhower so apparently it's been around a while. Has anyone heard of it or had any experience with it? It sounds like a great opportunity, but there's no way we could ever come up with the money for something like that, much less be comfortable with letting her go off with people we don't even know. I'm off now to read a few blogs and get started on supper. Have a wonderful evening! Blessings, Carol
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Posted in This and That
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I came across something that I had never heard of - a solar food dehydrator. I have heard of solar cooking, but this was something new to me. I found this article in Mother Earth News, and then went to the guy's website. You can order his book from Amazon for around $10.00. Has anyone ever tried solar dehydrating? It looks like it would be a lot cheaper than an Excalibur, which has been something on my wish list for some time. Maybe now I'll just add this book to my wish list, if my handy dandy dh has the time to build it. I saw this book as well on Amazon: Cooking with Sunshine: The Complete Guide to Solar Cuisine with 150 Easy Sun-Cooked Recipes and thought it looked pretty interesting, too. While I have heard of solar cooking, I've never tried it. That just might be a fun family project! Blessings, Carol |
Posted in This and That
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Does anyone know what happened to Scarecrow? I just realized his blog disappeared. Praying he's doing okay! Blessings, |
Posted in This and That
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My son, Luke, is now an official blogger here on Homesteadblogger. He is so excited! If you have a chance, please visit him at Luke's Place. He would love to have you stop by! Blessings, Carol |
Posted in This and That
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I'm sure this is one email everyone has received at least once, but it's certainly worth repeating and sharing with your children! Blessings,
Love him or hate him, he sure hits the nail on the head with this! Bill Gates recently gave a speech at a High School about 11 things they did not and will not learn in school. He talks about how feel-good, politically correct teachings created a generation of kids with no concept of reality and how this concept set them up for failure in the real world.
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Posted in A Day in My Life
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Yes, we have a new addition to our family!!! One for whom I have been waiting for years . . . . . .
I finally got my collie! We named her Dixie. This picture just doesn't do her justice - she is absolutely gorgeous! And the next best thing is, my mom bought one of her littermates, whom she named Belle. We are so excited to finally have a puppy again! |
Posted in A Day in My Life
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Last night, dh and I went on a "date" for the first time in quite a while. We took the kids to my mom's to spend the night and then went to an Italian restaurant for dinner. Keith had a stromboli while I had cheese lasagna. Yummy! Then we went home and watched "On a Clear Day" netflix movie. It was okay; I think we will have to see it again and use the subtitles the next time so maybe we could understand it a bit better. The girls have been wanting to see it because Billy Boyd (Pippin in Lord of the Rings) is in it. Because it is rated PG-13, I wanted us to preview it first. Then we bowled a few games and played a few rounds of golf 2008 style - via the Wii, that is! We don't get to be alone together very much, and we really need to work on that. We are blessed to live so close to my mom so that we can do that occasionally. When the kids were younger, they spent at least one night a week there, but as they got older we just got out of the habit. Hopefully we'll start doing this more! Have a great day! Carol
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We finally broke down and got one after we got our income tax rebate. It was my first time to play it and it is really fun! 
Posted in Affordable Mineral Makeup
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For anyone out there interested in Affordable Mineral Makeup, here is an incentive for giving it a try! Celebrate Earth Day, April 22nd with 15% off at Affordable Mineral Makeup. Put the word earthday2008 in the coupon section to take off your 15%. You must also put in the comments section one thing you'll make an effort to do to help the environment. Have an awesome day! Blessings, Carol
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Posted in A Day in My Life
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I am now officially HOME! After much prayer, I felt it was time for me to quit my job at the daycare, and I have been home now for a couple of weeks. It feels so good to be home with my kids! This will be a short post because it is now time to run to piano lessons, but I did want to mention that the herbal treatment for lice works great!!!! Have a blessed day,
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CarolPosted in Make Your Own
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I found this from www.welltellme.com: 40 drops Bergamot essential oil 20 drops Lavendar essential oil 20 drops Tea Tree essential oil 1/2 cup carrier oil (I used olive oil) Mix together, drizzle over hair and work it in. Wrap head in plastic and leave on a minimum of 1 hour or overnight. Comb through with a lice comb, and then wash hair. Do this twice a day for two or three days. My sweet little niece has battled lice for over six months now. My b-i-l has tried the regular over-the-counter treatment over and over, but they still come back. We caught them from her a few months ago, and now Luke has caught them again. My head has been itching, too, although I haven't found any on me. Last time we found a wonderful herbal shampoo, Therapeutic Treatment Shampoo from Dessert Essence, that worked really well, but this time I thought I would try something else along with the shampoo. I will not be able to do this twice a day, so we will just do it once a day for four days, which is what you are supposed to do with the shampoo. It smells really great! I'll let you know how it works.
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