Love Made the Radish Grow

School This Week

2012-02-10T16:35:00.001-06:00

Due to a chaotic week we were only able to get a couple good days in, but that is the beauty of homeschooling, now isn't it?
This week was mostly spent reading together-our favorite way to learn these days. We are working on a chapter book about Martha of Martha Speaks, a long picture book about Abe Lincoln's childhood, we read more from our manners book, a book about Dolphins and Pony Gal read me a few different books from her HeadSprout reading program. We also went through two units in her math book and spent time working on her online math and reading programs.
Nothing fancy, but seeing definite improvement in all areas.

Saving on Our Food Bill

2012-02-09T11:08:00.001-06:00

Eek! It's been awhile since I have posted, after being so consistent. My new laptop decided, only a month after buying it, that the motherboard was no good, so she's been in the shop having a new one installed. All better now (I hope!), so back to work :)

Over the last several months I have been honing in on our grocery budget, trying to be as efficient and frugal with it as I can, while maintaining my sanity and our health. We've done pretty well. For example, there is nothing we *need* to purchase this week. Canned tomatoes are on sale at our Fareway at a good stock up price, so I may stop by on Saturday, since I noticed just a couple weeks ago we were nearing our last cans of tomatoes with chiles, but otherwise, we are good. That is such a freeing feeling.

So, we have had to back away some local buying for the winter, as we are also working on paying off all, yes, all, of our debt. I have wanted to do this for sometime, and finally Dad is completely on board. While we are working on that, prices dictate what we buy, and as much as I love to buy local, if it isn't the best price going for now (which, during the farmer's market season, it most certainly can be), we have to eschew it. We still have our bulk meat purchases, but most everything else, minus about one dozen eggs a week from our girls, is coming from local stores.

Even buying from the store can cost you a lot. We, through various local bloggers, found that ad shopping specifically helped out tremendously, as well as being willing to set space aside for stockpiling. We already used a large deep freeze to store meat, but found with the ad shopping it became even more useful. I also had already started to stockpile a little as I wanted to be prepared for the unknown-more economic difficulty, family illness, job loss or zombies-so I just have had to expand this, which I also wanted to do anyway. By those small changes, and the occasional use of coupons, we have whittled our weekly costs down to around $70. That is an average; if there is a lot on sale we may write a check for $150, but then not need to go to the store the next week, or only need milk.

How this works-first of all I have implemented the use of a household notebook. This is a binder where I have a variety of different lists and calendars to track what food we currently have or should have in our pantry and freezer, what has been on sale week to week (so I can track cycles and plan purchases accordingly), envelopes with clipped coupons, bills, and our general schedule. I also have a little notebook I use to track what the lowest price I've found on something is, though I have been slacking on updating it lately. That little book is really important, though. Looking at it often, I now have a good idea of what the best prices for things are, and can walk through the store and spot when something is a good deal. Having the book on hand is always handy, though, too.

Last summer I went shopping at most places in the metro area to compare prices on the things we were purchasing regularly. This included Hy Vee, Fareway, Aldi, Sam's Club and Costco. I have memberships to the latter two set to expire in May. After going back and forth on whether to renew them, just a couple weeks ago I decided not to. Here's why-they cost more than they save, at least for us. I figured costs, adjusting for the cost of membership, and the few, and there are only a few if you know how to shop ads, items that are cheaper do not make up for the cost of membership, time or gas, for us to use these places. If you watch ads, and don't even worry about coupons, you can easily save far more money just stocking up when things are on sale. I also found that prices between Aldi and the warehouses (and often Wal Mart, too, but I thoroughly dislike shopping at Wal Mart; it is too big and too busy and too easy to impulse buy) were often comparable, after figuring the membership fees. So, you can forgo the fees and pay the same price, but for smaller sizes. (Note-I compared price per unit or ounce, so that everything was comparable, no matter what size was being sold. A tricky way to get people to pay more for something is to sell it in the jumbo pack and make it seem like you're getting more for less, when you aren't, actually.)

Now, size is another thing that I found to be important. I don't know about other families, but we use things in smaller, more manageable sizes, far more efficiently. The larger sizes equal a lot more waste, though not intentionally. It just was often the case that things would spoil or deteriorate in quality before we were able to get through them. This was also a major reason we decided that the big stores weren't as big on savings as we thought. A gigantic bag of tortilla chips might be a few cents cheaper (they actually came to 1 cent per ounce cheaper at Costco than Aldi's normal price, and several cents more expensive than watching ads for 99 cent bags, which happened just a couple weeks ago, and stocking up), but because of the nature of tortilla chips, even closing them tightly whenever we were finished with the bag, they still were stale before we got through them. Now, I can use stale chips on casseroles and such, but we don't buy them for that purpose, and we would have to open a new bag to eat with salsa so it wasn't saving us anything. Some things could be frozen, but that meant a lot of work to repackage them into smaller portions for easier use later, and though I absolutely didn't mind, the time and mess involved made it not worth my time. Homeschooling and a newborn has me busy enough.
Not renewing that membership means that come May, no more big box stores for us. That leaves Wal Mart (which I prefer to not go to, but they do have a great price match policy. Many of the other grocery stores in town will match nearby competitors, though, and I generally shop in Altoona where this is the case.), Dahls (too expensive, in general), Hy Vee, Fareway and Aldi. Most weeks we are heading to Fareway or HyVee, depending on who has the better ad. This varies a lot, as often what we are stocking up on is a store brand, so it is more difficult to match prices (though Fareway often does a great job of doing this anyway, and without even having to bring an ad along. They just mark their stuff down to compete.). Often produce will be the breaking point, determining where we head. It is incredible how much more we spend on food because we don't take the time to think about what we're purchasing or planning ahead. I was really, really guilty of it.
Now, I should mention that we make most of our meals at home. Dad, since starting to pay off debt, has even started to take his lunch to work most days. We have a few items that are processed we get, like canned chili, box mac n cheese and cake mixes. All of those are for those times when we are completely frazzled, or we're going camping, or for emergencies when fresh alternatives aren't an option. I don't know what a difference in a grocery bill buying a lot of processed goods would make. We also use cloth napkins and towels, and make most of our own households cleaners. Those we don't make we are pretty picky about, so we splurge a little. Paper products and cleaners can get really expensive.

Something else to keep in mind is the necessity to keep track of the food you have or knowing creative ways to store things on sale. For examples, those canned veggies will eventually not be too terribly palatable. Rather than squinting at a date each time we go down we do two things: rotate stock or face it, as it was called back when I was a grocery store employee, and we also took a tip from a couponing lady, and write in a big black marker on the front of the can what the date it expires is. Easy to read and understand and those rules work for everything. We also keep like items together-canned goods, baking goods, boxed, bagged. We can easily send the kids down to grab something we may need in a pinch.

Creativity is often needed to use or store those store bought items. I posted previously on our solution for mushrooms-making a base for cream of mushroom soup, or even just sauteing them in butter and freezing, or they dry beautifully. The same goes for other produce-often they'll freeze as is, or can easily be made into something else that will store better.

As far as easy to grab meals, we have a few solutions there, too. I splurged on a giant box of restaurant grade food containers, pint size (though I think I'll end up going back for quarts, too), to store single serving size portions of meals in. I generally make more than we need for meals. Not always intentionally, but we never know how hungry we're going to be. Some nights we'll eat an entire pot of beef and noodles, others we'll have a bowl and be satisfied. I am not going to waste that food I worked so hard to get at a good price and prepare, but Dad doesn't eat leftovers (at least not knowingly in their original form, mwah ha ha ha ha ha) and often there will be more than even the kids and I can reasonably eat, so our new MO is to freeze them in those brilliant containers. I know we try to avoid plastics, but there are some places where they are just so handy, and the freezer is one. By freezing in single serving portions, they are perfect for sending in lunches, or if the kids just want sandwiches for lunch but I want something hot, I can pull one out. Another thing they have proved handy in is helping others. Dad's grandpa loves a hot meal, but his grandma is not as nimble as she once was, and it is hard for either to be in the kitchen much. Those single servings are perfect to send an assortment of meals his way (she tends to eat sparingly, and mostly raw fruits and veggies). He can keep them in the freezer for when he needs them, and has instant home-cooked meals handy rather than processed food that often contains far too much salt and sugar for what his varied health concerns necessitate. Big leftovers, like another meal's worth, we freeze in aluminum casserole pans or gallon sized ziplocks for our use later. I hardly call them leftovers, though, as often it is intentional that I make enough to freeze an entire meal for later use.

Another thing we do is include the kids in our food situation. They know that we buy on sale items or items on the list, help us find things on the shelf, count items as we put them in the cart, help carry them to the house and put them away. This helps them understand why we buy what we do and where we store things. This is all training for when they are older, something I didn't have but would sure have enjoyed once I was on my own. Too many families buy on a whim. It is amazing what plans can do! As they get older they will be invited to be more involved in the planning process, too. For now, just talking the entire time we're shopping and putting things away helps them to understand. They also have a great grip on why we buy certain foods and not others. Come this spring they'll help with our garden again, too, and the preservation process. Food is so vital to life and health and yet we treat it so nonchalant. If we put as much time in training our kids about food in our lives (as well as money and God) as we do using technology, it would be amazing what a difference in health and happiness we would see in our country.

It may seem like a lot of work, but once you get a good plan or set up, it really flows nicely and is so worth it. I would rather take the nearly $80 (!) we save each week and take the kids out for an occasional dinner out or buy a movie (or for now, pay a little extra on a bill) than spend it on food. Oh, and I should also mention that we also try to meal plan, too. I don't stick hard and fast to it, but having a basic plan, knowing what we need week to week, helps a lot. It also takes stress off of the "what should we eat" problem that arises around 5 o'clock each day.

Try doing just one thing different the next month and see what happens. We have implemented all these strategies a little at a time-change isn't easy. But, by doing so we have seen major difference and great improvement, in a lot of different areas.

Cousin Christian's Birthday Party

2012-01-26T15:59:00.000-06:00

A lot of kids

Dad and Superboy in a rare shot, as Superboy and Dad tend to butt heads a lot.

My pretty Pony Gal

The birthday boy about to blow out his candles

Cute Superboy feet in some awesome socks :)

Sisterly love between cousins Katy and Sami

A rare shot of Mama and Lovely G, nestled in her pouch as is usually the case. She had her hat on and paci in because it was super loud.

Chinese New Year Unit

2012-01-25T16:13:00.000-06:00

Last year we started what is most likely going to be a yearly tradition of celebrating Chinese New Year with our dear friends, the Reids. This year, unlike last year, I worked it into our home school schedule, and so last week we studied and read about the origins and traditions surrounding the Lunar New Year. I wanted to be ready with the kids knowing why and what we were celebrating, as well as learning a bit about China, when we came to our crafty fun part of this unit, dinner with our friends. That dinner was had on the eve of the new year, as is Chinese tradition, and was plentiful is absolutely delicious food, both traditional and not-so-traditional (after last year's attempts at traditional dessert items, we decided brownies would be a better choice this year, lol.). The kids did a good job picking up some new information, like the stories behind the beginning of the celebration (the Nian monster and the beginning of the farming season) as well as many of the traditions like the use of the color red, lanterns, time with family, cleaning and so on. We used several books from the library and did a few little booklets in a simple lapbook, but otherwise this was more of listening unit.
This week I also started using some of the printable books from Pony Gal's online reading program and we have been reading at least one together each day. She is making improvements, but struggles with focusing on what she's doing, which seems fairly normal for age. When she really focuses, she can fly through the 4-5 page books. When she doesn't, it takes an hour. Her math is coming along nicely, as well. I just got the next Singapore math book (Early Essentials Kindergarten B) and am excited that it covers so many things that I was wanting to see accomplished this school year, including telling "big" time like days, weeks, months, and so on. I had lined up some lapbooks to work on that, too, so we should have a nice selection of activities once we get there.
This week we are doing some work on basics using some cute owl sheets I printed off and reading together a lot, just as a bit of a change of pace from the lapbooks. We'll pick back up with them and the study of raptors (which owls are-nice segue) next week.

Helping Mom in the Kitchen (12 weeks)

2012-01-24T11:50:00.002-06:00

Middle Eastern food night

2012-01-24T11:10:00.001-06:00

This was dessert last week, baklava made using Pioneer Woman's recipe. It was delicious, and we had plenty so I was able to freeze some for last minute dessert later. Like usual, though, I can't leave the recipe as is, so I used a combination of walnuts, pecans and sesame seeds and added 1 t of almond extract instead of the 2 t of vanilla. So, so delicious but terribly rich.

This is the za'atar pizza or flatbread. It was pretty much the best loved part of the meal, and will become a staple in our house as it is also super easy. We used a za'atar blend from a local Middle Eastern grocery, and mixed it with olive oil, sesame seeds and salt. Smear all that on flattened pieces of Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day basic boule and bake at 450 for about 10 minutes. Fast and super delicious!

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookie Makin'

2012-01-20T11:32:00.000-06:00

We made some cookies last week while the Reids were over. Originally, we were going to make a recipe I had found for cheetah cookies to go along with our unit we were working on, but decided they didn't sound nearly as yummy as good old peanut butter chocolate chip cookies. We used this recipe, that I was completely happy with, from the Tasty Kitchen site.

Cheetah Unit

2012-01-19T11:50:00.000-06:00

The kids are obsessed with animals right now. We will be taking a break from them for a little while to study Chinese New Year and some basics like letters, then will head back. This is our cheetah lapbook and craft we used in our cheetah studies last week.

Toilet paper roll cheetahs

Superboy's book

We worked more on writing skills for Superboy than anything else this time around.

He did glue and color Africa for the cheetah home section.


Pony Gal's book

A booklet on cheetahs as pets in history

Forgot to rotate this one...booklets on cheetah speed, the origin of the name cheetah, and communication

Booklets on the status of the cheetahs and cheetah family dynamics

New vocabulary words. She already knew most of these, with the exception of diurnal and vocalizations

Lovely G's spot while I briefly needed my hands

Movie Time

2012-01-18T11:18:00.000-06:00

Lovely G at 11 weeks

2012-01-17T11:15:00.000-06:00

Kitty Kitty...Kitty

2012-01-16T11:10:00.000-06:00

Our barn cats decided to move out of the barn, but rather than spend their nights in the dog house that is decked out with bedding, we keep finding them here, in a flower pot on the back deck right outside our back door.

Tiger Unit Study

2012-01-06T13:34:00.000-06:00

Our unit on tigers is complete-it didn't take nearly as long as I thought. We read through four different books from the library, stopping to use the information we were getting to answer the different questions in our lapbooks. These were what we ended up with in the books (we used homeschoolshare.com for the lapbook activities):

This is Superboy's book. Pony Gal did do a few of the activities, though we were all working together so everyone was exposed to the same information, though the activities were geared to their different levels.

The top activity is to work with letters-the letter T for tiger, the next is a look at the importance of the tiger's anatomy and the bottom is about where tigers are located. The right side contained a matching game of various big cats.

This was Pony Gal's book.

Opened here you see one of her vocabulary words-quadraped with the definition written in it, a circle that she drew and copied the words explaining different things a tiger eats and a matchbook containing the average length of a tiger fang.

Open here is the little book on a tiger's habitat and a flip book containing the different still-existing tiger species.

This is the right side of the book, with more vocabulary words and questions that she had to answer as we did our "research." Since she still isn't spelling much yet, she gave me a verbal answer to the question (this one was about why tigers have padded feet), then I wrote down what she said and she copied it to gain some more writing time.

These were the tiger paw cookies we made-they didn't even have a chance to get stripes on them before the kids devoured them.

Dad and Lovely G at 10 weeks

2012-01-05T13:47:00.000-06:00

Our sweet baby girl has been growing beautifully. She is so very different from her older siblings in so many ways. She looks a lot different, from her body build (shorter, stouter, cute baby fattier) to her face and hair. The girl loves, loves, loves to smile. Big, open mouth smiles which here in the last couple weeks have led to "talking". Lots of cooing, squeals, and her favorite, A-goo. She also has come to love being in the pouch. Sometimes, it is even cause for a little yelling to get me to stop what I'm doing and carry her around that way.
In other ways she is much like them, sleeping and nursing well and being so overall content.

It's Hard Work to be Four

2012-01-05T13:15:00.003-06:00

This is where we found Superboy cuddled up when we went to tuck everyone in the other night. He didn't even make it to bed...

The Kids Love Them Some Turkey

2012-01-04T13:40:00.000-06:00

New Year's Day we thought we'd celebrate a bit with a nice supper together. Dad fried up a turkey we had in the freezer from Foxhollow Farm, while I made cheesy mashed potatoes and green beans. The kids love them some turkey, as is evidenced by the cave-man-esque eating styles exhibited here:

Lovely G at 9 weeks

2012-01-03T13:36:00.000-06:00

This photo also shows the little pajama pants I made her for Christmas that matches her big sister's (and the sweet Genna's, too!) night gown I had made,as well. Not a great shot of Lovely G in general, but unless she is totally asleep, the girl is in fairly constant motion.

January Homeschool Plans

2011-12-30T15:20:00.001-06:00

With my pregnancy and the birth of Lovely G, our schooling plans went into auto-pilot. Pony Gal kept up with her reading online, we read books together and tried to get math time fit in there, as well as all the documentaries and such we watch. Now with us into a bit of a routine with Lovely G and the new year around the corner, we are trying to get back into a routine.
I had set up a plan for this year, but hadn't really liked it. We are switching gears, just a bit, and moving towards some unit studies. I think I can better usher Superboy into the learning and make a more unified approach using units and lapbooks. He can start his own online reading program come August, but for now will be joining us as we learn about things.
For the month of January we plan on spending two weeks on China and the Chinese New Year, culminating celebrating with close friends, which I know the kids will thoroughly enjoy. The first two weeks, though, we will talk about Martin Luther King, Jr. We won't go into too much depth but I am trying to impart some sense of time this year, and think using holidays will help start to separate months from each other.
Right now the plan is to run four weeks or so on, then take a week off, or just plan to have the week to spread out into sluff off days. February will most likely be two weeks of George Washington and two of Abraham Lincoln.
I intend to use both lapbooks and my own research using the net and books from the library to supplement. I like what I see in a lot of lap books but some of the projects are tooooo busy-work-y and I have been clipping project ideas from magazines and the net for years and am happy to finally get around to using them. I will (hopefully) be taking pictures and notes as we go. I tend to be a horrible scrapbooker type, though, so we'll see how long I keep with it.

Christmas with Grandma G's Family

2011-12-30T08:57:00.000-06:00

See...they love those pillows!

MMMM, antipasta. This was Dad's second tray of food.

Every picture we tried to get with Lovely G in it was blurry. Here she was with Cousins N and V. V is quite the cute ball of energy.

Auntie K and Grandma G

Cousin V was a tad jealous of her mama holding Lovely G and wasn't going to leave her lap.

Peekaboo! Cousin J was a bit frightened of Dad (he was the one taking photos) but finally came out for a quick pic with Cousin V.

Great Grandpa D with Cousins X and Z.

Christmas in Carlisle

2011-12-29T17:15:00.000-06:00

We spent Christmas Eve afternoon with Dad's brother's family, enjoying soup and bread and snacks.

Cousin D with a reversible headband I made her

Cousin D with some pajama pants I made her

Cousin K with mitts I knit from some wool yarn that was leftover from a yarn swap at Prairieland Herbs a couple years ago

Auntie S and Cousin S

Pony Gal...

....cannot own too many horses!

Superboy loves animals

Cousin D

Cousin S with the hat I crocheted for Christmas (knit picks chunky yarn in spumoni)

Christmas at Home

2011-12-29T08:33:00.000-06:00

Pretty Pony Gal waiting for Grandma to arrive so she can start

Superboy :)

These ocean animal pillows were by far their favorite things. They have taken them everywhere. So simple, yet so loved.

Superboy wanted a grey squirrel. I crocheted him one, and the crocheting looks great, but I do not do any sort of embroidery work, so just trying to a face on the little bugger proved aggravating. You can see it is a bit odd, but he loved it, anyway. He needed a squirrel for his collection of Wild Kratt's inspired animals.

Superboy picked this sweater out at the thrift store for Pony Gal and she loved it.

Around Halloween, Superboy had asked for a cheetah costume. We don't do Halloween, but I do let the kids play with costumes all year round. I thought with it being near Halloween I could find him something, but all I found was a super cheap tiger get up. He went with it, but still wanted something cheetah (he loves cheetahs), so at JoAnn's Black Friday sale, the animals print stuff was marked down. I took the tiger mask and used it to make cheetah masks for both the kids. They are heads and "tails" (hee hee) better than the tiger ones.

Shay's Tea Room at Christmas

2011-12-28T17:09:00.000-06:00

My mother-in-law, sister-in-law, me and Lovely G all enjoyed afternoon tea and snack (lunch, really) at Shay's Tea Room in Newton. It is a lovely place, with the eatery on the main floor of the historic Hunter Mansion and gift shop on the second floor. The tea and food were both delightful, as was an afternoon with these lovely ladies. We hope to take our girls all there for "high tea" one afternoon this spring or summer, complete with nice dresses. Here are some photos I shot in between giving Lovely G her "tea".

Lovely G at 5 Weeks

2011-12-28T11:08:00.000-06:00

Thanksgiving with Dad's Family

2011-12-27T11:06:00.000-06:00

We celebrated Thanksgiving with Dad's family at my brother-in-law and sister-in-law's home. This happened on Thanksgiving, though you can't tell because I fell behind with my blogging :) Also the pictures in the next few posts haven't been edited; they uploaded before I got my new laptop and could spend time doing so, so sorry for the blinding light and overly dark photos.

You can't see him, but Dad is kidding with Pony Gal. And she is believing it...

Cousin D

Mmmm, pickle roll

Cousin S

This was just one table of folks. There were two others full of family in other rooms.

Pony Gal, my big kitchen helper

2011-12-26T10:37:00.000-06:00

Since Lovely G was born, Pony Gal has really stepped up to the plate in helping around the house. Her favorite tasks are of course, involving the baby, but she has been helping in the kitchen, too. Such a beautiful girl, she is.

Christmas With Mama's Family

2011-12-25T10:30:00.000-06:00

We celebrated Christmas with my family a week early to help all the young families involved clear up their schedules a bit and make things far more laid back. We gathered Sunday for brunch at Grandma B's house, complete with biscuits and gravy, homemade corned beef hash, egg casseroles and sweet breads. Here Lovely G is visiting with Grandma B.

I hadn't managed to get Lovely G smiling on camera, as every time I'd put the camera in front of my face to shoot a picture she'd freak out. This girl smiles, and smiles big, all the time, though. I love it.

This outfit she's in is the same one her big sister, Pony Gal, was baptised in on Christmas Eve the year she was born. Pony Gal was four months at that point. Lovely G is two months here. What a difference those last two months of life in mom make. Wow.

This shot above is what her full on smile looks like. She loves "talking" with her face :)

Al and Mal...such a cute couple.

Uncle Matt managed to not get caught in any of my photos, but here is my sister, his future very beautiful bride. I can't wait for spring of 2013!!!

Pony Gal actually already has a riding helmet but it was getting too tight (my kids have big heads. They always have. Gotta get all them brains in there, ya know ;) ) and she really wanted something more girly. It works out well, as Superboy is starting to take an interest in riding and her other helmet is white, so he can totally inherit it. I love hand-me-downs.

Here is my awesome bro-in-law Uncle Mark and sweet Cousin J.

Cousin J and Grandma B's friend Bruce.

This is what we gave Cousin J for Christmas-a hat I knit. I used the aviatrix pattern from my Ravelry queue. I love it and it is now my go-to pattern for baby hats. It is obviously a little big on her yet (I made one for Lovely G, too, and it is still too big), but works all the same because of....

The suuuuper cute chin strap. I put on two buttons to attach it so it could be used for a longer period-slouchy for little babes and snug for bigger ones.

And this cute kid is crawling already. Where does the time go??!!??

Lovely G at 8 Weeks

2011-12-24T09:42:00.000-06:00

(That sweater G is wearing is knit for her by the sweet Sarah.)

All Ready For Christmas

2011-12-23T09:34:00.000-06:00

Our tree. Usually we go to a local tree farm Dad worked at when he was young, but the prices have gotten a bit steep for our budget, so we cheated and went with fresh from Menards. Surprisingly, this tree has lasted longer than either of our farm trees. We are slowly building up our homemade ornament collection, but in the meantime we make sure to use plenty of lights and tinsel (the downtown Salvation Army had tons of tinsel cheap!) so she sparkles. Try not to focus on the laundry and gifts in process on the counter behind the tree.

We tried a new setup for the kids' trees this year and all of us really like it, plus it makes the main living area feel even more festive. Each of their little (artificial) trees is put around the living room. They get to decorate their trees, and their gifts from us (Mom and Dad) are put under their own tree. I also decided to make new stockings for everyone, though only Lovely G has one of the new ones for this year (the green one in the middle). The previous ones I had made from felt, but was never happy with. These new are knitted and I love them, so far.

Here is Lovely G's tree and the Advent calendar. This year rather than put the surprise in the pocket for each day, just the bible verse is there, then after we've read it for the day the kids get to each have one candy cane from one of the trees. It has worked out really well. I also snagged a bunch of 99-cent poinsettias from Home Depot on Black Friday since it is right next to JoAnn's, where I was loading up on fabric for the year (which I didn't get nearly enough of-next year!). They are all over the house.
I am down to just a couple gifts left to make, most baked goods and one to buy after I decided I just didn't have enough time to sanely complete their handmade gift. I love this time of year, but have been busier than usual so changed things up a bit to relieve stress.

Lovely G at 6 Weeks

2011-12-22T09:12:00.000-06:00

Sullen

2011-12-21T09:14:00.000-06:00

Pony Gal Riding

2011-12-21T08:57:00.000-06:00

Ready to Go

2011-12-20T08:46:00.002-06:00

Superboy's Fourth Birthday

2011-12-16T14:35:00.000-06:00

Despite having a one week old in the house, we still managed to celebrate Superboy's fourth birthday when we planned and how we planned. He had Ben 10 for his theme (though insisted he wanted Wild Kratts=wild animals, at the last minute. We just threw a couple animals around to cover that request). He was thrilled with what he received and getting to play with family and friends all evening. It was a good time, albeit rather tiring for one week postpartum. We must figure out a way to have babies slated for some other month than October (Pony Gal's due date was October 15th-born August 23rd, Superboy's October 29th and Lovely G's was Nov 1, but born October 21st).

This sweet Miss G shares Superboy's birthday. She arrived all tuckered out, but joined the fun later.

The 10 on the cake is from Ben 10's badge he wears on his coat. This confused some folks, though. My baby boy is NOT 10 yet. No, no, no.

See? Four candles. 4. He agrees with me-no more growing up.

Diapering

2011-12-16T13:29:00.001-06:00

I was talking and thinking the other day about where we've come with our diapering strategies with each of the kids.
With Pony Gal, though I knew I wanted to go the natural route with everything, her very early arrival threw all those plans to the wind. We came home from the hospital with a lot of free diapers and with my PPD, ended up just using disposables for a long time. Around the time she hit 18 months I ended up sewing some diapers up, but didn't really understand the way they worked best, and so ended up throwing that out. I then found a couple cloth diaper groups online, ordered a few diapers from them-all in ones and pockets, and used them on her until she potty trained several months later.
By that time I was pregnant with Superboy. I knew we wanted to go all cloth with him and worked out a barter for his diapers, which I got through Wallypop. We used mostly all in ones and pockets, but as he got older and we were mostly just diapering on longer trips and overnight, found I really liked fitteds and covers. I really loved the way longies looked on little guys, so we used recycled and knitted or crocheted pants on him a lot with fitteds.
Then we come to Lovely G. I said I'd never use prefolds for anything but stuffers, as they just seemed like more work. In reality, what I have found with this pretty little girl is that they are probably my favorite diapering system of all. Lovely G was small when she arrived, and so we ended up using preemie prefolds with her for a while, along with a couple crocheted covers. She moved into newborn sized stuff and we stuck with prefolds and covers because the smalls we had still were too large. Using those prefolds and snappis just felt so nice, as odd as that may sound. I think it is a cloth diaper lover issue, lol. The thing was that I didn't have nearly enough infant size prefolds (though I did have plenty of snappis, of which you only technically need one, though with an ornery four-year-old in the house back ups are a good thing), so I ordered some more of those. Then I realized because of how I diapered Superboy, I didn't have enough covers. We now have what we need, though as she grows we'll have to add here and there. She still is just a smidgen small for the smalls I have from Superboy. I find that I use my pockets and such more when we are out and about anyway for super fast diaper changes. Otherwise, we have reached this homey feeling point in diapering. I love how fast all our pieces dry and that I know they are clean when we put them away. I may still dye the pf's so that they are a little more fun, but may wait until they start to look stained, if they do.
It is always fun to reminisce about how things change with each new addition to the family. I have also reached a point where, gasp, I may be willing to part with certain items like carriers and a few diapers as I know really well what I do and don't like. I mean, I'll probably replace them with what I know I love now, so I won't be lightening my load or anything, lol, just switching things out.

Thanksgiving Recipes: Old Fashioned Stuffing

2011-11-26T18:41:00.001-06:00

So, it has taken most of my married life to figure out what recipes and strategies to use each holiday that we know are sure-fire. I have gotten several questions and requests about this, so though Turkey Day has passed, there is another big family holiday (my favorite, to be exact) coming up in just one short month, and I thought I'd go the easy route in sharing our recipes and techniques by making it a series of posts on the blog.
This first one is a recipe we discovered just this year. To be clear, I LOVE and grew up on oyster stuffing. It is my preferred stuffing, but not everyone loves it as much as me. Some, like my sister, love stuffing, just not the oyster kind. Since the holidays are about sharing with each other, it only made sense to search out a stuffing that would make everyone happy: simple and delicious. I made this one that I found on allrecipes.com for my husband's family's Thanksgiving dinner and it was perfect. I actually made the whole thing up, save the baking, the day before so all I had to do was pop it in the oven until it was heated through and browning on top at my sister-in law's house, so it is great for holidays when it is easier to do some cooking in advance.

Old Fashioned Stuffing:
30 slices white bread, left out to dry over night, then torn into small pieces

Saute in a pan over medium heat, just until softened:
2 T butter
1 large onion, very finely chopped
2 stalks of celery, very finely chopped
1 carrot, very finely chopped
1/2 bell pepper, very finely chopped

Grease a 9X13 baking dish (I used my Paula Deen enamel coated oval dutch oven because I LOVE it). If you are going to bake this right away, preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. If not, don't worry about the oven, but make room in the fridge. Put your bread in a bowl (I actually tore mine into pieces over the bowl so I could catch all the crumbs), and add your veggies, after they have cooled just a little.

Add to the bowl:
2 eggs, lightly beaten
2 cups of chicken stock (have more on hand, though, in case the stuffing looks dry)
2 t rubbed sage
1 t garlic granules or if you have fresh, even better-1 clove minced will do
plenty of salt and fresh ground pepper
healthy pinch of marjoram
healthy pinch of dried parsley

Mix everything together well. Make sure all the bread is well-moistened. If it seems dry at all, add more chicken stock. It will cook out some as it bakes, so don't be shy here. I think it is where a lot of folks mess up.

Now, if you are a meat-a-tarian, like our house tends to be, this would be very nicely augmented by a half a pound of cooked, crumbled and drained breakfast pork sausage added in when you add the veggies. Cook about an hour or so, checking to make sure it doesn't get too brown.

The Last Camping Trip of 2011 (but first with new gear!)

2011-11-23T12:52:00.001-06:00

The second weekend in October we decided to take a chance on the final camping trip of the year. We had driven through Robert's Creek and decided it was the perfect spot to camp that time of year. The kids were so not ready to pack up the camping gear for the year and with Lovely G showing up soon, we wanted to take the chance while we still could. We were blessed with a beautiful fall weekend-warm during the day and cool at night. Dad's parents and brother's family joined us, too. It was fun and a perfect chance to try out our new camping gear. During the summer we sold our camper, after finding we just weren't happy with the work involved and the return that work gave us in comparison to just using a nice tent. So, we bought a utility trailer to haul our gear in, and in doing that and needing to haul a tent instead of pulling another thing (the camper) we are now able to have enough room for our bicycles, and if we get things really decked out in the camper (plans Dad is working on), the four wheeler or kayaks later. In the meantime, this last trip has us pretty excited for camping next year, though we will have to be more careful in choosing sites as it is a BIG tent. Great for rainy trips, a little bit more difficult for certain campgrounds, but still heads and tails better to work with than a camper.

We tried something different for breakfast-some hand pies. I made the egg/ham/cheese mixture at home and stuck it in the cooler. The morning we decided to use it, Dad got the campfire nice and hot and we buttered bread, put them in our pie irons and topped with the egg filling and more buttered bread then just toasted until warm and ready. They were super easy and delicious!

Our Cabela's Alaknak II tent-the 12X20 model. We managed to even set it up in the dark with little trouble, even though it was our first time setting it up.

This is the zip out spot to stick a stove. We did give it a try using our propane heater, and it will be awesome if we decide to camp more in the cooler months.

The vent for a woodstove vent pipe.

Lovely G's Birth Story

2011-11-04T16:57:00.001-05:00

Lovely G, a couple days old

There is a lot that led up to the birth of our third child, and younger daughter. Here, though, I just want to record the story of her birth. My first two pregnancies ended in c-sections, the first an emergency and necessary at that point, the second not an emergency, and as we found out later, not really necessary. This time around we all wanted something far more gentle and family friendly, so we worked towards a natural birth at home.

Proud Dad and Lovely G, just a couple hours old

The plan was to labor at home for a while then head to town to a close friend's house (they were heading to a hotel for the night) and actually birth there so if there were any complications, since I had had two surgeries, we were close to a hospital. Things don't always go according to plans, though. :)
A couple days after I hit 38 weeks, on Thursday at 3:30 a.m., my water broke. I had gotten up because I felt like something was off down "there" and ended up getting over the toilet just in time for my water to burst. I had been having Braxton Hicks contractions on and off since the evening before, but nothing that made me think I was in labor. After the water breaking, there were a couple contractions, but still nothing substantial. Thursday we called Auntie Andie to come over and hang out with the kids in case things picked up, and Dad and I headed to town for a once over by my midwife, who stirred things up a bit in hopes contractions would pick up, and confirmed my water had indeed broken (I had been leaking since the initial break, and continued to until I gave birth). From there we went to the chiropractor to make sure things were in line for an easy birth, and from there to the acupuncturist to add one more line of insurance that things would pick up before my water had been broken for too long to be safe for baby and me. We picked up dinner from A Dong, headed home and relieved Auntie Andie and sent her home until we had more action. At that point I had a contraction here or there, but nothing rhythmic.

Dad and Lovely G a few hours old

I slept well that night, and Friday morning called my midwife to report there was still really no action. She didn't want to see my headed to the hospital for something that simple holding us up and making me have to fight with a doctor for a VBAC when we had made it this far, so she suggested a castor oil cocktail-which is making my cringe just remembering it-and nipple stimulation (I used the breast pump which hadn't seen any use since I had needed it to express milk for Pony Gal). I did the castor oil at 9 and the pump at 10. At 10:30 a.m. I emptied anything that had been in my body out anywhere it would come (just so much fun, I tell ya. Ug.) and by 11:30 a.m. contractions started in, every three minutes lasting one minute each. There was no building up to that point-it just jumped straight to intense.
I called my doula who had to take her kids to a sitter. Things were happening fast enough that I didn't feel able to call anyone else, though, so then Dad took over and called Auntie Andie and my midwife to come out. Auntie Andie helped with the kids at that point, but was so helpful in giving some massage therapy at the height of the contractions right before I hit the transition to push, as well. Around 1:30 p.m. my midwife's assistant and my midwife made it to our house-because of how violent the castor oil had made "things" and because the contractions were so close and uncomfortable, we ended up deciding to just stay home and risk things there. I couldn't imagine being in a car at that point, and honestly our plan had been to head for town well before things made it to where I ended up starting with the labor, so my body didn't really give me a chance. In the meantime, we got the phone call that my doula wouldn't be making it because her grandfather had passed away and she had to stay with her grandmother. She offered to send her back up, but I knew I wouldn't be comfortable being half naked with someone I didn't know there, so passed and figured that I was lucky that both my midwife and her assistant were wonderful for support as it was (her assistant is a doula anyway, training to be a midwife). Dad was super supportive, as well, and I get teary eyed thinking about how he missed getting to play that role in the prior births because of the surgeries and how birth should be a family affair. My kids were able to be around as much as they liked-Pony Gal chose to be outside, but SuperBoy watched everything and still asks questions about what all happened and why. We were together in a safe place and it is incredible how different that situation is compared to heading to the hospital.
So, after laboring for roughly three hours, two in my jacuzzi tub, and one in our bed, the contractions were coming so close I could barely get a break. I felt like I needed to go to the bathroom, and so the ladies helped me in there. Nothing happened but I felt like I needed to push. It seemed too soon in my reasoning, so I brushed it off but once I got back to the bed and laid down it was more intense. My midwife heard me grunt a bit at the end of a contraction and asked me if I felt like I needed to push, took a look at things and realized I was crowning. She barely got the pads in place and her gloves on in time to help coach me through pushing. At one point I asked to stand up, but she reassured me there was no time or reason to do so. It took three pushes, each one minute apart to push my sweet second daughter into the world. Everyone was rather happy with how quickly and smoothly everything went.

Lovely G in Mama's arms, only an hour old

I felt rather cheated later thinking about how I missed the moment of relief and joy as the baby slipped out, with my other babies. There is nothing else like it. Lying there with my older kids by my head and the baby on my stomach as she was wiped off and rubbed down to get the blood flowing, hearing my husband's pride as he told me he got to cut her cord, to take her first bath with her in our bath tub (which was one sore point with Super Boy, as he usually can take a bath with me if he likes, and he couldn't at that point, which made him super upset because he just couldn't understand why. He didn't care that there was blood in there and that was not going to be the best place for him.), sitting in my living room just an hour after giving birth talking with my support group and nursing my daughter in my clothes, eating my food, drinking a cup of tea-the experience was so, so, so different, and so, so, so worth every ounce of work it took to get us there. I think I am still a in a bit of a haze, but I just keep thinking about walking to my bedroom to go to sleep with my girl in my arms that night, in my bed and how incredible it was to have finally gotten to experience something so unique to being a mother, all I have to say is wow, and thank you, thank you, thank you to everyone who helped me get there. So many people were active in supporting our decision to be home with this birth-family, friends and skilled support-we wouldn't have made it without such a strong support system. We have no idea if we will have more kids after this (okay, but I have always wanted a BIG family, so in a few years I am sure I'll get an itch) but knowing that the next time around I have choices and we can have a beautiful experience rather than a scary one is something leaves me at incredible peace. I asked God for the opportunity to experience things the way He created them, that I was trusting Him with our family planning and if there was another surgery, I would take it as the sign we were finished and it was amazing to have so many prayers answered in a matter of a few hours.
He has blessed us with a happy healthy little girl-born at 5# 2 oz and 18 inches at 3:07 p.m. on Oct 21st-and we are all smitten. Everybody in the house loves her. She is nursing like a champ-she takes her time, but in a matter of a week managed to gain 12 ounces-double what the midwife likes to see in newborns. She sleeps fairly well at night-now during the day does love her mommy time, so we are taking things easy and enjoying her at this tiny stage. The kids can't wait until she is old enough to play with and love giving her kisses and helping with diaper changes or singing her to sleep. I keep pinching myself to make sure this isn't a dream because it still seems surreal that everything played out like it did and we are all doing so well. After the struggles of the first two times around it seems so odd to be doing so well right now.
Praise the Lord!

The birthday cake the kids and Auntie Andie baked to celebrate Lovely G's Birth Day, around 7 p.m. the evening she was born. Proud, excited siblings and mama :)

This Week's Ad Shopping

2011-09-23T08:33:00.002-05:00

This week was thin for us-not a lot in the ads we needed or felt was marked low enough. It actually was kind of nice to head to the grocery store and spend all of $40 for the few items that were on sale that we wanted-sugar and brown/powdered sugar at Fareway. Otherwise, we just picked up a few other basic items we use weekly, like cream cheese and milk and headed on our way. And we aren't skimping on anything. Buying up when things are marked down does wonders for the bills. We still have around $100/wk budgeted for groceries, but with baby arriving soon, it is nice to have this thinner week to put some of that budgeted money towards either baby bills that have started to show up or towards some of the longer term food storage stuff we are hoping to start building.

Tortilla Cream Cheese Roll Ups

2011-09-21T08:53:00.001-05:00

A fast, yummy lunch or snack around here....and easy for the kids to join in on making. This recipe, like the chicken one I recently posted, is also a make-it-fit-you kind of recipe. I pulled out the veggies that sounded good, added some seasoning-in this case dry ranch dressing mix- and went with it. If I had it on hand, cooked, diced chicken or diced ham would have also been good, or some dried beef or crab meat. This time was an all veggie sort of day.

Put 8 ounces of softened cream cheese in your bowl...

Add your seasoning-around a 1/4 c ranch dressing mix, in this case.

Add and mix in your veggies and/or meat. You can personalize a lot here, if you want more substance, add more veg and meat, if you like it more cheesy, add fewer. We went with fresh cucumbers, carrots, bell peppers and onions this day. Dice them pretty fine so they don't bunch up your roll ups. I even shredded the carrots.

Spread on a tortilla, roll up, cut and eat!

Pony Gal Made it to 7!

2011-09-20T09:11:00.000-05:00

All sarcasm aside, I can't believe my 2# 13 oz babe is now the beautiful, budding young lady that she is. She continues to amaze me (and frustrate me) every day and I know we are blessed beyond what we know to have her. These are a few of the photos I shot in between keeping chaos to a minimum-birthdays are definitely not when I get a lot of photos. There is just too much going on.

(We made the cupcakes using our usual vanilla bean basic cake recipe, but added raspberry and vanilla flavor to try to replicate something like cotton candy, which is what was requested. The frosting was Smitten Kitchen's Swiss Buttercream frosting, which is always worth the work involved. The butterflies I made by piping the wing shapes onto wax paper using a baggie and almond bark, then adding colored sugar and letting the set up. I got the idea from some cupcakes I had seen in a Family Fun magazine article a year or two ago. The other cupcakes had little gummy "caterpillars" we had picked up on clearance at Wal Mart a while back-I was thinking ahead :) )

Creamy Chicken Handpies

2011-09-19T11:44:00.002-05:00

I used to make a version of these when Dad and I were first married that used canned chicken, cream cheese and canned crescent rolls. They were delicious, but we try to make things a little more from scratch these days, so I have been playing with the original recipe. I found one from Paula Deen that made a more Latin style pie, which was pretty good, but I think the thing with these little beauties is that they are so easy to change up and still taste great. The main players, chicken, cream cheese and the pie crust, can be mixed with any number of ingredients to form something delicious. I have done ones with Parmesan cheese, braised greens and mozzarella, and these had more taco flavor to them. I think we like the down-home savory style best with cheddar cheese, onion, and some sort of chopped veggie, like broccoli.

The basic formula is:
1 # chicken, cooked and chopped (or if you are really pressed for time, you can use canned chicken)
1 recipe of your favorite pie crust
8 oz cream cheese, softened
1 c favorite cheese shredded
seasoning as appropriate with what you're going for: Italian and garlic, taco or fajita, fresh ground pepper and marjoram and parsley-just play with it a bit. You can taste it before you bake it!
Veggies-usually 1/4 of an onion, chopped, a couple cloves of garlic, minced, some chopped bell pepper, chopped greens, chopped broccoli, carrots, cauliflower, corn kernels, peas...really whatever sounds good

Mix all your ingredients together.

Divide your pie dough into pieces slightly larger than a golf ball, roll them out into circles (try your tortilla press for this!) and put about 1/4 cup of filling into them. Seal with a little egg and bake in 400 degree oven until they are golden brown. They freeze beautifully for single serving meals, too!

The Iowa State Fair

2011-09-15T09:32:00.000-05:00

I had forgotten to unload the pictures off of one of my camera memory cards, so the next few blog posts will be a bit of catch up :)

Cream of Mushroom Soup Base (for the freezer)

2011-09-13T19:31:00.000-05:00

Last week on our ad-based shopping list was white mushrooms. They were on sale for $1.00 a carton, which is a great price. The problem many people run into when fresh produce goes on sale is how to preserve or use it all before it ages out and you've wasted your money buying so much. So problem number one.

Problem number two: trying to make a recipe that sounds delicious only to get to the end and see that it calls for a can of cream of something soup, often cream of mushroom. In trying to eat food that we can identify all the ingredients in, cans of soup just doesn't fit in. It stinks though, as there are recipes that look and sound delectable except for that one ingredient.

The solution? Make your own! By doing so you can use up that great deal without letting it slip away, have easy food in the freezer that can be used in so many ways and try out some of those recipes that call for cream of whatever soup (most are pretty interchangeable).

This is my cream of mushroom soup base. I bought 4 cartons of mushrooms this last week, as I knew I didn't have tons of freezer space and we don't go through too many mushrooms, though 3/4 of the family loves them (Pony Gal can be pretty hit or miss). It is so simple and fast to do, buying those cans seems foolish!

(As a note: these pictures were taken during the fourth batch of soup base in the same pan, so the pan is getting rather crusty looking, lol.)

Cream of Mushroom Soup Base
1 carton (8 oz? the squarer version, not a larger rectangular one) mushrooms. Any will work, though in general the white button style are what goes on sale and are easiest to find
3 T butter
2 heaping T all-purpose flour
1 1/2 t thyme
1/2 t fresh ground black pepper
2-3 cups milk
salt to taste

Start by chopping your mushrooms to the size you prefer. We like ours somewhere between a dice and chunky. While you are chopping melt the butter in a sauce pan over medium heat. Once the butter is melted add the mushrooms, thyme and black pepper.

Saute until the mushrooms have changed to a darker brown and softened.
Once this happens, you will build a roux around the mushrooms, like if you were making a creamy breakfast gravy. Add the flour and cook for about 1 minute (otherwise you'll have a floury taste to the soup base. Yuck.)

Dump in your milk- I honestly eyeball this as I know with what pan I use how much I need. I err on the side of too much and let it cook back down to a creamy consistency, like that of a thick gravy, if it was too much. Stir the milk in and stir from time to time until your base reaches a nice creamy consistency.

Taste and add salt to taste-usually at least 1/4-1/2 t.

Let cool and put in labeled containers in the freezer.

We use ours for soup (add milk and more seasoning to taste and thickness), added to casseroles in place of canned condensed soup (comes out to about one can per batch of this recipe) or added to creamy, roux based gravies like what we use on chicken fried steak-oh my yumminess!

This Week's Shopping List Sept 13, 2011

2011-09-13T19:24:00.000-05:00

This is what is on our list this week. Fareway promises new sales on Friday and Saturday that are not listed in the ad already out. We plan on heading to Hy-Vee for their one day sale Friday early, so we'll hit up Fareway then, too, to see what they added.

Hy-Vee
64 oz Hy Vee brand OJ 99 cents (Fri only). They had this on sale a couple weeks ago, too. They are limiting 2 per customer this week, but we've only gone through 2, so this works out well.
Dole coleslaw mix 69 cents a bag, limit 2, Fri only. We don't actually eat that much coleslaw, so this may seem silly but these work great for egg rolls, so I will also purchase some wrappers and either make enough for freezer meal later this month, or just enough for the freezer one the baby comes.
Hy Vee mac and cheese 59 cents a box, Fri only, no limit. I never, never buy boxed mac and cheese, but we are back to trying to build up our emergency food storage and let's face it, there is little that is more shelf-stable and kid friendly in a crisis than mac and cheese.
Hy-Vee thin sliced deli ham $1.99# Fri only, no limit. Lunch meat freezes beautifully and this price is crazy awesome.
Hy-Vee yogurt 29 cents a cup through the 20th. Protein being so important right now, yogurt is high on our buying list here lately. Yogurt also freezes beautifully. I LOVE my freezer :)
Though we do not need any, if you need chicken both breast and hind quarters are super prices right now, so I would stock up on them if we weren't already full of chicken.
Hy Vee tomato sauce 3 for a $1 until the 20th, no limit.
Hunt's pasta sauce 88cents a can, until the 20th, no limit.
Midwest Country Fare frozen veggies 88 cents a bag, until the 20th, no limit.
Whole Boneless Pork Loins, $1.99# limit 2, Fri only. Perfect for big meals with family.

Fareway:
Apples $2.99 per 3# bag
Hunt's ketchup (Hunt's is HFCS free) 99 cents per 24 oz bottle
Carrots $1.29/2#
Tostitos tortilla chips $1.99/13 oz bag

Plus we'll pick up milk and bread for the week, although I am hopeful we may have found a decent brand of sprouted bread at Campbell's ( as in, not dry and icky tasting), so we may be shifting to purchasing that on art class days while we're in town.

Pregnancy Milestone

2011-09-08T08:55:00.000-05:00

We've made it past the perilous and stressful point in the pregnancy where Pony Gal made her entrance-I am honestly nervous, nervous, nervous until we get past that point each time around. I know God will take care of me no matter what happens, but it was such a traumatic ordeal, and to have it happen in my first pregnancy, that I can't imagine living the same thing again, though we both made it through fine. Superboy's pregnancy was far less bumpy-and could have been even less so with the right care. So, here we are with 5-8+ weeks left, definitely in the throes of late pregnancy. We are currently getting last minute preparations underway and though I am *supposed* to be taking it easy, I find it difficult, and managed to sneak into Menards a few days ago to get paint for our bathroom. I just can't leave things undone. Can't. So, hopefully I can get it painted in the next week, though I anticipate it will take me a couple days rather than the usual one since there is a lot to paint around and I intend to take lots of breaks. I also have gotten into the final stages of Superboy's quilt and should have it done by early next week, meaning if I get a chance to get some fabric, which I need to do anyway for the baby room/spare bedroom curtains, I can get ours done and get Pony Gal's started, which means pretty new beds for everyone. Sometime next year I'd like to make an extra quilt for the top bunk of Superboy's bed, as well, so there are nice blankets and not cheap store comforters, topping them. It is hard to believe we are so close to meeting our new blessing and yet those weeks seem so big. I have honestly started counting days from week to week because my anticipation has grown so. I am trying to figure out what my Christmas crafting plans are, as well, as I should get started on some of that if I want to not be stressed in the midst of new baby-dom. The plans involved with bringing new life into the world and our home sometimes do not make sense to others, but they really are all connected in my head. We've got a nice, growing stash of meals in the freezer as I have been consistently making double and sometimes triple of the main part of the meal in order to have easy food available when I am too tired to take care of things myself. It is all just checking off lists now-once I hit that "full-term" point I'll be able to breathe easier and start whatever is necessary to get this kid here as soon as possible.

This Week's Shopping List

2011-09-07T15:51:00.000-05:00

We have recently shifted our grocery buying habits a bit in order to get back to building our food storage, but still maintain some budget. I am finding this especially true when I think of loading three kids up to go get groceries in the middle of a snowstorm in Iowa. I would rather just be prepared. Last week was our first week and I really rather enjoyed scouring ads, putting all the info into my steadily growing database of ounce by ounce comparisons of prices between various stores and buying clubs and keeping track of what went on sale when so we can buy on a sale routine and save money plus stock up rather than pay full price to purchase items we use regularly all the time. I stink at couponing, but I enjoy research and comparisons, so this works well for me. We still try to buy locally when we can-we are active members of the Iowa Food Co-op, but if something is on sale, I never know when we may have an emergency and can't pass up necessities at low prices. That being said, this is what we're stocking up on this week (all these are from our local stores and may vary slightly from yours):

From Hy-Vee:
Hy-Vee brand bag cereal is $1/bag (Dad appreciates having cereal handy for breakfast even though we try to eat something more substantial in the morning)
Hy-Vee brand apple juice in the 64 oz size is 99 cents a bottle
Peaches and Nectarines are still 99 cents a pound
Butter Kernel canned veggies are 59 cents a can
Chicken drumsticks and thighs are 99 cents a pound (we won't be buying these as the freezer is full, but if it weren't, they'd go in)
Whole white mushrooms $1.00 pkg (will cook these up once we're home to freeze in supper size portions for meals)
Boneless Iowa Chops are $1 each

From Fareway:
Fareway diced tomatoes 2/98 cents (we use A LOT of tomatoes and there is no canning going on this year with house renovations)
Fareway tomato juice 98 cents
Grapes 99 cents/#
Fareway white bread (for Dad-we do not eat white bread) 98 cents
Quaker oatmeal 5/$10 (just a partial cent more than what we buy it for at Costco, but in smaller containers, which I appreciate for ease of use and freshness)
Fareway shredded cheese 4/$4 (normally I try to shred our cheese myself, but this price is great and shredded cheese freezes very well, so this can go in the freezer for emergencies)
Lettuce 77 cents a head
Bartlett Pears 88 cents #
Winter squash 68 cents #
John Morrell Hot dogs 79 cents a pkg

What An Odd Year

2011-08-18T08:30:00.000-05:00

I know, the year isn't over yet, but my goodness, this year, so far, has been anything but routine. We started out by finding we were expecting. That was odd, as I usually cannot get a home test to tell me anything but know, even when I know I am, until I am 2 months or more along. We knew at 4 weeks this time.
Then the home renos started. It was just going to be new floors in a couple rooms, moved to most of the first floor, moved to added things being done since so many things were moved anyway, taking far longer than planned, and meaning I missed out on time spent enjoying one of my favorite times of year because we were living in the basement, one of my least favorite places to be. We are still working on things-I mean the guy coming to fix some of the work that was done so very improperly it can't be lived with (read: doors that were replaced because they were leaking and we were afraid they'd ruin the hardwood, LEAK. Argh.) is starting today and will most likely be here at least a week.
The money that I insist we rarely tap into has flowed out of that account far too readily.
We reconciled with family we had been parted from for years, and rather happily so. I think it is easy to forget how much we care and miss someone until they are gone and return. That has added a new dimension of making time for them again, too, which hadn't happened for quite some time.
We took a vacation states away. The furthest we had ever taken the kids was to Minnesota. We loved the adventure and are already trying to figure out how to work in a doozy like this one was ever few years.
After said vacation we did what I swore we'd never do (though it was partly my idea), and sold the camper to buy a new tent. That being said we aren't buying any tent, we are buying one bada$$ tent that can make it through near anything according to reviews. Like, we could live in it. Nice.
This pregnancy has been completely different from the other two. This kid was active far earlier. I actually love my care practitioner. Everything is going very well. We still do not have a name. I am actually hoping this pregnancy continues to go very differently.
Our schooling routine has changed as we have found that Pony Gal does better with more structure. We are using programs and books, and though most of what she picks up is from just being an inquisitive little girl, the basics are now being worked on for 30 minutes or so a day, and it is already going rather well. No longer what we consider unschoolers, I think rather we are relaxed eclectic homeschoolers.
Plans of making the farm highly productive are turning around, especially with my pregnancy, and aiming more and more as just a hobby with potential, as parenting, schooling and my marriage take the forefront, as they should. Priorities.
I have not canned or frozen one thing this year. Not one. Between being tired with the pregnancy and in the basement and working on the house upstairs, it just hasn't worked. I am starting to put meals in the freezer for when the baby comes, but most of the produce we are getting we are eating or giving away. Just not enough hours in the day.
The weather-wet at one part of the season and hot, hot, hot later made most of our summer spent indoors. Totally not the norm here, but necessary on most fronts. Now things are nicer, my allergies are starting to kick in, which is normal, and usually the time I "move" indoors. So little time spent outside has me all out of whack.
I am already starting to feel that end of the pregnancy lack of comfort, with 10 and 1/2 weeks yet to go, which means I am already slowing down and doing less of what I need to be doing because carrying things and bending over just leave me feeling yucky.
I know there is more, but it just seems this year keeps doing things backwards for me. I am curious to see what the rest entails. In the meantime, we keep focusing on family and getting the house in order so that once Number Three shows up, I can be ready to relax, something I find very, very difficult to do.

Naming a Baby

2011-08-15T08:14:00.000-05:00

It is incredible the stress a baby name can cause. This little bugger still remains without any viable name options, and though everyone likes to insist that we have plenty of time, the planner in me is terribly upset about it. Pony Gal was two months premature, and that being the case, I really like to be ready for everything at that point. Clothes that will fit this wee one are already in the closet (with intention to remove the clothes for whatever gender we do not end up having since we are waiting to find out). Birth plans and calling lists are all out and ready. My birth bag will get filled in the next couple weeks. I don't like being caught unaware, like I was with my first pregnancy. So, all of that said, we have no runners in the name race. We know that we are pulling at least one name from Dad's family tree. We tried to find two, but, ahem, it was quite nearly impossible to find something suitable for our tastes. That leaves slots to fill, slots that Dad is being rather difficult with. He is not wanting to follow suit with the flexibility in the fact that we should both get equal say in this process. He insists that I am taking more than he has gotten in the past, but this is not so, really, at all. So, the process continues. I have warned that if he hasn't come up with something rather stunning by go time, I will trump the process-I think that's only fair for doing all the work ;) I continue to search for something suitable-I feel like there are rather big boots to fill after doing such great work on the first two-wink, wink.We'll see. It is a rather large responsibility, to be sure. Even though a person can technically change their name when they're older, I think what you are called affects a lot of your childhood. It is important to me that the name fits. I know a lot of folks like to wait until the baby shows up for fear it won't fit, but such a close bond is created having a life form in your womb, that I don't know how you couldn't already know a bit about who is going to emerge before they emerge. We'll see, I suppose. In the meantime, after a super-huge baby name book and re-creating all of Dad's family history, there are still no real winners. Time to dig in other places, I suppose.

Utah Vacation, Day 7

2011-08-11T08:39:00.000-05:00

Though we had planned on staying until Saturday night and then driving home, come Thursday everyone felt like they were ready to head back, so we did a little sight seeing, then packed up around 3 and hit the road for home. The vacation was fun. We definitely have plans to take some longer distance vacations, like this one was, once Number Three is old enough to be in the car for that long without major meltdowns or nursing spells. All the shots from this last day were taken with my phone since the battery had died on my camera, with the exception of a few actually on the road on the way home; we had Dad's camera then.

Because the falls are created from mountain streams fed by snow and ice melt, the water was frigid. That didn't keep all sorts of kids of all ages from playing in it, though.

Wyoming

Sunrise in Nebraska

Utah Vacation, Day 6

2011-08-10T10:30:00.000-05:00

Peanut Butter Balls

2011-08-09T08:41:00.000-05:00

I know my MIL used to make these, or at least something very similar to them, when her kids were young. They are super simple, nutritious and the kids can join in very easily. The last time we made them, they went FAST :)

Peanut Butter Balls
1/4 c honey
1/4 c peanut butter
1/2 c dry milk (more if the mixture seems too wet to easily roll into balls)
1/2 c add ins-chocolate chips, coconut flakes, nuts, seeds, dried fruit

Mix together, roll into balls and chill, if you can wait that long!

Utah Vacation, Missing Day 5 Photos

2011-08-09T08:28:00.000-05:00

Utah Vacation, Day 4 continued

2011-08-08T18:07:00.001-05:00

Love, loved this room. It was circular with only one entrance, and had a long bench so I could rest while Dad shopped and the kids very literally ran laps around the center display. It was like an indoor hunting themed playground :)

Utah Vacation, More Day 4

2011-08-02T08:38:00.001-05:00

And now, blogger won't let me post anymore pictures, so you'll have to wait for the rest of Day 6 later.

Utah Vacation, Day 5

2011-08-01T09:05:00.000-05:00

The fifth day had us waiting to hear about some repairs on the Reids' vehicle, so we hung out around campsite for part of the day. Once that was taken care of, we fit a short hike near Brighton then went out to eat for the Reids' anniversary at an excellent pizza place in Midway. Though the day had a bumpy start, it ended rather well.

Utah Vacation, Days 3 and 4

2011-07-26T10:23:00.001-05:00

We actually didn't do much the third day, but some sight seeing and set up the camper at the site.

Monday we went to the aquarium and had lunch out then back to the site for supper later.

Utah Vacation, Day 2

2011-07-25T09:45:00.000-05:00

Saturday we decided to do some sight seeing-touristy sort of stuff, most of which meant we'd be spending time in the Salt Lake City area.

We wanted to make sure to make a trek to the Bonneville Salt Flats and Speedway. They are really well known in the auto world for their use in setting world records for speed because of how large and flat the area is. They are a main feature in one of our favorite movies, The World's Fastest Indian. Dad did get the truck up into the mid 80's but until you are going really, really fast, they aren't all that smooth.

Seven different types of mole sauce, one of my favorite Mexican foods. I had a side of the poblano sauce with my meal. It was hard to choose, but I was super happy I had read in tip when I had checked in on foursquare that they had little sampler plates for free so you can try them all and decide. Yummy!

Chicken flautas...Superboy really enjoyed these.

Beef enchiladas

Shrimp quesadilla, which Pony Gal picked and ate all of the shrimp out of and left the rest.

A poblano combo platter. I couldn't make up my mind. No, I didn't come anywhere near eating all of it. I just wanted to try a lot of different things.

Some of the best fried ice cream, ever.

We had dinner with the Reids that night at Full House Asian. It was okay, but nothing special.

Utah Vacation, Day 1

2011-07-24T15:26:00.001-05:00

We try to take some sort of family vacation each year. We do some weekend camping, but Dad gets a couple weeks off a year, so generally we use one or both to go somewhere. With so much family and house stuff the last few years, our consistency has been spotty, and we haven't gone far. We decided to join our dear friends on their biannual trek to Utah this year. We had fun, but like usual, ended up getting a little homesick before the time we had planned to stay was up, and headed home a little early. There were a few factors at play; a major one being my difficulty with being away from home for so long and another being that we just didn't feel like we were jiving well with the locals. It was nice to be able to spend time with our friends, though, and the kids and I had never seen the mountains or been that far West (I always seem to be heading South for some reason). It did concrete the fact that we want that yearly vacation, but like the way our friends do it with a fairly local vacation one year and one further away the next.

We opted to drive through the night to make good time plus take advantage of the kids sleeping and the roads being fairly clear of traffic. It also makes Nebraska easier to endure, lol. We took off supper-time Thursday night and had made it to the Heber Valley, where we'd be camping, by 11 the next morning.

The kids did great in the truck. We had purchased a few small, but new toys and some new movies to keep them happy while we were driving.

All the campgrounds in the area were full, so we ended up staying in a hotel for two nights, which the kids enjoyed as they got to swim. We went to eat at the Good Thymes Bistro in Park City the first night for supper. It was okay, but not great, especially in comparison to some of the other fantastic meals we had while we were there. We did notice fairly quickly that everything is just a bit pricier in that area, which we adjusted to easily enough. We were pretty zonked that first day, so between naps, a meal and a swim, we really didn't do a whole lot.

The Last Week...

2011-07-12T08:59:00.000-05:00

We got our new Sleep Number Bed:

Went to run some errands and ran into a car show:

Finally experienced garlic scapes (my hardneck garlic never "scaped" last year and this was my first year planting a softneck variety. YUM!):

Finally found a use for that extra long, extra wide hallway in the basement and a permanent, proper home for my ever growing book collection (putting in the shelves will be a several day task, though, since the home stores keep running out of materials):

Me at 6 months. I made this skirt using a combination of tutorials- Here for the tiered skirt formula and Here to adapt it to a maternity skirt (though the band can easily be folded down for use at non-preggo times). Fabric is a clearance buy from Hancocks and the top knit is old stuff I had kept of Grandma Vivian's:

I plan on making several more of these as they are, by far, along with a pair of gaucho pants with a similar style band I picked up at a garage sale, the most comfortable maternity items I own for the lower half. Think I'll do the A-line version today.

Living Room Glimpse

2011-07-12T08:02:00.000-05:00

We are waiting on our new couch, ordered custom made from an Amish furniture store in Southern Iowa. We were tired of messing with the stuff you can get at your average furniture store and decided we wanted something made of solid wood (not particle board or plywood) and beautiful, that could be potentially handed down to our children. Hoping it gets here before Pony Gal's birthday, as there are few places to sit in the living room right now. I am still in the process of hanging pictures, too. In the pic is a shot of our curb-picked leather wing back recliner. I love, love, love it. Someone paid a lot of money for it, and I am glad we found it. So comfy with the perfect amount of aging to the leather. You can't see the antique rocking chair in the other corner. Once the room is complete, I will take a tour of pictures for you all. In the meantime, we are making progress! I think once we're back from vacation things will be closer to getting done. We need a break, for now :)

Visit with the Davis Crew

2011-07-11T07:43:00.001-05:00

We always enjoy visiting the Davis family-we don't get to play and talk enough with them! This time we were trying to trouble shoot an error message on my camera, and so shot off a lot of junk photos, but amidst them were some keepers. We finally deduced it was the lens starting to have issues, so some serious cash and a new lens later, I have upgraded lenses and am no longer turning the camera off between every shot to clear out the error message. (I didn't necessarily take all of these...we were passing the camera around to try to "break" it :) )

And one shot from the camera store while trying out the new lens

Meeting Jubilee

2011-07-10T10:21:00.000-05:00

The newest addition to my side of the family. Both Pony Gal and Superboy are smitten with this tiny blessing and now are even more excited than before to meet their own in just (WOW) 4 short months. Congratulations to Auntie A and Uncle M on such a sweet little girl.

Cupcakes

2011-07-08T19:07:00.000-05:00

Baby Update- 5 1/2 months!

2011-07-07T08:26:00.000-05:00

We had an ultrasound yesterday...with having previous c-sections, it is important to get one as they can cause things to grow a little wonky the next time around. Baby is growing beautifully, measuring perfectly and overly active. Currently, Baby is footling breech. This is something I had already suspected as the most activity I feel is the disco that is happening on top of my bladder most of the day, rather than a lot of movement at the top of my uterus. No real worries, there, though, as it is still early and their position isn't going to affect much at this point. We did not find out what we were having during the ultrasound, but looked away when those areas might be revealed. Guess you'll all have to wait to hear who ends up emerging in just 4 1/2 months. I must say that this pregnancy has progressed faster and more comfortably than my previous two. I go to appointments and can hardly believe the numbers when we talk about weeks and such. The kids are really excited and loved seeing a picture of our newest family addition.

Independence Day, 2011

2011-07-05T10:51:00.000-05:00

We spent the July Fourth weekend mostly at home this year. After being in the basement for so long, we have really been relishing our time at home upstairs. The Reids joined us overnight Saturday, trying out their new tent in the backyard, Sunday we did a little work on the house, getting Pony Gal's bed put back in her room and the air vents around the house replaced. Monday we attended the parade in my hometown, came home to make curtains for the master bedroom so the nightlight wouldn't be shining on the bed in its new home and then went back to town to hang out with my bil and sil and watch fireworks in their yard. It was a fairly laid back weekend, with lots of time to reflect on the liberty that we hold dear and the sacrifices made by those who came before and those who still serve that make it possible.

I am not a big fan of sparklers due to the massive amount of heat they put off, so we went pretty low key with our at home celebration and just purchased a few boxes of the snakes. That was enough for the kids, as we did watch some larger scale fireworks shows throughout the weekend.

We got Pony Gal's bed back from her grandma's house and reassembled in her room. Gram had been borrowing it while we needed to store it to help her rehab after a broken pelvis. She was done for it and we were ready for it, so it worked out pretty well, and Pony Gal is happy to have her room coming back together.

The Independence Day parade in Carlisle

(I should also note, that as I am loading these, I can see that my camera and lens are in desperate need of cleaning. I haven't been able to load pictures while we were downstairs, so now that I can see them on the computer screen, YEESH!)

Camping at Pine Lake with the Fam

2011-07-02T09:39:00.001-05:00

Whew...what a long couple months with all this house improvement business. We are still nowhere near finished, but the floors ARE, and we are slowly creeping things back upstairs. Hoping a lot of purging happens along the way. In the meantime, I was able to load some pics this morning from waaaay back in the first weekend in May when we joined my brother in law and sister in law camping at Pine Lake near Eldora. The kids had a lot of fun and it was a beautiful first camping weekend for 2011.

Peninsula upgrade

2011-06-05T18:27:00.001-05:00

We intend to replace the countertops in the kitchen next year. In the meantime, a serious eyesore has been the ugly fake wood paneling that is on the outside of the bar. We decided to do an aged painted wainscoting over what wad there, which will both look one hundred percent nicer and reinforce what we found when we thought we'd take off the ugly paneling-terribly thin cupboard backs that barely hold up the shelving within. Here are the pictures of the work so far. I will be putting an aged finish on later once we renew the dining room wall color.

Progress

2011-06-05T09:33:00.001-05:00

We aren't back upstairs yet, due to a broken sander, but should be in a couple weeks. In the meantime, a lot of planning for the work we will be doing ourselves has been happening. Already I have repainted the living room a different color, a brighter, prettier shade of my favorite color, green. I love it. We also decided to change the couch up there, from a hand-me-down gifted to us from Dad's parents to a leather couch with some character we had been using in the Man Cave. We will replace it with super cushy bean bags for the kids to rest on while we watch movies. This leaves budget room for major furniture upgrades in other rooms that we are majorly excited about. Since I currently have to post from my phone to send pictures, the posts won't be too long. I will try to keep you all visually updated, though, as we start the long journey of finally making the house what want and need it to be. Oh, and all that baby stuff, too ;)

The picture is of the living room in progress. The right color is the former one and the left is the new color.

Home improvement woes

2011-05-12T13:18:00.000-05:00

We know from owning what is now a one hundred year old house when we lived in our first house that no home improvement project is as simple as it seems on the face. That being said, improving the five year old home we currently live in did not seem like it would have too many twists, since we had the house built to our specifications. Let no one tell you a new house is any less work than an older house. The difference in craftsmanship from a hundred years ago to now have no comparison. Cheaper, faster have overtaken pride and longevity. I did not expect to have any less work owning a new house versus an older house; owning any house takes continual maintenance.

In our case the house was built with such cheap materials in some places and by such unskilled help that within the five years we have been here, a number of things need all out replaced. We tried to repair and hold out where we could, but there is only so much you can do with bad stuff. Our laminate countertops are falling apart...we warranteed them while we were able to, but their fix didn't really help. So, they are on the multi-year list of items to slowly replace. Recently, DH decided he could't take the very, very poorly installed carpet any longer, and so we went about getting real, hand finished wood flooring installed throughout the first floor, with the exceptions of the bathrooms, kitchen and laundry rooms as I do not feel comfortable with devices that hold water living on wood, no matter how vigilant I may be in keeping things dry. We will put tile in those rooms to replace the crappy vinyl in a few years.

As we dove into the wood installation we decided that we disliked the color of the woodwork enough that while so much of the trim was off, we would replace it with new wood trim in a color that matched the floors, and from there slowly replace the rest of the trim work in the house with better quality and color. Slowly. That was all good, then last night happens. We had been fairly dry the last week while the guys were working. The advent of a rainstorm brought on the new found knowledge that the West door in the house was leaking A LOT of water in, and that water was seeping up through the newly installed wood- something it couldn't do when vinyl was there. Out came the wood, a tarp went over the door, the front door was checked, and off I go first thing in the morning with two whining kids in tow to search for doors. Thing is, we DO NOT want to do this again, like, EVER, so we decided we would spend whatever it cost to get quality. The caveat was that we needed the door sooner rather than later. So, we went to every home improvement store in the metro area to find that they all stock their own crappy store brand, and special order the nicer brands, which take two to four weeks to come in. That wasn't going to cut it, so finally I ended up at Gilcrest Jewett and spend a boatload of money, but get super high-quality doors from people who knew what they were doing, and we would have them in five days total, and not sooner only because I was an hour too later for that day's order to come in, plus they would deliver the same day they came in, which was a better deal than the home stores. The kids were ready to explode (okay, Superboy did strip his pants off while we were checking out at none homestore where we purchased new storm doors and handles for the entry doors), but after four hours, we got it done.

Now waiting for the next major addition to the growing list of unplanned improvements this go-round. It will be beautiful when it's done. That is what I have to keep telling myself...

Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day Fried Tacos and Nutella Donuts

2011-05-10T08:22:00.000-05:00

Ever since I was young, my grandma made the best tacos...if you are from around the Des Moines metro area and have had Tasty Tacos, like those, but far less grease. That fried flour shell was always delicious, stuffed with seasoned meat and then topped with any number of toppings: tomatoes, onions, sour cream, lettuce and cheese. As I grew to cooking on my own and m grandma got older and less able to do what she used to, I started asking for the recipe. She would try to show me, but every time it was a little different and I could never get mine just like hers.

Enter Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day. First I started with just the easy baking of rolls and chewy breads on a whim, then graduated to experimenting with what else I can do with it. From pizza to naan to cinnamon rolls, I was on a roll. Then came the brilliant idea to try to use the dough for grandma's fried tacos. The chewiness of the finished boule lent itself to the same consistency of the tacos of my childhood. I apologize now for the lack of pictures; I am posting from my iPad and have yet to figure out loading pictures. I will try to load some later once the house is back to normal.

To make the tacos you need a batch of the artisan bread boule ready and chilled, as well as 1 pound of taco meat cooked up. Now, I have done this in the crockpot as of late, as it takes a while to fry all these puppies up, and honestly, this time of year recommend getting out the turkey fryer and doing it outside if you have the capability. Less heat in the house, the better.

You start by pulling off a lemon-size chunk of dough and using your hands flattening it. You might need to add some flour to make it workable. Won't hurt anything. You want to flatten to a circle (or something like it) about 1/8 to a 1/4 in thick. Continue by putting just a tablespoon or two of your filling in (vegetarians you can totally go beany here instead of meat, too) the center of half of the circle, then fold over so you have a half circle. Use your fingers to crimp the edges lightly, just so the filling is held in while you are frying.

You need your oil around 350 degrees, and then you can fry until golden brown. Drain on paper towels and keep warm until you are ready to serve. To serve, just gently pry the tacos open and fill with your favorite tacos toppings...fresh salsa, lettuce, cheese, tomato, onions, black olives, sour cream, peppers...you name it. These are great reheated for lunch the next day, too, IF you have any leftovers. This was a favorite at the AB in 5 class I taught several months ago.

Now, you have hot oil and bread dough, and a hankering for dessert? No problem! Next you can fry up some Nutella tacos. Yes, you read that right. Do the same thing as you did to get your dough ready for the taco filling, but this time put in Nutella instead, or my husband likes a sweetened cream cheese and strawberries in his. Fold over, press, fry, drain, but while still hot after draining, sprinkle with powdered sugar. So good. I came up with that quick donut recipe one day when I had just enough dough left after making tacos for just a few more, but no filling. Never one to waste bread, and always looking for new ways to insert Nutella into every meal, voila!

We've also made breakfast fried tacos-same procedure, but change out the taco filling for scrambled eggs, meats, veggies and cheese. Delicious! You can easily make up the eggs the night before and just store them in the fridge for easy work the next morning.

That Artisan Bread dough is amazing stuff, isn't it?

Change and Age

2011-05-09T18:07:00.000-05:00

You know, through the years I have always enjoyed change. I like to change paint colors, change arrangements in the garden, change recipes and menus, change places we camp. That was then, though. Apparently as I get older (I am not getting old by any means, just getting older or growing up a bit), I find that I am changing, and my stance on change has changed. Now, it seems I am not so fond of it, which is news to me.

I think really this has to do with a lot of major changes at once. We found we were expecting in February, we reunited with some family we had previously been estranged from (and were more than happy to be able to do so), we decided to remove all carpeting from the house and install real, hardwood flooring, which involves moving everything from the first floor to the basement and living there for awhile. We usually live down there in the summer to avoid using the air as it maintains an ambient temp all summer long. We do not, though, move everything we own down there. Just clothes, really.

With the advent of baby and moving clothes we are examining what life has been like the last five years and finding lots of changes that will make life easier and help us prepare for baby, but are big changes in the way things are around the house. Different uss for rooms, adding furniture, taking away furniture, painting rooms, moving plans for a library and office around. All that is starting to make me suffer mini-anxiety attacks like I have not dealt with for a very long time-though that is mostly due to the fact that I know my stressors and avoid them. It is just a lot to take in. The worst part is that I really am happy about what we're doing, and will love my "new" house, but in the meantime cannot handle the stress of it all.

On top of that I have my usual pregnancy worries and have been thinking a lot about running the farm at the best of my game, plus keeping a large house and homeschooling kids, plus starting over with another little blessing, and I think we will be making a few changes. I don't like to do things halfway, and I currently feel like that is where I am at with a lot of the farm stuff. I just have to decide how much to change, and any change anymore seems to be a difficult decision.

It will be interesting to see how these next few months play out. I am really looking to the small respites we get from camping every couple weekends. It gives me a chance to clear my head and separate from the chaos that is currently living on the banks of Sugar Creek, as much as I love it here. I need that refreshing...change and I are not getting along all that well these days, yet it is necessary, really, all of it, and it is going to take all the healthy coping skills I can muster to not break down over the summer.

Discussion while moving some pictures down the stairs

2011-05-02T16:15:00.002-05:00

Superboy: Mommy, be careful.
Me: Okay, honey. So I don't fall?
Superboy: Yes, and don't break the picture of Jesus.
Me: Okay. *smile*
Superboy: It belongs to Him.
Me: Yes, it does, doesn't it?
Superboy: But He's letting us have it.
Me: Yep, He is.
Superboy: Jesus is still alive, isn't he?
Me: Yes, He is.
Superboy: He lives in our hearts. (points to heart)
Me: Yes, He does.
Superboy: (Smiles big.)

Easter with the Family

2011-04-27T08:39:00.000-05:00

We personally do not do egg hunts in our house, as Easter has nothing to do with eggs. The kids and I talked about the real meaning and the story of Easter and that we really treasure our time with family, so we go do those things, but those are fun things that really do not add to the importance of the holiday. It was really rather cute as we were going through the Easter story-I think I take for granted just how much a three year old can grasp. We were nearing the best part-where the apostles find the empty tomb-and Pony Gal was asking a lot of questions. I was trying to answer them without breaking the story up too much as Superboy was on the edge of his seat. I got to the part where Mary turns around and sees Jesus and Superboy jumps up and yells "Yay!" and claps his hands. He was pretty psyched that Jesus was alive :)

All that being said, we still do egg hunts with family. It is part of what they've always done, and we respect that. The kids enjoy themselves. We ended up doing one at Grandma G's church, then one at her house and one at

Pre-dinner entertainment-golfing with badminton rackets in Grandma G's front yard.

The hunt begins at Grandma G's. Dad and his brother Uncle D hid the eggs-sort of ;)

Cousin C and Superboy comparing finds

Cousin C was calling this his "backpack" :)

Here the hunt begins at Grandma B's

Notice the arrow I am dodging...

Baby update

2011-04-26T07:31:00.000-05:00

Things are moving along well. It is crazy the kind of care you receive from different providers. I am enamored with my midwife this time around, especially after going with doctors the last time. She is stern, yet caring and very straight forward. I love that I can just sit and talk with her at her desk, and that we only move to the exam room at the end for a quick run of the "medical" stuff. I love that she seems to understand my situation better than anyone I've dealt with in pregnancy thus far-including other midwives.

I have one hiccup I am dealing with, but hopefully nothing major. At this point I am out of the first trimester, which is always a blessing as there is a lot of worry there. I am still rather tired, and still can't handle certain smells and tastes, but things have lightened up some. I have heard that speedy little heartbeat that makes my own heartbeat skip a little and makes me catch my breath. I think until I hear that I doubt the authenticity of the situation, and then it's there and it really sinks in that God once again trusts me with making a life, with raising, loving and caring for an entirely new human being. It is incredible.

I am currently doing a pretty good job following the mw's orders to keep my health at a premium as we prepare for the big day, which you can never do too soon. I think too many newly pregnant moms see that day as so far away, rather than each and every day until then as a chance to make sure that one moment runs smoothly-each pregnancy presents only one chance to do things "right". I am excited at the possibilities of things running "normally" this time-no surgeries, no doctors. I am walking a mile a day with DH each morning, which is nice on many levels as that gives us a little time without the kids and he and I both needed it, pregnancy or not. I am eating with a focus on meat and veggies, with just a few servings of whole grain carbs thrown in, and at this point have actually lost weight rather than gained any. In my case, this is a good thing. I am still eating plenty, but making that point to avoid as much junk as possible makes your body reassess the situation. I have plenty to "spare" so she is not worried, and I seem to have a tipping point where things go down-hill in the pregnancy, so if I keep myself below that point, my body should be able to handle this go-round like a dream. I also am keeping a journal with at-home blood pressure checks, as well as the food and exercise log. With my history of pre-e with the first pregnancy and elevated bp with the second, it is just an added, easy measure to keep an eye on things and be able to take more action than anyone I have dealt with in the past was willing to take. On top of all that is a slew of supplements: an large dose of Vitamin D, Calcium and Magnesium, the usual multi-vit, lots of Omega-3's, my digestive aids-a probiotic, Thymex and a slew of enzymes plus, with my history of pre-e we have also added a baby aspirin. The use can be controversial but I waited until I was out of the first trimester to start it so the placenta would have a good start and I have no issue with blood clotting when it needs to so we should be okay once we get down to the line. There have been studies that show that little pill makes a lot of difference in the pregnancy going to term and coming out positively. There is some risk of things not starting on time, but so long as everyone is healthy, I am okay with that. A little more space between when I'm due at this point and Superboy's birthday is fine with me.

Next appointment in 2 and half weeks. We'll see how things are going from there!

W's Birthday

2011-04-26T07:15:00.000-05:00

April is a busy month of birthdays for us. One special one is my dear friend's son. Here are a few shots from the cool kids' party :)

Superboy and G have been playing rather well together here lately. It's pretty cute.

Miss G was rather taken with this bird that would not fly away. She actually managed to catch him at one point, while the awe-struck adults took a minute to realize it was NOT FLYING AWAY. A lot of the animals were kind of slow that day. We quickly got the bird away from her and walked away before she could try again. It was pretty funny in the midst of things.

Pony Gal's First Violin Recital

2011-04-25T11:22:00.000-05:00

She played Mary Had A Little Lamb and did wonderfully, although she took some creative liberty with the ending :)


This is the teacher's daughter, and it was her first recital, too. She was absolutely adorable as she scratched out some bowing on the E string. Superboy hopes to be up there next year :)

More Spring Busy-ness

2011-04-21T08:06:00.001-05:00

I am not getting the chance to post much here lately. We have two ducklings in the laundry room right now. We have 32 chicks in the basement kitchen (see our sister farm's great post on starting your own chicks here along with pics of what the other half of our chicken order looks like). We have flowering fruit trees and seedlings popping up in the vegetable garden all over. We have lambs and goat kids. I am working on my own "kid" which is tiring even if no evidence is apparent yet. That re-organizing bug so common in the spring has caught on and the basement is in pieces as we re-do the storage room, and make plans for new wood floors throughout most of the main floor and built in bookshelves in the master bedroom. Things are just nuts. Things are just the way we like them. :)

Brown's Woods Hike

2011-04-15T08:17:00.000-05:00

We thought this was cute...we later learned it was for a reason though. They both wanted to be in the lead and figured out they could be "tied" while they were holding hands. They fought for the coveted lead spot the entire hike, which got sort of annoying. Hoping that passes soon...

This was our first hike at Brown's Woods for awhile-I think since before Superboy was born, in fact. We set out after lunch and not far in Superboy decided he was tired so I ended up hiking the whole trail (just under 2 miles) with him asleep on my back and my backpack of gear on my front. Definitely earned dessert that day :) This was our first attempt at letterboxing, as well. We managed to find the Go Green letterbox and stamped everything up. There is another in the park there, but until the trees are leafed out we aren't going to have any chance of finding it. We were going to geocache as well, but the GPS was acting up. It was fun and definitely helped to start building muscles for our ultimate hike this summer-Mt. Timp in Utah.

White Dogtooth Violet Erythonium albidum From 4-12 in tall and the flower is about 3/4 in to 1 in wide. White flowers with 6 up-swept petals, nodding atop a leafless stalk; leaves leathery, often mottled, arising from base of stalk. Found in moist woods and thickets from April to June.

Stumped by where the letterbox is

Forgiveness

2011-04-12T08:23:00.000-05:00

It seems to be such a fickle thing with some people. We try to make the choice to let go of something that someone has done that hurt us, but we still keep up this guard and hide when things start looking sticky again. The thing is, if we are to model ourselves after Christ, when we forgive we have to really move on. That means we may get hurt again. It also means we may not, and we've just re-opened a door for healthy relationships. When we hold hurt or grudges against someone we create barriers in all our relationships. We see small similarities between "that" person and someone we are trying to have a new relationship with and we can never fully enjoy it due to suspicion or hiding some of who we are. It is sad. Unfortunately, I am guilty of this, but really, really try to make a conscious effort to avoid being someone who hangs onto things. And I do have to deal with being hurt repeatedly. Being human wasn't meant to be easy, and being a Christian most certainly not so. We have hope given to us by an Amazing Savior, but that doesn't mean that our earthly relationships will be just as easy. I currently am in a good place-there really isn't anyone that I hold anything against. We ALL make mistakes. I have moved on. The real kicker to moving on, though, is remembering that on top of forgiving and getting past what happened, we are to love each other. There are those that I may not have good relationships with anymore, for whatever reason, but I still keep them in prayer and hope for the best for them and their families. It can be a difficult thing for some people to start doing, but we are called to love. That is one of the main things the Bible tells us, over and over and over again. It is easy to get caught up in single verses telling us that we can and can't do this or that, but in context we are really only called to love-to love God and to love each other, no matter how we may get perturbed with each other. It happens. We are all different and beautiful creations. Like our own children, God loves us for who we are and doesn't want us to be someone else, and we need to love each other for who we are and not try to change each other. Loving someone no matter what means forgiveness and moving on. It means that even though things have changed, you still pray for someone. I wouldn't wish anything harsh on anyone. Why carry that burden? I would much rather know I did my best to ask God to bless them and pray He has the same mercy on me.

I heart Spring

2011-04-11T16:49:00.000-05:00

Little glimpses all over...I actually can't wait until we head out to hike a different park Wednesday, just to compare how much else has popped up with the warm weather and rain. Out here the grass is greening beautifully, and we actually had to mow this weekend. We got up around the frog pond and out camping area from last year, plus a few new paths through the part we leave wild and a really nice new spot to camp down by the creek. All the fruit trees have buds on them and in the flower beds daffodils, miniature irises and the mints are looking beautiful. My oregano has spread big time since last year. I see some areas that need moved around and improved. I love growing food, but I love my herbs and flowers as well-they bring such beauty to the house area. I cleaned off the patio and front porch this weekend, so we are ready for enjoying our outdoor living areas. Today I received my yearly order from the tree nursery and my coupon for the Central Campus plant sale. Spring is most certainly upon us. I love it. The kids were even in the sprinkler this weekend (though personally I thought it was too windy to enjoy waterworks, they were begging). That being said, if my posts are even more spacey than they have been (as in space between, though my brain has been in some sort of fog here lately. I would love to say it is diverted blood flow to the baby, but I have my moments when I'm not pregnant, so I doubt it), it is because we are outside enjoying this GREAT STATE, and GREAT COUNTRY full of natural beauty we live in. I'll play catch-up when it rains. :) Get outside!

First Hike of the Season

2011-04-07T08:40:00.000-05:00

We headed to Grant's Nature Area, a very nearby park with some trails. Not a whole lot was up yet, but the kids got a taste of what we'll be doing a lot of this year, and learned about a couple wildflowers. They found some yellow feathers, too. I need to go through our bird guide to identify who they came from, but, despite some whining nearing the end, I think we all had fun. It will be even more so, I think, once they can forage a little and learn about wild edible plants. It was a beautiful day-perfect-not too hot or chilly.


Dutchman's Breeches: Dicentra cucullaria. 4-12 in. tall; flower 1/2-3/4 in. long. Flowers white, waxy, with 2 spurred petals like baggy trouser legs; leaves springing from stem base, much divided. Found in rich woods, shaded moist ledges. In bloom April-May.

Spring Beauty: Claytonia virginica. 2-10 in tall; flower 1/2 in. wide. Flower pink to white with dark pink veins, in loose clusters; 2 narrow, slightly succulent leaves on each slender stem. Found in meadows, streambanks and woods March-June. Form large colonies, spreading underground via corms, which look like small new potatoes and taste like sweet chestnuts when boiled. Gathering is tedious, though, and it takes many to attempt a meal.

9 1/2 week appointment

2011-04-01T17:44:00.000-05:00

My first "real" prenatal appointment. So far,things are looking great. I need to be careful about my sugar intake, but I knew that already, and have been slacking there, but easy enough to fix. My midwife is excellent and down-to-earth, which I appreciate. She also is very no-nonsense and I appreciate that. I was able to wait on blood tests and girly exams until later in the pregnancy when they are actually necessary, which is nice. I also found that I am slightly farther along than I thought-my due date is closer to Superboy's birthday than I'd like, but God planned this one, not us, and I trust His judgment.
On a related note, I got my records from my pregnancy with Superboy and found that the doctors had been exaggerating on a number of facts, which ended up leading to an unnecessary repeat c-section. It is terribly frustrating to know things made it as far as his due date and they sabotaged the attempt. It does mean things look good for the possibility of a VBA2C this time around. His gestation was rather uneventful and I have prayers that this one will be too. A little bed rest, if necessary this time, is probably not a bad thing for me as I tend to overdo it. We'll see how things go. I feel confident in a third time around to know how to best deal with certain situations, and having the information about my gluten-intolerance under my belt definitely makes a difference. So, trying to walk a mile a day and focusing my diet on meat and veggies at this point is all I have worry about. Next appointment in three weeks, and then we should be able to possibly hear a heartbeat.

Nearing the End of March

2011-03-30T18:04:00.000-05:00

It's been awhile since I've taken the time get on the computer for too long. We have been busy-starting seeds, bottle feeding farm babies, making lots of plans for improvements on the farm, Spring cleaning/organizing and one of the biggest reasons is that we, as a family, will grow to number 5 in November, so I've been dealing with morning sickness and fatigue the last couple weeks. Things are starting to lighten up now, and just in the nick of time, as the real Spring work is starting to pick up. We will be cleaning up the yard and starting some landscaping projects, tilling and planting the Spring garden, mowing paths for our wildflower walk/pasture and seeding that in, shearing sheep, planting Spring trees and the new strawberry bed, prepping decks for staining, all on top of the usual daily milking goats, feeding animals, gathering eggs, cleaning house and schooling the kids. I'll try to get back in the swing of picture taking to keep you all posted. I just needed to get past those first daunting weeks of pregnancy. Here's to Spring on the farm!