4 Sweet Sisters

You know You're Famous When....

2011-12-06T15:39:00.003-05:00

You know you're famous when......

You're in the shower. School is supposed to be done for the day and isn't.
The phone rings, you hear children making a mad dash to try out their phone
manners. At the same moment hear strange squawking coming from the
backyard. Is a chicken down? Has hawk snatched her? Ahhhh. Fame and
motherhood.

Next your beautifully mannered offspring are screaming through the
bedroom and bathroom doors, " Mister Jemanybbbdko Camp dell is on the
phone." Your screaming, "WHAT?", back through the shower walls. Finally
one of your children creeps in and repeats the garbled name. You say, "please
take a message. I'm in the shower right now!"

You hear the patter (trampling) of 7 and 11 year old feet leaving. Only to be
replaced by 17 1/2 year olds easy glide. "Mom, Jeremy Campbell from Fox 13
News is on the phone and would like to do an interview with you this evening.
It's about our chickens and how the city is allowing more people to have
them.".... You say, "Tell him you're sorry but you're busy this evening."

Your Christmasing the house with your beautiful, loud, crazy, sometimes obnoxious, very creative and caring family!

Yep, you're to famous to do a another local interview..... bring on the
big boys :)

Ps. Oldest daughter was soooooo professional. She told him she was your
secretary. The journalist was so pleased. I wonder if he enjoyed the elevator
music daughter #3 was producing from the other line? Humbling.....

Julie

Canning, canning, canning

2011-10-11T09:25:00.005-04:00

After a busy week of school, soccer games, dehydrating and canning; I'm a bit tired. Fall through early spring is truly the busy season for garden harvesting, pumpkin bread business and holidays here. For some reason every year it takes me by surprise!

We've gotten most of the gardens in, had plenty of rain and are now fighting the varmints and the chickens. Don't those chickens realize a third of the garden is for them? If they eat it now they'll never get to taste those big lovely collard leaves!

On the subject of chickens this is the first time that we've had almost our who crew molt at the same time. That means we have been getting less than 3 eggs a day from 12 girls in the past month or so. It's been a bit disappointing. We really use a lot of eggs here. I usually keep 4 dozen at all times in my refrigerator. Right now I' have about 8 eggs. I really don't want to buy eggs. Hopefully we are coming to the end. We have a lot of featherless hens out there and new feathers should be coming in soon... I pray.

Now back to canning. Here's what I put up this week:

15 quarts of pluot sauce
46 quarts of pears
10 quarts applesauce
4 quarts of apple butter
1/2 of a 5 gallon container of dried apple chips
( I planned on picture but my reader isn't reading.)

School Girl was a big help:)

This week I would like to make up about 12 quarts of chicken stock and pressure can them. I save the left over bones in the freezer until I have enough to make a BIG pot of stock. We tried this about six weeks ago and it was wonderful. It was also the first time I used the pressure canner that Urban Girl bought me for Christmas 2 years ago. What a savings this is! I'm still a little freaked out by it but that will dissipate with use. At least I hope so.

I'm also doing some MAJOR tweaking to my pantry. It is much needed since I'm doing more canning this year. I'm concerned my shelves are not strong enough to handle all those jars. Superman is looking at ways to reinforce them.

I still haven't gotten the perfect system worked out for us. I have even made a stock chart but have failed to check off items when they are used. I think this is going to take some more time. Maybe when I'm a bit less preoccupied.

This week is grocery week and I need to make my buying dollar s t r e t c h ! I've started buying more locally grown items and less organic. The shipping on organic produce is becoming outrageous. $5.45 for a 3 pound bag of apples! And that's a co-op price. Yikes! Pears are still on sale here for 66 cents a pound. Hence the reason for so many canned pears :0)

What great produce have you found? Trees are blessing, but they don't count in this question.
Julie

Water Kefir Soda Update

2011-09-29T06:00:00.002-04:00

We've been making water kefir soda (WKS) for a couple of months now and I've learned a lot.

1.Make a fermenting container. Really important if you plan on making WKS! check this out

2.Play with the types of natural sugars out there:

a) Sucanat- It was our sugar of choice because of the being rich in minerals. We found that it has to pungent of a flavor for making WKS. It actually ends up tasting more like a beer. We even tried adding more fruit syrup but it became over carbonated and we would ended up with exploded bottles! ** We do use it whenever we think our kefir needs a little extra feeding.**

b) Sucanat with Honey- Much lighter flavor but it does have honey in it which can kill your Kefir and it's price is well to pricey now.

c) Turbinado or Raw Sugar- This seems to have just the right amount for daily use. We tend to taste more of the flavor of the fruit syrup and less molasses. WKS taste like a sparkling fruit cider with this sugar.

3. Leave a good 3 inch head space when making your WKS. Trust me!

4. Use a fruit puree or concentrate. We make our own plum sryup and really like the flavor.
Maraschino cherries and vanilla made it smell like rotten cheese and I couldn't stand to be near my husband when he drank it. But don't fret. I love him so much I got him hooked on plum syrup. All is well again!

5. Use heavy duty glass bottles with canning style caps.

6. Again. Have a fermenting bucket. You'll be so happy you did. You'll be thinking how smart you are after your first extra bubbly batch of WKS!

Case in point, since our 1st explosion we always bucket ferment. Last week when Superman and I went to get a 2 day ferment of WKS out we found a hissing mess in one of our light weight bottles. Thankfully it had not shattered, but did pop it's little lid and was seeping out all over the bucket. All we had to do was rinse it out. No scrubbing down of the whole kitchen or pulling shrapnel out of the walls.

Now lets talk about carbonation. I only have theories here because I really haven't tried to figure the science of it. Please remember this. I'm just a mom doing crazy stuff in my kitchen, no expert!

Carbonation, the good burping kind. You know what I'm talking about. Not that I want to burp, but I could if I felt I needed to prove myself to Superman. Who am I kidding, I like the occasional burp. But I digress... We've found that the more pureed and sweetened your fruit is, the better the bubbles. Check daily for the right amount of carbonation. You'll see little bubbles bubbling up to the top of your bottle. Always open slowly in sink. Click here for a quick video on carbonation.

I have chunkier batches of syrup that is also used for pancakes and such. This syrup tends to need more fermenting time. Up to 3 days in fact. When I use a more pureed, sweetened fruit it can take as little as one day. Every batch is different so again check daily and use a fermenting bucket!

This is really a simple process, but you have to get in the habit of making your water, then soda daily. It takes about 10 minutes.

Let me know if you give it a whirl and what works for you!

Julie

Patchwork Love

2011-09-28T09:14:00.008-04:00

My good friend Angela over at Loving Legacy was cleaning out her fabric stash a couple of months ago. Whenever she does this my 4 sweeties seem to come to her mind. It seems someone is always creating something around here.

In this batch of odds and ends there was some very country looking patchwork fabric that the Little Chef just fell in love with. Not her usual style or colors but she really liked it! She even said it would be sooooo nice to have a skirt made out of it. I ended up having a free evening and this is what was created. She was so surprised.

It's very simple. I was in no mood for a pattern. I doubled her waist size and tripled it (waist size) for the ruffle. I used and inch and a half more elastic than her waist. I wanted her to have at least 2 years out of the skirt.

The Little Chef really likes it. We went out shopping last night and she wanted to wear it. She said it just somehow makes her feel different then when she wears it, even more so than a dress or skorts. She feels like a girl. Ahhh. Femininity how I love it :)

Julie

Thinking

2011-09-27T10:12:00.003-04:00

Yes, I do occasionally ponder things (okay usually way to much). So much so that I can miss the big picture because I'm stuck on a small blemish.

If you feel I'm talking in code I may be (and do I even understand it?). This past weekend I squeezed in a fluffy novel about a newspaper owner who was being forced out of town by a set of Good O'l Boys. This newspaper woman loved to serve others because of her love of the Lord. Not from compulsion or legalism but for the shear joy of trying to ease someone elses burden. She was by no means a perfect herself. I needed this story. It reminded that love comes in many different ways, from a kind word and quick pray to feeding the homeless.

Forward to yesterday. I have been struggling with some decisions we are going to need to make. Small blemishes compared to the Lord's big picture. I have been concentrating on myself so much and how it was all going to work out! While I was on the tread mill it hit me. Have I really learned to love others who are stumbling?

Years ago I would have turned away from them because they were messing up big time. Yikes! I've seen many who have fallen into adultery and I have run away from them. Maybe not in actuality but definitely in spirit and love. My attitude has become civil.

Am I fearful that if I'm kind, even loving toward them that their sin will become mine? That I will somehow fall into it? I use to think it was because I wanted to keep my children from any such sin. Trying to keep the bar raised and set a higher standard for our household. (I know how bad this sounds.)

Then while reading over the weekend I watched this fictional character love those other members of the body where they were at. She didn't give them permission for their behavior but she did extend love and forgiveness. Yikes! Can I do that? Have I just been trading one sin for another?

I don't feel that everyone's battle has to be mine, but I could be loving a bit more and try to show forgiveness and understanding. I mean isn't that what I would want in the same situation?

Dear Jesus please help me not to hide behind fear, show truth when needed, grace and forgiveness and love all.

Julie

Nitrate Free Pepperoni

2011-09-26T08:24:00.005-04:00

I'm not sure if I should show you the picture or not. I tweaked a recipe from Tammy's Recipes and it is quite tasty. BUT (and it's kind of a big BUT) the color is just not right. So the pepperoni looks a little grey (gross) but again taste SUPER! So here goes nothing....

nitrate free pepperoni

See how gray it looks? That's because I used Real Salt (sea salt) instead of curring salts which have all the nitrates and fake pink color (they do this so people won't mistake it for table salt). That pink dye also gives sausages of all types that nice color we are all so used too.

All the flavor was still in there and I figured if I'm making this homemade I want it to be as healthy as possible for my family. So why would I add the nitrates? Because I didn't use the pink salt I can't just leave this out in my pantry like you could with some of the store bought stuff. If you do to try this recipe and decide to go "all natural" please make sure that you store all your extra pepperoni in the freezer until needed. Safety people safety!

I've checked out many sites on the food safety and we have been making nitrate free beef jerky for years so I felt confident with this recipe. BUT please don't take my word for it. Check things out for yourself :)

I did use 2 pounds of very lean grass fed ground beef and spices from my own garden! I was very excited about this :) I'm always looking for fun, do it yourself challenges. I did grind up all my spices to a fine powder in the blender which I highly recommend. Then I let the meat marinate for 2 1/2 days. The cooking time was 8 hours and was really easy to forget about so I highly recommend a timer. Super easy!

Will I continue to make my own pepperoni? Yes, I think I will.

Would I serve it to guest? Depends on the guest. For some it may not be normal enough. Most of us eat with our eyes and noses. The nose is covered and if you can trick your eyes into thinking its sliced meatballs then you're good to go!

Anyone want to stop by and try some? By the way this recipe makes 4 rolls.

Julie

Oh and I'm linking up with Homestead Revival's Barn Hop!

No Excuses... it's just Our life

2011-09-23T12:47:00.002-04:00

That's right no excuses anymore for why I'm not blogging more frequently ( I'm secretly itching to make excuses but I won't). It's just our life right now.

We have been super busy. While everyone elses summer gardens are winding down we are gearing up for our 1st big planting of the season. Fall/ winter here at our home usually starts out our growing season, followed by winter/ spring planting. Next summer I'm hoping to plant our beds full of sweet potatoes as our ground cover.

This summer we added a large 3 1/2 x 24 foot bed to the front of our house behind the white picket fence we installed this summer. Lots of little yummy veggies are starting to poke their heads up :) We had intended to use a old work table to make a salad table, but I think it is way past it's prime and would take to much shoring up. So we've decided to either make a new raised bed out of pallets (if we can get our hands on some) or small round swimming pools ($7 a piece). I need more room for tomatoes and peppers too :0)

I've been working hard at starting our veggies all from seed. I'm happy to report that I'm making some head way, but still need to learn a lot more.

Here's a run down of what has been planted so far:

-60 collard plants (apx) they chickens love them
--we made a new bed and fenced it off from the hungry ladies!
-3 double rows of vining green beans
- Farm Girl's patch of bush beans (20 or so)
-4 double rows sugar snap peas
-8 cabbages
-8 red cabbages
-16 Brussel sprouts
-kohlrabi
-fennel
-radishes
-4 jalapeno
-4 green pepper
-2 cheery tomatoes
-4 Brandy wine tomatoes
-marigolds
-calendula
-chamomile
-bunching onions
-mint patch
-spinach patch
-Texas sweet onions
-rosemary
-dill
-basil
-eggplant
-stevia
- 8 cucumbers

-Need to plant about 30 Kale plants that are about ready.

We still need to figure out the cauliflower, broccoli and eggplant. I'll probably be buying these as plants this year do to seed problems. Also get my lettuce garden up and rolling and a variety of odds and ends.

I've also tried my hand at chocolate syrup and elderberry syrup. I've got homemade pepperoni started in the fridge. I'm hoping it will turn out tasty! Ooooo and we've found something that is helping to keep the marauders out of our gardens!

Garnola Bars

2011-07-19T09:26:00.003-04:00

For some reason I've been thinking there is sunflower seeds in 7 grain mix. Anyhow I finally looked it up and here is what is really in 7 grain mix. Hard wheat, soft wheat, oats, triticale, barley, rye and spelt. I like using this mix for granola/cereal bars. Here's my recipe.

1 1/2 sticks butter (melted or softened)

2 teaspoons vanilla

1 teaspoon sea salt

1 cup honey

1/2 raw sugar, sucanat etc.

2 eggs

1 cup of re hydrated coconut (very wet)

6 cups 7 grain rolled cereal mix or rolled oats

1 cup raisins

1 cup sunflower seeds

1 (scant) cup chocolate chips

1 cup (approximately) oat flour (grind up oats quickly in blender)

You can add or exchange all these ingredients. When I'm going Gluten Free I just use oats and seeds.

The mixture should be wet. Pat into a large cookie sheet.

Bake at 350 degrees for 30 to 40 minutes. Cut bars, let cool in pan. Wrap individually or box up. I love them out of the freezer!

Enjoy,

Julie

Kefir Water Soda Expolsion!

2011-07-11T09:48:00.006-04:00

I know I'm getting behind in updates again, but the Great Room Swap of 2011 has wiped me out. I've almost condensed 3 room into 2! I'll show pics once I finish getting this next school year wrapped and ready to go.

That being said I wanted to share with you what happened this Sunday. As you know from my last post we have been testing and taste testing kefir soda and water.

Friday night Superman and I put together a batch of each. Tinkering with the flavor of the soda. He was excited to have a taste on Sunday after church. As you can see from the first photo things did not go as planned!

Sunday after church we opened the front door to the the stinky smell of sweet, cherry cheese. My first thought was, "wow that kefir is really fermenting strong this time". Until I reached our kitchen and found this.....

Praise the Lord no one was in the kitchen when it happened. The bottle as you can see was shattered with shards strewn into the dining area. What a stinky mess. Again I asked myself why are we trying this? Oh ya our health.
I was ready to throw in the towel, but Superman actually likes the soda and wants to keep testing. So now we have new "rules".

-Only fill bottle 2/3 full (i was doing 3/4)

-Only ferment 1 day instead of 2 ( or at least test at the 1 day mark)

-Fermenting soda bottles MUST be placed in a white 5 gallon pail with closing lid. ( I'm pretty sure this should contain any further mishaps)

Already getting bubbly and we started it last night.

I also wanted to show off Urban Girl's first non box cake! Isn't it pretty?

She also made a tasty lemon icing. I love bundt pans. They just make me smile:)

I'm truly blessed that my girls like to get creative in the kitchen. Urban Girl usually just sticks to dinners. I'm more of the baker, so I'm thrilled she's seeing the need to be a well rounded kitchen chef.

Julie

Kefir Cream Soda

2011-07-02T20:02:00.002-04:00

Take a look at the results of our first try at making Kefir Cream Soda. So simple and only to 2 days to go from kefir water to soda.

Have you ever made Kefir Soda and do have a favorite recipe?

Julie

True Couponing

2011-06-28T15:14:00.003-04:00

I've used coupons here and there ever since we've had children. As I mentioned before we do most of our shopping through co-ops and warehouse stores, but there are some things I just can't get there or I have to buy to much of said item. That's were coupons come into play. With coupons, sale prices and BOGOs sometimes its a better deal at my neighborhood grocery store.

Last week I had the privilege of attending a free True Couponing seminar. It was wonderful timing with our buying club taking a break for the whole summer! Basically I learned that I need to be getting more papers so that I have more coupons to work with. I don't have the time or inclination to go dumpster hunting for extra coupons, so having extra papers delivered to my door step at 50 cents a piece is a much better option for me.

I also learned a super easy way to store these piles of paper. I had all the needed supplies to make my storage unit an immediate success! That's one of the things that has kept me from doing more serious couponing. After a couples of weeks of little pieces of paper flying around I get disgusted and throw them all away.

The ladies at the seminar explained everything in detail. Store, manufacture, and online coupons, stacking and sharing. We have no doubling in our area. They only "hard part" would be making sure you know what your stores accepts.

I was so excited to get my papers this weekend and guess what was on the front cover? A $5 off of $30 at Publix and I had 4 of them ( I only used 2 this week)! Yep that has gotten my couponing off to a great start. My goal is to pay 25% on all my grocery store needs, restock our pantry and help others. No extreme hoarding. I have no desire to be on any extreme style show :o)

So here's my totals: purchase price $179.20

coupons -$ 38.35
sale prices-$ 70.42

total out of pocket: $70.43
percent out of pocket: 44%

Pretty good start with not much of a supply (coupons). The store peelie did it for me. The cashiers at our store have been wonderful! They even say, "do you have another coupon for this or that. Or you can also use this coupon with that or stack this with that." They are very knowledgeable and want to help with getting the best deals.

Are you couponing? Why or why not?
Julie

Changes

2011-06-21T15:23:00.003-04:00

Does anyone remember my lovely craft room that Superman created for my birthday a couple of years ago? Click here, if you need a reminder.

Well today my lovely room that has been continually abused and misused is changing. It's becoming the School Room. Superman still isn't sure about all of this...the house is torn apart and quite frankly I'm a bit nervous myself.

I'll post the finish projects (there are 3 intertwind) next week or so. My goal is to have the two and 1/2 basics done by Saturday!

See you Soon.
Julie

Nifty Thrifty

2011-06-17T09:25:00.012-04:00

I've deciced to link up with the Shabby Nest for this post. Read here and fly over and enjoy all the frugality there! I started thinking about this post months ago and have just not gotten around to it. Back in winter sometime our 2nd microwave went on the fritz (we've had 2 in 7 years-different models). Maybe it was due to poor quality or maybe it was because of all the rice bag wraps we were heating up before bed. I tend to think it was the first though.

Our first thought when this happened was google it up and check the best deal on a microwaves. We did and found one for about $160 new from one of the box store. We would have to take the money out of our emergency fund and we were okay with that. I mean not having a microwave is an emergency in the biggest way! Right?

Uh, no. I'll admit for about 5 minutes or so it was (ya know when we were googling). But then I decided to try and live without a micro. for a week and see how we did. The week turned into two and I started thinking of ways to use that area are above the stove. A cookbook shelf?

After a couple of weeks I soon realized that I liked the: light over the stove, the exhaust fans and the timer. So a shelf wouldn't cut it. I also was missing the conveinvence of defrost. Defrost means I don't have to plan meals in advance. I'm not big into planning that area of my life right now.

I also didn't like to heat up the big ovens to reheat 2 slices of pizza! But that thought didn't out weigh the feeling I always had when the micro. was on and radiating into my head while I was cooking at the stove. This in actuality may or may not be true, but it's how I felt.

Then Superman came to the rescue! He remembered the Little Chef had been using his 20 year on the job gift/ easy bake oven aka toaster oven. It was sitting in the small pantry while not in use. He checked it out and it fit :)

So for now we have the benefits of both. All my lights, fans, timers and pretty crispy quick reheatablity. The only thing lacking is defrost. It's been almost 6 months and I've learned to do without. I would still like it though and I'm looking into convection ovens for the spot. But we are good for now :)

Pretty thrifty/frugal i'd say!

Do you have any nifty frugal ideas to share?

Julie

Coconut Flour - My Lazy Experiment

2011-06-16T10:40:00.008-04:00

I was reading over at Heavenly Homemakers yesterday about using coconut flour in place of whole wheat. Hmmm. I am wheat grinder from way back and the thought of trying new lower carb flour substitutes wasn't very appealing to me until about a year ago. (I mean why fix what isn't broken right?) Then some close friends of ours had some of there children diagnosed with wheat gluten intolerance and now I've been thinking of ways to make healthy treats for them. I'm a baker at heart.

Anyway, Laura at HH was discussing how much she loves Coconut Flour. (She's a wheat grinder also) So I was wandering if I could take my unsweetened coconut shreds and grind them into flour? I googled it and found some amazingly looonnng process. Not for me!

So I went for it (because I really didn't want to go and clean the school room out). Here's what I did:

-I place about 1 cup of shreds into my blender and blended and blended.

*I had thought about my wheat grinder because it would truly get a flour texture with that, but it cannot handle high moisture items. (That's all Superman needed!)

I did this twice and came up with about 1 1/2 cups of rough grind flour. Remember this is just an experiment and coconut flour is really expensive.

I only needed 1/2 cup of flour for my 12 muffin recipe. So I measured it out and popped the rest into the freezer.

I then added:

6 eggs

1/2 honey (i would use 1/3 cup next time)

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

4 tablespoons coconut oil

I mixed the wet ingredients really well. Then add dry.

The mixture was very runny. I figured because my "flour" wasn't very fine.
I then baked them for 20 minutes at 350 degrees.

The picture above is what they looked like just coming out of the oven. When they started to cool they sunk in a bit. They tasted like a honey/coconut french toast! A little moist, but tasty nonetheless.

Would I make them again? In a pinch yes, but I think I'll go ahead and order some coconut flour!

Maybe...

***** Update**** My girlies REALLY liked these so I will be making them again;)

What have you made with coconut?

Julie

Reclaiming the Garden part 2

2011-06-15T05:00:00.001-04:00

Ugh! Can I just say it gain? Uuuugghhhh. This what our garden looked like last fall. If you look at the top of the picture you can see the girlies swing set. The "ladies" coop used to be there. We moved it to the back of our garden now that we have more room. (We bought a section that didn't come with our original lot.)

To be fair the area above is so barren because that is where the swimming pool sits. It's back up now but the "ladies" did almost the same thing to the rest of the garden over the winter and spring.

Any ideas on what we should do with this site in the fall? I had planned a fire ring, but I really don't think it will be used much. Still thinking this idea through.

We purchased this fence almost 2 years ago when one of the do-it-yourself stores had them on sale. The ladies love going onto our neighbors property but they also liked to wander up the next street.

We had a long term plan for this fence. We knew eventually our neighbors-to-be were going to want to put up a wood fence and we would share in the cost. So the plan all along was to move this fence up and section off our produce garden and farm from the suburban backyard zone.

Here's the some of the ladies in there farm zone. If you look through the fence you can see how bad the ground looks.

The ladies really like this little run between the garden and a shady, wooded area on the other side. Here's where they enjoy their daily dirt baths and I'm okay with that. In the next couple of weeks when the garden stops producing we will open the gate and they can rummage in the garden. They love cabbages and collards. We grow collards just for them and wow are they still producing!

The garden and farm zone is about 25 x 85 feet. It also houses our new composting center. It's not finished yet. I'll post more when it is.

How do you keep your chickens out of your people areas?

Julie

2011-06-08T22:09:00.003-04:00

Today over at Smockity Frocks she's asked the question of what mistakes we've learned from in our gardens this year. After you're finished here jump over there and read all the link ups! ( I wish I knew how to put her cute garden picture up.)

The biggest lesson I've learned is that our tomatoes need acid! See look at how gorgeous and green these plants are but there are no blossoms or fruit. I think the problem is this from all the research I've done and the soil testing. I mean we did add about 2500 lbs of composted horse manure last fall. We've large tomato plants and out of the 10 plants we have gotten 2 tomatoes. Ugh! Very frustrating..... We plan on adding lime in the next month or so before fall planting in September. Which is like spring planting for those of you who live up north. Are seasons are fall/winter and winter/spring.

The other thing I noticed today were the blue jays landing in the tomato bushes. I need to find out if they may be eating the blossoms? I thought I saw some but then they were gone.

Anyone have any ideas? I would appreciate some help.

Julie

Reclaiming the Garden project 1

2011-06-08T05:00:00.000-04:00

I really enjoy how the English use the English language. My favorite right now is the use of the word garden. It sounds so much prettier than backyard, although I do like a good back yard
b-b-q!

If any of you have chickens and live in the city or suburbs you know that they pretty much take up all of your garden space. They love to hunt frogs and lizards, scratch for bugs, worms and dig holes. Oh no one told you of the holes they dig? That's so they can lounge in a refreshing dirt bath. Yah. Know one prepared me for that part. Consider yourself warned if thinking cute fuzzy chicks.

In all seriousness we love our girls (the hens and the girlies that live in the house). I just have gotten soooo tired of walking out onto the back deck or anywhere else in the garden and stepping in slimmy poo.

So this will be the first installment of taking the garden back.

Superman (remember the guy and his shirt from yesterday?) built and put this screened room up for me two Mother's Day ago. He did it so I could enjoy the "ladies" in the garden and the girlies in the pool without being eaten alive by mosquitoes. No "ladies" are allowed in the screened room. Believe me they try!

Here is our effort at making a shabby candlier. Pretty shabby. I thought there would be a patina on the copper by now. The jam jars look beautiful all lite up at not and the candlier looks 100% better at dusk :)

Here is our old plastic Adirondack chairs that are on their last legs, but still functional. The past six or so years I've been giving them a new coat of paint each spring.

This year Superman requested a place to really relax. We searched high and low for a black daybed frame we had been holding onto for this project. We finally realized we sold it in a garage sale last fall thinking we would never get to it. So we made do with a bed frame and bed risers all painted black. We splurged on a semi water proof bunky mattress and I used table cloths for the cover and pillows throughout the room.

We popped a round circle of plywood on the fire pit (which we don't use in the room). A big raspberry candle for weight.

This a candle lamp we made our second trip as a family to the mountains. UG was itty bitty and our only girlie back then. She collected all the river rocks...

So here's a first look at we are doing to live in happiness with our wonderful chickens. It may take quite awhile for our garden to come back to life. I'm sure hoping it's sooner than later.

How does your garden grow?

Julie

So many comments

2011-06-07T06:00:00.002-04:00

First off I rarely say much about this handsome man. He is an extrovert living in an introvert's body. If that makes any sense. He is the one who keeps me sane, picks me up when I'm down and breaks things into bite size pieces when I all I can see is the huge snowball ready to plough me over! Ah, snow... sounds nice about now. Anyway this man is the perfect for me. (He can be pretty romantic too.) But this post is not about him. It's about one of his favorite shirts.

Please Read
Here's a close up in case you missed it. Our two oldest girlies bought this for him on our Tennessee trip two years ago.

He brings it out when he feels like making a statement. Sometimes at youth group meetings, the beach, trips to Costco and most recently to the Florida Homeschool Convention. Anywhere there may be many young men around and our daughters are about. ( Yep, he loves them a lot :)

Here's a close up

Well everywhere he went at the convention he got stares, people asking him to stop so they could read, wonderful comments and even teen girls running down corridors to find out where they could get one of those shirts for their Dad :0) This a very smiley post.

The interesting thing is this doesn't just happen at a homeschool convention (although I will say it happened a lot more there). Men and women come up to him or nod their approval from afar when we are out around town. From those who have stopped us we usually hear about how many girls they have and how they did growing their girlies.

Sometimes I think more ill than I should of our society. But this shirt reminds me there are people everywhere who care about their children. So listen up Girlies out there. Dad's love and want to protect you, girls.

Their is also a Father above all who loves you more than you earthly father ever can. Take heart and trust in his love and care.

This is my favorite part. Although it would never happen... the young men around him know that he means business and that he will guard his daughter's hearts as long as they will allow him to.

I wish I could tell you how to find this particular shirt. I would actually be selling it if I could find it. I think we could have funded everyone's education with this and put away for future weddings. I have found similar ones on amazon if your interested.

What do you think?

Julie

Craft Day

2011-06-03T06:00:00.001-04:00

It's time to get crafting! I find that my younger girlies really like to craft almost anything. My older girlies do it with more purpose. They need to be motivated. Hopefully they'll have clutter free homes.

We decided that every Friday would be Craft Day here at our home. Opening the house to friends and practicing a bit of hospitality. This is a very laid back event. Other than the fancy punch bowl and dessert.

What we've made so far: rosettes, rings, headbands and pin cushions. Here's a few pictures of our pin cushions.

Very simple project: Scraps of fabric, elastic, pillow stuffing, needle and thread.

Cut 2 rounds of fabric. One the size of a bowl and the other the size of a drinking glass.

Stitch around each circle on the outer 1/4 inch edge. Make sure you're smiling it makes it more fun! Stuff larger circle with pillow fluff and pull ends of thread together tying it off. At this point I sewed more stitches to make sure it would stay. It doesn't have to be pretty, it won't be seen.

Measure off a piece of elastic that fits nicely on your wrist. Stitch down to the bottom of the ball.

Place other circle that you have pulled together over the elastic and stitched area. Stitch this down to hide your elastic and sewing. You can use hot glue for this portion.

Wala! A wristlet pin cushion. You can even add some oil to the cushion before you close it up for a nice scent. We used Island Delight and Melon.

Many of the girls are making sewing kits with their Mom's. What a nice thing to add.

What are you crafting?

Happy Friday,

julie

Freezer Baking

2011-06-02T16:01:00.006-04:00

Whew! What a day. I've haven't been doing much baking lately. I've just needed a break. I've made the occasional batch of cookies and granola bars but nothing like today. Yup, my family has been eating bread from the bakery store. I've been able to get the $4.50 loaves of good bread for a dollar per loaf. So I took a much needed break. But alas the prices are going up and my Husband has really needed some home baking.

His favorite, whole wheat chocolate chip cookies. He really likes the with dark chocolate. I used to make up 14 dozen raw cookie dough balls and freeze them, but I found that we(I) like to eat frozen raw cookie dough.hmmm

A small batch of whole wheat banana chocolate chip muffins. I want to get some millet ones done and coconut.

Bread rising in the background and breakfast biscuits.

Here's a list of everything I accomplished:

7 dozen chocolate chip cookies

1 1/2 dozen banana chip muffins

6 loaves of whole wheat bread ( about a 50 cents per loaf)
2 dozen gigantic breakfast biscuits with homemade turkey sausage

16 1# whole wheat hot pockets (Italian and cheeseburger)

I'm done for today, but I would like to get in a couple dozen granola bars and oatmeal cookies before craft day.

What are you cooking up? Any favorite recipes?

Julie

Curriculum 2011-2012

2011-06-02T06:00:00.001-04:00

Here's my curriculum plan for this up coming school. My goal is to get everyone organized and planned in the next 2 weeks so that I can have 6 weeks to play and have fun. We will be starting back to school on August 1st. Yippee!

12th garde:
Alpha Omega Consumer Math- 1 credit
Notgrass Economics - .5 credit
Notgrass American Gov't - .5 credit
Movies as Literature - 1 credit
Body by Design, The Reproductive System & Children's Apologia Anatomy
-she is surveying this course and teaching it to her younger sisters. she doesn't need the credit.
Rosetta Stone French year 2 - 1 credit

8th grade:
Tapestry of Grace year 3 (literature, Bible and history)
Alpha Omega Consumer Science - 1 credit
Artistic Pursuits - 1 credit
Rod and Staff English
Rod and Staff Reading
Apologia Physical Science - 1 credit
Teaching Textbooks Pre Algebra
Rosetta Stone French or Sign Language (class) - 1 credit

5th grade:
Tapestry of Grace year 3
Rod and Staff English
Rod and Staff Reading
Rod and Staff Spelling and All About Spelling (filling in gaps)
Apologia Human Anatomy
Saxon 65
Cursive
Daily Paragraphs for fun
Abeka Health - read alone

Supplement with Sates Cd's, Lyrical Science, Netflix movies, Mind Benders for critical thinking, crafting- skirt construction
**Balance Ball for school time

2nd grade:
Tapestry of Grace year 3
Rod and Staff English
Rod and Staff Reading
Rod and Staff Spelling and All About Spelling
Apologia Human Anatomy
Saxon 3
Cursive
Daily paragraphs for fun

I will be using many of the same extras for the younger girlies. Starting the 5th grader on note taking from movies and journaling again this year with their science.

Summer plans:
Sing the Capitals and States
Lyrical Science
Daily paragraph (not sure about)
Ocean and Sea Creature movies with minor note taking
Finish memorising Times Tables. Prizes! (I'll post when they reach their goals)
Free reading 1 to 2 books per week. Prizes!
Friday Craft Afternoon with girlfriends.
VBS
Swimming and Park

So I really need to get moving and I am procrastinating! I'm excited though, but just one more day by the pool reading...

What's your Summer and School plans for fall?

julie

FPEA Convention 2011 in Pictures

2011-05-31T21:45:00.026-04:00

Warning~ There are a lot of pictures in this post. Look at your own risk.

This year we splurged and went to the Florida Parent Educator Association's Homeschooling Convention. We haven't been in about 5 years. Reasons:1) We needed to put more of our money to curriculum use in years past. 2) We didn't have a vehicle that we felt could make it there and back. 3) It was no longer being held at our favorite hotel. 4)I knew what curriculum I liked and have stuck with. This still holds true and I felt a bit guilty going for nothing? Not so.

So here's what we did to stay at the 5 star luxury Gaylord Palms Hotel. We saved moo la every month for a number of months. We saved money out for gas, dinners, and brought everything else from home. Breakfast , lunch, and snacks. I printed out all my curriculum needs and wants with Internet prices for comparison. We also reminded the girls frequently to save their pennies for the trip. Lots of fun goodies for children to buy.

It was so nice leaving on our vacation knowing everything was already paid for. Ahhhh.

We had lots of little blessings along the way. We stopped at our favorite produce stand in Plant City and got peaches for 79 cents a pound, yummy grape tomatoes and peach shakes. We had plenty of fresh fruit with the bananas and apples I brought from home.

Balcony 1

Here are pictures of our hotel room which was another Happy Birthday Blessing for Superman. When we went to check in I mentioned it was his birthday and could they possibly give us a atrium view. Well they did better than that! We got a full suite. It was bigger than our 1st apartment. Dining area, living room, huge bathroom, king size separate suite and 3 balconies. It did cost us $20 which was well worth it.

Balcony 2 with a view of St.Augustine. This is not a village its all under one huge glass roof.

Balcony 3. The little girls said hello to all early morning risers as they passed by. They were a great alarm clock. We didn't miss any of our classes.

LC cleaning up after a juicy peach.

A banana break after a long/short trip, depending on how old you are.

A picture of convention floor. So many vendors, so much to look at. We did buy a stay put exercise ball from Walmart when we got home (they were not selling them there. they should). Just like the ones in the picture. We are hoping it will help our bouncier students to concentrate a bit more.

Here's a view from the Key West side of the hotel. Look what FG caught!

Ahhhh the pool. Fully decked out with an Octopus slide. FG in mid slide.

Relaxation

LC in the kid zone. I saw a lot of "big kids" in there.

Love this turtle shot

So glad she didn't forget the goggles.

Real alligators in the St. Augustine section. We got to see them be fed and the little girlies touched them.

Lounging at an abandoned cabin.

Ahhh the end to a perfect trip. We went to some wonderful lectures from creation to the psychology of colors. I was refreshed at classes just for moms. The girls enjoyed running around and meeting up with old friends and making some new ones. Superman enjoyed the king size bed! (i'm a bed hog)

Stay tuned for the most talked about shirt at convention. Seriously.

Blessings,

Julie

FG not excited about going home. Admittedly no one was. What a great way to start summer!

Garden Part 4

2011-05-27T06:00:00.004-04:00

I joined the link up party over at Smockity Frocks. Unfortunately I don't know how to put up her gardening button. Please go over and take a look. They have been handling a situation in their home amazingly well.

Our Spring 2011 garden is coming to a close and I still need to draw a map of what I planted from the past fall in to spring.

Our pepper plants seem to be in full bloom so we will continue to let them grow.

I always think fresh eggs in a basket look so pretty and country. I found this basket a couple of years ago at a thrift store. Great for collecting eggs.

These are actually tomatoes from the plants we planted last fall. Lots of vines with very little fruit. We will be adding lime into the ground come late June or July.

We got just over 2lbs of green beans before our plants looked like they had rust all over them. We have some beans left but nothing to speak of.

We planted fresh mint and mulched it with straw. I'm hoping it will fill the whole flower bed. We made Mint Juleps for our first craft day of the summer. I'll post recipes later.

Here are some chives we started in a hanging basket. Other things from fall that are still growing are eggplant, dill onions, and collards.

The dill reseeded itself, so I should have plenty for pickling. The eggplants were on their last leg but seem to have sprung back to life. Lots of purple flowers. And the collards... Well lets just say they take the prize. They are about 4 feet tall and keep producing. The chickens just love them!

I think I'm going to concentrate on getting our yard ready for the fall and winter garden to come. We will be adding a new bed and I'll show you some the improvements we are trying to make along the way.

I'll still pop up any and all great harvests from the spring garden. We have some wonky looking cucs out there right now and getting my onions to bulb!

How does your garden grow? What grows best for you?

Julie

Ahhhhh... Seventeen...

2011-05-25T06:00:00.002-04:00

I can't believe it, then again I can. I remember when Superman and I would sit on the couch trying hard to imagine the day when I our two year old would be this old. Starting the end of her official schooling in our home and moving into the next step that the Lord has for her.

Pray for her if you know her. She has many wonderful choices and options to consider. She'll be helping me teach our youngest two anatomy next year and helping out in many different
churches with VBS programs this summer.

School Girl and I wanted to surprise her with a themed "cake" this year. It's actually cereal treats. Here is our first try at making chocolate modeling clay. I'll post a recipe soon. We used white and colored it.

Molding the cereal treats into body parts.

See the person with it's legs sticking up?

Here's a half a person. Actually a replica of school girl.

Here's the finished product. It's supposed to be Urban Girl and Superman on a Kayak trip. Can you guess what she got for her birthday?

One of the oars got a bit flimsy, but I think it still turned out pretty cute for our first time. Also Superman is in the back and his legs were supposed to be dangling in the water. Unfortunately when School Girl went to get him out of the fridge one of his feet was missing and No ONE seems to know where it ran off to....

Anyhow. School Girl was in charge of the humans and I was in charge of the boat. Yup, she's waaaayyyyy more creative than me and I'm super good with that!

Here are two of my favorite birthday people. Superman's is in 2 days, so we went ahead and gave him his gifts tonight. We'll be traveling on his b-day.

Surprised about her Kayaking Adventure. All she thought she was getting was a steam iron and organic personal care items. (ALL of which she wanted and needed I might add.)

I think she's going to enjoy 17. So much is happening this coming year and so much to look forward to.

For I know the plans I have for you saith the Lord.... Jeremiah 29:11

Blessings,

Julie

Peppers, peppers and more peppers

2011-05-23T06:00:00.000-04:00

Last week we had the opportunity to go to our local hydro farm. This past fall we had taken a field trip Co-op there and really enjoyed ourselves. They let each child pick a basket of strawberries as gift. They were delicious. Now they were opening there farm to everyone in our community for one last day of picking and it was free. What a way to be a blessing to so many!

Here is some of what we picked.

Hot peppers (before)

Here is a bunch of chili peppers.

Some purple, red and green bell peppers and jalapenos.

After the hot peppers were done dehydrating I popped them in my blender. Pretty huh?

Mid grind. I should have done three batches because I had to take off the top a couple of times to jostle them around. Needles to say I had burning lips and nose by the end.

The end result. A sweet, very spicy, smokey flavor. I decided to mix the habenaros and the chilies.I can't wait to cook!

Urban Girl will be turning seventeen this week and we will be having stuffed jalapenos to celebrate. Cream cheese, cheddar and maybe some chopped chicken or bacon? We used the colorful baby bells for an Italian salad on Sunday. Yum.

What do you do with a surplus of peppers?

Blessings,

Julie

Bug Jar Update

2011-05-20T17:33:00.003-04:00

As promised an update to our Bug Jars. The girlies found these cute stickers in the school room and decided to go that route. So easy and no mess.

Can you see the difference in personalities?

These stickers on the sides are to make the bugs happy.... As they drift off into dream land.

Hopefully we'll have some neat bug boards by the end of summer. I'm pretty sure I'll be making new jars at some point. Note to self. No getting upset when/if these break. Get some plastic jars.

Have a terrific weekend!

Julie

Bug Jars

2011-05-20T06:00:00.001-04:00

Have you ever made a Bug Jar? It's been -- something years since I made one. What, you really didn't think I was going to share how long ago it was did you? Actually it's been since Grade School and then again in Junior High. Do they even have Junior High anymore?

Anyway back to the project at hand. My younger girlies are really interested in nature right now and would like to make specimen boards. Okay they didn't even know what those were until I told them about having to make them in school. They thought that was a really cool idea. (I told them about this months ago and am now just getting around to it. Just in case you thought I was all organized and on top of things.)

So here we go. You'll need:

- 1 jar glass or plastic per etymologist

-plaster a Paris

-water
-nail polish remover or rubbing alcohol

Clean jars. I would have used plastic had I had them.

I don't recommend this brand, but it was given to me free from someone who didn't need it anymore. Any brand will do.

Eyeball the amount you think you'll need.

Add enough water to make it a thick pancake consistency.

Pour into jars and let it dry 24 to 48 hours. Make more if you need to it won't ruin the outcome.

Add your remover or alcohol. About a tablespoon. Let it seep in and cover jar with lid immediately.

Find bugs, pop in jar. The will be asphyxiated and then they can be laid out in a couple of hours on a styro foam card and pinned. Do it sooner than later so that the wings etc are easy to maneuver.

Don't forget to have a classification book on hand. Yeah, I need to get one of those...

I'll post pics of finished jars later today after the girlies have had a chance to do up the lids with sequined bugs. Hey were girls we need to pretty it up a bit!

Blessings,

Julie

Gardening Part 3

2011-05-19T06:00:00.003-04:00

The garden this past fall looked beautiful. We had lots of green foliage but not as many veggies as I had hope for... The reasons are many, but my least favorite would be the Fruit Rats and Squirrels. Yup, the rats ate every single one of our beautiful Cauliflowers and Brussels Sprouts! We had 12 of each plant growing wonderfully. They ate some collards, beans, and onions. I was disgusted. Especially after I saw the night vision videos of the little beasties. Yuck!

We trapped and did every thing else we could think of. When I say "we", I mean Superman. If you'll recall I was really not into trying another garden, but my man really thought we should. So I jumped in. I encouraged, bought, planted, replanted, hoed and pulled weeds only to have those little buggers get the best of me.

They didn't even care about the shiny things we placed in the garden to scare them away. No, they waited until night fall to have their feast. As you can see it's been 5 months and I'm still not over it!

We also put in 2500 lbs of manure in late summer. It was composted, but I'm sure it threw the pH of the soil off. We tried heirloom tomato plants and I don't think they had quite enough sunlight for the winter. They are still growing even now and have a couple of tomatoes on them. Lots of green foliage with very few flowers.

Here is a picture of what the garden looks like right now. Fall tomatoes have about had it and the green beans are ready to pick. I'll share more in my next post.

How is your garden growing?

Blessings,

Julie

Whole Wheat Pretzels

2011-05-18T21:37:00.005-04:00

Tempation has befallen us! This whole wheat pretzel recipe was the easiest I've ever made. And the tastiest! Thanks to Heavenly Homemaker.

Here in Central Florida we have been experiencing some mighty fine weather and the baking bug and my spirit is renewed. It has been absolutely gorgeous and we've been able to turn the air off for almost a whole week. Ahhh, but alas the heat will be back on Friday and will be pulling the pool out and trying to keep the heat out of the house.

But for now we will enjoy our baking...

Here's the Little Chef with some of her cinnamon sugar delights. All buttery and sweet.

Farm Girl and the L.Chef rolling out the dough.

Wah La! A perfect pretzel.

The finished product. There all gone!

Have you made anything different and just for fun lately?

Blessings,

Julie

Making My Babcia Proud

2010-12-15T15:18:00.007-05:00

For years my Babcia has been relaying stories of my Father and Aunts childhoods. One thing that usually comes up about twice a year is the snacks she would make for them after school. One of their all time favorites being doughnuts. Yum!

Today I was thumbing through MaryJane magazine (thank you Lora for passing it my way) I saw a recipe for Chocolate Aebleskiver. Basically, an old fashion, unfried doughnut. Well this month I've been trying really hard to find cooking experiences with my little chicks. Ones were it doesn't have to be perfect (a first born mama problem) and it's something we've never tried before. One stipulation. You must be done with your school work if you would like to help!

So here we go Babcia. My take on your yummy fried doughnuts!

3 egg whites (called for yolks also mixed in separate with the milk err half and half - I didn't read the directions well enough)

2 cups whole milk (didn't have any half and half)

2 cups whole wheat flour (1/2/3 white flour)

1/2 cup dark chocolate chips melted in the milk (called for 1/3 c cocoa powder that I didn't have)

3 TB sucanat (2 TB sugar)

1/2 t salt

1 TB baking powder

1 t baking soda

1/2 t cinnamon ( we used it but didn't care for it- but we trying follow the recipe exactly don't you know )

1 t vanilla (homemade is the best)

So here's what I did: beat egg whites and vanilla into a fluffy, stiff submission. Mixed all dry ingredients. Then I poured in wet ingredients. **** Then I added egg white mixture and folded it in. Gently.

I then heated up my cast iron pancake puff pan (thank you Babcia), formally known as a Aebleskiver Pan a century or so ago. The directions called for it to be searing hot. Do not follow this advice! My first batch was burned. Not so bad that we couldn't sample, but I would start out at about medium heat and turned down to medium low.

Fill each greased (of your choice) cup and cook until sides pull away. Give a quarter turn, cook. Give another quarter to a third of a turn.

Remove from heat. Let chicks or buckaroos dip in a powder sugar vanilla glaze. Then let them roll in powdered sugar.

Ohhhh so healthy right??? I mean we used all natural ingredients. Yeah, to many more of these baking days and well you know.....

Julie

I had a ton of pics but I can't seem to get them to upload correctly.

Ginger - Lemon Slushies

2010-11-18T13:02:00.003-05:00

The week before Thanksgiving and the weather is balmy 78 degrees. What's a Mom (who dreams of real falls and mild winters) supposed to do?

Make Ginger - Lemon Slushies!

Actually the ginger in these slushies is the gift that keeps on giving. Last year we had a couple of weeks of fresh ginger in our kitchen basket. So I needed to figure out what could be done with it. I made candied ginger. Yummy!

I had a small jelly jar of the candy and a 3/4 jar of dark, rich syrup left. Yesterday we attended a Pioneer Harvest Party. We needed a dish to share from the time period. The day before we were reading in a Plymouth Cookbook that the Pilgrims would make ginger tea regularly. Perfect!

Here's what I did. I put the candied ginger in the blender with some water and pureed it. I pop it on the stove and simmered it until all the pulp rose and clung to the sides. I then scraped that out added more water, the ginger syrup , and a bit more dark sucanat. The Pilgrim's were said to use maple syrup, but I had sucanat. I placed all this into a gallon size milk jug for easy carry and chilled.

We took the ginger tea and sweet popcorn to the event. The reviews were mixed. The tea has quite a spicy little kick at the end! It is really meant to be hot and was a bit sweet when cold. (I made it sweeter for the children because of the spiciness.) Everyone enjoyed the homemade sweet corn.

So here were are at today. I had a half gallon of sweet ginger tea in the fridge and nothing to do with it. Then a light went off! Why not make slushies with it? So I boiled it back down to a syrup state. Let it cool. Then we popped it in the blender with a BIG splash of lemon juice. More like a glug,glug,glug. I added a bit of water and tons of ice.

The lemon is a perfect accent and you get a spicy kick at the end of each sip. Yummy. I'll definitely put this on the spring and summer treat list!

Have a wonderful day!

julie

The End of the Apples...

2010-11-11T11:55:00.003-05:00

The apples are about done and I miss them already. I feel like I need another case or two. Crazy? I'm seriously starting to think that I need to open a seasonal bakery.

Here's the totals for 5 boxes of apples:
30 apple pies
4 apple crisps
13 quarts of applesauce
7 quarts cinnamon apples (these were supposed to apple filling, but I didn't like the recipe)
10 gallons of dried apple chips
50 apples for eating
lots of cores and peels for chicken food

I'm hoping to get one more pie out of them tonight!

This weekend I'm moving on to a case of pears that are ripening on my kitchen table. Date night with Superman. Outdoor Movie Night with the chickadees. Oooooo and making baby burp clothes for a cutie pie that will be born in the new year! I also probably should clean up craft room which looks like a bomb exploded in it and help make 4 Sweet Sisters Pumpkin Bread!

Have a Great weekend!
julie

Apple Pie

2010-11-08T10:24:00.008-05:00

School Girl

By my tally we have made approximately 27 apple pies and 2 large apple crisp in the last week! I know what you're thinking, "She's nuts. Doesn't she already have a full to overloaded plate?" The answer is a resounding YES! We Mom's tend to do what we have to do and what we probably don't have to do also. Ahem.

The Little Chefs friend

Well there were some hectic moments. Like the small fire in the oven that only got bigger when I opened the door to throw in salt. SCARY. Or the black smoke streaming out of the ovens. I'm so thankful we have had a patch of cold weather so the windows could be open!

First timers!

Some fun times were teaching a gaggle of preteens how to bake their first pies. They were so excited. My own little chickadees and I even had a chance to bake some big ones!

Farm Girl's friend.

We made 3 different types of crust:

-Whole Wheat with butter

-White flour with butter

-White four and vegetable shortening

Flakiness Factor- White Flour w/shortening was the clear winner. Although the thought of shortening grosses me out!

Whole Wheat Pastry Flour - Great if you're making pie all time and you want to keep as much nutrition as possible. A bit denser than white flour BUT the butter gives it an excellent flavor.

Butter verses Shortening - Butter gives more flavor and a more tender crust I think it's a must in you are making pot pie. Yum!

Coconut Oil Crust is next on the list. I plan on making a coconut oil crust this week.

Farm Girl

Whatcha been up to?

julie

Our Little Farm Part 2

2010-11-05T10:26:00.010-04:00

Hi Folks. I can't believe it has been so long. The fact of the matter is schooling, girl's groups, play practice and a much needed vacation is kept our family overloaded. All wonderful things, but you know how it is. Right?

What's been going on around here? Well unfortunately last night Farm Girl found old Gert ( one of our first chickens) dead. Just before we had a passel of ladies convening on the homestead to make apple pies. Not good timing. She was truly one of my favorites. She had a wonderful life here. Eating spaghetti, hunting frogs, bugs and children. She also gave us some wonderful eggs!

Farm Girl was a sad, but seems to be learning the ways of farm life. Saturday she is going to look at about 150 new chicks a friend of ours just got in. Maybe we can persuade Superman to get a couple ;)

Our garden is perking along. We are already harvesting collards for the chickens! We put in two rows in just for them. The weather has not been cooperative. We haven't had any rain (until last night) in the past month.

We are having Squirrel problems. Superman has hung cd's around the perimeter of the garden. They startle me at times, but I 'm not sure about the squirrels. They really like to eat the baby cucumbers and the almost all of the lima beans as they have come up. I would really like to find something that would keep them away from our house! Superman has ideas, but I don't think they are allowed in city limits :0

Here are some heirloom tomatoes. No blooms as of yet.

The lettuce had trouble. So I need to plant again. We are using a ground water system and the lettuce, kohlrabi and other really need to be hand watered for the first month or so. I haven't had a chance to replant and I'm missing the lettuce.

Hopefully this weekend we will get some fertilizer down, check for weeds. (Superman and the little chickadees pulled a bunch after our vacation.) Make more apple pies and lots of 4 Sweet Sisters Pumpkin Bread!

We're trying decide on a ground cover for weed control. We've a free mulch in that past, but it's very big and chunky. Any ideas?

julie

Our Little Farm Part 1

2010-09-15T08:17:00.006-04:00

I really didn't want to do it this year, but Superman is all about it! We are trying a new location for our garden.

Gardening in Florida without pesticides is hard stuff. A lot of labor and sometimes (okay most of the time) very little fruit. I really have given up, but there is a small part of me hoping to be proven wrong.

The year before last we tilled up a large piece of our backyard just outside our kitchen door. That's what Square Foot Gardening suggested. We blocked off 12, 4x4 foot squares, amended the soil and laid on a thick layer of mulch. I planned out every square and the rotation for each. Superman set up a water system and I fantasized about cutting our coop bill and not going out to the 4-H garden.

The growth was exciting. The garden was flourishing until (dunt,dunt,dunt,dunn) the winter sun changed position in the sky. Over a week or so we saw the shadow of our house covering the entire garden. Needless to say most everything stopped growing. We were able to retrieve some greens, radishes, garlic, and tomatoes. Not many though and I was so glad I hadn't cancelled any produce orders!

Fast forward to last fall. I was very happy with coop and 4-h. So we tried something small and radical. We planted our front flower beds! Yikes! Everyone can see what we are doing. I'm sure our neighbors thought we were crazy. Or maybe they thought that when they first saw the 12 chickens running around our backyard!

Whatever their thoughts, I wanted to conquer Florida! We planted red cabbage (which looked like huge cabbage roses), broccoli and tomatoes. The broccoli was fabulous! We had so much Broc. & cheese soup around Christmas time. The tomatoes didn't work at all. Sun, sun, sun and plenty of it. We didn't do any amending to the soil. This resulted in smaller veggies. I didn't care I was just happy to be getting something!

So we took another look at our backyard and watched the sun through last winter. We think we have found a spot that might work. Stay tuned for more!

julie

Just Peachy

2010-08-16T10:10:00.010-04:00

A bad day canning is better than the best day shopping! Can I tell you that I have been going crazy wanting to can! But unfortunately there has been absolutely nothing available to stock up on and can. That is until these fabulous peaches went on sale for 69 cents a pound. That is a terrific price for where we live!

It's been years since I've done peach jam. So I read up on all the procedures and on how to can peach slices. I made sure I had plenty of lemon juice, clean jars, lids, rings and sugar. I also watched Homestead Blessings, Canning addition. The Chickadees really enjoyed watching the West Ladies and I got a little braver about trying my new pressure canner. (I still haven't used it.)

Scoring peaches for their hot tub time.

Boiling for about a minute to loosen skins. Some of them just didn't want to loosen. I let them sit in ice water next to help even further. Some still were persnickety!

Farm girl stopped by from the pool to help out. You can see some of the lovely finished product on the side. We used lots of lemon juice to keep the beautiful color.

Yummy canned peaches after a 20 minute hot water bath. (I just can't bring myself to try my pressure canner.)

It was a lot, I mean a lot of work to produce 17 quarts of peaches. I was a bit bummed when I pulled them out of the canner and I had peach juice leaking from more than half of my jars.I really thought I had given them enough head room so that wouldn't occur. They all sealed, but I have them stored in our dowstairs fridge to be on the safe side. They can live there for at least 6 months. Maybe longer.(The reason for the dark color is that I used molasses crystals with honey in place of white sugar. )

I had planned on making jam over the weekend, but I was pretty bummed about the peaches and how long it took. My girls all got in on the act and made things go so much quicker. So today I hope to do some jam!

I'm trying new pectin. Pomoana. Has anyone used it? I read it doesn't work in the same fashion as the general pectin's. Let's just pray we get some good results. My pantry shelves are getting bare and need some beautiful color!

julie

We also tried making fried peach hand pies with another family. The were yummy!

Bible & Beach

2010-08-06T09:02:00.001-04:00

A beautiful thing is taking place here. Every once in a while the Lord just puts something ever so precious in my lap. Right now that something is Bible & Beach. About 13 young woman and a couple of us moms are meeting weekly at the beach. We're digging in deeper to what the Lord has for us and fun fellowship.

We are working our way through Eric and Leslie Ludy's book, When God Writes Your Love Story. For some it's a new concept and for some it's confirmation. While for others, it is a helpful reminder of all the beauty that awaits those who seek after His heart.

The main reason I highly recommend this book is because it places the reader in the "driver's seat". It's not just what parents, grandparents or even what pastors say we have to do or should be doing. Its not about rules, regulations or the "perfect" way to date. Just an invitation to invite the Lord into all parts of our lives including our romance life. Heavy and rich. Better than any chocolate I've ever tasted.

I'm being reminded of my own romance and asking the Lord some 21 years ago (almost) to guide it. I see some of the errors of our ways and I'm reminded of His forgiveness and mercy. I'm just so grateful that I have an opportunity to share it with my daughters and other young woman. I'm also grateful for other "20 something" women who are willing to wait and who are wanting to share their struggles and achievements with those younger woman coming up behind them.

I know some of you reading this must be thinking, "what a crazy woman this is". Well, crazy I am but all for the Glory of my King.

Happy in Him,
julie

Swagging

2010-08-05T11:37:00.001-04:00

I'm really getting excited about SWAGBUCKS. If you look over in my side bar you see the icon to join. I'm saving for Christmas gifts and I'm well on my way. I have one high ticket item (i can't disclose) that I hope to purchase in full from Amazon.

A $5 e-certificate is 450 swagbucks and I've got a tidy little sum building. Swagging is super easy. Set up a tool bar and start searching. Swagbucks will appear as you search and go right into your account. You can also do surveys, purchase items from real online stores, and find codes to earn lots more SB's.

Interested? Click Here and join or go to my side bar. Have fun swaging and saving for gifts!

julie

a bit of fun

2010-08-04T11:26:00.000-04:00

Bakerella and the Cake Boss we are not! But we sure enjoy pretending we are and acquiring some new skills a long the way!

I really have to make an effort at times to just let my chickadees do it their own way. So I set a morning a aside a couple of weeks ago for them to practice there cake decorating skills. The white and chocolate cupcake pictures are from that day.

Farm Girl concentrating...

Isn't she sweet! Farm girl learned to make this and the flower cookie below. She had a great time at a birthday party with friends creating and decorating.

I thought she did a terrific job on these little flowers.

This was the Little Chefs first experience. It was all about squeezing hard and getting as much on the cupcake as possible. More chocolate please!

Some of the finished product.

Here is a beautiful cake that was created by a friend at Country Boy's . She loves to make cakes like the Cake Boss. What neat birthday gift for the Little Chef who really wanted a Pink Castle Cake and had a Mom who was to wiped out to make one. Roddie used rice crispie treats for the two top layer and the towers. Ice cream cones and home made fondant. Unfortunately it had to be eaten fast because it was melting from being out in the heat (feels like was 112 degrees) during transport. No worries though, not a bit was wasted! I couldn't believe how everyone wanted seconds and I heard of a couple of thirds. Ooooo and the inside was also pink and was made with strawberry jam! (I know what you're thinking, it just had to be healthy!)

So we this week we have a cookie decorating party planned for younger girls. It should be very creative and sweet.

julie

While the Cats Away

2010-08-03T13:12:00.002-04:00

Ever wonder what happens when "the cats are away"? Ah Ha! I found these on my camera.

I'm pretty sure she is the Ring Leader. I mean she just bought a stir fry cookbook at Ikea. The evidence points to her.

Have they gone deep sea fishing?

This must be the Right Handwoman or maybe the girl who does the dirty work!

Something looks like it smells good.

WaLa! Stir Fry ala Urban and School Girls. Love the crinkle cut texture on the carrots. Fancy they must have picked that up from me.

Someone really enjoyed themselves. Next sauces!

julie

What We Use

2010-08-02T09:20:00.003-04:00

School has "officially " been back in session for a week here at our house. I frequently get asked why we start so early. I'm not a very eloquent person and usually fumble on the spot. I use words like,"uh", and " that's what I was meaning to say". But, the reasons we start back so early are:

It's SUPER HOT here!
I like to be done with the bulk of our studies in April so that I can start planning in May before the Homeschool convention.
Usually 3 out of the 4 chickadees are begging to start.
We still have summer fun, take days off and so it isn't straight school, day in and day out. A little crazy on my schedule, but doable!

So these are some of my reasons. Catch me on any given day and I could have more or less.

I spoke of scheduling. I'm a real nerd when it comes to scheduling. I micro manage our individual and daily schedules down to the last minute. Then I feel totally relieved that I have this wonderfully organized schedule and super curriculum to start us on our path of learning. After a day or two, maybe even a week we start to veer from my masterful schedule and get into a steady rhythm that works well for everyone. I make my school plans out for 36 weeks and we check off a day at a time. When everyday is checked off and all the books and tools are used we are pretty much done for the year. (I then have grandiose plans of what we'll study over the summer, but that's for another day).

So everyone is happy. My state and I, that is. I need to have proof of records in case there is ever an issue and I still feel I can veer and swerve at our own pace if need be. as long as we get it all done!

So on to curriculum. I use a bit of everything. I enjoy a bit of Charlotte Mason, Classical and Unschooling Styles (this is used during the summers and holidays). I've used most everything out there trying to find what works best with visual learning disabilities. I've come across a tremendous amount of wonderful curriculum that just doesn't work with our styles, issues and numbers of people. But the curriculum is soooooo good you just want to keep it because you never know when you may be able to implement it! Weird, I know...Or maybe even my grandchildren will be able to use it (someday)!

Here"s a list of what were using this year:

1st Grade

Saxon Math 2
Draw Write Now Books 1 and 2
Handwriting Skills Simplified- Learning Cursive (Ding,Ding,Ding)
Rod and Staff reading
All About Spelling (ding, ding, ding WE HAVE A Winner)
Apologia Swimming Creatures of the 5th Day, audio (tapes I made this summer- Ding,Ding,Ding) and online note booking pages for beginning writers
Tapestry of Grace year 2 Fall of Rome to the Colonies- Lower Grammar

4th Grade

Saxon Math 54
Handwriting Simplified- Cursive
Abeka Health- On her own
All About Spelling
Rod and Staff 3 grade reading and workbook- we pick and choose from the workbook
Scripture memory writing
Apologia Swimming Creatures of the 5th Day, audio and note booking for writers(ding,ding,ding)
Tapestry of Grace Y2 and Writing Aids- Upper Grammar

7th Grade

Saxon 87 with Saxon teacher- ding, ding, ding! Most bang for the buck out of all the math programs with a "teacher" component.
Abeka Health 8th grade- free read
Rod and Staff 8th grade reading comp.
Rod and Staff 6th grade English
Artistic Pursuits Junior High Art 1- Ding, Ding, Ding- a real art instruction program.
Apologia General Science- She's playing with the big chicks now!
Tapestry of Grace and Writing Aids Y2- Dialectic
FLVS- Typing- would not recommend!

****Tapestry of Grace has TONS of Literature, we also use Streams of Civilization , Story of the World with this program and everything else I can get my hands on about the time period from the Library and friends. Our 2nd year using this curriculum. Daunting but very rich!

11th Grade

Life Of Fred Geometry- We've tried everything and seems the most understandable. Also like Teaching Textbooks, Math U See and Saxon for other students. 1 credit
NotGrass American History, Literature and Bible-DING, DING,DING! Very pleased with program. Everything is laid out for your Highschooler. I read the literature also, so that we can have in depth discussions. We also used the World History program and will use the American Gov't and Economics. 3 credits
Rosetta Stone French-1 credit
Apologia Marine Biology- 1 credit plus lab
FLVS Computer Programming- 1 credit
Work Release- 1 credit (not sure if we can still count this one towards graduating total, but still earned)

total 8 credits

So that's what I'm attempting to teach my children this year by the Grace of My Lord.

Any questions?

Maybe tomorrow I'll pop up my glorious schedules!!!

Creative Juices

2010-07-16T09:47:00.003-04:00

Creative juices are flowing down on the farm. The sewing machines have been buzzing with the chickadees homemade creativity. Today is all about making costumes for Chick-Fa -La's Cow Appreciation Day tomorrow.

It caught us all by surprise, it's usually closer to the end of July. Kids of all ages get involved in it here. Even the High School kids get together and make costumes. Then they head out for some tasty chicken nuggets or a wonderful chicken sandwich.

School Girl needed white shirts so she sewed them up out of a sheet. Yep, I needed the sheets for another project, but don't tell her.

The chickadees have also started their couch quilts for fall and winter. We (I) made the fleece blankets about 7 years ago and they are looking a bit bedraggled. So we (I ) decided it was time to freshen it up a bit. So here's what we (they) have done so far:

-Bought a $3 white sheet from Walmart.

-Bought Sharpie style fabric paint markers with 50% off Coupon.

-Cut out 9 x 9 squares with templates (me).

-Cut pieces of cardboard to protect table.

-Split up squares between 3 chickadees.

-They came up with all the wonderful designs for their quilts.

I'll need to buy another sheet tonight. I didn't think everyone would want to make one. Then we'll finish off our designs earlier next week and start quilting! Yikes.

The middle chickadees will be in charge of theirs, with some help from me. The plan is to show them how sew while I'm doing the youngest chickadee's.

So that's what we've been up to this week. That and a lot of freezer cooking for Superman's lunches and banana bread.

Oh here's a quick extra. Urban Girl and her friend were getting ready for PJ Palozza at church by making impromptu costumes for their Lion King dance. They had a ball!

Love it when older girlies bring out and over their machines! This is a Ladies Only Event and lots of fun!

julie

ps. This was last week... maybe i'll get this week's up next!

Swag Bucks

2010-07-10T00:32:00.002-04:00

A lot of you have asked me about swagging. Swag Bucks rewards you for using a combined Ask.com/Google engine. Just search the Web like you normally do, earn "Swag Bucks" along the way, and then you can redeem them for merchandise, gift cards, and other goodies.

So basically when you open a search page it will tell you if you have won any bucks. That's it. It keeps track of all of you earnings. You can also take surveys and win them through just having the toolbar. I set it as my homepage.

So if you interested in giving it a try click on my Swag Buck side bar. Then you and I will get even more Swag Bucks!

Have fun and earn some great gifts!
julie

Whole Wheat Bread Making 101

2010-07-06T12:15:00.005-04:00

Focacia (sp?)

Have you ever wanted to make your own fresh bread? My Girlies just adore it and it makes the most wonderful sandwiches. Well on Thursday night, July 22nd we will be discussing the types of grains, grinders, mixers, and bread machines. Then will dive into making our own loaves of sandwich bread by hand.

Come join me. Space is limited to 10 ladies. Cost of the class is $10. Your payment... will reserve your spot! I will send out welcome emails to all those participating once I receive your confirmation. Hope to see you there!

Banana Chocolate Chip

julie

PS. Couldn't find a picture of our sandwich bread. There here somewhere.

a wee bit tried.....

2010-06-28T15:48:00.006-04:00

All the girls from Grace.

Oh the mountains are so beautiful! I could have stayed longer had the rest of my family been with me. As it was I was more than anxious to be home. Superman and School Girl did a superb job of running the house and getting extras done. Nothing for me to clean up or do when i returned home! Thank you. I've slept, slept and slepted again since being back! Those rivers can sure take it out of a girl.

Putting in at the Ocoee.

Getting a little wet and wild!

Pure Exhilaration or Crazy?

Lots of water, wonderful devotions, time alone and with friends. What a great trip!

julie

Happy, sad, excited!

2010-06-19T16:06:00.003-04:00

Tomorrow I leave on a trip with a bunch of crazy fun young adults (in training)! We're headed for Tennessee right after service. It should be a fun, crazy trip of river rafting, tubing and just being in the mountains. I'm thrilled to be going with Urban Girl!

My relationship with her is changing. From one of Mom/daughter to Mom/friend and young woman/daughter. I'm glad for these time where I get a chance to slowly ease into our new stage and see her as more than my little girl. I don't mean to say that I don't already get daily glimpses, but this is a blessing.

I will say it's strange to be going and leaving so much of my family behind. They have exciting plans while we are gone and I know Superman can handle just about anything. I mean we don't call him Superman for nothing! But still, I'm the Mommy and I'm used to being in charge of my home. School Girl and I planned fun meals for while we are gone. So I know it's under control.

So all this being said I excited, nervous about rafting (it's been 21 years). But I can't wait to be in the mountains. It's my favorite place to be!

See you when we get back!
julie

an update from yesterday

2010-06-17T11:47:00.003-04:00

I called the younger girls in from the pool, seeing that they didn't accomplish a task that they were required to do earlier. While they were starting said task I went into the schoolroom to work on lessons plans. All of the sudden I hear moaning, then crying...

Somehow daughter #3 got daughter #4's hair caught in the sweeper vac that we use on the wood floors! Yup, not just one section, but multiple sections of her head. I shut it down and held it tightly while daughter#2 unraveled the tresses admist the tears.

My first thought: where did I put that camera? (sad i know.don't judge.)

Yes, I did blow up a tenny tiny bit. I'm assuming the best and leaving it up to natural consequences. I hope we all have learned a very important lesson! Let me know if you figure it out.

julie

Fight the good fight?

2010-06-16T10:12:00.013-04:00

So I was over at Raising Homemakers this morning. I get reminders from their site via face book. Anyhow, I 'm really enjoying the site because sometimes I get bogged down in the midst of it all. I even feel at times I'm in a battle, unfortunately a battle of wills. Much of it is of my own making.

Today the discussion revolved around keeping a household. A huge item jumped out at me... Yikes! Dare I come clean... here goes..... I don't follow through enough with my girls. Ugh!!!

Those of you who know me know this. I've been trying to keep it from myself and blame it all on them. Bad mom, I know. Now believe me I'm not being to hard on myself. We all (I hope I'm not the only one) have things come up in life that throw us off track. I unfortunately don't always get back on!

One of my summer "head" goals (meaning I didn't write it down in stone) was to get on top of it with my girlies and stay there. I'm not talking about being mean. I'm saying that I'm going to be firm everyday and if we're late getting to the beach, library or a friend's house then we'll just have to explain it truthfully until we get it together. We will not shirk our responsibilities for a later time! The time never seems to come and then yes, unfortunately; Momma is having a melt down over what they didn't do! It all leads back to the Momma.

One good thing that I plan on pulling back out is our flip charts for keeping rooms clean. I made these up a couple of years ago so that each daughter would have a check off list of how each room should be done. I plan on giving classes in Bathroom 101, Pots and Pans, Sink drains and Laundry Room Etiquette. A refresher for some and new skills for others.

Pray along with me that I will set a godly example to my young and old. That we can find joy in the mundane and make our Superman, Daddy and Papa proud!

julie

Koi Fish!

2010-06-15T13:03:00.008-04:00

No rhyme or reason. I just had a chance to be here today!

School Girl coaxed me into buying a cupcake book for school this coming year. It's so cute and we're having fun working our way through it.

We started by making picnic ants with watermelons on their backs! Too cute, but alas I have no pictures. So today I made and effort to make sure we took some pics of her Koi fish. They turned out just like the book! I think the children at the swim party will really enjoy them.

Beside baking we have been super busy with the daily life of running a house, finishing up any loose ends for the school year, writing class plans and getting everything ready for August. Swimming and scrap booking are in full swing. I've also taken some time and read 5 books in the last 3 weeks. I really enjoy reading, but I put it on hold because I get to engrossed in it. This year I'm trying to read out in the screened gazebo in the evenings and quiet myself down for the day. Ahhh.

Any ideas on some great reads? It's been a long time. I may just read what's on Urban Girl's history list for this coming year and lasts.

julie

Farm Girl

2010-05-01T15:46:00.003-04:00

Today I've had the rare opportunity to spend most of my day with Farm Girl, alone. We did some garage sales (which we both adore) and found some new treasures for each of us. We went and bought a new pool for months of fun swimming and we just had the chance to talk. Ahhh.

I realized we don't get much of that "alone time" kind of talking. The kind you get when you've had a chance to reconnect and you both feel you can ask any question on your heart or mind. A blessed time. I am one blessed woman.

This afternoon; while I worked on hulling strawberries and she eating wasabi almonds, the subject of her future husband came up. We had an in depth discussion of the man. (Only the Lord knows who he is at this point. She's not even double digits yet!)

Anyhow after the "heavy" discussion she says," You know if my husband is a Millionaire and then becomes a Farmer I think we'll open a different kind of ride park (than Disney). You and Daddy will of course have free passes..."

Everything always comes back to being a Farmer! Now she is off making a a bucket (out of the almond can) for her doll.

julie

P.S. Her new favorite book we found today: The American Girl Handy Book: The Centennial Edition reprint from 1887 Lina Beard & Adelia B. Beard

Man Food

2010-04-29T14:08:00.005-04:00

Just a quick post on Man Food. Superman's schedule has change where he can no longer be home for lunch. Now I need to make sure he gets fed! He's the type of guy who forgets to eat. (I wish it were me.) Anyway it's not in the budget for him to eat out and truthfully neither he or I would want him to. So what to do. After two days of him eating oatmeal and cereal for lunch it finally redawned on me! Yes, I've done this before, but forgotten. So without further typing.... Homemade hotpockets.

I made a base mixture of grass fed ground beef and dear meat. 2 to 1. Then I added 5 bags of chopped scallions (kitchen basket from produce), 2 or so cups of chopped green pepper, chopped head of garlic , salt and pepper. Cooked it throughly iwith a glug of olive oil.

While this was going on I made up a recipe for 6 loaves of bread dough. I used soft white wheat because I had surplus from filing buckets.

At this point dough is rising and meat mixture is cooling. I seperated the mixture into 3 bowls. Then I put bowl 1 aside (nothing more to add but cheese). In bowl 2 I popped in spaghetti sauce and bowl 3 I added a can of beans, cilantro (kitchen basket), salsa (my last jar of homemade).

Of course there's a ton of other things that could be added, but this is what I had on hand before shopping day. Meat and cheese are the most important to Superman!

I then seperated dough into 32 pieces. Flatten them out and filled with ingredients and cheese. I had enough for 24 lunches and some dinner tonight! My hope is that these will last a couple of months because we usually have leftovers available a couple of days a week.

The Little Chef got some writing practice in with label making. Now Daddy can find what he needs in the morning!

I need more make ahead ideas for lunch. They must be able to be carried backpack style on a bike. Any ideas?

julie

From Chaos to Order

2010-03-11T19:15:00.002-05:00

We interrupt your blog time to let you know that I've fallen off the Order wagon and need desperately to get back on! I feel like my life is in complete Chaos, but if you were to look through a window at it you would just see us as being a bit busy. I mean, I haven't even posted pics of our new girl, Big Betty and she's already on her way to the doctor's.

In case you have no clue who Big Betty is, she's a new to us 1997 Suburban. (Ooooo do i like her!) We tend to name our automobiles around here. Don't ask me why, but we do it with our children also. They leave the hospital with their birth name, but by the time they arrive home they have their nickname. Then blog names there after. I'll try and post some pics of Big Betty when she gets back. Praying it's a inexpensive celluloid problem (not cellulite).

We're also doing our end of the year school testing this week. I like to do it early. It shows me where we've fallen off track and where we are excelling. Then we can adjust and add in new items of interest. I pretty much know what needs tweaking, but this is required by our state and confirms what I pretty much already know.

On top of that Urban Girl has taken her Traffic class, has gotten her Permit and is will be learning to drive. Whew! A lot in one week.

AND if that weren't enough we were also featured on our local Fox News station about our chickens. I was hoping to provide links, but they don't have any up yet. So now we're local TV stars! Always knew we'd make it to the big time! Hehehehe.

So Chaos is reigning. I need to spend time (like days or weeks) all alone focusing on what the Lord what's me to do next. I mean. I've forgotten how to listen. If you're feeling the same way, I urge you to stay up the extra hour, get up earlier, sit down at nap time or send the kiddos out to play for hour. Rest and listen. Just be still and listen even it's only for 10 minutes. I wish I had a day, weekend or maybe even a week.... But I'll take 10, 20 and would be thrilled with 60 minutes!

Rest and wait on Him. Let Him start you on a fresh path. Praise Him for all the glorious things He's done for you. The trials He has seen you through and the times of learning to come!

Blessings!
julie

My Last Little House Post- i think!

2010-03-03T10:46:00.012-05:00

3 of the 4 sweeties in front of the box office!

Well, life has been even more busy than the Holiday Season around here. I've been waiting for it to slow down, but I just don't think it's gonna happen. So I must keep swimming. Just keep swimming! And on that note, I've got many excuses why I haven't been exercising. I'll leave them to your imagination and just say that I'm revving up for spring and warmer water.

Girls night out!

Mrs. Sweetie Pie, Julie and Tina (Gilbert Gang)

Last night we had the great pleasure of attending Little House on the Prairie, the Musical. I really enjoyed the books as a child, young woman and as a mom so I was a bit concerned on how this would translate to the theater. Also, I wondered if they were going to try and play up the T.V. side of things a bit to much. All my fears vanished with the opening scene! They did a superb job. The writing and lyrics were wonderful. My eldest daughters actually had tears in their eyes, while Farm Girl (the epitome of Laura) sat on the edge of here seat for 2 hours without showing the slightest signs of boredom! As we walked out of the theater at intermission she was so bummed thinking it was over... you should have seen the joy on her face when she realized there was another act! (the total musical ran roughly 2 hours)

Prairie Scenery

Melissa Gilbert and some of the Cast

There were some tongue in cheek moments with Nellie Olsen (played more like the T.V. character) which made the girls and audience laugh a lot! Scene changes were smooth and beautiful. Just what you would expect from a Broadway production. The actors were marvelous and friendly. We had a few moments with them at the end. Melissa Gilbert really feels deeply that this a play for the people and she wanted it to be seen by the people. She said that Broadway can be tough on everything and a Family Friendly Musical could easily be picked apart and close on opening night.

If this musical comes your way, go see it! You won't be disappointed.

Some of the girlies and Carly (green hat) who played Carrie. We met her outside on our way to the car. She was so excited to be in the musical.

Broadway or not, we thoroughly enjoyed it! It's here in Tampa Bay until March 7th , then heads to Naples,FL.

julie

Little Open House

2010-02-27T12:35:00.008-05:00

Yesterday some friends and I held a Little House on the Prairie Open House. We had a lot of fun (so did the kids)! We had stations set up with butter making (I'll never grow tried of this activity), Hush Baby making, knot tying, animal scouting, vintage paper dolls and fun pioneer games. We also had some yummy, easy treats. Johnny Cakes with maple syrup, corn bread, sweet corn, candied ginger, and birch beer. Yummy!

Superman shak'n the butter.

Some of the pioneer girls getting ahead start on paper dolls. School Girl made up the outfit designs for the dolls!

The whole point was to get people excited about Little House on the Prairie the Musical. We did that...but to me it was really about getting together and having fun. No pressure to perform (which I feel a lot when I'm teaching a class ((perfectionism??)). Just fun! I had to remind myself of this a couple of times when I was thinking of projects ( I am my own worst enemy). Simplicity at it's best! The children really enjoyed the games that Mrs. Sweet Pie thought of and the food and knot tying led by the Gilbert boys and girls was so neat. The little guys who attended were entranced by the older boys teaching! Love it!!!!

Knot tying, look at how engrossed the are!

Making Hush Babies

Plan a day with friends and their children. Each of you come up with some super simple activities and have fun. We always need more FUN!

Don't forget to check out Little House on the Prairie: the Musical!

julie

Little House the Musical!

2010-02-18T11:08:00.003-05:00

We loved the Little House on the Prairie Series and the girls have enjoyed many of the shows on TV. Now there is a Broadway production about Laura and her family! We really enjoy music and dancing here on the Urban Farm and can't wait to experience it live.

The Chickadees and I have been given the opportunity to go to the show and meet the cast afterwards. The dates are March 2nd through the 7th. If your interested in joining us, we'd love to meet you at the show!

Oooo, did I mention that Melissa Gilbert was starring as "Ma" in this production! Pretty neat. I can't wait for the music to begin!

Take a peek over at my side bar to click on the neat links they have for the show.
Hope to see you there!

julie

I hope to have pictures to post after the event!

Ode to Bess

2010-02-10T23:11:00.000-05:00

Bessy, Bessy my messy Bessy

how we have used thee.

Through rain and heat we've stuck to the seats.

Drawing patterns with our breath on thy windows.

Spilling Slurpee's and iced tea and even a little wee.

To thee sea, thee country and thee snow(?) we hath gone.

Hauled manure and compost and even had a toast.

Through diapers and drool, you have been no one's fool.

It's time to say a due. We will always be thankful and grateful for you!

O Bess you were always a mess.

How we doth love and appreciate you!

Bessy 1994-2010

julie

Produce

2010-02-04T09:00:00.009-05:00

One way I've decided to challenge myself and my family (a bit) is by being creative with all the "funky" veggies we get in our kitchen basket. The first year we belonged to a co-op I did this, but then we got away from it when we got our chickens. They really enjoy chard, kale, beets greens, you name it! I justified giving the chickens these veggies 1) by they didn't get to roam as much as we would like and 2) we would be getting the nutrients in our eggs. So in my mind we are eating the veggies!(not- i know a bit gross)

Yesterday was our pick up day and we got 2 big bunches of kale (can anyone say yuck). I decided that night was the night for Kale Chips! Mmmmmmmmm. Okay, I'm still thinking gross! Anyhoo, I got all my dicing of our abundance of peppers, dill and cilantro done and put in the freezer. Then I washed and remove the rib from the kale leaves. It really was a pretty color of green. I then found a couple of recipes online and went from there.

Basically you toss the kale in olive oil and sea salt (salt of your choice). You mix them together in a big bowl, place on a cookie sheet and bake at 375 for 10 to 15 minutes. Just until the edges are changing color.

Here's what they looked like after. Very crispy and pretty tasty( I would not say they tasted like potato chips)! They would definitely take care of any greasy, salty food cravings. I was surprised. I did add to much salt, but I would definitely serve these again. They are simple, quick and easy. I would just add less salt.

I'm sure many of you have given these greens a try, but if you haven't you really should! I may actually start growing some in our home garden.

julie

Kale is very low on the glycemic index and super high on the anti- inflamtory!

Conversation Holders

2010-02-02T23:05:00.004-05:00

We've had a crazy good week already and I will share some later. I wanted to pop these up of my Valentine Candle Holders. Ummm they were nice. Yup, I said were. I only have one left. The candy kept mysteriously disappearing! Note to self: shellac whatever I don't want eaten. I mean gee whiz!

julie

Tea for Two....

2010-01-29T10:27:00.008-05:00

Getting caught up in perfection can be haphazard to my health. Today the Little Chef found a tea set that I don't let the girls use very often. Not because there are Disney Princess' on it, but because it is breakable. Hmmmmm.

Usually I feel as though we need to plan for a party. Make or at least have some sort of cookie in the pantry. Get tea and honey out etc. Well, not today and not because of my own doing! The Lord orchestrated this very simple but terribly fun time!

This morning I saw a commercial amidst the news hour about a little girl having popcorn at her tea party. No fancy cakes, pastry or cookies. She was drinking fake tea. Yes, I know the commercial was an add for popcorn but I was allowed to see it at the right moment. To prepare me for my little ones plea...

So when the Little Chef ran in excitedly asking for a tea party and her older sister suggested apple juice and crackers, was there any doubt I would say yes? Actually, to be honest for a split second I thought no, we have this and that going on today ( blah, blah, blah). But I didn't say no and I'm so glad I didn't!

I was summoned to tea moments later. The Little Chef played "mother" and poured. We brought out some strawberry preserves to fill up any empty pots. She was dressed in this weeks favorite ball gown and we had tea. This in turn brought all the other ladies running for their turn at tea. Impromptu and so much fun!

Perfectionism get out of my way! I need to take tea with my Ladies.

Thank you dear Lord. You've taught my daughters and myself about spur of the moment hospitality and me to let go (a little bit more) of perfection.
julie

Double Whammy

2010-01-27T09:46:00.020-05:00

Today is a double whammy. I wanted to show you how wonderfully yummy School Girl's bread turned and it's Works For Me Wednesday over at We Are That Family. My thought is: they learn to make it and I don't have too!

Fresh ground whole wheat flour. As simple as flipping a switch!

See how easy.

Preparing the yeast.

Milk makes for a tender crumb.

Honey and Olive Oil

A lot of flour.

Mom's inspection.

A little dough.

Wah La! Beautiful girl and delicious bread.

She made 2 loaves of sandwich bread, 1 loaf of cinnamon raisin and a batch of french boule.

WFMW Aprons! I use camp dry spray to repel liquids and messes.

Just spray it on a new or clean apron and hang outside to dry for a day or two.

Helps keep aprons looking great much longer!

So get some new cute aprons and keep your cute clothes drom getting ruined!

Do you wear aprons and how often?

julie

Polls

2010-01-26T12:20:00.006-05:00

And the 4 Sweet Sisters poll says! Look over to you right and answer my little survey. Sometimes we SAHM can feel like we are the only people going through whatever it is at the time. I know that I can feel very isolated at times. Anyhow, I was interested in knowing what your daily routines are like. I'll share mine next week! The good, the bad, the ugly. Hopefully more good than the other two!

The middle Chickadees and I are heading to the kitchen to make a batch of french boule bread and teach them how to make sandwich bread. Pictures to come! Farm Girl didn't have time to get to the heart wreath project. We'll update when that happens also.

julie

Getting Crafty

2010-01-25T12:05:00.010-05:00

Oooooooooooo. I'm so into decorating the house for Valentine's Day. I never do, so this has come as a big surprise to me! Here at 4 Sweet Sisters frugal is the game. There are a ton of neat craft ideas out there, but the ole budget just wouldn't budge. So thinking cap went on and I headed to some of my favorite craft blogs(Skip To My Lou and Little Birdie Secrets). I usually do not dream up the wonderful ideas I post here, but I do tweak them to make them all mine.

So total cost was $5.00 for glitter and swirly hearts.

1st up: A rag heart wreath. I accosted all my FB friends looking for wire hangers and I had left over fabric from past projects. Farm Girl plans on making one after to school. I'll post her results later. (Bribery can be good!)

Next: Glitter! I'm in desperate need of a glitter fix and I can't get enough. It's the dieting. I've turned to glitter.

Can you see the red glitter? It really glistens in the sunshine.

Here's another wire wreath. This one was the tops of two pillow cases from my Craft Room storage curtains. I quickly stitched 2 rows and fed the coat hanger through.

And finally aren't these Love Birds cute? They are my year round salt and pepper shakers that Superman made me buy when I saw them on clearance. Almost to cute to use because you know what can happen in a house full of children. Mama can break the shakers!

I still plan to make a candle arrangement for our coffee table with canning jars and Conversation Hearts. I'm also looking for a cute front door wreath idea. It has to withstand a very hot and sunny southern exposure.

Any ideas? I really need to craft. Leave your ideas here with links please.

julie

2010-01-23T10:03:00.004-05:00

Hope your weekend is going well. Quite damp and chilly here. A great day for crafting!

I wanted to post this link to Brandy's blog: The Prudent Homemaker . Her pantry rates up there with our neighbors from years past. Excellent pantry and great tips on canning, urban gardening etc. Hop over and enjoy!

I'll be back Monday with my craftiness! Have a beautiful weekend.

julie

Pantries

2010-01-21T09:37:00.000-05:00

We officially ended our 2 weeks of eating out of our pantry. We did it with no problem at all. We could easily do a month, but I really don't want to deplete supplies I keep on hand. If we had gone a month I would have had to buy some milk and cheese. So that being said, we didn't spend any moola on food or other household supplies. We even had fresh produce (i thought i would have to buy) from our garden!

Today's topic (if you haven't guessed) is Pantries. Do you have one? Do you want one? Why have one?

I think we'll start with the why have it:

Plan meals in advance or on the fly.

When prices are high you can shop your pantry for deals you've already snagged.
Eases your burden in a financial crisis or lean times.

Prepared in case of short or long term emergency.

This is a short list( it could be much longer). The reason why we keep our pantry? All of the above and I grew up seeing my Mom and Grandmother do it. It makes great sense for any budget conscious family (aka us).

I remember going to my Grandmother's house and getting things out of a very long, narrow closet (which I think was made from part of a bedroom by my Grandfather) lined with shelves on one side. It was dark, cool and a lovely place to be in Florida. She never seemed to run out of anything!

My Mom used laundry rooms and extra cabinets as we were growing up. Now she has a small walk- in one in her kitchen and neat cubbies my Dad built years ago in their laundry room. The grandchildren always find what they are looking for and it's easier to keep treats out of sight.

My all time favorite pantry would have to be of our neighbor's, the West family. For a short while we lived in a small farming community in the Utah town of Pleasant Grove. People had acre lots with HUGE gardens and the apple orchards abounded! (We'd pick fresh apples on our walks home from school.) The West's had a dairy cows and would bring us fresh milk over every other day. Yumm!

One time their oldest daughter took me on a tour of their home. Their entire downstairs (semi- basement) was a pantry. Be still my beating heart! I think that's where my love of all thing homey, and agricultural may have come from. Seeing shelves lined with buckets upon buckets of dried fruits (ohh the cherries!). I'm getting all tingly just thinking about it. They also had lots of canned items and anything you would need to whip up a meal for 10 on the spur of the moment or for a year. What a lovely place.

They stored food according to their religious convictions, but I think we all can learn something from them and the Bible. Be as prepared as you know how and the Lord will provide the rest.

Types of Pantries:

Well if you don't have one there are so many ways to create one. You can start out small and grow larger as your needs grown and decrease if it becomes necessary.

plastic bins

crates

under bed storage boxes ( great for people in apartments)

book shelves,
dressers
armories

closets (our's houses clothing not in use)

These are my uncreative ideas. I'm sure there are many other types of containers and spaces that could be used...foot lockers, bedrooms, etc.

This dresser was part of a bunk bed that we didn't need.

Back to our reasoning. The past two years have brought very tense times at my husband's job. We've been on a roller coaster! Will they get rid of his department or will they keep it another year? Due to the strains on this agency we have lost income to help save jobs. So we took quite a hit and insurance etc. went up creating an even larger strain. But for the time being he is still employed and not far from retirement. (Superman is very young- he started his job at 21) So we decided to make a plan. Ways to keep us afloat if the bottom fell out.

First we had been budgeting with a vengeance (and we have almost completed a long awaited goal). We also knew that we had a small savings. So we decided to take my bi-weekly shopping fund and really work the sales and co-ops to create a pantry that might sustain us 3 months.

Sales!

We then looked at where in our home this might take place. We decided to use a very small 8 x 10 bedroom and create a pantry/clothing storage/ gift giving center. We didn't want to spend any money to accomplish this so we looked around the house and garage for storage items. We found old bookshelves, plastic shelves, a dresser from a bunk bed set and armorie. We did end up finding one metal shelving unit on clearance for $19.99.

I use a thermometer to keep an eye on my temperature and generally run the ceiling fan to move air. It's a work in progress. I'm glad we started it. I'm not sure if we will "always" have one of this size. But I think I'll always have one. It's in my blood.

This pantry has been a huge blessing already. I can't control everything, but I've done what I can. I leave the rest in my Father's hands.

Do you have a pantry? What do you store in yours? I'd love to hear from you!

julie

So Much to say.

2010-01-19T09:01:00.013-05:00

Good Morning All! We had a wonderfully busy, four day weekend here. We started out our time together visiting a reenactment of Civil War life. We had a chance to here the cannons blow and the muskets crack. A little unnerving when your aren't prepared for it.

All the Dads in our group were entranced. We learned about Morse code and the telegraph service. How to dress for day, evening and what type of hoop skirt was used for different activities. Everyone enjoyed some sarsaparilla, fried peas, parched corn and fry bread. The chickadees has lots of new ideas for ball gowns and bonnets. ( I think we will have a busy summer.)

These were war refugees getting dressed for the day. The hairstyles were so intricate! Did you know that they made specific chairs for men and women? The hoops that women wore couldn't fit into chairs with arms. These chairs were also sold in pairs because married couples were the ones most likely to need them.

After leaving the Raid we then headed to Bocia's to drop off Christmas gifts and check out her computer glitch. (Bocia, how do you like the new background? I did it in your honor.) We then gave Bocia kisses and headed onto my folks who had a Surf and Turf Birthday dinner waiting for us! School Girl and I both celebrated birthdays over the past week or so. The dinner was yummy. Poppy, you're the best at the bar-b-que!

The next day I went to a couple of Thrift Stores alone. Didn't find much, but it was nice. I also had a great date night with Superman.

Sunday was my official turn -- day! The Chickadees had the whole day planned after church. Urban Girl made a roast beef (from the freezer- remember our frugal pantry) and shrimp, banana splits and lots of other treats. She did a FABULOUS job! Thanks honey. She and her sisters also planned an In Home Spa Day. I'll leave out the description because this post is getting crazy. Here are some fun pics!

These last nails WERE NOT a creation of 4 Sweet Sisters. Nope these were my lovely mother's idea. Gross, huh? Move over black olives! What can you do with shrimp tails!

By Monday we were exhausted. No school was done, but I did sit down with our two oldest and go over monthly budgeting. We then set up their budgets and goals for the 2010. A nice fire, Meet Me in St. Louis and off to bed. What a wonderful time.

Thank you to everyone who made it so special with cards, gifts, their time and shout outs on FB.

julie

Pantry Update and Frugal Failures 2

2010-01-11T13:29:00.007-05:00

Before I show you my beautiful (boring) pictures of my Mini- Pantry I wanted to to share Frugal Failure #2. Yes, two in 1 week.....sigh......... stop by here to read one.

Last Thursday night we took School Girl out for a special Dad and Mom dinner and a movie. I was so excited because I had a gift card for the restaurant she wanted to go to and the movie was only $4! Yep, I was pretty pleased with myself.

We went to Chili's and ordered the 2 for $20 meal plus a meal for Superman. They proceeded to have a "who could eat the most salsa and not cry" contest while I basked in the glow of my frugal accomplishment. Dinner was yummy ( i walked that day). School Girl received her family ring that night and we enjoyed our desert; brownies, ice cream and chocolate. The waiter asked if we needed anything else and gave Superman the bill. I whipped open my gift card envelope, brought forth the golden card and handed it to my adoring Husband. He looks at the card then turned it over. "Uh, Babe."
"Yes my sweet, Knight in Shinning Armor."
"This card is only good for Olive Garden, Longhorns......"

Crash and burn. I looked at my knight and just laughed! What could we do? So much for not spending any moola. We had a good laugh and now I have a gift card for my birthday! So much for being frugal.

So here are the pics I promised of our Mini Pantry. I will post some later of our full size, but you'll have to wait. Right now we are sewing Civil War period dresses for a Raid we are attending this coming weekend.( i hope it's as neat as we think it will be.) They even have a Blue and Grey Ball and Ladies Tea.

Looks much better than it did. Unfortunately I had to throw out a couple of items.

I hid the Nutella! That stuff is tasty :)

This is how I store beans for short term. I do keep larger buckets of some varieties in the "cellar". I also buy the HUGE 5 liter bottles of Olive oil because they are cheaper and I refill my smaller bottle when needed.

Head over to Money Saving Mom for more tips and ideas. We have been eating some tasty meals and I really hope I don't have anymore frugal failures to share (at least for a couple of weeks).

julie

Helping Those Who Serve Us

2010-01-08T14:49:00.005-05:00

We had the most wonderful day. The girls were asked to serve our Armed Forces by helping Operation Military Kids hand out dolls and picture dog tags to children of the parents and grandparents leaving on deployment. We heard the Governor of our state speak and shook hands and exchanged smiles with may of our military personnel.

Everyone loved these dolls!
There's a pocket were you put a picture of your loved one.

A very special remembrance for our family of all those fine folks who are willing to serve our country. We pray for your safety and quick return.

julie

Frugal Failures

2010-01-07T11:55:00.005-05:00

Has anyone else had a Frugal Failure out there? Well, we sure did! Despite all my best efforts and preplanning I still went over budget for the holiday season. Hmmmmmmmm.( Truthfully, I think we do every year, but we take it out of short term savings and pretend it never happened. )

Well not this year! Nope. We are going to buckle down and eat from our Pantry. The one that I, the Chickadees and Superman have created this past year.

I've been meaning to post about this project and have even started posts and then things have come up that needed more attention. Well now is the time! Aren't you excited? I'm always up for a challenge. I thrive on them (most of the time).

My goal is to eat out of our pantry, freezer and grain storage for at least two weeks. I do have moo la for produce and milk. I think the hardest part will be skipping the BOGO's and seeing things get depleted... I like this little safety net we've created, but I think we should see it in use. It will give us a chance to see what needs to be tweaked. Also, Money Saving Mom is doing it for a month with updates so, hop over there and check it out. ( I laughed when I saw the post, saying " no way, I'm not up for that right now".)

Let me tell you what you won't find here: a full weekly menu. I 'm just not in that kind of place right now. I like creating on the fly and seeing what new things we can come up with. We're in a season were we can do this. I highly recommend bi-weekly menu planning and cooking once every two weeks if you're having trouble finding time to get meals on the table because of the crazy schedules that most of us face. That being said, I have thought of a couple of things we will be enjoying (ahead of time).

So here's the 1st big step: Get the mini pantry in order!(yes we have a mini pantry now....)

And if that wasn't bad enough! Here's a close up of all the junk that has come into our home over the holidays. P.s. we will be keeping most of it and weening ourselves slowly...

See Superman's Cap'n Crunch? He gets that yummy (ugh) stuff every year for Christmas. Health Nuts turn away! Oooooooooooo and we tried Nutella. All I can say is , "Yummmmmmm!"

Okay get a grip. Back to organizing and getting ideas for the next two weeks meal. I hope to post about our "real pantry" and how and why we decided to do it in a day or two (no not weeks)!

So any Frugal Failures your willing to share and possible ways to remedy them? Love to hear from you.

julie

Cross Training

2010-01-05T09:47:00.004-05:00

I guess I should have looked up the definition of Cross Training before I started this post. Since that would be to laborious, I've decided to give you my definition. (See the stuff you read online may not always be accurate.) Reader Beware!

My definition is just this: Exercising 4 to 5 times per week using different muscle groups on opposing days.

How am I going to accomplish this? Let me tell you... it has been a HUGE brain struggle! I've been warring with myself for a couple of months over this. My brain has finally won. I've decided to Nordic Walk 2 to 3 times a week and Swim 3 times a week. My body has become somewhat stagnant with just swimming and due to concerns over osteoporosis I needed to get in some bone building exercise.

For Christmas I received a new pair of walking shoes and have really been trying hard to do my foot exercises each night. Urban Girl and I took our maiden walk on New Year's day (before I came down with the crud, again). It was great! It took very little time to adjust to the Nordic Poles.(bought a pair about 8 months ago when my foot was in really bad shape.) I originally bought them for extra stability in my walking, but they are also great for an upper body work out. I was huffing and puffing in no time!

While we were out on the battle field I realized that swimming is definitely my favorite sport. When I get in the pool, even if I don't feel like working out. I still do it. I mean something in me just keeps going. With walking, when I get tired my brain says, "time to quit. Let's go home." I don't feel that surge to keep going. So adding this in will be a challenge for me.

Also, there's the sweat factor. I know it is good for me, but I'm sweating at 40 degrees! GROSS!(I just needed to rant)

The weather has been quite chilly down here so I won't be doing much swimming this month and with feeling puny walking has been on hold. I've also been warring with myself over changing my eating and where the accountability lies....... Yeah, deep I know.

julie

Happy New Year!

2010-01-04T15:32:00.002-05:00

I hope all is well with you and yours? We have had a bout of illness over the holidays and I think I'm getting ready for another round. A doctors visit may be in order. Tonsillitis or Strep Throat, I don't know... I've been trying to diagnose myself all day.

We started back to school today. So hard after a wonderful break. Yes, even with feeling sick we still had a great time as a family. Everyone was home on vacation. We received a Wii for Christmas and have been having a lot of fun with it. I feel like I'm at the bowling alley!

The weather has been quite chilly here. Our nighttime temps are in the low 30's with daytime just at about 50 degrees. We don't buy clothing for chilly weather (so I look a bite strange in funky layers) and uh, we even forgot (until last night) that maybe we should put the heat on! We've had fires every night and during the days of the weekend. Superman has been cooking over the fire and having a great time. I've been cooking on my new Cuisinart panni maker! I love it! It makes some of the best sandwiches.

My favorite: Tuscan bread, lots of of sun dried tomatoes, mozzarella, and a slice of black forest ham. Yum! I could eat it everyday.

I would really like to blog more but I just can't at this point in time. I've thought about closing up shop but I still want to be here. So if you read me and like what you read you might want to put me in your favs or follow. There is really no rhythm or reason to when I get a chance to get on here. I miss being here, but it's time to go rest.

julie

Blanching

2009-12-09T15:58:00.003-05:00

Today I tried my hand at blanching. We received over a case of cauliflower in our kitchen basket this morning. Amazing! My chickadees love it cooked or raw. Myself, I can't stand the smell of it and if it smells that bad why would one want to eat it? Yuck!

Anyway, the girls really enjoy it. So I pulled out a big pot with strainer. Added a good amount of salt and fresh water. Brought it to a boil and popped in the cauliflower. I let them boil for 3 minutes, then ran them under cold water and popped them into freezer bags. Hopefully it will taste great! (I will not be taste testing)

I had enough to create 8 meals, keep 3 fresh heads in fridge and give 7 away! It just seemed to multiply.

What's your favorite Cauliflower recipe? I need ideas.

Give blanching a try. It super quick and easy!

julie

Update

2009-12-02T23:19:00.003-05:00

Life has been a whirl wind. I keep stating that each time I have a chance to break away and blog. I would like to be on here a lot more, but time is precious when you're raising a family of any size. Am I right?

I did want to update on my exercise habits. Since I last posted a lot has happened. First off, the Lord has been so good in graciously giving me the toys I wanted. I got a pair of water gloves for half price at Target and I was so excited. I used them for all my arm work outs for about a month. Then I laid off for a couple of days. Some how on my break I over extended one of my shoulders. I tried swimming through it thinking it would heal. It did not. So about two weeks ago I changed my workout and got rid of all arms. I'm not sure what I looked like coming down the lane, but I can assure you it was silly!

That leads me to the next gift. This time another swimmer. She wanted me to have her old fins because she bought new ones. What a blessing. She's such a great lady and keeps me striving toward each new goal.

So it was great timing. I had the fins, so I didn't totally look like I was drowning without my arms.

Here's my workout using arms(w/o gloves) as of this week:

300 back/free
200 legs
300 dolphin on back/just arms
200 legs
300 back/free
200 legs
300 dolphin on back (a killer)/ just arms
200 legs
50 to 100 jumps for bone growth

All in all 2000 a day. A little over a mile. I've cut my time down to 45 minutes (on a good day). I have not lost anymore weight. Truth be told I haven't been trying real hard. Haven't gained and I have increased muscle in legs. I was able to go up and down our full flight of stairs about 5 times today (in a row) with to much huffing. So I guess my stamina has increased!

Another goal that I met was Swimming the Trail in our county. It is 47 miles long and the pool in town will keep official records for you of your mileage. So I did it a couple of weeks back ( not all in one day) and they gave me a T-shirt saying I had swam the trail. Superman keeps telling people that I'm training to swim the English Channel!

I also have logged in and kept track with Presidential Fitness. I've made it past the Bronze Medal at this point, but I've lossed interest in it.

So what's next. Really back to watching what is fueling my body and cutting back a bit on the exercise. I was so exhausted swimming an hour, 5 days a week that I would come home and sit. There were days I could barely move and I just can't do that. I felt it was my whole life.I was also always so hungry and felt a bit out of control.

On a happier note, I am addicted to swimming. I have to do it at least 3 times a week and really no more than 4. I would like to slowly add on another 200 to 500 by next summer. We shall see!

I do know that I have to be very balanced in my life. My motto is "balance in every area except for Christ". The only place where I want to be head over heals!

julie

Art

2009-11-20T12:39:00.005-05:00

Today the chickadees and I were given the privilege of meeting P. Buckley Moss. What a beautiful woman. She was so gracious to open her home and gallery to our co-op group this morning. The girls and I felt as if we had spent some precious time with our own Bocia. She had so many fascinating stories to share and her artwork is beautiful.

You'll see no pictures here today. I felt it just wasn't right to be snapping away in this lovely women's home. If your interested in taking a peek at her work go here.

She really gave encouragement to my eldest daughters. She, like them has dealt with learning disabilities but hasn't let that stop her. Finding what she loved to do at an early age and doing it. In no way expecting or even wanting to become famous, she has become world renown. A gracious, keep you own your toes kind of lady. She has so much to share with her family and the world.

Thank you Ms. Buckley.

julie

Pumpkin Bread Season

2009-11-10T15:01:00.003-05:00

Ahhhhhhhh can you smell it? I can taste it and it is delicious. Ahhhhhhhhh. Fall has started off with a bang here a 4 Sweet Sisters. School Girl has be in charge of advertising the chickadees business. She's gotten orders for 250 loaves of our mouthwatering pumpkin bread. Amazing! This is the biggest year we have had so far.

Besides baking we have been apart of an enormous garage sale at our friend's farm (yes we have more than beaches and Mickey here). A tremendous amount of business went on and we now have the funds to purchase a new stand up freezer. I am so excited! I'm deal hunting at this very moment :) We also sold another 24 loaves of our tasty bread there and lots of chocolate chip cookies. It was a great weekend, we bartered, dickered, swapped recipes and chatted about life.

So much more is happening. I hope to post later about our fall gardens and test garden, Superman's new business and much, much more!

julie

Have you laid one like this?

2009-10-28T13:08:00.005-04:00

Or should I say has one of your chickens ever laid one like this? I keeping thinking "Vermont Volleyball" ( Bing Crosby, White Christmas) but that really has nothing to do with this or does it (poor Danny Kaye). We seem to have girl that lays like this occasionally. No extra squawking, but it sure looks like it's got to be painful! You can't tell from the picture but this egg is larger than a Extra Large Fancy eggs from the grocery. It's just like any other egg once you crack it open, but it does look unappetizing.

Have you ever "laid a egg"? I'm sure we all have. In fact there are days where it's just best if I keep my mouth shut! Today could be one of those days. Lots of extra squawking and pain for everyone in ear shot. I'm relying on my Father to get me through and keep my beak shut!

Have a great day!

julie

I gave into temptation....

2009-10-26T10:58:00.005-04:00

It's Monday... One of those kind of days where...need I say more? It's not super bad (because I gave my day over to the Lord), but it does have it's twists and turns. (Here comes my excuse, get ready, wait for it, wait for it.) I have been craving meat and chocolate all weekend. I could eat roast beef and/or chicken for every meal with a piece of some kind of chocolate to clear the palate. Ahh... I said it. I need meat and chocolate! I see it everywhere I go. I have recipes swirling through my brain. I cracked. Here's what I did:

2 1/2 cup of 60% cocoa chocolate chips

2 HUGE glugs of vanilla to wash it down (just kidding)

1 can of sweeten condensed milk (John Wayne saved the life of a new born baby with this stuff over the weekend in the 3 Godfathers.)

Melt on medium heat. pour into parchment lined dish, get every bit out of the hot pot (don't burn your tongue), let fudge cool in fridge.

Eat a piece every 15 minutes, I mean test for coolness every 15 minutes or so.

Cut 10 small pieces so everyone can have a taste. Leave some for desert. Pop the rest into freezer in case a repeat is needed in a day or two. Yum!

julie

Give your cares to Lord, sometimes you may get chocolate!

The girls

2009-10-23T16:34:00.003-04:00

I thought you might like to see some pretty shots of two of the chickadees. My girlfriend is a wonderful woman of God, wife, mom and photographer. Angela you're awesome. Loving Legacy Photgraphy So take a peek!

School Room Redo

2009-10-23T15:43:00.005-04:00

I've been away for awhile. I'm finding that school and our schedule are a bit more rigorous and I don't have much time to think. Which is was I need if I want to blog! Yep. I'm not a writer and I have to use a lot of brain power at times. So I've been on Face Book quite a bit (no brain power required).

Today we took a break and cleaned the house. Yippee! Did it need it. I think it's the dirtiest it has ever been. We started earlier this week with Farm Girl doing baseboard, trash cans etc. Today we hit all the rooms and pantry. Did gross ceiling fans, wiped down cabinets, vacuumed behind furniture, window sills, you name it. I also got a couple of shots of our School Room. I never showed how it turned out. We've been living with it for about 3 months and it's working out much better for us. Here are some of before. 11x10 room.

Scary!

Books!

Lots of School Resources and lets not forget the TRASH!

I like the paint color and my curtains. I had to steal them back from the craft room,(now what to do in there)? So we didn't change those. We did end up bringing in yet another storage piece. Remember I have grades K through 11th stored here.

After:

When need be we can actually squeeze all 5 of us girls in here together!

New storage piece. I would have liked to have bought more of the wonderful cabinets that we brought from our last home, but that wasn't in the budget. Now everyone has to be more accountable for keeping their bins neat. This houses each chickadees school bin, all cds, all paper, and computer stuff. The bottom shelf is the little girl's library. Easier to put books in bins than in closets.The closet. Still a bit messy, but who's perfect? It houses all the curriculum we are currently not using and items I don't want people touching.

These cabinets house our library of books that I can't get at the library. All family games are neatly stacked above. Musical instruments in the corner, except for the piano.

The cabinets on the other wall house printer station, bill area, Superman's computer and work stuff, finished photo albums. So this room is more than a school room and is one of the most used rooms next to our kitchen.

I neat thing happened today a friend and I are swapping furniture to see if each others pieces will work better for us. Then we can decide if we should purchase that piece or let the idea float away!

Have a great weekend!

julie

Hot!

2009-10-13T14:38:00.003-04:00

Some like it hot, some like it cold... I'm the cold variety and I don't mean pea soup!

Look at the temp on our front porch yesterday and today is more of the same.

Can you believe that? It's not broken. Now you know why we Floridian's are freezing and having fires when the weather hits 60 degrees. I hear there's a cold front coming this weekend. We might be able to pull out the woolies!

julie

Intentional or Not?

2009-10-09T14:42:00.004-04:00

While I was doing my workout today I started thinking about all the money spent on gym memberships, equipment and all the other paraphernalia that we "need" to exercise. Now I'm not here to criticize or critic anyone. It just got me thinking about myself. Where do I fall into this category? Maybe you'll think about where you fall also, maybe not.

Trying to be frugal, careful, spend thrifty with the family finances has made me take a deeper look at this. I'm not a person who "not intentional" when it comes to exercise. I have many wonderful girlfriends that are. My definition of this is a person who doesn't have to think about getting some exercise. They are always involved in something that gives them this and their bodies crave it if it is not available to them about 12 hours after their last "session".

"Intentional" people on the other hand may enjoy being in the great out doors, but they are sitting on the back porch or on a quilt reading a book. Maybe even canning this years applesauce outdoors, but exercise doesn't come to mind. They actually have to gear themselves up for the event. Yes, it's an event and when you finally get to doing it you feel as though someone should be blowing trumpets and maybe putting a gold medal around you neck (if you've worked really hard).

So what has this to do with frugality? Well my thought is if your a "Not" person you may not need a gym membership, latest equipment, or all the bells and whistles that are out there ( at least while your trying to pay down bills or stash some cash). You can exercise anywhere or any time. You love it, your body craves it, so you'll do it whether you've got a membership or not.

The "Intentional" on the other hand need a little (in my case a lot more help). Figure out what you exercise of choice is and stick to it (I can't believe I'm spouting this(( by the grace of my Lord)). Find the cheapest (and safest) club, pool, or group and join it! Get an accountability partner. I've got about 4 I regularly speak to. Make it hurt a bit. I know that $28 is a lot out of our budget for exercise right now, so I better be using the facility. If not I feel like I'm wasting our income. Also for me, having to go somewhere and do it means I have to do it. Sometimes I can be half way through my work out and still not want to do it. I usually remind myself I'm there, wet already, so get it done. I feel great by the end! Look for other free incentives.

Our county has a 47 mile long walking trail. The pool in my community has a swim the trail program. 47 miles and you get a t- shirt. I hear it's an ugly color of blue- but who cares it's an accomplishment! I just completed my 30 mile today.( THIS IS WHERE YOU CHEER FOR ME!) This really keeps me motivated.

You can also join the President's Challenge and get moving. You can keep track of your progress and even earn medals and t-shirts. So when it comes to fitness I think you must figure out what category you in. Everyone needs exercise in our culture. Not many of us live laborious lifestyles. So get moving. Keep it cheap. Save where you can, but get healthy and move!

Head over to LIFE AS MOM for more frugal tips!

julie

School Happenings

2009-10-08T11:08:00.008-04:00

We are now in week 8 of Tapestry of Grace. I really like the program. You can do as little or as much as you want. If your using it your 1st year of homeschooling, DON'T TRY AND DO EVERYTHING! I'm shocked at the number of people who are getting themselves all twisted up over this. I think it's a perfection thing. How do I know....I started falling into it and I've been homeschooling to long not to know when I'm headed for overload!

Here's what we've been up to: Map work of ancient countries, studying Babylonia, Sumeria, Egypt, Israelites and their journey, plus the beginning of creation. Crafting and cooking our way through the countries. We our in the midst of 40 years in the desert with the Israelites. We've been taking an in depth look at the Wilderness Tabernacle and put together a replica. We also tried taking a wonderful field trip to the Holy Land exhibit in Orlando. Perfect timing (we thought).

Grammy and I loaded up the chickadees in the van and headed out only to find that the park was packed and no more could enter. Bummer! They have a lot of neat artifacts there. So we headed over to the Disney Market Place. Not my favorite place. It's all about buying things, most way over priced. Anyhow, my youngest has been asking for months for a trip to Disney (which isn't in the budget). She was so excited!

Is this the real Disney? Yes, it's part of it. As soon as we started to walk around we happened upon the Princess Parade. The Little Chef joined in and had a ball. They marched over to the carousel area with the Fairy godmothers. Then they took a wonderful ride with all the village workers coming out to great them.

Daisy

Getting Dusted

Then it was off for some ice cream at Goofy's place. A train ride with Grammy. A Princess coloring book from us. Playing with little ponies. Having some pixie dust sprinkled on and a special treat from Grammy (Poppy and Superman were at work).

All Aboard!

Pony Work Area

I was wiped out, but it was fun! We then headed home. The girls also enjoyed all the Star Wars things at Lego Land. The Little Chef felt like she had been to Disney World and had enjoyed the white chocolate that the Ghiradelli lady brought just for her! She told us she can't wait to go again and ride the rest of the rides.

Every girl needs 1 big lollipop!

julie

Crazy? Is that where I'm going?

2009-10-01T09:39:00.004-04:00

The Little Chef helping Superman

This has been quite a week in our home. I'm sure everyone on the planet has had such a week. This morning topped it off. I actually thought maybe I should cancel school and hide in my room for the rest of the week.

I broke the water pipe that leads to the water main. Then I couldn't figure out where it turned off. I keep digging and digging with avail. Urban Girl came out and tried. A man walking down the the street wanted to know first, if it was our home.--- I am dressed in jean shorts, purple shirt, black (cute) apron, crocs and hair flying everywhere. Children running down the front steps yelling Mom and he wants to know if I own the place! Water gushing all over the back yard and chickens making rafts to save themselves (okay not that bad). So he had no clue how to shut it off.

I go around back thinking there must be another way! Water still spewing everywhere. I then hear car brakes. Ahhhhh..... Superman. Thank you Lord for letting his work be so close and giving him an understanding work place! Within second water is off. I missed finding the valve by an inch!

Me so upset with my self, just wondering what the big guy is going to say. I love him soooooooooo much! He laughed! I cried . He hugged me. We laughed. Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.

Her face just captures how I feel.

He is now installing a safety valve just for me. I love you more than words can say!

julie

P.S. I burned orzo to a crisp then I under cooked the next batch while all this was happening. Bed still looks good.......sigh.......

Fall

2009-09-23T11:38:00.006-04:00

Last night after dinner we did a little decorating. I've really pared down my fall decorations. I like it so much better with just little hints of it. Like I said yesterday, it's 91 degrees again today. The house feels so much cooler for some reason. I can't believe having a couple of decorations could change my attitude so much. This doesn't mean I'll be decorating for Christmas in July, but it is something to think about. Last night I even watched a couple of British shows with a blanket on. I'm pretty sure Superman thinks of lost it (how often do I say that?)!

So here are a couple pictures of what has brightened our day. Superman and Angela( Dancing with my Father) don't look! You'll be aghast at my photography skills.

I got a lot of these pumpkins in different hues at the Dollar Store last year. What a deal. I will change them out for a cute collection of Pilgrims and Indians (also $ store finds from a couple of years ago) when November rolls around.

My dried baby corn ( I need some new ones) and a picture of one of the chickadees (they all looked the same).

In the next week or so I'll be transforming our front porch. I'm not sure what I 'm doing yet. I threw out our dilapidated scarecrows. Maybe I'll try my hand at making my own. Or Superman's hand.

Have a wonderful fall day!

julie

Happy Fall Y'all!

2009-09-22T09:35:00.004-04:00

Well it's going to be a blistering 91 degrees this afternoon and I'm not feeling "fallish". Yesterday I promised the chickadees we would decorate, make a fall dessert, and have cider. Yes, I even -preplanned by buying cider. (Didn't have time to make my own-hehehe.)

We've been on a downhill slide all morning. Since I'm the co-captain in charge, I need to save this sinking ship. (don't ask)

First we'll make Pumpkin Spice Cookies. Then head out to garden at 4-H. Home for baked chicken, veggies, salad and biscuits. Then our yummy cookies ( you know they'll be good) and cider. Clean up the kitchen, let the chickens out and do a bit of decorating! These are pumpkin cookie. Sorry for the blurriness (one of the girls took a quick pic for me-not that it matters). They were good ,but not at all like a cookie. The tasted like muffun tops and we were wanting cookies. We use 2 apples, 2 cups of cider, and lots of ice to make our cider slushes. The chickadees liked it all. (and isn't that what it was all about?)

In a couple of weeks fall will come to our region and everything will kick into high gear around here. 4-H Apple sale, 4 Sweet Sisters Pumpkin Bread sale, Pickling, Backyard Camping and Thanksgiving.

I'll pop back in later and post some pictures.

julie

Blog Issues

2009-09-18T16:12:00.002-04:00

I really enjoy blogging but often I ponder the reasons I do it. Today is one of those times. I haven't shared much of our families history because much of it is painful and we are all still dealing and healing with different issues.

One issue has been a visual disability that my oldest two chickadee's and I share. For some reason words and numbers do not bounce correctly from our optic nerves to our brains. I'll leave out all the technical jargon today but in severe cases (which one of my beauties has ) it makes life very difficult. Especially when your a very articulate and intelligent young woman. She reads and understands a myriad of things, loves history, science and writing. But can't memorize digits, words, etc.

We've been through every phonics program, math memorization program and medical visual therapy. To be left with huge gaps. Some have filled in, while others have not. Leaving the chickadees frustrated.

Enough said. Difficult especially when your an over achiever and first born. She/ we have made great strides and are still continuing.

Today someone felt it was their place to tell her how they feel about her writing on her blog........ Needless to say ......... it affects us all. Where is the grace and compassion?

julie

Dinner Tonight

2009-09-17T16:26:00.004-04:00

Ahhhh dinner. I can't wait! I've had some really good work outs this week. I think I'm finely finding my groove and getting a routine down. A true athlete (he he). I even lost a couple more pounds. So I need to guard against unwanted head talk. "Go ahead, it's okay you lost weight." or "A little more won't hurt". Yeah, right.

As I was saying yesterday we received a bunch of peppers in our kitchen basket. (I wish I could grow organic peppers this size...) Urban Girl has been requesting stuffed peppers. Eeck, yuck! Superman and the chickadees we grossed out. So I asked a couple of question and came to find out that no one liked the tomato sauce that goes on top. Superman being the only one who has actually eaten them. I think I may have had them at my Auntie's house when I was a child. I vaguely remember the tomato sauce.

Anyway, I really wanted to give these a try. Now maybe I should have used a recipe (I thought as I was popping them into the oven). But I didn't. So we shall see. Are you supposed to cook the rice up before hand? I did, but I didn't cook the meat. I figured it would cook in the oven. An experiment!

Here's how they looked after about 15 minutes in the oven. I used:

2 cups brown rice (cooked)
1# ground beef
1 cup of shredded cheese (every taste good with it)
1 onion
1 green pepper
1 heaping tablespoon of the roasted garlic I made yesterday
a sprinkling of chili pepper
salt & pepper

I started the spices, onion, pepper, and garlic off in a pan with a little EVOO. Let them cool mixed it all together and popped into pepper halves. Another concern (from the family) was that there was just to much pepper.

I then mixed 1cup of my salsa and 2 cups of beef broth put them on the stove to reduce.

We also received some avocados. So of course we needed guacamole! Yum.

1 avocado
1 tomato
1/2 onion
heaping tablespoon roasted garlic
lime or lemon juice a scant teaspoon
a pinch of sea salt

Serve it all up with a fresh salad and lime aid slushies. An end of summer treat!

What's on your plate tonight?

julie

Roasted Peppers and Garlic

2009-09-16T18:10:00.010-04:00

Today is a quickie. We had produce co-op and I got so many yummy looking green and red peppers. Just last week I was craving roasted red peppers and garlic. So today was the day!

Directions for Roasted Red Peppers (works with all peppers):

Wash peppers
Place on a cookie

Set oven to broil (I broil on high)

Place peppers under broiler

Let peppers char on every side (rotating as needed) including the tops and bottoms

Place hot peppers in paper bag and let cool 20 to 40 minutes
Peel black skins off and slice pepper as wanted

Directions for Roasted Garlic:

I use a glass pie plate

Peel outer skins off garlic

Slice just the tops off

Drizzle or pour olive oil over garlic
Sprinkle with a bit of salt

Bake at 385 ( just a random temp) for about 45 minutes

Take out and cool while peeling the peppers.

So easy and doesn't take much time.

I then mash the yummy garlic and a pinch of salt to tatse.

I then layer roasted peppers and roasted garlic. I was doing a bit of tasting at this point! The garlic is so mellow. Yum! I can't say it enough! Place in fridge an use as needed for a few weeks.

Next, I would proceed to slice some of my french boule bread. (Maybe bake it in smaller rounds or baguette style.) Slather on some P&G, sprinkle a little cheese and pop under the broiler. I now know what I'm having for lunch tomorrow.

Enjoy! Check out more fine post on We Are That Family for Works For Me Wednesday!

I'd love to hear about your favorite things to do with garlic and peppers.

julie

Fitness Update

2009-09-10T09:13:00.003-04:00

Just a update and a way for me to see my progress.

Started water aerobics the end of June. (2 times a week)
July continued water aerobics, but added in another day (3 times).
Gained 6 pounds but feeling great! I can feel the muscle.
Mid July added in swimming laps 40 to 50 laps in 1 1/2 hours (1 to 2 times per week and water aerobics 1to2 times per week- total of 4 days)
August buy swim pass. Goal: laps 4 times a week. ( 2 weeks of water aerobics, twice a week). I feel that I really need to step it up. Feeling really good. NO weight loss. Losing some inches.
By mid August shaving off time down to an hour for 50 laps (1000 yards). Swimming only laps 5 days a week.
Gained 2 more pounds (freaking out!) Feeling really good . Seeing muscle definition. Feeling a new strength in my body.
Mid August start eating only when I'm hungry and stopping when satisfied. A few bumps in the road, but doing well. No more dieting. Praying and asking for direction.
Start really upping the pace of my laps. Adding warm up and cool down with a stretch.
Beginning of September (end of first week) up to my 1st goal!!! 72 laps!!! (1800 yards)

That's 1 mile people!!!( come to find out that's "normal" in swimming circles, but a start;)

Lost 8 pounds and retained muscle! Feeling super! Changing up my plan a bit and adding in my more leg work. I can squat down and stand up without groaning!!
Have gone down 1 clothing size and bathing suit size!
Not ravenously hungry when I get out of the water anymore. Can get away with a small snack or water.

So a lot has happened in a 2 and half months! I really needed to see it, especially on the those days when I'm feeling down (they do come around). Stuff like it's not coming off fast enough... Or how about I feel like an athlete, but my body doesn't look like one! Yeah, that's a hard one. Inside I feel 100 pounds lighter than I am. So I tend to not be as happy as I should be with my achievements. A bit of perfectionism rearing it's ugly head!

I'm really having to work at eating properly. Sticking to all whole grains, organic cheese, meat and veggie when possible. Having desert everyday! Drinking water and tea. This tends to confuse me a bit as to when I'm truly hungry. So working through that.

I'm getting way to tan! I would like to purchase a swim shirt and fins, but they aren't in the budget. I wish I could make my own! We'll see what the next month holds!

How is your fitness plan going? Are you struggling (like me) in some areas and powering through in others? I'd love to hear from you!

julie

Nette

2009-09-02T08:37:00.009-04:00

It's been a long time since I've done a Works For Me Wednesday post. It's not that I don't have anything to offer up. It's that I can't remember when it comes time to post it. So without further ado let me show you!

Thank you to my very brave husband, Superman. We don't call him a superhero for nothing. He also believes in this concept a lot!

Ye old Nette. Has anyone ever used a nette pot? I tried and hated it. It felt like I was diving into the deep end of the pool and depositing most of the water in my sinuses. It would hurt like the dickens ( what exactly is a dickens?). Superman informed that I had the wrong technique. So I tried again with no success.

So a year has gone by and I've been sneezing like crazy for a couple of months. Rarely do I ever sneeze. I decided to give the pot another go. Superman was right! My technique was all wrong.

Here is Superman's Technique:

use sea salt

warm water

shower (easiest place w/no clean up)

tip your head as far over as you can

lean your head forward a bit
use half a pot for each side

It works! But don't laugh or breathe in while you're doing it or you'll be tasting the sea in a whole new way.

I'm now sneeze free. When I do notice a more than the occasional sneeze I make sure that I nette!

Check out We Are That Family for more great posts.

julie

a note to chickadees: We know we're crazy, but this is what makes life fun!

Sumo Update!

2009-08-29T09:12:00.004-04:00

Does anyone recall me explaining the Sumo Diet? Go here and find out more. Unknown to me, I was following this lovely large plan. Ugh, yikes, I could scream were a couple of my thoughts and emotions.

After I got over the initial shock and horror. I became terrified. Yay, I over did it. I was a afraid to sit down for fear of being sedentary. Don't worry, it didn't last long. I REALLY did not want to low carb diet anymore. Especially when we eat really healthy, preservative free and organic.

Calorie counting at this point in my life would take an enormous amount of thought and time (although I'm still holding on to the idea- it's falling further back in my mind) So I've prayed and swam and swam while I prayed, yelled, screamed and shed a few tears. (You can do all that under water without people noticing - I think) Finally after having my rant I knew what I was supposed to do. The hardest of all weight control solutions out there!

Eat when I'm really hungry and stop when I'm satisfied... Simple you say. Well, I expected it to be excruciatingly hard. It wasn't. I had forgotten what freedom it brings me. All foods are "good" in right proportion! I will say that I have had to be careful of not getting into the routine of eating lots of sweets. I'm daily having to call on my Father to help me make good choices and stay away from poor ones. If there's homemade whole grain cookies around I still want to eat those instead of breakfast. I also have to choose to eat veggies. I have eaten so many I could easily skip them for awhile.

So here's my basic plan prescribe for me by my Heavenly Father:

Eat when I'm truly hungry and stop when satisfied. (Find it if it's lost)
Eat whole grains
Fresh veggies
Protein
Have something sweet everyday, if I like. Don't make the whole day sweets.
Drink plenty of water, lemon water, tea w/stevia. Stay away from empty calories.
Eat only when I'm truly hungry and don't gobble food down to "fit" more in before my full signal. Remind myself I get to eat again and whatever I like.

That's it. Nothing more. I do have to be super conscious of when I'm going to eat and when satisfied is here. Sometimes I go to full, but not stuffed or worse! The Lord is really helping me with this. I couldn't do it without Him. I have had weight loss my first week and am very excited to continue. I'm still exercising 4 to 5 times a week, but now I'm losing weight, gaining muscle and strength. Not just staying the same.

A big key for me is to take it day by day. Learn from my mistakes and "not throw the baby out with the bath water" (a saying from my mom). I'm going to try and only weigh myself every 2 weeks or so. I may not do it at all, now that I know it works! Sometimes those numbers like to make me think I can reward myself or go off the deep end... But I already get to "reward" myself by eating what I like?

So here what this Crazy, Homeschool Mom has been up to! Has anyone else had success with this type of eating?

I would love to hear from you!

julie

To Egypt We Go

2009-08-27T15:56:00.013-04:00

Before studying creation we are jumping ahead to Egypt so when we go back to Creation we will hopefully see a bigger picture. Errrr, I think. Anyway, I have majorly balked at teaching the Ancient World because (excuse coming) other than Biblical spots ( i know, I know it's all wrapped together) I really have no desire. But the children must still learn! Even if I never learned any of it, maybe that's another reason (excuse). Note to self- maybe you're feeling out of your comfort zone- ouch! Did I just write that?

The good thing is my Chickadees are totally wanting this! They are gobbling it up and know more than I'll ever know about Egypt (yes I'm studying with them- but they read even further than I do). We are doing this unit study style so there are plenty of projects.

Last week we made cookie maps and drew pictures of pyramids and sphinxes.

This week we made crowns that stand for a United Egypt (that would Upper and Lower Egypt after a Pharaoh Narmer conquered a brought both kingdoms together- see I'm learning something)

The red crown is for Lower Egypt and white for Upper Egypt.

Also, did you know that a Pharaoh could be man or woman? She's a pretty tough looking cookie!

And finally, did you know that whether you were male or female you must wear a fake beard and tail in public for ceremonies? Farm Girl wore hers most of the afternoon. All crowns , whatever the region had a cobra on the front to signify wisdom. Usually silver, but you get the idea.

Today was a big day because we also made Cartouches (car-toosh ). They would write a person's name in hieroglyphics on them. Then they would be worn or hung on a wall.

And as if that were not enough! We tried our hands at pyramids, clay doll and horses that children long ago would have played with.

Happy Schooling!

julie

A Confession

2009-08-27T15:25:00.008-04:00

This a true confession, but I think I may have already confessed it before. During the school day I can sometimes get a bit crabby or my expectation may be a bit high (or right on) and it comes out in exasperation with my chickadees. Starting ToG has added a bit more. Although I think we're getting the swing of things.

Well when theses times arise I usually step away from the school table and over to the counter. I then throw myself into something relatively creative. Usually cooking, planning projects for the holidays, or dare I say deep cleaning the kitchen. Today was just that sort of day!

Farm Girl was getting tense and I was WAY past tense. So before exploding or imploding I decided we needed a fresh batch of cookies. We are usually a plain Jane chocolate chip kind of family, but today I needed more. Chunks of chocolate, raisins, cranberries, white chocolate, or nuts galore!

So I pulled out a bag of BOGO Dove dark chocolate and pecans.

My next thought was homemade vanilla (this bottle was made with rum) and our own farm fresh eggs (or should I say suburban backyard fresh).

Who could stop there I ask you? I threw in some (a lot) of rolled oats. Yummy!

Add a little whole wheat flour, butter, sucanat, and whaa la! You have delicious cookies. Make sure your exercising if you going to eat these babies because one is not enough.

Hope your day is not imploding around you - take a break and bake!

julie

the chickadees are begging me...

2009-08-24T20:33:00.004-04:00

The girls are begging me to post. I've got nothing, nada, zip, zilch...
We have been hitting the new school year hard and I feel that's all I know how to talk about.

I could talk about my reasons for liking a mixture of text books and unit studies. If you don't homeschool you may be bored out of your gourd! On that subject (not gourds), learning is changing in our home. We (they) are digging deeper to learn and having to find a lot more on their own this year. I want as much of it to stick as possible and have a bit of fun while doing it.

We are working out the kinks of Tapestry and really enjoying Spelling Power/English from the Roots/English. Okay, I'm really enjoying them. And you know the old saying, "If momma ain't happy ain't no body happy".

The weather (oh how boring) is cooling off a bit (low 80's) for evening. We've been outside with the chickens and breaking down the old garden. We hope to move it for an October planting in the next couple of weeks. The reason for the move. TO much shade last fall. I planted broccoli, cauliflower, brussels sprouts and they didn't come to fruition until late spring...ugh.

Well that's all part of it. The chickadees have 3 plots that we will start preparing tomorrow for fall planting at the 4-H garden. we've changed plots and it's the Little Chef's 1st time having her own plot. It's going to be a great season ;)

Hey! Does anyone have any good updated Praise and Worship cd's that come with music. We need words and we need to be able to sing along. We've been using a really nice compilation of old hymns with piano, parts and sheet music. We would like to spice it up occasionally. So let me know!

julie

Not Much to Say

2009-08-18T10:57:00.002-04:00

Do ever feel like you haven't a thing to say? Yes, your world is whirling around you at great speed but you're in slow motion? I feel like that. We have a hefty week of club meetings and just plain old school.

We've got hormones and a bit of frustration flying. I'm happy to report there has been no blood shed (just kidding). I can see everything coming together in most areas. My planning this whole summer was not for nothing.

The Little Chef said this morning, " Let start school. Let's rock this!" (Not sure were she picked up that lingo.) The older girls are enjoying their intro to Greek and Latin. (I think they will need more in depth next year.) And the tape recorder was a big hit. I've been told I'm so awesome more times than I can count (can't let that go to my head). The Little Chef asked how the lady on the machine knew her and her sister's name. Very funny!

So other things have fallen to the wayside. Garden, I need to plant my broccoli, cauliflower and Brussels sprouts! Plus lots of other gardening things to do.

Continue working on Christmas gifts.

Exercise. I haven't quit. I haven't lost much, but I feel so much better.

For now, getting back into our routine and creating new habits is at the top of our list!

Have a great day! I'm off to English Class!

julie

New School Year!

2009-08-15T10:30:00.004-04:00

Well I tried up loading our daily schedule for the world to see, but it said it was corrupt and/ or unreadable. I pray we have more ease in following it!

Highlights in learning this year:

Little Chef- 100 easy lessons, Saxon 1st grade (half year w/ Urban Girl), Tapestry of Grace y1, science readers (on tape) and Moody science videos

Farm Girl - Spelling Power, English from the Roots Up, R&S English, Saxon 3, Tapestry of Grace y1, oral reading w/ Urban Girl, La Clase Devertida w/ School Girl, Johnathan Park Aquarium and Zoo series and Moody Science videos

School Girl- Spelling Power, English from the Roots Up, R&S English, Saxon 6th grade w/ Dive, Tapestry of Grace y1, Observing God's World (science), La Clase Devertida (Spanish)

Urban Girl- Beyond Phonics, English from the Roots Up, Notgrass' World History- Literature, Writing and Bible, Apologia Chemistry (yikes!), Math -U- See Review all Algebra and go from there..., Health (AO), Driver's Ed, and help with little girls

All - together Bible and Hymns/praise and worship songs to start our mornings off!

Extra curricular: 4-H garden, speech club, chess club, TWIGS and work.

So that's it! Crazy.... I know, but somehow it all comes together by the Grace of my God. May He show us what He truly wants us to learn this year and that we take it into our hearts and minds so that we can grow greater in knowledge and understanding of Him and the wonderful world He has created.

Happy School Year Everyone!

julie

Frugal Rain?

2009-08-07T10:58:00.008-04:00

Okay, this is a rather silly but (i feel) a frugal tip. Rain. The Lord's water faucet. His way of refreshing the world and giving it a good drink!Errrrrrrrrr a bath?

I have to admit I was a bit surprised when Superman broke out the shampoo last Saturday afternoon. See, I look stunned!

Everyone thought that was neat and decided to give it a try. I wonder in Laura Ingalls would yell, "Manly it's raining. Get a hunk of soap!" I prefer to think back to the pioneers and what they went through and might have thought. Superman was concerned it was a bit to backwoods, dare He say Redneck! Hey, he started it:)

Here on the suburban farm we use a rain barrel. I never thought I would do something so "earth friendly", but being in 4-H has given us that opportunity. We would actually have more if we had gutters! Our barrel stores about 60 gallons of water. You can get them smaller and prettier. We went through 4-H and took a class. The total cost was $35 and have we used it over the last year!

I 'm a bit more refined. The water coming off the roof was a great massage!

(We didn't use the rain barrel for washing ourselves etc. It can get a bit mucky at times)

I usually water the front beds (we are under heavy watering restrictions most of the time), but I've also hooked up a hose and watered of veggie garden. One of the best outdoor investments we've made!

So check out more savvy tips over at Life As Mom where Frugal Friday is in Full swing!

Don't forget to take a break and play in the rain with the ones you love!

julie

Sumo Wrestlers

2009-08-04T11:58:00.006-04:00

Have you ever read about the Sumo Wrestler's diet and how he trains? Well in my morning reading (which doesn't happen as often as I like) I started a book by Laurette Willis entitled ,
Strengthening Your Body and Soul: Basic Steps to Godly Fitness. I've had this book for a couple years and tried her alternative to Yoga work out. I liked it, but wasn't quite ready for it.

Anyway on the third page of chapter one she goes into the Sumo's diet. I was soooooo distraught. I'm on that diet!!!! Not totally, but pretty darn close! Go here if you want to read up on it. I did a small search and found out it's true......ugh..... I've been working my buns off in the pool to no avail! (i've seen a lot of strengthening and a couple of inches- but not what should be happening.)

For years I've been trying to figure out why I gain weight when I exercise. Anyone know what I'm talking about? I'm talking 5 to 10 pounds (muscle gain) and then staying there instead of losing weight. I end up getting discouraged. Yes, I do feel healthier, but I don't have much to show for it. So I either eat more or exercise less. hmmmmm.

Basicall the regime of a Sumo is this: no breakfast, a very intense work out, an enormous lunch of stew ( a very healthy beef and vegetable stew) and beer, sleep 3 hours, have enormous dinner the same as lunch and sleep, sleep, sleep - no movement!

Me:
Well this is how the past 6 weeks have gone. I get up with the chicks, they eat breakfast. I don't because I don't want to be sick in my class. We go and exercise. We come home. I eat something like breakfast and lunch mixed ( 4 eggs with cheese or homemade hummus with whole grain pita chips and fruit). All healthy low carb 100% whole grains, fruits, veggie, yada yada yada.

By this time I exhausted! I've really worked out hard. So what I do is sit down to do all my work. I of course move around a bit, but not much. I'm a VERY sendentary person. Sometimes I'm so exhausted that I take a nap with the little ones. So this is what ends up happening for a couple of hours (2 or 3) afterwards. Then I'm refreshed and I get up and do more active types of chores.

We eat a healthy dinner, but again afterwards I'm sedentary for quite awhile. Nothing more active for the evening. I'm not a T.V. Potato more a Reading, Crafting, Computing Spud!

See any similarities? I'm beside myself! The Lord as shown this to me and confirmed it in many ways in the past week. He knows the plans He has for me!

So what now? This morning I didn't want to exercise, but I did. I wanted eat more than I should at lunch, but I didn't. I'm getting off the computer right now because I have a date with my kitchen cabinets and pantry. I'm praying and listening. Trying to figure out how to seriously change this issue, problem (i could just scream).

Even though I'm raging a bit I can see a plan being formulated. I'll post more later. I have to get MOVING.

Has anybody else out there experienced what I'm talking about? Love to hear from you and how your changing or have changed it.

julie

Life Skills

2009-07-31T10:17:00.008-04:00

Before I get on with today's post I wanted to show you the super job School Girl did in creating this puppy dog! Cute Huh! Life Skills: Sewing

I think learning many of the lost skills of our past are very frugal. You can save yourself and family a lot of moola and have some one of a kind keepsakes and gifts. Not to mention usable gifts!

This summer Farm Girl has a had a friend (lets call her Cutie Pie) and her mom over for sewing lessons. Cutie Pie is a lot like Farm Girl in that she took right to sewing! They've made homemade pillow cases out of sheets. Then the embroidered their names and cute little scenes on them.

Our next project, which we completed last night was Ruffle Aprons.

You can see that both girls really were serious about their work! No time for fooling around here!

Okay, maybe just a bit. When the work was done they had some of our favorite mini ice cream cones and tried on their creation. Cutie Pie was fixing her hair for the camera

Here's the proud seamstress'. Don't they look cute?

Cutie Pie and her Mom. Mrs. Cutie Pie now is a great seamstress!

Farm Girl and her Mom. Mom's very happy and proud of her daughter!

Head over to Life As Mom for more Frugal Friday tips.

School Girls has now taken over From a Chickens Point of View. You can get there from my side bar or just click on the title!

Have a Great Weekend!

julie