Busy, Busy Week

We've had 2 bake sales this week (one at church and one at co-op) that I've had to both bake for and participate in. Early. Too early.

We had a "blessing of the animals" at our church on Sunday that Mike MC'd and the girls and I volunteered.

Both of my younger daughters were in a play last night. And it was smashing.

Tonight is Trunk-or-treat at our church. Youth dresses up. And my husband and I are in charge of the youth (last minute). And the car had to be cleaned, vacuumed and decorated.

Friday morning is clean up day at our co-op. For three hours. Friday afternoon is a small group overnight camping trip for which I have to both bake (all the sweets for over 30 people) and shop for disposables and various food. And breakfast stuff.

Of course, Saturday is Halloween.

I'm glad there is an extra hour thrown in this week. I think I'll spend it sleeping.

Now I'm off and running again.

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In Keeping With My New Goals

The rain here has been abundant. Huge, fierce storms that blow in and back out just as quickly. Leaving glistening puddles and drips in the brilliant sunshine.

Jillian loves to play in the rain. She was outside yesterday right after a storm had blown through and came bursting through the door to tell me of a rainbow that ended in the neighbors yard! I grabbed my camera but unfortunately it was gone. But I did capture a few pictures of beauty found in the small things.


Jillian drenched and on the swing here daddy made her.


Our thornless blackberry patch. Last spring it was two little sticks in the ground.


The runoff that keeps the blackberries growing like weeks.


Ripening Figs


Some of the last color in the yard. These bushes got so beautiful this year.


A hot pepper plant that has been crazy prolific this year. I'm drying them as fast as possible.


Sunshine on the magnolia tree.


Us heading inside. Bare feet squishing in the mud.

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Priorities

Things seem to slowly be coming together.

I'm not really sure why I do some of the things I do. Or if there is a name or word for why/how I handle things.

I have a lot to do in my home. The list is daunting.

The (younger) girls are at an age that is crazy busy. Julia is learning to drive. And aside from that she is a fifteen year old girl that is involved in many healthy/fun/uplifting activities. Jillian is 12 and really coming into her own. She is starting to enjoy all the girly stuff. She now talks on the phone, texts and messes with her hair. She too has many, many church and/or co-op activities.

My husband works at least 6 days a week. He is involved in 2 different weekly ministries that are NOT church specific and at least 4 that are specific to our church.

We have chosen in our life to rarely, rarely eat out. This sounds silly. I know lots of people who say they rarely eat out and then pick up fast food on the way home. Or buy frozen dinners from the grocery. The thing is, we *rarely* eat out. Literally maybe 3 or 4 times a year. We almost never eat frozen dinners. Most of our food is made from scratch. Not that I grind the wheat for all of our bread (though I do that from time to time) but that I literally cook breakfast, lunch (which is sometimes sandwiches, and sometimes not), and dinner *7* days a week.

That's a lot of cooking. I spend my time in the kitchen. Probably on average 2-3 hours a day. And I'm grateful that I get to do this. But on top of the actual kitchen time, there is the planning and shopping time. And I'm a bargain shopper, so add that extra time to the mix.

And I've posted chore charts for the girls and I here before, and the girls do quite a lot. But there are several areas that I'm on my own. For obvious and not so obvious reasons I suppose.

I do all the laundry.

I do 95% of the cooking.

I pay the bills.

I do all of the shopping.

I keep the calendar. (This is a much bigger deal than you might imagine. I'll try to write more about it at a later time.)

I, of course at this point, do all the driving. (And this year the co-op schedule is ridiculous. I'll post about that sometime soon as well.)

I keep the school records.

I tend (or not) the garden.

The point is, I'm reasonably busy just in general. And then I have church obligations and committees on which I sit. There is much prep involved in at least 3 of these.

And it feels like somehow over the course of time, my priorities have gotten smudged. I've been spending way too much time on things other than my home. And my home is showing the signs of neglect.

There are things in my sidebar that are not directly related to my home. But these are things that I have committed to do and so I will do them. And when they are done, things are going to be considered very carefully before I commit to anything else at this season of my life that does not directly relate to my home or family.

I'll still continue (for the time being) with the areas at my church that I volunteer/participate. But only so far as it doesn't interfere with my true mission field.

My family and home.

Some may view this as selfish. So be it. I have to do what I feel is right for me and my family. And I really feel the call to focus on home. To live in the moment with my family. To not only perform the duties at home, but to make memories with them. To love my family. To love my home. To take the time to appreciate all that I've been given. Instead of rushing through one thing to get to another.

No more.

So here's to a new beginning. I hope to blog about it along the way.

The life with which I have been blessed is entirely too beautiful to only give it a passing nod.

It's time to stop and focus.

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Time Issues

It seems you can't open a mom blog anywhere that doesn't mention time. And more than likely, lack of time. There are whole websites dedicated to organization and time management. And obviously different things work for different people.

This is an area with which I still struggle. Truth is, I tend to be awfully stubborn and when something "works" I never want to let it go. So I can have a beautiful schedule down with most things in my life sailing along and then a big change happens and I struggle to squish the old schedule into the new plan. How does that work? Usually not so well.

Take for instance last fall. Things were going along quite nicely. I had a (typewritten) schedule for the younger girls and I. And then on October 10th, my oldest daughter came home with a ring on her finger. She had gotten engaged. I plan to write some about planning a (quite large) wedding on a budget, but for the topic of this post lets just say that it threw our schedule off just a wee bit.

And while the wedding was beautiful and moving and more than any of us had hoped it would be, it is over. Truth be told, it was over on May 23rd. And we've still not gotten back into a good groove. Now granted, there was packing and moving and bedroom shifts and painting (still to be done) and furniture to buy and emotions to try to handle. But it was May 23rd. So while there is still more than "normal" to do around here, it's time to get a grip. And the only way I know to do that is to prioritize.

Of course, God is first in my life. Then my family. But I'm not specifically talking about that kind of prioritization. I'm talking about *after* that.

And since we almost never eat out, I'm going to try to start back with a menu plan. It creates such stress trying to figure out dinner at the last minute. Why I allow myself to get out of the habit of menu planning is beyond me.

So that's step one.

Wish me luck.

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Reasonably Healthy Lunch Ideas

My middle daughter, Julia, was 13 last year. She decided that she would NOT carry a lunch box to her co-op. Now since she only went one (full) day a week, I didn't make too much of it. I'd send her some (healthy) peanut butter spread on crackers and a water bottle. Just making sure she had a big breakfast and supper on that day.

This year she is going 3 days a week. All day long. Something had to change. I talked with other mothers and we brainstormed a few things. All are more than agreeable to my middle (and now youngest as well) daughter.

First, there is no need for a lunch box. I pack a small cooler for them both together and put it in the co-op kitchen. Whenever they get hungry between classes, they can just go grab what they want from their personal "refridgerator". And they don't have to lug anything around.

And here is some of the ideas we've come up with to fill it. Bear in mind that the girls only have 15 minutes between each class, so the snacks have to be pretty small.

*Half sandwich (we call these "bendovers" cause you "bend" the bread "over")
(Preferably some type of minimally processed meat on a whole grain bread.)

*Big huge pickle (cut into spears cause the girls have braces now...I buy them in those huge glass jars that they have at Sams)

*Box of raisins

*String cheese

*Whole grain crackers (with or without non hydrogenated peanut butter)

*Fiber One Bars

*Non-sweetened applesauce cups

*Non-sweetened fruit cups

*Yogurt

*Nuts

*Organic chocolate milk

*Bottled Water

~~~When the weather turns cooler I plan to put a thermos of something warm as well. Homemade soup or chili. Or even just some hot chocolate.

They do have a use of a microwave at the co-op but there time is so limited that I don't think they'd have time to use it. Especially if there were someone ahead of them. So that's why I've not included things that need to be warmed or heated.

I'd love to hear others ideas!

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And Yet Again, I Say...

Well, I certainly had the best of intentions. Over ambitious as they may have been.

I certainly didn't get my house caught up in a day. It's only now starting to look back to normal.

I've had gifts to return and others to purchase. My wonderful husband was thoughtful enough to give me Visa giftcards this year so that I could order/purchase whatever my heart desires and I've spent some time coming up with ideas and trying to decide on the best ones.

I apologize that I've not been able to read your blog lately. I've just not had the time.

And again I say...

I hope to be back to myself (on the blog front anyway) come next week.

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This Seems to Happen Every Year

Halloween comes, I blink, and it's January.

And a tornado or some such disastrous monstrosity has obviously whipped through my home while I was out because absolutely nothing is where it belongs.

And I'll bet you didn't know that a tornado could cause soap scum in your tub, did you? No you didn't.

There is no food in the house. Well, that's not true. The pantry is stocked fairly well, but no fresh food. So that's gotta happen.

The tree is down but not stored properly yet.

The floors, forgetaboutit.

So I'm going to go work on my home today. And hopefully will start back with my menu on Monday and normal posting after that. And please ignore the sidebar because nothing there is updated.

Unless I find a chunk of time somewhere before then. And truly you never know. I could find anything under all this clutter.

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Crazy Daze

Heh.

Things have been so busy here! We had our first "close to freezing" night Monday night so I had to get all my garden stuff inside. Which I think I'd posted that I was gonna do like a month ago, but the stuff looked so good and continued to grow so well, that I just left it alone. But freezing is where I draw the line.

So...

Monday was the huge trip to Sam's that I'd talked about last week. Hopefully the last "must have" trip before the first of the year. It was insanely busy. For a nothing Monday afternoon (noonish) in October. No reason that anyone could ascertain. I asked the checkout women (yes, they had *2* at each register, plus those people that go through the line with their little cordless scan guns to help speed the lines (that were wrapped around and around, I kid you not)) what on earth was going on. They told me that it had been like that for about 3 weeks (which was why they had all the extra employees, it wasn't a fluke) and was expected to be that way through the new year.

What?!

Anyway, I was right on the cost. It was over $500. (It was actually over $600, but we're not going to talk about that.)

When I got home from that trip I had to make a grocery run with my mother. LLOOOOONNGG story. But it had to be done. Oh, and the girls had a study group somewhere thrown into that at their co-op.

I ended up getting home after 4pm. I still had supper to cook. I had the garden to get in (which I would have done earlier if I'd known that it was gonna be that cold, but that was a last minute thing). And processed (or at least cleaned and stored somewhere). Jillian had her math folder to get together and I'd promised to help her (but her big sister came to the rescue). Oh, and I had laundry mountain to climb. It had to be done.

So I was super busy until around 9pm.

Yesterday was much the same way. I drive a lot on Tuesday. One girl here, another here (an hour later), pick up girl one an hour later, pick up girl 2 two hours later. I spend over 2 hours in the car just driving them. I had errands to run as well in between. Then one of the moms at my last girl pick up called to say that she was going to be late. So I stayed with her girls until she got there. I got home around 4:30. Luckily the beans had been in the crock-pot cooking so all I had to do was throw some cornbread into the oven. Then help the girls study for a big science (and math for the youngest) test today. Oh, and bake and decorate over 50 Halloween cookies for the girls party today. And process a bit more of the garden produce/herbs.

And then Mike needed his hair cut (and he didn't get home until almost 8:30).

And he hadn't eaten. So he needed to eat and then I needed to clean up the kitchen where I had been keeping stuff warm for him.

And we still needed to cut the pumpkin.

We finally sat down close to 10pm and decided pretty soon to just call it a night.

And then of course tonight being Halloween, we have here and there to go. We will hopefully be home and settled and hopped up on sugar by 10:00.

And then it's November.

Wow.

And btw, I just wanted to thank all of you women for your prayers. You touch me and humble me. Prayer works! I've seen it work so much in my life and soooo appreciate all of you that have taken the time to pray for me. Amazingly, our money situation has changed for the better this week almost immediately after I'd made the money-money-money post and had so many respond that I was in their prayers.

Again, thank you.

God is so good.

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My Wednesday

I had planned to do a post on the Christmas Polls, but it's been a busy week. And my head just isn't where it needs to be. This is the stuff that's rolling around instead.

• My oldest daughter (20) came home from work Sunday night with blisters in her throat.
• She went to a doctor Monday to rule out strep.
• It wasn't strep.
• It is Mono.
• She's pretty much in the bed for a week or two.
• Very fatigued.
• Wanting comfort food when she's awake.
• I've been trying to keep the little(r) girls away from her as much as possible.
• Mike's dad has had tongue cancer in the past.
• He had a sore spot come up on his tongue last week and had a biopsy.
• He's in surgery as I type this. It's cancerous.
• They're hoping they can get it all.
• If not, he'll go to Emory.
• I'm waiting on Mike to call to know which.
• He's only in his early sixties.
• I still haven't gotten the full garden in.
• My desk is a literal disaster zone.
• I've got a lasagna to make for Bible Study tonight.
• I'll post more when I have some time.

ETA - My father-in-law came out of surgery and they were able to get all the cancer! Praise God! It was the best possible outcome. We are blessed far beyond what we deserve.

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Can I Just Say

You women amaze me. You really do.

There is still a bit of time to vote in the poll in the sidebar. Thank you all for sharing a bit of your lives.

I usually start shopping after Oct. 1. Sometimes a bit before if I come across something special by accident. But I purposely start after October. We live in the suburbs but just a few miles from the largest mall in a tri-state area. It's *really* hard to shop here after Thanksgiving. And I've shopped enough online to know that it should be done early as well.

We, no doubt, spend too much money at Christmas time. It's like everyone here does! And I don't mean to say the where we live is affluent! It's just this weird thing here where people tend to spend TONS at Christmas. It is nothing *at all* for kids to get #'s with commas spent on them. Each.

Seriously.

So to those of you who spend less, bravo! I'd love some of your secrets.

More on this later. Time is kinda tight right now. We have the tailgate thing at church tonight. I wasn't very clear about what it is, but each week on Wednesday we have a Bible Study. And we have a themed potluck beforehand. This week is "Tailgating".

I can truly say that I have never tailgated in my life. Never even came close. So this one threw me for a loop. And I really appreciate all of your help with it.

Unfortunately, I won't be using any ideas this week. Well, not personally making anything. Mike is going to pick up hotwings. Seems that the weather channel was off a few days on when the cold was coming in to the area and I have to get all my garden stuff in today. Like 45 minutes ago.

So off with me to get the day started!

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More Bullets

• I've put a poll on the sidebar about Christmas. I know it's invasive and personal, but I'm always very curious as to others habits. I plan to do a post on it soon and would love to know your answers.
• I almost never crave any foods, but have been craving celery (of all things) lately. I literally ate half a bunch yesterday and had some with my eggs this morning! I wonder if there is a vitamin deficiency associated? Does anyone have any thoughts?
• What is up with sales calls to my cell phone? Are you kidding me? I've gotten several in the last few weeks. One time I answered and the guy quickly pointed out that this was a sales call from Sprint and it wasn't costing me any minutes at all. I asked him if it was costing me minutes to put the person that I was talking to on the other line on HOLD to answer a SALES call? He stammered said he'd call back later. I do not like this at all and will change my service if I have to do so to make it stop. Do other companies do this as well?
• My garden is winding down. But for some reason the peppers are going crazy! I'm gonna have to watch for the weather to get too cold so I know when to get them all off the vine. Also, I've got tons of basil left to process for winter and strawberries to plant. We started off with 4 strawberry plants last year and we have probably 100 now. Even though we got very few berries this year due to a late freeze. I'm really looking forward to next year.
• My daughters now only want to take "healthy" food to school. It has to be a stage, right? I mean, I love it. But healthy food is work. I would love ideas on healthy lunchboxbag foods? Oh, and it has to be peanut free for one of the days. That's the hard one.
• I got asked if I was a GRANDMA yesterday! I was at the store with my oldest daughter who is babysitting her friends baby while she works (long story and one I could rant about, but won't. Today.) and the guy carrying out our groceries asked if that was my GRANDBABY! I said, "No!" Then he asked if it was my baby. And I think I was equally offended. ;D If this isn't incentive to get back into shape and color my hair, I don't know what is...
• Off to pick up Julia from Co-Op
  

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My 200th Post

I've been blogging here for just a few months over a year. And this is my 200th post. I can't decide if that is too much or too little! LOL

My head is just full of things that I've wanted to blog about in the last month or so. If this post is scattered, please know that it's nothing compared to what my brain feels.

• Homeschool is going pretty well. Finally. Actually I feel like a poser calling it "homeschool" anymore. My girls are taking classes at an advanced honors co-op. Each class meets once a week (except when they meet twice a week, but you get the point) and then there is more than enough work given for them to finish out the other days. I'm not sure why there is such a challenge and change from elementary to middle school, but I've found that there is with all three of my girls. My girls are bright. I'm not bragging. It's just true. We're very blessed in that way. And because they're bright, they get used to slacking things coming easily for them in elementary school. It's just not that way when middle school starts. It takes more than just paying attention in class. It takes actual studying. And time. And discipline. From them too. ; ) And it seems to be slowly coming together. At least the tears have mostly stopped. From them too.

• Our church has "small groups". We didn't join one when they first started for various reasons. But we do have a friend of Mike's that comes over most Sunday's for a cookout and we've started having our own "very small group". We pick Biblical topics and study during the week. We present what has been impressed upon our hearts on Sunday afternoon. It's been fabulous. And it's been amazing the things that I've learned. And the things that I've been convicted about. I plan to start blogging about that more as I feel lead.

• Our dog is getting really old. One of his eyes started looking funny, sunken, to me last Sunday. Mike took him into the vet on Monday and he said it was allergies. Allergies. Unbelievable. So we got some drops and used them for a week. Well, this past Monday his whole eyelid drooped. It looked like either his eye had sunk back in his head or that he'd lost muscle control on that eye. Truthfully, it looked like both. So Mike took him back in and the vet said that he hadn't noticed that they week before (?!) and that it was probably either a brain tumor or he'd had a stroke. His gait hasn't changed. So I'm kinda doubting the stroke. Plus the fact that it started out weird and then got worse over the course of a week. That doesn't sound strokish to me. But he doesn't appear to be in any pain. As a matter of fact, he seems to be enjoying all the added attention. But his is NOT pretty to look at. It's freakish. And heartbreaking. We'll have to watch him closely for signs of deterioration or pain. :(

• I've have been such a grump lately! I just do not understand people. I do what I say I'm going to do unless there is a reason that I can't. I show up when I'm supposed to show up (give or take 5 minutes). I do what is expected/required of me without anyone reminding me to do so. And I teach my daughters to do the same. And that's getting harder and harder when it seems that NO other adults (much less children) keep the same philosophy. I'm too old and ornery to pretend that this is okay anymore. So I don't. I know it's not my place to be a moral dictator of the world. But it is my place to associate myself and my girls with people that keep the same standards that I do. Or to at least be considerate. What kind of world are we living in?

• Our "victory" BBQ went wonderfully. It simply could not have been better.

• I hope to be caught up on my friends list by the end of the week.

• It's grocery planning/shopping day so I'll stop now and bore dazzle you more later.

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Next Week

Just a quick note to let everyone know that I'm alive. : ) It has been a crazy few weeks, but not in a bad way. Just busy. I hope to be back to my routine by next week. Miss you all!

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And Now it's Friday...

I keep thinking I'm gonna have some free time, but it's just not working out at all right now.

Jillian (10) has moved up to Middle School this year and since we've started back at the co-op it's been a real change from elementary. It's not so much that the work is too hard, but it's just so much more than she's used to doing that she's having a hard time organizing her time. After a couple of really late night (1:30ish) I decided that I was gonna have to step in and help her learn to organize a little better. So that's taken almost all of my free time.

Couple that with the fact that our music director at church is in a singing competition this weekend (3 hours away, of course, so we'll be lucky to get 4 hours of sleep Sat. night) and that we plan to go but have to be back the next morning in time for church because it's our preachers first Sunday back after open heart surgery (which is a story in itself that I'd planned to write, but ... well ... you know how it goes. It's all written in my head if I ever get the chance...).

Oh, and did I fail to mention that we have friends coming in from out of town on Monday for a few days? And it's right in the middle of the busiest time of my week so I have to have everything done in advance? Which includes a huge BBQ on Monday to celebrate the work that God has done in our lives?

I'm not complaining. I'm happier than I've been in years. Just busy. And missing you all. Hopefully I'll be back to "normal" here by the end of the month. And of course, I'll stop in when I can to read and/or update.

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To Tie Up a Few Loose Ends

This whole month is the start back of our schooling activities. Plus both of my younger girls have birthdays this month. My baby's is tomorrow. She'll be 10! No more single digits in the house. I don't really know how I feel about that one.

It's been, and going to be, busy but I've not forgotten about the questions I've gotten.

Sharon asked about fried spinach. I promise to post the recipe soon. I've not forgotten. Just been busy and wanted to put up pictures with it. Thank you for asking about it!

Jennifer's Ranch Chicken was really, really good (though I'm a doof and thought the recipe called to soak it in buttermilk, so that's what I did and it was still wonderful). If you ever need an easy, healthy chicken recipe...I recommend hers.

HomeSchoolingMomTo3 asked about my Cheesy Chicken Casserole recipe. I had gotten in a long while ago from Candy's Blog but when I went back to link to it for her, I couldn't find it. So I wrote Candy and asked if she minded if I posted it. She doesn't. So I'll get it up for you soon. It's a *great* staple meal that you can have ready in 45 minutes from start to finish. And my family (except my youngest for some odd reason) adores it.

Ok, I think that's all. More when I have some time.

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Nothing to See Here

The schedule is going pretty good. I've not had any big changes so far but I did fail to schedule a time to clean the top of the fridge. That is the dustiest place for some reason. And it's visible when you walk down the stairs.

Today the sun it out. WooHoo! It's been rainly and cloudy and muggy for so many days that I thought my hair might start to grow mold. Really (almost). The humidity here in this valley can at times be over the top.

I failed to mention that a few weeks ago my bread machine died. Yes, the lovely $5 monstrosity. The machine actually still works, but the rubber piece that holds the kneading bar in came out and when I attempted to wash it out, some little teeny springs came out?

This same bread machine that I paid $5 for is now going used on eBay for like $100. And they're old and you can't buy parts for them anymore. So I decided to go with another one. I'll post about it when it comes. My family really misses the homemade bread.

At Stephanie's Blog she'd mentioned a while ago about some Celtic Sea Salt.

We've typically bought salt from a little natural store downtown, but it's not convenient at all. So I finally broke down and got the kind that Stephanie recommends.


I've not tried it all yet, but the salt and pepper in the grinders are pretty unbelievable.

Best get the day going.

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Crazy Busy Day

Today, inspired by Beth's Post about all the cleaning she's gotten done, I've really accomplished a lot!

One of the huge things I needed to do (time was) was to revamp our chore schedule. It was last updated during the school year last year and just wasn't working for us with our summer schedule. So today I sat down and not only worked it all out (that will work for our upcoming school year) BUT I also saved it in a word document so I can revamp it anytime I need to do so! One for each of the younger girls and me, for each day of the week that we do chores (M-T-W-Th-F-S).

And not only did we ALL do everything on our Friday list, but I also got a HUGE batch of muffin batter mixed up, AND pictures taken so I can blog all about it.

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The Day After Yesterday

I hope you all had a nice holiday. My husband has the remnants of a sinus infection (and is therefore not sleeping well) so we kept it pretty low key. Hotdogs and slaw. Rice Crispy Treats.

Never say I have no imagination.

If any of you have a Wal*Greens around, they are having a pretty good sale for the rest of the week. Among other (better) sales, they have their Fiber*One Cereal 3/$7. I happen to have a coupon, so I got it 3/$6. Which is pretty good for that type of cereal.

Unfortunately, my family thinks it tastes like twigs.

So I scanned many muffin recipes and came up with one to use up the cereal. I made up a batch (that was supposed to make 50 muffins, but only made 24. why does it always work like that with me?) and amazingly the family devoured them. I made a second batch the next day (well, I made the second pan, the last 12 of the 24. because the dough keeps in the fridge really well) and it's gone too!

I'll try to post the recipe soon.

Lots to do today, better get crackin.

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Last Monday

I wanted to join in on Candy's Reality Internet and post a week in the life of me. Well, after having the camera with me all day seeing how much time this was going to take, I, like many others, decided to do a single day instead of a week.

The day I'm chronicling is last Monday. We're not doing school right now, so that is why there is no mention of it.

What I've found by looking at my days a bit closer last week is that there probably is no typical day here. Not in any real sense. Not in the summer when our time is more our own. It really just depends on what needs to be done at any given time. In other words, there is no way to schedule when the instant oatmeal runs out and needs to be remade.

So while this day may not ever repeat exactly, it fairly accurate as to the things that I get done in any given day.


I try to start the day with a hearty breakfast. I'm blessed that my husband loves to make scrambled eggs and more often than not, makes them for breakfast.



Then it's time to get supper started. Today I'm making a Cajun purple hull pea dish that will be supper with the addition of sliced cucumber (fresh from the garden) and buttermilk cornbread.





After making 3 pictures of laundry fresh from the dryer, I decided that was enough. You get the picture. I think I ended up doing about 7 load that day.



I also made my first ever batch of homemade yogurt. Here it is heating up.



And here it is cooling down, with the starter. Waiting to mix it together.



And here I'm freezing the rest of the store bought yogurt in ice cube sizes to have handy for next time.



I ground some wheat for a new bread recipe.



My husband wanted a bread that was more whole grain(ish) that the one I've been making. I ended up making one with lots of fresh ground whole wheat, oatmeal, and ground flax. He really liked it (and I wish I'd made a picture of the final product, but I didn't) but the top caved in just a bit and I wasn't impressed with how difficult it was to slice neatly.



I've been really battling ants in the garden lately. I've searched high and low for something natural to use to help with this. One thing I read was to put your coffee ground on the soil. So I tried this last week. This was after trying cinnamon and even borax (not in the soil of course, but underneath the boxes). Sadly, none of this worked and the ants were literally destroying the garden. So finally at weeks end, I caved and put some ant dust on it. It really wasn't what I wanted to do, but the ant feeding frenzy was destroying everything anyway. It's much better already.



As an aside, as I go about my day I've found it super handy to keep a water glass handy. Excuse the warped look. Dishwasher + plastic = warped. This glass holds approximately 40oz. I try to drink a full glass with my vitamins before coffee in the morning and then have at least 2 more during the course of the day. Lately I've been substituting one of the glasses of water for tea. I also make huge protein shake (it fills the entire glass) for my lunch most days.



We ran out of my homemade instant oatmeal. Since the girls really love it, and it's so economical and easy to make, I made a huge double batch.



I store this in an old protein powder container and it makes for a quick, fairly healthy breakfast.

I didn't get pictures, but I did detail the kitchen as well. Putting everything I could in the dishwasher and running it and scrubbing everything else down.

I also took a nice bubble bath before my husband got home. :)



When I was out of the bath I lit some candles in my clean kitchen.



And then I got to watch the rain watering my garden so I didn't have to do it myself.

Mike came home and at the last minute Jessica (my oldest daughter) brought Jarad (her boyfriend) home for supper so the picture taking got put on the back burner as I prepared the meal for 2 more adults than I thought I was having.

Supper was filled with fellowship and laughter.

I know that many would look at the day as boring or tedious. Maybe non-challenging. But I look at it much differently. I feel incredibly blessed to have the opportunity to stay at home with my family. To have the time and energy to make our house a home.

I hope you've enjoyed your peek at my day.

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Just a Quick Note

I made quite a few pictures yesterday for Candy's Reality Internet . There is really no "typical" week here. Things change all the time. But my plan right now is to record this week and post it on the corresponding days next week.

We'll be out of the house some today, so there probably won't be as many pictures. I've always enjoyed peeking into others lives. I hope others will join in even if it's just for a day or two.

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