::30 Days:: Day 16

What an interesting day it was...


My husband was supposed to have a day off from work, but then his new boss called and asked him to come in and cover for a co-worker that wouldn't make it in for the 4-9 shift. Hubby gladly accepted and then told me the change in plans. Shortly after that, the boss called back and asked him if he could come in even earlier to cover for a co-worker that wanted to leave early, so instead of 4-9, he'd work 1-9. An extra 8 hours! His job is only part time, so any extra hours is definetely appreciated! He quickly hopped into the shower while I made up a fast lunch and I put one of the kids' bibs on him so his lunch wouldn't mess up his nice clean shirt. He was a good sport!

We also had my mom up for a couple of days and I welcomed the extra pair of hands while she was here!

An extra pair of hands couldn't have stopped what happened later, though... Mom and I were going to take the kids to the food store and I was outside loading the kids in the van and getting ready to head back into the house for drinks when I saw the door was closed. *gasp!* I didn't have my keys! I asked who shut the door and Mom pointed at Oldest. Oh no! I ran to the door and sure enough, it was locked! Fiddlesticks! (ok so I didn't really say fiddlesticks, I said fuck! a lot.) I mentally took inventory of all the windows that were open and figured the easiest one would be in the living room. I grabbed the ladder from the laundry line and walked around the house and tried to pry the screen off with no success. There was a little hole in the screen so I just poked my finger through and ripped it carefully, intending to sew it up later. I pushed Oldest through and voila! We're in the house! On my way around the house, somewhere, I stepped in some cat poo, so that was another "fiddlesticks moment".

At last, we are on our way to the store. On the way back home, Youngest had diarrhea in her diaper (she isn't quite potty trained for long drives) and it leaked out and it got smeared all over the car seat. -sigh- Definetely not one of my better days and my potty mouth was in full force, too. I better get the soap and wash it out!

There aren't very many pictures, because frankly, who wants to look at poo on a shoe or poo in a car seat? Not me, that's who! :o)

Another reason there aren't very many pictures is because of this book: Twilight by Stephenie Meyer. I had been hearing good things about this series and I love me a good vampire book (anne rice, anyone?) so I asked the library to hold it for me the next time it came in. I just finished it and I'm ready to sink my teeth in the next book in the series! Library day on Wednesday can't get here fast enough!

::30 Days:: Day 15

This is the tooth that was loose.

This is the tooth that was loose that came out.

This is the Tooth Fairy that is going after the tooth that was loose that came out.

This is the Tooth Fairy that got the tooth that was going in to get the tooth that was loose that came out.

::30 Days:: Day 14

Most of the day was spent outdoors. It was a lovely fall day, crisp and cool, not cold enough to turn on the heat, but nippy enough to turn my fingers into popsicles when I hung the laundry on the line this morning.

Hubby worked on splitting the logs today. I helped when I could, but he did the majority of the work. Here he is, setting up a log under the splitter, then he presses a lever to make the splitter head come down...

...it splits right in half! It makes quick work out of even the largest log and in no time at all, Hubby had a nice pile of firewood.

Hubby is still at it 3 hours later and look at that pile of firewood behind him. If he was using his axe like he did last year, this pile would have taken more than a week to chop, and I'd be missing his help inside the house.

I helped by loading up the firewood into our little wagon and pulled it around to the front of the house, where we stack the firewood close to the basement door. Our woodstove is in the basement and it has a fan to force the heat into the rest of the house. We spend more time in the basement in winter than we do in summer.

Smart me, I had chili going in the crockpot all day. Every time we came inside the house, the smell of chili just about made us crazy! I'm glad I didn't have to cook after being outside most of the day! I did make up some fresh corn chips and corn bread, because what's chili without corn bread?? This bowl is all that's left from a big crockpot of chili!

The crock pot after dinner! We sure worked up an appetite!

I took the Baby in for a check up and he is gaining and growing.. He now weighs 9.2 lbs and is 22 3/4 inches. He has discovered his fingers and contentedly sucks on them. Since he found them, he has been much easier to put down for a nap and he soothes himself to sleep. None of the girls sucked their thumbs or fingers and we don't use pacifiers. I was a thumb sucker and when I was little, I called it "thucking my thumb", of course, that's how it sounds when you say it while your thumb is in your mouth.

::30 Days:: Day 13

We ended up not going to the store today... the older girls kept misbehaving in the van on the way down and my threats of "Settle down or I'm turning around" weren't working. So I actually turned around and that caused all sorts of carrying on between the girls. I pulled over and gave them a talking to and told them how I mean what I say and if they don't do it, there will be consequences. They miss out on the fun of playing with thousands of toys and I miss out on earning more money towards shopping, which in turn, means they lose out on things they want.

After getting back home, the Baby decided to take a nap for me, so I jumped on the sewing machine. I had gotten this fabric some time ago, intending to make a bib and burpcloth set for the Baby and make extra to sell.

In assembly line fashion, I cut out all the pieces, then pinned, then sewed, then turned them inside out. All that's left to do is sew around the edges and add the snaps, then I'm done. I've made about 50 of these over the past two years and some I give as gifts, but I mostly sell them to supplement our income.

My sewing machine needle broke and I was able to find a replacement in this sewing box I picked up at a yard sale. I always keep an eye out for old sewing boxes that have stuff in them. Never know what you'll find in them and they usually go for cheap. I picked up this big one for five bucks and lucky for me, there were plenty of sewing machine needles still in their mint, unopened packaging.

Tomorrow, Hubby has the day off so we will spend it splitting wood on our new (to us) log splitter. I'll take pictures to show how it works (just for you DJ!).

::30 Days:: Day 12

Today was a busy, busy day...

After breakfast, the kids and I headed to the food store and Hubby went to our friends' place to work on the wood pile. The trip to the food store today was not a particulary good one and I couldn't get out of there fast enough. Usually I have my husband with me or I take one or two kids with me, or the husband goes, but today I felt brave to do it solo with the kids. Going on Sunday morning means most people are in church, right? Not today. For some reason, the store was quite busy and there was a lot more people blocking the aisles and me having to manuever around people and/or carts. It was probably a good thing I hurried to get out, or I would have bought more than my budget allowed-- I was $7.00 over budget as it was.

After the grocery store, I stopped at the friends' place to let the kids expend their energy. I should have dropped them off here first before the store. Our friend is giving the older girls a ride on the ATV. See the dog? Goofy dog-- when the ATV is moving, he keeps biting at the tires and sure enough, his nose got run over. They had to take him to the vet to stitch up his nose. Did he learn his lesson? Apparently not, he still tries to bite the tire as it goes.

Our friend is making sure Hubby knows how to use the log splitter. We made our last payment to him for it and he dropped it off at our place tonight. We bought his old splitter and he bought someone else's newer log splitter. The log splitter will save us lots of time when it's time to start splitting the logs for the wood stove. See the pile of logs behind them? It was over 400 logs there, and they are cutting them up, little by little. I'd say there are about 250 logs left now.

Tomorrow, me and the kids head to the store for another day of work. I didn't work as many hours as I hoped, but I worked just enough to shop for what the kids need. Gas prices have come down a little, which helps, but we aren't expecting it to stay low for long. Cheapest so far is $3.35.

::30 Days:: Day 11

These are the last of the 2 bushels of apples we bought. I had just enough left to make apple butter today. Part of me is glad that I am finally done with the apples, that none went to waste and every last one was eaten or made into something. Another part of me is sad to see them gone, now I have nothing else to can. Canning is addictive, no, really, it is. I start eyeing different fruits and veggies and wonder what I can do with it. I saw an ad in the local paper from a local orchard, offering up apples specifically for apple butter at $6 a bushel --whoa, cheap!! But there is a catch:: You have to buy at least 10 bushels. Ugh! No thanks. I'm done with peeling apples!

We went hunting for more black walnuts this afternoon. We have a whole wagon full! Middle refused any help at pulling the heavy wagon up the hill, she flexed her muscles and said, "I can do it!" My super girl!

Nothing like homemade biscuits for dinner. I'm not normally a biscuit eater, I prefer rolls, but after tasting these, I've been converted! Too easy to make and so so so good! I double the recipe for leftover biscuits to snack on the next day. They taste great with jam!

2 cups flour

4 tbsp baking powder

3/4 tsp salt

1 stick frozen butter

almost 1 c milk

combine dry ingredients; grate (yes, GRATE) frozen butter on top of flour mixture. Add 1/2 cup of milk to start and combine with hands. Add more milk until not too wet and not too dry. On lightly floured surface, flatten dough about 1/2 inch thickness. Cut out biscuits and place on ungreased baking sheet. Cook at 450* for 10-15 minutes, until lightly browned. Makes 12.

I dare you to eat just one!

The apples at the beginning of the post have turned into this:: nearly 10 half pints of apple butter. I cooked it in the crockpot, freeing me to go about my day, hunting for walnuts, making biscuits and nursing the baby, only occasionally stirring. It cooked almost 11 hours-- Thank goodness for crockpots!

** CPS worker came this morning. He wrote in his file that there was nothing abusive or neglectful in our home and behavior and told us that this is his last visit with us. He was a really nice guy and under different circumstances, I could see being good friends with him. He stayed about an hour talking with us and asked the required questions on his paper and often started a question with, "This doesn't apply to you, but I have to ask..." When he left, I felt good, a big contrast from his first visit when I was upset and crying. I hope this will be the end of dealing with CPS, we did everything they asked us to and cooperated fully with them and their requests and I am sure that showed them we were serious about our children and our roles as parents. I'll be watching for copies of the paperwork when the case is officially closed.

::30 Days:: Day 10

Middle skinned her knees while playing outside today. She came running into the house in tears and after pointing out her knees, I put her up on the bathroom counter then went to the other bathroom for some ointment. When I came back, I caught her looking at herself in the mirror, trying out different crying faces. I had to go and get my camera!

Moms have more than one hat to wear, we also have to be nurses and tend to skinned knees, splinters in fingers, bumps on heads and ripped toe nails. I have to make judgement calls on what boo-boos deserve band-aids, or else my supply would be wiped out in no time. After washing out the dirt and blood, I decreed her knees to be fine and no band-aid would be needed.

See how happy she is now, after a magical "mommy-make-it-better-kiss"! This is the part that I love, seeing them smile with tears in their eyes and running off to play some more.

I had Oldest make cookies all by herself. She measured and mixed and after chilling the dough, all 3 girls helped roll the cookies and dip them in cinnamon and sugar before placing on the cookie sheet. She was very proud of the job she did and so was I. Yummy cookies!

After the girls went to bed tonight, I have been cleaning and putting things away... we are getting a visit from the CPS worker in the morning to wrap up the case (or at least that is what he told us on the phone). Now that I know when he is coming, I get a chance to spiff up the place a little bit. All the canning and working for the consignment shop leaves the house just a little bit neglected and things don't get put away like they usually do. Hopefully, his visit will be the last time we hear from CPS and the case will be closed. Wish us luck!