::30 days:: Scrapped!

Ugh!  It seems like anything that could go wrong with this project, can and will go wrong!

First, the internet was down for 11 days.

Then, the power was out.

Now, my pictures won't load. Server invalid or something.

So, I'm just about ready to scrap this whole 30 days project and try it again some other time, perhaps when I'm not so busy running here and there, trying to get school supplies and juggling the booth and kids.

Did I mention that Andrew got a job?  Yes!!  He started working last week and while I am beyond thrilled for him and us that he is working again, I sure do miss those 'do-as-we-please' kind of days. It's back to working around a schedule, but I am *not* complaining!  It's been so long since he was out of work and filling out hundreds of job applications, going on countless interviews, and not getting even a single offer. So many times we've held our breath, hoping that finally, this would be the "one," only to get those hopes dashed on the rocks.  Eventually, I just told Andrew, "don't even tell me what job you've applied for, just let me know when there's an interview."

And of course, as soon as the money starts trickling in, along comes something to take it away. Haven't even got his first paycheck yet, and the roof has started leaking.  All these storms have not been kind to our house and while we knew about 2 small leaks, we now have several big ones.  Big enough to make the ceiling in the sun room fall down and several stains in the dining room.  -sigh-  A call to the insurance co. and a roofer recommended.  If the roofer agrees that it's storm damage, then we'll only have to pay the deductible, but if not, and this is what I am afraid of, then we'll have to foot the whole bill. Fingers crossed that the roofer will find it to be storm damaged. *crossing legs, fingers, toes... my it's going to be hard to walk!*

Counting my blessings, though, it's nothing really major or life-threatening.  We're warm and dry and Andrew was up there with the roofing repair kit trying to slap on some kind of temporary fix for the next round of storms headed our way.

The booth has been doing well.  It's a lot of fun.  It's also a lot of work, cleaning and tagging things, but I'm doing what I love to do, and it's something we have both dreamed of doing for a long time. Today, we passed the lease mark, in other words, after I take out the amount for the rent, the rest is profit!  More than 2 weeks left in the month, so I'm excited to see how much more we'll make!

Peter has just about kicked the pull-ups to the curb!!  He pretty much only uses them at night-time.  Several nights of bed-wetting in a row convinced me to get one last package of night-time pull-ups, but I think it will be the last pack I'll ever have to buy! Yay!!  *happy dance*  It's so weird to go out with all the kids in tow and hear Peter pipe up and say he needs to pee.  I'm so used to just having to take the girls to the restroom, but I am so proud of him.

The garden is going well this year.  We got behind on the weeding after we opened the booth, but the size of the tomatoes this year has me amazed!  That cow manure we spread did wonders!  I've never had such big peppers and tomatoes before!!

The corn on the other hand, still disappoints! foo!  I planted two patches, two different kinds, at different times and both failed.  The first looked like it was doing well, but then there was a dry spell and it seemed to have stunted the growth.  Very few of the corn grew bigger than 2 or 3 inches, so I ended up giving it all to the chickens.  The second patch looked gorgeous, still does!  Lush and green, but a recent check revealed no corn!  It's all stalks and leaves with no cobs?  Wha...?  That does it!  I'm officially giving up on growing corn! I'll just support our local farmers and buy their yummy corn instead.

It's raining again, so I better fetch the buckets and check the leaky spots. Until then.. :o)

Eating with "Daddy"

Most meals are eaten together around the table. Sure, we have our moments and we eat in front of the TV with a movie on, or the kids have a "picnic" on the living room floor and it's just Andrew and I at the table, or sometimes, he's in the office in front of the desktop computer and I'm at the table with the laptop. But that's pretty rare, usually during lunch. Dinners are always, always, together around the table.

A few days ago, Andrew was out running errands and wasn't back for lunch. No biggie, really, but the kids were a little bummed about it. Our whiteboard was still out, having just finished some lessons and taking a little break for eating, so the kids asked me to draw daddy.

I started out simple, just the head and shoulders, his eyes, nose, eyebrows, mouth and goatee.

"Don't forget his earring!" Whoops!  Added his earring.

The kids were happy, chatting away with "Daddy" while we had our lunch.

Every now and then, one of the girls would get up and add a little more detail:

his forehead wrinkles..

arms and a shirt...

hand holding a fork with food on it...

blue eyes...

lines under his eyes...

a heart on his shirt.

Eating with Daddy, even putting a plate and glass in front of him.

Nice to know that the kids miss him when he's away from us.

:o)



Dropping In...

When I said I was going to take a bloggy break, I thought I would need all the way 'til Labor weekend. Turns out I am already itching to come back and I'm trying to decide if I should hold fast to my time-line or say the hell with it and start posting again. Maybe just writing this one post will be the release I need and I can hold off until Labor weekend.

A lot has happened around here-- some good, some bad. Nothing like a death in the family or a major illness, thank God, but definitely something that forces us to change and swallow our pride and to count our blessings even more. I know that things happen for a reason and what doesn't kill us makes us stronger. I also know you don't judge a man before you walk a mile in his shoes and don't count your chickens before they hatch. The point is, life happens, and not always the way you want it to. It's the journey, not the destination.

Andrew was let go from his job not too long ago. It's been a blow for us, but we're honestly doing ok. We're already used to living on less and we don't live the high life and keep up with the Joneses. It just means we have to tighten the belt up another notch. Shopping with coupons like I do is a major bonus, our pantry and closets are well-stocked with food and supplies and the only thing we really need to shop for would be milk, meat and diapers (though diapers will soon be dropped from the list!). He's been looking and applying for work and hopefully something will come along soon. We're happy to have him home, though, and we've been enjoying the extra family time together.

We've been blessed with good friends that are passing on their children's clothes to us, so I won't need to worry about that. One family has 2 children, a girl a year ahead of Evelyn and a boy 2 years ahead of Peter. Another has 2 girls, both a year or two ahead of Gretchen and Sylvia. I'm lucky that ever since the kids were born, I've always shopped second-hand clothing for the kids, so they absolutely don't mind getting hand-me-downs and actually, they think it's normal procedure. Pretty much the only things they get brand-new would be shoes and underclothes, but even then, it's clearance prices and sales from the year before. I just bought clearanced flip-flops for the kids for next summer.

What really hurts with not having Andrew's paycheck is the gas money. Living in the country, we have to drive so far to get places, so we do a lot of consolidating with our errands and shop at stores that give us gas discounts. We recently filled up the van on gas that cost us $2.97/gallon thanks to gas points at the food store. That same food store also doubles coupons so it gives me more incentive to shop there.

New friends we've made that live nearby do a lot of volunteer work (they're retirees) and recently let us know that they dropped our name into a hat at the ruritan club that sponsors a few families and pays their way into the county fair. We hadn't planned on going to the county fair this year, because we cannot afford both the entrance fee and the rides for the kids, so it's really nice to know that we'll be able to do both and for once, we don't have to tell the kids "no" when they ask to go on the rides. They are even paying for our meal at the fair which always smells so good, but again, too pricey for a family of six. The kids are really excited about going to the fair and they all want to make something and enter it at the fair. Evelyn and Sylvia both embroidered their own designs and Gretchen wants to bake a cake. I embroidered something as well, and I plan to enter a few jams. Fingers crossed the girls all get blue ribbons for their efforts!

Total neglect of the garden and yet we are drowning in tomatoes!!  I feel so lucky! The kids love walking up and down the rows filling arms and buckets with tomatoes and bringing them into the house. I love that the girls eat tomatoes out of hand and sometimes they make a feast out of tomatoes for a snack. Peter doesn't quite understand just what is so great about tomatoes just yet, but hopefully, in time, he'll grow to love eating them, too. I don't hold much hope for the onions and the peppers-- the weeds have choked them out. I may be able to dig up a few taters, but I'm just not too sure about them.  I'm already imagining next years garden and I'm thinking this is the year I try for a fall planting for a winter garden.  I'd really like to try cold-weather gardening and see what that's like.

I recently lost a Speckled Sussex hen. She was one of the first 15 and I had only 2 left of the 6 Speckled Sussex I started out with. She wasn't looking so good for a day and I had a bad feeling when I shut the coop that night. Sure enough, the next morning, she was dead. Before Andrew was let go, I was thinking about ordering a batch of chicks. I'm tired of the Red hens and roosters and wanted to have some more colors in my flock, but that'll have to wait now. The Reds are not as friendly as the yellow Buffs and the Speckled Sussexs. They run and scatter when I come near and pretty much the only time I can handle them is when they're settled for the night in the coop. The Buffs and the Speckleds are super friendly and the girls love to hold them and enjoy their feathered company. I'll definitely order more of those two breeds next time.

I still have a bit of corn left from last summer's canning sessions. I hoped to plant corn this year, but that never happened. I hoped to score corn cheap from the food store like I did a few times last year, but it's been pretty pricey all summer long. I still have hope, though! Andrew's friend has a neighbor that recently complained he had too much corn-- eek!! Too much corn?!? How can that be??  I'm trying to get Andrew to talk to the nice man and convince him to sell his surplus of corn to us! After we've eaten our fill, I'll can the rest to enjoy during the cold winter months. Oh.. I hope so! I do love corn!

I think I'm done unloading the brain now. My shoulders feel lighter and my head doesn't hurt so much now. I'll stick to my original time-line and be back after Labor weekend.

~jenny

Father's Day

I hope you all had a nice Father's Day! Ours was nice-- the kids were excited to give daddy his wrapped candy presents and Andrew was thrilled to get "Jackass 3" on dvd. Those boys are crazy!! I'm happy to watch them do crazy things from the safety of the couch! :o)

The kids all piled on Andrew this morning, which made for a really nice picture, then right after it was "Kiss Daddy's bald head!" which resulted in:

Where'd Daddy go?! :o)

********************

Happy Father's Day to all the Dad's out there!!

:o)

Brush Hogging

Our friend came over with his brush cutter to help us clear away brambles and brush around our property. Priority was the space behind the chicken coop where we plan to fence the chickens in.

It's amazing how powerful that cutter is and how quickly it mowed everything down. Andrew pulled out fallen logs and big branches on the ground and also pulled down vines creeping up tree trunks while Jim brush hogged away.

Here it is, all cleared. They continued to brush hog around the corner to the right of this photo, until the engine back-fired and then sputtered to a stop. Oh dear. They got a good section cleared, but still much to do. He'll come back after the holiday after he looks at the engine and gets it up and running again.

Haven't done any fencing yet. My back has been bothering me for some time now, then Tuesday evening I was in excruciating pain. My hip quivered in pain at every step and by the time I put the kids to bed, it was screaming. I went downstairs to put a load in the wash and couldn't make it back up the steps. Lucky for me, Andrew arrived home and heard me on the stairs and helped me up the last few steps.

Looking up back/hip pain leaves too many possibilities, but I suspect a pinched nerve. I rested as much as I could on Wednesday and felt somewhat better on Thursday, so I ran errands-- grocery store and picked up Percy at the Vet's. Big mistake, the position of my leg in the car did not help and by the time I returned home, my hip was quivering in pain again. Another day tied to the heating pad and resting as much as four children allow me to has helped immensely. I find it helps to keep moderately mobile, as keeping still only stiffens the joint and I need to warm up all over again. Warming up hurts. Getting out of the bed in the morning is almost comical and then hobbling over to the toilet and back is something else entirely.

As of now, I am operating on 50% power. I want so much to DO stuff, but I know I'll pay the price if I do. The garden needs weeding, the fence needs fencing, the house needs housing and the kids need parenting. I don't know what I'd do without Andrew, he's such a big help. I'm hoping tomorrow brings me another lift in power. I'd like to at least get some weeding done. I'll take it slowly and see how it goes.

Enjoy the long weekend!

~

Always Something To Do Around Here

The desk top computer has been giving us trouble lately. I'm no computer expert, but I know enough to get by. The router/DSL modem crapped out last month, so I got a new one. The problem with the new router though, was we had to turn off the security to get on the internet! That ain't right. No matter what I did, I couldn't get the security system to view the new router as a non-threatening program. Then the power went out once and we lost internet connection. I finally figured out it was the new router. After much fiddling around with it, I re-installed the program disc and it worked, but we still had to turn off security to use it. Yesterday, the power went off and once again, the router/DSL modem no longer worked. This time, however, I couldn't get it to work again. Time for a new router. And a new security system.

Amazing how a day without internet services can sort of put a damper on things. We aren't online all day, but there are quite a lot of things we do on the computer and not having internet service really stunts us. We're too far from anywhere with wi-fi access and more than 20 miles to the nearest Library, so packing up the laptop is not ideal for us. Making a trip into the big town was necessary.

The other day, the riding mower sputtered and back-fired, then shut off on Andrew just as he finished the majority of the mowing. Lucky for us, he knows enough about engines that he knew what it needed and a trip to the hardware store for parts should do the trick. The hardest part about that was finding a hardware store that carried what he needed! At one store, the filters were all bent. At another, nothing matched what he needed. Third time was the charm indeed when he found all he needed at store number three.

While at the hardware store, we picked up fencing. We're going to fence in the chickens! After much talk, we've decided it would be best to build a pen around the chickens. I love the idea of free-range chickens, but in the case of my chickens, that means free-ranging all over the back stoop! Nothing like stepping on cold, mushy chicken poop in bare feet! I used to be Miss Barefoot until the chickens came along, then I became best friends with my flip-flops.

We bought 150 feet worth of fencing, which I think will give the chickens plenty of room to roam. I'm still thinking on a way to make a gate without resorting to buying one. I have plenty of scrap wood, so I'm leaning to making a frame then stapling chicken wire to it and voila! a door. I get lots of ideas in my head, just a matter of translating to paper to actual materials.

The kids are pretty happy about fencing in the chickens. The big rooster chases them and I constantly have to provide distraction to the rooster so the kids can make their escape to the swing set. It's getting irritating. Warmer weather equals kids playing outside equals mama dropping everything and distracting the rooster 10-plus times a day.

Anyway, after we got home from the computer store and the hardware store, I tried to get the new router working. I had quite the time trying to get it all to obey me. I get frustrated to tears when it comes to the computer because visions of it freezing and floating bits of money flying out the window do not a pleasant picture make. After about 4 hours of installing, un-installing, deleting, more installing, updating, down-loading, re-starting and one final updating, the desk top works! It works, it works, it works! Happy dance!

I worked right through dinner and sweet Evelyn made dinner without any prompting. She came to me and asked me to check and see if the macaroni was tender. "Macaroni?" I asked.

"Yes. I'm making dinner because I can see you are too stressed out from the computer, so I wanted to help you." Evelyn replied.

Well, melt my heart! We ate a mighty fine dinner of macaroni and cheese last night, paired with a glass of juice. It makes me proud when one of the kids can step up to the plate and pitch in when Andrew and I are both busy doing something.

Andrew's friend is supposed to come over tomorrow and let Andrew use his brush hog. I'm so excited! All the weeds and brambles and small brush are slowly overtaking the yard and I cannot put up the new fencing for the chickens until we clear away the brush. Using the brush hog will make the job go so much faster and easier, then we can just maintain afterwards. Fingers crossed it all goes well!

Percy the cat is quite the TOM cat. He is getting rambunctious and jumps BC, the older cat, a lot. He's starting to pee on clothing or towels that get left on the floor and I try to keep after the kids to pick up their clothes, but I don't catch every one. We could smell pee somewhere and sniffed around for it, but couldn't pinpoint where it was coming from. Andrew says here, I say there. Finally I moved a bed over and there was a pair of pants, soaked with cat pee.

Peter let Charlie the cat in the house a couple days ago, and he made a beeline to the bowl of cat food on the floor. I let him chow down when this happens, then put him back outside when he's done. This time, however, I got distracted and forgot about Charlie being in the house. I got a quick reminder when Percy spotted Charlie and a swirling, angry, hissing and yowling ball of black rolled around the kitchen floor, tufts of black fur flying! I'm not stupid enough to stick my hand in there and separate them, but something needed to be done! It all happened so fast, I somehow got them apart, swatting at them with a towel or something, then just as I was about to pick up Charlie, Percy came charging again, and the crazy ball of two black cats fighting rolled into the sun room, leaving a trail of fur. Andrew came in and managed to pull Percy off Charlie, then Charlie hid under the table in the sun room. After I finally coaxed him out and let him back outdoors, we knew something had to be done about Percy.

No way are we letting him out, free to impregnate every fertile female cat within spitting distance. He has an appointment on Thursday to get neutered. After he comes back, if he continues to pee in the house, he'll go outside with the other cats. Hopefully he stops that, cause I really like having him in the house. All the other outdoor cats are there because they peed in the house at one time or another.

Andrew works from 1-9 today, so I'm hoping for an uneventful day. At this rate, I'll be happy to distract the rooster to let the kids outside than face another computer issue.

13th

If I could do it all over again, I'd probably get married outside in a park somewhere, completely laid back and relaxed. Just family and a few close friends and we'd all chow down at a cook-out and a bonfire. I'd be in a simple dress, my hair down, a flower picked from nearby. He'd be himself: pants, a nice shirt. Definitely no bridesmaids or groomsmen.

We got married in a lovely church and had about 60 guests, but the reception part will always be disappointing to me. We held it in the basement of the church, which was fine, really. I wanted it to be simple and so we had ordered platters of sandwich fixins' and a sweet store-bought wedding cake. Unbeknownst to me, the night before, at the rehearsal, also held in the church basement, my soon-to-be-in laws ordered identical platters of sandwich fixin's for the rehearsal dinner.

I had labored on making a music mix tape and it never got played beyond the first song of "We Are Family" and we never had our first dance. The pastor left immediately after the ceremony, too sick to stay and join the celebration and the janitor rushed us along, anxious to clean, lock up and go home.

I always felt we got home too early, sometime around 4 and as Andrew and I sat in our apartment living room, surrounded by gifts, we didn't know what to do. It felt too soon to be alone, where was everybody? We went to the nearby mall to eat dinner at the food court. I didn't want to cook--I got married today!-- and I was in the mood for a pizza turnover and he wanted something else, so to the food court we went. To this day I still think it's funny to see our car in the mall parking lot with 'Just Married' written on the back window.

Looking back, I got caught up in the traditional wedding arrangements. I was determined to not spend money we didn't have, but I wanted the wedding I thought I was supposed to have. We paid for everything up front-- there was no debt after the wedding was over, and I am proud of that, but I look at those pictures and I'm not sure who I'm looking at. My hair was all curled and fixed up and my face painted. Andrew was all gussied up in a rented tuxedo. Bridesmaids in lime green dresses and groomsmen in more rented tuxes. We look like a nice couple, but it isn't who we really are.

Part of me thought that it would be a once in a lifetime chance to dress up and get my hair fixed and get married to a man in a tux. But now? Who cares about the clothes! I have a dress hanging in my closet that I'll never wear again-- thank goodness I only paid $75 for it. I have shoes and make-up I bought just for the wedding that never got used again. The wedding didn't really reflect who we were and I really think that we were being who we thought we were supposed to be that day.

I don't regret that day, we did get married after all. These 13 years together have been wonderful and I wouldn't change a thing. All of the happy moments, the rough spots, the time spent together, the children we created, the home we have made for each other-- all of it was meant to be. I couldn't imagine being married to anyone else. He loves me exactly the way I am, never asks me to be who I'm not. I never have to pretend around Andrew. He never has to be anyone else but himself around me.

I love who we are, the family we have become together and what we stand for. Thank you for asking me to marry you and for being my husband these 13 years. Happy Anniversary Andrew! May we have many, many more! I love you!

~

Finally!

After weeks of itching to get into the garden, we finally tilled the soil the other day. It was too wet to plant, but all the chicken manure and compost and leaves got rolled over and it was looking good. It rained almost continously after that and got cold enough to start a fire one day, too. Yesterday was a lovely day and we tilled again then planted all those onions we bought. Many had sprouted, some went mushy, but I think we planted about 3 lbs each of white and red onions. I think I'll plant another row of each after supper tonight, I hate to see the remaining onions go to waste. Hopefully the ones we did plant do well and we'll have enough to see us through the winter.

Potatoes are next, those will go in the ground tonight. Funny story, while my Aunt and Uncle were house-sitting for us, my Uncle spotted the potatoes and served some up for a meal. He liked them so much he went to see what kind they were and whoops! Found out they were seed potatoes! Good thing there are plenty of potatoes to plant.

While planting onions yesterday, Andrew mentioned trying corn again. I must be a glutton for punishment, because I want to try again, too. I used up all our corn seed last year, so will need to buy more. We have enough space in the garden to try corn again, so hopefully, with the addition of plenty of chicken manure this time around, corn will do better for us.

Everything is in bloom here. Dogwoods, forsythias, redbuds, peaches, apples, cherries, buttercups, phlox(es?), lilacs and more. So pretty to see everything greening up again. We will have to go through the yard and pick up fallen sticks, it will soon be time to mow the grass.

Once again I have failed to start my own seeds this year. Lack of space and a 2-year old that doesn't listen very well had a lot to do with that. A big goal this year is to set up some sort of green house so next year I can do my own seeds. Doesn't need to be a big one, I have seen many ideas on the Internet, just a matter of choosing which one works best for us. If I could, I would get the big hoop-style green house and keep the chickens in the back half and use the front half for the usual green house uses. Maybe someday, but not now.

After seeing plenty of other homesteading bloggers mention this book, I picked up a copy of my own and am in the middle of reading Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver. This is not a book I can read though at my usual fast pace. I am often reading only a few pages at a time then walk away to think about what I've read. There are things she talks about that I knew of, but not at that level. I am also learning much and sharing my discoveries with Andrew and Mom. Reading this book makes me want to take our homesteading goals further and speed things up a bit to make it happen sooner. If you haven't read this book, I suggest you go and get yourself a copy and read it, it's worth it.

Eating an early supper tonight so we can work in the garden later. I count myself lucky that Andrew has taken over the kitchen and we'll be eating bacon cheeseburgers made by the chef himself! Why does food taste so much better when someone else prepares it? :o) It will be good to take off the chef's hat tonight and just eat.

~later

Firewood

Our stash of firewood for the winter was pitiful. I hoped it would be enough, but I knew, deep inside, it would not. We only had a fire on days that were really cold, cold enough to make one cold even while wearing several layers of clothing; when even the little electric space heaters couldn't beat back the cold; when even having the oven on and the door open still made barely a rise in the thermometer in the kitchen.

We tried to make the wood last, scrounging the iffy bits with soft ends that started to rot, using every last little bit from the bottom of the pile. Andrew would rush home at 4:30 in the afternoon and squeeze out some splitting in the last hour of daylight. He would get up early before work and trudge out to the woods on snow-free days and cut trees the tree cutters felled and left behind for us. He would have just enough time to load and unload the truck before having to get cleaned up and go to work at 2:30. Working rotating shifts make it hard to schedule things, adding in family duties, errands and other chores.

A couple years ago, someone bought the land next to us and built a pallet factory. The power company came through to install power lines and asked us permission to cut down trees on our land to make room. As long as they left the wood, they were welcome to do what they had to do. When they were gone, we surveyed what was left and we were warmed at the sight of huge logs that would need cutting and splitting. Much too big for Andrew's saw, but we cut what we could here and there, big limbs and the smaller trees, when we could get the kids settled for an hour or two.

A few days ago, Andrew was out there, and saw that someone had cut and taken some wood. He was furious! That's our wood, for us! It might have been different if someone knocked on our door and asked permission, but to come onto our land, cut and take it without asking?! He fumed and could not concentrate, thinking about that wood. He posted 'No Trespassing' signs directly onto the logs themselves.

Yesterday, outdoor temperatures were rising into the high 60s and he happened to have the day off! He called our friend Jim and asked if he could come over with his 20-inch saw and help cut those logs and in return, he could have some wood for himself. Lucky for us, he was free and happy to come and help cut, then load both pick-up trucks. He even declined our offer of wood and helped unload both trucks into our pole barn, ready to be split on Andrew's next day off.

It looks to be another warm day, an early taste of Spring, I am sure it will get cold again. These nice days are only teasers, lulling us into thinking winter is over, but it is only mid-February and surely winter has not let go of us yet. We have not had a fire in over a week, because we had only 2 or 3 days left of firewood to burn and we were saving it for one of those just-can't-get-warm kind of day. We will still be stingy with the wood, though we now have a nice pile of logs, waiting to be split. Hopefully this stretch of warm weather will last through the weekend, Andrew does not have another day off until next week.

We will be more diligent this year in getting wood put away for next winter. Hopefully with Peter a little older, he'll be 3 this summer, we can get a bit more done without having to stop every 5 minutes to chase him down or rescue him from some predicament he's gotten himself into. Lately, Andrew is out there alone, since I need to stay and watch Peter, so it will be nice to work side-by-side with him again, something we haven't been able to do much of since Peter stopped taking 3 hour naps as a baby.

Not having enough wood or money to buy wood has been a cold lesson learned.
-

Happy Valentine's Day

Here's what Evelyn (8) thinks of Andrew and I:

heh, heh! Don't think we'll ever stop kissing-- ever! :o) Ever, ever, ever!

Happy Valentine's Day!

-

Pitty-Pat

I count myself lucky everyday when I wake and see my husband's handsome face. I could get lost in those blue eyes of his and only he could make crow's feet look sexy! I feel my heart just bursting with love when he looks at me and tells me he loves me. ~sigh~ It doesn't help when he wears this particular shirt and hat-- he looks extra yummy. I call the shirt my pitty-pat shirt, because it makes my heart go all pitty-patty!

Excuse me while I go find Andrew and give him a kiss...
-

Twiddling Our Thumbs

A handsome fellow came by for a visit not too long ago-- he's a distant cousin of Thumbelina and Tom Thumb. Meet...

...Handsome Harry Thumb.

He's a funny fellow, keeping the kids roaring with laughter and entertaining us all during these dreary winter days. We were sad to see him go, but something about soap and water makes him skedaddle!

Don't they look like twins??

An Early Christmas Gift

When it comes to exchanging gifts between Andrew and I, it's not always easy. When we want something, usually, we get it (money permitting). Under the tree for Andrew was a shirt he saw me buy, a matching father-and-son scarf from fleece that I made and... that's it. For me was a new flashlight that I needed so I would stop swiping Andrew's and leaving it everywhere but where he left it.

-

The biggest gift to each other though, was one we, or rather he, got earlier this month:

He got a vasectomy.

-

That's right, snip-snip!

It's something we talked about and he volunteered to do it, rather than me go through major surgery to get my tubes tied. Much easier for a man to get snipped and he can go home an hour after the procedure is done. It helps that he had a role model-- his own father had a vasectomy.

When we found out that the Veterans' health insurance covered vasectomies, he made an appointment as soon as he could get one.

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Andrew wasn't nervous about the procedure at all. They had a pre-op appointment to explain how it works, but we had already researched it on our own and talked to other men that had it done. A close friend of ours suggested that Andrew "drain" himself before the appointment because that's what he did and he didn't even have to ice it afterwards. The thinking behind that is that there was no build-up or back-up of fluids to cause any pain.

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Well, the week before the appointment, we had nightly fun a little more often than usual, a sort of farewell slash emptying of the fluids. He got slightly nervous in the waiting area, but who wouldn't when you're naked and cold and dressed only in a flimsy hospital gown? They asked him to shave himself prior to the appointment and gave him antiseptic soap to wash with that morning before leaving for the hospital.

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They numbed him up and quickly worked one side, then the other, and before he knew it, they were done. The doctor told him that he still needed to use protection and that he wasn't sterile until he says he is sterile. We'll find out in January, six weeks after the procedure, if the vasectomy was successful.

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He walked out of the hospital looking nothing like a man that just had a vasectomy. I expected him to walk slowly and possibly hunched over in pain, but he looked just fine. I drove him home and he laid down for a bit when we got home, but he didn't ice it and was in no pain. I had to laugh when I saw they put a bandage on either side where the cuts were made. Good thing he was shaved!

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Surprisingly, the next night he was ready to go! I had doubts, I thought it would be too painful for him, but who am I to deny a night of fun for each other? There was no problem that night in his performance and hasn't been any problems since.

Hopefully, in January, the doctor will declare Andrew sterile and we will no longer have to get these anymore. Good riddance!

Being sterile means no more of these, either. I'm fine with that. I love the children we have and have no desire for more.

He's happy,

I'm happy!
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Year of the Tooth

What a crazy week! I'm so glad the weekend is here and I am looking forward to the whirlwind of making Thanksgiving dinner.

I think people make such a big deal about cooking the turkey and all the side dishes that go with it. I enjoy cooking and could easily spend my days in the kitchen whipping up all kinds of dishes, if only someone would clean up behind me and wash all the dishes when I am done. If you plan it right, make the desserts and do a little prep-work on some of the dishes the day before, once you put the turkey in the oven on the actual day, the rest of the day is pretty easy. But maybe it's me, I don't go for the super complicated dishes or go all out and decorate the table really fancy. Nothing changes in my house when it comes to Thanksgiving. I don't bring out the fancy dishes-- don't have any. I don't decorate with any tablecloths or leaves or any such stuff. I just cook the food, serve the food, eat the food.

Anyway, poor Andrew had some teeth that were bothering him for some time now. His wisdom tooth finally dropped and came in at an angle, pressing down on the next molar. The pain came and went over a few months, but the last couple of weeks have been really bad. Bad enough to turn Andrew into an ogre sometimes. He went to the Veteran's Hospital to get it checked out, but they kept giving him the run-around because he has high blood pressure. Dental would send him to the ER to get cleared by the doctor there, but the doctor would be too busy to see him one day or send him elsewhere another day. After nearly 2 weeks of back and forth, meanwhile taking antibiotics for the infection and meds for the pain, he gave up and called a local dentist in town. The local dentist agreed, he needed clearance for his high blood pressure, but once he got it, he'd pull the teeth ASAP.

Lickety-split, Andrew was able to get ahold of his primary doc at the Veteran's hospital and get the go-ahead for the dentist. The very next day, the dentist pulled both teeth. Turns out, the tooth that the wisdom tooth was pressing on-- the bone had deteriorated and there was nothing for the tooth to hold on to. It came out easily and then that space made it easier for the dentist to grab hold of the wisdom tooth and pop that out, too.

Amazing! What a difference in Andrew with those two teeth out. A little bit of soreness afterwards, but he's feeling pretty good. I have my husband back! Bye-bye Ogre! And, surprise, the local dentist was cheaper than the Veteran's dentist would have been. So, it all worked out, I guess. I'm just glad he is no longer in pain and he can go on with his life again.

It's the year of the tooth for us-- between the kids losing their baby teeth left and right-- Evelyn lost one of her canines the other day-- Andrew losing two, Mom breaking a front tooth, and my uncle breaking his tooth eating popcorn I made (oops!), that's a lot of teeth! Here's hoping we'll all have our teeth when we're old and gray and not gumming it! :o)
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Good Day for All

It's been a real pleasant day for all of us. I needed to run into the big town for some banking, and since Mom needed to do some banking, too, we took the kids along. Andrew was at work this morning, so it was just us.

Usually, in the van, Peter starts to fuss and protest at being in the car seat, but today, he went right to sleep. The girls all brought little activities to do in the van, so it was quiet from them, too. After stops at the banks, I needed to stop into the drugstore. This particular chain gives me trouble in my hometown when I break out the coupons and do my extreme coupon shopping. I shop there in spurts, inspired by a good sale, then swear off going back after a failed trip, only to repeat a couple months later. They almost never have what I need, the store is messy with stock in bins along the aisles that need to be shelved, the diagonal arrangement of their shelves is confusing even years later, staff argue with me about my coupons and the total I need to pay never matches what I figured beforehand. Andrew has even asked me why I keep going there when I leave so frustrated and pissed. I can only think that when I have read from other websites that people love shopping there and when they tell their success stories, I get a little frustrated-- why can't I figure this place out?? I have CVS figured out, why not here??

I decided to give the drugstore (yet) another chance only because they had certain cold medicines on sale and 3 out of 4 kids are sick. This time, I'd try the one in big town, hoping for better results. Just walking in the door of the drugstore and I could already see the difference! Their store was so neat and the shelves were not arranged in that weird diagonal way like the one I usually go to. Sale items were clearly marked and not sold out (gasp!) and I was able to find everything on my list without any trouble. Even the cashier was ready for me, spotting the coupons I had in my hand and asking if I was doing separate transactions (I was). Clearly, this was a cashier used to coupons. Finally, a pleasant transaction without one hiccup and I walked out feeling pretty good and not one ounce of frustration.

I bought $73 worth of stuff and paid only $1.98. Keep in mind, drugstores are overpriced to begin with, and I would normally never shop there unless there was a sale, and every single item I bought was on sale. Combined with coupons, it all makes for a really good deal. I bought mostly pharmacy items-- several cold and cough medicines for children and adults, cough drops, lip balms, and excedrin. Non-pharmacy was 4 bottles of body washes. My medicine cabinet is good to go for the next few months, barring any major health issues. ~knock on wood~ Anyway, I'll definitely go back to this drugstore and stay away from the one that gives me a headache.

After that, we had lunch at taco bell. I had coupons for free drinks, so lunch was pretty cheap for 6 people. There was a nice old guy with his wife handing out tootsie pops to the kids, and they gave mine 2 each. The kids were pretty happy about the lollipops. Then while getting the food, the guys in the cook area gave each of the kids free cinnamon twists! What a day for them! They ate quietly and even Peter seemed to be on his best behavior, instead of climbing over the partition between booths. He must not be feeling 100%.

It doesn't take much to make me happy, and it certainly is nice when things go smoothly and unexpected surprises pop up. I was in such a good mood that even when the 'check engine' light came on in the van on the way home, it didn't dampen my spirits. Hopefully it's just the sensor, it's given us problems before.

Andrew had a good day, too. He got a card at his regular spot at the mall. The boss recently let a co-worker go, so he'll be getting more hours until a replacement is hired. He got a little raise, and with the extra hours, it'll add up.

I'll end the day with 'Good Night' and hopefully I'll have some sweet dreams. :o)
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Still No Pictures

My new camera arrived. I waited alllllll day for the UPS guy to deliver it after I checked the tracking number and figured out it would be delivered on Tuesday. Every time Maisie barked, I ran to the window, hoping to see the familiar brown van pulling into the driveway and I was disappointed every time. Dang it! After 4 pm, I gave up, knowing it was too late for the UPS to be making any deliveries in my area.

Wouldn't you know, the lazy bum put it in the mailbox?!? The mailbox?!?!? When Andrew came home around 6, he had it in his hands along with the rest of the mail. If one can be happy and pissed at the same time, that was me.

The downside to ordering online is you cannot see the actual product; hold it in your hands and decide if it's the right one for you. Looking at the online info doesn't exactly help form the image in your head and a picture just doesn't do it justice. The camera is tiny! Good grief! I'm afraid I'll crush it! I've taken a couple pictures with it and it's nice and the pictures seem alright, though I've yet to download any. It's just so... small! For the first time ever, I put the wrist strap on it just to give it more substance. I'll put it in my pocket and it'll disappear in there! The diaper bag will eat it up! It'll slip into the cracks and I'll never see it again! People will think I'm a spy except for the fact that it's ruby red! I think in the future, I'll buy cameras in person so I know exactly what I'm getting.

My uncle came down on Thursday and we butchered the last 3 roosters! He lopped the heads off for me and I was happy to let him do it. It does get easier and this time, I hardly paused when it came time to pluck feathers and cut into the bird to gut and pull out the innards. The big old mean one got his last hurrah even after he was dead-- his spur stuck me in the hand when I picked him up by the feet to pluck feathers. I'll get the last word when I eat him: "yum!"

It sure is quiet around here without the chorus of roosters crowing! For the first time in ages, some of the older hens were out in the yard, taking dust baths and drinking from the outdoor water pan. It was nice to see the yellow Buffs out of the coop and I'm sure all 4 of them will soon take over the yard. The kids are out playing more freely now, too, instead of hiding behind me or wielding sticks in terror of pecking roosters. The one rooster left is too busy keeping track of his women to pay any attention to the kids. 1 rooster, 11 hens, and 9 chicks-- much better.

We should be getting our first frost soon. We had two nights with temps as low as 32. I've harvested most of the peppers and plucked all the red tomatoes. I haven't dug up any potatoes yet, plan to do that soon. We've had some nice days lately, so I may still get some more tomatoes, but I won't be canning them. I have enough canned tomatoes for the winter and we will eat what is left.

Andrew is working this weekend at another local town festival and I just might take the kids and check it out after he gives me a report on how it looks out there. I took the kids to the apple harvest festival he worked at last week and the kids were very good-- we parked about a mile away from the event and it was nerve-wracking to walk alone with 4 kids, making sure they stayed off the road and on the shoulder. Peter likes to take off the minute you put him down, so I was almost constantly carrying him and my shoulder paid for it the next day. It was a huge event, almost like a big flea market with a band playing, different foods, and exhibits, and not a single apple in sight! I wanted to go back the next day, but it was too much for the kids and they were such good sports to do all that walking and then have to walk the last mile back to the van. I was amazed at how packed it was, since it was the kind of town where if you blink, you miss it. There's nothing there, just homes, a school and a fire station, but boy, people really came out for this event!

I have several posts planned for next week with pictures! I miss posting with pictures. Have a great weekend! :o)

Catching up

* None of the fallen feathers from the chickens go to waste around here. The kids like to gather them up and make things with them. Cat toys are the main project, but Evelyn crafted this indian hat and was so proud of it. With all the sales on school supplies going on, I am stocking up on plenty of markers, crayons, pens, construction paper, and glue. Glue goes fast around here and we have already used up one bottle within a week of purchasing it!!

*Sylvia's 'attachment' preference is tape. Lots of it!! She uses so much of my tape that I have to hide it or else it will be gone. On one of our little visits into town, we decided to let the kids have fun in the dollar store and pick one item each to get since they had behaved well that day. Sylvia picked tape! 8 rolls of tape for $1! I tell ya, that was the best thing she could have ever picked! She likes to wrap little toys in construction paper ( trying to get her to switch to newspaper) and lots of tape to seal it up, then she leaves her "presents" around the house for us to find and unwrap. I swear she uses half a roll of tape just to tape one present! But it's her tape and her dollar, so I'm not saying a word. I try to show her she can use less tape, but she pushes my hands away and keeps at it.

*Andrew has the day off on Sunday, so I am going to butcher a rooster or two for dinner that day. It cannot be put off any longer! Just this afternoon, looking through the window, I caught 4 roosters, taking turns, mounting one poor little hen! Poor girl! I rushed outside and scattered them, but told myself it's time for them to go. The young ones are almost as big as the older ones, and if it wasn't for their non-existent spurs, I'd never be able to tell which is which! Only the two older roos have long spurs.

*Working on a wet walnut how-to post. I should have that up next week. I popped open one of the jars I canned last week, poured some on ice cream and it's so good! I'd like to try it with pecans one day, just substitute the walnuts with pecans. Maybe over the holidays when the nuts go on sale... This is when I miss living in Louisiana where we could pick fallen pecans and fill paper bags full of them for free!

*I think Peter is ready to be potty trained. He keeps taking off the diapers or he sticks his hand down the front of the diapers to play with his willy and then the fit gets messed up and the pee trickles down his legs. After the supply of diapers I have runs out, I'll be switching to training pants and then start potty training. I can see the light at the end of the diaper tunnel!! hooray!! more than 8 years of constant diaper changing and I'll soon be done!

*One of the young hens laid their first egg today! Pretty soon, the other ones will start laying and I should be getting at least 8-10 daily. When I have several dozen, I'd like to try and sell some. Make a sign and hang it out front. I might be able to avoid doing that and sell to friends and family only. Did you see that massive recall on eggs the other day??? Good grief! Makes me happy I have my own chickens.

*My mom feel down twice this week. Makes 3 times this year. Nothing broken or sprained, but she gets sore and hurts a few days afterwards. I need to keep a closer eye on her and get her in for a check-up. I want her to live a good long time, watch her grandchildren grow up and hopefully, she'll live long enough to see her great-grandchildren, too.

*Good news/Bad news:: I got my period/I'm not pregnant! It's never fun or easy when Aunt Flo comes to visit me every month, but when she is here, it's a relief to know I have dodged the pregnancy bullet once again. Andrew has an appointment for a consultation for getting snip-snipped! I can't wait! No more worrying when Aunt Flo is late or having to deal with raincoats anymore! Was that TMI??? :o) It's my blog, I can write what I want!

*It's almost time for that children's consignment place to start up again. I think I'll be selling the kids' out-grown clothes there for sure. The foyer has boxes and boxes of too small clothing they don't wear anymore and it looks like a yard sale is not going to happen this year. I am considering volunteering one day a week with the sale, because she added a new bonus to volunteers this year:: for every hour past the required 4 hours you volunteer, 1% will be added to your percentage of the sale. If you just consign, the percentage you earn from the sale of your goods is 50%; with the volunteer hours, if I worked 2 8-hour shifts, that would net me 12 (16 hours minus the required 4) extra percent to my sales making my total 62%! So if I sold $100 worth of items, I'd get back $62 instead of $50. Makes a difference.

Andrew usually gets 2 days off per week, so if I can leave the kids home with him, get there early and stay most of the day, I could handle a day or two per week and try to volunteer at least 4 days which would give me, hopefully, 48 hours of volunteer time. That would be equal to 44 percent added to my 50 which makes 94%! In the past, money earned from the sale of our items went to pay for car insurance. It sure would be nice to have that extra money again. The sale starts Sept 13th, so that gives me a month to get ready for it.

*It's the weekend! Andrew is working Saturday, so I'll be canning tomatoes in the cool of the morning before it gets too hot. Off to bed for me!

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Regrets

I try to live my life the way *I* think it should be lived. I don't follow what others tell me to do, because in the past, when I did, I paid the price. I don't want to have regrets in my life, though I do have a few. From those few, I look at them as a lesson dearly learned. And then there are some I stupidly repeat a few times until I get a good knock on the head and wake up.

I feel so lucky to have Andrew in my life-- definitely no regrets in marrying him! We think alike in many ways, yet we are different enough to look at things differently. I think that comes from us being 10 years apart. 10 years doesn't seem like much, but the 60's and 70's were so drastically different-- the TV shows, the music, the culture, the fashions, even the politics. The stuff he grew up on was gone by the time I came along, and then the stuff I grew up on, he was off in the military, too busy to keep up with what was current.

When we met, the timing was right. He was fresh out of the Navy and ready to settle down and I was ready to find my Mr. Right, getting tired of the same old dating scene. When we decided to get engaged, we may have raised some eyebrows-- we got engaged after only a month of dating, but it felt right and there was no hesitation on my part when he proposed to me.

The decision for us to buy our first house in the country was not something many of our friends and family would have chosen, but we were happy and that was what mattered. We have never regretted moving to where we did, though we have, on several occasions, kicked ourselves for getting that particular house. It was definitely a learning experience, but living there prepared us for living in our current house, so I can look back on the old place with no regrets.

When I quit the post office, many of our friends and family were concerned about that. It was good pay and benefits and who would leave such a job?? But I hated my job, I dreaded going to work and we wanted to start a family with one parent at home with the kids. I happily volunteered to be the one to stay home. Have I regretted that choice? No. We missed the extra income initially, but we managed. Did we stop spending? No. Stupid credit cards made us feel as if we still had money to spend. Going into debt was stupid, but we learned from our mistakes and after we paid it off, it taught us not to live beyond what's in our bank account. So I can look back on that stupid moment without regrets.

Then we moved farther away from family and friends much to their dismay, and for a little while there, we wondered if we did the right thing. We were a little homesick for our family and friends; no one ever made the 2-hour drive out here except for Andrew's parents; a friend said, and I quote, "you live in the middle of nowhere!" 5 years later, we have grown to love living where we do. When we leave, we cannot wait to get back. Living at the old place prepared us to live simply and to stock up on pantry items and supplies in case we get snowed in or we don't get out to the store right away. No regrets there.

When Andrew quit the post office because the commute was getting to be too much and he wasn't able to be with us because he was on the road too much and spent a couple nights per week at his parent's house, leaving me home alone with the kids and I was pregnant with #3 at the time. We talked and talked about that decision, and he had another job lined up, though it was lower pay, but closer to home. We felt good about that. Had we known that 9 days into the new job that they were going to let him go, Andrew would have never left the post office. For a long, long, long time after that, we regretted that decision. We would not have had the money troubles we have now if he had stayed. But we didn't know. I don't regret that decision anymore. We did what we thought was right at the time and circumstances out of our control happened to skewer our neatly made plans. It taught us that not everything goes according to plan and sometimes, shit happens. It's what you do with what you have that counts.

In 4 years, since Andrew quit, we have managed to keep our heads above water. We had some rough times, we have had to go without and then learned we didn't need what we thought we so badly needed, and discovered that we could live on even less than we thought we could. Every action causes a reaction. Not always good, not always bad. Sometimes there are more bad reactions and I wonder when the tide will turn. But I have really learned that if you keep your head up, work hard, love each other, communicate to each other and support each other, eventually, things will be good again. And those moments of regrets turn into lessons learned.

I am having a moment of regret right now that we are trying to correct. Hopefully, it'll turn into a lesson I'll learn from, though it is hard to see at this time. I can think of nothing else and I'll be taking a little break. Be back next week.

Twelve.

Twelve years ago I married this man.
Twelve years later, I'm still happy I did.

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Fried Wontons:: Make Your Own!

I've said before that I love chinese food. Since we moved away from our favorite chinese restaurant 5 years ago, and discovering not a single good chinese place around here, I have been teaching myself how to cook chinese. A few weeks ago, I decided to try making my own fried wontons. They're pretty easy to make, but be sure to start a couple of hours before you want to eat these.. they take some time to put together.

I made my own wonton wrappers-- you can buy these in the store, but at the time I wanted to make these, I didn't plan ahead and I wanted them now, so I found a recipe to make my own wrappers. If you buy the wrappers, then you've cut the prep-work in half. Here's how to make your own wrappers::

Begin with 2 cups of flour, 1 tsp of salt and 1 egg.


Don't forget to take your ring(s) off and then get your husband to put it back on for you later.

Using your hands, work the egg into the flour, then add up to about 3-4 tbsp of cold water.
Knead until it is smooth and holds into a ball without crumbling. You'll need to roll this out, so the texture is somewhat similar to a pie crust.

This is what it should look like when it's done.

Cover with a damp cloth then refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, get your wonton filling started:

1/2 cup of ground pork (I use a little more--about 3/4 c), 1 clove of minced garlic, a pinch of pepper. You can add a tsp of cilantro, but I didn't have any on hand and it's optional.

Mix well then put in the fridge.

You can buy sweet and sour sauce for dipping, or you can make your own.

I made mine.

You'll need 2 tbsp water, 1 tbsp white vinegar, 3 tbsp sugar and 1 tsp of plum sauce.

Stir to combine then cook to dissolve sugar. About a minute in the microwave, 5 minutes on the stove. I used my plum jam instead of plum sauce and it tastes just like the real thing. I think I'll add cornstarch to thicken it up a little bit, but the flavor is great. It keeps well in the fridge, the last batch I made a month ago is still good.

By now, the wonton dough has been in the fridge long enough.

My recipe says to use a rolling pin and roll until very thin, almost transparent. I have a big, bulky rolling pin, so instead, I used my pasta maker. Did the job just fine! I started at the largest thickness and worked my way to the 6th level. There is one more notch to make it thinner, but 6 was just right.

If you rolled it with a rolling pin, cut 3 inch squares, flour lightly and stack.

If you used a pasta maker, I trimmed the really wavy ends and eyeballed it.

Don't worry if your squares are not perfect, it'll still taste good.

Before there were chinese restaurants with their perfect pictures of food on the wall, chinese food was made at home, after a long day of working, so I'm pretty sure they didn't hack off someones head if their wonton wrapper wasn't perfectly square!
Anyway, keep rolling and cutting until you've used all the dough and you have a nice stack of wonton wrappers. It makes a lot!

Take a small amount of pork mixture-- like 1/2 a tsp or less; you can't use more because if there is too much, then the meat won't cook before the dough burns in the oil. Who wants blackened wontons with raw meat in the middle???

Put the meat smack dab in the middle of the wrapper...

Fold it like so...

Turn it around...

Dunk a finger or a thumb in cold water...

Wet one corner of the dough then bend it towards the other corner til they meet in the middle.

Takes practice.. after you do a couple, you'll get the hang of it.

Press the two corners together to seal it and it should look like:

This!

Repeat, repeat, repeat, until all the meat is gone or you run out of wrappers.

If you run out of meat, you can cut the wrappers into strips and fry them for those nice crispy strips they use for toppings in chinese restaurants. The kids love them!

If you run out of wrappers, you can use the meat for something else, cook it into the meal you're making or freeze it for another time.

This is one batch of wonton dough. It makes a lot, I tell ya! I ran out of meat, so there were 4 wrappers left, which I fried up into strips.

Get your vegetable oil hot, and fry up a few of these at a time.. about 30-45 secs on each side.
Remove and drain on a paper towel or newspaper.

Ready for eatin'!

Serve with your meal and the sweet and sour sauce on the side.

I made chinese chicken and potatoes for dinner and we had the wontons as a side.

Delicious!! The kids gobble this up!

Don't forget to get your husband to put your ring back on!!

"Will you marry me?"

"Yes! Again and again!"

"Mwah! I'm so happy! C'mon, let's go on our honeymoon!"

Excuse me, gotta go folks!

:o)

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