Rousing New Year Celebration

We ended the year by a rousing game of Hungry Hungry Hippos. As much as FL loves this game, she can't seem to win for anything. I've even tried closing my eyes as I play, but the score ended up 6 to 1 to 1, with me winning the 6. Thank you Great Nana for giving me an advantage in life by buying me my first Hungry Hungry Hippos game. And I now know why Mom made me keep it at Great Nana's house. Even the dog went crazy while we played it!

17 Years to Build a House

It only took 17 years for me to attempt making a gingerbread house with my kids. For some reason they seemed very intimidating to me. Grandpa P bought a kit for FL and of course she had to make her "ginger-house" right away. Either the kit was really good or I am a pro at assembling it, either way it was very easy and I think it turned out rather cute.

Milkbones from Jake

Hello from Jake the dog again. All these smelly Christmas foods has made me decide to tell you about what I like to eat. Aside from my fancy dog food that contains sweet potatoes, blueberries, and flax seed, I have developed a taste for bananas, apples, oranges, chex mix, salt and vinegar potato chips, and dill pickles. While I am mostly Border Collie, the Lab part of me has shown thru lately, evidently thru my taste for garbage also. I love to eat paper, stuffed animals, the stuffing out of pillows, and to my family's horror, I really love used Kleenex.
(P.S. note to self: don't eat handmade mittens. 'nuff said.)

Winter Break

Winter break has found everyone with a cold of some sort, CBS with the worst of it. What a way to end the year.

Christmas

Thought I'd share some Christmas with you. Here is how our day went:

• 
  I stayed up late to stuff stockings and took the only pic of a calm Christmas




• The stockings when full:

• Sleeping child, in otherwords, the calm before the storm:

The morning started off well, the kids let me sleep in until 8 and some even lined up nicely for a pre-present picture. While they lined up, one lost their balance and fell into another who fell onto the presents and then into the tree. This caused an all out screaming match on whose present was broken, which I succeeded in calming everyone down by saying the crushed box was clothes, which the kids then ended up saying they didn't want clothes for Christmas. It was a good thing I had a hang-over from all the cold medicine I was on, or I might have . . . . .

Seriously, I don't know what else happened today, except I took some new cold medicine. . . . .

Oh, your still here. What was I talking about?

Oh, yeah, Merry Christmas.

Christmas Mice

Here is a pic of my Christmas mice. I usually make about 75 of them for D's Christmas party at work and this year I took a few to my job. Simple ingredients, time consuming to make, but really cute in the end. Only question is: do you eat them head first or butt first?







Chocolate for dipping the cherries, Hershey kisses for the head, almond slices for the ears, and tube of icing for the eyes and nose.

Christmas Parade

You know you aren't in the Midwest anymore when the parades don't include any farm implements. This one included a marching band, a trailer full of girl scouts, 3 pickup trucks with random people in the back, 3 ponies, a goat, someone dressed as Dora the Explorer and Boots, and 14 emergency vehicles complete with sirens and lights going. Oh, and Santa of course. It was a very cold and long 15 minute parade.

Sad Day

Well, it is a sad day today. I have come to accept the fact that my camera is on it's last breath. It is only 7 years old. The screen has been flickering and the color has been getting weird. I have looked at alot of new cameras, but have gotton so used to this one, I don't want to get a new one! So bare with me, I will try not to post lousy pics, but until I find a camera I want to love, there may be alot of bad pics posted. For instance, this is a pic of FL and Jake the dog on the couch. Like the lines? As for FL, well, I am not sure any camera can keep up with her after "someone" gave her chocolate ice cream right before bed.

Milkbones from Jake

Got my first taste of snow today. It was cold, but I ate as much of it as I could. My boy (CBS) took me out and let me run loose without my leash and I chased snowballs. I even dug up my toys out of the snow. When I finally went back in the house, I decided I really did like the white stuff, so I made my people let me out about 15 more times. They think I had to do my "business", but I just ate some more snow.

Snow is on the Punkin

Started snowing today, first snow of the year. Just enough to cover the ground. Last year we had snow in October, before we had even raked leaves. Don't know why I was suprised to see the snow, but I still have the Halloween pumpkins on the porch.

Milkbones from Jake

Just a few thoughts from my first Thanksgiving. Turkey is good. Turkey taken off the counter is bad. Being chased thru the house is fun. Being tied up outside while everyone else is inside eating turkey is not fun. That was my first Thanksgiving.

Who's in charge when D's not here

New Goals

For whatever reason, the past couple of years I have been setting silly goals for myself. In 2008, what started out as wanting to make one new recipe a week turned into almost 300 new recipes in a year. I couldn't decide on which goals to reach in 2009 and ended up not doing anything. 2010 found me conquering Farmville on Facebook and learning how to blog. Not sure what I'll do in 2011 yet. Thinking of learning Photoshop or something similar and maybe challenging myself to spend less at the grocery store. (Is that possible with 3 teenagers in the house?) Guess I have a little time to think about this.

The Witching Hour(s)

Today wasn't so great. Well, it started off ok, but went downhill fast after school. The eldest started "critiquing" people, the boys argued over who was to use the computer,the puppy went crazy and ran thru the house growling and biting (biting only me of course) and FL simply had a melt down, literally throwing herself on the floor and screaming. For 3 hours. It only took 4 hours 16 minutes for her to fall asleep tonight. Granted, I put her to bed about 6:30, but still. . . . .

A Pause Before Winter

Natural Remedies

While I know there are many natural remedies for just about anything that ails you, I am convinced of two that work for us. FL was quite young, just a couple of months old and was already on her fourth or fifth ear infection. When the doctor said tubes were our next step, I knew I had to do something. My wonderful and very knowledgeable neighbor gave me garlic capsules to drip into the ears and after about 24 hours the ear infection subsided. The only side effect of the garlic is that FL smelled like a loaf of garlic bread for a couple of days. (Which, by the way, I think is WAY better than an ear infection.) We only had to use the garlic a few times, but it got us past the tube threats.
The other natural remedy I use is actually used on my animals. I add cider vinegar to the drinking water of any critters that seem to have stomach troubles (i.e. poopy butts.) Cider vinegar has worked on very ill chickens, rabbits, and even the puppy. Dosage varies, I usually use two "chugs" from the vinegar jug to a gallon of water, for a couple of days, seems to clear things up. Just thought I'd share that.

New Job

My temp job at a local store turned into a part time job. I enjoy stocking the shelves, but running the cash register is harder than I remember. Too many different types of credit card, debit cards, and food stamp cards for me to figure out. I've barely written checks the past couple of years, let alone even had a credit card. But live and learn I will and hopefully either the customers will tolerate my less than stellar cashier-ing or I will just get to stock shelves more often.

Kindergarten madness

FL, as I have said before, is head over heels in love with kindergarten. New friends, recess, music, computer classes, and of course, going thru the lunchline at school is a big hit. She made a self portrait, including freckles, that hangs in the school hallway. I asked her why she put freckles on it when she doesn't have freckles. "Those aren't freckles, those are pimples."

Ahhhh, the joys of having older siblings. The teacher sent home a paper for me to fill out with emergency contact info and allergy info. At the bottom of the paper is a comment section. I felt the need to fill it in. I put,"FL has teenaged siblings. She knows EVERYTHING. Good luck. "
The teacher has now informed the class that this is her last year of teaching.

Jumping in the Leaves

Lone Deer Stand at Dusk

Apple pie filing

Taters and Onion

End of the gardening season

I don't know exactly why, but the garden was almost a total washout this year. I tried planting the peas on (or near) Good Friday, and they came up fine, but when they grew to about 2 inches tall, they were completely devoured by slugs in one single night. So when I found a 50# bag of seed potatoes for $2, I planted the entire bag. They did grow, but most of them were very small, but just the right size for stew or roast. (Too bad my clan won't eat stew. ) The majority of the tomatoes plants in the garden grew, but we didn't get too many decent tomatoes. Even the sunflowers were puny. About the only thing that grew well was the lettuce mix that I tried for the first time. But it turned out I just didn't like the thin texture of the lettuce, it reminded me of tissue paper with a little flavor. I usually have alot of self-seeding dill also, but even that was sparce this year. Come to think of it, the only other thing that grew well was the spearmint patch. I trimmed it twice and even rooted some for a new patch. Oh, how could I forget, I did get the zucchini to grow! First time in years that we had zucchini bread from our own zucchinis. There's something to be said about zucchini bread, but I can't remember what it is because my mouth is full of bread and I am savoring every bite.

Forever

My internal clock draws me past my kitchen clock at 9:11 almost every day. 9/11

Back to school time

Well, got the kids back to school without too much fuss. The oldest started a new school this year, an online public school, which she seems to enjoy so far. The boys are excited (somewhat!) about taking wood shop and computer tech classes this year and the FL, of course, is head over heels in love with every aspect of kindergarten. I have found a temporary job at a local store and hopefully it will turn into a full time job.

Lessons in Border Collie

It is true that Border Collies demonstrate the herding instinct from an early age. Here Jake the dog (8 weeks old) has successfully herded FL into the puppy pen and gotten her to read him FL's favorite book," Arthur's Pet Business." It is also true that Border Collies excel in agility, because Jake the dog succeded in climbing over this same puppy kennel the very next week.

The newest member of the family

Name: Jake

Alias: JAKE!!!, Jakey-boy, You-#?*!-dog!

Age: 3 months old

Species: part Border Collie, part Black Lab, although I think I am human and use my paws like a cat

Favorite Activies: playing fetch-I do really well at retrieving, but have a hard time "giving"

stealing laundry (especially underwear) and then making people yell, run after me, and try to retrieve their favorite clothing without me ripping a hole in it. (you should try this, it's really fun!)

hiding socks behind the couch

chewing up anything wood, stairsteps, coffee tables, chair legs

Least Favorite Activies: "going" outside in the rain and cold

staying in my crate at night

Favorite Foods: anything that comes from a crinkly bag (people food like chips)

Least Favorite Foods: Butter makes me growl

Goals in life: while I show a knack for rounding up small children, my people don't have any livestock to round up,(the chickens just peck my nose) so I am working on my agility training. I do very well at climbing over fences and gates, jumping over legs put up on the coffee table and army crawling under chairs.

And the Learning Begins

So FL just spent 5 months (from the time kindergarten registration was) waiting for kindergarten to start and she just realized that it wasn't a one-day event.

Garbage bags

I broke down and bought garbage bags this week. Sounds strange to most, but I just hate buying something that is going directly into the dumpster. I try to use the many, MANY plastic grocery bags we tend to accumulate, but the people on garbage duty are protesting about taking out garbage 2 times a day. (Really, what else do they NEED to do? Homework? hint, hint) So, anywhoo, spent 10 minutes trying to decide which bags were the cheapest. Didn't know there could be so many different kinds. Some come complete with smells already in the bag. Weird. I really don't need my garbage to smell anymore than it already does. Does anyone really pay extra for their garbage to smell "Lemony Fresh?" How 'bout the "Fresh Linen?" Am I really supposed to have my garbage smell like my laundry? I ended up with a plain drawstring bag, if you need to know. And not one kid has said, "Thanks, Mom. These are really nice." Hmmmph. See if I buy you guys anymore garbage bags.

Waiting for Harvest Time

Too Hot to be Too Funny

Not much funny going on around here. It's just been too hot and muggy for joking. So I thought I'd share a pic of something we saw the other day. If you look closely, the dog is actually wearing googles and a yellow bandana that matches all the other riders in the very large motorcycle group.

Heat Sickness

The summer heat has finally made me crazy. I just took 4 teen boys to the grocery store.

Tranquility

Too Hot

Record breaking temperatures this week, over 90 degrees and really high humidity to go with it. Of course, three mother rabbits were due this week and I am almost embarrassed to tell what I did for the rabbits. I had CBS run an electical cord all the way out to the shed to run a fan, put ice cubes in their water bowls and put frozen water bottles in each pen 2 times a day. So far so good, no babies lost yet. A litter of bunnies that were born just 2 weeks ago decided it was too hot in their nest box and jumped out. They were hardly able to walk, let alone hop, they were so young. They then suprised me by eating some wild carrot stem and licking the frozen water bottle.
It seems that the tomato blight is back, so I am not optimistic about my tomatoes. The plants looked so good, really tall and thick-stemmed, but I see some wilting of the leaves. Even some of my sunflowers have some strange curled leaves, don't know what that is. And the sunflowers are only about 4 feet tall when they should be 6 feet tall by now. I grow them right next to the chicken run, so the chickens can get some late afternoon shade from them.
A nice suprise from my garden this year is the fact that the pumpkin seeds turned out to be zucchini seeds and I finally have succeeded in growing some nice zucchini. I made some zucchini bread today and will try to fry some up tomorrow. Now I just have to keep that darn woodchuck away from the zucchini. Last year he ate big nibbles out of every single one of my acorn squash. I really need to get DH to use his archery skills and get rid of that bugger.

Bedtime questions

In an effort to procrastinate at bedtime, my kids ask questions. Alot of questions. I don't know why they are thinking of these things right before bed. Thinking that much before bed just gives me weird dreams. Here are some of their questions:

• what is a corpse?
• how many hippos will fit in our living room?
• if you were sucked into a black hole, where would you go?
• what time are we leaving to go to Nana's? (when vacation isn't for another 4 months)
• what does "the exact opposite" mean?
• what does "objection" mean?
• what would you do if you went to use the microwave and you discovered it was a bomb and it was activated and there was only 10 seconds left before it blew up?
• what is the day after yesterday?
• what would you do if Kid Rock knocked at our front door right now?

Home of the Free

Experienced Farm Help

Strawberry Fields

Spent eight days working at the local strawberry farm, just weighing out the berries that the customers picked. Not hard work, just long, quiet hours. I was very grateful for the pavillions to stand under to keep out of the sun. It was a bit hot out, but there was a constant breeze coming across the fields that kept me cool. When business slowed down, I took time taking some really nice pictures of the farm. The fields reminded me of the farms in Michigan, slightly rolling land surrounded by woods. There were quite a few red winged black birds around also. I love to hear them sing!

Yuck

Nothing like starting off the week with opening up the frig and having a container of fishing worms staring at you in the face

Can you tell I'm proud of my bunnies?

 

Hot!

First really hot summer day today, I think it reached about 85 degrees, but the humidity was almost 70 percent. I tried to get some work done around the house, but finally gave up and sat under the ceiling fan. I ended up putting ice bottles in the rabbits' pens to keep them cool and even put a fan on for the bunnies that are  temporarily on the back porch.  The chickens seemed to be ok, so I just put fresh water out for them. FL played in the neighbor's little pool but CBS decided to mow the lawn. At least he did it in spurts and took all day to do it. By evening, the house was so hot, hubby didn't even mind that the kids watched Toy Story 2 during his normal tv time! When it's hot, it's always hard to figure out what to make for supper (that everyone agrees on) so I took the wimpy way out and made frozen pizzas. I used the toaster oven instead of the big oven to keep the heat down. I should move the toaster oven to the porch in the summer, but I haven't yet. Well, what I really should do is make a solar oven, which I have plans for, but I haven't found the time for that either.

More Hilariousness

FL isn't the only funny one in our family.Here are some funnies from others, I will try not to name them directly, so no embarrassment will ensue.

• our toilet seat broke and someone was being very sweet and offered to install the new seat. Impressed, I left them to work on it alone. Seconds later, a voice from the bathroom called out,"Mom, could you bring me the scissors?"
• the kids were trying to sneak in one more snack right before bed. I yelled at the kids again to get in bed. One kid said," But he is distracting me with cheese puffs!" I said, "Stop eating those!" Another kid piped up,"I can't help it, they are just so full of cheesy goodness!"
• as I was pulling some bread out of the oven, the smell was drawing in a crowd. One kid wanted to know if we had any taco meat in the frig. when I asked why, he said he was going to make a "taco sandwich" out of the fresh bread. I think that was the closest to a compliment I got that day.
• a certain person wanted to wear a certain shirt that hadn't made it to the dryer yet. So this certain person drove with the shirt hanging out of the window for about 15 miles. After 9 years in this state, I think we can officially say we are now rednecks.
• one kid was playing the Indiana Jones Wii game. FL said "Hey! What are you (meaning the Indy character)doing in a bar?" the first kid says, "I'm sorry, I have problems you know."

Rhubarb Takeover

And on to Summer

We started off the summer with a kids fishing derby (contest) and a great Memorial Day Party at our neighbor's house. We didn't catch alot of fish at the derby, but we got to eat alot of great food at the party. On Monday, I took the kids back to the sportsman's club for some more fishing. It was pretty hot out and the fish weren't biting again. But I think we had fun!

One Star for Every 100 Soldiers Who died in WWII

The Start to Meat Eating Grilling Season!

Thought I'd post a recipe to start off the summer grilling season. It's a version of Big Mac Sauce for all those burgers you are grilling this weekend.
http://http//www.recipezaar.com/recipe/Big-Mac-Sauce-Copycat-Dairy-Free-106882
Every once in a while I crave a Big Mac, and this is just perfect since it's 40 minutes to the nearest MickeyD's. Have a great Memorial Day Weekend!

The 6 o'clock News

I could go for days, maybe even weeks without watching the news, except I really like to watch the weather reports. So while I am waiting for the weather to come on, we usually end up watching the news highlights that come on before the weatherman. This always ends up in some kind of discussion between the kids. The older kids complain how stupid the news is, how someone did something dumb and ended up on the news. I try to use these stories as a teaching moment. "See! no matter how mad you are, you just can't do (whatever it was). You will end up in jail." "See! they didn't use their brains! Now he/she is in trouble." Sometimes the kids actually argue with the tv and tell the reporters how dull that last story was or how they should dress better. FL on the otherhand, gets quite upset. One time she heard that the local amusement park was closing, and no matter what we told her, she just didn't believe us that the park was just closing for the winter, and not permanently. Last summer there was an arsonist setting barns on fire in our area. FL would ask every night if there had been any more fires and would list all the barns she could think of that she didn't want to burn down. There are a lot of barns in our area and she has a really good memory, so this list could go on for hours it seemed. Tonight she was upset when she heard that the Atlantis space shuttle was on it's last voyage. "Awwhhh! I really wanted to go into space! Well, I guess that won't ever happen now!"

FL also commented on all the recent advertisements for the upcoming election. She wanted to know what all the "pot-additions*" were talking about. Hmmmm.



p.s. *politicians

Please Excuse Me While I Rant

Went to a new Wally World yesterday. Was scoping out the camping section and then decided to get some cereal. Most stores have a list-type sign hanging at the aisle ends, like: "cereal, juice, baby food." Or "bread, coffee, tea." This store listed one item on each sign. "Breakfast foods." Another sign"Dairy." Another sign "Frozen Foods." Another sign "Hispanic Foods."


Wait. WHAT? "Hispanic Foods?" what happened to "International Foods" or "Speciality Foods" Now don't get me wrong, I couldn't care less what race people are, I really don't care. But I live in the United States of AMERICA. Where was the sign for AMERICAN foods? Maybe the Asian-Americans should be upset also. There was no sign for "Oriental /Asian Foods" either. I am so tired of picking up a box of whatever and after 2 minutes of trying to read the ingredients or directions, I finally find the ENGLISH version. I don't think I should have to learn another language if I don't EVER plan on leaving the United States of AMERICA.


Now, some people do have a gift in learning languages, and that is wonderful! Teachers who teach English to those who have just moved here from another country, those who are translators for our government, etc. I have nothing but admiration for them. They speak English FIRST (because they are AMERICANS!) and the other languages SECOND. I do not have this gift. So I speak ENGLISH, read ENGLISH, hear ENGLISH. Now I will get down off my soapbox. Thank you for listening in ENGLISH.

Lost: Please Help

After one very frusterating day, it dawned on me that "somebody" must have moved into our house without telling me they were coming. You know that "somebody," they must come to your house occasionally also, the kind of "somebody" that loses things, or takes things or non-chalantly borrows things without asking and then returns the items, but leaves them in very odd spots. If you see this person, could you ask him/her to please return the following items:

• Flashlight batteries. not the whole flashlight mind you, just the batteries I put in there yesterday.


• a large terracotta planter, you know, the size that could hold a small tree.


• the old hot water heater, left in the driveway only one day after we installed a new one.(I really don't want it back, I just wonder who came on my property and took it)


• the real, but very dead Christmas tree we left on the front porch (wait, I don't want that back either)


• one out of a pair of very nice coffee mugs( blue and white striped if anyone wants to know)


• about a dozen bags of chocolate chips, most of which went missing at the same time


• numerous socks without their mates


• whole clump of purple echinacea from the garden (see photo above)


• a blue and grey striped lawn chair


• homework that was "done" but "someone" must have stolen it


• pens, pencils, backpacks, school shoes, also "stolen" by "somebody" (I am beginning to think this "somebody" really likes school)

Also, if you come across "somebody," you could tell him/her that I have found the following items and don't have a clue where they came from and need them removed from the premises immediately:

• a small film camera found under the living room couch


• a small molar-sized tooth found in the ceramic bowl I keep my car keys in


• numerous PAIRS of socks found in the washer that don't fit any of my kids


• miles of computer power cords found in a dresser drawer, file cabinet, closets, and hallways (and the attic??!!)


• large pile of what looked like chewed up peanut butter bagel on the kitchen floor at 7 in the morning, that the kids just HAD to wake me up for.



• teenaged bad attitudes



• not just one, but two bikes. Did someone ride them here and then just walk home?


• a whole bowl of cereal dumped into the sink on top of dirty dishes. hmmm. guess who has to clean that up? I vote for "somebody"

Forest Greenery

Quotes from FL

If your grossed out easily, don't read today's funny.

Me: Stop picking your nose!

FL: You never let me do anything!

Me: Stop picking your nose!

FL: But you never feed me!

New Zealand Rabbits

Finally got a New Zealand rabbit to keep her babies, they are three weeks old today. There are 7 of them, little fat buggers who don't even want to come out of their nest box. The runt is the only one who ventures out, I think because he can feed off momma without the others interfering. Momma seems to be taking care of this litter, unlike the last litter of 9 she abandoned. Momma's sister has lost two litters, a total of 20 babies. I am not very happy with her. I think I will move her to a new pen and give her a different next box and see what happens. The mixed breed bunnies I have had for the past couple of years are such better mommas and they eat so much less.
It is another rainy day here, which is fine with me since my rain barrel was half empty. I planted some tomatoes over the weekend, it is a bit early but the plants were half off, costing me a grand total of 12.5 cents apiece. I put tomato cages covered with white garbage bags over some of them, creating a greenhouse for them. Sunflowers, zucchini, and pumpkins were also planted. For some reason, I have a hard time with zucchini, which makes me feel like a poor gardener. I mean really, who can't get zucchini to grow? The rhubarb is ready to be picked but I need to get last year's rhubarb out of the freezer. I just didn't use it all up. But it won't go to waste, the chickens love it. Or maybe I will put it in the composter.
Speaking of chickens, I had one hen who seemed to be doing poorly all last week. I spent 2 days hand watering her, and she wasn't eating. She lost weight quickly but still wandered around with her sisters. All I could think of was to add cider vinegar to the chickens' drinking water. I hadn't done that all winter for some reason. And it must have worked because the hen was eating like crazy last night.

I Need Caffine!

I don't drink coffee that much, but sometimes I just NEED this!
http://http//www.recipezaar.com/recipe/Starbucks-Frappuccino-Blended-New-and-Improved-Recipe-102775
I've never had anything from Starbucks, but I do love Tim Horton's Iced Cappuccinos when I am in Michigan!

Farm Work

More Sickness than Health

Haven't written much lately, we have been busy being ill. With only about a month of school left for the year, everyone but me (or is it "I?") has been to see the doctor. One came down with a viral infection, which has been passed to two others. One had a bug bite that looked like a bulls eye, which could mean lyme's disease. One decided to take a header down the stairs. All in all, multiple doctors have seen us 9 times in 6 days. 10 days of school has been missed. Numerous bottles of Gatorade, ginger ale, bandaids, loads of laundry, trips to the grocery store and gas station. Guess there is not much more to say about this.

Life Rules

If you have ever seen the tv show "NCIS," you know that the main character has a list of life rules. Here are a list of life rules our household has learned lately, although not in any particular order mind you.

1. never hide behind a door at the top of the stairs during a game of hide and seek. this leads to multiple xrays and hide and seek being banned for 6 months.
2. don't camp out on opening day of trout season because no matter how exciting it seems, it's only the beginning of April and it will downpour or snow for 3 days.
3. don't let your family camp out on opening day of trout season because no matter how exciting it seems, it's only the beginning of April and it will downpour or snow for 3 days, and all the wet camping equipment will be left in the living room for ???? days.
4. don't listen to people who say rabbits mulitiply like rabbits. they don't
5. spring fever usually comes with alot of puking
6. people who never stop by your house usually drop in during a bout of spring fever.
7. if you don't get spring fever, watch out for ticks, who will make an early appearance in record numbers when you haven't even thought of buying bug spray yet
8. after a month of NCIS re-runs, a new NCIS will air when you are on a run to the ER for #1
9. don't take more than 1 kid with you grocery shopping unless you like going back to get what you missed the first time
10. don't start the kindergarten pep talk 5 months before school actually starts. You will spend 5 months hearing "How many more days? How many more days? How many more days? How many more days? How many more days? How many more days?"
11. ER trips come in groups of 2. (unless it's summer, then expect more)
12. boy rabbits make better pets than girl rabbits
13. more girl rabbits (meaning less boy rabbits) are needed for a successful rabbitry
14. one usually ends up with more boy rabbits than girl rabbits

to be continued. . . . . .

More Food

Have to make this post quick because it is too hard to resist and I must go make some cookies right now. http://http://www.recipezaar.com/recipe/Large-Batch-Chocolate-Chunk-Chocolate-Chip-Cookies-Oamc-187879
feel free to mix and match the amounts of choc and nuts to your personal taste, it is a perfectly perfect cookie. I usually make half the batch to make mixing it up easier, but believe me, they don't last long and you might have to make another batch.

Trout Season

Food I love

Thought maybe I would share some recipes once in a while. Nothing Martha Stewart worthy, just what makes it on our plates more often than not. I use the recipe site http://www.recipezarr.com/
for most of my recipes. My favorite bread is

http://www.recipezaar.com/recipe/Bread-Machine-Whole-Wheat-Bread-2-195057
It is a semi-whole wheat bread that I mix up in the bread maker and then bake in the oven. I give all recipe credits to their original authors, I am not that creative, I just love creating food from their recipes.

Eggs in the Window

What's Growing This Year

Here at Farm Wanna Be, we have limited space when it comes to a vegetable garden. It used to be about 28' by 10', but the chickens hijacked some of it. And if I build a new rabbit shed this summer, my garden will then shrink to about 16' by 12'. So I have to plan out every bit of space if I want to grow anything worthwhile. This year I hope to harvest the following:

tomatoes
radishes
assortment of lettuces
carrots
peas
parsley
lots of marigold
2 kinds of sunflowers
Row of rhubarb
zucchini
sweet peppers
potatoes

The peppers I usually plant in large pots close to the house so they get more sun/heat reflected from off of the house and so they aren't so close to the tomatoes. I have never tried growing lettuce before, but found a good looking mixture that has me intrigued. I have never grown radishes before either, but my neighbor gave me some extra seeds and so I will try that also.

Quote from FL

Time for another quote from FL. I am going to clarify right now that our family does NOT smoke anything, drink questionable substances til we're knocked out, or chew anything that needs to be spit out on purpose. (Ok, we do chew some gum, but that's it.) That being said, here she goes:

As FL and I were entering Wally's World, I listed outloud the camping supplies needed for dad's upcoming campout. Stopping first to grab a box of bandaids, I was distracted just long enough not to notice FL's sudden quietness, which means she's thinking really hard. And of course, in the middle of Wally's packed pharmacy, FL loudly askes, "Why does Dad need COCAINE?"

Thank goodness I had had my Wheaties that morning and I was able to think fast. I quickly and as loudly as I could so everyone who had heard "COCAINE" could also hear me say "Dad needs PROPANE, not COCAINE!"

I grabbed the bandaids and headed straight for the sporting goods section and put that propane right on top of the cart, in case anyone had any questions about dear Dad.

What did I accomplish today??!!

I am a list maker. Not so I don't forget something, but I make lists so I can cross things off from them. It makes me feel like I really did get something done. Sometimes I deviate from the list, and then add what I have already done back on the list, just so I can cross it off. A little OCD I know! FL can't read yet, but she has started to make her own "lists" also. Hmmmm.

Here's what got crossed off my list today:

1. got out of bed (ok, that really wasn't on my list)


2. washed dishes


3. made breakfast


4. washed laundry, about 8 loads I think


5. hung about 5 loads of laundry on the line outside, then brought them all back in and put them in the dryer after it started to rain (weatherman was not accurate about when the rain would start, he was only off by 5 hours or so.)


6. fed the outside critters


7. finally planted the peas, radishes, and lettuce mix


8. made lunch


9. moved some irises and mint to another flower bed


10. moved some rocks back to the flower bed border


11. cleaned out one rabbit pen


12. collected the chicken eggs. today I got 8 eggs from 6 chickens. very strange.


13. called my parents (this was one of those things added to the list after I did it)


14. stopped a couple of fights between the kids (also, added to the list after, although I think I should just permanently keep this on the list)


15. played Farmville (yes, it was on the list, afterall, a girl's got to live a little~hehe!)


16. trimmed some forcynthia stems to try to root for another row of bushes


17. trimmed some mint to root


18. made 3 different suppers, at three different times.

Here is what gets moved over to tomorrow's list 'cuz it didn't get done today:

1. one more load of laundry


2. take some extra clothes to a neighbor for her grandkids


3. clean off the porch


4. put nest boxes in the momma rabbits' pens


5. water the plants


6. check on the peat pot seeds I started on Wednesday


7. delete some DVR recordings before we run out of space


8. dry some more dandelion leaves for the rabbits


9. wash dishes (that is never all the way done, I hate to wash dishes)


10. make tomorrow's to do list

Blossoms

Seasons

Spring is here. Trout season started last week and spring gobbler is open today. It was rainy and cold for trout opening day and the campout was short. D and CBS are leaving early in the a.m. in hopes of getting their first turkey. Hopefully the rain forcasted for today will hold off til nightfall and they can get a shot at some longbeards. A couple of days ago I heard gobbling from across the mountain, it lasted about 10 full minutes. So we know they are out and about, the guys just have to call them in.

Lesson to learn

Prayer was something I was taught at a young age, at home, at Sunday School, and everyday at my church-run school. "Pray without ceasing" is something I try to do. My problem is that I have to work on praying specifically. "Lord, I really need some money today." And He provides by letting me find a dime on the walkway. Ok, I should have asked for Him to pay that bill in full, my fault. "Lord, I know a snowstorm is coming and I messed up by not planning ahead and am out of bread. Please let the store have bread left." He provides by the store shelves still full but of the most expensive bread there is. My fault again, I should have said our usual cheap bread. And yet again today, I didn't pray correctly. Today was the start of garage sale season here and as I drove to the first sale, I was mentally making a list of what I should be looking for. Clothes for FL, water dishes for the rabbits, canning jars. "Lord, the boys could really use clothes. It would be nice to find some." We went to the sale, but no boy clothes in their sizes. Not discouraged though, it was the first sale of the season and I know the Lord will not let my teens go to school naked. I went thru the work of the day, which eventually led me to the garden to plant the peas. Seeing the neighbor, I stopped to say hi. We talked for a minute, and suddenly he said that he had come across some clothes that might fit my boys. (Thank you Lord! I knew you heard me!) "Come on over, they're in the back of my truck," said the neighbor. Almost skipping with happiness, I followed him to his driveway. I about fell on my face when I saw he didn't mean his pickup truck, he meant his DUMPTRUCK. Yes, a dumptruck, albeit, a small one, but never the less, a dumptruck full of clothes. As I spent the next four (4) hours going thru the clothes, I reminded myself again, "Pray more specifically next time, girl! I mean seriously, how many clothes can a boy need? Thank you Lord for providing the boys jeans for the next few YEARS. Please help me be a good steward and keep the clothes organized, clean, and oh, Lord, can you provide another shelf for these clothes? Just the right size shelf, or dresser or space, just exactly what these clothes need? Thank you Lord. Amen."

Quotes from FL

FL is keeping us in stitches and I will quote her often. She is a very "quick on her feet" thinker and I love to hear her views of the world. For instance, she thinks eating cheesy puffed popcorn with your mouth open makes them taste better.
And on the way into Kindergarten registration, I told FL they would probably ask her to write out some letters or numbers. She smiled and said she would tell them she knew the number "derf." You know, 1,2,3,4,5,6, derf, 7,8,9, etc. (She got it off a TV show, and she knows full well it's not a real number.)
After registration, she told me she wished she was mother nature. She would make it Fall right now so she could start Kindergarten. (It was only April.)
To keep current of FL's quips, just search under "Quotes from FL" at the right.

Garden seeds

Found this really cool seed company, I just have to share it. They have an awesome catalog and website.
http://www.seedsavers.org/


I have ordered from them once and plan on ordering some more this spring. If you are even thinking of becoming concerned with the quality of vegetable seeds or plants, well, more importantly, the overuse of hybrid seeds or genetically altered seeds, this is for you. Their prices aren't bad either. I love the history they give behind these heritage seeds.

From personal experience, I found that the heirloom seeds I bought from them were exceptional. Not only did my grape tomatoes grow wonderfully, they self-seeded the next spring and were the only tomatoes that survived the tomato blight everyone had here that summer.

The Blue and White

My life: the good, the bad, and the funny

After reading some very interesting blogs, I decided I better start blogging about my life before I get old(er) and forget what has happened in my life. Noticing that the first posts of new blogs are usually a bit awkward, I decided to skip the awkwardness and make the first few posts short and sweet. So here we go!