Quotes

Here are a few good quotes from this past year.

"Mom, this is so tasty!" - Lars

"And they lived funly ever after." - Heidi

"I love you." -Molly
"I love you too." - H
"Do you want to get married?" -M
"I will if you be nice." -H
" I will, I'll even share my lion with you."- M

I'm not sure what they were playing with for that one but I'm pretty sure they were in some sort of character.

Bakers Man

Pat a cake,
Pat a cake,
Bakers man,
Bake me a cake,As fast as you can,Roll it and pat it,And mark it with a K, and put it in the oven for the kids and me!

Aprons!

This week we had a Christmas party. We did a white elephant for one of the activity's.
I had a pattern for the basic shape of the aprons. But you could just measure yourself to make a custom apron.
To make the aprons I cut out 2 apron shaped pieces of fabric. Then I cute out 2 straps of over 60" long and 2" wide and 2 straps about 4" long and 2" wide. I ironed all the straps so all the raw edges were turned in and sewed them closed. I attached the long straps to the top and the short ones I folded to make a loop and attached them at the side waist. Them I sewed the two apron pieces right side together with the straps on the inside. I sew the top and side of the apron then turn it right side out and top stitch the bottom closed. tada. if you want you could add pockets at this time.
I also made matching pot holders for the white elephant gift. It was a fun project to put together and it only took a few hours.

December iris

I transplanted this iris the end of August. Then for some happy reason it decided to bloom this fall in its new home.
It is a little patch of sunshine under my kitchen window.
I am thankful for all my pretty flowers!

Once upon a time....

We had lemonade.
And we liked it very much.
It was so pretty and fun.
We raked tons of pine needles into piles.

We watched Disney on Ice and enjoyed it very much.

H day

day 39
Tonight for dinner we will be having Ham, Hungarian green beans, Herb roasted potatoes and Holiday bread from Morocco. I am excited about our menu. It is all smelling yummy.
For our other meals today we did not remember to be H-ish. :)
We did some yard work today and some school work.
Some of us seemed to be having a hard time with it being Monday. At least he was very grumpy and fussy until naps. Oops, I said he. :)
We are listening to music again tonight.
I need to rake my yard because it is looking more orange then green.
The weather is still rather chilly.

I digress

And we got totally stuck.
tonight at dinner the topic of conversation began with talking about where we lived. The question then was, is that in America? yes, the USA.
This moved on to the US Army and what they do. Heidi said that pirates shoot cannons too. And, I admit I was the one to digress, I said, and forks. This began a debate on things which one could shoot. After they got over the shock that I said something so random!
"socks!"
"Pineapples!"
"Alligators!"
"Candy! Yeah, that is the tip top, We can't get any better than that." ......Well, maybe there is something else floating around up there.
Pine cones!"
And on and on and ON. They did this back and forth for all of the rest of dinner. When they are talking they take a very long time with dinner. Nearly an hour.
Kids are awesome. Have fun and laugh.

Day 38
G day

Day 36 - E day

We've been pretty busy this week. both yesterday and today we had friends over for the afternoons.
I sewed some PJ pants for Molly today. They were super easy to do because I had a pattern out to cute them out then I found some of mine that I was going to get ride of and I ended up just cutting them down to fit Molly. They are a little wider leg than I wanted for her but oh well.
We had enchilada's tonight for supper for E day. They were good. the last time I tried to make them they were not so good.
We have a well out back of our house because this house was built before this area was part of the city. A few years ago the house was hooked up to city water but the well was left back there and the man we bought it from said that he used it for watering his grass. But, after we bought the house we found that the well did not work at all. Apparently we had left the water hydrant wide open after looking at it some time because this morning when I went out water was coming out full blast. And I sang praises to my God who gives gifts to His children.

Royalty

C day

Day 34Molly wore Clean Colorful Clothing for C day.
I wore Cream Colored Clothes for C day. Lars wore Colors.
Heidi wore a very Colorful Costume.
We did some Cleaning,
we ate Corned beef hash for breakfast.
We are about ready to go to ChurCh.

B day

Day 33

Today has Been Basically Beautiful!

• The kids tried to Blow Bubbles with their gum. Molly almost got it.
  
• We wore Black, Brown, and Blue clothes.
• We had BlueBerry Buckle for Breakfast.
• I Baked Bread today.
• We just had Burgers on Buns, Baked potatoes and Beans (green) for supper.
• The kids also watched some Birds in the front yard.

Day31

We have had a fun busy weekend.
On Friday night we went to the Army Soldier Show. It was very fun. I like watching my kids enjoy things. For a large part of the show Lars sat in his seat without hardly moving at all just watching watching. The show was a musical, dance skits kind of talent show sort of. I think if you searched it on you tube you would find some of their shows.
On Saturday our church had a cowboy themed fall party. We dressed up in clothes of that era and ate chili and put each other in jail and roasted marshmallows over a fire. Some people bobbed for apples and others carved pumpkins. They also had a pinata.
I was put in jail for visiting to much and Molly was sent to jail for being too blond. We had to sit in jail for five minutes and pay a 25 cent bail to get out.
Molly won the award for the nicest costume. ( when I explained to Heidi why Molly got the prize she wondered why she did not get one, Did not they like her clothes too?)
I hope to post pictures of the fall party sometime.

Day 29

This morning I went for a slow jog while my kids rode bikes. If it had been just the girls I would have had to run pretty fast. But since Lars still uses training wheels he slowed us down. We were going on an unpaved trail which made it even harder for him. It was a really pretty trail in the woods.
I am really excited about company for Thanksgiving!!
Heidi is still not feeling very well. I am praying that the rest of us will not get sick. And, that she will heal quickly.
We did some playing in the dirt this evening. I planted my clematis. I hope it like its new home. It really took me a long time to decide where I should put it. I think I will like it where it is. I might be too used to plants in pots that I can move to a new location any time I want a change of scenery.
The weather is funny around here. yesterday we had a warm wind that blew some hot air and we were very hot, Made me want to turn on the air conditioning again. Today, we woke up to rather chilly weather again and needed to wear sweatshirts when we were out.

Day 28

These are the girls in their new dresses. With their sweet little brother!

Day 27

We are now reading Homer Price out loud together. Today we read about how the doughnut machine kept on making doughnuts, It just kept dropping rings of dough into the hot oil and a gadget kept turning them over and another gadget kept rolling them down the chute.... Anyway, the more I read about doughnuts the hungrier I got for fresh doughnuts. By the end of the chapter I had decided I must make doughnuts today. I did, and they were good.
Today is rainy and gray again. must be autumn.

Day 25

Family and Friends
Music and Love,
Truly all these are gifts from above,
My heart is so full
I can't add up the sum,
Of all of these gifts,
And there's still heaven to come.

I often sing this song as I am working around my house. God has blessed me so much in this life. These lyrics say it so well. Praise God for sweet children and wonderful family and so many material gifts too.

Day 23

Yes, we are fine today too. I'm not going to take much time tonight for this.
The dresses are done and ready to wear to church on Sunday.
The kids played in the back yard most of the day. They were playing some sort of house while playing in the dirt.
night all.

A song I like

You know I like my chicken fried
Good friends on a Friday night

A pair of jeans that fit just right

And the radio up...

Well I was raised up beneath the shade of a Georgia pine
And that`s home you know
Sweet tea pecan pie and homemade wine
Where the peaches grow
And my house it`s not much to talk about
But it`s filled with love that`s grown in southern ground
And a little bit of chicken fried

Good Friends on a Friday night
A pair of jeans that fit just right
And the radio up
Well I`ve seen the sunrise
See the love in my 4husband`s eyes
Feel the touch of a precious child And know a mother`s love

And its funny how it`s the simple things in life that mean the most
Not where you live or what you drive or the price tag on your clothes
There`s no dollar sign on a piece of mind this I`ve come to know
So if you agree have a drink with me
Raise you glasses for a toast
To a little bit of chicken fried

Good friends on a Friday night
A pair of jeans that fit just right
And the radio up
Well I`ve seen the sunrise
See the love in my husbands`s eyes
Feel the touch of a precious child
And know a mother`s love

I thank God for my life
And for the stars and stripes
May freedom forever fly, let it ring.
Salute the ones who died
The ones that give their lives so we don`t have to sacrifice
All the things we love
Like our chicken fried

Good friends on a Friday night
A pair of jeans that fit just right
And the radio up
Well I`ve seen the sunrise
See the love in my husband`s eyes
Feel the touch of a precious child
And know a mother`s love

*these lyrics have been modified by me to fit my life style.

Day 22

Counting days is kind of odd for me. I never stick with it so mostly I just don't try.
Today was a pleasant day.
We are doing very well with our school. I'm not sure what else to say about that.
I am almost to the point where I will be able to post pictures of some girls in new dresses. :)
Oh, if you want to have a pineapple plant. Buy a fresh pineapple. Cut the top off with maybe a little more of the fruit with it than you normally would and stick that in some peet moss mixed with potting soil. Don't let it dry out and eventually, it will start to grow. One place I read about it said that the plant had to get six feet wide before it would produce fruit, or something like that.
I have been seeing blue Jays lately. I like them. I saw a Monarch today too. Made me wonder if it was on it's way to Mexico. I really want to make my back yard so that birds and butterflies would like to visit us.

Hamburger Buns

Mix and let rest 10 Min:
1 3/4 cup warm water
1/2 cup oil
3/4 cup sugar or 1/4 cup honey
3 Tablespoons yeast
Add:
1/2 Tablespoon salt
1-2 eggs, beaten
5-6 cups flour
knead 5-10 min. Shape into buns place on cookie sheet and brush tops with butter. let rise 10-15 min. Bake at 425 degrees for 12-15 min.

I cut the sugar in half. This makes around 12 buns. I usually make a half batch for our family. they are so yummy fresh out of the oven with grilled hamburgers.

Day 20

Today has been a very nice day.
The weather was in the low 70's all day. It was breezy, almost windy. Very lovely.
We did some of our book work this morning and then went outside. We worked in the back yard. Well, I worked and the kids played. I picked up tons of pine cones and raked and then mowed. It looks so nice and inviting back there now. The kids worked on turning one of the sheds into a club house. some of the time.
Lars was running with a kite this morning and I guess it malfunctioned because he ended up running into a tree. He got a quarter size raspberry on his forehead and scratches on his nose, lip and forehead. It was a rather bad kite accident.
One of my cupboard doors has had the habit of hanging open and I fixed it today. It is so much nicer to walk into the kitchen now. (smile)
I made a caramel apple cake today. I will have to post the recipe on here for you some time. It is very yummy.
We are supposed to have 40 degree weather tonight. I brought in the avocado tree in case it would not like it that cold. I also brought in the pineapples. Oh, and one of the pepper plants. I hope everything else does not mind a slight chill.
I worked on the dress for Molly a little today. Mostly I was outside though.
Yesterday I was simply not in the mood to blog so you will have to just assume everything was fine then. (smile) Oh, and for the day before too. (bigger smile)
Tonight the kids helped me make supper. Molly made our hamburger buns all by herself. Heidi helped cute the potatoes for french fries. Oh, Lars helped shape the hamburger buns. Heidi helped shape the hamburger patties.

Day 17

Wow, I am really sleepy.

• I got Heidi's dress almost done. But then found out I didn't have the right size zipper on hand. Oh well, Wal-Mart is open tomarrow.
  
• The girls helped me with dishes today. I have not had them do this very much before because my set up was not child friendly. But, today I got a dish drainer so they can stack the dishes in it to drain. I know, some of you are thinking, "you didn't have a dish drainer? What kid of kitchen was that anyway?" :) We enjoyed working together.
• The kids felt rather caged up this morning because of the weather, cold and wet, and then they felt at a loss for what to do because I did not want to do school. finally they asked if they could, "just do some school." Makes a mother smile.
• Dog sitting is going fine. she is a true dog. She refuses to go in the shed that I cleaned out for her. And, more importantly, she thinks the best place for her to lay is in my new flower bed. I even had her food in the shed but she would not eat it in there but left it for the ants to get into. I washed out her dish and put it on the back step and she ate it right away. At least one can count on a dog acting like a dog.
• I got a catalog from a nursery this week. I am dreaming of what kind of trees to plant in my yard. I am also trying to decide what color and kind of roses to plant.
  

Day 16

Aw. A nice day.

• We are dog sitting for the weekend.
  
• I was so, proud of Molly. She went outside with the dog and pet her and did not panic at all. The dog was pushing against her and just loving it that someone came out to see her too.
• We made cinnamon caramel sticking buns for breakfast this morning. Everyone helped. Lars also got the job of licking the butter and cinnamon and sugar bowl. He said, "this is so tasty."
• The weather cooled off this evening.
• The kids are playing their version of hid and seek now.
• We finished reading Charlotte's Web tonight.
• I did not mow the grass again today. I was planing to do it in the afternoon when we were done with school but, it started raining right after lunch.
  

Beautiful children

Day 15

• We got our school work done right at noon today.
• I made a stew for supper that I thought was rather good but the kids thought it was nasty.
• It was a hot and humid day today. Another day to be thankful for AC.
  
• I cut out a dress for Heidi today.
• I stood out in the front yard visiting with my neighbor after supper while our kids ran around in the yard.
• I made a bow for Lars out of a branch from the crepe myrtle and a piece of yarn. The kids thought it was so cool. He stood around trying to get it to work for the longest time.
  

Day 14

• We had to make a couple runs to the pharmacy to get my prescription taken care of. It has changed so I have to take a different does every other day. I'm glad. I was thinking it was too high but not sure. But my LAB work said it was so now I don't doubt.
• Went to church again tonight, This time we all went to our own classes and we all enjoyed them.
• Lars was telling about the video he watched in class. He said, "...and they walked, no, they bounced..." So, can you guess what kind of video he was watching?
• I made some bread today. We enjoyed some of it fresh with butter and honey.
• It rained again today. I have more wet laundry to do. This afternoon it kind of surprised me because it was very bright and sunny but it started showering very heavily.
• We ate supper at church.
• That is all. good night.
  

Day 13

• I made Apple cake in an iron skillet Today. So very yummy. But, if you make it do follow Keren's advice and use only 1 stick of butter in the first part of the recipe. I did, and I was not sorry.
• It was a rainy day. Made us really need our naps this afternoon. It was very nice to have rain though. We've been having gray days a lot lately and it is much nicer to have rain with the clouds. In my opinion.
• The kids went out and played in the rain off and on today. They were collecting rain water in buckets and cups.
  
• We did our school work in very good time.
• My arm and finger are still sore from using the spray paint for Lars' bike. I find it kind of funny while it is annoying.

I better get these kids to bed.

Days 11 and 12

I forgot to blog last night until I was done reading and had turned the lights out. I did not feel like getting out of bed and turning the computer back on.

Yesterday;

• We walked to church. We all enjoyed that a lot. We saw two of our friends drive by while we were walking and that was very fun too. It took not quite 10 min.
• We spent a very lazy afternoon.
• In the evening we went over to the neighbors and the kids played.

Today;

• We did vary little school work.
• We went to Aldi and Wal-mart before lunch.
• We went to the Commissary before supper.
• last night our fish died. he died of lack of care.
  
• We had taco salad for supper.

Other things happened I'm sure. :/

Bikes

since I took a picture of Lars with his bike the girls needed pictures of them with their bikes.

Day 10

Today was kind of an odd day. I thought about northern MN a lot.

• We turned an old little girls bike into a boys bike today. It still has white tires but some things can't be helped. The other thing that is a problem is that I am really bad at spray painting. :) It was fun to do.
• Worked on the rag rug again today. Oh, and no I don't have a pattern I just started crocheting around in circles. I should have used a pattern and I should have redone some of it because it has some really bad looking spots. But I am too lazy.
• I tried to sleep in because three kids kept taking turns coming into my room with complaints all night long. But they were up and raring to go bright and early. oh well, I really haven't been tired today.
• The kids went outside right after breakfast this morning and did not come back in until I called them in at 3 pm. They went back out right after naps too.
• I had the kids pose for some pictures this afternoon. I had been looking at some other peoples posed pictures and thought I should get some of my kids because it has been a long time since we did any kind of portraits.
• I've been pre-reading some of our school books for this year. they are some really good books. They are Sonlights Core 1 books.
  

Day 9

• I mowed the grass again today. only in the front yard this time. I really don't like my grass because it is not thick and it sends up really tall seed things really fast but the rest of the grass doesn't grow very fast at all. Feels like a waste of time to be running back in forth to cut every 10th grass blade.
  
• I think I'm a little bit grumpy tonight. sorry about that little rant.
• Started working on a rag rug again. I am making it out of old t-shirts. I am using whatever color happens to come next so it is getting a farm house look to it. kind of fun.
  
• We used our new school room table today for school. It was very nice. We ate in the dinning room and did school work in the school room amazing really.

8th Day

• We have a table in our school room! We no longer have to do school work at the dinning room table. I am so excited about this. Also if some people are being to loud while other need it quiet we can divide them up.
  
• We went for a short walk today. We walked down to the driveway of our church building and back. We might walk to church this Sunday.
• School went well. We did some stuff with magnets for science today. I really like it that our science curriculum touches on a lot of different kids of science all year long. My kids are to young to have a passion for one type of science. This way they can learn about tons of stuff every year and when they do find something that they love we can start to focus on that one thing then.
• Lars is getting pretty good at riding his little bike.
• I made some chocolate cupcakes this afternoon. I didn't want us to forget what they taste like.
• A bunch of rotary winged aircraft have been flying over today. I'm not sure what is up with that. :)
• We wrote some letters this morning as part of our school.
  

Day 7

• I did a bunch of rearranging again today. Getting things to fit in a new house has been a little challenging since we have smaller living rooms (dinning and living) with more doors in them so it is harder to get stuff to fit in a comfortable way. I'm liking it the way I have it now. The other thing that changed with rooms, We are trying to have a school room now.
• We went to Wednesday night church today.
  
• We are reading Charlotte's Web this week.
  
• It rained here today. The kids ran around in the rain for awhile this morning. They thought that was great fun.

Day 6

• My children are at this moment playing in the garage with their bikes. Their bikes are upside down and the are using them to, "make candy." You will have to ask them how this is done as I am not sure quite how to do it.
• Another day of school went well.
  
• We ran to Wal-mart to get some ink for the printer.
• Had some nice phone calls tonight.
  
• We had one of the kids' and my favorites for dinner; Split pea soup, with ham, and corn bread.
  

School really takes up a lot of our time now. It is time well spent and we all enjoy it so it's good.

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

The other day I found this Barbie laying in my living room. Someone must have dropped her there when they were done playing.
I walked into the room and asked her what she was doing laying there like that and she said, "I'm a Barbie." Later she was walking around and moving her arms like a barbie would.

Day 5

• We had our first school day. It went very well. The kids were very happy to be "doing school."
• I rearranged the kitchen dinning room.
• moped the tile floors.
• The kids played hide and seek around the house.
• the kids took a bunch of pillows and got into the pillow cases and jumped up and down the hallway.
• Lars reported that he had killed his pet. And I thought oh no he's killed the fish. But no, he had killed the fly that was in his room. His heart was fairly broken.
• We went to Aldi and Wal mart.
  
• We had fresh broccoli with our supper. I really like the taste of fresh broccoli cooked in the microwave with butter and salt and pepper. The kids don't find it as lovely as I do.
  

Day 4

• We, went to church this morning. It was lovely. My class had a breakfast potluck and fellowship time intead of regular classes.
  
• After church we joined our church family for a spaghetti dinner. We did not join in the cake *auction but we were there at that time.
  
• I did stuff to get ready for our first day of school tomorrow. I am very excited to get started on that.
• We spent time sitting around the table coloring pictures together.
  
• I stayed up way to late last night reading one of my new books. bad girl. Now I am very tiered!
• Lars fell asleep on my lap while we were watching a youtube thing on the computer.
  
• Lars went to Sunday school class by himself without fussing and then had a very good time while he was there. amazing. I gave him a little talking to before we left about how he was a big boy now and that he would go to class with out a fuss - "no, no, stop fussing while I'm talking to you about it too... Okay, remember you are a big boy and you will have a good time."

*Oops. thanks for pointing that out.

Day 3

• The kids played at the neighbors for awhile.They drove the little battery powered cars around about the whole time. They also gave Lars a little bike.
• Went to a Yesteryear Festival. It was a small colonial reenactment. I guess there was a fort or "arsenal" here at that time.All that is left of it is some footing stones. They have also made what they call a ghost tower because it is like a trellis in the shape and size that the tower was. There were men dressed up as soldiers from the revolutionary war. They did some firing of canons and muskets.Making pewter stuff. I can't remember what he was making while we were watching.

We also got to taste some fresh pressed apple cider.

• did the laundry - completely.
• the kids played at the neighbors again this afternoon.
  
• I bought two books from the author herself at the reenactment. They are historical fiction about the colonial times her in North Carolina. I read the first one this afternoon. It was a good read.

We had a busy good Saturday. thought about Keren a lot today. Happy Birthday little sister!

Day 2

• Mowed the grass. Which means I picked up tons of pine cones.
• Cleaned out the truck and car. The truck really needed it. I should have washed the outsides of them but did not.
• Went to the LAB this morning. For some reason it really hurt when she put it in the left arm and then it would not flow... So, I almost fainted and we had to sit there for a long time trying to keep me from passing out. Finally my head started feeling like it should and she was able to get it in my right arm. Crazy Phobia!
• We went for a little drive, just to see what where the road would take us. We were also keeping our eyes open for any playgrounds.
• Bought corn at a farmers market.
• Lars started singing at the supper table. I was not sure what he was singing but then Molly joined him. He would join her for the last part of the last word for each phrase. They were singing, I'm in the Lords Army. When Molly sings that song though it is one of those songs that never ends. So I had to remind them to finish their dinners.
• Bathed all of my children tonight.

• Called the Cell phone company. Oh, yesterday some sort of cable company guy called. He started off saying that he had a better deal then what I had and kept going on about this good deal he had for me. When he finally let me say something I told him I had no TV. He was totally baffled by this and then mumbled something about wasting his time!

I got a new seed catalog in the mail today so I think I will get ready for bed and go enjoy that.

Day 1

• Organized my room and closet.
• organized office and office closet.
• rearranged the living room- still not quit satisfied with that, this will be happening again I'm sure.
• Played barbies with the kids. The girls and I also made some furniture - We are finding hot glue to be a very fun to use tool.
• cleaned the garage.
• Vacuumed living room, hall and my bedroom.
• worked in the garden - we got to visit with Miss Smith while we were doing that.
• Made and served real meals for my family.

• made some homemade Chai. Heidi had the idea to sit out back while we drank it. That was very pleasant. We even turned up our Dino radio so we could have music while we were out.

All in all it has been a good day. I will keep you posted on how this goes.
My radio is now playing What a Friend we have in Jesus.

Now we are five

Heidi had a great birthday.

Happy girl with all her new things. The kids were chewing gum dawn till dusk for a few days. since she had two packs of gum to share with them. We have also done lots of coloring, mostly with colored pencils.

This Boy

This is my boy. wouldn't you agree that he is most adorable?!

How my garden grows

Before

Now