5 Minutes for Mom is hosting an awesome contest! They along with Best Buy are giving away an Insignia Bluetooth MP3 Player. It is very exciting. Pop on over and enter!
This is what happens when Mom leaves for a week, leaving behind the animals with the kids and Dad:
Before:
After:
The poor dog is totally mortified. I'm sure of it. If you notice the white spots towards her rear, those are bald spots where they cut a little to close.
I haven't laughed so hard in a long time. She looks like a shorn sheep. My poor Eeyore.
I have a sweet and precocious four year old. She is such a delight to me. One of the things I absolutely love about her, although at times very trying, is that you never have to guess what is on her mind. She’ll let you know. Whether she is upset, sad, happy, or overwhelmed with love she has no qualms about sharing.
I have discovered something recently while watching her. She is such a wonderful example for me in child like faith and my relationship with God.I totally get why God loves the child-like faith. When I watch her and converse with her, sometimes she just melts my heart. I can only imagine how God, the one who created her, feels.
One of her latest quips, that taught me once again a new way to view my heavenly father, happened just yesterday. In the busy-ness of the day, with 5 home schooled kids, trying to get school done, my husband on his day off, plus the extra people coming in and out of our home, it was pretty chaotic. I noticed her coming in from outside. She saw me and she smiled and she said “I was blowing kisses to God.” It stopped me in my tracks. I had to stop and give her a kiss and a hug. What a beautiful child-like example God had just given me. I don’t remember in all of the stuff I had in my life the last time I took the time to “blow kisses” to my creator, my Abba. I wonder if it makes him sad. I know I would be sad if my child stopped giving me kisses. So today I am going to take the time to remember in between the running between games, the taking and the picking up of kids, the making the dinner, the giving baths, and the rubbing the hubby’s back, to blow my kisses to God.
I know I have left my blog sit for awhile. I have been debating about shutting it down. I quite honestly just don't have the time to maintain it. I sit down at my computer and there are days I am on it for 2 hours and it feels like 5 minutes. To a busy mama with 5 kids, homeschooling, trying to maintain a home, and supporting (helping) her husband that is a huge chunk of time. I just don't really have that time I end up neglecting something else, usually my quiet time with the Lord. I do have some blogs that are my favorites and I do read those daily, and I have those I pop in now and again. So I will still leave comments on those, but for right now I believe I'm done. I am going to try and come back this summer when my life isn't quite as busy(or perhaps I should say demanding?).
Here is another one for you Julie. I must be feeling better I'm getting things done that have been put on the back burner!
White Chocolate Fudge Cake
1 package (18 1/4 oz) white cake mix
1 1/4 cups water
3 eggs
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 tsp vanilla
3 squares (1 oz each) white baking chocolate squares, melted
Filling:
3/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips
2 tbsp butter (no substitutes)
Frosting:
1 can (16 oz) vanilla frosting
3 squares (1 oz each) white chocolate baking squares, melted
1 tsp vanilla
1 carton (8 oz) frozen whipped topping, thawed
In a mixing bowl, combine the dry cake mix, water, egg whites, oil and vanilla. Beat on low for 2 minutes. Stir in white chocolate. Pour into a greased 13 X 9 X 2 baking pan. Bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes or until toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool 5 minutes. Meanwhile, in a microwave or heavy saucepan over low heat, melt chocolate chips and butter; stir until smooth. Carefully spread over warm cake. Cool completely . In a mixing bowl, beat frosting; stir in white chocolate and vanilla. Fold in whipped topping; frost cake. Store in refrigerator.
I don't like tuna much, but this is one of the best tuna salads I have ever had, and it is now one of my all time favorites.
Tuna Stuffed Jumbo Shells
10 Jumbo pasta shells (I just use egg noodles and serve the tuna over the top)
1/2 C Mayo
2 Tbsp sugar
1 can (12 oz) tuna, drained
1 cup diced celery
1/2 cup diced green onions
1/2 cup diced green peppers
1/2 cup shredded carrots
2 Tbsp minced fresh parsley
Creamy Celery Dressing:
1/4 cup sour cream
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup cider vinegar
2 Tbsp mayo
1 tsp celery seed
1 tsp onion powder
Cook pasta according to package directions; rinse in cold water and drain. In a bowl, combine mayo and sugar. Stir in tuna, celery, onions, green pepper, carrot and parsley. Spoon into pasta shells; cover and refrigerate. For the dressing, combine sour cream, sugar, vinegar, mayo, celery seed and onion powder. Arrange shells on plate and drizzle with dressing.
We had more snow this weekend. Blah! It isn't horrible it was just snow this time and not the ice. It is also melting quickly. The kids are loving it. Kaitlyn, Tyler and Kylee spent several hours outdoors yesterday and they rolled 3 VERY LARGE snowballs for a snowman, but could never figure out how to stack them. So we have these large snowballs in my yard. It was cute to watch them. Something I can't figure out with my kids and playing in the snow. We have 2.5 acres our house is right in the middle. My kids have lots and lots of yard to play in, but where do they choose to play? Right by the road. As I was watching them yesterday I had images of a car coming down the hill around the corner with no way to stop on the slippery road and plow into my children. This is playing in my mind as our ever faithful old "Nana" type dog is watching her children while standing in the middle of the road. So I made them leave their large snowballs to go and roll some new ones in the backyard.
Today has been a mixed blessing. I woke up with a touch of some stomach bug. Not horrible enough to keep me in bed, but I don't want to wonder far from certain rooms of my house. So my teens make plans to go watch movies with friends (because when the ps have snow days we should too!) My husband took them and the 3 smaller kids to see some of their friends. So I have the house to MYSELF! I am so excited. To top it off I really can't move much without running, so I get to sit and lounge and enjoy the QUIET. I am surfing the net without interuption, and I think I will go read that book that has been sitting collecting dust, or I could put a puzzle together, or watch a movie I want to watch, or.... God is so good.
My family just finished reading Witch of Blackbird Pond, by Elizabeth George Speare, today. I read this when I was younger and then I read it again a few years ago when my teens were younger. I have forgotten how much I really liked this book.
I think the funnest part about it this time around was that my whole family got involved. I started reading it to my 10 yo, with my 7 and 4 yo listening in for a few minutes here and there, but then gradually I noticed that everytime I sat down my teens joined us, and even requested that we let them know when we were reading. Then about half way through the book my husband started joining us. It was so much fun! We got so involved with it that they begged me to read until my voice was hoarse.
The next book we are going to read is Johnny Tremain, by Esther Forbes, which was one of my husband's favorite books as a boy.
I have CABIN FEVER! But the crazy thing is I don't want to go anywhere. I don't want to do anything, necessarily. I just want the snow and ice to go AWAY! I am ready for spring, flowers, sunshine, the smell of warm sunshine and new grass, and even bugs! For the last couple of days we have had above freezing temps and I have literally been passing back and forth in my house from the front door to the back door watching the snow SLOWLY melt. And by slow I mean SLOW.
This is so crazy! I was raised in the Northwest where it is winter from early November to May, and really the air doesn't get real warm until late June. Now I live in the Mid-Atlantic and I can hardly stand a couple of weeks of winter. Really we had a very mild winter up until the beginning of Feb. In fact we had a day or two of near 70 temps in January. We have had a couple of snow storms and this last one dumped quite a bit of snow and ice and it has lasted a whole week and I'm going crazy. I am ready to move to Florida (or TEXAS!)
I am so SAD! My camera has died. I don't take a ton of pictures. In fact I don't usually think about it and I'm so very proud of myself when I DO remember. But now that I don't have a camera I have had several times I think I need to grab it and take some pictures. Like the trip we just took to Monticello and then the following snow storm and my cute adorable children all dressed in their snowpants, hats and mittens sliding down the hill with their grandpa. Sigh.
Something I have dealt with in my life over the last 6 years or so is exzema in my ear CANALS. This is a nasty form of exzcema. It itches like nothing I can explain and it gets this build-up of skin that then cracks and then oozes. It is embarrassing to have people react to it (to the point I decided to grow out my hair to cover it!)
I had a bought of this about 13 years ago and I had a really-on-top-of-it doctor in the Northwest who diagnosed it right off-the-bat and gave me some drops that cleared it right up. I didn't have a problem again until about 6 years ago. I recognized it and went to the doctor here (2000 miles from the first doctor) I told them of my bought 7 years prior, but the doctor wanted to treat it like a fungus. It didn't do a thing for the exzema. So I started my journey for the next 4 years of going from doctor to doctor who was stumped by my ears (can't take MY word for it that it is exzema). I finally just paid the money and went to a dermatologist. (I really don't know why it took me so long to go, I think just plain frustration...) He came in looked at it and said it was exzema....THANK YOU LORD! Well he gave me some topical steroid cream. I have been using it for the last 3 years. It clears up the exzema as long as I do it every day. BLAH...
Well now onto the carbonated beverages. Last fall my husband and brother-in-law (who lives with us) were both diagnosed with high blood pressure and my brother-in-law was diagnosed with diabetes. My bil LOVES Pepsi, and has been drinking it for years as his main beverage. He has a really hard time not drinking it if it is in the house. So with this in mind I stopped drinking all carbonated beverages (diet is really high in sodium). I really must admit, I don't even miss it. I think I drank it because it was available. I much prefer a cup of coffee or tea or even water.
About a month ago I noticed that my ears were not as bad as they had been. I had stopped using the steroid cream, except on a few occasions, which I have switched to just some cortisone with aloe. So I started to think what I had changed. SODA!
Coincidence??? I don't know, but I know that soda has no nutritional value whatsoever, in fact it is really bad for you. It will dehydrate you, it will over time turn your teeth to chalk. Now I believe for me it has caused some type of reaction that just so happens to be in my ears.
I do know it isn't worth finding out by drinking it again. I am done with it.
Where has the time gone? I have had my parents visiting and so as much as I love cyberworld, visiting with real people so outweighs this. But they sadly left 2 days ago at the tailend of a snow/ice storm. So here I am again.
The other sad thing is that all of my friends have more or less left the homeschoolblogger world and onto other blogs. The reasons they gave I just have not experienced other than low comments, but I have never got many comments, so that really isn't an issue. But in the mean time I started wondering if I should go and get another blog.... probably not. I am happy here. I hate change. I think it would be my undoing and I would never do this again if I were attempt to change, especially when I have no complaints. So here I am, and I hope that the few friends I do have will continue to visit me here.
I will write more later, I have little ones, thinking they need something to eat. So my day begins....
I really debated about posting this. In fact I had decided I wasn't going to, but then I decided that all things work for good for those who love God. I am going to share just to reaffirm to myself where my hope lies.
Today has been rough. It started out this morning when I took my 15 yo son to the doctors. It went well. It was just a physical because he hasn't had one in 8 years.I love the new doctor we have found. Life was good. He got a tetnus shot because he hasn't had one in 10 years (I do not wish to discuss the pros and cons of immunizations. My husband and I are well educated on it and we have made the best decision for us and our family) When we got up to the check out desk I handed him my book so I could take care of the bill. I turned around and I heard a big bang behind me. He had fainted. He was out cold. I have never seen people move so fast, he had 4 people surrounding him before I could move. He came around and recovered fine. The reason they figured he fainted was one) he hadn't eaten anything that morning and 2)it was a side-effect of the shot. I guess it was pretty common with shots. In the end I was more scarred and shaken up then he was.
On top of this, my husband suffers from SAD (seasonal affective disorder) this season has been especially difficult. He is a good man, he loves his family, and takes very good care of us, but right now he is barely functioning. Because of this and because it is a very slow time for those who work in the construction industry he has had very low amounts of work. Money is very tight. So we have gotten behind on some bills. So today was the day I get the collection calls. One man made the remark to me that he was concerned at the "lack of concern in my voice" as he was talking to me. ARGGG!! I asked him how I was to sound? I told him I had a family to take care of and it would do me no good to work myself in a dither and develop ulcers to add medical bills. I pretty much let him have it and in the end he did apologize.
After hanging up the thought crossed my mind that the reason I sounded to calm for him was that I was putting my trust in Christ. I have totally given it to him and it would do me no good to worry about it. We have a couple of large checks coming to us and it will cover all of our bills through March and beyond that it is in God's hands. I have no control of it but God does. The same goes for my children's health. I totally believe that God is in control of everything. All of my tomorrow's, my finances, my children and my husband's state of mind. It is all his and I don't have to worry about it. Today is the day I need to concern myself over and today I have healthy kids, a husband who loves us and will take care of us, a warm house, and food for our bellies. That is what God promised would be mine plus more. I will continue to hold onto God's promises, my hope is in God.
Here are some photos of us making our homemade bird suet.
Here is the Peanut Butter:
Bird seed:
Mixing it up:
The Finished Product:
And here are our visitors:
Isn't he pretty?
My favorites are the cardinals:
I think the funniest thing to watch is the cats, our little one, Midnight, who is about 9 months, literally launched herself at the window and slid down it to the floor. It reminded me of a cartoon and I was so sad I didn't get a picture. It didn't deter her from her constant vigil though.
For those of you who really know me. The title of this may seem like an oxymoron. I do not like science, I never have. I think it dates back to the BORING science classes I had in PS. My older children, have somehow made it through their younger schooling days without much science (and they even did well on the standardized tests) I believe that came from their dad who loves scientific things and has a scientific mind and is always reading up on things and analyzing things, ect..
I have always searched for the right science program that would be able to help my non-scientific mind (and my bad attitude) but be educating for my kids (I really love the Magic School Bus) I started using Apologia for my older kids (after they could read and do experiments on their own) and my husband was really impressed by it, so when Jeannie Fulbright put out her science books with them I very hestitantly approached them. I looked at them at book stores, saw my friends be interested in them, read her article in the Old Schoolhouse Magazine last summer, ect... So I finally bought Exporing Creation with Zoology 1: Flying Creatures of the Fifth Day. It took me awhile to get going with it (it was always the LAST subject we did for the day so often got skipped) but now we are into it and I LOVE it, my younger kids are LOVING it. It has now become the first subject we do everyday. We are working on birds. We have learned our bird parts and we are making bird feeders so we can watch and identify the birds in our yards (along with our 3 cats who pay more attention to the feeders than we do! disclaimer: they are for the most part indoor cats the birds are safe) It is great. I'm loving it. I'm really excited to continue to work on the book and do the experiments. (I'm even taking pictures and will post them soon.)
After having a very hectic holiday season, with a trip to Florida and WDW thrown in right before Thanksgiving, my new years resolution was to get on top of school again. We had a wonderful first week. Things got done, mom was happy, kids were happy. Life was good. This week started out good too. I made it to a homeschool meeting for the first time this school year. We got things done on Monday. On Tuesday, since I was on a roll I called our wonderful newsletter editor and told her that we needed to keep up or momentum while we could so we wouldn't be able to make it to newsletter. Well it is a good thing we stayed home. That afternoon the crud moved in.
Tyler started running a fever and complained of his ear and throat. Next day Tyler's eye is completely red, sore throat, ear pain, feverish and very whiny and clingy. Wed afternoon Kylee is feverish, complaining that her "ear is copying her" (I assume that it was filled with fluid which makes you sound louder to yourself) and she had a "headache in her throat", she has a very red eye,she is cranky and even more clingy then Tyler which ends up interesting as they are both on my lap and neither one wants the other to touch them as they are breathing nasty breath on me and coughing. We did end up lying in my bed, which Tav so appreciated as now he has it.
I did take them to the doctor and he said it was viral. A nasty one that has been making the rounds. So we live it out. Tyler is much better. Feels good and is on the up swing. Kylee is still battling the eyes thing and it has spread to the other eye and she wakes up quite distraught because she can't open her eyes. We are washing hands to the point my hands are chapped.
Needless to say school has gone out the window. Although the teens have been great. They are getting at least math and Biology done. They even cleaned my kitchen and living room without me telling them to. It was great. It is wonderful that Tayva can drive so she can get Kameron to play practice and she has managed to make it to 3 youth events. So for them life is good.
Poor Tav slept the day away yesterday and woke up with his voice about 3 octaves lower then it normally is, which is pretty low. But he is willing to hold cranky children in the lazyboy when he is awake. He is a good man.
Where is Kaitlyn throughout all of this?? She is quietly playing games on the computer, watching DVD's on the laptop, painting her nails, reading her books and enjoying life (I don't think she has gotten out of her pajamas in 2 days) Must be nice to be the healthy, quiet non assuming child. I love that girl!
So what is the moral to all of this?? Next time we will go to Newsletter instead of thinking we have it all together.( Just kidding Kate! I'm glad we didn't expose you all.)
"Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble, and he saved them from their distress. He brought them out of darkness and the deepest gloom and broke away their chains. Let them give thanks to the Lord for his unfailing love and his wonderful deeds for men, for he breaks down gates of bronze and cuts through bars of iron." Psalm 107: 13-16
On my last blog I stated that I was having some blahs. There have been times in my life when I have felt down and out, but last week I felt like I was suffocating. I felt like there was a black fog surrounding me and pulling me down and I was literally suffocating. It matched the dreary landscape of my yard, with the bare trees surrounded by fog with the dark branches reaching up out the top towards the sky.
One night last week I could not sleep, one of many over the last few weeks. I got up and I prayed. The only thing I could pray is for God to please save me and lift me up. Our God is so very faithful. After praying I read my Bible and He lead me to Psalm 107. It is about praising God for His love and faithfulness even though we have wondered away and rebelled from him. So that is what I did. After a time of prayer again, time of thanking him for his faithfulness and love and forgiveness, I was able to get some sleep.
The next day was so much better. Several things happened that reaffirmed that he heard my prayer and was answering it! One of which is my mother called and it was such an uplifting time (thanks Mom, I love you.) And He continues to reaffirm to me His faithfulness throughout this week. Tuesday, I had probably the best "school day" I have had in weeks, months, or even years. We accomplished all we set out to do. It was smooth day with little bumps.The kids were in good humor and so was I. My seven year old decided he could read and he read 3 Dr. Suess books to me. What a blessing. I even managed to get my housework done!
Yesterday was a little bit rockier, school dragged a little bit, but at the end of the day (after finishing all we had set out to do, again, not common in my house) as I was sitting down to check my email, I recieved a package in the mail from my sister. She sent me a late gift and CHOCOLATE (one of which was a huckleberry truffle candybar!) It just made my whole day (Thank you Sis)
After sharing my blahs, I wanted to share the faithfulness of God. I am so grateful to be called one of His.
Thank you God, for your neverending faithfulness and love, for lifting me up out of a black miry pit. You are so awesome.
In all my years of homeschooling the only times I've thought of quitting is in December and January. I learned a long time ago that it was a lost cause to try and even school in December. The hype and craziness of the season affects the kids and even if I taught them something they wouldn't remember it the next day. Then with the shopping, baking, decorating, planning, ect... school would be hit or miss on any given week. But then when January comes along and we come off of the high of the holidays, I find it quite difficult to function.
I am not a natural born organizer. I have to work really hard to accomplish the organizing I do get done. After Christmas my house looks like it has been run over by a freight train. This year is no different. I have a Mt Everest of laundry to do, I haven't done any in 2 weeks and people (like the husband) are complaining of no clean socks or underwear. I have boxes still floating around and I need to find new homes for all of the things we were blessed with this Christmas. Then I need to pack up the decorations and I just put the boxes in the attic last Friday.
Something else that is weighing on me, is that it is tax season coming up. Not typically a big deal for me, but my husband started his own business a year and a half ago, and we are doing our own books and taxes. So that means I have to get all of that stuff organized and ready to work on our taxes. I try to keep up on it, but I do admit that the taxes and receipts and stuff from last year are still in a box labeled ready to file (actually it is a mental label as I never found the marker to write it on the box)I do thank God for the nifty computerized turbo tax.
Then the last thing that weighs heavy on me is testing. I have to test my kids once a year and it is typically in April. I know that is still 3 full months away, but I still have this panicky feeling and want to stuff all the things that I didn't accomplish this fall into their little brains and hope they pass with flying colors. and then I wonder why I want to lock myself in my bathroom. To top that off, I am actually the testing coordinator for my county and people call me frequently from January to June to ask about ordering tests, testing times and when to expect the scores in. Which is really ok by me that is something I've worked into a routine that works fairly well, so it is secondary to my other areas of stress.
I do typically get it pulled together and come out on the other side of winter more or less unscathed. But sitting at the bottom today it feels quite overwhelming. So my goal for today is to spend some time alone with God and come up with a reasonable list of goals for the month of January. I say reasonable because at times I think myself as a superwoman and find myself defeated before I start. Perhaps I will get through this year unscathed too. So off I go to throw something in my crockpot and to lock myself in my room. I may even decide to go check out the new Panera Bread that just opened up in my area.
I've attempted to write this post several times but have abandoned it. I don't consider myself a wonderful writer and I am attempting to write about a wonderful person. My words and composition just doesn't do him justice.
Seventeen years ago, I married the most wonderful person. He is kind. He is generous. He is caring. He is talented. He is extremely smart. I find myself amazed even now that of all the people in the world he is the one God gave to me, to share my life with, my sad times, my happy times, to share our 5 children with. He does have quircks and he is far from perfect. But he is so perfect for me. He is what I am not. He is outgoing, I'm reserved. He is a jump in over your head person, I'm the toe tester. He loves the center of attention, and I love giving it to him. He truly completes me. Thank you God for this truly wonderful man you have blessed me with. I love you, Tav. Thank you for the most wonderful, difficult, happy, frustrating, hi, low, times in my life. I can't think of anyone I would rather do it with. Here is to 50 more years.
After almost a week of the hsb not working quite right I got on this morning and it is working quickly and I can go to my friends blogs without going through their profile first. I appreciate everyone who works behind the scenes taking care of all I can't see. I am however so glad that it is all seeming to work great at this time.
My name is Kathie. I am a Northwesterner (is that a word??) transplanted to the beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains in West Virginia. I don't know how much I will blog but I have been inspired by one of my best friends!
