May. 11, 2008 - Garden as of April 26, 2008
Hello.
I have been diligently working in my garden. I have 10 raised beds now but at the time the pictures were taken I had 8.
I have two beds that have potatoes in the front and then various vining types in the back.
This bed has the purple potatoes, snap peas and peppers.
This bed has yellow fingerling potatoes, cucumbers and peppers.
A picture showing a few of the beds.
My strawberries with some peppers and tomatoes.
Spinach, red onions, strawberries
My garden by the master bedroom.
I am going to try to post some more pictures soon. The purple potatoes are completely full to the top of the bin now. I put more dirt on as it grew as that is supposed to make more potatoes grow. We shall see if it works. I still have a couple more loads for the yellow potatoes. I have more lettuce then I can keep up with and I am starting to get aphids---yuck!!
Blessings, Terrill
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Feb. 22, 2008 - Blog Makeover Contest
I really need to win this contest. Especially since green is my favorite color and that is the color of the blog design that you win. 
If you want to enter the contest then you should go here.
The woman who is offering the free design is here.
I hope she picks me. I have the same design I started with because I don't have the creative genes for graphic design.
Blessings all.. T
PS> My youngest turns 5 on Sunday.
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Feb. 11, 2008 - More Huckabee News and a fun website
Hey-- It has been so busy.
I wanted to share this you-tube link where Huckabee answers the evolution question (it seemed to surprise the moderator that he answered it).
Also there is a fun political site where you can answer questions and it tells you who shares the same positions as you do. I came up 84% with Huckabee,
I have definitely had politics on the brain. 
---T
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Jan. 24, 2008 - SOULTALK by Larry Crabbs
For my bookclub this past week we read this book by Larry Crabbs. It is the first one that I have read by him.
He had a couple of great ideas in it:
- keeping first things first--and not letting the second things (family and home worries) to become like first things. Keeping our relationship and worship of God --first
- looking for the right moments to have true soul conversation with a friend by thinking about what they are saying and allowing the Holy Spirit to move in you in your response to their story
Overall, it is about a 3 out of 5 for reads. I don't know that I would buy it but if you could get it from a library it might be worth the read. Next month we are reading Captivating.
----T
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Jan. 4, 2008 - I Like Mike
I am thrilled that he won in Iowa. I picked two fav's when World did articles on them last spring: Mike Huckabee and Duncan Hunter. I am excited that Huckabee is starting to make his name known.
I have read the views of many of the other candidates, including Ron Paul who I know a lot of homeschoolers like but I don't agree with his foreign policy by even a margin and wouldn't want him elected. Also, when he spoke at the debates it mostly made my skin crawl so there must be a reason. I know that many would say women's intuition isn't real but I think that women have these insticts about people- a God given gift and we need to listen. LOL! I didn't mean to get so serious.
I wish I voted in a state that had an effect on the primaries but I don't. I was previously a WA resident and now I am an Alaskan resident which means that we vote so late it is usually decided at this point.
Thank you, people of Iowa, for keeping Mike Huckabee in the race and at the top.
Blessings, T
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Dec. 23, 2007 - Some pictures of snow in Oklahoma
My Alaskan born son:
My dd10 :
Our house:
the front window, see the snow drifts?:
It was really amazing to see the wind blow and the snow in complete white-out conditions.
Oh- the kids played outside 3 times but lasted only about 20 minutes because it was 4 degrees or less with wind chill and we don't have the good snow clothes we had in Alaska.
---T
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Dec. 19, 2007 - Firefox Browser
Well, I am hoping to blog a little more often now that I have dared to download the Mozilla Firefox browser to my Mac. I am used to Windows based computers and when I downloaded firefox to my other computer a year ago or so it ended up crashing it. (I think that was what crashed it.
) But I was visiting the tech forums here and then headed over to apple's website and they implied that firefox would be great and that I would have a toolbar again. AND.... I do.
I know a little HTML and so I could occasionally still use my laptop but having to remember to type in the breaks was a pain. I guess that I am just lazy.
So. I am back.
Now, I just have to get my pictures from my other computer to this one. Maybe over Christmas I can make it happen.
Merry Christmas! Terrill
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Nov. 25, 2007 - Mike Huckabee
I must admit some frustration with the evangelical Christian leaders. I am unable to understand their reluctance to stand behind this man. I have some questions that I have emailed to him and will hopefully have answered satisfactorily regarding tax plans, but on the issues that matter the most: Life, Marriage, Consistency---he seems to represent what I want.
So if you haven't considered him- go check out his website. He also has a grassroots site with more information if you are interested.
Let's support a man of faith and principles. The biggest complaints I've seen is his lack of foreign policy experience (see this article in the economist) which is kind of a joke since he has the same amount as any of them. I don't think Hilary's trips at her husbands side (and our expense?) count. The only people who would have the experience (who aren't already President or Vice) would need to be in the Joint Chiefs, State Department or something similar. Run of the day Governors and Senators don't really have that top level experience and if they have run a state or city government well (i.e. a governer as opposed to a Senator) then they probably have the experience they need to learn the job quickly.
Also, here's a great video on his homeschooling stance.
Think about lending him your support.
Hope your Thanksgiving has been great!
--T
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Nov. 12, 2007 - My doughboys....
Before I left for Women of Faith I wanted the kids to think of me while I was gone (fondly, of course 
) so I baked them each a bread BEAR. My eldest helped make his:
and then the ones that I made for the other two:
These are prebaking and when the kids eat them they drench them in butter and honey... YUM!
They seemed to like it.
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Nov. 6, 2007 - Amazing Freedom
I spent Friday and Saturday without my family at a Women of Faith conference. It was good. I have been one other time (Outrageous Joy) and felt more renewed by that conference.
Once speaker was Luci Swindoll and she talked about our expectations as opposed to God's plans and as a military spouse I felt that this was spoken to me. When we move to a new base we always arrive with our "plans" and our "expectations" for our time there. Where we will spend our time and energy and what our family lifestyle will look like and it can be very difficult when it doesn't work out that way.
I completely guilty of making my plans for the new base without really truly praying and spending the time silent so that God can guide that.
Also, Nichole Nordeman was great. Anita Renfroe was there and she performed Momsense as well as a couple other very funny songs.
Overall, it was a great girls weekend and the Praise and worship of over 16,000 women at a time is very cool. It gives me hope and with the news these days (think CA.) I sometimes need hope... not for me, for our country and other lost people....
Blessings, T
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Oct. 30, 2007 - My pumpkins
Well, the weather has turned frosty at night and in the mornings so we shall see if my pumpkins finish. They are little ones anyways and I am not sure how to tell when the white ones are ready to come off the vine? The others are sugar pumpkins and I was hoping to bake them up for pies etc.
Sugar Pumpkin
White (Casper) pumpkin
The leaves close in look really terrible. So hopefully they hang in there long enough for the sugar pumpkins to turn orange. Any advice?
---T
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Oct. 26, 2007 - Strep!!
Has anyone else had this experience? It seems like whenever we move we catch everything during the first 6 months or so. I just feel terrible. Four out of five of us have it--I am praying that my type 1 diabetic ds 12 will skip it. He had strep when we first arrived a couple of months ago and it hit him hard. Fevers of 104 for more than 5 days. Ugh!
Luckily ds4 and dh who came down with it first are already perking up. I am probably the worst----it hit dh and I more than the kids.
Dh took the kids camping the other weekend at the Alabaster Caverns- they saw bats and toured the cave. I stayed here because I had committed to watching a friends dog before we planned the trip. It was a nice break but because I wasn't there dh and ds4 shared a bed in the camper and then two days later they both had strep--coincidence? I think not. :-)
I'll try to post a picture later of ds4 in the bat wings that ds 12 bought for him with his spending money. One blessing is that ds 12 loves to shop for others. Last night, he knew I felt terrible so when his Dad and he stopped at the grocery store for sushi and cheese for dinner- he bought be flowers to cheer me up. Isn't that cool? Ahhh.....
I will post more this weekend- I want to post some pictures of my pumpkins--growing in the garden right now.
Happy Fall!! I love this time of year! ---Terrill
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Oct. 17, 2007 - Fighter Pilot
All through dinner my ds4 asked if I would take his picture after dinner and was showing me his fighter pilot stance. So here it is:
What I thought was also funny was that it always involved having his hands on his hips.
~~Terrill
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Oct. 16, 2007 - We just finished New Zealand so we made....Pavlova
Actually ds12 did most of it and although it tasted delicious it looked funny. Unfortunately I didn't have any regular sugar and we had to use Sucanat for the merinque and the first time we whipped our fresh local cream we forgot about it and made sweet butter. I added a little salt and it is actually pretty good.
Here is DS trying to shape the merinque shell prior to baking:
Here he is adding the whipped cream and fruit he sliced:
and the masterpiece:
Yes, I know not pretty. We tried to loosen the shell but it crumbled. Did I mention that it still tasted delicious?
Also, that knife he is holding is actually waiting to get me. It is going to slice my finger while I am slicing cabbage and require me to head to the dr. for stitches..... Yuck!
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Oct. 15, 2007 - Breast Cancer Awareness
Hi. I want to take this opportunity to spread the news.
My friend Andrea caught her cancer on a self check--They Do Work.
Please support research and pray for my friend and her family.
Also, visit here to see about Casio's breast cancer digital camera giveaway. If you would like to read about faith in action I will again send you to my friend Jim's blog
Please! Self Check, Get a Mammogram and support research, please.
Blessings, Terrill
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Oct. 5, 2007 - Mary, Mary quite contrary....
How does my garden grow? Pretty well. Although I didn't take any pictures of the brocolli or cauliflower because they have been eaten by crazy. I have tried a lot of different home remedies- I wish I could get a chicken to eat the little cabbage looper caterpillars off of them-- also the extremely fat grasshoppers. They are practically the size of a small rodent. It must be the great diet.
Here are my pumpkins:
I am starting to get some very small pumpkins and I will try to post a picture of them next week when hopefully they look like a, well, pumpkin. I planted casper pumpkins(white ornamental- for fun) and sugar pumpkins. Yum!!
Also, here's the praying mantis I found living in my new mums. I saw him almost get a moth.. exciting.
And a contest for writing help from the front porch:
I entered to win the writing instruction program
MY Access! Home and the SAT Prep Pack
on the HSB Company Porch!
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Oct. 2, 2007 - Smile Award
It's funny because I thought it had only been a busy week but its been a busy two weeks. LOL!
My precious sister-in-Christ, Mary aka Canadagirl, was so sweet to give me the You make me smile award.
From Canadagirl's site:
This is what the person that created this award says about it:
"The thing that I love most about blogging is that I learn so much about a person just by reading their blog. I have met MANY wonderful people with wonderful stories to tell, and I am grateful every day for each person that I have the pleasure of crossing paths in life with.
Here is the award:
Isn't that great? I think she is so sweet. I would, of course, give it right back to her. I would also give it to the same people that I gave the last award to.
I am really thinking about becoming more of a blog reader and take some of the pressure off to post. I am not ready to completely give up blogging but I will only be updating occasionally from now on.
This whole community has been an inspiration and a blessing to me and hopefully in the future I will feel like I have the time to give to it.
I will still post- I am just trying to take off the requirement to try to post daily that I have carried.
Blessings,
~~T
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Sep. 19, 2007 - Great Dinner Recipe.
I had to post this because I made it for the second time and the whole family acted like I was an amazing cook. Even my ds4, who normally won't touch meat, loves this recipe. I used my grass-fed, local ground beef for it so I feel less guilty about feeding my family red meat. Of course, beef is "what's for dinner" Ha!
Meat Loaves with Spaghetti Sauce
from Southern Living
- 1 1/2 C spaghetti sauce, divided (I get these in 1# bags so I use 2# for this recipe and increase other ingredients by a smidge.)
- 1.5 pounds lean ground beef
- 1/2 C italian seasoned bread crumbs (I use my leftover bread and add garlic/ital. spices)
- 1 small onion, minced
- 1 large egg
- 1.5 t salt
- 1/4 t pepper
- 1T brown sugar
- 1 1/2 T white vinegar
- 1 T prepared mustard
- 2 t worcestshire sauce
Stir together 1/2 C spaghetti sauce, ground beef, breadcrumbs, and next 4 ingred. just until combined. Shape mixture into 2 8" loaves and place in a lightly greased 9X13 baking dish.
Bake at 350 for 25 minutes.
Stir together remaining spaghetti sauce, brown sugar and next 3 ingred. Pour sauce evenly over meat loaves and bake 25 min. more or til no longer pink in center. Let stand 10 min. before serving.
Enjoy. Because I use a little more of everything it does usually take a little longer than the 50 minutes total.
Bon appetit!!
----T
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Sep. 17, 2007 - This year's homeschool schedule.
I am really only completely homeschooling one of my children this year.
My dd10 is trying out a local Christian school. I am really torn on it. I think the school is fine (small and uses Abeka) but it is sucking our families time, money and energy away. It seems like every day or two there is a request for a fundraiser, a volunteer job or school function. Last week, they had 2 evening functions scheduled in a row- talk about not encouraging family togetherness. I am really hoping that my dh and I will feel led to not allow her to go next year.
My ds4.5 is going to a wonderful play based Christian school. I signed him up so that I could focus on my older two but that is less of an issue now that one is gone away at school for 8 hours everyday. It is a great school- when he comes home he knows the bible stories and is really able to tell them to me. They do lots of crafts and tons of great songs. He loves singing them for us.
My ds12 is in the 6th grade and such a joy. We are doing Sonlight's Core 5, which is Eastern Hemispheres. This is a wonderful core. We are studying Australia now and spent the last few weeks on the Pacific Islands.
He is doing Math U See PreAlgebra with the honors book. He really likes it, although the honors book is difficult for him. (I guess that's the idea!)
He is also doing Henle 1 Latin through Memoria Press's online courses. We were having some difficulties with this but it is working well now.
He is doing Sonlight's 5 science which is human anatomy, nutrition and computer science. He has just started Elementary Greek.
For Bible, we are reading God's word, doing some of Remembering God's Awesome Acts and are starting up Boyhood and Beyond. (Thanks, CanadaGirl)
With my ds4.5 we are occasionally working on Singapore Math Earlybird, Veritas Press Phonics Museum, Bob Books and various other Critical Thinking Press etc Books. We really only do this when he asks and often it is done on weekends.
He is also working on his cubby book.
So those are my ambitious plans. My dd still wishes that she could do some of it with us.... we shall see.
Blessings, T
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Sep. 15, 2007 - I have a 12 year old.
I think that I am in shock. It really feels like there is no way that 12 years could've gone by since I was living in Japan and having my first child. I remember how tired I was and also that I wouldn't put him down. EVER! I would only shower etc when my dh was home to hold him because I really wanted him to know that he was loved.
I did learn my lesson, of course. I finally figured out that he would sleep better in his crib or on the couch. I did baby massage, in the sunlight for him. I did a little of it with my dd but my last ds got very little massages.
For ds's birthday he had two boys spend the night and they had a blast. They mostly dressed up in military surplus and saved the world. They also spent some time building lego creations and conquering PS2.
We went to a great parade downtown. We missed the coolest part: covered wagons and longhorn steer. We saw the shriners, clowns and lots of fancy older cars. It was fun because there was a 58 Ford Fairlane and my first car was a red 1963 Ford Fairlane. It still had everything original and it only had 63,000 miles on it. Boy, do I miss that car.
Enjoy your Sunday and day of rest.
Blessings, T
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