I know strange title, but before I get to my pumpkin thoughts I thought I'd mention school.  School started yesterday.  I was nice and since we had grandparents staying with us, I only had dd do two classes.  So today she had to catch up on three more classes, it was a heavy work load, but she accomplished a lot and I'm proud of her.  I was going to post about what she is studying but she did that on her blog, so you can go check it out there.  She's on my friend list, Sharla88.

By the way, my dd is home again.  She was gone for two whole weeks.  We missed her quite a bit and at the same time were very glad that she was able to spend time with family.  She had several adventures, met new people and grew closer to her cousins and aunt and uncle.  I can't thank said aunt and uncle enough  for their generosity and protection from difficult situations.  I love you guys!!!!!! 

Now, on to pumpkins.  I have always liked to bake and if I can do it from scratch I try and do so.  Pumpkin is one of those things that for whatever reason intimidated me.  No LONGER!  I'm not sure why.  I had tried cooking with real pumpkin some last year and felt it took too long to peel and cook and so on.  This year after reading online and talking with a vendor at the Farmers Market I've tried two ways to cook pumpkin, (this is mainly for baking mind you), and  both were tremendously easy.  They are a bit time consuming, however you don't have to spend time slaving over it, just prep and put on to cook and then when done, process. 

Cooking method number 1: Wash (always), cut, remove guts and seeds (set seeds aside to roast for family), cut into wedges or chunks and put into the slow cooker.  (The first pumpkin I did was a small sugar pie pumkin, so it fit in my slow cooker perfectly), add one cup water, set on high and cook for about three hours.  Take out and let cool until you can handle it and scoop out cooked flesh.  I then processed it in the food processor and set it in a coffee filter lined sieve to drain excess fluid.  I then used it as you would canned pumpkin.  It made great bread and I sold lots of it at the Farmers Market!

Cooking method number 2:  Using a large "field" pumpkin, wash, cut, in half lengthwise,  remove seeds and yuck, remember: save seeds to roast!, Set on a cookie sheet with a high lip to catch fluids, I covered mine with foil first, lay pumpkin halves on cookie sheet cut side down, (I used two cookie sheets), cover with foil and bake at 400 for about an hour to an hour and a half.  Take out, drain some of the juice into the sink, let cool.  I ended up cutting into sections for easier handling and then just scooping out the flesh and putting in ziplock bags for use tomorrow morning.  I will then process them in the food processor and use as above. 

I challange you, if you have never cooked a pumpkin before to do this.  It is fun, it is easy, it is satisfying especially with the kids.  Let the pumkin cool enough for them to help scoop out the flesh.  It smells great, it feels good to make something wholesome.  You can make so many things with this, from soups to stews to cakes, cookies, muffins, pies, breads etc....

If you take the challange, please leave me a comment and let me know how it went.

Blessings to you all.

I was reading a friends' blog this morning, (as I should be doing other things), it was about her having a perfect family.  She was answering a comment made about her "perfect" homeschooling family.  She wrote about the fact that she only writes about the positive things in her life.  She also wrote that she does have difficult times.  I read her post and then came here to see my blog through other eyes.  I've not been writing a lot recently because I feel like I have been being a downer.  I want to encourage and uplift others.  I also use this blog as a way to get things out of my head.  So, do I write about the realities that I'm dealing with or only the positive things?  There is a mixexd consensus out there about my personality.  Some say I have the personality of Eyore.  Some say I'm uplfiting.  I think that I try as often as I can to look at things through rose tinted glasses.  I try to give the benifit of doubt to those that do evil or at least mean things.  It seems as if I defend many against others negative viewpoints of them.  (Did that come across clearly?).  I am a mix of both.  There are times I champion the underdog and there are times that I'm harsh or overcritical.  I desire to be more uplifting, more compassionate, more forgiving, more loving and more prayerful in my life.  I continue to strive toward this.  If I fail and I'm whiny or complaining on here, please forgive me. 

Blessings to you all.

Hi all, I just got back from a quick vacation.  We went to see my family in Indiana.  To my dear, dear sis, thanks so much for making us feel so comfortable at your home.  Thank you for all the extra things that you took your time to do for us.  I hope you have a great visit with my dd. 

Indiana was very nice.  We had the opportunity to meet one of our fellow HSB families while we were there.  My dd was sosoooooo exxited about that.  We had a nice visit, the family was warm and gracious. 

The visit was too short, the drive almost too long, but well needed and enjoyed.  I'm really tired now, so off to bed I go.

Blessings.

Sometimes the most difficult part of writing a post for me is figuring out what to title it, so I decided if I don't title tonight, I don't have to stay on any one subject.  I just read at a friends blog that she is moving ffrom one state to another.  Even though it is a move back to where they have lived before, I still feel for them in that it is a big undertaking.  We moved, 14 months and almost two weeks ago, can you tell I'm still telling time by the move????  We are still adjusting.  When we were in California we had stable jobs, I had been at mine for over 4 years and dh had been at his for 16.  We were highly involved at our church and had a great group of friends that we looked upon as family.  We lived in the same place for almost 11 years.  That is the only time in my life that I have lived in one place for that long, or even half that time, (in other words for more than 5 years).  I miss it still.  So does dd.  We try really hard to settle in here.  I've worked through a temp agency here which has taken me to three different companies.  What I have learned from that is that I can walk into an unfamiliar setting and do what needs to be done.  I have learned what I don't like workwise.  I have learned that I had probably the best job I could ever have before leaving CA.  I knew then that I would miss my job, just not how long I would miss it.  I've made my own job as well.  Last summer not long after arriving here, I started baking bread and selling at the farmers Markets around here.  I really enjoy that.  This year I'm tired.  I still love doing it, I just don't make very much money for the amount of work that it entails.  I have learned a LOT through this endeavor.  I won't go into all of it now.  I will be looking for some kind of job in the next week or so.  I dread this and I almost look forward to it.  As long as I'm not making a living, we are stuck here in our present condition.  I want to move on.  I want space.  I want to get all of our things out of storage and feel like we're living again, instead of feeling on hold.  We have been blessed with our situation and I'm trying hard to be content in all things.  I just didn't realize all of those things would come at once.  DH has a job, he really doesn't like it, but he is trying to do all things as unto the Lord. 

I've been feeling quite discontent as of late.  I haven't been taking care of things as well as I should.  Am I depressed???  Sometimes I think yes, then other times I think noooooo.  I see the commercials for depression medications and don't feel a need for them, although I do identify with the people represented in those commercials.  I know the feeling of not wanting to leave the house, not answer the phone, not open the mail.  But I go on.  I leave the house.  I open the mail.  I sometimes answer the phone.  I buy food.  I put gas in the car.  I do the laundry, most of the time.  Is a job the answer?  Is staying home and changing the way we live the answer?  We have changed, but are not pleased with that change.  I have been trying to live frugally.  We currently have no choice but to do that.  Well, I'm sorry I'm venting.  I wish I could be uplifing. 

I am excited for the new school year.  We have a table full of books.  I need to go through them and determine what school supplies we will need.  I hope that I can work and still give my dd the best of my attention for her schooling.  DH will be home during the day with dd while she schools.  I know other families do this, they both work and they make homeschooling work.  I did it the first year.  I did it last year.  Just not as well as I would have liked.  I hope I do better this year.  I'm tired.  I need to go to bed and sleep. 

Blessings to you all. 

I sigh because I finally ordered the curriculum for this year.  Yes, August 20th.  I have become quite the procratinator.  I've never really thought of myself as a procrastinator, but I have to admit I have slipped into that category of life.  I think it started in earnest when we fostered our two nieces one year, about 7 years ago.  I like to think of myself as someone that has my ducks in a row.  I function better when things are planned and then taken care of a little bit at a time so there is not too much to forget at the last moment.  That is so not my life anymore.  And I don't like it one little bit.  But alas, I haven't had the gumption to change it, if anything it has gotten worse.  I'm thinking of a large bird with a certain apendage hidden somewhere below the feet.  Hummmmmm........

I am excited about school starting this year.  My dd is going to be a high school student!  I can't believe it.  It seems like forever ago that she started kindergarten but at the same time, it seems like yesterday.  So much has changed as is only right.  This being our third year homeschooling, she is finally saying that she actually prefers it.  She really didn't like the first year, she was used to going to school and seeing friends and the whole social thing, not that she was a social butterfly or anything, buttttt....  Lst year was such a huge change in so many ways that it was hard to gage schooling other than getting it done.  This year we are going back to the ABEKA curriculum and we feel better about that.  There are so many ways to homeschool and this one works really well for us.  It is a ton of work, but, it is also layed out for you and we like that.  Homeschooling only one child is a unique challange.  It seems that so many of the programs out there are put together with multiple levels in mind.  There were so many reasons last year that we chose to go the unit study method, for most of the same reasons we are going back to a layed out program.  Much to my delight, dd asked if we could still do some unit studies in addition to the program for fun!    Learning for the delight of learning has been a goal of mine for dd, I think we are seeing the beginning of it.  Yeahhhhhh! 

Quick aside, dd just came out of her room with our poor little dog "swaddled" in her old quilt.  The dog was surprisingly ok with it.  Whatever????

Blessings to you all.

I am in my "high" season.  Baking.  Three markets a week plus some other dessert baking I'm doing for some friends.  I love to bake, though right now I must admit, I'm a bit spent.  I enjoy what I'm doing but right now I don't have much time for anything else.  Although it looks as if I'm going to be getting a day off on a regular basis.  I now have very stiff competition at one of the markets and it is really wiping me out as far as how much I sell.  It really is amazing how so many people walk by and smile and say they love bread but can't have it, then I see them walk right over to my competitor and buy armloads of white bread and sweet rolls and so on.  I stopped baking my white bread for that market and started concentrating on whole grains and so on and specialty breads, but it doesn't seem to matter much.  I have my regular people that come to me, but it is not enough to make it worth my time, gas and effort to go there anymore.  This is the land of free enterprise, so I wish no ill will.  I am bothered by some of the hypocrisy that I'm seeing though.  My competitor is of a certain group that is easily identified and that seems to be the biggest draw.  I know that she runs a commercial style kitchen, we conversed a few times, and does most of her bread making by machine.  I have a small kitchen and all my bread is made by hand.  Artisan style.  This is so breaking my saying nothing if I can't say anything positive post that I wrote previously.  Well, I work really hard, I get up before the sun and go to bed really late and barely sit down in between times and its frustrating. 

On a better note, we have a name!  We are now CrossRoads Community Church.  Our new church finally voted on a name last Sunday and we now have an identity besides the "Rebel Baptists" that we have been hearing in the community.  (Some jokingly and some not).  We are ready to move forward, Sunday school started about a month ago and a teen Bible study/ Youth group started about two weeks ago.  We are actively looking for a building and still earnestly seeking Gods wil for His church.   Please pray for our Pastors wife as her father just found out he has cancer and is not sure if he will be able to have surgery or make it through surgery.

Part of the reason that we moved here to this part of the country, (that still does not feel like home), is to help with my m-i-l.  She has been doing farily well, forgetting things and such, but nothing to alarming until the last 5 to 6 weeks.  She has fallen 3 times in that time frame and can not get herself up when it happens.  Yesterday she fell really early in the morning and layed on the floor for three hours waiting until my dh got off work to call us.  He had to go help her up and when he got there to help her he had to call his brother to help him, because she had no strength to help pull herself up.  She is also getting really confused and rattled easily.  She has not broken any bones in any of these falls, but she gets really bruised and gets small cuts that bleed like crazy.  Dh, his brother and his aunt had a meeting yesterday to decide what needs to be done.  A nursing home is being discussed, but it is such a difficult decision to make.  She would lose all her independence and I hate to see her lose that.  Please keep her and our family in prayer when you think of this.  I know thousands of people go through this every day, but it never gets any easier.  This is a whole new ball game for us.  My grandparents are still in their own home and relativly healthy.  They are in their 80's and I can't imagine having to place them anywhere.  I think they will stay in their home until the end and I'm sure once one goes, the other will follow very shortly.  Another set of grandparents of mine both passed away last summer exactly one month apart.  They had been together over 60 years. 

Well blessing to you all, have a great weekend.

so here is something for you to read.  I'm trying really hard not to be negative, so that has a lot to do with why I haven't posted lately.  Remember that whole if you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all saying??  Well, I'm trying.  Times have been trying around here.  I'm up to three markets a week now.  I really enjoy it, but it does tire a body out.  I don't have much time for very many other things.  I would really like to know why things can't just go the way you need them to go?  If you have an answer for that, please leave a comment.  Have a great night.

Blessings

I was just reading a blog and she had a bunch of fond childhood memories on her site, so I thought, hey I would like to talk a walk down memory lane.

First a small disclaimer, like so many others of my generation, I was a child of divorce, which means that some of my memories seem double, but some things happened at moms and some at dads.

Being a child and not having to worry about bills has to be the top.

Summer nights, swimming all day, eating dinner and then turning on the pool light and swimming all evening.

Reading all afternoon

Going to the public pool with family

Vacations at the Lake, the river and the beach

Days at Disneyland, Knotts Berry Farm, the park, the library, the beach

Summer evenings playing kick the can until mom called us in, we would stay out as late as we could

Saturday morning cartoons, Huckleberry Hound, Yogi the Bear, The Flinstones, the Jetsons, Josie and the Pussycats, The Justice League, Scooby, the Bug-a-loos, HR Puffinstuff, School House rock, The electric company

The ABC Sunday night movie

Jiminey Cricket

Original Trix, Fruit Loops, Ding Dongs, Twinkies, Soda in glass bottles

Going to the drive-in movies in our pj's and laying blankets on the top of the car and watching the movie from there.  The cartoon in between the two movies that were shown, playing at the playground between movies.

Christmas, Easter, Fourth of July

My dogs and cats

My awesome white roller skates with green wheels and purple boot covers and pom poms

Hanging out on a Saturday night at the Roller rink.

Being able to turn in soda bottles for the nickle deposit and then being allowed to walk to the store and buy penny candy

making mud pies, wearing my favorite pink twirly dress, playing with my friends.

Well, now that I've bored a lot of you, I feel better, I hope this makes you think of things from your childhood/youth.  Leave me a comment if you decide to do the same.

I lost the opportunity to sell at the FM today.  The weather said all week that it was supposed to rain all day today.  It got cloudy this evening. No rain.  Lost opportunity to make bread (both literal and figurative).  I can't bake all day and use time, money and energy and then not be able to sell.  I have to be pretty sure I can sell.  Every other time I though it was supposed to rain, and baked anyway, it worked out for me.  Not sure why I didn't this time.  Anyway, due to the lack of baking to be done, I decided to do a thorough cleaning of my kitchen.  I cleaned every cobweb I could find.  I'm working in a space challanged area.  Its really a small space that is not very well put together, but I'm working it as best I can.  Storage is a major concern and we have been fairly creative in making things work.  So, the lost time baking meant found time organizing.  After a few weeks of constant baking and even though I clean every day, things get a little disorganized and it will be really nice to go into a freshly organized kitchen tomorrow and bake. 

I have spent a little time tonight reading other blogs.  I am ashamed to admit that mine feels a little shallow.  I don't write as much about the deep feelings regarding my faith as some.  I'm measuring myself against others here and I know I shouldn't.  I don't write as much about homeschooling as I would like to.  That is why I started this.  But, still homeschooling is a large part of how we've organized our lives.  Yet, so little to say in that area.  I read about all the learning that other families have going on and feel pretty inept.  I'm lucky to get my dd to do the minimum requirements.  I want to have warm fuzzy times of learning great insights together.  It just doesn't happen that way.  I want so much for my dd to learn to love learning.  I love to learn about things that interest me.  I spend hours researching things that catch my interest.  I wonder, as so many other moms out there no doubt do, am I doing this right????????????????

Blessings to you all

I so often have good intentions that go nowhere.  This has become a terrible part of normal for me.  My intention today was to get up early, get up to Cape to do my necessary shopping for my baking today and get home and start my baking no later than 11:00am.  Reality was.....I woke up with the alarm at 6:30am, good start, but hit the snooze twice.  Got up and lit the water heater so there would be hot water for a shower.  Laid back down to wait for hot water, got up at about 7:05.  (Last night, I went to bed around 11:30pm and woke up at 1:30am with severe face pain, went to look and see what was up in the mirror and counted 7 mosquito bites on my face and neck and a few more on my hands and arms.  While I was up, allergies hit me hard, tried to decide whether or not to take a benedryl, knowing that it would make me not want to get up on time in the morning, and then drag all morning from a medication "hangover".  Finally decided that taking it would help the bites as well as the allergies, so at 2:30ish am I took the medicine.  It took awhile to settle down and make a bed in the living room, hoping to not repeat the mosquito incident.  Finally around 3:30am I drifted off to sleep.) 

My intention is to clean my house regularly instead of just when I know people are coming over.  Reality is, quick run through clean up when time permits and feelings of guilt over not keeping things better.  I am currently a stay at home mom. I should have time to do all the laundry, shopping, cleaning, cooking, schooling, baking for the Farmer's Markets, selling bread at the markets, paying the bills, buying gifts and cards for all birthdays and special occasion and mailing them on time, etc.  This is what actually got me to writing about this, I buy cards in advance, gifts in advance and items to make homemade gifts in plenty of time to get them completed and  mailed.  I have several birthday cards, graduation cards, Mothers day cards, and partially finished or unfinished gifts in my possesion.  If only those that I buy this stuff for knew that I really was thinking of them.  I love my friends and family, I hope they can understand my intentions.

Blessings to you all.

I know, I haven't posted in awhile.  I haven't even read in awhile.  I've been not feeling to well.  I'm still baking and selling bread, I'm still trying to keep a handle on things on the homefront.  I'm still praying for a better job for my dh.  I'm still hoping that I'm not ruining my daughter and her education.  I'm still trying not to fall into the funk that is ever there waiting for me with it's grip of no good.  I read my ds's blog and it cheered me to read about the cuteness of my niece and nephew.  I so understand the looking at something and trying to read it and coming away without the faintest idea of what I just read.  I just thought it was early menopause coming over me.  Who knows, tomorrow is another chance to try and do well.  To do all the millions of little things that make life nice, instead of just doing the few things to get by.  A chance to be the person God calls me to be and the person I want to be.  On that note

Blessings to you all.

I've been so busy!  I don't know when I had time to work a job.  Between the Farmers markets and the garden and shopping for supplies and keeping the house up and helping to start a church, I wake up early, go to bed late and barely sit down or eat in between.  I love it!  I like to have plenty to do.  Stuff to do for others, for my family, to help people out and so on. 

The winter wheat was gathered over the last day or so and they burned off the fields today, I'm sneezing, itchy throated, watery eyed and sniffly nosed.  This is not just today but for the last week or two. 

Father's Day is in a few days.  I am actually ready for my husband.  Not the dads, but hope to get that together. 

DD is busy making friends and working on math and helping animals and being a teen!  Enough said.

Missing my ds and her family.  Prayers for them.  Prayers for my sister-in-law too, so much to say there, but if you can't say something nice about some people, don't say anything at all.  (not about dear s-i-l).

Blessings to all.

See ds, I posted first!

it opened this last Saturday!!!!  We did well, I sold all but two loaves of bread, which left one for us and one for m-i-l.  We had quite a few people come through, I was really happy about that.  I wasn't sure if it would be well attended, but it was.  Hopefully next week will be even busier.  The veggies are close to being ready to go to the market as well.  We should have peppers and tomatoes by next week.  Overall things went really good.

Yesterday, I started experimenting with new breads, I made ciabatta and zucchini-blueberry.  The zucchini-blueberry went over really well around here, I made mini bundt cakes out of some of the batter for dh and dd and they both ate them and asked for more.  !Wow, what a great way to get veggies into them!  Dh wanted me to make more to give out as samples, so I have a batch in the oven right now and they smell wonderful!  DD asked if any of it was for her and her dad, I said maybe, she said she would buy one if she had to.  That is really a testament to how much she liked it.  The ciabatta bread didn't turn out as I expected, but it was still good, I baked it in a 9x13 because the batter was really runny, then I cut rounds for our hamburgers last night and cut the rest into small squares for sandwiches.  It was really yummy with the burgers and homemade fries and fried zucchini.  It is that time of year that there are plenty of fresh veggies, so lots of opportunities for experimenting.  I'm going to try and go to the market in another town on Thursday, they have an evening market so that gives me time in the day to bake and have it that much fresher.  I'm not totally sure that this market is open yet, so I'll only bake enough to cover the cost of my gas there and back, if I don't sell out, I have people that will buy from me here in town, so either way, that will be two markets for this week.  I haven't had a call from the temp agency yet as to a part time position, I'm praying the baking will suffice us. 

On another note, I'm actively praying for a new job opportunity for my dh, he has a job, but he isn't making much and he really dislikes it.  I would appreciate any prayers in this area from anyone reading my blog.

Blessings to you.

We are working on finishing the school year.  Most kids in this part of the country are done already however since we didn't start until mid Sept, we are going until mid June.  DD is working hard on math, she had come to a standstill and I gave her a few weeks off to unwind in math and this week we've hit it hard to catch up and she seems to be getting over her hurdle, she is actually doing really well.  It baffles me how she feels like she is no good in math and yet as I go over the problems with her, she mostly understands them and just needs reassurance that she is on the right track.  We will probably work on math through most of the summer, but that will help when school starts again, it won't be such a gap for her to forget through.

Farmer's Market Opens This Saturday!

I've been waiting for this to occur for months now.  We are as ready as we can be.  I have stocked up on supplies and tomorrow is a cleaning and organizing day for the kitchen, then Friday I bake all day.  We are looking forwad to seeing the other vendors that we haven't seen since last summer and meeting all the people that come to buy fresh produce and hopefully fresh bread.  We bought a nice new canopy for this year, we had no shade last year and we are on an asphalt parking lot, so it gets really warm, but hoepfully the canopy will help.  Our garden is coming along, we hope to sell something from there.  We are concentrating on tomatoes and peppers, we have more planted, but are not sure if they will make it to the market, I plan to use some of the produce in my baking, so we'll see. 

Fun Day!

DD and I headed to town after school today to do our stock up shopping for the baking day on Friday.  We have been working on building a friendship with our Pastor and his family and were fortunate enough for Mrs. Pastor to come along with us today.  We had fun trying to find stores that I've been wanting to seek out and have not had time or opportunity to do so until today, we drove in quite a few circles before finding them, but laughed and had a good time none the less.  We also got our shopping taken care of and made the trip to the post office that we have been trying to do for weeks, so it was productive as well as fun.  It is nice building a new friendship in the trying times we have been enduring.  Our dear friends back home in CA care and call, but they are not here to go to town and pal around with.  So anyway, it was a fun day. 

Blessings!

It's over!  I gave notice and finished out my two weeks.  There is so much I want to accomplish this week.  I let the temp agency know that I would be available next week for a new assignment.  Soooo, homeschoool stuff to catch up on, we are supposed to finish in the next two weeks, much running around to do, laundry, getting things ready for the Farmer's Market.  I have suffered from severe allergies all weekend, and this morning I woke up and the allergies are just as bad.  It's hard to do anything when your eyes are watering like sieves, and you feel as if you have a severe headcold.   I'm going to try a new allergy medication this morning and see how I get through the day.  Getting things done depends so much on how a person feels physically.  So, pray for me that I can get things accomplished depite this thorn in my flesh! 

Blessings to you all.

I'm at a crossroad in my life yet again, it seems this last two years have been a big crossroad for me.  We spent a year, actually longer, but a year for sure getting ready for the big move.  We finished things, we tied things up, we trained our replacements in ministry, we packed, we made the move.  Now we have spent the last 11 months trying to settle in.  We marked our 11th month over the weekend.  We actually didn't notice it until Sunday night, the actual time we arrived here.  So, this makes it the longest time I've actually lived here out of the three tries.  Yeah me!  The first time I lasted 10 months, the second time we lasted 5 months, now we have completed 11 months.  It has been a trial.  Back to my crossroad.  I quit my job last week.  I've been working as a temp for the City and it was a trial job for the city.  I was actually a temp on a long term experiment.  It has ended up as a short term experiment.  Not because I couldn't do the job, although after two months I still feel as if I know very little, but because I learned something about myself.  I learned that life is too short to be miserable, even if we do need the money.  When I told my dh, he cheered and said he had been waiting for me to just do it.  He says he would rather me be happy at home than grumpy every day when I get home.  All that said, I still need to figure out how to bring in a modest income to help out.  I'm still actually working through the temp agency, and so, I told them I would like a week off before being given a new assignment.  This is the nice thing about temping, the difficult thing is not knowing if I'll get any work that week and also, many companies want full time and I'm looking for part time.  Summer is almost here and the Farmer's markets should be opening back up soon.  I hope to be able to sell again this year, but there is no guarentee that I will make any money at this, ssooooooooooooo.  The crossroad is.... what do I really want?  I want to be home and bake and sell at the market.  I want to serve in ministry.  I want to find a church that we feel at home in.  (Read previous posts to see what has been going on there).  I want to homeschool without feeling like I'm neglecting other things and get other things done without feeling like I'm neglecting schooling.  I want to be a good wife, mom, servant of God and friend.  I struggle with doing any of these things well since I'm trying to do too many other things as well.  Well, this is getting long.  Just know that I'm taking this before the Lord, I'm praying diligently for those in my life that need it and I'm trying to live in Faith each and every day.  I'll post again as the crossroads are being traversed.

Blessings!

Hi to all the faithful few that read my blog.  Here I am trying again to find the best way to store our stuff.  We are crammed into a tiny blessing of a home and have stuff coming out our ears.  I know many would say, give things away, sell stuff and so on.  We are a crafty lot around here and so have projects started and stuff sitting around.  We tried leaving our craft stuff packed away and just not crafting and we felt stifled.  Our books, many are stilled packed away, but we keep buying more.  We love to have good books to read, we plan someday to have a library in our home.  Clever storage ideas are something I'm spending time surfing the net looking for.  Anyway, so much other stuff to say, but so little energy to sit here any longer, I'll post again with some other kind of drivel.

Blessings!

Happy Mother's day to all the Mother's on HSB.  An especially Happy MOM's day to my little sis who has her quiver full.  I hope you have a day of enjoyment.  My dear family bought an ipod nano for me and took me to Saint Louis for a day of shopping and siteseeing.  We had a nice day.  Dh and dd rode the elevator to the top of the arch and took in the views, I waited down below, I'm a bit claustraphobic and did not think I would be able to handle the small space.  I enjoyed browsing the gift shop, they had tons of old style cookbooks, so I just took my time and looked through almost all of them, then I got a nice spot to sit and people watch.  I love to people watch, its interesting.  We had a full, nice day.  By the time we got home we had running water once again.  I wrote in the last post about our well pump going out last weekend; that was fixed but on Thu, we again were without water, so over to MIL's to shower and do a few loads of laundry, but we are back in business, a new tank was installed and all is flowing well.

Special Mother's Day Blessings