Tea anyone?

On Friday we did not have a tea party.

For school this year Kellen is doing a series of unit studies centered on the Chronicles of Narnia. The study is called Further Up and Further In if you are curious. One of the suggested activities for Friday was to have tea.

Kellen did a little research about tea in England. He made a menu and helped prepare it. The menu was ham sandwiches cut in small circles, crackers with cream cheese and salmon, grapes and coffee cake. We got out some fancy little glass plates and cups my Great Aunt Hazel gave me. We invited Ashley and Miles (they were off school.) But please do not call it a tea party!


According to my son, a tea party is a girly thing requiring pink dishes and flowers. He could participate in no such event and was quick to correct anyone who would dare to call it a tea party. It was Afternoon Tea.

We also had a "teachable moment" about milk and lemon when the girls put cream into their lemon tea. They were all quite amazed and it was quick on the spot cooking/science lesson.

Call it what you may, we all enjoyed our tea, and it was a fun lesson for a Friday afternoon.

Remember Drivers Ed. . .

Talk about boring! I took it outside of school so I could get my license sooner. Many of my friends took it in school. I remember taking drivers ed in this over stuffed, hot room with an instructor who spoke in monotone. We were all bored out of our minds.

I don't think there were any options besides school or in a private classroom. Times have changed. A sponsor has asked me to look at this site. Now you can do the class portion of drivers ed via correspondence or online courses at your own pace. I wish I would have had that option!

Got a driver coming up? This may be an option to look at!

Coalwood Pictures

Coalwood, WV

On Saturday, we travelled to coal country. I had never been in this part of WV. It is beautiful. It is sad. We were headed to Coalwood, home of the rocket boys.

Do remember the movie, October Sky? In case you haven't seen it, it is the true story of Homer Hickam, a boy from coal country. He and some friends overcome many obstacles to build a rocket, and win the national science fair. Homer went on to work for NASA and has authored several books, one of which is Rocket Boys, on which October Sky was based.
Coalwood has a festival every year. Homer comes as do many of the rocket boys. Miles, Ashley (my nephew and niece), and Kellen were interested, so we decided to make the trip.

And a trip it was. Coalwood is, according to Mapquest, about 3 1/2 hours from us. We got up at 5:00 AM, because we wanted to make it for the parade. The six of us were going as were Mamaw, Papaw, Eric and his kids. We were in two vans.

Have a mentioned that there are almost no straight or flat roads where we live? It is worse in coal country. Have I also mentioned that Miles (my nephew) has a very weak stomach? Glad he was not in my vechicle! Mamaw gave him motion sickness medicine and they still had to stop three times on the way there for Miles to . . . well lose his breakfast.

We were following mapquest directions. There was a road we were supposed to turn on, that didn't exist. We ended up making a big loop to get where we were supposed to be. As you might guess, we missed the parade.

Coalwood was interesting. It was easy to imagine what it would have been like when it was a company town. The are two roads lined with houses. There are only a few styles of modest homes. A few of the homes are very well kept, but most show their age. There are large buildings that are falling apart. They were the Olga "club," company store, offices, maintenance and multifamily buildings. (I have pictures, but I can't find the camera right now. I will post them seperately.)

The festival is small, but we saw license plates there from at least six states. There was a parade (which we missed,) vendor boothes, and music. Homer's alma mater, Virginia Tech, had free activities for the kids. There was a trolley that took you to a rocket launch site. We also missed the rockets because we waited too long. The main attraction was Homer. He stood on the church porch all day long signing books or shirts and meeting people.

He seemed so genuine. He took his time and talked with each person. He had a smile. Mamaw asked if he ever got tired of meeting and signing. His answer, "Never." It seemed sincere. All proceeds from the day went to the local restoration group.

What a story his life is. It is a true American story of rags to riches, an inspiration to us all to reach and work hard for your dreams. It is also a picture of something that seems to be increasingly rare, someone who has succeeded, but remains humble and real. It was worth the drive!

There is no Potty like Home

Nolan is doing really well with the potty training at home. At home he mostly goes by himself. Sometimes he needs a reminder. When I remind him he goes without a fuss. No major accidents.

Perfect right? Wrong! He will not go on any other potty, but those at home. He won't even use Mamaw's potty. He goes outside when he is at her house. This week he had two major accidents. He waits until he can't stand it. He gets very grumpy and impossible. I try to get him to go, but he refuses to. Out and out throwing a fit refusing. Nothing seems to work. Then he goes in his pants. Last Sunday at church, I took him outside to go. Going outside is not a problem. He will pee anywhere if we are outside.

A friend of mine used to carry her sons potty seat with her everywhere. He used one of those that sits on the big toilet. She would wrap it up in a plastic bag and stick it in a big duffel bag and take it everywhere. I used to think she was nuts. I may have even thought those forbidden words, "I will never do that for my child." What I wouldn't give right now to be able to carry Nolan's potty seat with me. I would do it in a heartbeat! Unfortunately, Nolan refuses to sit on a potty seat. He goes on the big potty, at home. I can't carry our toilet with me!

Deep down I know this is a phase he will outgrow. He will learn to go to the bathroom when he isn't home. Right now though it is infuriating. Have any of you had this problem? Any ideas how to solve it? Besides never leaving the house or letting him pee outside everywhere?

Stress Breaker

The last few days I have been feeling very stressed. OK well, maybe the last few weeks. September is a hard month for us. Tim is off most of June and part of July. His schedule picks up about mid August, peaking mid September and coming back to normal anytime soon! :)

It is good. This is where the bulk of his commission is generated for the whole year. It is bad. At peak, he is working three 12+ hour days a week, 2 eight hour days and every other Saturday for 4 hours. He is exhausted and never home.

I also feel like I am working overtime. I am exhausted too. This week it has hit me pretty hard. I think because it is October and the busy time is supposed to be over and it is not. (good and bad again!) Also, the last few weeks have been busier than normal with doctor appointments and the like. It throws us off schedule and makes homeschooling and normal daily stuff like laundry that much harder to accomplish.

I have had little patience with the kids and yelling much more than I'd like. I spent the better part of this afternoon feeling frustrated, overwhelmed and sorry for myself. Then I sat outside for a bit holding the baby and watching the other kids play.

It was a beautiful evening. I was enjoying doing nothing. We came in and had a quick and easy dinner and I sat down and ate with the kids instead of trying to do laundry or dishes. As a family, we almost always sit down for dinner, but I find when Tim is not home I tend to serve the kids while I am completing some task. I enjoyed my time sitting with the kids even with the dishes piled and bags of apples calling my name.

I realized that I had been focusing on all these tasks. I was stressing over apples, black walnuts, dishes, laundry and even blogging. Yes, all those tasks need to be completed. OK, so blogging doesn't need to be done, but that is what I want to be doing. There are always tasks to complete and usually more than I could ever get done, but those tasks are not my primary purpose. Tasks are not what we are here for. We have been created for relationships. Firstly, our relationship to the Lord through Christ and then relationships with people.

Spending time with the kids this evening, instead of spending time doing things, was just what they (and I) needed. No, the rest of the night was not perfect. I still had to remind them to do this and that. I still had to threaten to spank Nolan to get him to do just about anything. (He is the most stubborn two year old!) But underlying, the frustration, the feeling of being overwhelmed and the self pity were gone. There was a peace.

Can you see it?

Can you see what I've been tackling? Really what I've been tackling is laundry, apples, and black walnuts, but those projects are not complete. In fact, laundry around here is never complete.

Well, I guess, to be honest, the project I want to share today is an ongoing process too. I've been tweaking my template. I have added graphics, and lists and played with the colors a bit. I have been doing that here and at Stop the Ride. I am not sure I am entirely happy with the changes I made, but it is a start. I guess my blog template is kind of like laundry around here: never complete.

Want to play Tackle It Tuesday head over to Five Minutes for Mom.

Holiday Recipe Exchange - Manhattan Style Seafood Stew

Time to share all those yummy recipes! The recipe I am sharing originated with a friend of the family. I know it is not your typical holiday recipe. It is a family favorite on my side and a little pricey to make, so it has become the meal we have when the family gets together for Christmas. An added bonus to this is that it can mostly be made the day before, so we don't spend the whole day in the kitchen. We usually serve this with homemade bread, salad and very decadent desserts. Cheesecake and Amish date pudding are usually among the choices.

Manhattan Style Seafood Stew

5 bacon slices, chopped 1 1/2 large onion, chopped
5 green onions, chopped 3- 28oz cans Italian plum tomatoes, drained
3-8oz bottles clam juice 3/4 c dry white wine
3 bay leaves 1/4 tsp red pepper
1 lb. small white potatoes, peeled, quartered and sliced
24 clams well scrubbed (or use canned minced clams)
1/2 pound sea scallops, halved crosswise
1/2 pound uncooked medium shrimp, peeled and de-veined
30 fresh basil leaves
1 TB lemon peel

Cook bacon in heavy large pot for about 5 minutes. Add onions and saute about 8 minutes. Chop tomatoes and add along with clam juice, wine, bay leaves and red pepper. Simmer 20 minutes.

Add potatoes to stew and simmer about 20 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. (This can be made 1 day ahead and refrigerated. Return to simmer before continuing.)

Add clams. Cover & simmer until clams begin to open- about 5 minutes. Add scallops and shrimp. Cover and simmer until clams open and scallops and shrimp are cooked. (about 3 minutes) Discard any clams that do not open. Mix in 1/2 basil. Transfer to large serving bowl and sprinkle with remaining basil and lemon peel.

Category: Soup or Main Dish

Head over to Overwhelmed with Joy to add your favorite recipe or to check out others' favorites!

Holiday Recipe Exchange

Overwhelmed with Joy is hosting a Holiday Recipe Exchange on October 2nd. That is this Monday. Post your favorite holiday recipe and then on Monday add your name to Mr. Linky at Overwhelmed with Joy. For more details, check the post here.

Is this an Intervention?

I enjoy my morning coffee. I make it half regular and half decaf, so, that really isn't addiction is it? Or is that kind of like someone saying they only smoke light cigarettes? Anyway, I think maybe Nolan is worried about me and trying to tell me something.



Thankfully, the pot was almost empty, so he did not get burned. He did, however, get two small cuts on his foot from the glass. Now, what am I supposed to do tomorrow morning? I feel the headache coming already! LOL

A Big Helper

Live Bookmarks

When going to check my daily reads, my bookmark says "Live bookmark feed failed to load." I thought, "Well that is annoying," and chalked up to a glitch with our computer or internet service. After a couple days of this, annoying was no longer an accurate description of how I felt about it. Then, I noticed it was always for the same blogs. (I am quick you know!) Upon further pondering, I noticed too that these were all blogs that had switched to beta blogger. Blogs still using the original version or those that started on Beta, like Stop the Ride or Kellen's (sorry his isn't public!) still were getting live feed. So, my solution I am resubscribing to all those that are not feeding! Maybe you have already figured this out and have a different solution.

Lydia's Room

This Tackle has been a long time coming. Almost a month ago, I tackled Lydia's closet with the intention doing her room the next week. Obviously, that did not happen. I am happy to say that the closet still looks good, and that this weekend we finally got to the rest of the room.
Before, it was truly a disaster area. Lydia and I spent quite a bit of time in this room. I even made her crawl under the bed and get everything out.


Kellen even helped out. It was worth it! It now looks like this. Notice it didn't get all done on the same day. (Lydia has different clothes on) I was hoping to do more de-cluttering (code for get rid of toys), but settled for just having things put away.

To see what everyone else is tackling or to add your own stop by 5 Minutes for Mom.

So embarrassing

Tuesday was our first story hour of the season. (the library does something different in the summer) I packed up the kids, (including a diaper less Nolan!) and headed to town. The librarian had the conference room all set up. A U of situpons (small rugs) and behind it a U of chairs for the parents. These were kid sized chairs, but they were intended for us.

We are going on a different day this year, because the day we used to go on conflicts with our homeschoolco-op. So there are a few familiar faces, but mostly new ones. Nolan was being unusually shy and stuck pretty close to me. Eventually, he ended up laying under my chair. I had Vivian on my lap. Nolan had taken his one shoe and sock off. About half way through the story, I leaned forward to retrieve it. It was a bit out of my reach so I had to come off the chair a bit. After retrieving the shoe and sock I went to sit back down and the chair was gone! The chair had fallen back when I leaned forward.

I do not have the balance, strength or grace to stabilize myself from that position. I went plop, not on the floor, but on Nolan who was under where the chair had been. Vivian was cradled in my arm so luckily she didn't hit the floor, but my arm hit the floor and the force of that caused her do asomersault out of my arm onto the floor. Nolan is screaming, Vivian is screaming and all I can do is laugh. You know you either laugh with everyone or die of embarrassment.

The kids weren't hurt only scared. Another mom took Vivian and she settled down quickly. I tried to comfort Nolan, but he was pretty upset. I eventually took him out of the room and he settled down.

After story hour one mom said to me, "Where is the video camera when you need it? You would have won big on America's Funniest Home Videos."

The librarian related Lydia's reaction to me. Lydia was initially very concerned that Nolan and Vivian had been hurt. The librarian reassured her that even though they were crying, they really were just scared, not hurt. Lydia looks at the librarian and politely says, "Oh good, why can't mommy take Nolan to a different room now?" Apparently, she wanted to hear the end of the story!

Potty Training: Round Two

After a false start, and missing my goal, it seems we may be on our way to a potty trained little boy. I think the first time we started this process Nolan figured out that I really wanted him to go in the potty, so he decided not to. Yes, he is that uh....independent would be the nice word for it! To push it at that point would have been like banging my head on a brick wall. If I even mentioned the potty I got a very firm, "No!" You pick your battles and although I really wanted him to be trained I let it go.

A few weeks ago he started getting diaper rash. He had diarrhea and his little bottom was getting pretty red. It was a major battle just to change his diaper and get some cream on him. (One, I unfortunately, had to tackle!) During the battles, I would tell him that if he would go on the potty I wouldn't have to change his diaper, or that his bottom wouldn't be ouchy in the first place. It worked. Suddenly, he was not so objectionable to the word potty.

Friday I was letting him run around with out a diaper and he took himself to the potty and went poop and pee before I knew he was even in there. When we were home this weekend he went with no diaper, just shorts. (He has trouble getting underwear down) He had a few accidents, but overall did really well. Of course it is on his terms.

1. No potty seat. He goes on the big toilet.
2. He does not want my help or reminders.
3. Shorts, no underwear, no diaper (he goes in the diaper if he has it on)
4. He must flush before he wipes. He wipes for pee or poop, then flushes again after wiping.
5. He says, "bye, bye" every time he flushes.

We are tackling potty training again. Well, I guess Nolan is doing most of the work, I am just around for cleaning up the accidents!

My first tag

I have been tagged for the very first time. (I have this awful Madonna song from my youth going through my head right now.) Heidi has tagged me for a meme. Actually, she is such a sweetie she posted two and said that I could pick which one. Since the kids are in bed, and I am waiting for Tim to get home (and I don't want to do the work I really should be) I decided to do both.

For the first word association
1. rock:Christ 2. bicycle:Kellen 3. green:spring 4. tomato:Bob (veggie tales you know!) 5. smile: Vivian

Now I get to pick five words for my yet to be named taggies
1. purple 2. home 3. cowboy 4. winter 5. computer

For the second
Here are the instructions: Grab the book closest to you Open to page 123 Scroll down to the 5th sentence Post the text of next 3 sentences on your blog Name of the book and the author Tag 3 people. (I copied and pasted that from Heidi's page. Yes, I am that lazy!)

The book that is on the desk next to me. . .page 123 wouldn't you know it is the glossary, well here goes

cap The portion of the mushroom bearing the gills and the tubes.
convex A surface that is curved or rounded outwards.
decurrent Running down the stem.
fibrous Composed of fine fibres or threads

This is from Mushroom Picker's Foolproof Field Guide by Peter Jordan. We had it out this weekend when we found some Oyster and Giant Puffball mushrooms.

I tag my darling Applehead, sister- in- law Delilah and her friend who lives near me, but I have never met isunshine. And continuing Heidi's generosity pick the one that you would like to do.

West virginia, New jersey, South carolina, Rhode island. . .

So, did you decide to buy one of those places in New Jersey? Nah, me neither. I am sticking right here in my 100 acre wood, in my double wide without a mortgage. Of course, we are still paying our mortgage for the house in Ohio.

I am looking at this site about home loans. They really do have some good information. There is a link called mortgage 101. The mortgage calculator link was interesting. It will calculate how much income you need to qualify for a loan, how making extra payments will change your overall payments, whether you should refinance and lots of other options.

But on the home page there is a tool to get current mortgage rates based your location, type of dwelling and general credit. Out of curiosity, I was going to check the rates for West Virginia, but it was spelled West virginia. At first I was offended. I thought maybe it was a jab at my state, and then I noticed we were not alone. There was New jersey, North and South carolina, Rhode island and well every state with two words has only the first word capitalized.

I know I am not perfect with my spellings and grammar. I do proof read and still sometimes someone will point out an error or I will go and read a post weeks later and see a blunder, but this is just me talking with you. I am not a business or a professional. I do not make the same error repeatedly in a post. (do I?) Will someone please tell these people that both words of a name are proper nouns! I feel the urge to break out the red pen from my teaching days, and I wasn't even an English teacher!

Ding - Time is Up!

Before we got pregnant with Vivian (our fourth) we thought, "This will probably be our last, but we aren't sure." A wise friend of ours once told us that you shouldn't make a decision about having more kids while pregnant or with a newborn. Tim and I agreed with his logic. The mom is hormonal. The family dynamic is changing. There is added stress. Of course, this friend has eight kids so maybe he wasn't the best one to listen too. Yet, we decided to wait until Vivian was six months old to talk about the issue.

The last trimester of my pregnancy was hard. I know it could have been much worse. I didn't have health problems. I wasn't on bed rest. I was just very tired, grumpy and uncomfortable, much more so than with any of the others. If you had asked me then if we would have more kids, the answer would have been, "I seriously doubt it, but there is a slight chance."

Then she was born. She was difficult. Check my March archives. Again it could have been worse, but I was stressed! More kids? "Are you out of your mind?" And she got easier and the maybes started to creep back in.

Vivian was six months old about a week ago. I am really torn. There are plenty of practical reasons to stop with four. There are times where I feel like I am barely treading water with four. Times where I am ready to pick up the phone and make Tim a doctor's appointment for a little snip snip.

I do enjoy the kids though, most of the time. I love to watch them grow and figure everything out. I love how they are all so different and similar at the same time. I love the lessons they are learning from having siblings to deal with. (I do have to remind myself of that when they are screaming at each other!) I love kids. It is not your typical kindergarten teacher, warm fuzzy type of love for kids, but I do love them.

If I was younger I think we'd have more. Yes, there are plenty of women older than I still having babies, but as I said this last one was physically draining. And I am at the age where pregnancy starts to become more risky. Tim also always looks to the other end. How old will we be when the kids are gone? Right now I will already be my parents’ age. Their kids have been adults for awhile. I think, "If I was them, would I still want kids at home?"

I think I do know deep down that Vivian will be our last, but I am having a hard time making that a permanent decision. I have friends who did the snip snip and now want another child. How many people do I know who thought they were done and *surprise*. The surprise was such a blessing. I guess there is no rush to make a permanent decision. I am surprised that this is such a hard decision to make. I would love to hear your perspective.

Carnival of Family Life

Today's Carnival is hosted at Snapshot. There are lots of good reads and I love Snapshots layout. Check out today's entries.

Remembering September 11, 2001

I was about halfway through my pregnancy with Lydia. I was teaching eighth grade history at a rural middle school. It was early in the school year and we were still getting settled in.

I don't remember what we were actually studying, maybe Civil War. While teaching you are in your own little world. I had no clue what was going on in the world outside my classroom, until lunch.

The eighth grade team had one of the early lunch periods. We all ate together. One of the teachers pulled me aside and said that we were all meeting in the library. The library? That is odd. I went about my normal, which at that time included a trip to the restroom and grabbing my lunch from the fridge.

Entering the library I see the team glued to the TV. Whats up? Then I saw replay after replay of the plane, the fires, the collapse, the pentagon, and a possibly related crash in Pennsylvania. How did the world fall apart during my morning classes?

Stunned and shocked, I don't think any of us really talked. Initially we asked the librarian (who was able to watch most of the morning) if anyone knew what had happened. Of course no one did and after that there wasn't much to do or say.

Our lunch period was short and students would be back in a few minutes. How do we handle this? What should we say? My initial reaction was this is history happening. Let's tell them, let's watch the news, let's talk about it. The rest of the team was older and wiser and suggested that we say nothing unless they brought it up. That their parents should be the first to discuss this with them. That is what we did.

The rest of the afternoon was spent trying to go through the "normal" while sneaking to the library for a quick update and trying to process the events that occurred. None of the students ever seemed to know that something terrible had happened.

The next days and weeks were spent talking about it. We mourned and reacted with the rest of the country. I laminated the newspapers. (Wishing now I had saved them but I left them at the school when I quit) We talked about the latest findings. We watched news reports. Occasionaly, we studied what was on my lesson plans.

We did a special project. They were supposed to make a poster to tribute what America is. I wanted to emphasize the good. (Looking back now I see this was probably part of the swell of patriotism that occurred. ) I wanted to move the focus from the images burned in our brains of the towers on fire and falling, of the people running, covered in soot and debris of the rubble and those missing. I emphasized over and over again that it was not to be about 9/11, but apparently the students couldn't let those images go. About 1/4 of the posters had the towers as the central image.

It is amazing to me, five years later, how fresh some of those memories are, yet some things are blurry I wish I would have been blogging then. I wish I would have written it all down.

Shannon has shared her memories and is giving us the opportunity to share with her and her readers also. In reading others memories, I was surprised at how quickly the emotions from that day rose to the surface. It is a deep wound that is still healing.

If you would like to share your memories or read the memories of others please do so here.

I've been interviewed.

I've been interviewed by "5 Minutes for Mom".

Have you seen 5 Minutes for Mom? They have a mom blogs and mom-owned webstores directory where you can have your site listed with a detailed, full page writeup. It's owned by twin sisters who run a couple of toy stores with pedal planes and wooden toys. They're on a mission to encourage moms to read more mom blogs and shop more at mom-owned stores. We moms need to stick together and we might as well spoil our kids together!

Sophie the Sofa??!

So as the story goes. Mamaw and Papaw are looking for a sofa. They currently have no living room furniture. Papaw buys the ad bulletins to search for a good deal. He comes home with this.

Not a sofa, but they named her Sophie!

Sophie is pretty, but not broken. The previous owner did not work with her. She is starting to warm up to us. She is bred and we expect her to foal in May.

We don't have pasture. We are a 100 acre wood. The neighbor (JS) has pasture and a barn that was not being used. So Sophie is there. Another neighbor has three miniature ponies who kept getting out. So JS said to put them in his pasture. The ponies are mostly gentle, but had not been well taken care of. The other neighbor gave us permission to care for and use them. We had to cut their manes and tails because we were unable to get the tangles and burrs out. The kids have ridden some. (Papaw leads them) Kellen is almost too big for the ponies already. Maybe we will have to get a full sized one for him. The kids really enjoy going to see them and brushing them and of course feeding them treats.

Oh the memories. When I was in grade school we had two ponies. A friend (TW) and I rode those ponies everywhere. We had no clue what we were doing. We started riding bare back with only a lead halter and baler twine reins. (They were gentle ponies!) I ran into TW at the homecoming. We reminisced about those days. Turns out she just bought a pony for her daughters too!

Papaw also brought back three hens as part of the deal. Here he and the kids are building a coop.

Kellen "milks" (family joke) the chickens and so far there has been just one egg a day. We are trying to get the dog and chickens used to each other and are hoping to let them free range. So there are the happenings around the wood.

The next animal addition we are thinking of is a doe rabbit. We have had a buck for awhile (thanks to Delilah) but we would like him to, well as we tell the kids, get married and have babies. The babies will be sold or eaten. So far the kids think that is a good idea, but I am wondering how Lydia will be when it really happens. I remember as a kid when our rabbits were butchered. Traumatic!

Oh and also a rooster so the hens can hatch chicks in the spring. And who knows what else may show up on our "farm"

Beta update

I really do like this Blogger Beta. It makes working with your template so much easier. (not that I have everything done I'd like to!) I do have one frustration though. I can't log in to leave comments on blogs that still use classic blogger. You would think it wouldn't be that big a deal, but it is really bugging me! I have to post anonymously. Then I add my name to the comment and because there are several Stephanies out there I add 100 Acre Wood. It is just that much more to type. Then on top of that other bloggers can't get to my profile and blog from my comments! UGH! So come on y'all . . . switch! It would be so much easier for me! And of course that is what it is all about! (You know I am joking right?)

update!
Add to this that I can't get pictures to load today. It worked for me before! What is the deal! I have a post ready to go except the pictures! Hopefully I will get it up later today.

Wordless Wednesday

The Farm Girl

See more Wordless Wednesdays or post your own at Five Minutes for Mom

The newest cousin

This weekend we visited Tim's family in Fredericksburg. It was a busy weekend. We all had a lot of fun. We got to meet the kids newest (and only on that side of the family) cousin, Gage. Here they all are.
We went to the annual homecoming. Fredericksburg is a small town. Many residents have lived there their entire lives as did their parents and grandparents. Tim and I both grew up there.

The homecoming is very "small town" I mean that in a good way. It is a fundraiser for the local fire department. It is a volunteer fire department that has no tax levy support. Volunteers do all the work for the event from making creamed chicken and homemade desserts to washing the trays and working the games. The local high school band plays and there are carnival type games.

But most of the "entertainment" is just sitting around talking with friends and family you haven't seen for awhile and the ones you see all the time. I saw several old friends from school. And no, I don't just mean high school. These are people I went to school with from first grade on. It was nice to touch base again.

Another high light from the weekend; Kellen learned to play poker. (no money, just fun!) Tim and I played the last time we were there, and of course Kellen wanted to learn too. And learn he did. I figured he might get the hands but not really how to play it. I was dead wrong. He knew what he was doing. One hand in particular stands out. He had a good hand, but he never let on. He bet slow, lured us all in and took all our chips. He plays better than I do. (ok that isn't saying much, but still!)

We came home Sunday night and spent Monday doing stuff around the house. I bought groceries at an auction. This is the second time I've gone there it is kind of fun and there are good deals. Maybe I will blog about it sometime, but for now I will leave it at that. Hope you had a relaxing long weekend!

Frugal Fridays

Today's Frugal Fridays topic is about eating out cheap with the kids. You can find it at Stop the Ride!

Hope you have a great and relaxing long weekend and that the weather is better there than here. We have had rain for days and looks like for the weekend too. Enjoy your time with your family!

Window Treatments

We have been in our house for almost a year now and I still don't have any window treatments up. The kids bedrooms have mini blinds that were there when we bought the house and the living room has vertical blinds with many blinds missing. Decorating is not at the top of my list as you can tell! :) Part of me just doesn't want anything on the windows. It isn't like the neighbors can see in, and I like to see the outside. But along with the organizing I have been doing, I have been thinking about window treatments for a couple of reasons.

When the moon is bright it has actually woken me up. At about 3 AM on a clear night the moon shines right in the window on my side of the bed. The way the windows are put in it is very difficult to paint around them, so many of the frames have paint on them. It would be nice to cover that up a bit. I have also thought something on the windows would help with the heat and A/C costs.

So what to get? Any suggestions? We have always just had the cheap mini blinds, maybe it is time for something else. I like these bamboo shades. These real wood blinds are pretty and on sale! These light filtering ones look good too, but I wonder if they would stop the moon.

I hate to spend a bunch of money on this place though. Hopefully we will start building, and I won't need window treatments in the new house! :) Ok well I may need some, but not a lot. Maybe I should just make something for here or just buy the cheap ones for the windows that really need something. (like the one the moon shines in!) What do you think?

What is it about four year olds?

Why are four year olds so funny? It isn't just my four year old either. I have seen several posts in the last few weeks about the funny things they say. Here are the latest from my four year old.

The other day Mamaw was running some errands with the kids and I. I was telling her about a local restaurant Tim's coworker recommended. It is called Cajun Kitchen. We were close to it so we thought we drive by for a look. When we pull up Lydia says, "But mommy where is the cage?" (cage-in-kitchen)

Last night Mamaw was telling the kids how excited she was about the new horse and that she had waited her whole life to have a horse. Lydia's response, "I have waited my whole life too Mamaw."

And today, she went to get a pair of socks. When she brought them to me, I commented that those socks looked too small. Proudly she says, "I know I am just growing up too fast!"

She keeps me laughing!

Introducing. . .

I decided to start another blog. In looking over my posts here. I realized that my posting habits have changed. I started this blog to keep out of state family and friends up to date on our family adventures. I love that I have made new friends here too!

I noticed that I am not posting our stories as much. I haven't told you about how much Nolan is talking or how Vivian is starting to move around, or the latest funny things Lydia has said or how Kellen has fallen in love with some neglected ponies. I haven't even told you about the horse Mamaw and Papaw purchased or the chickens we may be getting and the pen Papaw and the kids built.

I enjoy Frugal Fridays and I would like to try some making money on the Internet things. Yet they seem to be crowding out the family stories. Adventures in the 100 Acre Wood is about the family stories. So I am going to move the more frugal, get out of debt, money type things I want to write about over to Stop the Ride!

It is still a work in progress, (actually there are a bunch of changes I want to make to both blogs after switching them to beta. ) but check it out. Frugal Fridays will be there tomorrow. And now back to the stories of the Adventures in the 100 Acre Wood.

Blogger Beta

Have you seen bloggers new program? Check on your dashboard. I know they are making it available a little at a time so it may not be there, but if it is, have you switched over yet? I did last night, (I also started a new blog, still setting it up, but more on that later.) and it is awesome. You can manage your links and add elements without html language. You can make labels for your posts. It is all so much easier. I am still messing with stuff so you may see some changes here soon. FYI to access the new tools you have to update your template. It took me awhile to figure that out.

Festival of Frugality #37

Yesterday's festival was hosted at Blogging Away Debt. Here is what I liked.

Get Cheap Food at the Farmers Market. I don't agree that farmers markets are necessarily cheaper. I don't find that to be true here, but I do like what they suggest about going at the end of the day to get your produce cheaper. As a matter of fact a friend at church showed up with a box of bananas on Sunday and told everyone to help themselves. They had gone to the flea market and at the end of the day and purchased a whole case of bananas for $4.

Young and Broke shares some good tips she recently read about frugal cooking. I especially like the one about spices. In fact I was considering posting on that subject this Friday.

No Credit Needed tells you how you can get free shipping boxes from eBay and the post office.

Hope you find some good frugal information!

Moving to NJ?

Since moving here about a year ago, I have met many people who have moved here from NJ. It is kind of funny to hear that Jersey accent mixed in with the WV accent. Of course, being from the Midwest, I have no accent! :) People have asked us, and I am sure our New Jersey friends also, "Why would you move to WV?" Well if I was from Jersey I would be answering, "Have you seen the price of our real estate?"

Today I was looking at Jersey Shore Real Estate web site and wow is it expensive there. One property I saw was a two acre lot. Ok just two acres of land, no buildings and the price. . . Take a guess. . . how about almost $5 million???!!!!!! Granted this does look like a beautiful and unique piece of land on a river, but $5 million!? I'll take my 100 acres in the woods that cost pocket change compared to that, thank you very much.

Besides oogling at houses that I will never buy, (the lowest price I saw was $295,000 for a two bedroom home) I did find some helpful and interesting information. I thought Ten Tips for Selecting a Realtor was pretty helpful. We have only purchased one home (and are trying to sell one!) and used a friend of ours, but I really wouldn't know how to find a realtor if I needed one. These tips are specific and detailed, down to some interview questions to use.

I also found Eatontown History interesting. It is short and sweet, but I am a sucker for history. The town was started in 1670.

The area and the homes look very nice, but I won't be moving there anytime soon! :) No offense to anyone who is from Jersey! It was fun to look though.

Tackle it Tuesday - Lydia's closet

This weekend I tackled Lydia's closet. The kids rooms are fairly small, but they have these huge walk in closets. Great right? Well mostly. The downside is the closets become play areas. Lydia (4) loves to play house in her closet. The result. . .

It was a big mess. I also had a lot of off season clothes in there that I hadn't worn for a long time. We sorted clothes. Picked up piles and organized. Took things to the consignment store. Threw things away. And the best part officially moved Vivian's things in. She is out of our room and now the girls are together.

We finished on Saturday, and this is when I took the pictures below. So far the closet looks pretty much the same. The rest of the room, well we haven't touched it and uh. . . I will let you have a peek in another Tackle it Tuesday! Check out some more at 5 Minutes for Mom.

Carnival of Family Life #16

Check out the Carnival of Family at Everything Under the Moon. Lots of good family type stuff there. Stories and thoughts to be shared, tips and advice and reviews and news. Good reading!

100 posts later . . .

This is my 100th post. It has been fun. I am really surprised at how much I enjoy this whole blogging thing. The other day I went back and skimmed through some of the old posts. I thought it would be fun to go back and look at some favorites. I would love to know which other ones you thought were memorable too. I decide to pick one post from each month I have been blogging.

My first post was February 6, 2006. Remember the story about the mama mouse? I have to admit I almost teared up again, so I guess it wasn't just pregnancy hormones!

In March, I shared with you my first trip to the grocery store with four kids. Honestly, I think it was easier to go then than it is now.

How could I not pick Hillbilly Scouts from my April posts? Classic!

I had a hard time picking a May favorite, but in the end this post about Kellen won out. I couldn't resist the cute picture of him and Vivian.

In June, I wrote about a Momma Bird that got me thinking about momma me. :)

In July we played a little guessing game about a mystery object. The mystery was solved in a Story about My Grandpa.

Kellen picked the post for August. He picked Quotes from a Four Year Old. I guess he thinks his little sister is pretty funny too!

Thanks for reading it has been fun sharing with those I know in the real world and making new friends here in the "virtual world." Looking forward to another 100!

Applehead is married to a Potato head

Preface
When Tim was in college there were two Tims in a musical he was in. So they started calling my Tim, Applehead. If you don't know us, Applehead fits because the word apple is in our last name.




Today I took a quiz here about what kind of homeschooler I am. The results. I am Mr. (Mrs.) Potato Head. The description is as follows

Mr. Potato Head You have your ideal of how things should look, but you're flexible enough to allow for change. You are not bothered by changing methods, mid-course if necessary. You use an eclectic combination of curriculum sources.


It is a pretty accurate description of how we homeschool.

So I am a potato head who is married to an applehead.

Getting Paid to Blog

I spend a lot of time blogging. Probably too much, but I really do enjoy it. Could I actually make money while doing it? I knew you could make some by using those google ads that pop up all over the place on some blogs. I wasn't really interested in those. Supermom over at Getting Out of Debt. has talked several time about different ways to make money with your blog and I never really was interested until this week when she posted about Blogvertise. Now this one has me interested. This post is actually my entry post for their approval process.

Here is how it works. After you are approved they will send you a site to visit. You check it out and you write about it. You can write about it any way you like. You can write a review of the site. You can incorporate into a story. You can even be negative about the site. You just have to write at least 50-60 words and link to the site three times in your post.

You submit your post for approval and if it is approved and still posted in 30 days Blogvertise pays you $10 to your paypal account. Sounds good to me, so I am going to try it. Just think I could actually say I get paid to write! :)

Thanks Amanda. I fixed the links!

I thought I'd never . . .

I had this parenting thing down. I knew what I would do and what I wouldn't. I rolled my eyes at parents whose kids were throwing tantrums in Wal Mart. I snubbed those whose kids talked back. I couldn't understand how their children could be so out of control. That was before I had kids!

Now I find myself often thinking, "I thought I would never,"

Let my kids sleep in our bed
I don't think that even lasted the first night home from the hospital

Have the need to say, 'Do not stand/sit/ lay on your baby sister.'

Get excited about poop
You know, the baby pooped she must be eating well and later, yeah you pooped in the potty.

Use my saliva to clean a face

Use a babysitter named TV

Bribe uh. . . I mean reward my child with candy

Lock my child in his room for his nap
I know it sounds awful. I almost didn't put that one down. Let me explain. It was the only way Nolan would stay in his room and take a nap. Don't worry I am no longer doing this. He learned to unlock the door! Now I have to stand there and hold it shut!

Allow the kids to eat in the vehicle
I have traded a clean vehicle for sanity and speed while driving

Be a stay at home, home schooling mom

Want to live beside my parents in the middle of nowhere

Oh how your life (and perspective) changes after you have kids. There are my top ten things that I thought I'd never do as a parent. Oh and yes, my children have been out of control at restaurants and stores and they frequently talk back, in case you were wondering. Fortunately none of those are regular events, but they do happen.

How about you? What do you do now as a parent (or wife or adult) that you never thought you would? Please share in the comments or on your blog! I didn't get Mr. Linky going so if you are posting in your blog leave a link in the comments and I will add it on here.

Check out Delilah's post here. And JSunshine's. And Jake.

Wordless Wednesday

Siblings Playing

Find more Wordless Wednesday here. Join me tomorrow for I thought I'd never.

Tackle It Tuesday

We have been here over a year now. The move was kind of chaotic. Tim was here before we were. I did as much packing as I could with three kids and being pregnant. The move was jammed into a weekend. Our house was not ready so we crammed in with Mamaw and Papaw for a while. We painted most of the rooms in the house. Then finally moved to our house and stayed without electric for about two weeks. And of course this all happened in the height of rental season when Tim works very long hours.

I normally am fairly organized. I like things to have a place and be there. But with all the chaos (and exhaustion), I wasn't up to my norm. I just wanted to get stuff out of boxes and out of my way. So . . . things were (and still are) jammed in to cupboards and closets. Of course we have also accumulated more stuff in this year that needs a place to go.

So why am I telling you all this now? I am ready to start reorganizing and decluttering.
5 minutes for Mom hosts a meme called Tackle It Tuesday. I think participating in this will help me keep motivated. So here goes. My first Tackle It Tuesday.

This is our homeschool cupboard before.
We have been doing some school all summer, but I thought before we kick it back in for fall (and add another student) that I should give this thing a clean out. While cleaning out I also made a list of supplies and things we need to restock.

And the completed project.
The first time Kellen got in the cupboard he found a couple of books he forgot (aka were buried under the clutter) we had. He has been reading them since.

Next weeks project. Lydia's closet.

Festival of Frugality #36

Today's Festival is hosted by Amy at Motherload. As always there are lots of great entries to help us save money. Some of my favorites.

The host offers a menu planner and price sheet from my favorite grocery store; Aldi.

Ever been dumpster diving or curb shopping? HollyRhea shares her experiences.

*Ladies Only*
Tired but happy talks about reusable feminine products. I don't have a need for these right now, (yet another perk of breastfeeding!) but I have seen cloth items discussed several places on the web. The "keeper" is new to me though. I am not sure I am ready to make this frugal step. I do cloth for diapers, yet somehow this is different. The lifetime money savings has to be huge. Something to think about in the next few months.

And since I love curry I had to add The Common Room's recipe for Curried Lentils. She also had a recipe for curry powder a while back, but I wasn't able to find it quickly today.

So check them out for yourself.

Before Kids . . . .

Think back to a time before you had kids. C'mon you can do it. Remember when there were no poopy diapers or runny noses. A time when you didn't trip over toys at three A.M. while trying to settle the crying baby. When half your errand time didn't involve buckling and unbuckling car seats.

Remember the time you were out to eat with your friends or future husband and the table next to you had a screaming three year old and a baby throwing food and parents who seemed to have no control. And you opened your mouth and uttered those famous words, "When I have kids they will never act like that." Now you find yourself the parent who seems to have no control! Please tell me I am not the only one! :)

Isn't funny to hear the things people say they will never do until the reality of a situation hits them? Lately, I have been thinking about the things I now do that I thought I would never do as a parent. I thought it would be fun if we would all share. I will give you until Thursday to think up a list of things or a story that illustrates this. Then I will post my list and you can leave yours in comments or blog about it and leave the link. (I have never used Mister Linky, but I may give it a try)

I realize that not all of you have kids at home, but feel free to be creative and participate with another list. Does this happen to grandparents too? Or maybe other things as an adult or wife you do that you never thought you would.

Think about and share it with us on Thursday. I can't wait to see what you have to say!

Jumping off a Cliff

On day two of our trip to Monongahela National Forest Tim and Papaw led the group from church through the cave at Fernow Forest, I was happy I didn't need to go again! :) Mamaw and I took the kids and two other non-cavers from the group to play in the river. Tim posted a couple of pictures from this on his blog. I had to take them with his phone b/c he took the camera in the cave.

The next day the whole group went to Table Rock for rappelling. Rappelling is not much work it is pure rush, fun! The first time is mental work to step off the edge and there is a little physical work to climb back up, but compared to the cave it is nothing! The most work was keeping track of the kids. We literally tied Nolan to an adult the whole day. We really had not planned to stay out all day with the little kids, but that was how it worked.

Here is a picture of us watching the rappelling.

Kellen did not go down. I can't really explain why. He has rappelled before. The only thing I can say is I think he was exhausted and he shut down everytime he got to the edge. Oh well maybe next time. He did do some rock climbing at the end of the day.

Here is a good one of Miles. (My nephew)

Lydia went tandem with Tim.

We never did take Nolan down. I think he would have been ok going down, but we were concerned about getting him back up. We have some very small rock faces on our property. I think we are going to let the kids "practice" there (with us of course.)

A Journey to the Center of the Earth

Alright so we didn't go to the center of the earth. I am not sure how far down we went, but I am pretty sure we were really nowhere near the center of the earth. It just felt like it. When you are in the cave you feel so far away.

We had a great time. I was hesitant to go in the cave this year. It is hard work and it has been 3 years, 2 babies and about 20 (+) pounds since I last went caving. I decided to go in for the kids. It was Lydia's first time in the cave and I wanted to be there. (well I guess with that logic I will have to go two more times) We took the kids (mine and my brothers) in before the larger group of teens and adults came from our church. Here the kids are preparing to go to the cave.




I had not been in this cave before. It is a lot different than the other one we go to. I liked it better. There was running water in it. We had to do a lot of crawling and even military crawling, but it wasn't the tight squeezes I remembered from the other cave. The wet makes it very dirty, but at least you are not breathing in dust.
Here we are eating lunch.




It was very hard work. My knees were sore and I have the bruises to prove it. (Though most of the scratches came the day we went rappelling. More on that later.) I found muscles that I forgot were there. I am still a little stiff. But I really enjoyed it. There is that sense of accomplishment in pushing yourself and doing it! I was glad I was there with the kids too. Here are the pictures when we got out of the cave.





Kellen wrote you a poem about it . . .

Dirty in a Cave
Very dirty in a cave.
Crawling through the dirt,
Water dripping on my head.
Dirty in a cave.

Festival of Frugality #35

Check out the Festival of Frugality over at Punny Money I haven't got a chance to look to closely yet as I am still battling piles of laundry and what not from our trip. Do you ever wonder if going away is really worth it? But there are always lots of interesting entries. Hope you find some good tips! I would love to hear which were your favorites.

Quotes from a Four Year Old

We are back from our trip. We got back late Saturday. Sunday we went to church and spent the afternoon relaxing at a friends house. I really should be tackling the mountain of mail, or the unpacked suitcases, but the laundry is going and the kitchen is back to decent so, I am having a cup of coffee and I can no longer resist the urge to blog! But I will make it short and sweet and share with you some words spoken by Lydia this weekend.

The two oldest kids rode there with their cousins and my parents. A conversation began about what the kids wanted to be when they grew up. Lydia's response,

"When I grow up, I am going to be an adult."

At camp she was heading for the cabin. I was trying to keep the kids from playing in there so I asked her what she was doing. . .

"I forget . . . but I am going to go do it anyway!"

She was really cute in the cave too. I will tell you more about that later. I am thinking there were some other cute things she said, but I can't remember right now. (I need to write things down!) I will add them later if I think of them. For now I have fed my addictions (blogging and coffee) :) and should return to tackling the piles.

Why am I sitting here?

We met Tim's parents at a half way point (about 2 hours away) on Saturday so the two oldest could go for a visit and to Geauga Lake. So right now two of my kids are out of state (probably on some sort of roller coaster) and two are sleeping. And I am on the computer. I really should be doing other things. And thank you to all who are saying "oh but Steph no kids (for all practical purposes) enjoy yourself, relax, do something for you." Well normally I would be all about that and apparently I am since I am still sitting here.. .

But you don't understand. I pick the kids up at the half way point tomorrow and we leave for a caving, rapelling, camping trip on Wendesday. There is laundry and shopping to do, food to prepare and pack, clothing and toiletries to gather and a house to pick up. (I can't stand to come home to a wreck after a trip.) So why am I sitting here? I think I am addicted! :)

I may try to squeeze another post in yet this week, but I will be gone Wendesday to Saturday so I will catch up with you next week! And my story about how Tim and I have lived in some free and cheap places will have to continue next week. Well back to the TO DO list.

The Joys and Frustrations of Breastfeeding

An invitation has gone out at 5 Minutes for Mom to share our breastfeeding experiences. I have four children, 8, 4, 2, and 5 months. I nursed the three oldest for right around a year and plan to do the same this time.

I am not sure exactly why I decided to breastfeed Kellen. At that time it was becoming the thing to do, not that I am necessarily a follow the crowd kind of person, but I did like the health aspects of it. Honestly, though, I would probably have to say that the financial aspect was the big seller (I am practical at my core!) I couldn't see buying formula when I could produce something better for free!

Why doesn't anyone tell you nursing is work? Women have been nursing babies for. . . well, forever. I just assumed you put the baby to the breast and they get fed. Easy right? Yeah right! Nursing is work especially in the beginning, and Kellen and I had a rough beginning. I don't want to tell the whole story now or this post will become a book, but the pertinent facts for this discussion are we were in different hospitals for three days and although I was given a pump I wasn't really told how I should be using it and did very little pumping. All this equals a horrible start.

When we came home I was clueless. None of the family had nursed. They didn't know how to help and I didn't have another mentor. We were figuring this out on our own. I had to go back to school and start my student teaching. I didn't want to supplement, so I was pumping too. There were other things going on in our lives that were difficult. It was awful. Looking back now I see it in a different light, but at the time I felt like all he did was nurse and cry. I was tired and completely frustrated physically and mentally.

Now, I wonder why I stuck with it. I guess people who know me would say I am just that hard headed. I prefer the term determined! It did get better. We did get the hang of it. I actually enjoyed it.

What is my favorite part? Ok well besides that it is free :) I think God designed us to breastfeed so that we would stop, rest, think, enjoy and bond. I am not saying you can't do that if you bottle feed, but with breastfeeding you have to. I know me. I am a doer. I like to get things done. I like to be busy. It is hard for me to sit and rest. If I was using bottles I probably would have propped that bottle or let the baby hold it so I could finish the dishes or cook dinner or do whatever I felt had to get done. I also love that I can bring the baby to bed with me and sleep while they eat. (Something I said I'd never do before I had kids!)

Weaning was only hard for the first one. It was hard because we had used nursing as his comfort to go to sleep at night. So, I was the only one who could put him down, and he took a long time to go to sleep. At a year we were only nursing at bed time, and I had had enough. We let him cry it out. We had three long nights, but then he learned to put himself to sleep.

The next three I would not allow to fall asleep while nursing (after the first few months) and we taught them to put themselves to sleep much earlier. It was much easier with a lot less screaming than the first time around. I actually planned to nurse Lydia and Nolan a bit longer
but they weaned themselves when they were a little more than a year old. We have yet to see what Vivian does! :)

I'd like to say everything was perfect with the next three, but that would be a bit of an exaggeration. But it was soooooo much easier! I knew what to expect. My milk supply was better. I asked for help when there was a problem. I wasn't so uptight. It was just all around better.

As for advice . . .
If you are just starting and have a hard time ask for help and stick with it. Set yourself a goal that you will try to nurse for X amount of time and then re-evaluate. The first months are hard work; it does get better.
For later, if you hit a rough spot ask for help. Most moms are more than happy to help!

Sumac Pie

I made the pie for the church carry in. It was a hit! I wouldn't tell anyone what it was until they tasted it. I eavesdropped on comments. I heard "What are those berries?" (I used some of the berries for garnish.) "This tastes like pink lemonade." "It reminds me of a sweet tart."

After telling people what it was I got a lot of raised eyebrows. I explained that it is different than poison sumac. I took a couple ladies out to the parking lot where there is some staghorn sumac growing. I still got some of the "it is good, but you are weird" looks, but hey I never said I was trying to be normal! :)

The Original Pink Lemonade

We have been foraging wild foods again. This time it is sumac. No, no not poison sumac, but Staghorn Sumac.
This a picture of it.
There are several species of sumac with similar berries. (Poison sumac has white berries that hang down between the leaves) The berries are fuzzy and very tart. If you touch the berries and then lick your finger it tastes like your finger was in lemon juice. You don't eat the berries. They are mostly seed, but you can use them to make things. Apparently, Native American used the berries to make a lemonade like drink.

I put the berries from two flower heads in the blender with water to cover, blended briefly and allowed it to sit for 30 minutes. Strained this through a cloth into a pitcher added water to make a gallon and about 1 3/4 C sugar. It looked like pink lemonade when it was done.

It tastes similar to pink lemonade also. My husband likes it and says it tastes more green. I know that sounds like a strange description, but I have to agree with it. I am not sure how else to describe it. The cook book Bootstraps and Biscuits by Anna Lee Robe-Terry lists several recipes for sumac. They all start with the sumac ade. (What I made in the blender before adding sugar and more water) I tried Sumac Jelly and Sumac Syrup. My jelly turned out a bit runny, but I really like the flavor. The syrup is great. We had it on French Toast. It is a very different kind of syrup because it has a little tang to it, but Tim and I really liked it.

We have a carry in dinner at church this Sunday and I think I am going to try a pie from that cook book. It is thickened and sweetened ade folded with whipped cream in a graham cracker crust. I will let you know if I make it and how it turns out. I am also thinking about freezing some of the ade in ice cube trays to use instead of lemon juice.

If you are new to this blog and want to know some more about what we have been foraging do a search of this blog from the top of the page for "weeds" to see some of my previous posts on the subject.

What's for dinner?

Need some new ideas for what to serve for dinner? Check out the Carnival of the Recipes #102
at Men in Aprons There are recipes for every course of your meal. I am intrigued by Smoky Citrus Shrimp with Parsley and Cream cheese Fruit Clouds not only looks fantanstic I could use blackberries! I always looking for more uses for those! Enjoy!

It is so hot that . . .

Can you believe this heat? It is pushing 100 here and then add in the heat index for the humidity WHEW!

You know how your glass of ice water "sweats"? Well I went grocery shopping today and while loading the groceries in the car the non refrigerated items were sweating. IE my jar of salsa was wet on the outside. (Good science lesson for why this happens!)

I hung up a load of laundry yesterday I was dripping with sweat by the time I came in. And I don't know why I bother because it is so stinkin' humid it takes the laundry all day to dry.

Our air is set at 78 and after spending 5 minutes outside it feels cold coming in the house.

Thank the Lord for A/C! We haven't always had it, but I sure do appreciate it now!

Enter the champions!

The training was intense. The competition fierce. The battle difficult. Yet the Royal Book Knights persevered and emerged victorious!







Kellen, Ashley and Miles were members of the Royal Book Knights. This is part of a summer library program in our county called Battle of the Books. The Knights read 10 books and met for practice once a week in June and July. The battle included 12 teams from all over the county. Ten questions to each team. The Knights were the only ones to achieve a perfect score.

I wish I could have gotten more close up pictures of their faces when the questions were asked, but we were pretty far away and our camera is cheap. Their body language told the whole story. Even when the other teams were asked questions you could see on our team's faces if they knew it or not. And honestly there were only a few questions through the whole competition that they had to think about. When it was their turn the knights would have a quick huddle and the spokesperson (the blond boy in the middle) would give a confident answer. They were all so excited and proud of course so were mom and dad!