Make it from Scratch

Merry Christmas Eve, Eve as my kids like to say, and welcome to this week's edition of the Make it from Scratch carnival. Here are a few last minute ideas for your Christmas celebrations and more.

Food!

As expected the sweet treats abound in this week's carnival. Feast your eyes on these holiday treats.

mom2my9 presents Super Lemon-y Sheet Cake! posted at 11th Heaven's Homemaking Haven.


Our Red House presents Gran's Fruit Mince posted at Our Red House.

MC presents Oreo Snowball Truffles posted at Shibooya.

Mama Bear presents Coffee Chocolate Chip Biscotti - A Christmas Project #5 posted at I've Got a Little Space to Fill.

Liz Nast presents It is autumn and that means PUMPKIN PIE FOR DINNER! posted at Industrial Light and Morons.

Julie presents Fun and Tasty Christmas and Holiday Desserts posted at More4kids.

Joanna presents Rachel Ray's Fudge Wreath posted at One Krusty Mama.

HappyCampers presents Don't Buy Caramels Anymore...Make Your Own! posted at The Adventures Of The Williams Family.


Woman can not live by sweets alone. (Though she certainly could try this time of year.)


CzechFolks.com presents Exploring Czech Food – Part VI - Famous Potato Salad (Poznavame Ceska Jidla – Cast VI - Slavny Bramborovy Salat) posted at CzechFolks.com, saying, "It is hard to find an authentic recipe for the real Czech potato salad, which is traditionally prepared during Christmas. This recipe will give you the closest taste using ingredients from abroad and will make you famous amongst Czech and other European communities."

vh presents Christmas dinner plans posted at Funny about Money.

Mary@SimplyForties presents Why Not Try A Duck? posted at SimplyForties, saying, "It's not as hard as you may think!"

Kelly from Almost Frugal presents 5 Ways to Use The Rest of That Cranberry Sauce posted at Almost Frugal Food.

Stephanie presents Canning Stew Meat posted at Stop the Ride!.

crafts!

Pretty up your Christmas table, gifts, and outfit.

Joanna presents A Christmas Centerpiece, Year 2 posted at keeping feet.

Kris presents Veggie Might: Bead Me Up - DIY Holidays Part Two posted at Cheap Healthy Good, saying, "Thank you for hosting!"

Belle presents Handmade Decorative Hair Pin posted at Homesteaderbelle's Blog, saying, "This is a post about a hair pin I made with a bobby pin, seed beads, and wire. "

makingthishome presents The Greenest Wrapping Paper You Can Make (for free!) posted at Making This Home, saying, "What a fun project. Thank you, and I look forward to everyone's ideas."

RecycleCindy presents Pointed Granny Dish Cloth posted at MyRecycled Bags.

other

A little of this and a little of that made from scratch.


Alex presents Cat Urine Smell Remover Recipe posted at Home Life Weekly, saying, "It can be difficult to remove cat urine smell from furnishings as the cat urine odor tends to linger, well instead of buying expensive odour removers, this recipe can be used to remove the odor of other pets as well."

Anthony Delgado presents Website Promotion from Scratch posted at Need Extra Cash?.

Stephanie presents Edible Gifts: Putting it all together posted at Make It From Scratch.

nickel presents Homemade Christmas Gifts: 18 Do-it Yourself Ideas posted at fivecentnickel.com.

Thank you for joining us this week for Make it from Scratch. Submit your posts for next week's carnival using the Blog Carnival form. The carnival will be at A Dusty Frame.

It is a gift...No it is a science lesson.

I saw this wonderful (and inexpensive) idea for a Christmas present over at Greenhab. We put several of these together using paper white kits purchased at Aldi for $4 a piece. Each kit contained four bulbs. We also bought several bags of pretty stones at the Dollar Tree. The glass containers we already had. 

We planted the bulbs about two weeks ago. Some of these we gave away before the plants really had begun to grow, but now they are growing and I can't help but see a science lesson here. When else can you grow a plant and actually see the roots? 

I brought all the kids into the kitchen for an impromptu science lesson. We talked about the plant parts and their functions. The cool thing is the learning doesn't stop there. 

We are keeping one of these for ourselves and in a few weeks should see the flowers. Then after the flowers fade we can talk about how the bulb stores up energy. At the end of the summer we will allow our bulb to go dormant for 5-6 weeks and then start the process over; the complete cycle. How cool is that? Kellen is less than impressed, but I think the other kids will enjoy it. 

You just never know what may turn into an educational opportunity. These were intended only for Christmas presents. They have become a pretty science lesson also. 

A new Christmas Tradition?

This week the kids and I were talking about Christmas Day, and the subject turned to what we should have for our Christmas dinner.  After cooking a traditional meal for Thanksgiving, and enjoying other similar meals with our church and 4-H group in the weeks between Thanksgiving and Christmas, we are ready for a little something different. But what?

I thought it might be fun to let the kids help choose the dishes. They were all for this idea, and quickly started offering suggestions. Their suggestion all sounded delicious, but let's just say they were a little heavy on the main dishes and desserts. So we decided to write down some food categories on small pieces of paper. We threw the papers into a hat and everyone drew out a category to choose a dish from. We started with the youngest.

Vivian drew "dessert" out of the hat. Her choice; cookies.

Nolan drew "appetizer." After explaining to him what that meant and giving a dozen or so examples, he finally settled on shrimp.

Lydia picked out "side dish." It only took her a second to decide on mashed potatoes. 

Kellen got the other "side dish." His choice; pepper jam with cream cheese and crackers. I felt this really was an appetizer, but could not convince him, so a side dish it will be. 

Tim drew the coveted "main dish" category. We will be having grilled chicken breasts wrapped in bacon. Unless of course a deer is taken, then it will be bacon wrapped fillets. 

That left me with the beverage choice. It will be sparkling fruit juice for the kids and wine for the parents.  I may try to make egg-less eggnog also. 

It may not be the most nutritionally balanced meal, but it will be delicious. We had a lot of fun coming up with our menu. I think this may be a new tradition in the Appleton household. 

Warm and Cozy

Almost fourteen years ago, Tim and I embarked on this wonderful adventure called marriage. There have been good times and rough times, and so many memories made. The adventures started from day one of our marriage. 

We were married Tim's freshman year of college, during his Christmas break. Pressed for time and money, we decided to rent a cabin from a family friend for our honeymoon. 

The cabin was located nearby, in a remote area of Central Ohio. Being in the middle of nowhere, in a cabin during a cold Ohio winter may not appeal to some, but to two young, wildly in love outdoor enthusiasts, the romantic appeal was tremendous. Not to mention the price was right. 

We packed our hiking boots, our favorite foods, a huge bottle of wine, a few games, and headed off to the woods. When we arrived we cranked up the heat, started a fire, and went to setting up the kitchen in our first "home" as a married couple. 

While unpacking and getting organized, we were blissfully unaware of the fact that the cabin really was not warming up. We prepared and consumed a meal, and sat down to play cards at the table. Though we were thoroughly enjoying ourselves, as the sun set, we began to notice that our toes were awfully cold. As were our noses, and was that my breath I just saw?

A check of the thermostat revealed that it was not just our imagination, the cabin was cold. The furnace was running, but the vents were blowing cold air. We called the owner of the cabin, Dan. 

Dan was a retired small town preacher. He reminded me of a backwoods Santa. He had a gray beard, balding head and the round belly to go with it. Most likely you'd find him in jeans with suspenders, a button up plaid shirt, and hiking boots. He was kind, and not easily riled up. 

He explained that the gas for the furnace came from a well on the property, and that sometimes it just didn't have enough pressure to keep the furnace going. He tried to walk us through a fix that sometimes worked. It didn't work for us, and he said he'd be there in the morning. 

Thinking of that situation now, I know I'd be hopping mad if that happened to us today. I can assure you that now, if the electric goes out and we are left with only the fireplace for heat, I do not in the least find it romantic, but fourteen years ago it only added to the ambiance. 

The bedrooms were on the opposite side of the cabin from the fireplace, and freezing cold. We pulled one of the mattresses out into the living room, and laid it on the floor in front of the fireplace. We made the bed with every blanket we could find. We snuggled in under the blankets, and had no trouble staying warm. 

Late the next morning Dan came, tinkered with the furnace, and got it running. The rest of the week the entire cabin stayed warm and cozy. The mattress, however, stayed right where it was for the duration of our romantic winter honeymoon in the woods.  

In our fourteen years I wish I could say that we have embraced every challenge with such enthusiasm and idealism. There have been times I’ve been down right frustrated and angry at situations we’ve faced, but I can say we have faced those challenges hand in hand. From the other side of the challenges, we can appreciate them for the growing experiences that they have been. After all isn’t facing challenges together and learning from them what this adventure called marriage is all about? 

This post has been entered in the Scribbit Write Away Contest. December's theme is Keeping Warm. 

Trying to out smart me again....

I'm feeling the pressure to get things wrapped up for Christmas. That combined with a virtually empty refrigerator and cupboards pushed me to do something I normally would not consider - an all day shopping spree - with four kids. 

Yes, I normally take the kids with me to get groceries. Then we are talking about half the day and two, maybe three stores. Yesterday we left at 10 and did not return until after 5, making a quick stop at the library, hitting seven different stores, stopping only for lunch with Tim. It was craziness I tell you! 

In the midst of all this Vivian (2) devised another way to try and out smart  her momma. Vivian loves to push the cart. She thinks she should be able to push the cart solo. I don't mind letting her help, but c'mon she is two. She can't see to drive the cart, even if she could actually handle the thing.  It is a pretty regular battle, especially in stores that have the smaller carts like CVS or the Dollar Tree. 

Yesterday in the Dollar Tree, she was insisting on pushing the cart. I told her she could, but then I went to the front of the cart to help steer it. Oh the drama! You'd think I'd taken her favorite toy away. She finally settled down, and decided if she couldn't push the cart herself she wanted nothing to do with it. 

She was content to walk beside the cart, and after awhile she started playing a game. She was pretending to be the momma. The kids play house a lot and take turns being the parents, so this was nothing out of the ordinary. But then she turns to me, grabbing the cart,  with mischief in her eyes, and says, "You Vivian. Me mommy. Me push the cart."

This Little Piggy

The piggies aren't so little anymore...Christmas ham anyone?

Wordless Wednesday

Why so quiet?

Since I haven't posted in over a week you might think it is quiet around here. Is it ever quiet around here?! Nope there is always something going on. 

Thanksgiving was good.  Aunt Hazel, Terry, Jeff, Gail, Uncle Steve, Ashley, Miles and Amy all joined us. Thursday was nice and a few of us got up super early to go shopping. It was mass craziness, but really I don't mind. It is a different kind of mass craziness than what I usually shop with. (Meaning shopping with four kids!) I found a few things, and marked a few people off my list. I still have a way to go. 

Monday it was back to the normal schedule; school and band. We had co-op on Tuesday, and went to a friends on Wednesday for a bit. Tim was off Friday which always messes me up. I like when he is off, but then it seems like a weekend, but it isn't. Then he goes to work on Saturday and it doesn't seem like a Saturday, but more like a Monday. And well, I'm rambling. . . .

Today we got a space ready in the barn for the sheep and moved them there. Maggie looks to be getting pretty close to lambing. It may be a few weeks, but with this super cold we are having, I'd rather be safe than sorry. We put Mini with her, but apparently Maggie still isn't happy and was crying and tried to get out when Papaw was up there. We don't have the ram. He was loaned out to service the ewes of a friend of a friend. He agreed to keep him over the winter, and that is fine by me. It is so nice not fighting that big bully every feeding time. Not to mention we don't have to worry about him fighting with the other animals now either. 

We were supposed to have a church dinner, but it got cancelled because of the weather. Yes, it is that bad here. It was in the teens last night, and never got very warm today. It snowed a good deal of the day. Tim drove home at about 10 MPH. He said the roads are all iced over. They were predicting a cold winter. So far they are right. 

Tim decided to go out and hunt since we weren't going anywhere tonight. Now, I have to figure out what is for dinner. Feels like a clean up leftovers night to me. Then maybe a family movie night and bed. Hope you are keeping warm where you are!

To you...

Image Credit: Vintage Holiday Crafts

Let the Season Begin

.... Gun season that is.


Today was the first day of deer gun season here. Our resident hunters, Tim and family friend Terry, each got a deer early in archery season, but then, in what has become a pattern over the past few years, the deer have been scarce. Hopefully, they will each get another in gun season.

Hunting is a big deal here. Not just in the 100 Acre Wood, but in the state. In the area of Ohio we are from a fair number of people hunt. I would have called it a fairly normal activity. In fact, the school that I did my student teaching in made the first day of gun season a day off school. But hunting there is not nearly the big deal that hunting is in this state.

I wouldn't say everyone hunts here, but I bet everyone has a good friend or family member that does. Camo, gun racks, and four wheelers in the back of pick ups are frequent and normal sites. Sunday, our local news station had a fairly long segment on the six o'clock news about how to site in your gun. The local paper regularly has hunting articles, and Sunday's edition featured about a 3/4 page article about the start of the season. It confirmed to me that deer season is a big deal here. (Read the full article: Deer Season Starts)

It brings $233 million into the state economy.

Last year during the two week buck season 67, 213 bucks were tagged.
Over 67,000 bucks in just two weeks in a state that is only a little over 24,000 square miles. That is crazy to me.

Deer season is a big deal to me too. It fills my freezer, and is our "beef" for the year. Cooking venison is different than beef though. Gail asked me for some deer recipes. I referred her to a post I wrote on another blog, Venison Roast. The main thing to remember is that deer has less fat than beef, and will dry out easier. Steaks are best cooked medium at the most. When Tim butchers he cuts the tenderloin into thick steaks which we wrap in bacon and grill medium rare. Those are the best!

Roasts need to be cooked with liquid. Since writing the post above, I have had better success with cooking roasts in the crockpot. They turn our very tender when put in the crockpot with broth or other liquids.

After the roasts are cut from the legs, we (mostly my mom) makes broth and stew meat by boiling what is left. The stew meat is canned. It is so convenient and delicious to use with noodles or rice for a quick dinner.

Not exactly recipes, but ideas I hope. Enjoy the season, and your venison.

Cooking Rabbit

Living here in the woods, and becoming more self sufficient has involved cooking a lot of new to us foods. Luckily, we are pretty adventurous and enjoy trying new things. Our gardens have consisted mostly of your standard vegetables. New vegetables have come in the wild foods that we eat. The food group where we've had the most learning to do is the meats.

We are learning to cook venison, rabbit, lamb, and soon will be learning about goat. I'm happy to say that the only meat I buy now is sausage and bacon, and we should have our own hog in the freezer late this winter. It is a good feeling.

Rabbits are wonderful meat sources. They can produce a lot of meat year round. They are easy to raise, and would be ideal for an urban homesteader. The meat is lean and mild. In fact, rabbit meat is extremely healthy. It is lower in fat and cholesterol than chicken. See rabbit meat nutritional facts.

Ideal market weight for rabbits I'm told is between 3-5 pounds. We usually let ours get bigger than that, up to 10 pounds, before butchering. In young rabbits, the meat is still tender and it is enough for a meal for us when they are larger.

Yes, it really does taste like chicken. In fact, I'm willing to bet if you served deboned rabbit to anyone they'd never suspect that it wasn't chicken they were eating. Though they taste like chicken, they obviously aren't shaped anything like a chicken. Learning how to cut the meat has been the hardest part. The best meat is in two long strips along the back. The belly meat is tough, but can be used in soups and stews. The front legs are similar to a large chicken wing while the back legs are comparable to a chicken thigh. I mostly cook the rabbit whole in a crockpot and debone to use. Sometimes, like for the grill, it needs to be cut into pieces. Then, we cut the legs off and cut the back into two or three pieces, depending on the size of the rabbit.

So how to cook it? I think that I've used rabbit in just about everything I used to make chicken with. Like chicken, it works well with a variety of spices and herbs, and can be cooked lots of different ways. As I mentioned above I mostly will cook it in the crockpot. The first meal I will serve it deboned and then use any leftovers to make soup, casseroles or other meals. One of the best things we've tried with rabbit recently is BBQ. The rabbit was cooked in the crockpot, deboned and then reheated with homemade BBQ sauce, roughly based on this Western North Carolina Vinegar Barbecue sauce. Rabbit is also excellent grilled.

Cooking new meats has been interesting. There have been challenges, but learning to use rabbit has been as easy as substituting rabbit for chicken in a recipe.

Oh she is a smart one

Awww isn't she cute and sweet?

Don't be fooled. Although she is terribly cute, and can be incredibly sweet, behind that veneer the wheels are turning.

Vivian has a bad habit of asking for something to eat, eating a bite or two and saying she is all done. Then ten minutes later she is asking for something different to eat. It drives me nuts.

I'd rather let food go to waste (Well not exactly to waste since we feed the scraps to the animals, but that is expensive feed!) than to force the kids to eat when they aren't hungry. One thing I've done is to give her very small portions, but even then she doesn't finish it. The other, and much more effective approach has been to save her food. then when she asks again for something to eat, I pull out the food she did not finish. This does not meet with her approval most times. We've been battling this way for sometime now.

This morning she decided she was going to try to out smart me. She ate maybe two bites of her cereal. When I picked up the table, I set her bowl on the counter. It wasn't there long. Yes, the cereal was very soggy, but it isn't like the milk had turned or anything. Soggy cereal is gross I know, but we are trying to break a habit here. I went out to let the chickens out. When I returned, Vivian was dumping her cereal into the sink.

She had that "busted" look on her face for a brief minute. Then she smiled sweetly, and said, "I hungry." Oh yes, she knew exactly what she was doing. I simply responded, "Then you shouldn't have dumped your cereal." She had no argument, but simply walked away.

Cute? Yes she is. Sweet? Most certainly. But don't forget smart and tricky too!

More Annoying than a Political Ad

I do not enjoy election season. I do not enjoy politics. Although I respect the foundations our government rests on, in my opinion the whole government has just gotten too large, too complicated, and the elected officials, along with many of the people who put them there, too self serving and short sighted to ever make any real change. I still try to stay somewhat informed. I vote, but let's just say I'm slightly disenchanted with the whole process. 

Frankly, this election season I was more ambivalent than ever. Neither of the gentlemen running for the top seat of our nation inspired me in the least. Neither promising to lead down a road that I wish to follow. Then consider that I live in an area which is bombarded with political ads from three states. Can you understand that when the election is over, I just want it to be over? I'm tired of hearing about it. I'm done with it. 

To the best of my recollection this is the first even remotely political post that I've ever posted on any of the blogs I write. Although I am so ready to be done with all things to do with the 2008 election, even though I've never expressed support for Obama or McCain on my blogs, Obama supports feel the comment sections of my blogs are a place to celebrate the Obama victory. And one to insult the people of West Virginia for not voting for Obama.  

Most of you know that I'm not one to get riled up easily, but these commenters really tick me off. I am fully willing to attribute part of this irritation to hormones, to the TV experience my family had last night, to the field trip I drove an hour for today that was not what I was expecting, or to the inconsiderate person on a chat group who unjustly accused a friend of being biased and then got mad when another friend defended her. Yes, basically right now I'm irritated with people in general. I'm tired of inconsiderate, self serving people, and commenters who use my blog to celebrate an event that I've not discussed at all, fall into that category. 

The election is over. Obama and the Democrats won. I am not celebrating. I would not be celebrating had it gone the other way either. So, to those who are celebrating, keep it to yourself, and let's move on. 

Election Day in the Woods

We belong to a co-op that meets every other Tuesday. My children have made a lot of great friends and look forward to our meetings. This year our meeting happened to fall on election day. Because the building we meet in is a polling place, we thought we might have to cancel co-op for the week. Instead we decided to have co-op in the woods.

Yesterday we had round about 50 people here. (I never did get a count.) We had beautiful weather and lots of fun. Activities included a scavenger hunt, petting the animals, sack races, egg tosses, and eating apples tied to a string. (Or off the string as the case may be.) We also had hayrides and a campfire with s'mores. Everyone brought food to share and we feasted after all the activities. It was a wonderful day. Here are a few pictures:

Nolan Strikes Again

I guess he thought my plant needed pruning. 

Wordless Wednesday

The Beauty of Homeschooling

I know homeschooling isn't for everyone, and that is ok. There are so many things that I love about homeschooling. It is hard to imagine not homeschooling. Well, there are days I do imagine it, but those mostly come on the grocery days where kids are running down the aisle, crying, begging, or fighting. On those days, it is oh so easy to imagine them being in school, and me shopping with just one child instead of four, and someday shopping all alone. Oh yes, that would be a beautiful thing . . .  Wait a minute this post was supposed to be about the beauty of homeschooling, not my fantasies of peaceful grocery shopping. 

As I was saying, the last few weeks I've really appreciated some of the advantages of homeschooling. This appreciation has not come at the shining success of our educational pursuits. It has been earned through the frustrations and trials of learning addition and subtraction.    

Lydia quickly caught on to the concept of addition and subtraction, and she was great figuring out problems, as long as she could use manipulatives. Her math book quickly moved on to double digit problems and using manipulatives for every one of those quickly became cumbersome. Soon she was frustrated and shut down. She wasn't even able to complete problems she easily figured the day before. I was getting frustrated. We were getting nowhere. 

This is where the individual attention that comes with homeschooling is such a blessing. Instead of her falling behind while the class moved on, we are able to slow it down and work at her pace. She has been playing a lot of math baseball in an effort to sharpen her skills.   We also pulled out a workbook that we didn't use last year. The pages are very simple, and she flies right through them. It all serves to strengthen the foundation and make math a less overwhelming subject to her. 

She still needs manipulatives a lot more than I'd like, but she is getting quicker and gaining confidence. So much confidence in fact, she is teaching addition and subtraction to her four year old brother. For several days now, after her lessons are done, I've found her sitting with Nolan and a beginning addition workbook page. It is simply adorable. 

Our math curriculum is set aside for now. There is no pressure to get through the text or to keep up with the class. Lydia is learning addition and subtraction at her own pace. Right now that pace requires a lot of repetition and patience. The beauty of homeschooling is the flexibility to provide her with that. 

They are very literal at that age....

A few weeks ago, Papaw had Nolan (4) and Vivian (2) with him to do chores up at the barn. They all had an unpleasant surprise when they got there. One of the horses was dead. 

Biscuit had recently been weaned from Sophie, and Sophie was being kept in the barn during the process. For those of you who don't know, Sophie was a wild thing. She was easily spooked, not broken, and a big bully in the pasture. Papaw had hoped to be able to work with and train her, but the time to do so was never there.

Sophie was not happy to be in the barn to say the least. She refused food and water for the first few days there. Though she did start to eat and drink, she never was content in the barn. She pushed and pushed at the gate, and apparently some of the block were not solid. She eventually pushed the block out which caused the upper support to fall on her head, killing her. This is what they found when they went to feed the animals that day.

Sophie was hardly a pet. In fact, the kids were scared of her. They were not upset that she had died. Papaw buried her in a big hole on a hill by our driveway.

The other day Nolan was with Mamaw and Papaw. Mamaw and Papaw were talking about the animals and the subject turned to Sophie. One of them commented, "I still can't believe we lost Sophie." To which Nolan immediately replied, "We didn't lose her. She is in that hole by the driveway."

Little Piggies

Wordless Wednesday

Same Battle, Different Child

On this journey called parenting, one of the things that has amazed me the most is how different every child is.  The fact that two children coming from the same gene pool, raised by the same parents can act and react so differently boggles the mind. 

Our four are no exception. They all have very unique personalities and traits. It is good. It keeps things very interesting around here. 

Though they are all individuals, there also are a few common traits that can be seen in them. Out of the four, the two that are most alike are Nolan and Vivian. The both are independent and strong willed. They both know how to lay on the charm. It is dangerous, I tell you. Adding to it, they both are very active. It is exhausting, I tell you. 

Long time readers have read many a story about the adventures of Nolan. In the last year or so, he really has mellowed out. Not that his personality has changed, he is till plenty ornery, but he seems to have learned to respect the boundaries a little better. Just in time for his little sister to come behind him and push me to my limits again. 

Oh she is sweet, and she is cute, and she knows exactly how to use it. She is full of personality. She loves to run the show. She is not afraid to tell anyone what she wants or thinks. One of her latest insistence's is that she wear her pink cowboy boots everywhere we go. 

These boots were in a bag of items given to us by a neighbor. They are cute, but don't exactly match everything. Viv doesn't care. She wants to where them everywhere. I had to draw the line when she wanted to wear them with turquoise shorts. 

Oh, and do those boots get attention! Vivian basks in it. If we are out somewhere, and someone notices the boots (as if you could miss them) she smiles sweetly, makes sure they have a good view of her boots, and says, "My pink cow boots." She is a charmer! 

Last night the above picture is what I found in my bedroom. How could you be angry with that face? Well I was, for a moment anyhow, until I thought, "What a great picture for the blog."

It isn't just boots, or getting into things she knows she shouldn't. She is pretty insistent on having everything her way all the time. She does not take no for an answer, and will dig in her heels at every turn. 

So, here we go again. I'm gearing up for the battle, reviewing what I wrote a year and a half ago, Dealing with a Strong Willed Child,  when it was Nolan I was battling, and praying that what worked with Nolan works with Vivian too. After all, they are a lot alike, but also very unique. 

Listen up guys

The pastor played this at church on Sunday. Men, this could save your marriage!

Tearin' Down the Barn part two

Yesterday was Tim's day off work. So we headed to work on tearing down the barn. Tim and I drove separately. By the time I got there he had all the siding off except one wall. That final wall was covered in tin that did not want to come off. After removing the floor boards and some of the other structure, Papaw and Tim sledged the wall off in one piece.






As you can see, by the time we were down there was not much left. Most of what is left in this picture is unusable. We do have to go back to get the last trailer load of wood, but the tear down is done.