Wow, it's been a while!

So I noticed the date of my last post... I guess I didn't realize it had been THAT long! We, as you might have guessed, have been busy here! We had Thanksgiving at our house, which meant that the house needed an overhaul, cleaning-wise, before we had people over. So that took an immense amount of time. I built liners for my wire racks in the kitchen out of hardboard (my new favorite project material), so I could use them for more than just cooling racks and large items, they can now collect all kinds of junk! My dh and I also ripped out the living room carpet (after Thanksgiving of course!), see my post here to read about that! We have gotten SNOW, but we were somewhat prepared and have put up some snow fences! The driveway is not impassable thanks to those nifty orange bits of plastic! And so winter is here again. So far we have'nt been snowed in. We have gotten about 8 inches (maybe) total so far, and most of that has been washed away by all the rain we have gotten in the past couple of days, but we are expecting some more tonite, so we will see how that goes. Stay safe out there, whereever you are this winter!

Another burst of Autumn!

Last weekend we were supposed to get cold and rainy...just in time for Halloween. It didn't. After planning costumes for cold weather, it stayed warm. Halloween night it was about 60 degrees outside for the kids to go trick or treating. Such a nice change from other years where it has actually been spitting snow on some occasions. All this week we kept waiting for it to get cold and it has been in the mid 70's every day! SO nice! We were able to get out and enjoy Fall for yet another week. Today the forecast says about 70. Tomorrow? Not so much...try cold and rainy. Friday? Try cold and rainy...turning to snow Friday night and snow called for on Saturday and Sunday. ICK! So, I suppose if I am going to do anything outdoors, I had better get to it today. But, I do have to say, this is one of the things I do enjoy about the midwest. I like the changing of seasons. I like to be able to see the changing color of the leaves and freshly fallen snow and budding, flowering trees. It is all a part of God's beautiful creation. So I will try not to complain too much about it.

Cold Days in the Country

Late Fall has arrived here at our country house. The mouse problem is under control. It is COLD outside. It has been getting down into the 30's at night, and tonite it is supposed to be dipping down into the 20's. We had to turn the furnace on to keep the kids from getting sick (okay , daddy was cold). The wind has been whipping and Sunday I even saw snow. Yes, I said snow. Not a lot and if you weren't outside you would have missed it. But it was definately there. The wind was blowing us away and I saw what I saw what I thought was hail, but it was soft, much too soft for hail. Yes, it was indeed the white fluffy stuff. But it didn't last long, and it left cold windiness in its wake. I don't think I am ready for winter just yet. I want to enjoy a bit more Indian summer. A little more brisk Fall. Certainlly not frigid winter. Here is a picture at our house about 18 hours after closing on it in 2006...
It is kinda hard to tell from this pic, but there is 19 inches of snow there. Nineteen inches. Yes this is the definition of being snowed in. We could not get out of our driveway and no one could get in. And like I said this was about 18 hours after closing on the house. I made sure that we had some furniture and TV and food and blankets and some clothing moved over the night before, but for the most part we had most of our belongings at the rental house yet. My dad got his drive cleared and around 5 pm drove over to our place and called me from the road in front of the house to say "You guys are snowed in". Well, yes we are...thanks for noticing! He took me over to our rental house about a mile away so that I could get a few more essentials moved over until we could get plowed. We live in wide open spaces. Which in the Fall and Spring is great! You can see for MILES. I love the wide openness for the most part, but when it snows and blows in the winter, we get snowed in. Thats all there is to it. With all that wide open space it has no where to go but to us. The buildings here stop it from blowing away. Here we are again about 2 1/2 months later...

I think that this time we actually didn't get quite as much, even though it looks like more. The wind was just blowing more and piling it up. So, no, I am not looking forward to the cold snowy days of winter. I think what I am going to have to do is find something good about the cold season and create a post about it here each week. I'll think of a cute creative name for it and let you know.

A Thousand Words Thursday

Here is my daughter, off to save the world!

For all the moms out there...

I got this in an email from my mother-in-law:

Invisible Mother......

It all began to make sense, the blank stares, the lack of response, the way one of the kids will walk into the room and ask to be taken to the store - while I'm on the phone.

Inside I'm thinking, 'Can't you see I'm on the phone?'

Obviously not.

No one can see if I'm on the phone, or cooking, or sweeping the floor, or even standing on my head in the corner, because no one can see me at all.

I'm invisible. The invisible Mom. Some days I am only a pair of hands, nothing more: Can you fix this? Can you tie this? Can you open this?

Some days I'm not a pair of hands; I'm not even a human being. I'm a clock to ask, 'What time is it?' I'm a satellite guide to answer, 'What number is the Disney Channel?' I'm a car to order, 'Right around 5:30, please.'

I was certain that these were the hands that once held books and the eyes that studied history and the mind that graduated sum a cum laude - but now they had disappeared into the peanut butter, never to be seen again. She's going; she's going; she is gone!

One night, a group of us were having dinner, celebrating the return of a friend from England …

Janice had just gotten back from a fabulous trip, and she was going on and on about the hotel she stayed in.
I was sitting there, looking around at the others all put together so well. It was hard not to compare and feel sorry for myself.
I was feeling pretty pathetic, when Janice turned to me with a beautifully wrapped package, and said, 'I brought you this.'

It was a book on the great cathedrals of Europe. I wasn't exactly sure why she'd given it to me until I read her inscription:

'To My Dear Friend, with admiration for the greatness of what you are building when no one sees.'

In the days ahead I would read - no, devour - the book. And I would discover what would become for me, four life-changing truths, after which I could pattern my work:

1. No one can say who built the great cathedrals - we have no record of their names.

2. These builders gave their whole lives for a work they would never see finished.

3. They made great sacrifices and expected no credit.

4. The passion of their building was fueled by their faith that the eyes of God saw everything.

A legendary story in the book told of a rich man who came to visit a cathedral while it was being built, and he saw a workman carving a tiny bird on the inside of a beam. He was puzzled and asked the man, 'Why are you spending so much time carving that bird into a beam that will be covered by the roof? No one will ever see it.' The workman replied, 'Because God sees.'

I closed the book, feeling the missing piece fall into place.

It was almost as if I heard God whispering to me, 'I see you. I see the sacrifices you make every day, even when no one around you does. No act of kindness you've done, no sequin you've sewn on, no cupcake you've baked, is too small for me to notice and smile over. You are building a great cathedral, but you can't see right now what it will become.'

At times, my invisibility feels like an affliction. But it is not a disease that is erasing my life. It is the cure for the disease of my own self-centeredness. It is the antidote to my strong, stubborn pride.

I keep the right perspective when I see myself as a great builder, as one of the people who show up at a job that they will never see finished, to work on something that their name will never be on.

The writer of the book went so far as to say that no cathedrals could ever be built in our lifetime because there are so few people willing to sacrifice to that degree.

When I really think about it, I don't want my son to tell the friend he's bringing home from college for Thanksgiving, 'My Mom gets up at 4 in the morning and bakes homemade pies, and then she hand bastes a turkey for three hours and presses all the linens for the table.' That would mean I'd built a shrine or a monument to myself. I just want him to want to come home. And then, if there is anything more to say to his friend, to add, 'you're going to love it there.'

As mothers, we are building great cathedrals. We cannot be seen if we're doing it right.

And one day, it is very possible that the world will marvel, not only at what we have built, but at the beauty that has been added to the world by the sacrifices of invisible women.

Great Job, MOM!

Hope this encourages you when the going gets tough as it sometimes does.
We never know what our finished products will turn out to be because of our perseverance.

Country living...the unpleasant side...

First off, let me say that I LOVE living in the country...I think I have portrayed this feeling through all of my posts. However, just like everything else in this life there is some unpleasantries. This is harvest season. When you harvest acres and acres of corn, the wildlife that has been living in the field has to go somewhere. I speak specifically of mice. And anyone who has ever lived in the country for any length of time will tell you that you will have mice in the house on occasion, especially during harvest. I knew this. I was just not prepared as to how many there would actually be. We set traps when we started to notice that there seemed to be quite a few. Well, let me back up and say that we have tried every other way to catch/kill mice. We have tried poison, they just curl up in a dark corner and die and leave their wonderful scent behind. We have tried glue traps, not real effective when they chew through the trap to free themselves. We tried the enclosed traps, so that you do not see the mouse that you have just killed, but our mice are smarter than that, they somehow set off the traps, licked all the peanut butter out and left us to find the empty traps later...and now they won't even set, so I think they sabotaged the traps . So we decided to go back to the good old fashioned wood & metal spring-loaded mousetrap. We set several. Lets just say, you can't remake the mousetrap. It cannot be improved upon. It works perfectly! We caught...um...an undisclosed amount of mice in 24 hours time. More than I feel comfortable sharing with you. I will say that our mouse problem is now contained and under control! Yes, mice were harmed, and no, I really don't care...they chewed through my box of recipes and that is crossing the line.

Autumn Time Activities...Country Style

One of my favorites is roasting hot dogs & marshmallows... & not always in that order! Over the past month or so we have had a backyard fire at least half a dozen times. I love a fire. Its so much fun with the kids always trying for the "perfectly" roasted marshmallow - just a toasty brown... not too dark, not too light, and then in the end giving up and just burning it to a delectable crunchy black! Add some chocolate & graham crackers and you've got a perfect fireside treat. I also love a fire when the kids have gone on to bed and its just my dear husband & I with a cup of coffee enjoying the quietness of the countryside... no neighbors wandering over to have a look-see at our fire. Just the two of us... Here are some pics from one of our recent fireside dinners...

Life in Corn Country...

We live in North Central Illinois...deep in corn country. We are surrounded by corn fields and for at least 6 months out of the year there is corn in them! It gets planted in about April-ish and is usually harvested October-ish. So here it is October-ish and we returned home this afternoon to a partially harvested corn field to the east and south of us! The corn provides a natural "privacy fence" for a good part of the summer so we don't mind it. It is beautiful in the fall just before harvest...natural decor. And so neat to watch it as it grows in the spring. We watch when it is planted and then keep watch over it to see how soon we can spy rows upon rows of sprouted seeds turning the landscape green. Then its in the inbetween stages of between shin and waist height where we can still "wade" out into the field for a lost ball. But by mid summer it gets to 8-9 feet tall and anything lost in the field is usually just that... lost. Until fall when it is harvested by a big green machine... the combine. And if you are lucky, whatever you lost in the field will survive to be discovered. I love harvest time. To some it just means more allergies (i.e. my husband and son...) but to me it is just another summer spent. And on to brisk fall weather, colorful leaves, apple cider, hot dog roasts, and perhaps, if we are lucky, a hay rack ride! HAPPY FALL! photos to soon follow...

H.R. 5979: Stillbirth Awareness and Research Act

I post this in honor of my friend Marge's baby, Dekar, who lived only a short 8 hours until the Lord called him home... please copy and paste this into your blog to spread the word... THANKS!

H.R. 5979: Stillbirth Awareness and Research Act

(Please copy to your blogs so this bill gets more exposure. THANK YOU!)

October 15th is National Pregnancy and Infant Loss Remembrance Day in the United States. More than 25,000 children are stillborn in the United States every year leaving mothers, entire families and communities devastated. Estimates of the rate of occurrence of stillbirth make it at least as common as autism.

Stillbirth is not an intractable problem. Greater research would likely significantly reduce its incidence, but good research requires good data. H.R. 5979: Stillbirth Awareness and Research Act is under consideration by Congress. This proposed bill would standardize stillbirth investigation and diagnosis, thus providing more data for the needed research. Better research means fewer children born still.

On October 15th, remember the thousands of unfinished children lost and the families who remain to grieve them. Honor them by taking action. Let’s help pass H.R. 5979.

Action Steps:
Step 1. Use Your Blog to Enlist Others-Copy the contents of this entire post and publish it on your blog immediately.

GOAL: Enlist 10 of your readers to spread the word

Step 2. Use Your E-mail to Enlist Others-E-mail 5 bloggers and ask them (nicely and in an unspammy way) to publish these action steps on their blog. Consider contacting celebrity bloggers, political bloggers, medical bloggers, or bloggers who are not part of your reading community.

GOAL: Enlist 3 bloggers outside of your normal blog sphere to spread the word in other online communities.

Step 3. Help Pass the Stillbirth Awareness and Research Act-By October 15th, publish a post on your blog supporting H.R. 5979 Stillbirth Awareness and Research Act. For maximum impact, title your post: “Stillbirth Awareness and Research Act.”

GOAL: 1,000,000 Google results on October 15th when that term is searched for. Currently, Google only returns 20,400 pages - most of which have nothing to do with the bill.

Thank you to Antigone for starting this movement.

More information HERE

Fall Has Arrived...

The calender says it is fall, and I now believe it. The temperature in my little piece of country has dropped. The thermometer read 59 degrees during the warmest part of the day. The leaves are falling, the apples are falling, and it is getting brisk outside. Its time for some hot apple cider and a hay rack ride! I love fall for its changing colors, the ripe apples, the brisk weather... Its all so beautiful. I hope that it lasts a while and winter waits a good long time before rearing its ugly head. Here's to Fall!

Starting New...Keeping it on the right path...

So my original intent of this blog was to give you a look at my attempt at country living, however, only a few of the posts actually have done that. So I started anew. I will continue to post here with our country life adventures, but for the other stuff... the family stuff... I have started Family Life Adventures so please, take a look!

Moving Along...

So my baby brother has joined up with the Army. Well, he's not a baby anymore, but he is still my baby brother. He is 23, married and has a baby girl of his own. I think it will be really good for him and his little family. It will give them stability. It will allow him to go to college and have it paid for! But it doesn't change the fact that he is still my baby brother. And it makes me a little sad to see him all grown up and doing this very grown up thing. And you know he will go to Iraq. For those of you who pray... please keep him in your prayers. His name is Ben, his wife is Annie, and their baby girl is Ava. I was 10 years old when Benji was born. Those of you who have ever seen a 10 year old girl around a baby knows that they just become a little mother to that baby. Especially if that girl is a sibling to the baby. That is how it was with me and little Benji. I say "little", but he was 10 lbs 5 oz at birth...not a little guy! My youngest son was just shy of that weight at 10 lbs 2 oz at birth. Me and Ben spent a lot of time together when he was just a wee tot. I got married when he was 10 and I moved away, it was heartbreaking for the both of us. And anytime I came back for a visit, the leaving again was just as hard. My oldest son and Ben are just 7 years apart. Just the thought of him being in any kind of danger makes me choke up, because he is my brother, yes, but almost like my own child. Go with God, Ben and BE SAFE!



This is Ben with his daughter Ava on his 1st Fathers Day this year!

Award Winning Chili - YUM!

It's raining today. It's cooled off. It's a good chili day. My chili is awesome. I don't say that loosely either, it has actually won an award! My chili was voted the sweetest chili in the 2007 Park District Chili Cook-off.
So here is my "recipe" and method of making chili...

Start with 3-4 pounds of ground meat. This time I used 2 pounds of ground beef and 1 pound of ground turkey. Brown the meat in a big pot... like a 5 quart size. You can add salt, pepper, garlic and/or onions to the meat as it is cooking. Drain the fat off when it is finished browning.

Next add a large can of crushed tomatoes, 2 cans of diced tomatoes (or use fresh if you're so inclined), a can of Ranch Style Beans, and a can of black beans.


Stir all of this in over medium-low heat.


When it is thoroughly combined you can add the spices:
garlic powder, ground cumin, chili powder, & ground cayenne pepper.


Stir them in...


Now its time for the sweet... brown sugar!


Stir it all together...


And add salt, pepper, & more spice when needed....just to suit your taste.


Continue heating over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally.


Until it is hot & thick.


Serve with crackers and cornbread!

Here is the pretty picture:


Here is the southern method with cornbread:


Enjoy!

My Slings have Arrived!

I am so excited! I am officially open for business! I have my starter set of Over the Shoulder Baby Holder(OTSBH) Slings and they are FOR SALE! I have 4 size medium slings (fits momma's or poppa's 110 lbs - 190 lbs), in the colors of Black, Chocolate, Blue Denim [color, not fabric], & Khaki. I have 2 size large slings (fits momma's or poppa's 140 - 250 lbs) in the colors of Chocolate & Blue Denim [color, not fabric]. And I also have one size medium Extravagant Love Sling color grown organic 100% cotton in the color of Natural and one Kid Sling in a Blue Striped fabric for the kiddo's to carry around their own baby dolls. If the parent is taller and leaner build a medium will work up to about 210 lbs, or again if the parent has a shorter, stouter build go with the large if over 160 pounds. The regular slings are $50 and if it needs to be shipped I charge a flat rate of $7 for shipping and handling. If you order more than one, then it is just $1 extra for shipping if being shipped to the same address (this is for orders in the continental U.S.). The Extravagant Love Sling is $65 and has the same shipping charges as listed above. The kid slings are $20 and are the same shipping info as above if ordered alone, or if ordered with an adult size sling, shipping on the kid sling is free! There are more colors available in different sizes, feel free to email me to find out out about them! Read below to see some of the benefits of "baby-wearing". I bought an OTSBH Sling made with combed Egyptian cotton almost 9 years ago when my son was born and I used it with him until he was about 2 1/2. Since then it has been used with my daughter, 2 of my nieces, and now my new little one, so think of this as an investment!

• The OTSBH sling fits a baby from preemie up through toddlerhood, and is durable enough to last through several children.
  
• You can breastfeed discreetly in the OTSBH sling, and you do not need to wake your baby to take the sling off.
  
• More important than making your parenting job easier, your baby will benefit for a lifetime from being raised in contact with his parents and caregivers.
  
• Study after study has shown that babies raised attached to their parents cry less, are sick less, have higher IQ's, are more secure, do better in school, and have healthier relationships with other people.
• Swaddling an infant and putting it in a cradle works but it lacks a third and most critical ingredient, that of letting the infant know that it is in the hands of the person who nourishes it both physically and emotionally. An infant who cannot feel or see or hear its caregiver has more stress hormones circulating through its central nervous system. This causes the baby to cry. Stress irritates the immature digestive system causing baby to spit up and increases diaper rashes. Being touched and carried has a positive effect on the digestive system.
• The OTSBH sling has a shoulder pillow rather than straps over the parents shoulders. This is especially important for a nursing mom because the straps can restrict circulation in a nursing mother's engorged chest tissue which can increase the incidence of breast infections. Also, the sling allows mom to nurse more on demand because the baby is right next to mom. This also reduces breast infections. (1988 Study, UCLA Lactation Dept.)
• A randomized controlled test reported in Pediatrics showed that carrying babies in the manner the OTSBH slings promote reduces crying and fussiness 43% during the day and 51% at night.
• Older siblings are more accepting and less jealous of a new arrival when it is carried in an OTSBH. This is because mom is not "tied down" to the baby, and has her hands free so she can give attention to the other children and the variety of things life is made of.
• The OTSBH sling is the sling rated #1 by baby experts!

Also...if you don't have a human baby to use your sling with, the OTSBH sling is also a Pet Pouch! That's right, you can carry your furry "baby" with you wherever you go! All pets suffer anxiety when they are weaned from their first "parents" and come to live in your home. But they will quickly imprint on you and become your family's life-long best friend when you carry them in the "Puppy Pouch". The Puppy Pouch is exactly the same fabrics, sizes, everything, as the OTSBH.

The littlest Cowboys fan!

Here is #4. Our littlest Cowboys fan. I decided I should start to add photos to the blog to liven it up... let me know what you think!

Rain, Rain, GO AWAY!

We have had A LOT of rain, thanks to our dear friend Ike, and no, I do not speak of my youngest child. Yes we are in northern Illinois, but Ike's torrential rains plagued our area for the past 4 days, resulting in a flooded basement. UGH, what a mess! We do not own a sump pump, so therefore had to just sit back and watch as the water got higher and higher. I finally got a loaner pump from my dad who has 3 of them and was using all three to get his basement pumped out. We probably got about 8 inches of water in the basement and now have the aftermath to deal with. I had planned on sorting through the cardboard boxes in the basement and getting rid of a lot of things, but now I am forced to get rid of a lot more than I had intended. And it will be a much messier job than I had anticipated. But, for the future, BUH BYE cardboard storage, hello plastic tubs! Also, my oldest son's bedroom is downstairs, so for the time being he is displaced to his sisters room! I did get lucky and found a bunch of high velocity little fans at Wal-mart on clearance for only $5 each! I just got 3 to start us off. They are blowing downstairs right now, working their little motors off trying to dry things up. All the ditches in the area have been flooded, the creek just up the road has flooded into a neighboring bean field creating a lake of sorts. Everything is just absolutely soaked! So with all this rain and mess in my basement my chicken project has been put on hold. However... on a good note, my slings should have been mailed out today! YAY! I can't wait to start selling them! I have also started cloth diapering on a part time basis. I will let you know how this is going... Have a great day!

A little bit Country....

So yesterday I embraced my country life and got my own grass mowed. And in the spirit of "momhood" I did it with the baby in the sling and the preschooler on my knee. I'm sure we made quite a sight to see, with #4 just trying to sleep peacefully in the sling and #3 singing her heart out as we zipped around on the John Deere. The yard looks so nice after it's mowed...I love it. By the time we finished the older two were getting off the bus. So #2 and I (after he had his required afterschool snack) went out behind the barn (really the garage, but I am sure at one time served as a barn of some sort) and started cleaning out for CHICKENS! I can't wait to get some! We are gonna have fresh eggs, and if I can muster up enough courage to do it, we will do meat chickens too. We have been doing some research, a lot of research, so I think we are ready. I am just anxious to get started. I think we have most of what we need to build the fence for the chicken yard. And I know we can get the materials needed for the coop for free, at least most of it. We plan on building out of "retired" barn wood from my grandmothers barn. We would still have to purchase some things, but the bulk of what would be most costly isn't gonna cost us anything. I would eventually like to maybe have some rabbits too and take this country living thing to a new level.

"Conveniences" in the Country

Good Morning! Living in the country in this day and time isn't as tough as it used to be. And granted, I am not very far out in the country, the nearest "town" (village really) is just 1/3 of a mile up the road. So we are lucky to be close enough for natural gas instead of having to have a propane tank. We also get rural trash pick up, and it's cheaper than our next neighbor up the road pays for in town pick up. If we lived any closer to town then we would have to pay for garbage stickers, $1 for each "container" whether that be a bag, box, or can (no bigger than 30 gallon). But living just far enough to qualify as "rural" we get the quarterly fee of $60 every 3 months for up to 6 containers each week which if you do the math comes to 78 containers for every quarter which means in town we would be paying $78 for that very same garbage. Cool, huh! We have pick up every Tuesday, so I try and have the trash out Monday night, though we don't always get to it on Monday. They tell you to have the trash out no later than 6:00 Tuesday morning, but rarely are they ever here before noon. And many times they fail to come at all! We have had to call about our trash so many times it is not even funny. So here lately we have called and really ranted to the manager about the trash still being here in the evening because it had been happening so much. And then last week we forgot all together about putting out the trash. And now here it is Tuesday, and once again, we forgot to put the trash out last night. Well as I was opening the curtain to watch for the school bus I saw the trash man show up at 6:30 a.m., wait for a minute or two and then leave. I am sure his manager has him call whenever he shows up at our house to make sure that he has been here. And I forgot...for the second week in a row. So next week I have GOT to remember to take the trash out, or I will be paying more than the "city folk" for my trash!

Yummy Chicken...

So yesterday was a busy day. While I really enjoy attending church, and really want to see my children going to church, it is fall baseball season and the only day they play is Sunday from Noon to about 4:00. Every Sunday except for Labor Day weekend, through the fall. And being that we don't have an extra vehicle for my son to drive himself to his games, I get nominated to do the deed. Which means having everyone up, dressed, fed, an ready to go by 9:30 or 10:00. Not too hard, but then I also have to make sure that I have a spare set of clothes for #3, who try as she might, doesn't always make it to the potty on time... And then I also have to make sure that we have plenty of diapers and spare clothing for #4, because you just never know what kind of day he is gonna have. Oh yeah, you also have to make sure there are plenty of snacks, because #2 & #3 like to snack and are "starving" most of the time. And don't forget lunch...gotta have lunch for everyone, because it just gets too darn expensive after paying for gas to get to the ballgames (at least an hour drive each way, every week) and trying to feed the 3 kids who actually eat solid foods. And then by the time we get home again, it is DINNER time! The cycle never ends. These kids are always needing to eat! SO that brings me to Yummy Chicken... Yesterday morning was no different than other baseball Sundays, except that I had to take DH to work first...at 4:30 in the morning! Talk about an exhausting start to my exhausting day! So I get back from taking DH to the airport and I take the chicken legs that have been thawing in my refrigerator out and put them in the crockpot. I dump BBQ sauce on them and turn it on low. I do this at about 7:30 in the morning. Fast forward 12 hours.... OH my GOODNESS... we walk in the house to a delicate smell of BBQ and chicken. I lift the lid of the crockpot... heaven! I lift out each leg with the tongs and about half of them fell apart before making it to the plate. So tender and juicy! Even #2, who "doesn't like chicken" loved it! I threw some potatoes and beans in the microwave, add a little salt and pepper to them and voila! Dinner is ready! And what a wonderfully delicious dinner it was. And WAY too easy to be that good! I think I am gonna try and figure out how to add a recipe section for WAY too easy recipes...

Hello?...hello?... argh! Frustrations of my life...

One of the most annoying things in the world is trying to make a call or carry on a telephone conversation with very little signal on your phone. This morning I am trying to call and order pie tins from a company whom I would like to order from online, but their website seems to be having some technical issues, so I have to call to order. That in itself is frustrating enough for me, but then to have my call interrupted several times because the signal "faded" is beyond my level of patience. It took like 5 times talking to "Elaine" to actually get the information I needed and found out that they have more than doubled in price since the last time I ordered (2 years ago) (BTW, also frustrating!) So now I need to decide if I want to order by the case, which seems to be the only way to "save" money, even though I would be paying like 3 times more than I wanted to spend, but I would get twice what I was gonna order. And I do have to order. I have been looking in the general vicinity, and by general, I'm talking a 40 minute drive in any direction, for pie tins for my weekend baking, since last week! And nobody has them! NO ONE! I called 5 - 6 different Wal-Marts, along with a variety of other stores, anybody who might even consider selling pie tins, to no avail.... So I am left with no other choice than to order them from an outside source...and not do market this weekend, because really, if I don't have pies, it's not even worth my time to go out there.

A very cool & motivating story... The Marathon ...makes me want to do one! Got to start eating right and exercising to do that though. I might have to start training...

A miracle product!!!!

So I am surfing the web last night and browsing one of my favorite sites (www.thepioneerwoman.com) and came across the fact that she has hard water in her house. We live out in the country, as you know, and we have well water that is very hard and full of minerals. It becomes very obvious when the salt in the softener is getting low, because the water starts to take on an orange cloudy hue. If the softener has NO salt then we are talking about can't-see-through-it-very-very-orange water. Not pretty. The clothes in the washer come out orange, the dishwasher doesn't clean, the kids bathwater looks like a mud puddle from Georgia (red dirt...) Anyway, I was just lamenting yesterday about having to handwash all the dishes because even though we have salt in the softener the dishwasher was not washing...it was stirring all the dirty around and making sure that every last dish in there had the same nasty coating of lime, and gunk from the other dishes. So anyway, as I was saying. I was browsing through www.thepioneerwoman.com and she introduces me to "The Miracle Product" It is called Lemi-Shine. I thought, well, what could it hurt to try. I went to Wal-mart in hopes that they would carry it. They did and I got 2 bottles of it (getting very hopeful, I was) and followed the directions for the dishwasher. I loaded up the dishwasher, started it and went to bed. I awoke this morning to a dishwasher full of CLEAN DISHES!!!! I was so excited. Not only that, but the rust stains that had been coating the inside of my dishwasher...GONE! It was completely clean on the inside! HOLY COW this is awesome! I can't wait to do it again!

And so it begins....

"I don't want to go to school". Those were the words coming from the mouth of #2 this morning. This the boy who not only had all his school supplies ready well in advance of the first day of school, but was up, dressed, breakfast ate, backpack on, and out the door well before the bus shows up the first day of school. Oh well, he will be fine...once he gets there. I just hope that he behaves on the bus. This became a problem last year. He was behaving well on the bus, but he would NOT sit still, moving from seat to seat, standing up, and not listening to the very patient bus driver when she told him to sit. He got suspended from the bus for THREE days! UGH! I really hope he has matured a bit this year and will listen to the bus driver.

Something new to him this year is HOMEWORK!! He hates it! But gets a little bit each night. It's good for him. Gets him prepared for the higher grades where there will be more of it. Hopefully he will take his brothers lead and try and finish it before coming home so there will be no work to do at home.

An Official Distributor!

I am an official distributor of the Over the Shoulder Baby Holder Sling! I placed my order today! I cannot wait to get them in. I wear mine all the time and most times cannot get out of the store without someone asking where they can buy one! Well now I can tell them... FROM ME!! I really hope that this becomes a good money maker. I was able to use the money made from my baked goods to pay for the starting supply of slings, so now I hope they pay for themselves! If you are at all interested or know someone who is let me know and I can help them out! Each sling comes with an instructional DVD. I also can get a child size baby doll sling for the little ones in your life that want to be just like mommy or daddy! Let me know!!

Good Morning to all my faithful followers. I don't have a lot to write about this morning, but just thought I would give you a snippet to read.

Got the kids up on time, and they DID catch the bus. #3 and #4 are still sleeping, so I actually got to shower this morning (WOOHOO!!) Its a beautiful morning, not too hot out yet, clear skys, cicadas are singing, the grass is mowed... I am thoroughly enjoying the quietness. I love living in the country. No neighbors to hear...I could walk outside in my pj's and no one would care. I love to walk out in my back yard and see wild rabbits scurry away... okay, they don't scurry, they hop...the ground squirrels and field mice scurry... I love to hear the different birds sing away. I like that we have a built in "privacy fence" every summer that gets to 8-9 feet tall (if you will look closely at my pic you will see that we are surrounded by corn fields). I love that if my daughter gets outside half naked, I won't have a neighbor calling to tell me to keep control of my kids. I love that we have a bunch of tall trees that my son can climb. I love that we are able to get chickens if we so desire...and no one will think this strange! We have outfitted the back yard with a 2 person hammock for swaying the day away, a firepit for roasting hot dogs or marshmallows, a swingset for our own park, an apple tree for our own "orchard", the plum tree is in the front yard, a clothesline for a nature made laundrymat, and a pitching mound for our own "ballpark"...okay, the mound isn't actually installed yet, but it's been talked about. We have a back stop and the lilac bush is the "outfield", but #1 can practice his pitching here quite successfully. Yes this is our own bit of paradise and I love it.

Country Helpfulness...

Okay, I was just reading up on the policies for the ads on my page and I have been breaking da rules... sorry... I cannot direct you to them... so you know what to do... I won't be giving any more reminders. Onward....

So today I had to take DH to work (an hour away and near some bigger shopping), so we went to the mall to do some Labor Day shopping since the kids were out of school. Got a GREAT deal at Chick-Fil-A, for those of you who are not familiar they make the BEST chicken known to mankind. All day today they are offering a FREE 3 piece box of chicken strips to all their customers. I saw that sign after I ordered (so typical). So we got our free chicken in addition to our kids meals. Yes I ordered a kids meal. You can get a 6 piece nugget, a small waffle fries and a child size drink for like $3.49. And if you are eating in, then it's free refills, so it really doesn't matter what size you get. So me and the kids each got a kids meal, even the 16yo.

Anyway, when we got back, I noticed that the lawn had been mowed. Aaargh! Our ever helpful property-mate had mowed our yard. We own 1/2 of a 2 acre plot. The other half has the farm buildings on it and is owned by a very friendly, well meaning, older (probably 70's) farmer. He spends half of the year here farming, and the other half of the year in very south Texas. Yes, our grass needed mowing, but I was actually looking forward to hopping on the John Deere and getting it mowed, tomorrow morning. I admit it was getting kinda long, but not embarrassingly tall. I have definitely seen worse...even our own yard has been worse than this. I was wanting to get the pool picked up and put away before mowing again so I could cover the bare spot left by the pool with the grass clippings, but now it is already mowed and I cannot get mad at him, because he did us a favor. But when he does that it just feels like he doesn't feel as though we are taking proper care of the property. And this being our first owned property, that kinda makes me feel... I don't know... kinda like a kid being reprimanded by the grandparent. It makes me feel like he thinks we are irresponsible. So now we just try and avoid him when he is over at his half, piddling around, and try and get our grass mowed sooner next time.

Check it out....

Just a quick post to direct you to a neat article...
http://tinyurl.com/5c4uk7

The Baking Job

Today was the farmers market & the weather was gorgeous . I got all my baking done last night and was in bed by like 11:30. It wasn't 10:30 like I really wanted it to be, but then again, it wasn't 2:30 either... I got 18 pies done, I would have done a few more, but I have been just buying my pie tins from Wally World (I know... the evil empire...and WAY too expensive, but convenient), and they were OUT of pie tins. So I went to the local grocery to buy and they only had a few (for almost twice the price of the evil empire, I might add), so I got what they had and that left me with only 18 pie tins to utilize. I need to order some from a supply company...WAY cheaper. SO anyway.... I got my 18 pies done, along with banana bread, banana nut bread, apple dumplings, peanut butter cookies, chocolate chip cookies, pumpkin bread, muffins, coffee cakes, & scones. #4 didn't cooperate at first, but then in the evening slept for like 5 hours straight!! Of course then he didn't want to sleep when I finally got to go to bed, but we made it through. We sold all but a plate of cookies, some scones, and some dumplings, and we traded away the cookies to a fellow vendor for some salad tomatoes, which were eaten by #1 before we made it home. Its a bit of a boost to the family income. Now if we could find about 5-6 more "jobs" like that then we would be set with out working for someone else. The problem with the market is that it only runs from the end of May to the end of October, so thats pretty much when we can count on that income. I do get orders sporadically throughout the fall and into early winter, but my sales drop off DRAMATICALLY after Christmas. I get quite a few pie orders at Thanksgiving and a few at Christmas, but then people hit January and start setting New Years resolutions and they want to start losing weight....yada, yada, yada.... it kills sales. I should maybe look into a Valentines special for a heart cookie bouquet...or something. Send me your ideas.... or click some ads.... or both.... Also, I added a search engine to my window...look up at the top right of your screen. I ask the favor of you using it just once before you leave to generate some traffic...

Court

Okay, so I have a few minutes while my chunky baby is nursing. So today began with enough on our plate as it was... baking all day, and court for #1(I will refer to my children from now on as #1 - #4 for birth order, the girl is #3). But my boys couldn't let me off the hook that easy so to add to it, they missed the bus. So now I have to get #3 & #4 out of bed to take #1 & #2 to school, and then have #1 to court by like 8:45. And to make it really interesting I had already put stuff in the oven, so we had to wait for that to finish before leaving. I ended up just keeping #1 out of school until after court to keep it simple, so I just had to drop off #2 at his school. In the end we had enough time after dropping off #2 to run to Wal-mart to get some essentials for baking today, and then to McDonalds to get Mama some coffee.

Court today was...well...somewhat uneventful. I couldn't get anyone to keep #3 while we went to court, so she went with us (wasn't that fun!) She behaved for the most part, but got hungry and bored so she was quite fidgety. They tried to process #1 with a guilty plea and court supervision, but dear Mama wouldn't hear of it. This was a stupid ticket and we are going to fight it. So we entered a not guilty plea and will be scheduled for a bench trial, which just means there is no jury, just a judge. We are hoping that the trainee deputy won't even show up. Then the ticket would be dropped and we can get on with our lives. I will keep you all posted as to how that goes.

So #4 is now sleeping and I must get on with my baking if I am to get it done today. I certainly don't want to be up all night with a hot oven. Happy day to you!

Starting to get the hang of it...

Ok, I think I am figuring things out. I added AdSense to my blog, so if anyone wants to help me out, please click away! So I thought I would add tomorrows blog tonite since tomorrow will be a pretty full day. I have to take my 16 year old son to court tomorrow for a bogus ticket he got in an accident that he was in. He lost control of his Pathfinder (1987, shakes a lot when shifting) and it veered off the road and hit a parked pick up which in turn hit a parked motor home. He was going 25 miles per hour as he had just turned onto this road. The first officer on the scene was the dad of one of his friends and told him that speed was not a factor in this accident. Well, the other officer that showed up was training and she finished filling out the paper work for the accident and decided she needed to issue a ticket (...for practice?? I don't know...). So she gives him a ticket for Failure to reduce speed to avoid an accident. Now come on! He was going 25 freaking miles per hour! And if he had hit the brakes he would have probably rolled the vehicle when it hit the curb! (OH boy! More papers to fill out!) So we have to go plead our case...I hope that the officer doesn't even show up, it would make it easier on all of us...

After I get done with the ridiculous trip to court I have baking to do. I run a home bakery with help from my son and every Saturday from 8:30 - 2:00 is the local farmers market that we have a booth at. SO every Friday we bake about 20-25 pies, cookies, scones, muffins, coffee cakes, cinnamon rolls, brownies, sweet breads, pound cakes, apple dumplings... a LOT of calories! It is a lot of work, but really helps out the family income. We sometimes do the market on Tuesday evenings also, but about half of the baking that we do for Saturday.

I will try and make it online sometime tomorrow and let you all know how court went. FUN, FUN!

Welcome to my Blog!

I never would have imagined having a blog. Now I do. So we will see if I have enough to fill 'er up! My name is Sarah. I have 4 beautiful children with my husband J. The only pets that we have at this point is a shark and two fish of unknown species. We live in rural Illinois and are trying to make our home and family more "country-fied" (can that be a word??). This blog will kinda give you a window into our adventure in trying to do that... can't be too hard, can it?