I have the worst breath

I do if you don't like the smell of garlic breath anyway.

This morning 4yearold woke up with a sore throat. We were getting ready to go to our co-op and she didn't want to stay home. I decided that I would give her what I usually take when I start to feel yucky. The only problem is that she can't take garlic tablets. I had read that you can crush the whole garlic clove and mix it with honey to give to kids. She loves honey so I didn't think she would put up too much of a fuss. She was excited until she put her tongue on a bit of the raw garlic and swallowed. "Too spicy!" she exclaimed. After a bit of coaxing she took it, but first she had to see her older sister and I take it. I was going to take the tablets anyway because one of the families had a stomach bug this week and decided late last evening they were well enough to come. I didn't want to take any chances.

On the way home this afternoon, my tummy began to ache.(We had a play date with that family the very day the first of them came down with it.) Yuck! I hate to have a stomach bug. As soon as we got home, I took another clove of garlic. Within about an hour and a half my belly started to feel better.

I decided I already have bad breath, why not enjoy it? For my before bed dose I crushed the garlic clove onto a piece of buttered Italian bread. garlic bread without the baking. YUM! This is actually my favorite way to eat Italian bread. I just don't do it that often. I figured today that I'd rather stink than be vomiting. I really am feeling better. Not totally gone yet, but not so achy.

I know my breath is bad because every time I breath out my eyes sting. Now that's some stinky breath! At least nobody else has to smell it. And oh,... it tasted so good.

Personality Types

I found this quick little personality test over at another blog. I think it's pretty accurate. When I read the description of my type I would say it came pretty close. I'm surprised. These kinds of things are usually so general.




So what type are you?

Burn Us Up

I always loved the story of the 4th man in the fire. Check it out! ( I happen to love this song by Shane&Shane!)




Won't you burn us in the furnace of Your desire?

Taking Care of Business

Did you ever have something you needed to take care of, but just didn't want to? Like an aching tooth that needs filled or a trip to the chiropractor to ease your aching back. I think this is just part of my personality. I don't like to make phone calls about "business." Not personal business anyway. When I did work outside the home, it was never a problem, but for as long as I can remember I have hated to take care of personal business. Right now I have a few things that need taken care of, I know I have a deadline for one of them, but the idea of sitting down and making myself do it seems overwhelming. Isn't that sad? You'd think at my age I would have gotten over it, especially considering that I have a husband who can't (or won't). BTW, I just did the math. I am by myself for 85.7% of the week. I'll eventually buckle down and get to it....maybe even as soon as I'm done checking my email. Once I get started, it's really not so bad.

"We just spent our last....

$240 dollars on this here puddin."

Does anyone remember that skit from the 90's sketch comedy show The State? I just watched it on youtube. Still hilarious to me after all these years!!

I was curious as to exactly how much that same $240 worth of pudding in 1995 would cost today. I found a nifty little gadget called an inflation calculator. It's major fault is that it only calculates inflation for 2006. I'm gonna guess since everything seems to cost me more money now (even in the last year) that the price would be somewhat higher than the '06 quote.

So exactly how much would that pudding cost today? $314.82.

That's a whole lotta puddin. awwwyeah!

Just for fun, here's a pic of me from the summer of 94. Note how pathetically tired I look. We were at a christian music festival and staying up most of the night. Makes me shudder to look at it.


But look at that view behind me.

time on my hands

I think I have too much time on my hands this evening. The house is clean, the kids fed, dishes are washed, and all the library books are read. I keep wandering around the house. First I sit on the couch, then I get on the computer, then i go back to the couch. We spent most of the day away from home with y mum. She and I didn't do any one thing in particular, other than shop for candle wicks and make a trip out to the farm for some fresh milk.

Maybe I'll dig out one of my favorite books. I haven't read Jane Eyre, Gone With the Wind, or Anne of Green Gables for a while.....

Cyber Monday

Today is Cyber Monday, which begs the question, are you an online shopper? I have been known to pick up a few things here and there on the net, but for the most part I enjoy getting out for the hands on experience. I like to be able to pick something up, turn it over, shake it, push all it's buttons, and most importantly, see how noisy the darn thing is. 8D

This year I may be doing more of my shopping online. I am finding that as my children are getting older and my husband is away more and more, it's difficult to find the time to shop. I never really have a day alone to even accomplish this. My 4 year old has never known what it feels like for mommy to go off to work, so she's not really keen on staying with someone else-even grandma. I think she's afraid she's missing out on something really exciting. If only she knew that during mommy's last dental appointment she was having a root canal done without the aid of Novocain. (mommy is very hard to numb and no matter how hard the dear old doc tried, it just wasn't working-Those were some of the most painful moments of my life!) She was the one who cried for an hour, not me.

What to do?

Saturday is here, a fresh new day. It's not only a Saturday, but a holiday weekend. Now I'm faced with the question of what I will do today. What I should be doing it cleaning the house (for the millionth time this week!) I should be vacuuming and making things neat once more. This is one of those days being a domestic engineer is just not sounding fun. Last night during movie time, 4 year old trashed the living room. The lights were off so I didn't realize just how many toys she had drug out of the bedroom to play with. This morning, the light of day shows all-and I even made her pick most of them up before bedtime!

I'd rather be... hmm... that's a tough one. I just know I don't feel like cleaning up today. I guess I'd rather be laughing over a nice hot cup of coffee with my momfriends. They have husbands who are home though (mine is back to work-no rest for the weary), so the weekend is out. Oh, well. I guess I'll just dig in and get the muckin' about over with.

Hope your day is more fun!

Post Thanksgiving thoughts

We had a very nice Thanksgiving. In recent years this has not always been so. Last year my uncle was left very weak from fighting pneumonia over the summer. The antibiotics ruined his kidneys and his immune system was so compromised. He was so sick. He gave up the battle and died the first part of February.

In addition to recent illness in the immediate family there has been some family friction with the addition of a new in-law. This year seemed to be much more peaceful, even if we walked on eggshells a bit.

The weather today feels much more seasonable. It's COLD and 'spitting' snow. I think it feels extra cold since we had a few very warm days this week.

I have a nice tired out feeling. We rented a few movies which we'll be watching as soon as I hop off the computer.

Be blessed!!

Day before Thanksgiving?

Today is the day before Thanksgiving? Who would have guessed it with temps in the mid 60's? It feels more like the day before Easter. I'll be busy today making dishes ahead of time for our family meal tomorrow. Right now I have a delicious pumpkin cheesecake in the oven. (our house is so hot we have the front door hanging open.) Later I'll be making the sweet potato suffle, greenbeans, and cornbread dressing. All my favorite foods in one meal. Yum! I love thanksgiving. None of the pressure that comes with Christmas giftgiving but all of the fun family type traditions. This year it's back at my Mom's house. I think my favorite part of the day is the day before preperations that my mom and I always share. The best part is just spending the day cooking with my mommy. Then tomorrow before everyone comes, we only have to slide the turkey into the oven, and time the side dishes accordingly. That takes so much of the pressure off of her. I'm glad to help.

Happy Thanksgiving!

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Baby Silkies

For those of you that have never heard of them, Silkie chickens are a bantam sized chicken(that means small) that are soft and fluffy like goose down. They are oh so friendly and very very cute! One of our hens just hatched out 3 chicks! (I say they're ours because my kids went with grandpa and helped pick them out at a livestock auction and paid for them. They can't live with us, but our hearts are with them.) How cute! The babies are sooo tiny. I took a few pics on my cell phone, my digital was out of batteries. I'll try to get more pics on Thanksgiving when we'll be back to my parents house.

Edit:
I found these pics on the net at Feathersite.com.



Partridge Silkie chicks
Photo courtesy of Lisa Stag

Our babies look very similar to this one. I think this one is older than our 3-4 day old babies. Note the little feathers starting to grow in on the wing tips in this image.



Partridge hen
Photos courtesy of Kris Kraeuter, Brushyrun Heritage Poultry

We have a total of 3 of these beauties. Our partridge Roo is just as gorgeous. I haven't found a photo on the net of one that even comes close.

No time to blog

To my "many" readers I must apologize for not blogging much lately. I've been very busy around the house. Between homeschooling, regular housework and the regular busy week activities we have been doing some outside work. I know, we started late. This is not my choosing. It was the best I could do. My husband works 2 hours away and is only home one day a week ( he works a full 12 hour day 6 days a week-poor guy). The work that needed done was the kind of heavy lifting work better left to a man. I politely asked my dad several time and finally caught him on a day when he was in the mood to work. Actually, it was a conspiracy. My mom and I bought the stuff and she told him the following day that they were coming over to help me work. So with my dad's help, on one of our yet still warm and sunny days, I put up new plastic on our semi-closed in porch. My plan was to then go pick out a deep freeze and have it delivered, but to my surprise a neighbor of my parents had a used one sitting out for only $40. I was stoked and paid for it. I was even happier when the man offered to deliver (without my asking) for no additional charge. YAYYYYY!!!! I saved around $300 dollars by buying it used. Before the man could deliver it though, we had to make some modifications on the semi-closed in porch. When we bought our place it had a very small patio (3x6ish) that was attached to the house. Under it was a large concrete slab and over the whole slab was a very nice roof. Last fall we closed in the roof area with half lattice and half plywood. It was an improvement but I still thought the small patio was in the way. This year before we could put the freezer out there, we ripped down the patio and left a small landing with some steps into the house. Now it is much more roomy, not only for the freezer, but the kids as well. Now they have some place to ride their scooters or bounce a ball in the middle of winter.

I'm content.

the thoughts of man

Have you ever thought, "If only I could have..." or "If this could happen.... then..."? I'm positive we all have our moments when we wish things could be different from the way they are currently. Have you ever let that wishing go farther? Daydreaming about something to the point it's on your mind night and day. It's with you when you wake in the morning and every quiet moment you have throughout the day, sometimes even the not so quiet moments. It's the thought that constantly lurks at the back of your mind during conversation. It becomes all consuming. I believe this is a trap laid by the "Father of Lies."
Think about it for a moment. When a thought becomes so invasive it's all you think about, are you keeping your mind stayed on the Lord? Are you keeping His word before your eyes/mind day and night? No. It's impossible. What once was a passing thought has now become your secret obsession. Maybe it's even a noble thought like "How can I better serve my husband or family, or how can I give my family more?"
What then are we to do? This is when I personally begin to pray the word. (maybe not at first, but when the Lord has finally brought it to my attention that my thoughts are out of line.) I pray something like, " Lord, your word says that you give me the desires of my heart. I'm asking you to place the correct desires and thoughts within my heart." It's that simple. I give it over to God. If I didn't can you imagine the implications? All those carefully laid traps of the Enemy would come to fruition. Works of the flesh acted upon. Life thrown all out of kilter. Man's heart is fickle. Our own desires may change daily. I thank God that :

" my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD"
Isaiah 55:8

and if we

"Delight thyself also in the LORD: and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart"
Psalm 37:4

amen!

got milk?

After looking for several months, we recently found a source for raw milk. (They are the only dairy farm in the county licensed to sell raw milk.) This is the second week we have bought from them. Dd4 loves it! After the first gallon was gone, which only took 2 days versus the normal 7-10 with grocery story milk, she cried and said "I want some more raw milk." This time we bought a gallon and a half. It should last us longer this time because some of the novelty has worn off.

If you have never tried this yummy milk in it's original form, you are really missing out! I am not normally a milk drinker, never was. The thought always grossed me out. Even I, a non milk drinker, really like the stuff. I love that it's from a farm that treats their animals the way I would, and the milk is in the state it was intended to be in. It's so fresh too! We bought our milk at 5:30. They had just finished the milking for the evening and said our milk was from that night. When we came home, we enjoyed milk that was merely an hour "old." It was thick and creamy. It tastes great in coffee too! No need to buy creamer anymore. I simply add the whole milk from the jar without shaking it first. The cream always rises to the top. I can't say enough.

Don't believe me? Read this.

Jason Upton on CBN

One of my favorite artists of all time was on the 700 club yesterday. Somehow I missed it, but found the link on his website. I have listened to Jason Upton's music for several years now. He always is able to put on music and lyric just what my heart is feeling. I have been blessed over and over by his ministry.

Here it is for your viewing pleasure.

Autumn Celebrations

Halloween is officially over. I'm always so glad when we're over that hump. Not that I wish away the fall, because I actually enjoy the season. I simply hate Halloween. I hate the decorations and darkness that comes along with them. I always feel lighter when it's all put away.

I've been looking forward to Christmas for several weeks now. I don't know why. I usually dread all the gift giving and commercialism involved in it too. We try to focus on Jesus as the sent promise, but this is sometimes harder to do with my younger one who asks at every commercial, "Oh, Mommy, will you buy me one of those?" Here is where it gets tricky. If I say "no you can't get everything you want" she then goes into pleeeeaaaassssseeee mode. This child can play this game for hours. I used to just repeat no a few times and then ignore her. Then I started telling her no once or twice followed by "if I have to say it again I'm gonna..." At first she didn't believe me, and it was painful for me to prove to her that mommy does not lie. Now when she asks, "Can you get me that for Christmas?" I can say "maybe for Christmas" and the discussion is over. The bright side of it is knowing that no matter what she gets it will not only be something she likes, but also something she asked for. ( I look for the silver lining in everything.)

We're going to begin decorating for Thanksgiving this week. I think we'll do some leaf rubbings and drawing of pumpkins and such. I also want to focus for the next month on being thankful in all things. There is always a bright side to everything, always a lesson learned even amidst chaos or heartache. While we are preparing for Thanksgiving I am hoping to loosely follow Flylady's holiday Flyjournal. I saved a copy to my files to refer to periodically. It's inspired me to buy, address and send my Christmas cards much earlier this year. Unfortunately I have to wait until payday to buy them, but anticipation always makes a purchase that much sweeter.

Be blessed today.