I am so glad it is Friday.
Katie, Will and Amy started their co-op classes today with our homeschool group. Katie is doing an in-depth study of American History and Literature with lots of projects and notebooking assignments. She loves the creative part but probably not all the reading that goes with it. Amy & Will are doing Geography and Physical Science. The geography will have lots of art projects and the science will have lots of experiments. They love the classes and so do I!
Greg and I have date night tonight. That hasn't happened in a while so I am excited. Tomorrow morning we have a business meeting for a new venture we are involved in. And then a cook-out for lunch with all the partners. Can't really give you any details on the business cause I don't know alot yet. I hope we will have time to finish the schoolroom side of the kitchen after that, so we can finish setting everything up and move another small bookcase into the kitchen. Greg is cooking us dinner tomorrow night...Shrimp and Grits from Paula Deen's cookbook. We had it at "Uncle Bubba's" a couple of years ago and it was wonderful. He is going to try to recreate that yummy goodness for us!
And Sunday...we are driving to GA! Greg has to work all week and we will get school done but then we get to visit and go on excursions with Granny! I haven't seen my buddies in a year and its time to visit. We will also make a trip to Mall of Georgia. Mom has been buying animals at "Build a Bear" to donate to Toys for Tots and she has some coupons that have to get used. We are also buying our tickets for Disney World at the Disney Store! Whoo Hoo! It'll be lots of fun. We are also working in a trip to "Whole Foods" and "Trader Joes" to stock up our pantry. They do look at me a bit funny when I buy 10 packages of spaghetti noodles or 6-8 cans of organic cranberry sauce but I just keep on going. I gotta go where I can buy products not loaded with MSG or high fructose corn syrup.
Hope ya'll have a good weekend!
Friday, August 28, 2009
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
Pay It Forward Giveaway
I got this idea from Deanna over at "A Plain & Simple Life" and thought it sounded like fun. I signed up for her giveaway and now I need 3 people to sign up for mine and keep this train rolling.....
The idea is to spread your talent and generosity/hospitality with one another.
:::For those new to PIF, I gather the names & addresses of 3 people wanting to participate.
I send each participant a handmade item.
In exchange, they gather from their own blogs the names & addresses of 3 people wanting to participate.
They make a handmade item for each and mail it off to them.
Each person participating is expected to continue "Paying It Forward" to 3 people on their blogs:::
So, in that spirit, I'd like to host one as well here. If you would like to participate, then please email your name and address to donnamj1@bellsouth.net.
I don't know what my give away will be yet. I will have to do some thinking on it. But I think this is a fun idea...who wouldn't like getting a surprise in the mail?
The idea is to spread your talent and generosity/hospitality with one another.
:::For those new to PIF, I gather the names & addresses of 3 people wanting to participate.
I send each participant a handmade item.
In exchange, they gather from their own blogs the names & addresses of 3 people wanting to participate.
They make a handmade item for each and mail it off to them.
Each person participating is expected to continue "Paying It Forward" to 3 people on their blogs:::
So, in that spirit, I'd like to host one as well here. If you would like to participate, then please email your name and address to donnamj1@bellsouth.net.
I don't know what my give away will be yet. I will have to do some thinking on it. But I think this is a fun idea...who wouldn't like getting a surprise in the mail?
Monday, August 24, 2009
Disapppointments
Do you ever have disappointments in your life? Do you ever think things will be different "this time"? Do you ever think "why did they act like that"? Do you ever look at your children and think "what in the world made you do that"? Do you expect people to treat you a certain way and they always do the opposite? Do you always act or treat other people the way you want to be treated? What is the Golden Rule?.....Do unto to others as you would have them do unto you.
Do you know that there is someone who will never, ever disappoint you?
Are you thinking?
Or did you know instantly who it was?
Our Lord will always be there for us. He will love us and give us the courage we need to face each day. Psalm 36: 5-6 He is our Rock and our Refuge. Psalm 62: 5-8 We can always trust the Lord. Psalm 20: 7-8 The Lord will give us wisdom . Proverbs 2: 4-8, 3: 5-6, 4: 7-8 & 10. Proverbs 17: 27-28.
The Bible is full of verses that we need to encourage us, guide us, shield us from tempation, and help us live our everyday lives. It is the book we should turn to when we need help with the worries and concerns of everyday life. It is also the book we should turn to when we need comfort and wisdom with our life's concerns. The scriptures listed above are some of the verses that have brought comfort and wisdom to my life. There are 1000's more that are applicable to any of your life's needs.
Find yourself a translation of the Bible that is comfortable for you to read. My personal preference is the "New Internation Version" but everyone is different and has different needs. You can find a Bible at the $1 store or spend hundreds on a top of the line Deluxe Bible. But the cost of the book doesn't matter if you don't read it and apply it in your life. A Bible sitting on the shelf or bookcase gathering dust isn't going to do you any good. Dust off the book and start reading. Psalms and Proverbs are excellent resources for comfort and wisdom.
After you begin reading the Bible. Pray and ask the Lord to show you how you can apply what you've read to your life and how can it help you handle relationships, troubles, etc. The Lord wants to help, you just have to ask.
Do you know that there is someone who will never, ever disappoint you?
Are you thinking?
Or did you know instantly who it was?
Our Lord will always be there for us. He will love us and give us the courage we need to face each day. Psalm 36: 5-6 He is our Rock and our Refuge. Psalm 62: 5-8 We can always trust the Lord. Psalm 20: 7-8 The Lord will give us wisdom . Proverbs 2: 4-8, 3: 5-6, 4: 7-8 & 10. Proverbs 17: 27-28.
The Bible is full of verses that we need to encourage us, guide us, shield us from tempation, and help us live our everyday lives. It is the book we should turn to when we need help with the worries and concerns of everyday life. It is also the book we should turn to when we need comfort and wisdom with our life's concerns. The scriptures listed above are some of the verses that have brought comfort and wisdom to my life. There are 1000's more that are applicable to any of your life's needs.
Find yourself a translation of the Bible that is comfortable for you to read. My personal preference is the "New Internation Version" but everyone is different and has different needs. You can find a Bible at the $1 store or spend hundreds on a top of the line Deluxe Bible. But the cost of the book doesn't matter if you don't read it and apply it in your life. A Bible sitting on the shelf or bookcase gathering dust isn't going to do you any good. Dust off the book and start reading. Psalms and Proverbs are excellent resources for comfort and wisdom.
After you begin reading the Bible. Pray and ask the Lord to show you how you can apply what you've read to your life and how can it help you handle relationships, troubles, etc. The Lord wants to help, you just have to ask.
Thursday, August 20, 2009
Knives & Jelly
We have been watching alot of Food Network shows lately. Our favorites are Bobby Flay anything, Unwrapped, Dinner Impossible, Next Food Network Star, Chopped..........My (Donna) favorites also include Barefoot Contessa, Sandra Lee and Paula Deen (got any mayo & butter y'all). They all slice and dice and make it look so easy........its the knives!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! They don't have dull, knicked, kitchen knives, but I had a collection of them. Some can be sharpened and we do it frequently, but some need to hit the garbage can. I also am somewhat picky in that it has to feel good in my hands. I have osteo arthritis and if the handle is too big or the knife too heavy, then I can't use it long. So it has to be just right.
Last week, we went to a kitchen outlet when we were on the coast with Greg. Greg and I found a set of 2 Henckels Knives that we both liked. He used his big Daddy bear knife to cut steak the other day and really liked the way the knife cut. Today, I used my smaller Mommy bear knife to cut the cucumbers for relish and like it alot! (It was just right...yeah I know that is Baby bears phrase, but just play along for this post) So, I think the dull, cheap knives are going to disappear and get slowly replaced by really good, not cheap, knives!
Chop, chop, chop!
We have also made lots of jelly this week. On Tues. & Wed., Amy and I made many jars of peach jam. And today Katie & I made a bunch of jars of strawberry jelly. We are each picking the best looking jars of our jam to enter in the state fair in October. Its about 6 weeks away, so we will be busy getting our entries ready! We would all love more blue ribbons this year!
Last week, we went to a kitchen outlet when we were on the coast with Greg. Greg and I found a set of 2 Henckels Knives that we both liked. He used his big Daddy bear knife to cut steak the other day and really liked the way the knife cut. Today, I used my smaller Mommy bear knife to cut the cucumbers for relish and like it alot! (It was just right...yeah I know that is Baby bears phrase, but just play along for this post) So, I think the dull, cheap knives are going to disappear and get slowly replaced by really good, not cheap, knives!
Chop, chop, chop!
We have also made lots of jelly this week. On Tues. & Wed., Amy and I made many jars of peach jam. And today Katie & I made a bunch of jars of strawberry jelly. We are each picking the best looking jars of our jam to enter in the state fair in October. Its about 6 weeks away, so we will be busy getting our entries ready! We would all love more blue ribbons this year!
Sunday, August 16, 2009
Where to find the time.....
Several people have asked me where I find the time to do everything, so I am going to try an answer that question.
First of all we homeschool. Homeschooling is a lifestyle and education choice that we have made for our family. This is the beginning of year number 14. The fact that its an education choice is evident. But, many may not know its also a lifestyle choice. We are together (for the most part) morning, noon and night. We eat 3 meals together, at least 6 of the 7 days. We run errands, do chores, play games, laugh, cry, argue and make up..sometimes all in the same day. The kids are friends with each other and with me. We are learning many things together such as quilting and canning. We usually get the school work done in the mornings which leaves the afternoons free for other projects or classes.
Second, the kids aren't involved in many different sports and activities daily. Katie and Amy take dance, one day per week. The only time this schedule changes is when its recital time and then its 4 days that week. They also take a homeschool quilting class for beginners, 2 mornings a month. They both love to sew and are learning alot in this class (me too!). Will is doing archery with a group of boys in our homeschool group. This is 2 afternoons a month. Our homeschool support group offers co-op classes for history/geography and science and all three are involved in those...2 mornings a month. Those are the outside activities. This leaves us time to do other activites together such as our food preservation classes we took at the county extension office.
Third, we set up a daily schedule for the kids and I. It has worked out great and we have freed up lots of time by sticking to our schedule. I even scheduled in reading and crafts. So I don't feel guilty sitting down and reading in the morning with the kids or sewing in the afternoon....its in the schedule! I used the book by Steve & Terri Maxwell "Managers of Their Homes" to help set everything up. I would highly recommend it to anyone who wants to be more organized.
This is what we have chosen for our family. I realize it may not be for everyone, but even one or two changes could help the busiest of households. So here are some of my suggestions......
How many activites are your children involved in? Baseball, soccer, football, basketball, gymnastics, music lessons, afterschool care, art classes, etc. There is nothing wrong with any of these, but too many is hectic. A question to ask yourself before you make any changes or add any activities to your childs schedule is...does little Johnny really want to play football (or whatever) or does Dad have dreams of little Johnny playing in the NFL and he is going to play football or else. If little Johnny is passionate about the game and lives, eats and breathes football, then that is the game for him. If he would rather pick clover in the football field, then let him lose in the backyard and save your money. Evaluate why you do what you do. Keeping up with the Jones' is exhausting and unimportant.
How many outside the home activites are you involved in? These also add stress to your life, even if they are wonderful activities. No, I am not saying that you should stop doing things you really love, but is it really worth time away from the home? If you are involved in several different ministries at church and you don't have time to cook dinner, then you probably need to re-evaluate your schedule. At this time in our lives, we are involved in 3 ministry opportunities. 2 are at our church and both occur in Dec. The first is our church's huge Living Christmas Tree Production, the first weekend of the month. Greg programs the lights for the tree and 5 of our children sing or play an instrument or perform in the ballet. We all love it, but it does take lots and lots of time. In fact, the first planning meeting for this years production is next Sunday night. The 2nd is our church's Christmas Store for families who need extra holiday help. The kids love shopping for the gifts with the money we set aside for this. The day of the store, I work in the giftwrap and Greg and the older boys help load the cars. My 3 youngest will tell you that shopping for the store is one of their favorite Christmas activities. These 2 busy-filled activites are the main reasons we have no school December. There just isn't time or energy for school this month. The 3rd ministry is our Mission Trip. Greg & I have gone to Honduras twice and this year we did a family trip to Oklahoma to help with VBS at 2 Choctaw Indian Churches. We had a wonderful time with each other and the rest of the team.
We are able to do many things together because we homeschool. They are a priority for our lives and our family. But, every family is different. If your children are in a public or private school, you may need to look at the extras that are on your calendars and evaluate why you are doing them. Do they need to sit in school all day then come home, go to football, eat dinner in the car and then head to karate or wherever. Do the kids really care about all the activites or do you as the parent want them in something everyday? Only you can make the decisions for your own family...but in doing so you are carving out time that could be used for something else.
Honestly, I look at schedules of people at church, family members and neighbors and wonder how they do it all. And these are some of the same folks who say to me...I don't know how you have time to sew or read or blog or cook from scratch, or take a walk. We all have our own lives and we have to live them according to our convictions for our family. The Lord made us all unique individuals and it would be really dull if everyone was just alike!
First of all we homeschool. Homeschooling is a lifestyle and education choice that we have made for our family. This is the beginning of year number 14. The fact that its an education choice is evident. But, many may not know its also a lifestyle choice. We are together (for the most part) morning, noon and night. We eat 3 meals together, at least 6 of the 7 days. We run errands, do chores, play games, laugh, cry, argue and make up..sometimes all in the same day. The kids are friends with each other and with me. We are learning many things together such as quilting and canning. We usually get the school work done in the mornings which leaves the afternoons free for other projects or classes.
Second, the kids aren't involved in many different sports and activities daily. Katie and Amy take dance, one day per week. The only time this schedule changes is when its recital time and then its 4 days that week. They also take a homeschool quilting class for beginners, 2 mornings a month. They both love to sew and are learning alot in this class (me too!). Will is doing archery with a group of boys in our homeschool group. This is 2 afternoons a month. Our homeschool support group offers co-op classes for history/geography and science and all three are involved in those...2 mornings a month. Those are the outside activities. This leaves us time to do other activites together such as our food preservation classes we took at the county extension office.
Third, we set up a daily schedule for the kids and I. It has worked out great and we have freed up lots of time by sticking to our schedule. I even scheduled in reading and crafts. So I don't feel guilty sitting down and reading in the morning with the kids or sewing in the afternoon....its in the schedule! I used the book by Steve & Terri Maxwell "Managers of Their Homes" to help set everything up. I would highly recommend it to anyone who wants to be more organized.
This is what we have chosen for our family. I realize it may not be for everyone, but even one or two changes could help the busiest of households. So here are some of my suggestions......
How many activites are your children involved in? Baseball, soccer, football, basketball, gymnastics, music lessons, afterschool care, art classes, etc. There is nothing wrong with any of these, but too many is hectic. A question to ask yourself before you make any changes or add any activities to your childs schedule is...does little Johnny really want to play football (or whatever) or does Dad have dreams of little Johnny playing in the NFL and he is going to play football or else. If little Johnny is passionate about the game and lives, eats and breathes football, then that is the game for him. If he would rather pick clover in the football field, then let him lose in the backyard and save your money. Evaluate why you do what you do. Keeping up with the Jones' is exhausting and unimportant.
How many outside the home activites are you involved in? These also add stress to your life, even if they are wonderful activities. No, I am not saying that you should stop doing things you really love, but is it really worth time away from the home? If you are involved in several different ministries at church and you don't have time to cook dinner, then you probably need to re-evaluate your schedule. At this time in our lives, we are involved in 3 ministry opportunities. 2 are at our church and both occur in Dec. The first is our church's huge Living Christmas Tree Production, the first weekend of the month. Greg programs the lights for the tree and 5 of our children sing or play an instrument or perform in the ballet. We all love it, but it does take lots and lots of time. In fact, the first planning meeting for this years production is next Sunday night. The 2nd is our church's Christmas Store for families who need extra holiday help. The kids love shopping for the gifts with the money we set aside for this. The day of the store, I work in the giftwrap and Greg and the older boys help load the cars. My 3 youngest will tell you that shopping for the store is one of their favorite Christmas activities. These 2 busy-filled activites are the main reasons we have no school December. There just isn't time or energy for school this month. The 3rd ministry is our Mission Trip. Greg & I have gone to Honduras twice and this year we did a family trip to Oklahoma to help with VBS at 2 Choctaw Indian Churches. We had a wonderful time with each other and the rest of the team.
We are able to do many things together because we homeschool. They are a priority for our lives and our family. But, every family is different. If your children are in a public or private school, you may need to look at the extras that are on your calendars and evaluate why you are doing them. Do they need to sit in school all day then come home, go to football, eat dinner in the car and then head to karate or wherever. Do the kids really care about all the activites or do you as the parent want them in something everyday? Only you can make the decisions for your own family...but in doing so you are carving out time that could be used for something else.
Honestly, I look at schedules of people at church, family members and neighbors and wonder how they do it all. And these are some of the same folks who say to me...I don't know how you have time to sew or read or blog or cook from scratch, or take a walk. We all have our own lives and we have to live them according to our convictions for our family. The Lord made us all unique individuals and it would be really dull if everyone was just alike!
Sunday, August 9, 2009
Oops!
On Thursday one of the kids said...aren't we going to do History this week? Its in our assignment book! HeeHee, I forgot to write it on our schedule, so we didn't do it. Oh well, we will make it up this week. I knew this would take some getting used to!
We are packed and ready to go to Biloxi in the morning! Gulf Coast here we come!
We are packed and ready to go to Biloxi in the morning! Gulf Coast here we come!
Saturday, August 8, 2009
First Week of School
Our first week of school is finished. It went great and we really like the new schedule. Here goes...7:30-8:00 everyone out of bed, get dressed, make bed & straighten room, 8:00-8:30 fix & eat breakfast, K & A clean out the dishwasher and reload, W feed and water the dogs & take out trash if needed, 8:30-9:00 bible reading, journaling, fun book reading, 9:00-10:00 Math (K is usually done in the hour, A & W usually need 1 1/2 hours, 10:00-11:00 K works on Physics, 10:30-11:00 A & W do Language. Then they start the computer classes of Spanish, Typing & Music Theory. 11:45-1:00 cook & eat lunch, cleanup, and tv time (usually watch a show we taped the night before or an episode of the Waltons). 1-? work on anything not finished in the morning or craft time..no tv. Will is working on some wood working projects to enter in the fair, Katie & Amy are working on cross stitch pictures for the fair, and I am working on a quilt top. Its amazing how much we get done when the time is scheduled in. Now, with that schedule in our minds....it will all change when we have to add in our co-op classes and homework in a couple of weeks. Then, we will have more afternoon work. I usually get up at 7 and make Gregs coffee and fix his lunch (if we have leftovers from the night before if not, he usually buys something). Then I start the morning routine.....exception, I haven't been able to sit down for the reading time, but I want to work that in. Usually, I am on the computer, reading email, checking blogs, and looking at facebook (thought I would really be honest with everyone).
I love Teaching Textbooks! It is an awesome computer program for math. Katie is doing geometry, Amy and Will are doing Pre-Algebra. You insert the computer disk and watch the instruction part of the class, stop the disk and work the practice problems, start disk and check problems, stop disk and do
the math problems, then start and check the problems. He does an exceedingly thorough job of going through each problem step by step so you can see where (if) you messed up. And this is why it takes A & W 1 1/2 hours. Today, Katie told them that she fast forwards through the problems to the answer and only watches the explanation if she got it wrong....would have been nice to know this on Monday. I am watching the lessons with Amy & Will so I will know what he is talking about and how he presented it....I could learn pre-algebra this year too!On Monday, we are packing up the books and dvds and computers and headed to Biloxi for the week with Greg. He has to go for work and we are going too! We will hotel school, swim in the hotel pool and hang out till he is done with work...then dinner out!
We always take pictures on the first day of school...........and we have to include the barefooted picture............homeschoolers can go to school with no shoes!
Hot Sauce and Margaritas
My first hot sauce. I am so proud.My recipe was 1 pound of fresh peppers picked today, sliced and deseeeded. jalapinos, saracha, and poblano. I added 1 cup of white wine, 6 cups of vinegar, turmeric, salt, mustard seed, dry mustard, cummin, black pepper and 1 can of chipotole peppers in adobo sause. I ran all of the solids thru the food processor until it made a groovy pulpy sludge.
I reduced it by half by boiling it on the grill for 1 hour. It will be called "Greg's Pepper Juice"
I listened to big bad voodoo daddy the entire time! We had some scratch margaritas, tequila, triple sec, and lime juice shaken not stirred!
Wednesday, August 5, 2009
Dieting Under Stress (no substitutions)
This diet is designed to help you cope with the stress that builds up during the day.
Breakfast 1 grapefruit
1 slice whole wheat toast, dry
6 oz. skim milk
Lunch 4 oz. lean broiled chicken breast
1 cup steamed spinach
1 cup herb tea
1 oreo cookie
Afternoon Snack Rest of the Oreos in the package
2 pints Rocky Road Ice Cream
1 jar hot fudge sauce
Nuts, cherries, whipped cream
Dinner 2 loaves garlic bread with cheese
Lg. Sausage, mushroom & cheese pizza
4 cans or 1 lg. pitcher beer
3 Milky Way or Snickers Candy Bars
Late Evening News Snack Entire frozen Cheesecake eaten directly from freezer
RULES FOR THIS DIET
1. If you eat something and no one sees you eat it, it has no calories.
2. If you drink a diet soda with a candy bar, the calories in the candy bar are cancelled out by the diet soda.
3. when you eat with someone else, calories don't count if you don't eat more than they do.
4. Food used for medicinal purposes NEVER count, such as hot chocolate, brandy, toast & Sara Lee Cheesecake.
5. If you fatten up everyone else around you, then you look thinner.
6. Movie related foods do not have additional calories because they are part of the entire entertainment package and not part of one's personal ful, such as Milk Duds, Buttered Popcorn, Junior Mints, Red Hots, and Tootsie Rolls.
7. Cookie pieces contain no calories. The process of breaking causes calorie leakage.
8. Things licked off of knives and spoon have no calories in the process of making something. For example, peanut butter licked off the knife while making a sandwich.
Foods that have the same color have the same number of calories. Examples are spinach & pistachio ice cream, mushrooms & white chocolate, NOTE: chocolate is a universal color and may be substituted for any other food color!
Bloggers note: I wish I could take credit for coming up with and writing this wonderful diet but I got this in an email many years ago. I have no idea who wrote it, but they have a brilliant mind! Many years ago, someone brought doughnuts to my dads office for us. We told her that the doughnuts didn't have any calories...they were all in the holes...and she believed us! No, she wasn't blonde. She went on and on about how she had never heard that and would have to tell her friends. She finally caught onto the joke when we were rolling on the floor laughing. Then we all dove into the doughnuts! (yep, unfortunatley that is a true story...I am just leaving out the name to protect the innocent and gullible)
Breakfast 1 grapefruit
1 slice whole wheat toast, dry
6 oz. skim milk
Lunch 4 oz. lean broiled chicken breast
1 cup steamed spinach
1 cup herb tea
1 oreo cookie
Afternoon Snack Rest of the Oreos in the package
2 pints Rocky Road Ice Cream
1 jar hot fudge sauce
Nuts, cherries, whipped cream
Dinner 2 loaves garlic bread with cheese
Lg. Sausage, mushroom & cheese pizza
4 cans or 1 lg. pitcher beer
3 Milky Way or Snickers Candy Bars
Late Evening News Snack Entire frozen Cheesecake eaten directly from freezer
RULES FOR THIS DIET
1. If you eat something and no one sees you eat it, it has no calories.
2. If you drink a diet soda with a candy bar, the calories in the candy bar are cancelled out by the diet soda.
3. when you eat with someone else, calories don't count if you don't eat more than they do.
4. Food used for medicinal purposes NEVER count, such as hot chocolate, brandy, toast & Sara Lee Cheesecake.
5. If you fatten up everyone else around you, then you look thinner.
6. Movie related foods do not have additional calories because they are part of the entire entertainment package and not part of one's personal ful, such as Milk Duds, Buttered Popcorn, Junior Mints, Red Hots, and Tootsie Rolls.
7. Cookie pieces contain no calories. The process of breaking causes calorie leakage.
8. Things licked off of knives and spoon have no calories in the process of making something. For example, peanut butter licked off the knife while making a sandwich.
Foods that have the same color have the same number of calories. Examples are spinach & pistachio ice cream, mushrooms & white chocolate, NOTE: chocolate is a universal color and may be substituted for any other food color!
Bloggers note: I wish I could take credit for coming up with and writing this wonderful diet but I got this in an email many years ago. I have no idea who wrote it, but they have a brilliant mind! Many years ago, someone brought doughnuts to my dads office for us. We told her that the doughnuts didn't have any calories...they were all in the holes...and she believed us! No, she wasn't blonde. She went on and on about how she had never heard that and would have to tell her friends. She finally caught onto the joke when we were rolling on the floor laughing. Then we all dove into the doughnuts! (yep, unfortunatley that is a true story...I am just leaving out the name to protect the innocent and gullible)
Sunday, August 2, 2009
Sweet Pickle Relish
Pickle relish is on my ever expanding list of items not to buy at the grocery store because all the major brands contain High Fructose Corn Syrup. I have found some good organic brands but they are all at Whole Foods or Trader Joe's and the closest stores are 3 hours away. So, I decided to plant some cucumbers this year, just to have enough to try making our own pickle relish. I found a recipe that looked good in my "So Easy to Preserve" book from UGA. Yesterday was relish day.
The recipe called for 4 cups cucumbers, 1 green bell pepper, 1 red bell pepper and 1 onion. I chopped these all down in the food processor and followed the rest of the recipe. The vegies had to soak in water and salt for 2 hours and that was the longest step of the recipe. Cooking them with the vinegar and spices only took about 10-12 minutes. Then it was put into canning jars and the water bath canner.
After they cooled we put one jar in the fridge to have today on our hamburgers. In one word the taste is YUMMY! I made some more today and put it in pint jars, cause a 1/2 pint just won't last long around this house.
I have 1 jar that looks perfect...enough relish, enough juice, etc. It will be entered in the State Fair this year. Hope the judges like it!
Note: Chopping the vegies in the food processor made it a fine relish. We like the consistency but it is smaller than the grocery store brands. Might try chopping one batch by hand and just compare the 2. This recipe is a keeper!
The recipe called for 4 cups cucumbers, 1 green bell pepper, 1 red bell pepper and 1 onion. I chopped these all down in the food processor and followed the rest of the recipe. The vegies had to soak in water and salt for 2 hours and that was the longest step of the recipe. Cooking them with the vinegar and spices only took about 10-12 minutes. Then it was put into canning jars and the water bath canner.
After they cooled we put one jar in the fridge to have today on our hamburgers. In one word the taste is YUMMY! I made some more today and put it in pint jars, cause a 1/2 pint just won't last long around this house.
I have 1 jar that looks perfect...enough relish, enough juice, etc. It will be entered in the State Fair this year. Hope the judges like it!
Note: Chopping the vegies in the food processor made it a fine relish. We like the consistency but it is smaller than the grocery store brands. Might try chopping one batch by hand and just compare the 2. This recipe is a keeper!
Thursday, July 30, 2009
the end of July
The end of July brings many mixed feelings. It is our end of Christmas in July. I have more movies than month, so that just doesn't seem right. But we had fun watching all the old movies. Yesterday we watched "White Christmas" with Bing Crosby & Danny Kaye. Why don't they make singers like that anymore? Man, Bing could sing! We've also watched Home Alone 1,2,&3, Santa Clause 2 (can't find 1), the Christmas Story, Peanuts Christmas, Jingle all the Way, Flintstones Christmas, Here comes Santa Claus, Jetson's Christmas, Little House on the Prairie - 2 different Christmas episodes, Frosty the Snowman and the animated Grinch. I am not sure what is on the viewing list for tomorrow, but it will be good. Still need to see Rudolf and Muppet Christmas Carol. I have collected these for 25 years, so we have alot!
It is also the end of our vacation from school. we have done alot of planning this week and written most of it down. Some lessons are planned till the Tues. before Thanksgiving. This is a first for me. We did this over 3 mornings and spread the school books out and got it done. Yeah, for us. I say us, because the kids sat and helped me with everything. We have also tried to schedule out our days which is proving to be a bit more difficult than I imagined. We have different schedules for a couple of days, which don't fit into the norm. Still figuring that out.
We are going to try our hand at making sweet pickle relish this weekend. My cucumbers are producing great quantities and they are going to turn into relish. One of them weighs 1 3/4 pounds! This is a further attempt at exorcising High Fructose Corn Syrup from our lives. I have found some organic relish that we like, but our one organic store here doesn't carry it. So, we are trying to learn a new skill.
Before the torrential rain hit today, we pulled up the green bean plants in one of our square foot gardening boxes. They were not at all productive. We replanted with more bean seeds. Then the deluge hit. Hopefully all the seeds didn't wash to one end of the box. I would still like to grow enough beans to can and eat through the winter. But, if not, I will buy them at the Farmers Market and can them. They are locally grown and will be better than anything else I can buy at the grocery over the winter. We went and bought some today and had them for dinner tonight...yummy!
Time for reading and bedtime. Tomorrow is another day!
It is also the end of our vacation from school. we have done alot of planning this week and written most of it down. Some lessons are planned till the Tues. before Thanksgiving. This is a first for me. We did this over 3 mornings and spread the school books out and got it done. Yeah, for us. I say us, because the kids sat and helped me with everything. We have also tried to schedule out our days which is proving to be a bit more difficult than I imagined. We have different schedules for a couple of days, which don't fit into the norm. Still figuring that out.
We are going to try our hand at making sweet pickle relish this weekend. My cucumbers are producing great quantities and they are going to turn into relish. One of them weighs 1 3/4 pounds! This is a further attempt at exorcising High Fructose Corn Syrup from our lives. I have found some organic relish that we like, but our one organic store here doesn't carry it. So, we are trying to learn a new skill.
Before the torrential rain hit today, we pulled up the green bean plants in one of our square foot gardening boxes. They were not at all productive. We replanted with more bean seeds. Then the deluge hit. Hopefully all the seeds didn't wash to one end of the box. I would still like to grow enough beans to can and eat through the winter. But, if not, I will buy them at the Farmers Market and can them. They are locally grown and will be better than anything else I can buy at the grocery over the winter. We went and bought some today and had them for dinner tonight...yummy!
Time for reading and bedtime. Tomorrow is another day!
"They" voted for Change
Do ya really think that everyone voted for "Change" had any idea what they were doing? I hope not! We are in serious trouble if this things passes. Making the government bigger and more powerful is not going to help us at all. I enjoy the freedom to pick my own doctor, for us to discuss any medical tests that need to be done because there is a medical need, and to get the test, treatments, etc. in a timely manner. What are they going to do IF there is a H1N1 pandemic? Deny certain folks health care because of their age, their political party, the state they live in, their income, or whatever they feel like that day? Personally, I am going to make sure we have fever reducers, cold & flu meds, upset tummy meds, etc. in my home pharmacy cabinet for the fall & winter. I have tried to read some of the Health Care Proposal, its pretty much impossible to understand. We've got a great radio show here in Miss. that dissects some of this rhetoric and passes it on to us (thanks Paul Gallo). The following is an article my sister sent me yesterday about 5 freedoms we will lose if this passes..........
> 5 Freedoms You'd Lose in Health Care Reform
>
> by Shawn Tully
> Monday, July 27, 2009 provided by <http://www.fortune.com/>
> FortuneonCNNMoney.com
>
> If you read the fine print in the Congressional plans, you'll find that a
> lot of cherished aspects of the current system would disappear.
>
> In promoting his health-care agenda, President Obama has repeatedly
> reassured Americans that they can keep their existing health plans -- and
> that the benefits and access they prize will be enhanced through reform.
>
> A close reading of the two main bills, one backed by Democrats in the House
> and the other issued by Sen. Edward Kennedy's Health committee, contradict
> the President's assurances. To be sure, it isn't easy to comb through their
> 2,000 pages of tortured legal language. But page by page, the bills reveal a
> web of restrictions, fines, and mandates that would radically change your
> health-care coverage.
>
> If you prize choosing your own cardiologist or urologist under your
> company's Preferred Provider Organization plan (PPO), if your employer
> rewards your non-smoking, healthy lifestyle with reduced premiums, if you
> love the bargain Health Savings Account (HSA) that insures you just for the
> essentials, or if you simply take comfort in the freedom to spend your own
> money for a policy that covers the newest drugs and diagnostic tests -- you
> may be shocked to learn that you could lose all of those good things under
> the rules proposed in the two bills that herald a health-care revolution.
>
> In short, the Obama platform would mandate extremely full, expensive, and
> highly subsidized coverage -- including a lot of benefits people would never
> pay for with their own money -- but deliver it through a highly restrictive,
> HMO-style plan that will determine what care and tests you can and can't
> have. It's a revolution, all right, but in the wrong direction.
>
> Let's explore the five freedoms that Americans would lose under Obamacare:
>
> 1. Freedom to choose what's in your plan
>
> The bills in both houses require that Americans purchase insurance through
> "qualified" plans offered by health-care "exchanges" that would be set up in
> each state. The rub is that the plans can't really compete based on what
> they offer. The reason: The federal government will impose a minimum list of
> benefits that each plan is required to offer.
>
> Today, many states require these "standard benefits packages" -- and they're
> a major cause for the rise in health-care costs. Every group, from
> chiropractors to alcohol-abuse counselors, do lobbying to get included.
> Connecticut, for example, requires reimbursement for hair transplants,
> hearing aids, and in vitro fertilization.
>
> The Senate bill would require coverage for prescription drugs, mental-health
> benefits, and substance-abuse services. It also requires policies to insure
> "children" until the age of 26. That's just the starting list. The bills
> would allow the Department of Health and Human Services to add to the list
> of required benefits, based on recommendations from a committee of experts.
> Americans, therefore, wouldn't even know what's in their plans and what
> they're required to pay for, directly or indirectly, until after the bills
> become law.
>
> 2. Freedom to be rewarded for healthy living, or pay your real costs
>
> As with the previous example, the Obama plan enshrines into federal law one
> of the worst features of state legislation: community rating. Eleven states,
> ranging from New York to Oregon, have some form of community rating. In its
> purest form, community rating requires that all patients pay the same rates
> for their level of coverage regardless of their age or medical condition.
>
> Americans with pre-existing conditions need subsidies under any plan, but
> community rating is a dubious way to bring fairness to health care. The
> reason is twofold: First, it forces young people, who typically have lower
> incomes than older workers, to pay far more than their actual cost, and
> gives older workers, who can afford to pay more, a big discount. The state
> laws gouging the young are a major reason so many of them have joined the
> ranks of uninsured.
>
> Under the Senate plan, insurers would be barred from charging any more than
> twice as much for one patient vs. any other patient with the same coverage.
> So if a 20-year-old who costs just $800 a year to insure is forced to pay
> $2,500, a 62-year-old who costs $7,500 would pay no more than $5,000.
>
> Second, the bills would ban insurers from charging differing premiums based
> on the health of their customers. Again, that's understandable for folks
> with diabetes or cancer. But the bills would bar rewarding people who pursue
> a healthy lifestyle of exercise or a cholesterol-conscious diet. That's
> hardly a formula for lower costs. It's as if car insurers had to charge the
> same rates to safe drivers as to chronic speeders with a history of
> accidents.
>
> 3. Freedom to choose high-deductible coverage
>
> The bills threaten to eliminate the one part of the market truly driven by
> consumers spending their own money. That's what makes a market, and health
> care needs more of it, not less.
>
> Hundreds of companies now offer Health Savings Accounts to about 5 million
> employees. Those workers deposit tax-free money in the accounts and get a
> matching contribution from their employer. They can use the funds to buy a
> high-deductible plan -- say for major medical costs over $12,000. Preventive
> care is reimbursed, but patients pay all other routine doctor visits and
> tests with their own money from the HSA account. As a result, HSA users are
> far more cost-conscious than customers who are reimbursed for the majority
> of their care.
>
> The bills seriously endanger the trend toward consumer-driven care in
> general. By requiring minimum packages, they would prevent patients from
> choosing stripped-down plans that cover only major medical expenses. "The
> government could set extremely low deductibles that would eliminate HSAs,"
> says John Goodman of the National Center for Policy Analysis, a free-market
> research group. "And they could do it after the bills are passed."
>
> 4. Freedom to keep your existing plan
>
> This is the freedom that the President keeps emphasizing. Yet the bills
> appear to say otherwise. It's worth diving into the weeds -- the territory
> where most pundits and politicians don't seem to have ventured.
>
> The legislation divides the insured into two main groups, and those two
> groups are treated differently with respect to their current plans. The
> first are employees covered by the Employee Retirement Security Act of 1974.
> ERISA regulates companies that are self-insured, meaning they pay claims out
> of their cash flow, and don't have real insurance. Those are the GEs and
> Time Warners and most other big companies.
>
> The House bill states that employees covered by ERISA plans are
> "grandfathered." Under ERISA, the plans can do pretty much what they want --
> they're exempt from standard packages and community rating and can reward
> employees for healthy lifestyles even in restrictive states.
>
> But read on.
>
> The bill gives ERISA employers a five-year grace period when they can keep
> offering plans free from the restrictions of the "qualified" policies
> offered on the exchanges. But after five years, they would have to offer
> only approved plans, with the myriad rules we've already discussed. So for
> Americans in large corporations, "keeping your own plan" has a strict
> deadline. In five years, like it or not, you'll get dumped into the
> exchange. As we'll see, it could happen a lot earlier.
>
> The outlook is worse for the second group. It encompasses employees who
> aren't under ERISA but get actual insurance either on their own or through
> small businesses. After the legislation passes, all insurers that offer a
> wide range of plans to these employees will be forced to offer only
> "qualified" plans to new customers, via the exchanges.
>
> The employees who got their coverage before the law goes into effect can
> keep their plans, but once again, there's a catch. If the plan changes in
> any way -- by altering co-pays, deductibles, or even switching coverage for
> this or that drug -- the employee must drop out and shop through the
> exchange. Since these plans generally change their policies every year, it's
> likely that millions of employees will lose their plans in 12 months.
>
> 5. Freedom to choose your doctors
>
> The Senate bill requires that Americans buying through the exchanges -- and
> as we've seen, that will soon be most Americans -- must get their care
> through something called "medical home." Medical home is similar to an HMO.
> You're assigned a primary care doctor, and the doctor controls your access
> to specialists. The primary care physicians will decide which services, like
> MRIs and other diagnostic scans, are best for you, and will decide when you
> really need to see a cardiologists or orthopedists.
>
> Under the proposals, the gatekeepers would theoretically guide patients to
> tests and treatments that have proved most cost-effective. The danger is
> that doctors will be financially rewarded for denying care, as were HMO
> physicians more than a decade ago. It was consumer outrage over despotic
> gatekeepers that made the HMOs so unpopular, and killed what was billed as
> the solution to America's health-care cost explosion.
>
> The bills do not specifically rule out fee-for-service plans as options to
> be offered through the exchanges. But remember, those plans -- if they exist
> -- would be barred from charging sick or elderly patients more than young
> and healthy ones. So patients would be inclined to game the system, staying
> in the HMO while they're healthy and switching to fee-for-service when they
> become seriously ill. "That would kill fee-for-service in a hurry," says
> Goodman.
>
> In reality, the flexible, employer-based plans that now dominate the
> landscape, and that Americans so cherish, could disappear far faster than
> the 5 year "grace period" that's barely being discussed.
>
> Companies would have the option of paying an 8% payroll tax into a fund that
> pays for coverage for Americans who aren't covered by their employers. It
> won't happen right away -- large companies must wait a couple of years
> before they opt out. But it will happen, since it's likely that the tax will
> rise a lot more slowly than corporate health-care costs, especially since
> they'll be lobbying Washington to keep the tax under control in the
> righteous name of job creation.
>
> The best solution is to move to a let-freedom-ring regime of high
> deductibles, no community rating, no standard benefits, and cross-state
> shopping for bargains (another market-based reform that's strictly taboo in
> the bills). I'll propose my own solution in another piece soon on
> Fortune.com <http://finance.yahoo.com/magazines/fortune/index.html> . For
> now, we suffer with a flawed health-care system, but we still have our Five
> Freedoms. Call them the Five Endangered Freedoms.
>
> Copyrighted, Fortune. All rights reserved.
> 5 Freedoms You'd Lose in Health Care Reform
>
> by Shawn Tully
> Monday, July 27, 2009 provided by <http://www.fortune.com/>
> FortuneonCNNMoney.com
>
> If you read the fine print in the Congressional plans, you'll find that a
> lot of cherished aspects of the current system would disappear.
>
> In promoting his health-care agenda, President Obama has repeatedly
> reassured Americans that they can keep their existing health plans -- and
> that the benefits and access they prize will be enhanced through reform.
>
> A close reading of the two main bills, one backed by Democrats in the House
> and the other issued by Sen. Edward Kennedy's Health committee, contradict
> the President's assurances. To be sure, it isn't easy to comb through their
> 2,000 pages of tortured legal language. But page by page, the bills reveal a
> web of restrictions, fines, and mandates that would radically change your
> health-care coverage.
>
> If you prize choosing your own cardiologist or urologist under your
> company's Preferred Provider Organization plan (PPO), if your employer
> rewards your non-smoking, healthy lifestyle with reduced premiums, if you
> love the bargain Health Savings Account (HSA) that insures you just for the
> essentials, or if you simply take comfort in the freedom to spend your own
> money for a policy that covers the newest drugs and diagnostic tests -- you
> may be shocked to learn that you could lose all of those good things under
> the rules proposed in the two bills that herald a health-care revolution.
>
> In short, the Obama platform would mandate extremely full, expensive, and
> highly subsidized coverage -- including a lot of benefits people would never
> pay for with their own money -- but deliver it through a highly restrictive,
> HMO-style plan that will determine what care and tests you can and can't
> have. It's a revolution, all right, but in the wrong direction.
>
> Let's explore the five freedoms that Americans would lose under Obamacare:
>
> 1. Freedom to choose what's in your plan
>
> The bills in both houses require that Americans purchase insurance through
> "qualified" plans offered by health-care "exchanges" that would be set up in
> each state. The rub is that the plans can't really compete based on what
> they offer. The reason: The federal government will impose a minimum list of
> benefits that each plan is required to offer.
>
> Today, many states require these "standard benefits packages" -- and they're
> a major cause for the rise in health-care costs. Every group, from
> chiropractors to alcohol-abuse counselors, do lobbying to get included.
> Connecticut, for example, requires reimbursement for hair transplants,
> hearing aids, and in vitro fertilization.
>
> The Senate bill would require coverage for prescription drugs, mental-health
> benefits, and substance-abuse services. It also requires policies to insure
> "children" until the age of 26. That's just the starting list. The bills
> would allow the Department of Health and Human Services to add to the list
> of required benefits, based on recommendations from a committee of experts.
> Americans, therefore, wouldn't even know what's in their plans and what
> they're required to pay for, directly or indirectly, until after the bills
> become law.
>
> 2. Freedom to be rewarded for healthy living, or pay your real costs
>
> As with the previous example, the Obama plan enshrines into federal law one
> of the worst features of state legislation: community rating. Eleven states,
> ranging from New York to Oregon, have some form of community rating. In its
> purest form, community rating requires that all patients pay the same rates
> for their level of coverage regardless of their age or medical condition.
>
> Americans with pre-existing conditions need subsidies under any plan, but
> community rating is a dubious way to bring fairness to health care. The
> reason is twofold: First, it forces young people, who typically have lower
> incomes than older workers, to pay far more than their actual cost, and
> gives older workers, who can afford to pay more, a big discount. The state
> laws gouging the young are a major reason so many of them have joined the
> ranks of uninsured.
>
> Under the Senate plan, insurers would be barred from charging any more than
> twice as much for one patient vs. any other patient with the same coverage.
> So if a 20-year-old who costs just $800 a year to insure is forced to pay
> $2,500, a 62-year-old who costs $7,500 would pay no more than $5,000.
>
> Second, the bills would ban insurers from charging differing premiums based
> on the health of their customers. Again, that's understandable for folks
> with diabetes or cancer. But the bills would bar rewarding people who pursue
> a healthy lifestyle of exercise or a cholesterol-conscious diet. That's
> hardly a formula for lower costs. It's as if car insurers had to charge the
> same rates to safe drivers as to chronic speeders with a history of
> accidents.
>
> 3. Freedom to choose high-deductible coverage
>
> The bills threaten to eliminate the one part of the market truly driven by
> consumers spending their own money. That's what makes a market, and health
> care needs more of it, not less.
>
> Hundreds of companies now offer Health Savings Accounts to about 5 million
> employees. Those workers deposit tax-free money in the accounts and get a
> matching contribution from their employer. They can use the funds to buy a
> high-deductible plan -- say for major medical costs over $12,000. Preventive
> care is reimbursed, but patients pay all other routine doctor visits and
> tests with their own money from the HSA account. As a result, HSA users are
> far more cost-conscious than customers who are reimbursed for the majority
> of their care.
>
> The bills seriously endanger the trend toward consumer-driven care in
> general. By requiring minimum packages, they would prevent patients from
> choosing stripped-down plans that cover only major medical expenses. "The
> government could set extremely low deductibles that would eliminate HSAs,"
> says John Goodman of the National Center for Policy Analysis, a free-market
> research group. "And they could do it after the bills are passed."
>
> 4. Freedom to keep your existing plan
>
> This is the freedom that the President keeps emphasizing. Yet the bills
> appear to say otherwise. It's worth diving into the weeds -- the territory
> where most pundits and politicians don't seem to have ventured.
>
> The legislation divides the insured into two main groups, and those two
> groups are treated differently with respect to their current plans. The
> first are employees covered by the Employee Retirement Security Act of 1974.
> ERISA regulates companies that are self-insured, meaning they pay claims out
> of their cash flow, and don't have real insurance. Those are the GEs and
> Time Warners and most other big companies.
>
> The House bill states that employees covered by ERISA plans are
> "grandfathered." Under ERISA, the plans can do pretty much what they want --
> they're exempt from standard packages and community rating and can reward
> employees for healthy lifestyles even in restrictive states.
>
> But read on.
>
> The bill gives ERISA employers a five-year grace period when they can keep
> offering plans free from the restrictions of the "qualified" policies
> offered on the exchanges. But after five years, they would have to offer
> only approved plans, with the myriad rules we've already discussed. So for
> Americans in large corporations, "keeping your own plan" has a strict
> deadline. In five years, like it or not, you'll get dumped into the
> exchange. As we'll see, it could happen a lot earlier.
>
> The outlook is worse for the second group. It encompasses employees who
> aren't under ERISA but get actual insurance either on their own or through
> small businesses. After the legislation passes, all insurers that offer a
> wide range of plans to these employees will be forced to offer only
> "qualified" plans to new customers, via the exchanges.
>
> The employees who got their coverage before the law goes into effect can
> keep their plans, but once again, there's a catch. If the plan changes in
> any way -- by altering co-pays, deductibles, or even switching coverage for
> this or that drug -- the employee must drop out and shop through the
> exchange. Since these plans generally change their policies every year, it's
> likely that millions of employees will lose their plans in 12 months.
>
> 5. Freedom to choose your doctors
>
> The Senate bill requires that Americans buying through the exchanges -- and
> as we've seen, that will soon be most Americans -- must get their care
> through something called "medical home." Medical home is similar to an HMO.
> You're assigned a primary care doctor, and the doctor controls your access
> to specialists. The primary care physicians will decide which services, like
> MRIs and other diagnostic scans, are best for you, and will decide when you
> really need to see a cardiologists or orthopedists.
>
> Under the proposals, the gatekeepers would theoretically guide patients to
> tests and treatments that have proved most cost-effective. The danger is
> that doctors will be financially rewarded for denying care, as were HMO
> physicians more than a decade ago. It was consumer outrage over despotic
> gatekeepers that made the HMOs so unpopular, and killed what was billed as
> the solution to America's health-care cost explosion.
>
> The bills do not specifically rule out fee-for-service plans as options to
> be offered through the exchanges. But remember, those plans -- if they exist
> -- would be barred from charging sick or elderly patients more than young
> and healthy ones. So patients would be inclined to game the system, staying
> in the HMO while they're healthy and switching to fee-for-service when they
> become seriously ill. "That would kill fee-for-service in a hurry," says
> Goodman.
>
> In reality, the flexible, employer-based plans that now dominate the
> landscape, and that Americans so cherish, could disappear far faster than
> the 5 year "grace period" that's barely being discussed.
>
> Companies would have the option of paying an 8% payroll tax into a fund that
> pays for coverage for Americans who aren't covered by their employers. It
> won't happen right away -- large companies must wait a couple of years
> before they opt out. But it will happen, since it's likely that the tax will
> rise a lot more slowly than corporate health-care costs, especially since
> they'll be lobbying Washington to keep the tax under control in the
> righteous name of job creation.
>
> The best solution is to move to a let-freedom-ring regime of high
> deductibles, no community rating, no standard benefits, and cross-state
> shopping for bargains (another market-based reform that's strictly taboo in
> the bills). I'll propose my own solution in another piece soon on
> Fortune.com <http://finance.yahoo.com/magazines/fortune/index.html> . For
> now, we suffer with a flawed health-care system, but we still have our Five
> Freedoms. Call them the Five Endangered Freedoms.
>
> Copyrighted, Fortune. All rights reserved.
Monday, July 27, 2009
New Tradition
At the Jackson home, we have started a new Sunday night tradition. And it is yummy! Katie, Amy and I love to bake but we don't make desserts on a regular basis. So our new Sunday Night Tradition is Dessert Night. In the past weeks, we have indulged in Red Velvet Cupcakes, Chocolate Pie, and Pound Cake (with whipped cream and strawberries, it became strawberry shortcake). It is something to look forward to all week and just making one dessert a week means it doesn't linger in the house tempting me!
I am looking forward to "dusting off" some of the recipe books and finding new treats for us to try!
I am looking forward to "dusting off" some of the recipe books and finding new treats for us to try!
Sunday, July 26, 2009
The time is coming....
We have one more week of our "Christmas in July" celebration. Greg will have to hook up our VCR so we can watch more of our videos. Everything got unhooked when we rearranged the living room and I don't know where the VCR wires are..they are here somewhere. And its only 150 days till Christmas.
But, its also one week till school starts. Where has the summer gone? We've got all the school books, notebooks, paper, pencils, and new crayons! We are starting school a week earlier than our county but thats ok. In Oct. when they are slogging away at the books, we will be a Disney. Thats worth it to me! The kids are ready to start. Their co-op classes start at the end of the month, so we have a few weeks to get ready for that scheduling. This year Amy will be in the 8th grade, Will in the 9th grade and Katie in the 12th grade. All of my babies are growing up so fast.
But, its also one week till school starts. Where has the summer gone? We've got all the school books, notebooks, paper, pencils, and new crayons! We are starting school a week earlier than our county but thats ok. In Oct. when they are slogging away at the books, we will be a Disney. Thats worth it to me! The kids are ready to start. Their co-op classes start at the end of the month, so we have a few weeks to get ready for that scheduling. This year Amy will be in the 8th grade, Will in the 9th grade and Katie in the 12th grade. All of my babies are growing up so fast.
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
New Dining Room
Here are pictures on my new dining room. The furniture was Greg's grandmothers. Notice the beautiful wood floor that all my boys worked so hard on! We love the way this room turned out.
We will post pictures of the living room soon...we have to take the pictures first.
And then the kitchen when it is finished!
Monday, July 20, 2009
Ribs Ribs Ribs Ribs
I tried a couple of new tricks on the ribs this weekend with great results. First, I didn't take the time to marinate overnight. I went with a wet marinade instead. I used basalmic vinegar and honey mustard and olive oil along with salt and pepper for an hour long marinade. I put 4 slabs in the smoke for two hours. I used hickory chunks that had been soaking overnight.
I ran out of my usual rib rub and made some myself. I made it with brown sugar, ancho pepper, cumin, black pepper, kosher salt, dry mustard, lime crystals, garlic salt, onion powder, and paprika. Eleven herbs and spices. When I got finished, it tasted like pringles bar b que chips. I put the dry rub on the ribs at the 2 hour time and wrapped them in foil. They cooked for 4 more hours in the foil on very low. The rub made a nice spicy crust on the ribs. Very good.
One other trick, I used my fish gloves to remove the membrane on the back of the ribs. They have sticky ridges that help hold on to the membrane and it comes off in one pull. Helps make the ribs easier to eat.
I ran out of my usual rib rub and made some myself. I made it with brown sugar, ancho pepper, cumin, black pepper, kosher salt, dry mustard, lime crystals, garlic salt, onion powder, and paprika. Eleven herbs and spices. When I got finished, it tasted like pringles bar b que chips. I put the dry rub on the ribs at the 2 hour time and wrapped them in foil. They cooked for 4 more hours in the foil on very low. The rub made a nice spicy crust on the ribs. Very good.
One other trick, I used my fish gloves to remove the membrane on the back of the ribs. They have sticky ridges that help hold on to the membrane and it comes off in one pull. Helps make the ribs easier to eat.
Thursday, July 16, 2009
Birthday
Today would be my daddy's 75th Birthday! He would be 3/4 of a century old! This will be my dad's 16th birthday celebration in heaven!
Happy Birthday Daddy! We love you and miss you!
Happy Birthday Daddy! We love you and miss you!
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
Quote by a President
You cannot help the poor by destroying the rich.
You cannot strengthen the weak by weakening the strong.
You cannot bring about prosperity by discouraging thrift.
You cannot lift the wage earner up by pulling the wage payer down.
You cannot further the brotherhood of man by inciting class hatred.
You cannot build character and courage by taking away people's initiative and independence.
You cannot help people permanently by doing for them, what they could and should do for themselves.
.....Abraham Lincoln
Schoolbooks
Ahhhhh...the school books are here, the lesson plans and schedule sheets are printed. Now, I just have to get the school books and lesson plans together and figure out the schedule! Katie did computer work for me yesterday and redid the lesson plan sheets for this year, for our new books and co-op classes. I am going to try the scheduling in "Managers of Their Homes" by Steve & Terri Maxwell. We have a couple of weeks to figure this all out for our family.
Katie filled out her first college application yesterday. I expect several more will follow in the days to come. Now, we have to work on her highschool transcript. Hopefully, scholarship offers will come to the Jackson household!
We have been really lazy the last 2 days. I've got a cold/allergy/asthma thing going on and have sat on the sofa for 2 days. Between the sudafed, robitussin, inhaler and tylenol, I have been pretty zoned out. But, we have watched more movies, read books, cross stitched, looked at school books and been on the computer.
Greg, James, & Will started putting down the trim in the living room around the new wood floor last night. It looks great and matches like it was made together. Since the molding was so expensive that the flooring store sold, Greg decided to buy some at Home Depot and stain it himself. It matches the floor perfectly! Now, we can put books back on the bookshelves. Yeah!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Katie filled out her first college application yesterday. I expect several more will follow in the days to come. Now, we have to work on her highschool transcript. Hopefully, scholarship offers will come to the Jackson household!
We have been really lazy the last 2 days. I've got a cold/allergy/asthma thing going on and have sat on the sofa for 2 days. Between the sudafed, robitussin, inhaler and tylenol, I have been pretty zoned out. But, we have watched more movies, read books, cross stitched, looked at school books and been on the computer.
Greg, James, & Will started putting down the trim in the living room around the new wood floor last night. It looks great and matches like it was made together. Since the molding was so expensive that the flooring store sold, Greg decided to buy some at Home Depot and stain it himself. It matches the floor perfectly! Now, we can put books back on the bookshelves. Yeah!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Friday, July 10, 2009
Happy Weekend
Yeah, the weekend is here.
This week the kids and I celebrated "Christmas in July". No, we didn't go to any sales, we watched some of our Christmas movies. Its been hot and we are tired from the last couple of weeks. In between chores and laundry we watched "The Christmas Story", "Christmas with the Kranks" and are currently watching "Jingle All The Way". Why should we only watch these in December? We also celebrated Thanksgiving last night with turkey and dressing. We hit a great sale in Feb. on turkeys and bought them for $5 each. I bought 4 and froze them to be eaten throughout the year. Yummy, yummy, yummy it was great. Greg and I ate leftovers for dinner tonight and it was so good.
We went downtown and ate lunch with Greg today at Subway. Then I took Katie to get her learners license for driving. Now Greg will have to get busy with the driving lessons.
Greg and James worked on the kitchen floor tonight and got a bunch more tiles layed. There will be more tile work on Sunday.
Tomorrow we are meeting Granny in Birmingham and giving her Amy to visit for a week. Then they are coming back to Miss. While in B'ham, we are going to eat at "Teds Montana Grill" and shop at Costco and Whole Foods! It will be a full day.
Hope everyone has a great weekend!
This week the kids and I celebrated "Christmas in July". No, we didn't go to any sales, we watched some of our Christmas movies. Its been hot and we are tired from the last couple of weeks. In between chores and laundry we watched "The Christmas Story", "Christmas with the Kranks" and are currently watching "Jingle All The Way". Why should we only watch these in December? We also celebrated Thanksgiving last night with turkey and dressing. We hit a great sale in Feb. on turkeys and bought them for $5 each. I bought 4 and froze them to be eaten throughout the year. Yummy, yummy, yummy it was great. Greg and I ate leftovers for dinner tonight and it was so good.
We went downtown and ate lunch with Greg today at Subway. Then I took Katie to get her learners license for driving. Now Greg will have to get busy with the driving lessons.
Greg and James worked on the kitchen floor tonight and got a bunch more tiles layed. There will be more tile work on Sunday.
Tomorrow we are meeting Granny in Birmingham and giving her Amy to visit for a week. Then they are coming back to Miss. While in B'ham, we are going to eat at "Teds Montana Grill" and shop at Costco and Whole Foods! It will be a full day.
Hope everyone has a great weekend!
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