Getting prepared

A certain friend and I have been researching emergency preparedness for quite sometime. I am sure you can guess that is it Lisa:) Emergency preparedness is something she and both very passionate about it. However we usually put getting started at the end of our long list of things to do. We have needed something to get us motivated to actually start making the purchases. I think the swine flu is it. Am I really scared of the swine flu? Not so much! But I think there could be many reasons to be prepared in the future. If not a swine flu pandemic perhaps something... I was going to say something negative about the choices of our Commander in Chief, but decided against it:)

The researching of emergency preparedness has been very interesting. There are people on every inch of a very long spectrum. You have your "normal" preparer, who just wants an extra case of water and some canned food to the people who are learning to live off the grid and become totally self sufficient. My goal is to fall somewhere in the middle of this spectrum. I think I need more than water to keep my family safe and healthy in the event of an emergency. I also am not dedicated enough to give up electricity, air conditioning or indoor pluming. Although for a short time last summer I wanted to sell my house in suburbia and buy a farm to grow a large garden and raise animals. One field trip to a farm with pigs and I changed my mind really fast:) Anyway- I would like to have a nice supply of food and water on hand in case we are unable to leave the house for an extended period of time or the grocery store shelves are bare. I want to make sure that my children are fed and have a water supply to keep them healthy for an extended period of time. I would also like to have a small stock pile of medications, cleaners like bleach and lots of soap and purell.

Here is where I plan to start:
Food storage: I want to have at least a 3 month supply of food my family will actually eat. I have been learning a lot about food storage from the LDS (Mormon) ladies. These ladies have got it together. Although I do not share many of the religious beliefs they have, I do think they are the go to girls for food storage. They are so knowledgeable and seem so willing to share tips and recipes on their blogs.

To assist in becoming prepared as well as become more healthy eaters Lisa and I learned many new things last year. We learned to grow and can vegetable and fruit. We also made pasta sauce, apple sauce, jams and grape juice. We learned to grind wheat and make homemade bread and yummy pizza dough. In the next month or so our favorite blogger will be teaching us the ins and outs of sour dough starters and we are so excited!

Water storage: I am buying cases of bottled water to store for drinking water. I am also looking onto 55 gallon barrels to store water for cleaning and washing. I also plan to invest in a rain barrel this spring to water my garden with.

Medications: Lisa and I talked about having medications on hand this afternoon. I had really never though about it. I guess I just assumed that over the counter medications would be available. I have really been thinking about it for the last few hours and I sure having a supply of OTC meds on hand will not be a bad idea. I am thinking fever reducers and pain medications for head aches and such are going to be necessary. I am going to look for a list of meds to stock up on.

Books: I am waiting on a preparedness book to come in at the library. The fact that there was a waiting list for such a book was surprising to me. I guess we are not the only ones with this on our minds. I think I may go ahead and buy a few good solid homemaking books as well. Books on how women did things in the past. Before you could go the store and buy a box of anything you needed. If anyone has any suggestions I am all ears. I will keep you posted if I find some good ones as well.

Please do not think I am a doom and gloom crazy fanatical. I have honestly been concerned since the election last year. Who knows if I will ever need any of these things for survival. However we will use them on a daily basis so nothing goes to waste. I am also just using this as a way to live a more simple life. I know Lisa and I are not the only ones who feel this way. Feel free to leave a comment on how you are preparing.

Thankful on Friday

I have had a very rough week this week with things breaking down and tons of errands. I know it could be much worse. I could have sick children, or ailing parents, no house or food.... you get the idea. Non the less this week has just seemed to drag on and on with no end in site.

So far this week (and the end of last week) my kitchen aid mixer broke and they have been less than helpful in assisting me with having it repaired, my slicer/shredder is broke, my camera will not recognize it's very expensive memory card, my computer got a virus and I had to take the kids to the eye doctor, Leanne to the pediatrician and Cameron to the orthodontist. We have then had all of our normal happenings such as school, homeschool group, the grocery store (twice) and fundraising for cheerleading. We did manage to squeeze in 2 tumbling classes for Leanne, a skating party on Monday night, 4-H on Tuesday and a trip the skate park on Thursday. It is never a dull moment around here!

Before I get to my Thankful Thursday on Friday ramblings I must share the story of our trip to the pedi on Tuesday:

On Monday night went to a skating party for our homeschool group. We got home kind of late and the kids bathed and went straight to bed. When Leanne woke up in the morning she was covered in a red sand paper looking rash. I thought she had strep throat, although she had no other symptoms and was feeling fine. I felt terrible since on Monday she had been to homeschool group, tumbling class and a skating party. I thought she may have exposed all of those kids to strep or some other mysterious illness. I gave her benedryl and watched her for a few hours and the rash continued to spread (from scratching I now know), so I called the pedi and got her in that afternoon. Of course when you homeschool every outing is a family event so all the kids and I filed in to the office to see what the mystery rash was. The doctor agreed that it looked just like the strep rash so he tested her and it of course came back negative. He said it was an allergic reaction and began to try to help us find the source. Here is the conversation that helped us figure out what Leanne is allergic to:

Dr.: "Have you changed detergent, shampoo or anything like that lately?"

Me: "No everything is the same as it always is."

Dr.: "Has she eaten anything she doesn't normally have?"

Me: "we were at a pot-luck last night, but all she ate was a few sun chips and a sugar cookie..."

Dr.: "Leanne have you done anything new you do not normally do?"

Leanne: "Hey?! Do you think it could be from my Oil of Olay ANTI-AGING cream?"

That's right. My 11 year old is using anti-aging cream. The doctor about busted a gut he was laughing so hard. He asked her "are you trying not to look 12?" It was the funniest thing ever! I am sure we were the talk of the office after we left. He was still laughing as we were leaving the room. For the record, Leanne got her anti-aging cream from my mother. Grandmas!!!! You gotta love them:)

Now onto Thankful Thursday on Friday...

I am thankful for so many things that it is even hard for me to pin point a few of them every week. I always want to post that I am thankful for very profound type things and I am. However, I am also thankful for all of the little things too.

I am thankful for a refrigerator full of good food for my kids to eat whenever they are hungry.

I am thankful that when I flip a switch on my wall the lights come on.

I am thankful I have running water and it is hot when I need it to be.

I am thankful I have a washing machine and a dryer and I do not have to drag countless loads of clothes to the laundry mat.

I am thankful I have heat in the winter and a/c in the summer.

There are so many small things in life that we take for granted each and everyday. My plan this weekend it so slow down and enjoy myself. There will be no worrying about how clean my house is or how much work needs to be done. I will be spending time with my friend Lisa G. and our girls. We plan to enjoying the simple things in life like garage sales with a friend, strolling the outlet mall and lunch with the girls. What fun!

Since Blog posts are no fun without pictures and my camera is not working I thought I would take little stroll down memory lane and post some cute photos from the past.

This is one of my favorite pictures of Chad and Justin. Isn't it funny how the Lord can make adopted children look so much like their parents?

Baby Katie at just a few weeks old. She was so sweet. I really miss those days!

Leanne at our old house ready to go to the father/daughter dance for Brownies. She is looking as youthful as ever:) Notice the corsage from her daddy. They went to three dances over the years and loved everyone of them. These are such cherished memories.


I am looking for some pictures of poor Cameron. My picture disks are such a mess. getting them organized is on my summer to do list. Pictures of Cameron are to come. I promise I have them. However most of the older pictured of the kids are on film. Remember the days of film? Life was so simple then!

I NEED Chickens!

Really... I need a minimum of 3 chickens. The kids joined 4-H and wanted to do a poultry project. So being the over achieving mother that I am I obliged and signed them up. Knowing absolutely nothing about chickens I made a few calls first:) I called a chicken man I found close to our town who has chicks for sale. I asked him if we bought chicks if they would be ready to show before the fair in July. He assured me that they would. However, he was assuming I was talking broilers. I being a chicken novice had no idea that there were so many different breeds of chickens. So I didn't know the right questions to ask. Here is where my problems get started...

I need fancy chickens. Specifically, fancy hens which are grown, that my kids can train and get ready to show by July. You see, if we got the broilers the fate of the chicken was not so good. It would have ended up being sold at the end of the fair and turned into dinner. Don't get me wrong, we enjoy a nice chicken dinner. However, our chicken dinners usually do not have names. Nor are they birds we raised from chicks that my kids bathed, handled and came to love. So we need fancy chickens that get to come home with us from the fair, ALIVE! As of now we have no chickens, baby chicks ready for us to pick up who will not be ready to show by summer and we can not change our 4-H projects at this point.

I really do not know what to do. I have joined chicken message boards (there is a secret world of chicken loving people we suburbanites don't know about). Posted ad's on Craig*s list and asked everyone I know who may know someone who knows someone with chickens. I have received a couple of emails from people on CL. So far we were offered 4 silky roosters who are hostile and 2 peacocks. That's right, I asked for fancy chickens and someone offered me peacocks. I emailed back and said "this may be a silly questions, but are you talking about the peacocks like the ones at the zoo with the pretty tail feathers or is there a special breed of peacock chicken?" I know he thought I was nuts, but who offer peacocks to someone needing chickens, seriously!?

So if any of my Ohio bloggy friends have any connections to the chicken industry... Please help a mother out. I really need these crazy chickens. I am desperate!!!

Thankful Thursday

Does it seem like the weeks are passing by so fast? I can not believe we are midway through April already. Before we know it the holidays will be here again. I know I am rushing things but this is how my years go:

January- back to normal from hustle and bustle of the holiday season. Justin's birthday. Cheer comps in full swing with two day nationals.

February- Cabin fever sets in. Katie's birthday. More cheer.

March- More cheerleading. Annual mother/daughter Florida trip.

April- Start thinking about finishing the school year and planning for next year. Finish cheer season. Baseball starts.

May- Spring fever hits. Try to keep plugging ahead with the school year. Plan assessment. Start worrying about said assessment. Try outs for new Cheer season. New cheer season practices start. Baseball.

June- Finish school. Baseball in full swing. Cheer. Cheer camp. Cameron's birthday. Baseball. Baseball camp.

July- Homeschool assessment. Football practice starts. Football camp. Summer activities. Cheer.

August- Busy summer continues. Football. Cheer.

September- Start new school year. New competition season begins. Football games start. Leanne's birthday.

October- Football. Cheer. Halloween. Chad's birthday.

November- Thanksgiving. Cheer. Run, run, run.

December- Christmas. My birthday.

My year just runs together from one event to the next.

There are days I wish we lived out in the middle of nowhere on a farm. Where time seemed to stand still. We would spend lazy summer days together and snuggle in front of the fire in the winter.

In the mean time I am thankful for all of the things we are able to do together as a family. The Lord has blessed us beyond anything we deserve. We are able to do so many wonderful things with and for our children and I am thankful for that every day. I am thankful they are able to try anything they want. I am thankful they have the opportunity to follow their dreams.




I am so thankful that I am the one who gets to see them smile when the bat hits the ball. That I am the one who sees them run into the end zone or tumble across a spring floor. I am thankful I am the one who hears their laughter when their team wins. I am also thankful I get to wipe their tears when they don't. I am thankful I'm the one they call for when they are hurt. I am thankful to be the one who tucks them in at night and gets the that last sweet good night kiss. I also thankful I get the first hug in the morning. It really can't get much better than this. I am just thankful!

A sad day in the kichen

Today was a sad day in my kitchen. My mixer has mixed it's last loaf of bread. I know it sounds crazy to be upset over a kitchen appliance, but I am so sad. Chad and the kids went and picked this out for me for our first Christmas as a family. They were all so excited to give it to me. I was really excited to get is as well. I had mentioned a few times over the years that I wanted one, but didn't think anyone remembered. When I opened that box I was as happy as if I received a beautiful piece of fine jewelry. Over the years I have used this mixer to make my kids birthday cakes, taught Leanne to make cheese cake, let Katie dump hundreds of ingredients, helped the boys make play dough and much, much more.

As sad as it is one must move on...

And move on I did:) I am going to order a Bosch. It is not nearly as pretty as my kitchen aid, but it is a work horse. This thing could mix a kitchen aid under the table! Lisa and I have spent many days ohhing and ahhing over the Bosch. We will look at the specs of the machine while talking on the phone. One of us will say "it has an 800 watt motor" or "it has a transmission and a drive shaft..." It is almost like two guys looking at a brand new corvette. So, I am going to have to take the plunge and buy one. It is really expensive and not really in the budget right now, but it would be so hard to live without a mixer. I think I convinced Chad by explaining to him that I would not expect him to pour concrete without the proper tools. Homemaking is my job, how can I do it without the proper tools? I hope it is here sometime next week. In the mean time I did email kitchen aid and hopefully I can have my little mixer fixed. After all it looks so pretty on my counter!

Easter Cookies and coloring eggs

Lisa told me about these really cool cookies to make the night before Easter. We did this tonight with our kids after we colored eggs. Chad read the Bible verses, I told the kids the meaning and they added the ingredients and followed the instructions. It was a really great Easter tradition we plan to continue each year. I pray as they get older they can see more of the symbolism. I hope that this is a tradition they will carry on with our grandchildren.

Our cookies are in the oven (tomb) for the night. Here are the kids watching them as Chad tells them about putting Jesus body in the tomb and rolling the stone in front of it. They can not wait to see what happens to the cookies in the morning.

Here are the kids watching the cookies after we put them in the oven and taped it closed:


You can find a link to the Easter Cookies with Bible lesson here.

Lisa- Ok, ok, ok... you were right!!! There was no way I could look into my babies eyes and tell them what The Lord did for us without crying. You know me so well!

We also colored eggs this evening. This is not my favorite Easter activity, but I did it as a kid and do not want to rob my kids of the same joy I had. We colored a little over 3 dozen eggs. We will take these to my in-laws tomorrow to hunt after we enjoy a delicious meal.

Leanne and Justin cutie pies:


Katie stained her favorite color pink. Pink hands should look cute with her beautiful Easter dress:


Brothers:


Katie was so excited to color eggs. This is the first time she really understood what she was doing. We could not keep her off the table.

Easter Egg hunt

On Friday we were invited to a Easter Egg hunt by Katie's friend Jennie. Jennie's mom Brandy and I have been friend since were were teenagers so it is always fun to get our kids together. Katie was really excited to go even though I don't think she really understood what we were going to do. We looked for a few eggs in the yard last year, but have never taken her to an egg hunt. She had been asking a lot of questions and needless to say she was ready to go on Thursday when she went to bed. When we woke up on Friday morning a normal spring day in the buckeye state it was of course raining. Our local weather guy was calling for cold rain all day. I called Brandy and she said they were still on and were just hoping for a pocket of about an hour to play a few games, hunt eggs and have lunch. I decided to go ahead and go. I packed a lunch threw my kids and the van and picked up Katie's friend Sarah (Sarah and Jennie are cousins). We got to the park a few minutes late as usual.

When we arrived they were playing with a parachute. Then we had an egg race. The kids raced with eggs (don't worry they were boiled) on spoons across the basketball court and back. Brandy wanted them to crawl and push them with their noses, but it was really wet. While the kids were playing a few people hid eggs. Cameron decided he was to old to hunt eggs and helped hide them instead. After the games we let the kids loose to hunt the eggs. Katie was freezing and refused to hunt for even one egg. Cameron was so sweet, he found her 4 eggs with candy in them. They were probably easy to find since he knew where they were. It is always nice to have an insider:)
Justin found a lot of eggs:

This is how Katie hunted eggs:

Cameron helping sweet Sarah find eggs:

Sweet Sarah hunting eggs in a winter coat! Is she not the cutest???

After the hunt the kids were ready to go. It was so cold they didn't even want to eat outside. All in all they had a great day. Katie can't stop talking baout hunting eggs on Sunday afternoon at grandma's. I wonder if she will cry then too?
A very sleepy girl:

Where have I been?

I have had several complaints that I have not been blogging enough. Lisa hinted to me today that she does not like reading blogs that are not updated daily. I will take that with a grain of salt Lis, since you are a non-blogger:)

I have been so busy, yet I feel like I have not done anything this week. Monday we have our home school group. So Mondays are usually filled with that in the morning and running around in the afternoon. Tuesday we had school all day and I ran to the store etc. I was also down with a sinus headache all evening. This thing is kicking my behind. I am way to old for this stuff! Today I had a long day of cooking. I am sure I mentioned before that our home school group has a group called the care committee. I am in charge of this group. The care committee is in charge of organizing food donations for new mommies, sick mommies or families and in the unfortunate event someone passes on. So far we have only had 1 mommy who had surgery and the rest of the recipients of our food have have been new mommies. We have had a lot of babies in this group this year. On Monday two ladies from our group gave birth to little girls. We delivered food tonight. So here is most of my day in pictures.

I woke up and made blender pancakes for the kids out of wheat berries, oat groats, bran, flax seeds, yogurt and some other healthy stuff. They were actually very good and the kids didn't even know they were good for them. I made a double batch and the rest are in freezer to be reheated as needed. In the background you will see the keffir I am pretty sure I killed and the flower Katie is growing. Yes, it is a fake flower. Silly girl! You can find the recipe and a step by step guide to making these yummy pancakes here
.

After breakfast I started my breads so they all had time to rise. The first bread I made was a cinnamon bread. I made 1 recipe which ended up making 3 small loaves and 2 large loaves of bread. It looked wonderful! Unfortunately I can not smell or taste right now, but Chad, the kids and Lisa all said it was very good. I followed the recipe exactly and then added 1 tablespoon of ground cinnamon to the dough in the cake batterish stage. Of course I forgot to take a picture of the bread, so you will just have to believe me when I say it was pretty:) You can find a picture and the recipe for this delicious bread here.

After the cinnamon bread was rising I made pumpkin bread, but instead of loaves I made muffins and frosted them with caramel icing. The kids went nuts over these! I am making them again Friday afternoon because they are all gone and I need more for someone else.


After the pumpkin muffins I started a chicken and rice soup for our dinner. I made a triple batch so I could freeze some for the new mommies. I also made a double batch of my pot pie to freeze for them as well. To go with the soup I made french bread for the very first time. I think it turned out pretty well. It was sooo good. I hope the new mommies liked it as much as we did. You will notice in the back ground a new flower for my counter. Justin assures me he did not pick the tulip out of the neighbors garden. It was merely blowing by his feet in our yard and he didn't want it to go to waste. I totally believe him:)

My kids of course refused to even try the soup because it looked "gross" and had "chunks" in it. So I made them pizza out of a loaf of my french bread.


After my post on sewing my friend Julie emailed me and said "You are super mom! You probably sewed your own cape." I wanted to set the record straight. I am not super mom. In fact I am the total opposite:) While I was cooking up a storm this is what was going on in the back ground.

The kids picked out there own clothes: Yes, one of the kids taped Katies stroller together to make a double stroller. I think that was a hint that she needs a double stroller.


Katie changed her clothes no less than 5,000 times. While Justin chose the rather confusing ensemble of mismatched clothes, a coon skin cap and soccer cleats!

Katie played in flour:

She also cut up every piece of scrap paper she could find to make me "presents" and then when I wasn't looking she glued one to the refrigerator door.

And finally this is what my kitchen looked like when I was done.

Do you still think I am super mom? I think I am a wanna be super mom who still has a lot to learn.

Now the food is delivered. My family is fed. The kitchen is clean and the dishes are done. The kids are bathed and in bed! I am ready to get some sleep and start all over tomorrow.

Sisters

My two girls are the best of sisters. Despite the age difference they get along very well. Katie really looks up to Leanne and tries to be just like her. I am glad Katie has such a great role model. Leanne is a kind and sweet young lady. I pray the two of them grow up to be very close as adults. I always wanted a sister but was not that lucky. I am thankful the Lord gave me two girls so I can see just how special having a sister is.

Here are a few pictures from our weekend. The girls have so much fun together.

This is on the way to Leanne's last competition of the year. Katie is doing her "cheer face" and the new picture face with the scrunched up face and closed eyes???



When Chad saw Katie's outfit he told her "Mommy has been watching to many 80's videos." (Thanks again Steph for the adorable petty skirt!)


After a long day of cheering every girls needs a pedi. Anyone else need one?

I now have a nice teal stain on my carpet from nail polish. Yes, Leanne has teal nail polish. Thanks Grandma!!!

Sisterly Love!

Sewing

I spent today sewing with my dear friend Lisa G. She is not to be confused with my kitchen gadget loving, wheat grinding, gymboree enabling friend Lisa H. whom I mention so often in my blog. Anyway- The girls and I drove the 45 minutes to Lisa G's to make cloth diapers. No. I do not need cloth diapers. Lisa needs cloth diapers and I am making some for my friend Sarah who recently became the mommy to sweet little Noah. We started our day at 10:30 AM and finished at 5:30 PM and we made a grand total of 1 diaper. Yes that says one, uno, only 1 diaper in 7 hours. It was not for lack of trying. We did have 4 little girls trying to help us, we had to stop for a quick lunch and then there was the brownie break... Honestly we spent the bulk of our day doing prep work. There are about 8 layers to a diaper that have to be cut individually, some have to be pre-sewn and some can not be pinned. It was very slow going, but once the prep work was finished the diaper itself went together quickly. And ladies this 'aint your mommas cloth diaper. These things are super cute and very absorbent. I am very proud of my one diaper and can not wait to get the rest of them finished. I plan to have little Noah's diapers finished before he is potty trained!
(pictures tomorrow)

I really enjoy sewing. It is just not something I get to do often enough. I am a bit of a perfectionist so the things I sew seem to take me a long time. I think I spend most of my time with the seam ripper taking things apart to do them again the right way. I have a ton of projects in different stages of completion. I have the best of intentions. I just don't have as much time for my hobby as I wish I did. Here are a few of the things I have made miss Katie. She loves a new mommy made dress and often requests one when we are at the fabric store. It is so cute. You will notice Katie's binky in a lot of these photos. I am happy to report that Katie has been Binky free for almost a year. She did have a brief relapse while I was in Florida (thanks mother in law), but has been off the Binky since I returned home:)

For our trip to Disney last year. A girl can not be expected to dress "off the rack" when she meets the Mickey Mouse!

For Dinner with Cinderella. Which my little princess cried through!

Baby Parade at the Pumpkin Show

First day of Home School Group Preschool

Christmas '07 this was her Christmas Eve dinner with the in-laws dress. Yes, my tree is only decorated 2.5 ft and up. Katie is about 2.5 ft tall. Coincidence?

This one is a cute dress I made her just because. I am posting the picture so you can see her CRAZY hair! I love it like this.


I think I got carried away with the pictures of Katie. I just love that girl and can't get enough of her.

As much as I have enjoyed sewing for my princess as I said above I do not always have the time. When I need something special and I can not make it I look for talented WAHM's who sew custom clothing. One of my favorites is Leslie. I love her designs but have yet to own any. Maybe for our upcoming Disney trip??? Maybe sooner! I entered to win a custom lounge set on her blog. You can enter to win here by leaving a comment on today's post. Let Leslie know you saw the link here.

Thankful Thursday

I know my Thankful Thursday post have been MIA for a few weeks, but I am ready to get back on track.

Today the kids and I are working on a science lap book on the human body. We took a trip to the library this morning and got some interesting books about the subject as well as some magic school bus movies for fun. We have never done a lap book, so this should be interesting. In addition to the human body lap book we are also starting our science fair projects for the science showcase at our homeschool group. I picked up a book called science fair projects for slacker moms Last minute science fair projects: When your Bunsen's burner is not burning but the clock is to get a few ideas for the older kids. I volunteered to organize this science fair so I am pretty sure it will look bad if my kids do not have projects. We still have 3 weeks, so there is time. Cameron will be getting his rocket tonight at scouts so we will also have that to work on. I have googled "how to make a winning rocket" because the Moore boys will not be going down as loser's like we did with the derby cars:)

Our trip to the library was pretty typical. We planned the impromptu trip because Chad had Katie with him. She must have sensed that we were going somewhere without her because Chad called and said he had to bring her home to go potty. Katie has issues with public restrooms after and unfortunate event involving and automatic toilet. I thought we were over that, but lately she refuses to go potty anywhere but at home. Anyway- We waited for her to get home and them started our trip. I gave the kids the library rules run down on the way there. Just your normal- use quite voices, don't take every book off of the shelf, no running, no fighting and we are not checking out 50 movies speech. I am pretty sure the librarians want to lock the doors and put the closed sign out when they see us coming, but we always manage to get in:) The kids did a pretty good job today until it was time to check out. I of course can not check out in the self check out because I have to make my donation to the library rebuilding fund pay my fines. So we have to stand in line. There were several people in line ahead of us so the wait was several minutes long. This is where the fun began. Miss. Katie wanted Justin to sit in a certain chair. He of course refused and sat in the chair she was saving for herself. She started screaming "MOVE Justin that is my seat!!!" Being the loving brother he is he just sat there and smiled. I came over and thought I fixed the situation, however Katie now had to have a new chair because Justin already sat in her chair. Leanne was in her new chair. Fun, fun, fun! All the while people are staring at us, some smiling and some not. I was so embarrassed. We got our books checked out and even bought a few from the library sale. We listed to a book on tape on the way home. All in all it was a productive day.

Now for Thankful Thursday:

I am thankful for our garden. We live in subdivision with a small yard. We are blessed to have my in-laws only a few miles away and they have about 7-8 acres of land. Every year we plant a nice size garden. This year we are doubling the size of our garden as well as planting a large area of sweet corn. Our potatoes went in today. I can not wait to start eating those wonderful fruits and vegetables.

I am also thankful for the nice spring weather we are having here. Even though it is very hard to stay in and do school work when the sun is shinning we are still thrilled that winter seems to be on it's way out.

I am thankful for the skills I am learning to help my family eat healthier. It is so much fun learning all of theses new things. I think I would have made a great pioneer wife:) Well except for the fact that there was no air conditioning, or running water and the fact that I hate the smell of animals. Other than that I would have been great at it.

I am thankful for our troops. My good friend Shelly just got news that her son is being deployed to Afghanistan in January. I pray all of our troops are home safely very soon.

Well, I need to get back upstairs. I heard a funny noise and asked the kids what they are doing and Cameron said "It's okay mom, I'm just doing an experiment". That is always scary! Sorry for such a rambling post about nothing. There is just not a lot of fun stuff going on right now.

Momma's Boy

There is something so precious about the love a little boy has for his momma. Don't get me wrong, I know my girls love me. There is just something different about the love of a little boy. It is not better or worse it is just different. There is little I could ask my boys to do that they would not willingly complete. Boy's just love their mothers unconditionally. Today Justin called me into the living room and said "Mom, tell Cameron I am to a Momma's boy!". It was so cute and so sweet, it almost made me forget he was in trouble, again!


Tonight for dinner I made taco's. I know we just had them for lunch but these were different, I promise. Not to mention I am determined to get the hang of the crazy tortilla maker. Anyway- Cameron had no less than 3 soft tacos plus the rice. He kept saying "Mom, this is so good, I love it". I asked him what he would do when he grows up if his wife is not a great cook like me:) He said "That's not a problem, I will just come home".



I think I have two of the sweetest boys in the world and they are super cute to boot. How lucky can one Mom get?