Snowy winter days

Well, I haven't been doing much with the blog.  So, I thought I should get busy and write something.

We have been having some snow, and then some ice, and then some snow during the time I have taken off.

January has not started off to such a great start.  We had a young man from our church commit suicide.  That took a whole week of time preparing for the huge funeral.  The funeral director quit counting at 562.  The family originally thought only 250 people would be there.  Lots of planning went into it, setting up for enough food to feed everyone.  This time, we didn't do just a straight dinner, but had the ladies bring in a potluck, so people could choose what they wanted to eat.

After the funeral, we took off to the Dells for a couple days.  Oh, was that needed!!  We had a wonderful place to stay!!  We had a condo on the lake, and it was cheaper than the motel rooms.  It had a lanai with a gas fireplace and a 4 person hot tub, and we enjoyed just relaxing.  We had a shuttle to take us to the water park. 

Then, I took my dad into the doctor, as he had found out he had 70% blockage in one of his carotid arteries.  The reason it was so concerning, was because it was also ulcerated.  He was only supposed to be in the hospital for 1 day, but it stretched into 4 days, 3 nights. The day of the surgery, I had to drive in snow, which I didn't know we were supposed to get.  I drove slow, and we made it there just fine. We knew he would have problems with the blood pressure, but wow!  He also had a reaction to one of the meds, and he developed a rash starting on his knuckles, and going up to his elbow.  The hand was an angry red, and very swollen, and he had a fever.  Thankfully, he was able to get that all cleared up, and come home.  He is doing well, and just needs to heal, and then he can go in for a sleep test, as we know he already has sleep apnea, but you have to jump through the hoops before you can get the machine.

I went in for my yearly physical, and had to drive after an ice storm.  Yikes!  I'm doing good.  Need to exercise more, and watch what I eat as I am pre-diabetic.  I am having a sleep test, too.  I've just been way too tired, and I rely on caffeine and sugar to get me through the day, which is not good for a person.

I've taken up crocheting.  I have made quite a few dishcloths.  The reason I did that, was because Weaver's doesn't sell my favorite dishcloth any more, and I wanted something a bit heavier.  Crocheting is kind of relaxing for me, too.  I have also made a wool soaker, that I just finished up last night.  I also made 1 baby shoe--I will make the other soon, but I just wanted to make sure it fit.  :)

I am also getting ready for the Living Last Supper.  Trying to get some new things added into it, as well as one of the guys kicked out of it.  :)  I don't need that kind of stress from him.

Gracelyn's first birthday is this Friday, and we are having a birthday party for her at our house on Saturday.  Lots of yummy food planned!  And, probably some cleaning to be done.

Speaking of cleaning, I came across a marvelous cleaner!!!  It took a dried grape juice stain out of my carpet!!  And it is so easy to make--just Dawn dish soap, and hydrogen peroxide.  It really works!!!  Now, I have another stain to try it out on.  I guess Gracelyn spilled either some pop, or coffee, and I will need to try it on that.

Blessings!

Almost Christmas

Well, here we are, the week before Christmas!  What have I been doing with myself??  Well.  Let's see.

We finished up with our school books last week.  Now, we are doing a bunch of Christmas baking.  I might need to rethink for next year, and not cram it all into one week.  Monday was Sam's 12th birthday.  Yesterday was day one of making Christmas treats.  We made fudge, popcorn cake, pretzel treats.  I also made up for some candy molds, but it didn't set up right.  I figured it out today, that I doubled part of the recipe, but not the rest.  I need LOTS more powdered sugar.  I also made the dough for sugar cookies.

Today was day #2: we made: Carmelita bars, Home made Snicker bars, and the Sugar cookies.

 Sam's birthday was lots of fun.  He had Chunky Monkey pancakes for breakfast.  Then, Grandma and Grandpa came over, and then we had spaghetti for lunch.  After lunch, we went to pick up Jeremiah, and took Sam, Matthew, and Jeremiah to Eau Claire to see the "Cars" full sized Lightening McQueen and Mater.  We also got them Egg Nog shakes.  Came home, and had pizza, and then ran Jeremiah home. 

My doors still aren't done, and neither are the lights installed in my kitchen.  We bought track lights for the kitchen, the day before Thanksgiving.  They are still in their boxes.  Some day we will get them in.

We are expecting our 2nd big snow fall of this year.  We had one  December 9th, and got 13 inches.  I think we finally got that all cleared off in time for this next snow fall.  I'm not sure how much we are supposed to get.  But, it sure has been pretty!

 I love the frost on the trees!

On Sunday night, we had the Christmas Program.  It was really nice!

And, here is Elise!

Blessings!

Getting ready to head into the holidays

Well, here we are, just a little over a week away from Thanksgiving!  I am  looking forward to Thanksgiving, as I have some new ideas on how to fix the meal.  :)  I am going for ease of preparation.  LOL

We have had some mice in the house.  I.  don't.  do.  mice.  at all.  One night, hubby chased one around with a broom, but couldn't catch it.  We set out a ton of traps.  Well, not a ton, but how does 5 in my bedroom sound??  Be careful where you walk!!  No, just on the edges of the walls.  No, I don't have 5 walls, but some had a couple traps.  We didn't get any for a long time.  Began to think they went back outside.  Then one night we caught 2 mice, and another night, we caught 1 more.  Hope we are done with them.

Not much else has been going on in the construction department here.  I got tired of trying to get into things, so we finally moved some stuff around, just so I can access a few important cabinets.

This is inside the rec room. Still need a wall finished here.

This is outside the rec room.  The vacuum cleaner in front of the doors is to keep it closed.  

Something still isn't quite adjusted right.

 

I've been using the treadmill lately.  Well, yesterday and today.  I hope I can keep it up!

Rachel had the stomach flu starting early Sunday morning.  So far, no one else has gotten it.  I have been using the sanitize on my washing machine, and using the extra hot water and the sani-rinse on the dishwasher.  So far so good.

Speaking of the stomach flu.  :)  Last week, I had to take Sam in to get his thyroid tested, as he has hypothyroid (low thyroid).  While I am checking him in, a mom with an infant and a toddler come in, and stand next to me to get checked in.  Her toddler starts violently vomiting, twice on the carpet.  Then, she got her a garbage can and the little girl continued in that.  I was moving away.  We sure don't want it.  The hospitals/clinics really need to have a well patient check in area.  I mean, we were only coming in for a lab draw, and I sure hope we didn't bring home more than we went with!!!!

Yesterday, Becca watched the twin girls, with their brother.  Here they are:

Blessings!

Disliking projects

I so dislike projects during a school year.  I don't mind them so much when it is summer, but it is hard during a school year.

We are in the process of taking out the pocket doors, and putting in french doors.  They are beautiful doors, but they were unfinished.  So, that has meant many trips to the garage to sand, stain, varnish, and repeat.  :) 

So, the doors were all set, now just to get them in.  Josh and Brittany came over last Saturday, to put them in.  He figured he would get both sets in really quick.  HA!  So, the one wall was um, not straight.  Not too fun to work with.  And, because the walls were hollow, and not much supporting them, and the new doors are solid wood and glass (read HEAVY!), the walls needed beefing up.  Josh's brother-in-law came over and helped him rip out walls, and beef up the walls.  Let's just say, these new walls aren't moving!!  So, I had to move everything away from 4 walls.  I have dry wall and everything all over the place.  We are now ready for the walls to be taped and have mud on them. Then, we get to do more sanding.  :)  Then, I get to paint!!  I would prefer to do that next summer, but I will need to get my two rooms straightened out soon.  I haven't decided what color(s) to paint the 2 new walls. 

Some of the mess to clean up.

 Here is after they removed part of the wall, to beef it up.  This is where

the pocket door went inside the wall.

Here is Josh and his brother-in-law building the new wall, and putting

up dry wall.

School has been going well.  We had a study on Germany, and made a German dinner.  We had cabbage rolls, mashed potatoes, soft pretzels, rye bread, and Black Forest Cake.   We also had some fun experiments with removing an egg shell, and seeing osmosis with water and corn syrup.  VERY interesting!!!

I went to my first professional football game.  That was an experience in itself!!  I do not do heights very well at all!  So, we were up in the second section, 17 rows up.  I was so nervous!  And, every time someone needs to go out, you have to stand up to let them out.  I was thinking they should just crawl over me.  :)  Also, I had a guy next to me, who drank at least 5 beers.  At least he wasn't mean or obnoxious!  He just liked to talk.  He was thrilled this was my first ever game.  Then, he asked why I didn't drink alcohol (he offered to buy me one at least 5 times).  I told him that the Bible has a lot to say about alcohol.  He asked what?  I said that when some imbibes, they usually do things that they normally wouldn't do.  He disagreed.  Then, after some talking, he said I was right, he does a lot of things that he normally wouldn't, when he drinks.  Then, he said, "What else?"  I said that the Bible says that it is addictive.  He said, "No, it's not!"  I replied, "Ok, then.  Quit."  After a long discussion, he said, "well, I have to concede, you are correct, it is addictive."  We talked for 3 quarters!  Then, we found out that some seats were open over by the rest of our group, and so we went to sit over by them.  That was a huge thing for me to do, going down the stairs, and around to the other side of the stadium.  I found that if I held Rick's shirt, and hung on to the rail, I could do it.  I hate being such a pansy, but I really get weak kneed when I see nothing but air, and a long drop.  Oh, the Vikings lost.

Blessings!

Catch Up

What a whirlwind! 

School.  Projects.  School.  Work.  Sleep.  :)

We've been enjoying school.  Our month long study, has been on "You are the salt of the earth."  We are learning what it means to be salt.  How to make our conversations "salty".  We've also been using some recipes that have lots of salt in--beef jerky (the salt is used in preserving), home made ice cream (the salt is used to make it colder). 

We've also been doing some projects.  Still cleaning up outside stuff.  I think we have 1 more time to mow.  Then, we can get the mower stuff put away.  Yesterday, Ben was home for the day, and we had 1 last time of using the fire pit.  We made s'mores, and used our campfire pie makers, and made blueberry pies.  It was a chilly day, and sitting around the fire pit was perfect.

Last week, it really cooled off!  I tried turning the furnace on one day last week, so that it would take the chill off, but wouldn't you know?  The furnace would run for less than a minute then shut off.  A man was going to come and fix it, but they had a tragedy strike (his mother-in-law was killed in a hit and run accident while going to get her mail).  So, he hasn't had time to fix it.  The temps continued to drop.  I did a lot of baking to try to heat the house up.  :)  We pulled in our electric fireplaces, so the bedrooms would get a bit warmer.  Today, it was just downright cold!!  I was up at 4 this morning (had some crazy dreams), and I checked the outside temp, and it was 29 degrees.  Well, Rick decided to try the furnace again this morning, and it started up, and got the house warm!!  PTL!!

Today was the funeral for the lady.  Then, tonight, we had a birthday party for Brittany at a local Pizza Hut.

As for projects, we are working on staining and varnishing our new French doors!!!!  They are going to be beautiful!!!  I usually bite off more than I can chew for a project.  I was hoping to get both sets of doors done (4 doors and frames).  I got one set with 1 coat on the whole top side.  It is slow going.  We also put in a new kitchen faucet, as the old faucet, the sprayer part broke.  We have recently put in a new shower head.  Now, I am a person that likes to kick back in a bath.  I took a shower in with the new shower head, and it was absolutely wonderful!!!!

We have had some funny stories about mice this week.  Jon had been to a fruit baseball party.  They throw rotten tomatoes at you, and you hit them with a baseball bat.  Then, I think it was a free for all, and they just started throwing the fruit at everybody.  So, he comes home loaded with tomato seeds.  I told him to change his clothes, and then toss the clothes outside, as I wanted it all sprayed off the clothes, so it wouldn't wreck my washing machine.  I went out there a couple days later, as the clothes hadn't been washed off, and picked up the clothes, and here was a baby mouse inside.  I dropped it and ran, screaming as I went.  I hate mice!  Then, yesterday, we were getting loaded up in the truck, and Sam comes to the truck, and he will NOT get in.  Come to find out--there was a dead baby mouse laying on the step to get into the truck.  This was not the same mouse, as hubby had buried the other one. 

We have also taken a dinner cruise with a bunch of family and friends (that was to make up for missing the Tim Hawkins tickets). After the dinner cruise, we went to an ice cream shop, and I have never seen an ice cream cone so HUGE!!!  We SHARED a child's size cone!!!!!  The child's size cone is $3.25, but it is absolutely huge.   We have also gone out to eat with Josh & Brittany, which was for our anniversary.

Well.  My brain is winding down.  I think I shall turn in.
Blessings!

Weekend work and start of school

This weekend was busy, getting summer stuff down, so we can head back into the school year.  So, we started on the pool.  Let's just say, the pool goes up much quicker than it comes down.  It took us 2 days to get it down.  Then, we cleaned it up, and got it stored.  We also picked up all the pool toys, goggles, floats, noodles.  Then, we got the tent folded up, and stored.

We also got the truck and car cleaned out, and did a very thorough job of it.  We even shampooed up some of the car seats.  The truck has leather, so we just washed that down.  Washed all the windows, Rick did all the dashboards, and doors.  Whew!

I cut 2 heads of hair, and still have more to do.  I just got too wore out, after all that work.  I think we collapsed into bed that night.

Sunday night, we didn't have church, so we took 3 vehicles to Stillwater to Nelson's ice cream store.  WOW!!!!!   What a huge ice cream cone, and what a blast!!!  Siah & Sarah & family went in one van, Josh and Brittany and Elise, and Rachel and Becca & Gracelyn took another van, and the rest of us followed in our truck.

Here is Gracelyn, after eating some of Rachel's cone!

These were the child size cones!!  They cost $3.25 each, and very well worth it.

Yesterday, we went with my parents to the National Eagle Center.  It was a lot of fun  They take in injured, and unable to fly eagles.  They had 4 bald eagles, and 1 golden eagle.  It was very informative, and lots of fun.

Today, I got my Zagg mate for my iPad!  I am so excited!!  Then, I found out I have to wait, as it wasn't charged. 

Thursday night, we were supposed to go see Tim Hawkins up in the cities.  We made a mistake, and didn't get tickets ordered in time.  So, instead, we are going on a river boat cruise, with a dinner of bbq'd ribs and herbed chicken.  YUM!!  And, I am talking people into going back to the ice cream shop!!  :)

Blessings!

Cleaning up

     I forgot to tell you that I did a bunch of cleaning, and even had Becca's graduation party!  That is all done!  I pushed hard to get my school planned for the year (my goal was to have it done by August 1st).  I finished it with 1 week to spare.  Then, I got busy, and cleaned for Becca's party.  For her party, she had a Mexican theme, so I made home made refried beans, tacos (we used 30 pounds of meat, and it was about 15 pounds too much--thankfully, it freezes well), chips, salsa, nacho dip and a cake.

     I also did some rearranging.  And, I found a fascination with glass canning jars.  So, I did internet searches, on how to use them.  I put all my spices (I buy in bulk), in canning jars, and then I used my Pump 'N Seal to keep them fresh.  I also put all my pasta, and do we have a lot!  in jars.  My mom had given me some 1/2 gallon sized jars, and you can fit a lot of pasta in those!    And, for my special, or unique jars, I put them on display on my open shelves. 

     Yesterday, I was weeding, out by the raspberry bed, and asparagus bed, and I jumped and screamed.  Enough to make the boys all hop off the 4 wheeler!!  They came running.  I saw a small snake, about the size of a pencil in width, and about 9 inches long.  I also saw something crawling through the grass.  I thought it was a mouse.  I don't do mice.  At all.  Well, I found a nest of baby bunnies.  I thought there were 5, but today, we found 6.  I left the weeding alone, hoping that the mother would move them.  She didn't.  They weren't in the nest, but still in the weeds, and when I started weeding, they hopped, and hit in the grass.  So, today, I had Matthew put some gloves on and move them into the way back, where they won't get hit by the lawn mower.  Ewww!  Not sure if you can see them, but there are 3 here in the nest. 

     On Sunday, it was Andrew's 14th birthday.  He had Monkey Bread for breakfast, Crock Pot style Gyros for lunch.  In the evening, we went to a Dallas Holm concert at our church, and treats afterwards.  I told him I would make his chicken pot pie on Monday, as it takes a bit of time.

     Boy--did it ever take a bit of time!!!  I thought I had some pie crusts in the fridge.  Well, they were bad, so I had to make my own pie crusts.  I do not make pie crusts!!  I had frustration upon frustration!  Finally got them in the pan, and they tasted good.  Didn't look the greatest, but they tasted good.

     When we were at the Dells, we stopped in to a place called Buffalo Phil's.  They have a separate section in their restaurant, for the family area, where the meals are delivered by a train!  It was a lot of fun.  Here is Sam getting the pop off the train.

And, a better picture with Sam and Matthew and the train.

It was a lot of fun!

     Siah and the children are coming tonight!  Haven't had them over in quite a while!  It will be fun, and Sam will be totally thrilled!!

Blessings!