A Happy Ending

Well, in the end everything worked out. My bread got a happy home in the trash can. All 5 loaves. Emory was watching me as I dumped them out into the trash and he said, "I guess you're not a Breadmaker after all." LOL It was as if he had read my post! One loaf I had to beat on the floor for it to come out of the pan. No kidding. It was that hard. When I got home today my house reeked out baked sweet potatoes. That was the smell given off by the bread. It wasn't too good. I have my crock pot candle thing turned on now to help rid the smell.

My children were excellent this afternoon. Emory was extra helpful and so good. I was proud of him. He fed the dog and cat, brought the trash and dumped it in the 'master' trash can, and he took his plate to the sink. He did everything I asked of him with a cheerful spirit. He listened as his daddy read to him the story of Samson AND David (Goliath) from the Bible. He sang "Amazing Grace" with his daddy on the piano. I decided to read "Farmer Boy" to Emory and Erin for bedtime story. They wanted me to go on to Ch 2! Erin calls "Almanzo", "Ranzo". Maybe they will stay interested in it. I'm so ready to give up the baby books and move onto some Ch books with them. I can't wait to be reading the Chronicles of Narnia books to them. What fun! Not to leave Erin out, she did set the table, complete with plates and forks.

I cooked my favorite meal tonight, Shrimp Alfredo w/ Penne Pasta. Oh my word, if you are not a garlic lover, then it's not for you. Here's the recipe: 1 stick of butter, 2 cloves of garlic (chopped), 1/4 cup of chopped green onions, 1 cup mushrooms, 1 bag of shrimp (I used the salad shrimp..so much cheaper). Saute all of that. Cook your pasta. Add salt to both. Add your drained pasta to the sauteed mix and add about 1/2 cup of Parmesan cheese. YUM! I served it with toast. I had Asparagus on my menu, but Wal-Mart was out. A salad or sweet potatoes would have been good with it as well. Tomorrow night is BBQ chicken, baked beans, and potato salad. Yeah baby!

I have my Evening routine pretty much settled. When I get home, I usually nurse Evan. Even if he has just had a bottle, he will NOT be pacified until he has mama's milk. After he is playing, I will make up my bed and start a load of clothes (Monday--towels and all non clothing items, Tuesday--mine & husband's clothes, Wednesday--kid's clothes), then I make supper while Evan is playing in high chair, Emory is on computer or playing with toys, Erin is usually on the counter 'helping' me cook. After dinner, Evan goes to bed, Erin goes in the bathtub and I wash dishes. I usually spread out my dish washing because I bathe Erin and then Emory gets in (by himself..yes!) and I bathe him. All the while, I'm watching the clothes, putting in the dryer, etc. Then, the kids get teeth brushed, story read and prayers. They go to bed between 8:30 and 9:00 usually. I would LOVE to get them to bed at 8, but we never seem to make it at that time. After they bathe, I usually finish up the kitchen, sweep, take out trash (cleaned out my vehicle tonight!) and take my bath. Then, it's straight to bed, get on the computer or read. Whew. I love having a routine, tho. It makes the impossible seem possible, ya know?

Well, two blogs in one day! It's 10:30 and I've gotta get up before 6. Spelling Bee tomorrow. NO school for me, just taking kids to the Spelling Bee. We'll have fun. Thanks for reading.

Think I'm a better bread winner than a bread maker!

Ok, I finished my starter and set out to make the Ultimate Amazing Bread. I was unsure that I was doing it correctly, but I tried anyway. It.didn't.rise. So, I tried kneading it again and this morning it still hadn't risen. I almost cried. I have been working on that stupid bread all week and it didn't rise. So, no more starter bread for me and I am yeast bread all the way, baby. I can make it that way. I can't waste 2 boxes of Organic Wheat Flour to try again. What amazes me is that I so have a defeatist attitude about things I can't do. Emory and Erin are both like me in that area. I will cry if something doesn't work for me. So will they. It is not a good attitude to have. Anyway, I'm humbled that I can't make bread from a starter. I'm the type who won't try again, either. I will just resign myself that I'm not a breadmaker. Sigh

The weekend weather was crummy. Two weekends in a row of crummy weather. Two weekends indoors. I'm so ready to be outside working in my yards or helping my husband do some things outside. I have so many projects to do it isn't funny. I did get to mop Saturday and I grocery shopped.

I wanted to get up around 5 or so this morning and get started on my day instead of rushing around. I will tell you one thing about me that isn't a secret. I love to sleep. I love to go to bed early and sleep late. I almost wish I could buy an electric shocker that will shock me out of bed in lieu of an alarm clock. I set the alarm for 5:30 and got up at 6:09. I had to pull Mr. Breast Leech from me and he didn't like that very much. Anyway, the moral of the story is that I was still late for work and my mom had to meet me at a closer location so I wouldn't be even later.

I have been reading up a storm. I love, love to read. I imagine a vacation where I can read all.day.long. Stopping only for bathroom breaks. I would have me some unhealthy snacks closeby and some fresh lemonade to sip on. I would have a mixture of self-help books, all about either homeschooling, homemaking, herbs, natural health, or natural childbirth. Then, I would have a few Christian Fiction books by my favorite authors, Beverly Lewis and Francine Rivers. Last I would have some children's fiction books (4-6th grade levels). This would be anything from Little House series books to the Old Classics. I am going to strive to read some of the classics I've never read. Some of the Jane Austen, Charles Dickens, and even books like To Kill a Mockingbird. Of course, I can always catch up on Bible reading. I love to do that as well, when I can sit down, uninterrupted and read my Bible.

How do I get my reading done? Well, I, er, don't recommend doing this, but I mostly read while I drive or ride. If husband is driving, I read. If I am driving my familiar (only) roads, I will take glances at my book while riding. Other times are while nursing. If I am really into a good book, I will walk around and read while doing other things! :) I finished Farmer Boy (Little House series) over the weekend and it was so good. I'm sure I read it while I was a child. I learned a lot about Pioneering and extreme Homemaking. LOL I started reading "The Dead Man in Indian Creek" by Mary Downing Hahn today.

Well, gotta get to my Spelling Bee students.

Random Musings...

I must have at least 50 posts with that title, but this is exactly what I'm posting about: random things.

First of all, I want to say that God is so extremely good to me. Sometimes, He just reaches down to me in a silent way and places His hand on my shoulder. Sometimes, at the end of the day, I realize that I should have had a nervous breakdown at some point during the day. But, I don't. God helps me through. And it's not half bad either. Sometimes, I hear a song or I get a scripture that comes to mind and I just want to stop and worship God. Today I was erasing my board and the scripture, "I will praise thee for I am fearfully and wonderfully made, MARVELOUS are thy WORKS; and that my soul knoweth right well" just came to me. I just wanted to turn around and tell my class (I wrote it on my bulletin board as part of my theme) Also, all day I've had a song on my mind and I couldn't help but sing it off and on throughout the day (I know my students think I'm a loony bin anyway). It is "I Stand Redeemed". When I get to the part that says, "When He looks at me, He sees the Nail-scarred Hands, that bought My liberty, I stand redeemed", I get chills. I love having the Lord's presence abiding with me not just when I'm at church. Anyway, just wanted to share.

This week I've cooked since Sunday. I love hearing what others have for their supper, so I will post what I've had. One day, I hope I can post what I have for breakfast and lunch. I can't wait to be able to post what I've cooked for my little one's breakfast and lunch. Sunday night, we have Chicken Alfredo w/Rotini Pasta and some homemade bread (which, btw, made great grilled cheese sandwiches Sunday morn). Monday night, I fixed Salmon Patties (I LOVE salmon patties and these were the best yet--1 can Salmon, 1 egg, 3/4 cup bread crumbs, little garlic, salt, pepper, and 1 cup milk..yum), string beans, and potato wedges. Last night, we had steak nuggets, lima beans (I had put them in the crock pot that morning, with some Chicken broth), rice & tomato gravy, and cornbread. My cornbread was delish. It is actually my mom's recipe, but I used buttermilk instead of reg milk. (1 & 1/4 cups of cornmeal--I used freshly ground from my dad--1/4 cup reg flour, 3. tp. baking pwd, 1 tp salt--mix--then add 1/4 cup oil and 1 cup buttermilk) Yum. Tonight is Wednesday night and I'm out of options for quick ideas. It will probably involve 2 slices of bread and chips. :)

I am working on my Home Management Binder. I am totally stoked about this. I have already finished the schedule section and the breakfast/lunch menu ideas section. I can't wait to do the others. I want to work on it at night, but by the time I finish supper dishes, my hubby is on the computer. So, I get my bath and decide to go to bed. I'm usually pretty happy with my decision anyway! Erin hasn't been sleeping well this week. She is not feeling well this week. We decided against giving her the antiobiotics for her infection and have been giving her Goldenseal tea instead. I hope this is working. She is just not herself. She wants Mama all the time. She wants me to sleep with her at night. She lays there for an hour from when we put her in the bed before she falls asleep. She gets up all through the night. She gets in trouble for repeatedly getting up. She cries for me to lay with her. She is disobeying all the time. Even after consistent reprimanding. I have decided that I can't be as gentle with her punishments as I can with Emory to get the point across. I'm consistent, so I know that's what it is. The punishment is not severe enough. I feel wary of what I post because I don't want someone accusing me of abusing my child. Lord knows, the ppl who read this know that I'm not that type. I promise you I never wait until I am angry to discipline. The parent who does is wrong. The child only gets the message, "my parent doesn't like me very much" instead of "my parent loves me enough to teach me what is right". Anyway, I hope this is something she is going to snap out of before long. I think it is a combination of my working, rushing home to cook, start a fire, rush to put milk in the fridge or pump, feed animals, and then I'm cooking supper and having to stretch my time between the three and my chores. If I were AT HOME, then I could, throughout the day give them some of my time. I do try to let her sit on the counter with me while I cook, etc.

I don't want to bribe them into obedience, but I have started a reward system. If I catch them being 'good', then I put a bean in a jar. When the bean jar is full (or they've used up all the beans in the bag) then we will do something special (camp out or see a movie). Emory was getting lots of beans yesterday for helping or not complaining when I asked him to do something. Erin, bless her heart, was so not getting beans. Finally, I watch her get my mop from the foyer and she goes into the living/dining room and begins 'mopping'. She even mops my kitchen. I praise her and tell her what an awesome job she is doing (the mop was like a giant tree compared to her) and she turns around and says, "I'm going to get a bean, I'm a big helper like Mama". Of course, she got a bean. In fact, I snuck around and gave her two! Shh! :)

I'm thrilled to announce that Evan has started enjoying the culinary aspect of family life since the weekend. On Sunday morning, we put him in his high chair and he had breakfast with us. Right now, he has just experienced carrots and rice cereal. I'm just going to do those for a week bf we try anything new. He is loving eating. I've been giving him echinacea in a bottle of water for his cold, and he loves water very well! It is nice having him at the table with us.

Turning cold again! I dare say we will be embracing spring when it arrives! I've got some gardening ideas. (uh oh..lol) Check out my book wish list. You might find some on there that you would like to read. I'm not through with my list as of this posting. Check them out at Amazon.

A Little Leaven for ya!

My first ever bread turned out great. At first it wouldn't rise and I was beginning to think it a failure. Then, I remembered reading something about if it doesn't rise, try kneading it again. Then, I remembered reading somewhere else, if the dough is sticky, add more flour. So, I did both and sure enough, it started rising! The only thing that was wrong is, after punching it back down, I was supposed to let it rise until it had doubled in size. I wasn't patient enough! So, the loaves probably should've been taller. Anyway, we dug into it and half of one loaf is now gone! I now feel like I have finally arrived as a homemaker! LOL Really tho, I don't think I'll ever buy store bought again. This is so much cheaper and tastes better! Not to mention gets your house smelling yummy!

A Snowpendous Saturday!

We awoke to a white morning today! What a beautiful surprise. I'm glad I saw it first because I was able to lead the kids to the window, cover their eyes and say, 'surprise'! It was so fun. We got out in it after a breakfast of Whole Wheat Oatmeal Pancakes (very healthy and nourishing, I must say). Evan and Erin are a little under the weather, so we didn't stay out in it too long. Husband and Emory built a snowman, made snow angels, and threw snowballs. A very nice change from the blah winter scenery we are used to. Now, at 4:30pm, the snow has melted a bit, but there still is some left to play in. Darest I wish for more snow for tomorrow? ;)

I have been a blog-a-holic lately, checking out blogs from other conservative, homemaking, women like I attain to be. It has been fun to take a peek into the lives of other women who are fulfilling the desires that I have. My favorite blog site so far is www.myblessedhome.blogspot.com. She is very organized, very Godly, and has a wonderful Homeschooling schedule to go by. I have downloaded a couple of her downloadables, which make for interesting reads.

Speaking of homemaking, I'm working on my first ever bread starter to make the bread from the above site. Let you know how it turns out. It takes a week for it to be ready to bake, so today while my starter is, uh, startering, I'm going to make some bread from yeast.

That's all for now. Leave you with some pictures from the snow.

A Pleasant Monday

I have a few things on my mind, so I thought I'd give ya a blog!

First off, Erin has been complaining when she goes to the potty. Last night, she cried out when she tee-teed, so I knew the time had come to take her to receive medical intervention! I was thrilled to have the day off from school (unprepared for school as I was) and equally thrilled to spend some extra time with my family. For the record, Erin has been super, super ill this weekend. I don't know if it's related to her condition or if it's a new phase. If not, I have a couple of implementations that I'm going to try to improve her behavior. More about those later. Anyway, parts of her privates, undisturbed, have grown together, which is causing bacteria to form (because she isn't getting as clean), irritation, and pain from not having much room to 'go'. Poor girl. I was relieved it wasn't an UTI, and am glad for some natural ways to remedy the situation. We are to bathe her in baking soda and put vaseline on the area to soften the skin. This is supposed to help everything open up.

Well, I guess there's another reason boys are way easier! :) I love my gal, though. She was pretty cute at the doctor's office!

I'm happy to report (Kugoi) that the SuperMom tablets work.....super! I didn't notice a drastic, overnight change, that some have reported, but I have been getting a lot more things done. I really have a new attitude and approach to my housework anyway, so I don't know if that's it. I've started the year with a 'if it needs doing, do it right then' attitude that has really helped me. But, I've really been cleaning and straigtening, doing some purging, etc. I think the vits have helped! I would like to think so. If nothing else, my baby gets colored milk to spice up his feeding times!! :)

I've been reading my Bible more here lately and I can tell you that if you will just make a small effort in doing more for the Lord, you will be amazed at the benefits you will reap. I know this to be true, but it amazes me that every time, it really happens. I started reading more and trying to pray more throughout the day (instead of resolving to not pray at all if I can't spend that blessed hour on my knees...I have weird 'perfectionistic' tendencies like that) and I can feel the Lord so much nearer to me. I'm happy to be back 'together' with his word (after an estranged relationship..haha). God is so good. I feel like we aren't going to 'get off' if we aren't truly ready for His coming, when he does come. I want to have a peace in knowing that I am truly ready with no reservations.

God is good. I want to put Him first and my family second. I can't wait to be at home with my family where God intends for me to be. I have ideas exploding through my head (from homeschooling to scheduling to cooking, etc) that I need God's wisdom to help me make them a success.

Today was a good Monday. Doesn't even seem like Monday. That's when I say it has been good! :)

Elimination Communication

While I was pregnant, I read a book on infant potty-training. I can't remember the name of the book--it's under my bed. I decided I *might* try it. Being a working mother, I just thought about maybe doing it hit and miss. So, when Evan was really tiny (like a few weeks old), I would put him on the potty and most of the time, he wouldn't do anything. So, I've not pushed the issue since he was about a month old.

Fast forward to Christmas Day. He hadn't 'been' in a couple of days and I could tell it was aggravating him some. You know, no poop = frustration and blah feeling. LOL Anyway, we were at the table eating, I holding him, and I could tell he was getting a little atsy. Squirmy, uncomfortable, ya know? A vibe only his mother would've detected. So, I just decided (out of the blue--a nudge from God?) to whisk him off to the potty. In addition to being adorable on the potty, he also looked rather humorous. Well, right away, he started grunting. Before I knew it, he had blowed out his poop (sorry) right down into the bowl!! I was so amazed.

What is so amazing still, is that every single day since Christmas, he has pooped for me in the potty! Some times more than once/day! I'm so amazed. He tee-tees everytime also. Even if he has just 'gone', he will grunt and strain until he tee-tees, even just a fraction of a milliliter! LOL He is so stinkin' cute!

If you want to try it, what I do is wait about 5 or 10 minutes after he eats and I notice he gets a little squirmy. Sometimes he even grunts a bit. I rush him off to the potty, put a tissue over his manhood (haha), and he will go 95% of the time. In the mornings, that is the first thing I do is take him and he. will. go. Just like that. It's amazing!

He is getting so heavy that I decided to weigh him last night. Eighteen pounds! He felt a whole lot heavier. He is getting way chunky! Over the holidays, he has 'asked' to nurse to go to sleep. I reluctantly obliged him. Now, I just whip it out and hand over the goods! LOL I think the extra milk is making him beef up for sure!

Come on 6 months when he can sit up! :)

Just thought I'd share my potty success. BTW, we are still doing some in our diaper. You know, when he is down playing, etc., he doesn't ask me to go potty. :) But, he will wait longer to teetee, and I think he is waiting for me to take him and then I don't show up. :(

God didn't invent them in diapers anyway, right? ;)

A bit of a catch up and an actual BLOG..

Little did I know when I said "30 days of nothing" that I would literally mean nothing...lol. Basically, my non-posting has resulted from Holiday frenzy, lack of computer, or just so much to blog about that I just don't know where to start, or, nothing to blog about at all. So just a little catching up before I rush outta here to my small, cozy home.

ME: What's going on with me is this: I'm back to work after having a wonderful and so busy Christmas. I really enjoy my job, but I so can't get 'into it' after being off for awhile. I think it's also my being back at school on a Thursday instead of a Monday. I think it is also due to the fact (I hope it's a fact) that this is my last yr teaching, Lord willing. It's not that I don't want to do my best while I'm here, but it's that I so want to be devoting my time to MY little ones and have no energy for other's little ones (my students). They are so patient and kind, I really don't deserve such great students. Anyway, back to pumping, getting up early, and rushing about for supper plans, skimping on the house cleaning, crashing at night, etc. Yup.

I have a sinus infection like none other. I don't remember having so much pain associated with a sinus infection before. Before, it's just been the green, the goot, and the blowing of the nostrils (how's that for graphic?). This time, I have PAIN. Today is Day 5 of jaw-bone-up-to-my-eye pain. So badly that I, who does not take pain meds for frivolous reasons, have succombed to the wonderful relief that 2 Ibuprofens can bring. So far, I have been taking Echinacea (not regularly), Vit C, Juice Plus, and I got some new vits called SuperMoms from www.beeyoutiful.com yesterday. I have been applying hot compresses to my eyes. Knowing the wonderful properties of garlic, yesterday I went out into the cold elements to dig up some fresh garlic planted by Husband's dear forefathers and ate a whole garlic! I figured I had sinus breath anyway! LOL Immediately, my sinuses were as clear as ever! However, the pain is still there this morning! Oh, well, I'll chew another garlic stalk today. What is there to lose besides breath less than pleasant anyway?

Husband: Well, I have nothing but great things to always say about him. He so came through for me this Christmas, staying up until 5am Christmas morning to download and personally narrate a 2 hour 'broadcast' playing 40 songs that he has sung to me through our years together. All of this was done on a new MP3 playing that he purchased for me. I feel almost as high tech as my 4th graders. Almost.

Emory: Emory is Emory. He is really a mama's boy at times. We got close over the holidays. He still loves to eat, play the computer, and watch his daddy play the playstation. He is really a chip off of his dad's shoulder. I wouldn't have it any other way.

Erin: Now, this gal is a pistil. Last night, she got in trouble for breaking all of the stems on my flowers that I had brought in to save from the 18 degree temps we (gasp) had. I had already warned her. When I asked her why she did it anyway, she announced, "But my elephants had to have something to eat". I was almost crying from my flowers being ruined, but this *almost* brought a smile to my face. I'm sure years from now, I will cherish this memory. She is a joy. I absolutely love the 'terrible' twos. They are wonderful for a well-trained child. She has her moments, but I have the peace of knowing we are being consistent with her discipline and that she will turn out to be a well trained young lady.

Evan: Oh, my sweet baby boy. This little guy has my heart. I mean, even at 3 and 4 am, while I'm rocking him in my cold rocking chair, feeling the draft coming through the window, I love looking into his big, er, huge eyes. I love being responsible for his nourishment. He is amazing. He is squealing and screaming (not fits....yet...ha), is coming up on his arms, rolling over, and teething...still. He is absolutely precious. I would have 10 of him if I could. I'm just in love, sorry! :)

On my mind: Lots of things I could 'blog' about, but something that has been on my mind lately and I'm going to try to work on is, whining. You know, I didn't read the Pearl books until Emory was around 1.5 years old, so I didn't really implement consistent training on him right away. In fact, the other day, I was watching a home video and it was showing Em in the bathtub playing. I gave him some command (I can't remember what it was) and he so totally ignored it. I told him about 3 more times and he didn't pay any attention to it! I couldn't believe I let it go. Now, no way. One command yields one response. Anyway, I have noticed how whiney he is. Especially at his gran gran's (it's true, Amy). It irritates me to no end. As I have been pondering how I can prevent my other children from whining (Erin whines too, a bit), I remember reading something in the Pearl's book about responding to infants and babys before they get to the crying state. Normally, a parent puts a happy baby down to 'play' and what happens? He or she will leave the baby there to play in order to get something done. My exact thoughts have been, 'oh good, he/she is playing happily, I'll go make the bed, start the laundry, sweep the floor, etc'. And, before long, I will hear a little cry at first and I will think, "well let me just get this bed made and I'll go get him, it's not hurting anything for him to cry a little". Well, after the bed has been made, baby's irritation levels have really escalated because mama hasn't met said need of 'I want to be picked up'. So, mama (me, ha) goes over to baby, who is now fussing heavily, picks him up and yeah, things are great. Except for the fact that I've just taught my baby that A. Cry and I'll pick you up and B. I only pick you up when you fuss.

So, what is learned here? Baby learns that the way to get happiness is to Whine (cry, fuss, whatever you want to call it). Got my point?

So the solution (and what I'm trying to implement) is to A. I could go broke, buy me an Ergo carrier (which I want desperately) and carry Evan all day long or B. I could put him down, see how long it normally takes him to whine (I think he will usually play good for about 10 mins before he wants mama), and then allow him to play for half of that time and pick him up while he's happy. I might not get as much done, but if I can prevent him from being TRAINED to whine, then I will not complain (er, whine...lol).

In other words, I meet his needs before they become wants. I pick him up happy. I change him before he becomes fussy. I nurse him to sleep before he cries to be nursed to sleep (I already know he loves being nursed to sleep and will 'fuss' to nurse to sleep). I feed him before he cries out of hunger. I entertain him before he becomes bored into fussiness.

All of this sounds as if I am spoiling him, but in fact, I'm UNspoiling him.

Let me know what you think.

Sorry to be so long...I hope you faithful ones haven't left me! :)