Aussie-dog

The Aussie-dog can't decide whether he wants in or out. When he's in, he sits at the windows and stares out and once in a while jumps up on the door to go out. When he's out, he turns right around and jumps on the door to be let in, only to go and stare out some more.

Baptism

Tracy was baptized into Christ Sunday, June 29. 2008. I'll link Abbi's and Mike's posts.

Garden

The garden blossomed while we were gone. I pulled out four radishes after we came home, and they were actually the size of radishes, not tiny like the ones I pulled before we left. :) We have two stalks of corn that are the size of Laura's knees, and it's almost the 4th of July. Hee hee hee

The peas are learning to climb the string, and I have replanted a few spaces where the peas and beans didn't come up for one reason or another.

The tomatoes look healthier though I haven't seen any signs of carrots as of yet.

Melissa Pumps

Melissa learned to pump this weekend while we were gone. Here she is practicing her new skill.

Frozen Bread Dough

Has anyone done any experimenting with putting dough into the freezer to pull out later to rise and bake like you can buy at the store? I want to try that but don't want to waste my flour and yeast if someone has tried it and it hasn't worked. :)

Today while Laura was napping and everyone was gone I steam-cleaned the general area of the girls' room. It looks a lot better so I may consider moving things and doing the whole of the general area instead of just the open space.

It's 81 in here and I can't believe the humidity is only 56%. I have sweat running down. Summer must be here. :)

Garden

Here's the first batch of pictures I took of the garden last week. I'm going small and steady this year and hopefully will be able to branch off more next year as I learn how to use what I plant. Last year the little girls (and even Jason if I remember correctly) did like eating the peas fresh off the vines so that's a start.



In this square (I don't do a perfect square-foot garden by the book but was just trying to see how it works) I have 16 corn plants in a 4x4 area. Around each edge of the 16 small squares is lettuce and radishes. I dug a radish the other day and boy, was it peppery! They were called "Sparkler" radishes; I'll try a different variety if I plant them again next year. It was fun to plant those though; they came up quickly.



This 4x4 square has peas and beans. I improvised a climbing area for the peas, much to Aaron's chagrin because I used something he thought was good yet. Hopefully it won't weather too much and he'll still be able to use it. There are 8 pea plants in each of the 8 squares and 9 beans in each of the 8 squares. The idea with the beans is so you don't have to do any weeding because the leaves cover the ground once they bush out.





This 4x4 section has 8 pepper plants, 3 tomato plants (the 4th bit the dust--or the dust bit it! so I put 9 more beans there,) 16 onions, and three more corn plants with about 30 carrot seeds around them that my aunt sent up. I looked at all the stores up here and couldn't find any carrots!!!

Even though I built the ground up, the soil is still saturated. :) I'll try to post more pictures as they become available. The fence is doing a wonderful job of keeping things out.

Cookies

I whipped up some peanut butter/oatmeal/flax cookies so have them baking right now; it's been too hot in here during the day to do anything with the oven. One of the cooler days that's coming will have to be a summer-bake day where I make lots of cookies and store them in the freezer. :)

The four middle kids went to a VBS yesterday where Tracy was helping.

Help!!!

I need some tips on cooking brown rice. Every time I make it, it's chewy and people won't eat it. I know it needs 35-45 minutes to cook, but is there some sure-fire way I can get it so it will get eaten? I'm in the process of mixing brown and white rice together for hotdishes and such to get the family used to eating it. (confessions publicly on my blog since my husband has been doing such a good job of eating lately) :)

Tired Out!

We had our friends' children overnight again last night so it was a busy evening and day today. I'm still just as tired as I was last week though. :) She said that I could "tell the world" the news so I thought I'd post it here. They're going to be having twins!!! I am so excited for them!

Today we hit town, ran to the library and the outdoor pool, dropped the kids off with their grandma, headed home, took a quick snooze (I did anyway,) ate a quick supper, and then headed back to town.

Every Thursday they have a track session and the participants get ribbons for completing events. There's no competition--just beating your own times.

Time to go...my baby just woke (again.)

Scrapbooking

I went to write Tracy's and Melissa's birthday lists in their books only to find out the pictures aren't even into the albums yet! I'll have to get to work on that. :)

Old and New

I received a new dishcloth from a wonderful friend. Thank you again!!! She had given me two after Laura was born so I decided to put them side-by-side after putting the new one to use wiping up some chocolate pudding and whatever else was on the table. :)

Tired Out!

We had a fun but tiring couple of days over here. I had 10 children in my house for 20 hours and am still alive to prove that children are blessings. We had a "party" and the majority of us stayed up until 3:00 A.M. A couple of mine were still sleeping when I made a quick trip to the grocery store at 11:00.

Tonight the four girls and I went to town where they ran track. Emily ran the 800 meter, and Tracy, Emily, and Melissa all ran the 400, 200, and 100 meter, plus Emily and Melissa each ran an extra 200 meters in a "relay" of some sort. After that our friends brought cheese and pudding they picked up for us at Sam's Club (Thanks!) and we went to the pool. Laura got very excited when we were walking up to the building. She just loves the water, and we've been dropping her off the diving board. A couple was sitting on a bench getting a kick out of that. We gobbled up the special treat our friends gave us (Yummy!) and then got gas before heading home.

Now everyone's in bed but Laura who just got up from a nap so will probably be going for a while. That's alright because I have to pack because we're going to a "large family" camp tomorrow after meeting my parents for a picnic lunch and dumping the dog on them.

I'm getting too much help here so will sign off until Monday or whenever I get a chance to post again. Oh, the peas have poked their heads through the soil.

Oil Change???

Mike did get the badger out of the engine; thanks for the phone call. However, we've had many squirrels up in there now. The dog chases them and barks and barks and barks and even wriggles under the vehicles to bark his "please play with me" bark. Yesterday he tried a new tactic so I had to laugh at him. I could see him out the window; he was pointing (what kind of dog is he?) and creeping slowly up to the vehicle. Sure enough, there was a squirrel by it.

Garden

The radishes are coming up! :)

Celebrating Mike's Birthday

Mike's parents came to celebrate Mike's birthday.

All Gone!

Here's the last bucket of blueberries we picked last summer. Today we made blueberry/cranberry bread.

A Lazy Day

It wasn't exactly lazy, but we did survive. I'm here holding my eyes open with toothpicks because I have a baby who doesn't want to sleep. Her molars are coming in so she's been clingy and fussy. I'll have to give her another dose of Tylenol.

We survived the babysitting job and even managed to make a batch of cookies. Mike will be taking some of them to work tomorrow for a "snack" day.

Oh, Mike couldn't find any carrot seeds so I just planted three more corn plants in the garden. The garden has been well-watered by the rain.

The Garden is In!

We got the rest of the fencing yesterday and planted the garden today (minus carrots because I can't find a packet of them--Mike will check another store after work tomorrow) . The rain has been gently watering it all evening. I'm just doing a small area and have adapted some of the techniques I read about in "Square Foot Gardening" by Mel Bartholomew. Last year I tried planting two or three seeds in each hole which worked, but this year when I found that book I thought I would try it this way just to see. Melissa and Emily enjoyed planting the beans and peas and peppers and tomatoes, but Laura did not appreciate being shut out. She kept walking around and around trying to find the way in. Melissa helped with the onions, lettuce, corn, and radishes also.

Tomorrow we'll be babysitting a seven- or eight-year old girl. Tracy babysat her earlier in the year, and I guess she begged to be able to come over here when she found out her regular babysitter told them she wasn't available tomorrow.

Sleeping Angels, A Year or so Ago

I pulled this photo out of the archives. The girls have grown so much; I wonder if they'd all still fit on my lap...

Oil Change???

For those of you who know me, I'm not necessarily mechanically inclined. However, I do know that this is not the way I prefer to get my oil changed in my van, which is why I pay the $12.00 (plus oil and filter and other fluids if needed) to have my oil changed by someone who knows what he's doing. :) I love you, Mike! (For any issues that need to be settled before they get started, he was trying to get a badger out of the engine; he really does know how to change oil.) :)

State Park Open House

We went to Hayes Lake State Park today and spent time at the beach, in the canoe, and Tracy made a quick trip to the dam with a few of the kids.

Here's a video of Laura giggling when Tracy was dipping her into the water.

Here are some pictures though I'm not sure where they'll show up in the post. Aussie-dog's first canoe ride in a lake... He was lapping water over the edge of the boat. He rode well. It was tempting to tip the canoe, but I didn't have extra clothes to change into and the lake was cold. :)

On the way home, we went through the state forest, and Mike and the kids were singing lots of songs. It was a fun day.

Psalm 71:1-6

1. In You, O Lord, I put my trust; let me never be put to shame.
2. Deliver me in Your righteousness, and cause me to escape; incline Your ear to me, and save me.
3. Be my strong refuge, to which I may resort continually; You have given the commandment to save me, for You are my rock and my fortress.
4. Deliver me, O my God, out of the hand of the wicked, out of the hand of the unrighteous and cruel man.
5. For You are my hope, O Lord God; You are my trust from my youth.
6. By You I have been upheld from birth; You are He who took me out of my mother's womb. My praise shall be continually of You.