Update

I have to be proud of myself because I finished my whole list. It's not often I am able to do that. :)

Fall Leaves

Here's a beautiful picture of our leaves up here.

Another Day

Greetings to everyone this evening. It was a busy day. It started out with a 40-minute phone call about various aspects of soccer. That was good because it woke me without having to rush out of bed to get this and that done. However...

I got a wide variety of things done today:
1. spelling with all four school-aged children
2. the church's fiscal year statement
3. a list of things to do (hee hee hee)
4. dishes
5. laundry
6. shower
7. soccer practice (scrimmage tonight)
8. shopping
9. trailer returned
10. straightening

I think that will do for the posting of my accomplishments. Of course, I did do much more than that, but I won't bore you with it all.

Tomorrow I hope to do:
1. thank you cards
2. finishing letters I started 2 weeks ago and send them (Yipes!!!)
3. dishes and laundry
4. printing pictures for album
5. soccer practice
6. library stuff returned
7. home school paper to school (due Wednesday!!!)
8. make cookies
9. sew a pair of pajamas out of a bathrobe
10. practice Bible verses with kids

Emily, Melissa, and Laura were playing with the big box in the bedroom today, and Emily took these pictures. Well, she took 15 and these are my two favorites.

Home Again

We left Friday afternoon in a flurry to get to Karlstad for a soccer game. When that was over, we went to Bemidji for a hayride. We missed the majority of the people but did make the very last hayride. Saturday we went potato picking and managed to load around 650 pounds into our vehicle. I'm not sure how many were in the other vehicles. Maybe I'll get an update from someone. Saturday evening we helped at my parents' house getting miscellaneous jobs done such as dishes, roofing, picking apples, and pulling down hummingbird feeders. I totally forgot about scooping the barn out because Aaron wasn't driving me crazy with his running in and out and up and down since he was out playing with a friend. Lucky him...he and I were going to do that. He for pay, me for encouragement. We left just after supper and came home to end our long, tiring weekend. Today after church I almost got to go to Dairy Queen for lunch. There was a bit of a mix-up so we ended up coming home for Hamburger Helper, orange juice, milk, and green beans. To those of you who can beans: is putting the salt in necessary for the canning process or can I can them without salt? I don't like the flavor it gave the beans.

Streusel Caramel Bars

I found a bag of caramels I bought last year for some Christmas cookies and never used. Tonight was the night to use them since I don't have enough ingredients for Mike's stand-by of Special K Bars or Oatmeal (Joni's) Bars.

Servings: Makes 2 to 3 dozen bars (Umm...in my house this is more like 8 to 12 bars.) :)
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 15 and 20 minutes

Ingredients:
2 cups flour
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 egg, beaten
3/4 cup butter or margarine, divided
3/4 cup chopped nuts
24 caramels (umm...this isn't the whole bag, leaving several to disappear into the prep person's mouth and children's mouths) BUT...I strongly suggest, after tasting these, to use at least 36 caramels (which still isn't the whole bag) hee hee hee :)
1 can sweetened condensed milk

Instructions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
In large bowl, combine flour, brown sugar, and egg; cut in 1/2 cup butter until crumbly. Stir in nuts.
Reserving 2 cups crumb mixture, press remainder firmly on bottom of greased 13x9 inch baking pan.
Bake 15 minutes.
In heavy saucepan, (I did it in the microwave) over low heat, melt caramels with milk and remaining 1/4 cup butter. Pour over prepared crust. Top with reserved crumb mixture.
Bake 20 minutes or until bubbly. Cool. Cut into bars. Store loosely covered at room temperature.

Ten-Minute Project

I cut down this pair of pajamas I was given (which barely cleared my underwear line) for Emily. I didn't do anything with the neck, which I may have to alter seeing the finished project on her, but otherwise just cut 1/3 down the sleeves and shortened them about 10 inches and cut width off the two sides. I sewed one of the cuffs on inside-out by mistake, but it's one of those things that really isn't worth fixing, in my opinion.

A New Dress

I made a "new" dress for Emily out of a jumper she was given and some lace from a shirt I was given but won't wear because it's too small. It's not perfect (the heart is crooked because I couldn't find my pins.) I have some other makeovers in the planning stages but will have to see what I can get accomplished. :)

Laura

Laura is 32 1/8 inches tall and 24# 14 oz. She's been saying lots of words lately though I can't understand most of them.

Blueberry Muffins

I have our breakfast muffins in the oven, and they are starting to smell very good! I have used Abbi's recipe since the family has enjoyed that one. I do tend to put in all whole wheat flour and double the berries though. Berries are one thing we have a lot of up here on a normal basis and especially this year.

Kiss My Face Kids Products Giveaway

Mercedes is giving away some Kiss My Face Kids Products for her third day of prizes celebrating her one year of blogging. Check it out if you're interested. Congratulations, Mercedes!

Golden Sponge Cake Giveaway

Mercedes at Common Sense with Money is having another giveaway to celebrate one year of blogging. Today's giveaway is a Weight Watchers Golden Sponge Cake. Check it out and enter if you'd like. Congratulations, Mercedes!

A Near-Calamity

I opened the water softener lid to add some salt before I charged it and found this much water in there. This is over three feet high and about an 18" diameter. They'll be getting a call in the morning for sure. It hasn't been acting right since about this time last year, but when he came out, he just said I was using the wrong type of salt. I DON'T THINK SO!!! (Sorry, it upsets me.) :(

The Evening

After the little girls and I dropped the older ones off for soccer, we dropped off some library books in the drop box. They had fun doing it, and I got a work-out lifting and setting down the girls. We then went to a meeting where they were wild; it was embarrassing. One friend brought some delicious chocolate chip cookies; I can't remember the last time I had a chocolate chip cookie!!! Tracy has a violin lesson in the morning so I'll see what I can accomplish.

I was trying to wash a sleeping bag from Jackpine, and now it has stuff all over it. I want to say it's some sort of oil but am not sure. All the kids are asleep so I'll get on with my evening's activities. :) Good night! (the way a lady goes to bed, not a man) hee hee hee

Oh, and the use of the applesauce maker fell through. I'll try again another day.

Done Enough

We got some math, Bible drills, Bible verses, spelling, and some phonics games done. We finished up our lunch of cheeseburgers, carrots, and pink lemonade. Today was one of those days where I didn't make enough. Oh well. :) I'm not sure what plans we have for the afternoon, but tonight is a soccer practice for all the kids. I have a home school meeting too. A friend is letting me borrow her applesauce maker and possibly has more apples for me so I'll get that done tonight also. I've been working on organizing the bookshelves (looking for a specific library book,) but I keep getting farther behind because of a certain little girl. I won't mention any names, but it starts with L and ends with a. :)

The Couponizer Giveaway

Mercedes over at Common Sense with Money is having a giveaway to celebrate a year of blogging. Congratulations to her! Hers is one of the first several blogs I started reading and enjoy it very much. She has so much good information on her blog that I find it hard to believe it's only been a year she's been blogging. Check out her blog and put your entry form in for a chance to win the Couponizer. Congratulations, Mercedes!

Trying Again

Our school week got messed up last week because of hitting the deer. It's like that at our house...one small thing can mess up everything.

Anyway, the kids are enjoying cinnamon rolls, applesauce, and milk for breakfast. Mike just walked out; I would guess the smell of the cinnamon rolls drove him batty. :)

We'll get our jobs done then get started with our school work. We have math, spelling, and phonics fun in the pile to start.

Psalm 96:2

Sing to the Lord, bless His name; proclaim the good news of His salvation from day to day.

Apples!

Today before our soccer game I went to a friend's house and gave her some blueberries I had for her. They've been in the freezer since I picked them. She showed me all the trees that have been planted around her place in the past couple years. Because of Abbi's post, I thought I'd ask her if she knew of anyone who had apples going to waste since she knows so many people. Her sister lives about five miles from us with several trees we went and picked from tonight. Laura usually had three in her hand and one in her mouth and the lady kept laughing at her. Once we got home, we found out that the dog liked them also! I don't know how many the kids ate, but it was a lot. Now for stamping thank you cards...

Busy Day

The time has been flying by. Except for two sleeping bags, I think I'm finally caught up with laundry and putting stuff away after our weekend's camping trip.

I did the "unforgivable" last night and forgot to buy milk when I was in town. I can't think of too many times that we've been totally out of milk, but I do have some powdered milk on hand if we become desperate. :) (I was hoping to keep it to make some hot chocolate mix.)

We didn't get any "school" work such as it is done yesterday, except Tracy and a tiny bit with Emily, but did get almost the whole yard mowed for Mike. Aaron did some banging on the rider we were given and mostly has that ready to run without the awful noise it was making. We got the snowblower running again so we should be able to use that this winter instead of shoveling by hand. There was algae in the carburetor. I also did a bit of work in the shed so we can walk in without as much of a hazard as it was. :) There's still much to be desired, but when you have junk, it clutters your life. The house is becoming over-run by it again so I really need to crack down on myself and get it out.

Mike stayed in town (after work and before soccer practice) last night and did a bit of mowing at the church building. Today we have a soccer game so hopefully we can finish the mowing in town before, during, or after that.

I think that's about it for new news here for the day. Have a great one, everyone!

More Provisions

1. A quick response from the insurance company.
2. Friends to help with towing.
3. Friends who have a vehicle we can use big enough for the whole family.

Some of God's Provisions

1. A God who is in charge.
2. A cell phone that worked in "the middle of nowhere" long enough to call for help.
3. A network of friends able to help in a crunch.
4. A few people who stopped to see if we needed help.
5. A kind man who towed us to his house.
6. A loaner car by him, no questions asked.
7. Safety on the rest of the drive home.


On our way home from an excellent soccer game played by our team in Thief River Falls, we hit a deer just about a mile north of Strathcona. It took out the radiator so we couldn't drive it home but otherwise doesn't seem too badly damaged. This wasn't the way I wanted to start my Wednesday posting, but God obviously had other plans.

Home Again

I'm too busy to write at the moment so will probably be back Wednesday.

Packing for Jackpine

I have lots of stuff for our camping trip this weekend. The closer to home we are, the more stuff we bring, I'm beginning to think. :) We provide everyone who comes a taco meal Sunday after services so some of the stuff is for that. Plus we provide toilet paper and miscellaneous things for the camp in general. I think it will take two to three trips to get everything out there. I still need to come up with some tomatoes for the tacos. Does anyone who is coming have any? That's it for now. I'll get on with the rest of my stuff. I came over here to find my list.

John 3:14-16

I need to add two new verses to my knowledge since I'll be teaching them to children this year. Though I've read them, I've never committed verses 14 and 15 to memory.

14 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up.
15 That whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.
16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.

Here We go Again

This is a sad post...I've been seeing some problems with Laura's teeth which reminded me of Melissa at this age so took her to the dentist yesterday. She did an excellent job with the cleaning, polishing, fluoride, and exam. The sad part is that she has cavities and decay so I was told to take her to the specialist. I am NOT looking forward to ten-hour drives again. Chalk up another one for a bad decision in moving out in the country...

I Know How to do It!

Piano just "clicked" for Emily (along with reading.) She turned around and exclaimed to me, "You just have to follow the notes." Maybe she'll fly through the next couple books now considering she already knows about a lot of the stuff.

Aaron's Rifle

Yesterday Tracy and Aaron went to the Kids Outdoors Day. Kids Outdoors is a full-day event co-sponsored by Ruffed Grouse Society, Minnesota Deer Hunters Association, and Delta Waterfowl to promote the benefits of the outdoor experience to youth ages 8 & up. Each fun-filled seminar provided education and hands-on experience.

Some of the sessions were: Dog Training - Trapping – Shooting Sports – Black Powder – Archery – BB Gun Shoot – Bird Identification - Quality Deer Management

Thousands of dollars in door prizes were given away, more than 15 guns. A Polaris youth 4-wheeler and helmet was given; compliments of Polaris.

Lunch was included and was co-sponsored by Doug’s Supermarket & Ruffed Grouse Society.

Here's Aaron with his rifle he won. It's a 243 Savage with bolt action. It has a 22" barrel. Also included was a scope and strap, which wasn't in the asking price of $419.99.

(He wanted to make sure I added that he was pointing the gun in a safe direction.) :)

Pictures

I just finished up getting the pictures I'd like to print onto the camera card. Our drugstore has prints for 10 cents this coming week. I'm so excited to finally be able to get these printed; other than Laura's, Tracy's, and Melissa's birthday pictures, I haven't done any printing since Christmas. I also need to do some enlargements of Laura and Jason for the wall. Here's the link to the Snyder's offer.

Tracy and Aaron went to a Kids Day at our sporting goods store today. Aaron won a rifle so I'll hopefully be posting a picture of that tomorrow and tell more about what they did.

Math

I asked my first grader today if she could figure out some ways to make 8 expecting the typical answers like 8+0, 7+1, 6+2, 5+3, and 4+4. Well, the first one rattled off was 4+4. She then answered 6+2. I pried out 7+1. Then with a glint in her eyes, she said 20-12. I was surprised by that but even more so when she started rattling off other subtraction ways all the way from the 20-12 up to 200-192.

Spelling

Wow, spelling is going well this year! Tracy tested well on her spelling placement test a couple weeks ago, and Aaron placed well on his today. We are not the best family of spellers in the world--usually getting between 5% and 50% on the standardized tests. That's why I'm so excited. :)

Jason has been plugging away in his 4th grade math book, and Emily's been working on both the 1st and 2nd grade books. Jason and Emily are doing reading together this year, and that seems to be going well. I'll probably get out the phonics lessons after our soccer season is over.

Other than that things are going well; we are getting ready to eat lunch.

Good Morning!

Yesterday my alarm went off. I shut it off and fell asleep again only to be awakened by children. They were excited for breakfast because yesterday was "sugar cereal" day. Today we're having waffles so I'm working on the applesauce for them; it smells so good!

We did some school work after breakfast then ate lunch. Mike and the older three children went out to Jackpine to do some more work out there while the little girls and I played games and cleaned up a bit.

After supper I went to town for a meeting and got to hold a three-week old baby. It was so fun; I just LOVE babies. After the meeting I dropped library books off, filled up with gas, and bought some milk.

This evening we have soccer practice, but I think it will be a relatively calm day. I hope your day goes well.

Water Fun

What would we do on the 90-degree days without a hose??? Here are the girls watering Grandma's grass and driveway. We attempted to write names with the flow of the hose, but it didn't work. They also watered the flowers and the rocks and the sidewalk so if Grandma gets a high electric bill for getting all that water out of the well, she knows where we live. Hee hee hee :)

Sidewalk Chalk

The three little girls and I decorated Grandma's sidewalk for when she came home. Melissa was busy coloring shapes and making a crown, and Emily was writing a sentence of sorts. We listed some of the things we did while we were there. We had daily chores to do which included feeding lots of birds--the wild and the tame. The tame birds were a chicken in the garage, some laying hens, some butcher hens, a duck, and four turkeys. We also took care of the dog and the horses. The dog went for rides and runs and was happy then, but when we were just around the house he really missed his owner.

Up and Down

Laura had her first experience with a hill while we were at my mom's house. She went up saying, "Up. Up. Up." Then she turned around and came down saying something that sounded like down but only to a mom's ears.

Tough Guy Turns Chicken

Some of you may know of our dog and his barking and growling problem. Well, last Tuesday Tracy came home from soccer practice with another family. When I saw the headlights in the driveway, I turned on the light and kicked the dog outside. He, of course, started barking and growling and heading towards the vehicle. I stood in the doorway with it cracked a couple inches. All of a sudden he turned tail and took off running back towards the house, shaking like a leaf. When I saw him coming, I moved over in front of the door so he couldn't get in. It didn't work; he pushed so hard to get in that he knocked me aside and came flying in anyway. After Tracy came in, I heard her side of the story and put two and two together. She had tried to give the family some gas money they wouldn't take. She left it on the seat and ran quickly so they had no choice. So...Aussie got his turn of being tormented by one of us. It doesn't sound as funny writing and reading it, but I was laughing so hard I was crying and couldn't even talk.