Summer has begun...finally!

Last week was our church Vacation Bible School. What an amazing week it was. We averaged about 150 kids a day! Amazing! The kitchen was a happening place with snacks of many kids being made daily. I had a blast and thoroughly enjoyed my time there. I had amazing help from so many awesome people, they all made my job so much easier! I felt extremely blessed to have each one of them helping. It was a very busy week and it left me feeling VERY tired every afternoon. I did manage to get a bit done around here though, thankfully. Never enough hours, don't you know. :)

This week, we have focused on reclaiming our house and just enjoying being home. Laundry had piled up, the kitchen needed some attention and the rest of the house as well. Thankfully, we have all pitched in and reclaimed most of the areas around here. YAY! It has felt so good to just be home, other than running Brandon to his driver's education classes. I've gotten out in the garden to do some weeding, Brandon worked on mowing and Dylan and Alyssa weeded the berries. Things are beginning to look like someone cares around here. :)

Between all of the loads of laundry and various other activities, I have been reading on several different sites about soaking grains and flours. We have been living gluten-free here for many years. It has worked well for a long time, but we are exploring other options to eliminate the stomach issues that began our gluten-free journey. So much information has been swimming around in my head regarding all of this from what I've read, our history and the time line of the stomach issues we've seen in our family along with eating habits we've had. I am finally at a place where I feel like I can start to try some of the soaked flour recipes I've found. I just took a batch of soaked whole wheat muffins out of the oven and they look and smell amazingly good! Once I have all of the information and sites that I have visited in my searching, I will post a detailed list of facts that I've found and where I found them. Eating whole foods, whole grains, and more fermented foods has been on my heart and mind for some time. We've been there in the past, eating only whole wheat products, avoiding pre made and pre packaged foods. Over time I have gotten lax in this area, but we are now trying to focus more on the whole foods way of eating. Our goal is to find a way to eat that will be the most benefit for our family nutritionally, health wise and financially. I think we may be on the road to a workable plan, time will tell. :) I can tell you know, that I am EXCITED!

Summer Beauty in Bloom!

The first of our summer roses have finally bloomed. So beautiful and so very fragrant too! I bought two new rose bushes this past spring, one yellow, the other a purple blue color. I didn't catch the yellow one at it's prime, but the purple one is a perfect blossom. So beautiful! My son was outside and noticed how nice they looked, so he came in to grab the camera and took the pictures for me. :) How did he know I'd want to share them on my blog. :)

Busy days...ready for some down time!

Wow, what a busy time we've had the past couple of weeks. With school getting out, at least the main part of the school year...we still do math and reading through the summer, getting ready for our church's Vacation Bible School and having a successful VBS, I have not been home nearly enough.

Today is our first full day at home to just breath in what feels like forever! We all got to sleep in until we felt like getting up, for the most part, and have been lazily getting things done around here. Our boys are going to a party with some friends. Alyssa is hanging out doing this and that. Wade is working on a project in the shop and I've done random things all day. Laundry, dishes, defrost our freezer and made a list of all that is in there.

Vacation Bible School was a HUGE success this year! We had around 150 kids there all week long, plus teen helpers and leaders and a bunch of adults to make things run smoothly. Once again, I was in charge of the snacks for the whole week. What a job that was, but I had amazing help from many people and we all got the job done. It was amazing!

Finally, summer has decided to come to our area!!! It was about time! My tomatoes are not doing well and my peppers are all about dead. We've just had too much rain and not enough sun and heat. So frustrating, but I keep telling myself that God knows what our needs are. We'll figure out something, one way or another.

Thankfully, Wade is back to work for a while. He'll be traveling quite a bit every day to and from work, but at least it's a job. We will choose to be thankful! :) This next week is another busy week for us, but thankfully it's mostly at home. Driver's Ed a few days this week, but for the most part, we are going to be HOME! Thank the Lord! It will give me time to work on a few recipes for Gling, need to write a blog or two for that site too and the rest of the week will be working on homestead stuff. I am so happy to be able to focus on home more now. This school year and then VBS has left me feeling a bit out of touch here. It's time to get things in order and ready for a glorious summer! :)

A graduation and a new stage!

Tonight, we watched our 14 year old daughter graduate from 8th grade. Where has time gone? Amazing how fast she went from a little baby girl to this beautiful young woman. My goodness! :) The past 4 years of school for our little girl have seemed like a blink on some days and a lifetime on others. This graduation starts a new chapter in her life, and ours. High school is the next step...are we ready? Next year will be the beginning of a grand adventure, for sure!

We are so very proud of our little girl, almost a young woman. She has grown into such a beautiful young lady. We are blessed!

New Free Downloadable Menu Planners for Summertime!

New Free Downloadable Menu Planners for Summertime!

I LOVE these menu planners. This is something that I have really struggled with doing, but I know that it would save me a bundle in the long run if I'd just get myself into the habit of planning better. With money as tight as it is these days and the fact that we have got to find ways to manage what we have in a more efficient manner, I am going to try getting more organized! I saw these planners on Heavenly Homemaker's blog and just HAD to share them here. Maybe that will help to motivate me a bit more too. :)

Homeschooling....learning what you never learned in school.

Ever have one of those days that you wish you could go back and learn something when your brain was young and new things just came easier? Oh my! My second oldest son is now a 10th grader and we are working on math through the summer...long story...this week, we started Geometry. First off, let me say, that when I was in school I never made it past Algebra 1. I took economics and other classes to fulfill my math requirements for graduation. Math and I were never very close friends. I liked the idea of being good at math, but it just never came to be. Well, learning geometry at almost 40 is a challenge, let me tell you!

Today we have struggled with Venn diagrams and understanding the different symbols that go along with them. Understanding concepts in math is not something that comes easily to me, but I "get" how this works. Explaining it to my 15 year old son is another matter. He HATES showing his work, and that is something that I am requiring so that I KNOW he knows how he got his answer and so that I can help him get past mistakes he may make in finding the answers. Oh, what a struggle. :)

All in all, I am enjoying it. I always "wanted" to take higher math, but never dreamed I'd be learning it because I am trying to teach my son. :) Funny how God uses things like this to help to grow us. Thankfully I have a wonderful friend that I can call when I am really stuck. She is also teaching her son and math has always come easily for her. YAY! Yet another blessing. :) My son and I will get this, we will learn geometry and be ready to move onto Algebra 2 later this next year. I am confident of that fact. How we'll get there is beyond me at times, but we will. :)

Chicken stock...Oh my!

For the past several months, every time I cook a chicken (well, almost every time) I save the neck and back to make chicken stock. It's amazing to me how quickly my stock of chicken stock has increased....pun intended. :) This past weekend we grilled two chickens. When I was cutting them up to put them on the grill I saved the back and neck (we actually did two chickens, so there were two of each...imagine that LOL). I put them in the crock pot, filled it with water, onion and garlic powder and let it cook away for two full days. This morning I shut it off, took out all of the bones and stuff and poured it all into my big stock pot. The meat and bones don't go to waste, I usually either pick out the meat and freeze it or just give the whole lot to the cats for a treat. This morning, the cats got a treat. :)

After it's all strained out and the stock is all that is left I let it cool until I can skim some of the fat off of the top. I like leaving a bit of fat in it for extra flavor, but not all of it. I then add a bit of water since it's so rich from cooking for so long and to help stretch it a bit further. Often, if I have time I'll also add onions, carrots and celery to the chicken when I cook it in the crock pot. This adds tons of flavor and even some rich color. This past weekend I didn't take the time to do that step, so the stock is not as dark as usual. It still works great to add flavor to rice or to use as a base for gravy or soup.

This morning I ended up with 7 quarts of stock from those two backs and necks. Not bad, I'd say! The picture above is bit pale....between the sun coming in the window next to the jars and the quality of picture from my cell phone, it looks much lighter than it actually is. I've made some stock that was as dark as the wood of my cabinets. Makes amazing gravy! At last count, I have about 30 quarts of chicken stock in my pantry now. If I hadn't used any of it, I'd have more, but it is there to use. :) I've also done beef and turkey stock the same way. HUGE money saver and so much better tasting and good for you, compared to the store bought. I also have pieces of our last round of butchering in the freezer to make into stock. That will give us an easy 14 quarts of stock if I cook it down long enough. I love homemade stock....full of so much good flavor! Yum!

Strawberry Rhubarb Pie...Yum!

I made a pie with some of the strawberries I bought last week at the produce stand. It was SO good! When I was a kid, my aunt made this pie every summer. I LOVED it! I've never tried to make a pie, I've made a strawberry rhubarb cobbler, but the pie was amazing. Yummy! Not quite as good as my aunts, but still good. :) Thankfully I had a pan on the rack underneath the pie, it boiled over all over the catch pan. Made a lovely mess of the pie plate and the pan below. Still tasted good. Someday, I'll learn to make a pretty pie, not just a tasty one. After all, we eat with our eyes first...or so they tell me. :)

Is it really Monday?

Oh my, what a weekend we had. I am still not ready for Monday and here it is 1:00 PM on Monday afternoon. :) We had a busy weekend in the garden and loved every minute of it...hard work and all. Today I've been busy in my kitchen making cookies, pie crust, hulling strawberries and cleaning up between it all. Laundry is also going, though it won't make it to the clothes line today with the chance of rain and colder temps we seem to be having. Huge bummer, I hate using my dryer this time of year but on days like today and a mountain of laundry threatening to take over the bathroom, I have little choice in the matter. It's amazing how fast the laundry piles up when we are outside working our buns off in the dirt. :)

My week is a full one with end of the school year obligations, baby sitting, my cooking and writing work, VBS preparations and an orthodontist appointment. In the midst of it all I have weeding to try to get to around the berry vines, plants and bushes. Also need to get a flat of marigolds in the ground and do some clean up in my front yard beds. So much that always needs doing and only so much of this mamma. We are truly blessed though and every task that needs to be done is a reminder of how many blessings we have. The mountains of laundry reminds me that we have a big healthy family that is active and works hard. The dirty dishes remind me that we have food to eat and healthy appetites. The never ending baking and cooking that I do shows me how much my job matters....just think what we'd be eating if I were to just open a can or a box for every meal or snack. All of the school books that fill my desk and the piles of papers are a good reminder that we have amazingly smart kids that rely on us for their education and what an honor it is to be the one that gets to show them this world and all that God intended for it to be for them. We live in a country (for the time being) that affords us the freedom to homeschool. To teach our kids what the Bible says about living a godly and productive life. We may not agree with many of the choices that our government makes or even the direction it appears to be headed, but we still pray as scripture teaches, for our leaders and trust that the Lord has a plan.

These are the things that I try to focus on when life seems to be getting busier than I can handle or when I feel like we are getting no where. Things are tough right now with my husband's work situation and the down economy, but we are blessed beyond measure! God is providing for us daily and will continue to do so in ways that we may not expect. Even in tough times, it's exciting to see how God will use them not only for His Glory, but for our blessing and benefit! How cool is that?!

Oops...I did it again.

Well, once again I got ahead of myself. I was totally sure that this weekend was Father's Day weekend. Oh well...I guess that means I'm ahead of the game, right? :-) If only that were true in every area of life. Always being ahead would get boring anyway.

Yesterday we finished planting our garden...finally! I am wishing I'd had more room for a few more things, but what we have will have to do. Our water supply is not always what we wish it was in the summer months, so our garden size has to be kept down a bit. Oh well...we'll have a bountiful harvest of what we were able to get in the ground....right? :-)

Happy Father's Day!

We have a busy weekend ahead, so I decided to post this today rather than tomorrow. :-) Praying you have a wonderful weekend with your "dad's" and enjoy making some memories! We'll be busy in the garden today, not sure about tomorrow....that is up to the dad of this house. :-) Our dad's work so hard to provide for our families in these hard times...I know my hubby does. I am forever grateful and amazed at how strong my husband is. He is my hero...my best friend and the best dad my kids could ever have hoped for. We are truly blessed! Love you honey...you ARE the best!

Strawberries are here!

Today did not end up being as productive as I had hoped, but I did manage to get a few things done. The rest will have to wait for tomorrow or another day altogether. I just have to be OK with what I did manage to accomplish, right? One thing that I did do that I had not planned on doing is buying some strawberries. YAY! We look forward to fresh local strawberries all year. Tonight while my son Brandon, was in his driver's ed class, I visited a local family farmer that has a produce stand on site. I love to buy my produce from them, just knowing that I am helping to support a family run farm that has been run by the same family for generations feels good! Not enough dedicated farmers these days, to my mind. Anyway, they had local strawberries and I just had to get a flat. :-)

Talk about tasty! So, what am I doing with them? Half of the flat is in my food dehydrator, the other half is in the refrigerator to be washed and dealt with tomorrow. I was doing good to get half of them in the dehydrator. It's been a long busy day today.












Here are the berries in the food dehydrator. I absolutely love this machine. My husband's aunt gave it to me last year and I have used it a ton. I honestly don't know what I did without it! My kids love the strawberries I did last year in it, so I want to try and get more dehydrated this year to add to granola and trail mix. Such a tasty way to get fruit in them and they take up little to no space in my pantry! Love that. :-) Dried fruit is a favorite around here and if I can make it myself, all the better!

So, even though my list from this AM was not completed, I knew it was a huge feat to take on. I did manage to get a few things done on that list and a few things I hadn't planned on doing. I don't feel too bad about that. :-) One thing that I did that wasn't on my list was to make a caramel sauce for ice cream or whatever we choose. It was super easy and tastes amazingly good! I love it when I find that I can make something that we would normally buy at the grocery store. Huge money saver and so much better for us in the long run. With all that I did accomplish today, it feels like a very productive day...never mind he list I still have to get to tomorrow. :-)

Here comes the sun...

This morning while I was drinking my morning coffee and making blueberry pancakes for breakfast I caught a bit of the news. The weather forecast, to be exact. Guess what!? We are in for some summer weather around here after all! I had thought we were going to skip it this year and just have a wet season. :-) Thankfully, our area will see sunshine starting late tomorrow on through the next week. Saturday it could get up into the mid 80s! AWESOME! :-)

So, no more laundry for me until the sun comes out to stay and we will finally finish planting our garden for this year. YAY! In the mean time, I'll be working away in my kitchen. What's on the list?

*Yogurt
*Mozzarella
*Bread
*Cookies
*Boil potatoes for potato salad and hash browns this weekend
*Boil eggs for potato salad
*Make an apple crisp

Needless to say, the next two days in my kitchen will be busy. It's all good though, I'm looking forward to a break from the kitchen and a chance to get my hands in the dirt this weekend. :-)

Seemingly endless rain...

The rain keeps falling here, day after day. We did have a day or two in there with no rain, but today it has been stormy. Blue skies for a while, then the wind would pick up, the sky would darken and huge raindrops would begin to fall. Over and over it has done that today. The blessing in this pattern are the short moments of blue sky that we got to view from our rain splattered windows. It's been a very wet spring here, and I am ready for some dry weather. My poor garden has suffered from a lack of attention. It's been hard to have enough time to really devote to weeding and planting with all of the days of rain. Someone told me last weekend that as of last Friday (or perhaps it was Thursday...no matter really) we had seen 20 strait days of measurable rain fall. WHAT? No wonder I'm sick of the rain.

I have lived here almost all my life, the rain normally doesn't get to me the same way it has this season. I love the rain and all that it brings to our part of the country. The green scenery is breathtaking! The rain this year has been horrible and non stop it seems. Makes it very hard to stay productive outside. I am trying to make the most of it, getting as much done outside as I can when the rain lets up. Honestly, though, I'm not making the kind of progress that I had hoped by now.

Another area that is suffering due to the rain is my laundry. I have tried to hold out on some things for the sunshine, but once we have a day or two of sun there is too much laundry to hang out on the line. LOL I am using my dryer when we have several days of rain, or need something washed right away, but I am NOT enjoying it at all. Trying to cut back and not use as much electricity is hard when the rain doesn't let up. Oh for the warm sunny days of summer...I am ready!

Tired....and blessed!

It's been a super long day! I was awake at 3:00 AM, thanks to our "Princess"....um, I mean cat. Daisey was left inside last night and decided that 3:00 AM was a good wake up time, she was lonely. She started howling and walking around the house looking for someone to serve her. Thankfully, Wade got up and put her highness outside. :) Unfortunately, the damage was done and I was awake! It took me almost an hour to go back to sleep, then Wade's alarm went off just as I was starting to drift off again. Mind you, it was 4:00 AM....on SATURDAY. Yep, he forgot to turn it off last night before we headed to bed. Thankfully it didn't take much for me to go back to sleep, but my alarm started blaring at 5:30. I turned it off and thought just a bit too long about getting up. Next thing I knew, it was 6:30 and way past time for us to get up to head into the church for the kids to get ready for the parade. UGH! Not a good start to our day. :(

Our church has a float in the towns parade every year to promote our upcoming VBS. Alyssa needed to be there to help in the kitchen for the youth group fundraiser that was going to go on during the festivities....Gluten-free Teriyaki Rice Bowls. Brandon had driver's ed this morning, so we stayed long enough to help out for a while and then headed out to get him to his class. Dylan and Wade stayed home to do some much needed mowing. When Brandon and I got back to the town where the parade was, we had to park quite a ways away from the church due to the road still being closed to traffic. So, we got a good workout. :) The kids ended up staying in town at friends houses and I came home to relax. The lack of sleep from this AM and my extra exercise and also the amazing sunshine left this mamma exhausted!

All in all, though, today was a good day! No, I didn't get any time working in my garden in the sunshine like I'd hoped to. I had very little time at home at all, really. But, I got to spend some time with my church family. We have such an amazing group of church members, they ARE family and sometimes they are just what I need. :)

We are facing some tough times here at Tanglewood Hills, the economy has really made things hard for us...I know, we are not alone in that. My hard working husband works construction and this is NOT a good time in construction. He was laid off last week and we have no idea when he will be called back. Thankfully we were somewhat ready, knew it was possible just not exactly when. Sure, we could have been more ready, but all in God's timing. We have never gone without paying our bills, or food on our table. We have been truly blessed. Lean times here on the farm, but we will get through. Honestly, we are set up better than many living the way that we do. Could we improve? Sure, who couldn't! That is all part of this journey. We will learn to do more with the little we have and most of all we have our family and a loving God looking out for us. :)

So, even though I am tired...I am blessed! Even though our future is full of questions...we serve a God that knows all the answers! What could be better than that?

I am going to take my tired self off to bed. It's early, but I've earned it. :) Praying for more sunshine tomorrow, but know that we may wake up to rain. It's all good....God knows just what we need. Thank you Lord! :)

Busy days....

Spring time on a homestead is a busy time of year. From goats kidding, new baby chicks arriving or hatching, garden planting and various other outside chores that need doing after a long winter, our days are full. The weather in these parts has not been cooperating with our need to be working on outside chores and garden planting, however. Quite frustrating, to be honest.

Early this spring I started my tomatoes and peppers inside. They did beautifully and were on track for a mid May planting when the weather decided to stay cold and wet a while longer. We finally got them in the ground, but they are struggling with the lack of sunshine around here lately. Thankfully we've had a few days of sun in the midst of the rain and are heading towards a nice stretch of sunshine. My garden needs it, and so do I.

Our potatoes and onions are doing amazingly well! This is the first year we've had good success with onions. We planted both sweet and red onions. Yukon Gold and Red potatoes are doing well, first year for both of those too. Last year we planted, with great success I might add, some white potato sets that a friend of ours gave us. I loved them, but wanted to try something new. :) So far, so good!

Thankfully, the sun is coming out tomorrow and we will have at least part of the day to weed, plant and work our buns off while the sun is shining. Never a dull moment, but we are blessed!