Repugnant

It's raining out today.

My boys ( 11, and 9) are bored.

So, I put them to work cleaning out the fridge.

They now know how to use the word repugnant appropriately in a sentence. 

I'm not telling how long it's been since the fridge was cleaned.

Can You Guess...

.......what I canned today?

It's not tomato juice, spaghetti sauce, or salsa.

Update.....

You all made really good guesses....well most of you. 

But, none of you were right.

It's ketchup!

If you're interested here is the recipe.

8 quarts tomato juice

1 1/2 quart vinegar

6 cups white sugar

1/2 cup salt

2 onions chopped

3/4 teaspoon ginger

3/4 teaspoon nutmeg ( I omitted this)

3/4 teaspoon ground cloves

1/2 teaspoon red pepper

Mix together all ingredients and boil rapidly for 2 hours.  Cool until you can safely blend in the blender.  After you blend it put it back on the stove and bring to a simmer, and add 1 3/4 cups of Clear-Jell that has been blended with about 1 cup of water.  Simmer until thickened.  Process in pressure canner for 10 minutes at 10 pounds of pressure.

Jesus Loves The Little Children....

My two year old's version of the song.......

"Jesus loves the little children

All the children of the world

Black and blue and red and white

They are "preshus" in-is-sight"

I've corrected him over and over, but he still sings it this way, and it never fails to bring a smile to my face. :)

Talking To My Tomato Plants

I've been talking to my tomato plants lately.  

They are LOADED with lovely green tomatoes.

But, none of them are turning red.

Unlike my "ever-ripening" middle they seem content to stay little and green.

I've told them I have a baby coming in about two months.

And that I want to start canning tomatoes soon.

I feel this urgency in the very center of my being that the clock is ticking.

I have this list that I'm trying to check off "before baby."

But my tomato plants apparently aren't listening. 

Picking Beans

I'm working on green beans today.

I picked about half of the six rows that I planted so unwisely this spring.

My sweet husband picked the other half.

As I was picking I started thinking about how cranky it makes me to do this.

I like to garden......but I have this problem in my mind.

When I'm planting my garden it always seems urgent to plant LARGE amounts of green beans.

Those rows don't look long at all when I'm placing the seeds in the soft soil.

They don't even look long when the baby bean plants start poking their innocent little heads out of the ground.

But, oh, when the beans are hanging thick, and the sun is hot...........

I try to think about all the people in other countries who don't have enough to eat, and how much they would appreciate my beans.

But the only feeling I can conjure up is a vague wish that those far away people would come pick my beans for me.

I know my family will enjoy the green beans this winter, and I'm grateful for them.

But if any of you are around next spring when I'm planting my garden...............

Please remind me to not plant so many green beans.

Feet

I never wear shoes if I can help it.

Even in the winter--I go barefoot inside.

I think part of the reason for this is that very few shoes feel truly comfortable to me.

(Especially not dress shoes.)

Sometimes I think that shoe company's make them that way on purpose. :)

Do you like to go barefoot?

Sugar Pea

From the top of my curly head.

To the bottom of my chubby feet.

I am completely Chubalicious!

~~~~~~~~

Yes, that’s the toilet—yuck!

Yes, the picture is blurry—because I rarely hold still.

Hungry

We are finally on the recovery side of the flu.

I've been so hungry!!!!!!!!

I'm not sure if it's from being sick, or possibly from being pregnant.

But what I'm craving is sandwiches.

Yesterday I ate a dinner roll spread with apple butter, and topped with cheese.

Does that sound weird to you?

It tasted ridiculously yummy to me.

I was perusing the web for pictures of sandwiches, and the one above made me drool.

Except I think it needs a slice of sharp cheddar cheese slipped in there with the lettuce, tomato, and ham.

What do you think?

Dishwasher Duty

"I'm pretty sure there is something important in here--everyone else is always messing around this box."

Mice

We live in the country, and our house is apparently not entirely mouse-proof.  Every winter with the cold weather comes the start of a battle between the mice and I.  I use traps and usually can keep them at bay with only a few fatalities.

Anyway, a couple nights ago I woke up with a bad backache during the night.  I staggered into the master bathroom and reached for the Advil bottle in my medicine cabinet.  Alas my coordination is at its worst in the  middle of the night and I felt a pill slip from my hand to the floor.  In my sleepy fog I decided to leave it there and take care of it in the morning.

Several hours later I awoke to a scuffling noise in our bathroom.  Mice!  I lay there wishing they would die of old age or some other natural cause.  Pretty soon I heard another noise.  A nasty grating chewing noise.  What on earth were they doing?  It sounded like they were eating my drywall.  (Noises in the middle of the night are SO LOUD.)

I must have drifted back to sleep, and in the morning I immediately thought about the Advil on my floor.  I searched everywhere for it and couldn't find it.  I even swept the floor, but no Advil.

Did the mice eat my Advil?

I wonder if a mouse can survive 200 milligrams of ibuprofen.

I hope not. :)

This Morning

So far I've.........

changed 2 diapers

washed a load of "wet" bedding

served breakfast

given two baths

started homeschoooling

settled two arguments 

negotiated with a toddler

kissed hubby on his way out the door

and it's not even 9:00am!

Harry?

My three year old is completely absorbed with pretend phone conversations.

His "phone voice" is LOUD--normally he is soft-spoken so this makes all of his phone play funny.

A normal conversation goes something like this.............

"HI GRANDMA?  ARE YOU THERE (fake laugh) YEAH (more fake laughter) ARE YOU AT HOME?  BYE!"

Bangs phone back on the hook, and is immediately snatched back up to his ear.

"HI  I'D LIKE A PEPPERONI PIZZA AND A CHEESEBURGER--THANKS!"

Most of the time I tune him out, but yesterday his conversation was different.

It went like this.............

"HARRY?  CAN YOU HEAR ME?  HARRY ARE YOU THERE?  HARRRRRRRYYYYYYY."

He doesn't know any Harry's. :)

Cleaning the Coop With Grace

I did something I really enjoy doing yesterday.

I cleaned out my chicken coop.

I don't know if it's the satisfaction of seeing something so utterly filthy become tidy and livable again.

Or, if it's the fact that I spent several hours outside.

Or that I completely exhausted myself with a physical job.

Whatever it is I LOVE IT!

I get this feeling every time I clean the coop.

My chickens on the other hand do not appreciate my efforts.

They peer suspiciously at the fresh bedding and refuse to enter their clean home.

It looks different.

It might be scary.

The dry bedding might feel weird to their little chicken feet.

They liked the manure-filled mess they were living in better than the fresh redeemed home I offered them at no personal cost.

Why does all of this sound vaguely familiar?

Jesus daily offers me a fresh portion of grace at no cost to me personally.

I ponder it suspiciously, and wonder, am I good enough for this beautiful gift?

I didn't do anything to deserve it.

It might feel scary to my heart.

I think I would rather wander around in the "manure" of yesterdays mistakes.

 ^"But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us,

 Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)

 And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:

 That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.

 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:"

Ephesians 2:4-9



By the way, I only feel this way about MY chicken coop I would get no wonderful sense of accomplishment from cleaning out yours. :)

Stinker

See that little blond fellow on the far right?

Well, he just turned two, and he is out to prove it to the world.

He threw all my baby bottle nipples in the trash yesterday.

I had JUST WASHED them.

Given a chance he will sit in mud puddles--

flush bathtub plugs down the toilet--

stop the dishwasher mid-cycle, 

and generally cause chaos wherever he goes.

When you scold him for something his response is to shout "All right!"

He recently discovered that wacking people with a fly swatter is much more exciting than killing flies.

But when he asks me if he can kiss the baby, and gently brushes her tiny cheek with his pudgy lips..........

my heart melts. 

Smile

“Don't cry because it's over, smile because it happened.” 
― Dr. Seuss

Little Boys

Upon hearing a bit of scuffling in my younger boys bedroom this morning I entered To get them up.


"Good morning" I sang out cheerfully, and this is what I heard in reply.


"I poop!!!!" (from the two year old)


"I didn't pee the bed mom!" (from the three year old)


Bodily functions are a big part of their world right now. :)

Finding A New Normal

Where have I been you ask?

Well, I've been on vacation--or at least my brain has been.

My body on  the other hand has been right here at home doing laundry and all that other mommy stuff.

But every time I try to write a blog post--my brain draws a blank---so it must have been on vacation.

I'm hoping it went somewhere nice--like a quiet little cabin on a lake.

Where it could sit with a cup of coffee on the back porch and watch the sun rise.

Does my brain drink coffee when it's separated from my body?

Anyway, we are all adjusting to a new normal around our house.

Going from nine people--back to six people does feel rather different.

And yes, there have been some tears, and some yelling, (Why do little boys yell when they feel sad?) but we're going to be ok.

I can tell--because my brain is back from it's vacation, and feels like blogging again.

Facing My Fear

 I have a couple of secret fears--especially in relation to foster parenting

Things that I'm pretty sure I would not handle well.

This past week one of those fears became a reality.

I found head lice on my children.

I very nearly lost it.

I washed bedding,

I scrubbed heads with weird smelling chemicals,

I nit-picked. (literally)

I fretted and stewed until my husband could come home and look at my head. ( Which itched like crazy )

I called everyone who we had been in contact with for the last couple of days.

And at the end of the day I realized something profound.

HEAD LICE ARE NOT THE END OF THE WORLD!

Don't get me wrong I wouldn't wish the crawly little bugs on anyone, but it wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it would be.

  Many loads of laundry washed in hot water.

 Lots of head scrubbing and holding squirmy toddlers still, but we all survived. 

Somehow my imagination had ranked head lice up there with a national disaster, and it's really not.

Have you ever faced your worse fear, and realized it's not as bad as you thought?

Did I Really Just Say That?

Want to listen in on a phone conversation I had earlier today?

It went something like this.

Me, "Hi D- I'm so glad I got ahold of you. I was wondering if you could babysit for me tomorrow?"

D- "Sure!  I have a little girl I'm babysitting right now, but I don't have her till Wednesday."

Me, "Oh good, it would just be four of the kids, I thought to make it easier on myself I would only take three with me to the Dr's office. "

Did I really just tell someone that taking three toddlers to the Dr's office would be easy?

ABC's of Motherhood

  ~~~~~

F is for "fun"

~~~~~

Often what I need more than anything else at the end of a hard day is a good laugh.  I tend to take myself and my work too seriously.  

I think you should find at least one thing to laugh about every day.  Sometimes this might mean laughing at your own mistakes.

Having said that--allow me to give you a laugh at my expense. 

This morning was hectic.  The children were extra hyper and naughty.  One particular little two year old was being a stinker.  He kept taking everyone else's toys and being a general bugger.  I finally told him to put his nose in the corner--hoping that he would desire to mend his ways. 

 I went on my merry way doing laundry and homeschooling, all the while having a nagging feeling that I was forgetting something important.  Quite a while later I noticed this little lad dutifully leaning into a corner and I thought "what is he doing now?"

Just as I opened my mouth to ask him it occurred to me that I had sent him there.  I sheepishly told him he could go play.  Good thing I saw him or he might still be standing there. 

I don't think I'll be winning "mommy of the year" award today. 

So, what made you laugh today?  (Besides my silly mistake.)