{This Moment}

{This Moment} A Friday ritual.  A single photo, no words, capturing a moment from the week.  A simple, special, extraordinary moment.  A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

First Day of School--August 2012

Last Day of School--May 2013

Not exactly something I want to "savor and remember", but I thought it was kind of funny.  Kate loves paper, scissors, and tape and she loves creating in this room!

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Perfect Timing

If I had known how "perfect" the weather was going to be this week, maybe I wouldn't have fussed so about now being able to get the garden in earlier this month.  Those weeks, when I was fretting, it was beautiful and sunny and much warmer than the last two days.  So which kind of weather would I rather be outside working in?  Cloudy and cool thank you very much!  I'm much more productive this way.

Kate helped plant some corn

Yesterday was a race against the rain and I won.  I got part of the corn planted, basil and carrots.  The rain only lasted a few minutes and was barely more than a sprinkling, so I could have gone back out, but I didn't. There was plenty to do inside and I didn't want my back to go on strike this morning so I decided to wait.

Today, I will try to get in the rest of the corn, radishes, beets, pumpkins, watermelon (which I don't even really like, but Kate bought the seeds for me) and cucumber seeds planted.

Last year I was so excited because we decided to put a little herb garden next to the house.  I'm not sure if the drought played a part in the lack of success because I watered faithfully, but it definitely didn't get quite enough sun there.  I found a list of veggies that supposedly will grow in part shade and I am going to try planting those in that spot.

I'm hoping to get everything planted by Friday afternoon.

Our Weekend

Well we had a nice ending to our week and a great beginning to this week.

Friday night we were able to get a load of manure for the garden (never thought I would include that in a good weekend post! :)  Saturday morning we started our day getting some donuts from a local place that everyone raves about.  It was so packed there was a line out the door and so we just got some and took them back home.  Truth be told, I prefer Krispy Kreme, but those are all gone from our area. (please don't hate me local people)

Callie had a little party to go to and so we picked up one of Kate's friends to bring home with us.  While they played Cameron and I spread manure, compost and tried to get the garden ready for planting.  We planted a few tomato plants.  Cameron mowed which is his favorite job of all.  We ended the day reading stories outside on a blanket.  It was the perfect combination of warm air and cool breezes.  At least to three of us.  One of us had on a winter coat!

Sunday, after church and lunch, we headed to Turkey Run state park to meet up with other families from church.

It was a bit warm and buggy, but we had a great time hiking the trails with friends.  There were quite a few people from about 2 years old up to, well, lets just say more mature people too. :)  We split up into two groups.  The people going on the longer, more rugged trail and the people with younger children going on the "easier", shorter trail.  The first group ended up being one adult with about 10 or 12 teens and pre-teens!  I'm sure he got an earful!

Everyone came home extremely stinky, tired and happy.

*All photos by Callie except the one of her.

Reading and Crafting

Since I can't show what's in my knitting basket right now and I haven't been sewing anything, I have not been able to join Elizabeth and Ginny for their sewing and knit posts.

I have been reading though and I have been working on something.

A few years ago one of my sisters called and said a friend of hers was giving away a pie safe and asked if I wanted it.  As we are desperate for any kind of storage, I said "Yes!".  It wasn't antique or beautiful, but storage is storage.

I don't remember how long it was before the first door bit the dust.  We tried to fix it, but it was just too far gone and too flimsy in the first place.  So....I ripped it off.  It stood like this for much longer than I would like to admit.

Finally, I got to work.  I took the other door off, sawed off this round thingy in the middle, and covered it with white paint.  One coat of primer and two coats of semi-gloss.

If were going to be filled with table cloths and linens or something pretty I would have left it open, but since that wasn't the case and it's the first thing you see in the dining room,  I decided to hang a curtain on the front.

I've had this table cloth for a while now.  I don't remember exactly where I bought it but obviously I loved the red!  When I was looking through my fabric I couldn't find the right piece in the right size and then I remembered this.  Perfect!  I didn't cut any of it off, just sewed a really wide casing on top. In case I decide to ever change it, I'll still be able to use it as a table cloth.

Ahh, so much better.

One project down, 100+ to go. :)

I guess this does qualify for Elizabeth's Needle and thREAD, since I did hem the curtain!

Speaking of  Elizabeth, I've been re-reading her book Real Learning .  It's such an encouraging book and as I begin to think about planning our next school year it's good to be reminded of a few things.  I could not finish How To Cook a Wolf.   I rarely quit a book.  It drives me crazy that it might get better and what I might be missing, but..... "If you can't say something nice........." :)

I've also been reading Jan Brett's newest book, Mossy.  Multiple times a day. :)  Kate loves this book.  It's a very sweet story about an Eastern Box turtle.  You can't go wrong with Jan Brett!"

A Pep Talk

A misty morning at Eagle Creek for the home school Bird Jam

You know the saying, "If you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all."?  My mother taught it to me, just like her mother and grandmother taught it to her and I'm teaching it to my girls.  It's a great rule to follow.

I think that's why there hasn't been much action on this blog lately.  The only things that are coming to mind are my list of complaints.  Not about people, mostly about the pain of country living sometimes.  When I hear people use the phrase "the simple life", I sometimes want to laugh.  Other times I want to knock some sense into them!

No, I haven't planted any of these yet.  That would be on my complaint list. :) Lord willing, this weekend!

But I have a lot to be thankful for!  I decided it was high time for a gratitude post to get my attitude back in shape.

* We are all relatively healthy.

*We have a home (have I mentioned that the windows open now?) to live in.

*We have vehicles to get us where we need to go.

*We have loving and supportive families.

*My husband has a job.

*My husband loves me and the girls and shows us over and over.

*We have two beautiful daughters

These things may not seem that blog worthy, I've listed them all before, but they are!  All of my list of complaints are not that important when I look at this list of blessings.  This list is not complete at all, but maybe you need a pep talk like I do.  I'll keep it short and sweet.

{This Moment}

Even math is better outside on a perfect day. :)

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Bye, Bye Blankie

Well, almost.

Yes, I know, she's seven years old. 

Yes, I know, we should have probably taken it away from her a few years ago.

2008

It was cute in the beginning!

2008

The blankie never bothered me until the last year or so.  Oh, I know others were bothered by it.  I honestly thought she would just give it up on her own.  I mean what sane person would suck on a cotton blanket? Over a year ago we had gotten her to keep it only in the car and our home, but we could see that the attachment was not waning at all. 

2009

I knew we needed to do something but I just wasn't sure what.  I realized, when we were getting ready to go to Mississippi, that maybe this would be a good time to try something. 

We blamed it someone else!  I should say "I".  I told her that Granny thought it was yucky and she needed to keep it up stairs on her bed while we were there. (Sorry Granny)  I really wasn't sure how this would work but I thought that maybe since we would be running around and going for walks and things that maybe it would be distracting enough.  I knew it could also backfire and be worse since she wasn't in her own house and all that.  Thank Goodness, she did great!  I think she only asked once if she could have it when we were all watching TV and when I told her "no" she didn't fuss at all.  I know it was a great effort for her though.  One night when we were saying bedtime prayers, she asked me to pray that Granny and Nai Nai would like her blankie.  (Yes, I think I blamed her other grandmother too.  I'm really going to get in trouble over this!)

So, on the way home I told her we were going to keep doing the same thing at home and if she did a good job and only had blankie at bed time for three weeks then she would get a reward.

This girl loves getting stuff!  I mean we can't go anywhere without her thinking she has to buy something.  So, she went for it.

She did great!!  There were a few rough moments.  There was one day she stayed on her bed for almost an hour because she didn't want to give up blankie and days when she asked for it a lot and really cried, but I am very proud of her!  And us!  There were a few times where it was really hard not to give in to her.  I can be strong against whining for the most part because it's annoying and just makes me mad, but true tears of sadness are hard to ignore.  I also thought the whole thing was going to backfire when she thought she would get blankie back after the three weeks.  She wasn't happy when I explained that would not be the case, but she didn't cry or whine.

So Sunday afternoon Cameron took her to get her reward.  She was very excited.  Callie has a stuffed dog called Boo and Kate has been wanting one too.  All along we told her she could get Boo or a new Barbie.  She had a hard time deciding, but I encouraged her to pick Boo since she had been talking about getting one for months and Barbies are easy to find and would be around for ever.

I don't know about what we'll do to wean her away from blankie at bedtime.  It took 5 1/2 years to get this girl to sleep all through the night.  I'm in no hurry to rock that boat!  Sleeping through the night is a beautiful thing.  I'm sure her husband won't mind too much. ;)

Good Job Honey!

Ramblings and a Recipe

For days now I keep thinking, "I really need to post something on the blog", but either there has been no time, or when I have a little time I'm too tired to mess with it.

It seems like we've been running around a lot the last week or so.  We had a very impromptu field trip to hear the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra perform with Dance Kaleidoscope last week, a scheduled trip to Eagle Creek for their Bird Jam classes today, plus all of our usual ballet nights and errands.  So far, there hasn't been one day where we haven't had to go somewhere and there is no end in sight yet.  The upside is that all of these activities are good things, everyone is well and we are able to run around.  I don't want to take that for granted!

Cameron is running the Indianapolis Mini Marathon tomorrow.  Tonight, he has to pick up his packet and since some wonderful people agreed to keep the girls, we get to make a date of it!  Woo hoo!  It seems like it's been forever.



Well, I sort of left you hanging with that comment about gravy a couple of weeks ago.  Have you ever heard of chocolate gravy?  While watching the Food Network one day Trisha Yearwood's show came on and she was making Chocolate gravy!  Poppy and I were just a little intrigued.  He knows I love chocolate and he likes to cook so guess what we had the next morning.  I'll admit I was a little skeptical.  I am a bit of a purist when it comes to chocolate.  The word "gravy" was kind of throwing me off.

Well, don't let it throw you off!  It was absolutely delicious!!  This is not health food, or gluten free, or Paleo, or vegan or anything of the sort, but every once in a while, you have to throw caution to the wind.  :)



I haven't made it yet since we've been home, but I'm going to.  We were sent home with some left overs and I tried it on pancakes, but I don't really recommend that.  I'm going to see if I can make it gluten free at some point too.  I've made sausage gravy that way and it was good, so why not?

It's time for me to get ready for my hot date!

Have a great weekend!