Beth Ann's Blessings

It was a Gr-sk8- t day!

2012-01-23T15:18:00.000-06:00

January is a very busy birthday month for us. Between family and friends we acknowledge around a dozen birthdays. K and I have jokingly told the kids that starting this year we are going to only do one group birthday on an ambiguous day, like March 1st., and celebrate all six of our immediate b-days together then. We will also do gifts on a six year rotation. Since Z already had his b-day this year he will have to wait another 6 years to get gifts. Next year will be B's turn and so forth - LOL The kids didn't appreciate this attempt at humor on our part : )

Anyway, this past Saturday we took all 4 kids, Z's girlfriend and best friend skating to celebrate Z's and C's birthdays; which are a week apart. We only go skating about 4 times a year but the kids dig it, if we did it more they probably wouldn't and it is still affordable (especially w/the Volvo). Here is a few pic's of the happy kids : )

Eli is trying to tell us the music is LOUD!

Ely is dreaming of being a skating disco queen!

Zach showing us how much he loves his sister, whom looks deeply concerned : )

The birthday couple, Zach and Colleen, whom have just turned 19.

Bre, thinking she is the only sane person in her family! LOL

Dear hubby's b-day was last week as well. We usually celebrate by attending the Nashville RV show and a trip to camping world with dinner after at Bob Evans. However this year the RV show is the second week of Feb., so we are waiting until then to celebrate. Since we only head over that way once a year, it is worth the wait : )

My family is my biggest blessing and I thank God for them, the good and the bad, every day. And now there is a rumor that my oldest daughter an my grandson's are coming for a visit soon! I feel unworthy of all this happiness. Thank you Lord, in your son's name, AMEN.

Blessings, Beth Ann

Dog day

2012-01-12T11:06:00.000-06:00

We have many pets and they do many funny things. Sometimes I just feel the need to share. This is one of those times : ) We have a green bench in our dinning room that the animals love to lay on while I'm at the computer, aka/ to busy to pet them. It pour yesterday, this how two of them spent their morning. . .

My new preloved doxie, Smokey, and our wacky tuxedo tom, Chester.

Chester sleeps like this every chance he gets, and everywhere he can.

Look, even Smokey can't believe that crazy cat doesn't fall off! LOL

Well it is raining again, wonder what the animals are up to today?

Blessings, Beth Ann

Amazing Asian Pepper Steak for the slow cooker

2012-01-08T17:48:00.001-06:00

Happy New Year all! Hope it is off to a great start ; ) I have made a couple changes to my format to make reading easier, I hope - LOL Believe it or not I don't read my own blog and didn't know there were issues with pulling up my full story page until yesterday when a friend mentioned it over coffee. So, hope this helps. Now on to the recipe, I had a FB friend request this last week.

Amazing Asian Pepper Steak for the slow cooker

2 lb. beef round steak
3 stop=light peppers (red, yellow,green)
2 onions, halved and sliced
1 can rotel tomatoes
2 tsp. minced garlic
10 oz. can beef broth
1/4 c. tamari or light soy sauce
2 Tbs. rice wine vinegar
1 tsp. sugar
2 1/2 Tbs. cornstarch
8 oz. can bamboo shoots, drained

Cut round steak into serving size pieces or strips and place in sprayed large slow cooker. Top with bell peppers, onions. tomatoes and garlic.

Wisk beef broth, soy sauce, vinegar, cornstarch and sugar in bowl and pour over steak and vegetables. Sprinkly bamboo shoots over the top.

Cover and cook on High for 4 hours or on low for 7 hours. Serve over your favorite rice!

Serves 6 - 8

This was great and I sprinkled a little crushed red pepper flakes over the top - yummy! I hope you enjoy adding some spice to your night - LOL

Blessings, Beth Ann

Christmas 2011

2011-12-26T12:33:00.000-06:00

Yesterday was a wonderful day! It started by the three kids getting up before us, of course, and cleaning/taking care of the animals, before coming up-stairs to wake us. We were already awake as we heard them 'cleaning' - LOL But we were grateful nonetheless : ) Then Zach, in his jammies, picked up Colleen (in her jammies too) and headed over with biscuits and Krispy Kreams. Then they headed over to walk the clinic dogs and met us at FB church for services and the Lords super. That was probably the best part of my day, all four of my kids with me at church on Christmas day.

Took many pic's but here are my top five in random order:

Twin son received 'plants vs. zombies' from his big bro. Now I will never get near my computer again! Good thing I received an etablet : )

Colleen and Bre with their Christmas snuggies!

Chocolate peppermint cookies for Santa!

Our tree with the yule log on the t.v. - LOL

I get this pic every year, Bre helping the twins decorate sugar cookies for the big guy, and he (Knute) shares them with Santa! LOL - ROFL Oh, tear in my eye, LOL I kill myself : )

Other favorites were some major bling I received, a new stereo for up-stairs, UNO-Robot, a Go-bible and watching my kids play with their stuff and eating candy. Which reminds me, twice now on doxin Smokey has gotten into the Christmas chocolate, apparently he has a thing for butterfingers and peanut butter cups! So then at 4 a.m. this morning he had the , pardon me here for my crudeness, Hershey squirts! Praise the Lord for a husband who got up and took him out so I could stay snuggled in front of our electric fireplace up-stairs : ) I love that man! Lesson learned? Doxins are as devious as they are cute and hide candy not only from children, spouse and ferret, but doxin as well! LOL

Blessings, Beth Ann

Angles Aware

2011-12-14T16:18:00.000-06:00

Last Sunday was the third Sunday of Advent. The candle of Joy was lit and it also brought forth the children and their Christmas Pageant. This year we are attending First Baptist and so the children joined in, with much preparation and enthusiasm. It was a glorious day and my oldest son with his girlfriend were able to attend. The twins faces lit up upon seeing their big bro : ) Please allow me a couple of minutes to brag on my children and the fine church that has greeted us with open arms and no questions asked. Here are the highlights:

They have done this before : ) I love the fact that this church is soooo organized! Look up in the upper left hand corner, and how they are hanging the stars in Heaven, how cleaver! I also like the simplicity of the stairway to Heaven and the colored lighted curtain, which will turn red when Moses appears. There was also a fog machine for the angles : )

Here we are with the ten commandments.

Here is my little angle, Elysha, down front with her new glasses and wings : )

Group shot on the stairway to Heaven.

Check out Elijah's big grin and wings!

These children started practicing over six months ago. They were so enthusiastic and eager to please. So simple. Such a blessing to us adults who make things harder than need be and forget the simple things. Children are truly God's biggest blessing to us all, that is why he sent his only son. Remember the season

Blessings, Beth Ann

Prayer and listening

2011-11-14T19:30:00.000-06:00

I know some of you are going to think this is about a dog, but I hope most of you don't. I want to share with you another faith moment, and they always seem to happen about the time I say "I didn't see that coming"; LOL. let me start by saying that for the past eight years or so I have wanted to have my own store, be my own boss, but it has NEVER been blessed by God. At one point while praying on it I even heard God ask me, "for who's glory would it be?". Now if you asked me if I liked kids or animals I would shrug and say, eh so-so. Those of you who know me well will find that hysterical as I always seem to have a house full of both and only half are mine. No matter how I run or how I make choices to the contrary, I always end up with what I will call rescue kids and animals. I am starting to see a pattern here : ) I believe this goes with 'God's plans for me'. I am very good at it, and I have embraced being a Proverbs 31 women, to the max! Well once again it hit me, I needed to do something, but what? For some reason I started combing 'Craigslist', not sure what I was looking for. Then I had narrowed it down to the 'pet' listings, and let me tell you I was appalled at what I found. I had never even heard of 'dog flipping' before. It makes me sick that so many people are trying to make a buck on 'rehoming' their 'friend'. Then I started hanging around a dachshund rescue site, I love doxies! I thought maybe I could foster, rescue or even volunteer there. They too wanted money, even to volunteer! Meanwhile I kept praying, talking to my hubby and looking to see what I could do. Well as of yesterday it all seemed to fall into place, even our church service seemed to touch on my issue of leading by example and being a blessing to others. I took a deep breath and posted on 'Craigslist' that I would do local doxin rescue but would not pay anyone to help their animal. Afew folks emailed but they weren't getting it either, they wanted cute puppies. I want to help local doxies, doesn't matter age, sex handicapped or not. Well I happened across an add for free doxie in neighboring city. I had seen the add a couple days before, but was out of town. I took a deep breath for courage and called. On the end of the other phone was a very overwhelmed woman who needed my help. By the end of the call I found out that I knew her daughter who lived here locally by me, and had even helped her with a pet before! By the end of the evening I had taken in a very sweet new friend, found a home for my son's ferrets and had invited another 'rescue' kid and her sister to church with me. When I went to bed I lay there stunned. It hit me, maybe this wasn't so much about the dogs or even me, maybe God had used me and my skill with animals and children to help two families. Wow. I still believe that God has commanded my family to have a pet ministry, but I also have to see the bigger picture. There are real people on the other end of those leashes and maybe I can help them too!

Here is our new friend Smokey, even though his papers list him as Sir Scooter.

Smokey looking at my hubby.

Smokey keeping dd company as she does school work.

Blessings, Beth Ann

A day in the life of Oliver the cat ~

2011-11-07T15:37:00.000-06:00

I have mentioned our newest rescue cat, Oliver, several times. He has settled in and is currently un-injured and gaining weight. I believe his middle name is trouble but like any other cat, does spend 20 hours a day sleeping. Here is a glimpse of his daily schedule:

9 a.m. = morning nap in Miss Beth's craft basket

11 a.m. = mid-morning nap in the craft basket

2 p.m. = nap in the craft basket, but take time to stretch and use window sill as pillow

4 p.m. = take a break to play video games

7 p.m. = waiting in the craft basket for someone to go to bed so he can join them! LOL

All of God's creatures are a blessing, including cats. Beth Ann

Halloween visited and Turkeys bought

2011-11-04T15:11:00.000-05:00

Today I bought my Thanksgiving turkey - whoot, whoot! LOL The holidays are in full swing now baby. I found a great price at the local Piggly Wiggly, 89 cents a pound. I also found some other great sale items there and at the other local Bi-Rite store. Buying marked down seems to be about the only way I can stay on budget anymore. Seems like even processed and packaged food is now costing the same if not more than fresh. So I try to grab the marked down burger vs. the packaged burritos for lunches. I feel so blessed that not only am I home to cook for my family I also know what to do with raw ingredients : )

Enough about money and budgeting. Here are a few Halloween pic's to share.

This is a car load of hippies that followed me over to my friend's house - LOL No really it is Bre with her friends

You all have heard me talk of the kids I watched before they moved back to Mexico, well I was blessed to have the oldest come visit me during Halloween. Little Gabe, such a joker - LOL

Me and a few friends handed out candy here in town, where they close the roads for a huge block party. This is the third year I have done it and seeing all those cute kids makes up for the run over feeling I have afterwords : ) We get about 1200 kids , yeah, I know!

It was another amazing October, my favorite month and now I am looking forward to Thanksgiving; already have a dozen folks lined up here to join me! We are soooooo blessed!

Blessings, Beth

Pet Halloween Parade

2011-10-29T15:34:00.000-05:00

Today was the second annual Halloween pet costume parade at the local animal clinic, where my oldest son just happens to work : ) The kids were so excited, they had such a good time last year and they had a good time this year as well. Twice as many folks showed up, word must be getting out : ) We didn't win but every kid got a candy bag and every pet got a goody bag, what more can you ask for on such a pretty fall day?

Here are the twins, Eli went as a pirate and took Howard with him and Ely is a cat (black and white like her cat at home) but her cat couldn't be caught in time to go : (

Here is Howard the Pirate dog, his shirt says 'Shiver me timbers and rub me belly'. LOL

Bre took Hobb the ferret and they both were dressed up like hippies. I was surprised they didn't place at all.

Well that was the first of many Halloween festivities this week-end. With Monday being the actual day, it seems like all week-end is one long Halloween party! Next, heading over to the Church of Christ for Trunk or Treating. Good times, good times.

Blessings, Beth Ann

Aztec Chicken

2011-10-25T18:38:00.000-05:00

Hey all. I just wanted to share this slow cooker recipe I made for dinner tonight. It was soooooo good! Even the twins ate and had seconds : )

Aztec Chicken

1 can black beans
16 oz. frozen corn
16 oz. chunky salsa
4 boneless/skinless chicken breast
8 oz. cream cheese, cubed

1. Combine beans, corn and half of salsa in slow cooker.
2. Arrange chicken over top. Pour remaining salsa over top of chicken.
3. Cover. Cook on high 2-3 hours or on low 4-6 hours.
4. Shred chicken in pot, using a fork and knife
5. Stir in cream cheese and cook until melted

Serves 6

I served mine over corn chips for the kids, but it is also great over brown rice. Feel free to add more seasoning to make it hotter to your taste. I used some frozen 15 bean I had left from a recipe, in place of the black and it was wonderful.

Happy fall ya' ll and blessings, Beth Ann

Never 'boo' late

2011-10-22T14:50:00.000-05:00

Not sure why it took me so long to post these pic's but here are the kids with their pumpkins from last Saturday's p. patch/hay ride trip.

Welcome to my front door : )

None of the kids like to carve their pumpkins or get their hands in the 'guts'. So I picked up some cut felt cut-outs from the Dollar General Market - love that place. So after church last Sunday we got to it!

Elysha made a cat and seems to be hiding behind something, huh (shrug). Check out her missing tooth!

Here is Miss Halie with her creepy guy : )

And Miss Mika chose a bat face for hers.

Elijah went with a silly pumpkin, just like him : )

Boo-tiful Bre made a vamp pumpkin, of course right? LOL

Last stop is my back door.

Thanks for stopping by and checking out our pumpkins. Come back soon and stay for some coffee or green tea, and be sure to share your pumpkins with us too!

Blessings, Beth Ann

"Cat"ch up

2011-10-21T16:22:00.000-05:00

Hi all, just doing a little 'cat'ch up - LOL I know! Too funny : ) I wanted to share this pic of our cat Oliver, who's tongue seems to fall out of his mouth every time he is relaxed. I know! How odd! LOL This pic was taken on my desk and he is curled in a ball with his head upside down.

Oliver also seems to have a penchant for getting hurt every time he goes outside. I know! How annoying and expensive : ( He has hurt himself 3 times in six weeks and we have only had him like 3 months! We are under orders from our vet and our son (the vet tech) to never let him out again. Do you know how hard that is when he wants to go out? Frankly K and I were hopping he just wouldn't come back when we let him out. No such luck. This time he has a wound in his chest, son tells us to keep it clean and free of hair. ??? Excuse me? The cat is like made of 100% hair!!!! Sigh.

In other news; B is off on her first week-end from home trip and K has the week=end off. If it weren't for those pesky twins . . . LOL Seriously, I am soooo excited for Bre and know she will have a great time in Gaitlinburg with the youth group from FBC. In November it will be my turn for a get-away with the FBC ladies. Now I just need a get-away with my hubby. Camping?

Blessings, Beth Ann

Bunny love

2011-10-15T10:27:00.000-05:00

Well I meant to post this a couple days ago but you know how life gets in the way. On Wed. one of our rescue rabbits passed away, always a sad thing but also a time to teach the children.

Here is Bre with Di Vinci right after we received him. He had a long life and will be missed.

We have managed to place all my son's animals, it's a God thing, and we haven't replenished except for a cat (that's a husband thing). We are down to just our two handicapped dogs, Howard my mini red doxin and Levi, my husbands pit bull. They both have spinal issues and can't feel their hind ends, but have taught themselves to be 'spinal walkers' as the vet calls it. Here are a couple new pic's of Levi:

This is my husbands favorite blue chair, and his dogs too : )

It's even better when the sun comes out from behind a cloud! LOL

And just in case your worried that only one of our chairs is being covered in dog hair . . . the sofa is also fair game and it looks like he jacked the pillow as well!

With a few less animals life around here is a bit less like a zoo and a little more like . . . a circus! Can you hear the calliope ?

Blessings, Beth Ann

P.Patch

2011-10-08T11:54:00.000-05:00

Every year we go to the best pumpkin patch in the world! We have gone every year since we moved down here, so ten long years and the twins haven't missed a one : ) The kids look forward to it so much! Twin son starts a count down weeks, heck, months in advance. Since oldest son isn't living home I was surprised, and excited, when he announced that he was joining us too. He has called home three times in the past week to confirm the time and date LOL. We will be adventuring there a week from today, which also happens to be my birthday. We didn't plan it that way, just happened and we go different times every year. Well twin son was doing his count down out loud and when I mentioned it was also my b-day, he paused, looked at me and exclaimed; 'you are the luckiest mommy in the whole world, you were born on pumpkin patch day'! There you go, 'nough said. I AM the luckiest mommy in the whole world!

Blessings, Beth Ann

Curry in a hurry ~

2011-10-06T15:41:00.000-05:00

Whats for dinner? The ten million dollar question, every night! LOL Tonight I am making one of my hubby's fave's, since he is feeling so poorly; curry. Thought I would share the recipe, let me know what you think.

Beef Curry:
1 lb. beef sirloin or roast, diced
1 c. beef broth
1 Tbs. curry powder
1 Granny Smith apple, peeled and diced
1 cup dried cranberries
1/2 tsp.. ground allspice
Quick cooking brown rice
frozen broccoli

First; start steaming the frozen broccoli for 20 min. Next, In large skillet add beef, broth, apple and curry powder, allspice and cranberries. Bring to boil and then simmer for 10 minutes.

Now make rice per package directions.

Just before serving; fluff rice and drain broccoli.

Serve Beef Curry over rice and broccoli. You may garnish with shredded coconut, sour cream or plain yogurt.

Blessings, Beth Ann

Knitting

2011-10-05T19:00:00.000-05:00

Been some time since I have given an knitting update. I have finished many hats and some bags on commission as well. Got so busy I forgot to take pic's : ) Here is a look at some recent items and what I am working on now:

Sometimes I walk past my yarn stash and see two colors next to each other and . . . wham, an idea is born. Here is a scarf created from just that sort of event.

I call this my green rag

Russian tea scarf.

This too was born from colors just lying around LOL. Standard blue, red sparkle and white mohair.

When I finish this will be a bag, my Red, White and Blue bag : )

Last but not least, starting a new pair of socks. Hand made knitted socks are like sleeping bags for my feet. Great for winter.

I am still working on Bre's Hufflepuff scarf, been working on it for like 9 months now : ( I keep stopping to do paid work, and now I am out of yarn ~ double : ( I do vow to finish by the end of this year however!

Blessings, Beth Ann

cats

2011-10-04T15:06:00.000-05:00

I mentioned awhile back that a new cat adopted us and looked exactly like the last one, except for a black nose. Chester (formerly known as Nala) with a white nose, moved in last fall. Oliver, with the black nose, showed up about 2 months ago but appears to be the same age as Chester. Makes us wonder if they were litter mates and if so where has he been?

When we took Oliver to the vet we learned he was already neutered. Curiouser and curiouser.

Here they both are on twin dd bed, she has laid claim to them and they seem ok with that.

Here is Oliver sleeping on the sofa, goofy cat. Well I guess his brother is too . . .

Remember this silly pic of Chester sleeping on the oven? LOL

We have a few less dogs with Z not living home, but we still seem to be running a pet ministry. Somethings never change.

Blessings, Beth Ann

Back in the saddle again! or Happy Birthday Bre!

2011-10-03T14:50:00.000-05:00

I'm back and I intend to do better with blogging. It was a long HOT summer with not to much going on. A few things were too personal to share, but you know how it goes : ) My oldest son (18) graduated and is now working full time at the animal clinic. He just bought a new car and is saving money for school. The twins are 7 1/2 and will start 2nd. grade the first of the year. My middle dd just started 10th grade and turned 15 yesterday! Oh, and during my hiatus my oldest dd turned 27! This is getting sticky since I am only 29 LOL I also want to send a shout out to my mom who is 'mmmmm' today! LOL Happy Birthday mom : )

Here is the birthday girl. We took all our kids and there friends roller skating Sat. Sssssh. Don't tell anyone we had 9 in the car and only 7 seat belts!

Here is B with little sis E right behind her. Sorry so blurry, but these kids were moving LOL

Son E was not enamoured of this but let big bro Z take him around a few times.

It was a great day and the kids had a wonderful time. It was the first time the twins had ever been on skates, but it won't be the last according to them : )

The fun didn't stop there. Back to our house for pizza, cake and ice cream (choc. chip cookie dough). Then one of the ladies from church took the older girls out to the movies. They saw the new christian movie, 'Couragous'. Then they hit Sonic on the way home for milk shakes. B said it was an excellent movie and an excellent birthday.

Blessings, Beth Ann

Boo ~ tifule Harvest

2011-08-01T12:08:00.000-05:00

This past Saturday saw the first rain here in some time. It cooled us off, for the remainder of the day anyway. Interestingly enough it was also the first chance I had to swim this summer. Irony huh? LOL It was a nice treat though, a Women of Faith get together for our church. Swimming, fellowship, food and a movie. The movie was 'Fried Green Tomatoes', which I had not seen before. Wow, good movie and our hostess cooked those tasty tomatoes for us as well. Good times.

Well the rain certainly helped our garden, but it was doing well before the rain too, thanks to my hubby and his green thumb.

He goes out every morning before the heat of the day and tends the garden and shares time and knowledge with our twin son. It is funny how twin son is interested in the garden and twin daughter enjoys spending time and learning with her dad in the garage, fixing cars.

More cucumbers, peppers, spaghetti squash and our first pie pumpkins came in! I am so excited about the pumpkins and squash. We also planted what they call 'goosebump' pumpkins, with knobs and bumps all over, but none of those have shown up yet.

With the arrival of the rain my sinus/allergies seem a little better, thank goodness, I am tired of being sick. I did start my new Allergy meds on Sat. but like I said, the weather has made a difference so I don't know about the meds yet. Hubby is concerned about some side effects, so am I, but we just don't want to move. I miss my family much, I guess if we move we should move back north so I can see them. Sigh. Life is full of choices and compromises. The only thing I know for sure is to keep praying and listening to God.

Blessings, Beth Ann

Weather or not . . .

2011-07-11T16:44:00.000-05:00

It is currently 101 outside, before the heat index ~ Zoinks! Gotta love summer in the deep south. On the bright side, we all no know what a melting ice cream cone feels like : ) LOL I have been feeling poorly for the past week and today is the first day I feel semi-human. Thank the heavens that I have such a wonderful man at home and he gives me so much help. The garden is his baby and he works in it daily before the sun comes up. He has been picking pole beans real reg. now for a couple weeks, but he also picked a surprise:

Here is some of our bean bounty with our surprise, a zucchini! We didn't plant zucchini, that's the surprise - LOL All I can figure is that it is a volunteer from the compost pile that we used when tilling the garden. Any who, it's a pretty good looking zuc!

Here is Tina, dd B's cat, peeking in the screened porch at us. Hubby lets this vine grow every year, claiming added privacy. Whatever, I think he just doesn't feel like cutting it down.

We let Tina in for her morning nap and she chose to take in on top of this vending machine we are selling, out on the back deck. Silly cat.

Here is twin dd coloring out on the deck. Some mornings it is still cool enough when we get up, that we can have our coffee out there. Looking forward to fall . . .

Counting our blessings here during the dog days of summer, Beth Ann

Wet & Wild

2011-07-07T19:31:00.000-05:00

Remember those old yellow 'slip n' slides' from when we kids? My hubby surprised us by bringing home a new version last week, for the kids to cool off with. It was much appreciated with the temps. always hoovering in the high 90's with a heat index of 100 or more.

Well the kids had a blast and I thought I would share some pic's with you : )

Here is twin dd getting the hang of it.

Next is big sis giving it a go!

Here comes twin son, watch out!

Even big sis bff got into the act - LOL

Group hug, and lots of smiles : )

Need a towel? How about one with cat hair? This is our 4 yr. old Tom, Joe Cat.

A good time was had by all but I feel the need to add this warning: beware while doing this on a freshly mowed lawn! I didn't have a good time getting the grass out of my tube, out of my sink, off my floor, off my kids . . . you get the idea - LOL

Blessings, Beth Ann

Moving Forward

2011-07-01T11:41:00.000-05:00

Happy July 1st! Tonight we will celebrate Independence here in my little town, with food, music, friends and fireworks. It should be wonderful, we really enjoyed ourselves last year. I hope my oldest son, whom is also celebrating his Independence is able to attend. Haven't seen much of him and I miss him much. I am so upset about this 'empty' nest syndrome thing, that the other day I was actually bawling over my oldest and how much I still miss her, and she has been gone for 10 years! Geesh, am I a sap or what? However life does move forward and we have been shuffling around the bedrooms. The big idea was to move the twins downstairs, pair up the girls and make the nursery my craft room, which will free up a ton of space in my pantry. Trying to do this around others work schedules is slowing us down, but we are in the home stretch. Twin son is liking it downstairs, but twin dd spent 2 nights with big sis and hated it. She said she is not ready to be away from her twin and that if they sleep together it keeps the bad dreams away, he con cured. I figure moving into a new room after 7 years together in the same room is a big step, so will give them some more time. There is no rush.

Big sis took big son's bed, which is a full and not a twin, and is thrilled.

Here are the new sheets she got for her new bed. Why is this popular again?

Here is a pic of the coffee-mallow creme pie I made earlier this week. It was delish!

I finished my first hat with the Alpaca yarn I bought at Hobby Lobby. It is sooooooooo soft!

This camo hat is for my son in-law for Christmas. I will make two more matching hats for my grandsons. I have a purple one on the stix's for my dd. It is soooooooooo soft!

Have a happy and safe 4th ya'll, Blessings: Beth Ann

(Our court house during last years fireworks. Beautiful huh?)

Big day out pics:

2011-06-25T11:42:00.000-05:00

Yesterday was a big day out with the fam. I only shop twice a month and try not to take the kids with me, they always want something : ) Anyway, we sucked it up and headed out. The twins were surprisingly well behaved and we had a good time. Here are some pics, and thoughtful insights, all in random order since I don't feel like wrestling with the computer over the order the pic's were downloaded in.

Here are the little darlings in the back seat, while we wait at Little Ceasers for our Hot and Now pizza. The were so good we thought they deserved a treat for lunch.

Here is my new electric grill, notice the red color - LOL Yes, matches all the other red appliances in my kitchen and is taking the place of my beautiful red microwave (RIP). I have been microwave free now for two months, thank you very much! My old grill was a Hamilton Beech and I loved it, but a cat pushed it off the counter one to many times (Pumpkin, RIP) and it is now scrap metal. This one isn't quit as nice, but it was a good price and did I mention it was red?

This is Chester/A.K.A. Pester. Yes, he is asleep! Yes, this cat is crazy!

Finely, here is dear old dad reading yet another book to the twins. Does life get any better than this? Nah, it doesn't.

Blessings, Beth Ann

Crafts and Booty

2011-06-24T15:41:00.000-05:00

The rain has stopped here in middle TN. and it is another beautiful sunny day and around 90. Today was our bi-monthly trip into the 'boro, to get what ever we can not find in our 'bury. We took the whole family, always an exciting feat. This trip was special as we included Hobby Lobby. For those who aren't familiar, Hobby Lobby is a Christian based retail store that specializes in home decor and all manner of craft items. And yes, they are closed Sunday : ) Daughter B needed some items for her home ec. class and since we were there I thought I would pick up some yarn. Get started on some Christmas knitting.

Here is some of the booty. The big solid colors will be used in conjunction with my novelty yarn for hats and bags.

Here is a close up of some Alpaca yarn I picked up in camo colors. I will make my son in-law and 2 grandsons matching hats for Christmas in the traditional green camo. My daughter will get the purple camo and her two step-daughters will receive natural color camo hats. I wish you could feel how soft this is! I don't think she typically reads my blog, and if she did I am sure she is so busy with the kids she will forget this before Dec. I should be safe posting this : )

Here is yet another hat I have finished for my stock pile. For every two I knit, I end up giving one away as a gift. So no, I am not getting very far but would rather give them away to people I love anyway.

Here is the bag I knitted during VBS last week. I took the time to line this one, and it turned out wonderful! I don't think I can give it away! Oh, and a big hand to my model and twin son E!

I even took the time and expense to add one of my fancy name labels to the bag, ooooohhhhh -aaaaaaaahhhhhh. LOL

Thanks for taking this time to share some of my blessings with me, Beth Ann

Flower Power

2011-06-12T18:34:00.000-05:00

We have been blessed with much sunny weather and enough pop up thunder storms to make for a wonderful garden this year. I will give full credit to my hubby for all his hard work and time into our veggie garden, all 3 plots, but I take pride in the flowers : ) I will will post pic's of the garden soon, as things are just now coming into blossom. Soon there will be fresh lettuce! But for now here are some snap shots of my babies.

We always seem to have more than our fair share of volunteer sunflowers, but every year my daughter Bre and I like to pick a specialty breed from our 'Burpee' catalog, and plant them to perk up the shrubs. This year it was 'coconut ice'. They are much paler than the volunteers from the bird feeder.

Here is our mail box and all the cone flowers I planted last year. We started with six flowers, look how many came back this year!

They are just so . . . cony - LOL I Love the cone shape : )

As you can see, the bee's love them too, and you know that if the bee's are in my flowers they are not far from my veggie blossoms ; ) Can we say pollination.

Last year we saw mostly the white flowers, this year there is a wonderful mix of carnival colors.

And here are the volunteers under my kitchen window. See how tall, almost to the hummingbird feeder!

On a beautiful sunny day, and looking at all these amazing flowers, there is no doubt that God is awesome! Blessings, Beth Ann

hattitude

2011-06-09T15:30:00.000-05:00

Greetings all. Time seems to be flying and summer is in full swing. The kids all seem to be experiencing growing pains and I am having a hard time with change. Z is now a high school graduate, has a car, job and is soon moving out on his own. B is finishing up her freshman year of high school and just brought home some kid claiming he is her boyfriend! Come fall we will be moving the twins out of the nursery and into SEPARATE rooms! Yikes, what happened to my babies? There is no going back and I am about tore up trying to move forward. No one ever told me that loving my kids would hurt like this. I sob inconsolably when I am forced to leave my oldest after a visit, but I guess that I thought it was some weird anomaly. Guess not. The only constant is my knitting. I have been knitting hats like there is a demon after me (maybe my own personal one). I love to give them away as gifts, as my friends can attest - LOL Pretty soon all my friends will be sporting very dapper 'chapoues'. LOL

Blessings, Beth Ann

Twins b-day

2011-05-30T14:11:00.000-05:00

Another birthday has come and gone for the twins. Their seventh. Seems like yesterday that I was being told I was expecting twins! Yikes! Now they are seven, and too smart for my own good - LOL Seeing as how last week was Zach's graduation and today is Memorial Day, we didn't plan anything elaborate. we took them to the drive in movies to see 'Kung Fu Panda 2'. They ran until they dropped, played until they were filthy and ate too much cotton candy. Guess they had a good time! LOL We did this Friday (the night before their b-day), and then Sat. had cake, ice cream and gifts. The twins wanted a chocolate fun fetti cake, which wasn't as easy to find as one might think.

Dig the crazy curly candles, 7 of them!

Here comes dad, get ready . . .

. . . make a wish!

The big gift was a 'Loving Family' doll house by Fisher Price. There was also a jewelry box, some animals, board games and lots of number counting! Yeah!

Now we need to go to Wal=Mart and fill this house up with some furniture. To much fun for a little girl.

Tomorrow is the last day of the month and I am conflicted. I am glad to see the month change as we have had way to many extras this month in the way of gifts and party's, but I am sad as I realize we are approaching the half way mark of the year. Half the year gone by already, how can this be? Is it really only 177 days until Christmas? Good Grief! Well seize the day, and enjoy each one as God has created just for you! Blessings, Beth Ann

Happy fabulous Friday All!

2011-05-20T14:51:00.000-05:00

Such a beautiful day here in middle TN! Sunny and 85, what more could you ask for? Glad you asked - LOL Time for 'Good 'ole Days' here in Cannon County. It's a southern version of all the festivals we have up north. This year my middle dd will be manning the library booth, as her new (or not so new) thing is volunteering at the local library. Our whole family has been pretty heavily involved with our local library, I am proud to say! They are a home school mom's best friend : ) B works tomorrow, so she and her brother Z, plus friends are off to enjoy the festivities tonight. Mom and Dad will stay home and save there money and count their blessings that the twins still haven't figured out what it is yet.

This Sunday is oldest son's graduation party, and I am freaking out. I might be more excited than him. All he has to do is show up and bask in the glory. (I remember doing that, and loved it!) I hope this is a special day for him and he has many found memories in the future.

Following week-end is the twins 7th birthday, graduation, party's, and Memorial Day. What was I thinking by having them then? Oh yea, they were five weeks early, they were Due July 2nd. We still don't know how we are going to handle the crush and I know there is only a week to figure it out. Kung Fu Panda 2 is coming to the drive in that week-end as well. We are considering taking the twins Friday night for their b-day, as they won't sit still through an entire graduation ceremony. Although I would really like to be there as there are several other friends participating, including Z's girl, whom he calls 'the one'. (yikes)

And finely, I just wanted share this quick pic I snapped today from my driveway. We utterly have a sea of sunflowers growing under our kitchen window and around the bird feeder. Here is the first to open to the sun! I know how he feels, when I open to the son.

Blessings, Beth Ann

what's up Wed.

2011-05-18T14:20:00.000-05:00

I haven't done a What's up Wednesday in quite a while, so thought I would share some pic's .

These are are my cool new knives that I received for Mother's Day, yes they are stainless steel. I really love them, yet oddly enough I am having a hard time giving up my old set. Odd right?

Here is a shot of our dinning room, looking into our kitchen. This is what our finished paint job looks like, ferret cage and all.

Another shot of the finished paint job, this one from the living room, looking into the hallway/bathroom area.

And here is our front entryway.

Z did a great job, as well as the rest of the kids who helped him! K and I are both thrilled and think it looks great. Next year, the upstairs! LOL

Blessings, Beth Ann

Back in the camping saddle again

2011-05-13T18:11:00.000-05:00

Here we are in a new month, OK half way through, and I haven't blogged yet! I swear I will do better! LOL We took off May 4th for our first, maybe only, camping trip of the year. We love to go over Mothers day week-end, weather is always mild then. Hubby took a weeks vacation and off we went! We started the trip with our heater at night, and ended it running the air : ) Every night was better than the one before it, sigh, so hard to return home. We staked out our usual spot up in Carthage, at Defeated Creek.

Here is a shot of our site, right on the lake.

Each day hubby would lay a blanket out on the grass and take an afternoon nap.

Here twin dd has nabbed the blanket for herself and is having a snack 'picnic'.

Everyone except oldest son came along, he had to work. Actually we had to two other church families join us as well. Many children, friends and good times. Son was able to take care of his ever growing menagerie, but I had to bring Howard the handicapped doxin with me.

Here is Howard in his play pen, enjoying the lake view and breeze, while I knitted : ) We also brought the twins old stroller, and pushed him around the camp site. He can walk in very small amounts, and gets tired quickly when pulling his wheel chair.

This is Howard after a hard day of doing nothing. This pic kind of says's it all!

We had a safe trip and are glad to be back with our friends and family once again.
Blessings, Beth Ann

We are still here : )

2011-04-27T14:39:00.000-05:00

Once again I am not blogging as much as I used too, but on this rainy, stormy day I thought I would share some odds and ends with you. As a family not much per say is happening here. Two weeks from today we will go on our first camping trip of the summer : ) But hubby still needs to do the breaks on the RV and put on a new front wheel. That however will have to take a back seat to fixing our Durango. A week a go today it quit running, needs a new fuel pump. Well he got one Sunday, but since then it has been raining, and I don't mean a little! I am praying to have it up and running by Friday, shopping day. Then we will take care of the RV.

Other than that, a little over three weeks to son's graduation celebration. He deserves a party, he has been working 45+ hours a week. Speaking of a celebration, Easter was pretty darn awesome here. The weather was magnificent and the fellowship uncomparable. We ended up with about 15 people here. There were two dissapointments, one being a friend couldn't make it due to a toe infection, and the other being our . . . neighbors. We have had a few run in's with these folks before, but nothing like on Easter Sunday. They have twin 10 year old boys, who were behaving inapropriatly with their body parts twoards all the teen-age girls at my house. When one of the girls mothers went to talk the boys mother, lets just say the apple doesn't fall from the tree and I thought the Navy was in town. I will try to cut the family a little slack though, as the mother had run over their own dog the day before and had another Navy type melt down then too. Unfortunatly that happened right in front of my mail box, while all the neighbor childern were in my yard running through the sprinkler. So lets keep that private well drilling, illeagle chicken keeping, family in our prayers.

Well it is tornado season again in middle TN. Our town is in a 'hallor, and is protected by Short Mt. It is scary though when it's raining cats and dogs (we don't need any more), and hearing all the warnings around us. But we have lived here nine years now, our house is over 60 years old and still standing! I am begining to be a real trooper, I don't even run to the basement anymore. Heck, I didn't even get out of bed this morning - LOL

Here are some random pictures to help pass the time, and show you the animals around our house.

This is Chester, aka Pester, our newest cat. He is taking a nap in the new fuzzy blue recliner/rocker, and stretching.

How far can he stretch?

Looks like pretty far! LOL

This is Waylon, the only puppy we have left from the nine Z rescued last Fathers day. His girl friend keeps saying she is taking him, her dad keeps disagreeing. No, he is not suppose to be on the deck table. Guess he is just trying to get to higher ground with all this rain, notice the mud in our yard behind him.

This is Tina. Tina is sleeping on our corn hole game, which we can't use due to the rain. The corn hole game is on out air conditioner for the dinning room, which we can't use because hubby won't put it in yet - LOL

And this is E, missing teeth and all, showing you the art project she did in school today. Her big sister B is her art teacher : ) Lots of cutting and pasting today. Come on, admit it, you miss cutting and pasting too!

OK, it is still raining, the children are running and screaming, and I don't have any gopher wood. Sigh, I still feel blessed. Beth Ann

Back from Cincy

2011-04-07T14:14:00.001-05:00

Actually I returned home late Sunday evening from Cincinnati, and the weather was wonderful! We were running late because we stopped in Lexington, KY for lunch and some antiquing : ) Over all I would rate the trip a 10 on a scale of 1 to 10. I feel incredibly blessed to have been given this opportunity to attend the Great Home School Conference of the Midwest, and with such an awesome group of ladies who share my faith and are filled with grace. We had two suites in a hotel about 5 blocks from the Dukes Convention Center. Many times it was faster to walk than to wait for the hotel shuttle, except when it was raining or the morning we had to be at a lecture at 8:30 a.m. : ) My poor legs and back were tired from wandering among the 300+ vendors in the exhibit hall. Many ladies had those plastic egg crate thing's with wheels and a telescoping handle. A couple of vendors sold them for around $25 - yikes! I had all my worldly possessions in a back-pack/purse and then I carried a tote bag, and just sucked it up. The only bad thing to mention were food prices on the premises (of course). Bottled water was going for $3! I had my own bottle and just repeatedly filled it from one of the many water fountains, as they have filtered water. Again, it was an amazing time, shared with amazing people.

Here is our group on the day we left. We are standing in front of the fountain at the public library, which was across the street from our hotel, The Garfield Arms.

The grand finale for the conference was The Duggar family (they have 19 children and home school). I don't want to talk about how long the line was or the wait to be seated, but it was a nice evening. I had read their book, so not much new information. However I did not know they had a show on TLC (we don't watch tv). Since then I have rented one of their disc's from Netflix and really enjoyed it. I mostly enjoyed it because my 14 year old dd did, and it had some great info on courtship vs. dating. They make it look 'cool' and because of the size of their family, dd appreciates ours a bit more : )

Of course I brought my knitting! I took it with me everywhere I went and was delighted to find one of the vendors was selling a fiber art curriculum. It contained knitting, weaving, carding and dying your own wool. So cool to see these things make a come back. I managed to knit a hat on the way up there, and on the way home. It is a 5 hour trip after all (gain an hour going east).

We also took a day to visit the Creation Museum and meet Ken Ham. He is the founder and CEO of Answers in Genesis, a christian home school curriculum (to put it mildly). He is a celebrity in the world of home school and maybe even a modern hero. I encourage you to check him out at http://www.answersingenesis.com/ These are the same folks you might of heard of, who are building a life size ARK. I so can not wait for that! This was my second time to the museum and my first with no kids. There is also a planetarium, but I did that the first time, not the second. I was able to really talk more of it in and it was so much more . . . vivid, 3D for me. It made may faith stronger and affirmed that we were on the path that God had placed our family. I would love to go aging with a group from our church or even take the hubby and twins. Sigh, guess I just want to go again - LOL

Well, I enjoyed the weather, the fellowship, the faith and the affirmation on home schooling, right before graduating my first from home. I can't believe the big day is only 4 weeks away! There have been many ups and downs in the 6 years I have been home schooling, but it is so well worth it! Not only is it biblical correct, but it turns out kids to be proud of. We are living our life for God and we are not afraid to live it out loud.

Blessings, Beth Ann

Just checking in

2011-03-30T13:13:00.000-05:00

Thought I would check in before I leave tomorrow for Cinncinatti and the Great Home School Convention. I will be gone 4 days, but K will be here with the kids and doing some much needed car/RV maintence. I went to this same convention 3 years ago, but now it is twice the size as before with a grand finale of Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar (TLC fame). There has been some controversey over speakers as this perpertrated to be a christian event. The convention un-invited Ken Ham, founder and CEO of Answers in Genisis). You can find out more about this at http://www.answersingenisis.com/ AIG also runs the Creation Museum, right outside of Cincy, so he will be speaking there and offer addional items for all registered coventiont attendees, including a free day pass to the museum and if you never been, you should. They are currently in the processes of building a replica of the ark! Again, check these folks out : )

I am still knitting away. I just finished a scarf for an April b-day and will make the hat when I return.

Here is the scarf and it matches the fingerless gloves I made her for last years b-day : )

I am still big into hats and am making this tourquoise, sequenced one for myself : )

This is the book I take many of my patterns from. They are easy and basic. If your not a Harry Potter fan just sub any color you wish, as I do with my beannie hats! So far I only made one HP hat and the rest are just reg. w/specialty yarn for flair. Same goes for scarves and socks.

I had a friend ask me yesterday to share a craft booth with her at an upcoming event ~ EEK! Do I have enough items? Guess I need to get on a hat binge. How many hats can I knit on the 5 hour trip to and from Cincy? Can I knit during the covention workshops? Should I knit into the night? What else should I make besides hats? B said she would make some rice bags to sell, those are always popular as gifts and for boo-boos : ) I think it will be fun. I just feel so darned blessed to live here and have such an aray of friends to do things with and share my faith as well. I thank God everyday for leading me and my family down here.

Blessings, Beth Ann

Knits and that's

2011-03-15T15:11:00.000-05:00

It's been awhile since I blogged and thought I would pop in and update everyone. Not much to tell. Still raining here most the time, so our garden isn't ready to put in yet. Our oldest son now has two jobs, which is a good thing since his car blew it's transmission only a week after he started driving it. He spent over a week patching and replacing the lines himself (we are calling this auto shop in school), but no dice, need a new tranny. He is soooooooooooo frustrated. Hubby and him are going Sat. to a junk yard to see if they can find one to rebuild. Poor kid.

Let's see . . . Hubby still needs to replace my ball joints and put a new tire on the RV. Oldest dd and twins are mostly into school right now and a home school group me and few other church friends are trying to get off the ground. As for me? Well . . . I guess I have just been knitting my butt off in my free time (snort). I am head to Cincinnati at the end of the month for the largest home school conference in the mid-west, guess I will take my knitting along for the ride too! LOL I have been making hats of late, and it seems everyone wants one (they are cool, like a hug for your head). Lucky for me they only take about 8 hours to make, not that I have 8 straight hours to knit. So more like spread over 3 days, er nights I mean, since I do most my knitting after the twins are in bed and waiting for hubby to come home from work. I made Z's double fast because I felt so bad for him and wanted to cheer him up.

Here is Z's Harry Potter hat to match his scarf I made last fall. You can also see the new dinning room color on the wall behind him, "Carmel sauce".

See, matches and everything ~ LOL I am always so thrilled when things turn out the way they look in the book!

Here is the one I made for Bre, wish the pic was better as the colors are so much more bright than this. The yarn is a soft baby boucle'. Oh, and check out her $5000 smile. Thank goodness at least the ortho is paid off! LOL

And here I am in the hat that started it all. I made this crazy eyelash yarn hat over a period of 4 Wed. nights. during bible study (shhh, don't tell ).

Right now I am trying to finish B's HP scarf and my knit cargo pants. I am also making a hat/scarf for an April b-day and a hat for a May b-day for friends. Also, have about 5 more people requesting hats, 2 more scarf orders and a sock order. Free time, snort.

Blessings, Beth Ann

Look at that bootie!

2011-03-04T16:20:00.000-06:00

Another busy week has come to an end, and even though I was under the weather for a great deal of it, it was fabulous. We didn't wash away in the rain, son got a job, hubby did a couple of car jobs, had tea with a friend, and the sun came out as so did my magnolia blossoms. See, always half full. I also finished those booties for my friend who is a new grandma, take a gander;

I love baby booties, they are soooooo cute. It makes me want to knit a ton of baby stuff (bet you thought I was going to say, want another baby, no way Jose' - LOL).

This year we are doing a full Home Ec. course for B. It will count for a full credit in her 9th grade curriculum. Think traditional Home Ec., but with my kitchen and my sewing machine. There is also the added bonus of time spent with my daughter as taught in the book of Titus. We are half way done, finishing the food/nutrition/cooking portion and are onto sewing. We took her to Hobby Lobby to pick out fabric for a quilt she is to make. It is harder than she thought, but she is loving it.

Here is the crafty girl now. I have no idea why fabric is so expensive and cost prohibitive, but this will help her learn how to re-purpose old cloths before donating them. Tomorrow is fill a bag for $15 at the Bargain Center (resale shop) and I will take her and look for some cute fabric (I can get like 30 items in a bag), also son needs jeans for work.

Most likely it will just be me and the 3 youngest tomorrow as son is hoping to finish fixing his car tomorrow. Poor kid had been driving it for only 3 days when it blew a transmission seal. It has been a lesson in money, patience's and respect trying to get that thing fixed. But now not only does he have a car, a reg. drivers license and a voters card, but he has a job and bills. Good times, good times. My little man grew up. How did that happen?

Blessings, Beth Ann

Frugal and Fashion

2011-02-26T14:25:00.000-06:00

Good Sat. morning all, hope your enjoying your week-end. A beautiful day here. I wanted to share a couple of things with you today. First is a great buy I stumbled upon during my Friday shopping. I had been making my own toothpaste, to avoid the fluoride (google fluoride health dangers), but the kids weren't that keen on it. That's the background story. Next, Rite-aide has a scan card now (all stores do) and I have received a couple good coupons, the last being a $5 off coupon. I knew they carried the Tom brand of health care products (that is were we buy our aluminum free deodorant), so went in looking for fluoride free toothpaste. Found it, at $5.47. That's right, you know where this is going . . .

After the coupon in was .47 cents, plus tax. So .97 cents total, the same amount I would pay at the dollar store for reg. fluoride toothpaste. So that didn't hurt at all to compromise for the kids. Hubby and I are still using the home made, so maybe it will string it out and make it last longer.

Sorry this is so grainy, but you can see were the total is and that I gave them $1 to pay. So, if you have a Rite -aide near you it is worth it to sigh up for just one more card : )

Next on the agenda, I have finished two projects this week! Man it feels sooooooooo good to finish stuff. I usually have 4 or 5 things going, so it seems to take awhile for all of it. Not to mention I also seem to always stop and make gifts for people. But I love it : ) This week I finished my first pair of socks ever (excellent for sleeping in and keeping my toes super cozy) and last night I finished my knit funky hat.

It is simple but the eyelash yarn makes it look so . . . ooh - la - la - LOL I worked on this predominantly in Wed. night bible study (shh. don't tell anybody), so took me about 4 weeks of 45 minutes each. I love it and will wear it everywhere! I wore it to the library today and the librarian asked if he could touch it. Of course he could! : )

I still have a H. P. scarf for B and a pair of pants for me on the stix's, but first I have been asked by a friend to make some baby booties for her new grandson. How can I say no to that?

Blessings, Beth Ann

Painting ~

2011-02-23T14:38:00.000-06:00

After 9 years of living in our home, we are painting the downstairs! To be fair, it is the last on our list of home fix uppers. Since her purchase in July of '02 we have resided the house, put in all new windows, added a carport and an RV port. We also added a screened in back deck, pool and deck. Only a year after our arrival we were notified of the impeding arrival of twins, so the upstairs had to be redone, good-bye home office. We also have painted Z's room, the bath room and the kitchen. Bre's room will be next, but that's for her b-day, so maybe we shouldn't discusses that. I love, love, love this house. When we bought it the downstairs looked like it was permanently stuck in the early 80's (think sky blue, light mauve and white country geese) and the upstairs was left in the 50's (think bad, peeling wallpaper with green leafs and vines) I am proud to say we have given the old girl (1949) a face lift, two new doors, the yard fenced in and some outside wiring helped too. So to help document this, here are some pic's of living room being painted:

Here is our handyman, Z, hard at work.

We are equal opportunity employers, so here are the girls working too.

The twins seem to be having a bit . . . to much fun : )

Here is E doing a self portrait.

Here is our newest cat, Chester Pester, wondering if he can help. Right after this, he DID get into the paint and coated the top third of his tail. Before we could catch him, he zipped into the bathroom and decorated the toilet seat. Now you know why he has his name.

Z is still at it he knows there is a paycheck in his future when he finishes.

Here is the boss surveying the job, and he looks pleased, whooh - LOL

I am sooooo thrilled. I look around and feel like I have a real adult home now, not like I am still living in Holly Hobbies house. Come visit real soon and see for yourself.

Blessings, Beth Ann

Eat cake

2011-02-15T15:06:00.000-06:00

Most families have a bunch of silly little traditions, mostly associated with holidays; ours is no different. Every year for Valentines day I bake a hart shaped cake, and how can you not love that?! Here is the easy peasy recipe:

Start with your favorite cake mix, we always choose Pillsbury valentine fun-fetti w/matching frosting, but and flavor will do. Next, follow directions on box for mixing and pour half of batter into a 9" round and half into a 9" square cake pan. Make sure to grease and flour well, since cakes must come out of pan.

Follow box for baking directions. Let cool, then refrigerate for a couple of hours before frosting.

Next, empty cakes from pans onto a serving tray and slice round cake in half.

Turn square cake sideways, as to make a diamond. Then place one half of round cake on either side, to look like a hart.

Now you may begin to frost with your choice of frosting.

You can fill in any cracks or unevenness with the frosting; no one will mind a little extra!

Now you have a frosted hart to share with your Valentine : )

You can use this as a clean slate to decorate any way you choose, sprinkles, candy or even write a message with gel frosting.

Our frosting came with candy sprinkles for the holiday.

This yummy treat was a special dessert for 8 people with leftovers.

I bought the mix and frosting at our Dollar General Market for $3. When is the last time you did that? Stay tuned: this Sat. is another $5 coupon day at the $GM!

Blessings, Beth Ann

Menu Monday's

2011-02-14T15:18:00.000-06:00

Greetings and Happy Valentines day all. Hubby and I celebrated last night. Dinner out, money from a different account than groceries. This morning I put one of those little heart shaped boxes of chocolate next to each childes bowl of oatmeal, with a box of conversation hearts (money from grocery account). That's it, the big hurrah, oh; except for a hart shaped cake I baked this morning, for dessert tonight : )

I wanted to post a new menu for this week and update the great grocery receipt challenge. To recap, $125 a week and that includes pretty much everything but our utilities. Last month I went a hundred over, but the difference came from oldest son who helps pay the animal food bill (he has an animal ministry). We ate out 3 times, two were covered by husbands car jobs, one was a birthday dinner/gift. This month I have was over by $50 the first week and $25 the second week. This past week I was right on target and made up the difference when ds paid me some money he owed me : ) A friend from church gifted us some 'gourment' items that she said she would never use, so that will help finish out the month. It included such items as a beef brisket, lamb tips, holendaise sauce and whole grain pizza dough - 12/1lb. balls. I am planning on making some calzones with the pizza dough and the holendaise sauce will be great in home made Alfredo sauce!

Here is a look at our menu this week:

Monday ~ Shepherds pie w/green beans

Tuesday ~ Chicken Verde and Spanish rice w/ broccoli

Wednesday ~ church pot luck/Beef minestrone soup

Thursday ~ Taco's with home made guacamole' and chips

Friday ~ Tortellini in Alfredo sauce w/ tossed salad

Saturday ~ Fish stew over salt and vinegar mashed potatoes w/veggie sticks

Sunday ~ Pimiento mac & cheese w/ grilled chicken and green beans

Other cooking around the house: Heart shaped cake for Valentines day, home made chicken broth made from leftover bones in my slow cooker and home made croutons made from the left over bread from last Wed. when I made crust less round cheese sandwiches for church. I am sure other things will pop up and I will keep you posted with new ideas and recipes.

Blessings, Beth Ann

Happy President's Day!

2011-02-13T14:03:00.000-06:00

I know I am a bit early with my glad tidings, but our home school group decided to tackle this early. I am proud to say that after much prayer and effort that our county is just now in the processes of uniting a new group of home school families and this was our first function. It was a huge success! There was plenty of food, friends, fellowship and kids! LOL I am proud to say our church sponsored this worthy group and we were blesses with an absolutely gorgeous day! (all the better to send the kids out to play in)

Z didn't do a presentation, but he was in charge of video and sound, something he does for the church on Sundays already. B did do a pres. and she picked Teddy Roosevelt. Dig her board and the use of all my metallic blue paint on her flag! Guess it add panach'.

She was a bit nervous getting up in front of a large, mostly unknown group, but I told her we had paid $5K for her smile . . . so . . . Once she was up there it was fine and she did a great job on her research. Also good experience for public speaking.

Twin son E didn't get the whole big deal, and twin daughter E just wanted to make a pretty flag like her big sister : ) Oh to be six again with no pressure to be in the know politically.

Here is the flag I helped E make, she picked the stick out herself. When she saw people were going up front to give little presentations she wasn't sure she was in to that, but when the mic came out . . . LOL Anyone who knows E, knows that she has never met a mic she didn't like! Matter of fact, she received a stage mic complete with flashing strobe light and clapping sound for Christmas and a matching guitar. She was also a smash the Sunday before, at the super bowl party. The kids did some karaoke, and once E got a hold of the mic that was it.

There was lots of good eats as well. Most brought cookies and desserts. I didn't want to go that route and wanted something more high protein, lo-carb/healthy. I came up with these tasty little kabobs.

These are pepperoni, string cheese and bologna.

Then I mad a dessert kabob:

These are seedless green grapes, mini marshmallows and cantaloupe.

They were a huge hit and not one was left, much to my husbands disappointment. I think I only ate one of each, for a taste test : )

Next month we are having an ice cream social and there will be more photo's.

Blessings, Beth Ann

Just checking in ~

2011-02-10T15:16:00.000-06:00

So, it's been a bit since I blogged. Wish I could say it was because nothing is going on, but it's been C - R -A - Z - Y here! The weather is insane ( worse anyone has seen in 100 years), trying to get a home school group started with some friends and church members, and re-painting the down stairs. I have been wanting to do the downstairs for like . . . I don't know, since we bought the joint, but other things (marriage, twins, life) happened. We did get the upstairs done when i was expecting the twins. The twins will be 7 in May, and the upstairs needs an over haul again - LOL Such is life! So, just thought I would pop in and let everyone know we are not dead or hibernating (like snakes Eli would say). Ah contrare, we are busier than ever. We spent all of last week helping a friend move from the country into town, only 6 houses from us (lucky them). Tomorrow the kids have a home school group meeting for Presidents Day, food and presentations a plenty! So the train just keeps on rolling. In the mean time I still have four knitting projects on the sticks, finished one for a gift, and two I need to start and finish ASAP : s

For some comic relief I thought I would share some new random pet pics. Can you identify this?

Good guess!

Man does she have some junk in her trunk or what?

Yes! It's Tina, B's cat : )

Catch ya all latter, maybe when I have some free time? LOL

Blessings, Beth Ann

Whats new . . .

2011-01-28T14:41:00.000-06:00

Not much is new here, praise the Lord! We have made it past the holidays and moved past all the January birthdays as well, man there were a ton of those! Now we are settling into a nice winter pattern, with glimpse of spring ahead; such as seed catalogs and making camping reservations. Our oldest son received a car for his birthday and it looks like we will pay for his tags, but haven't found a good price on insurance yet. One more year and our middle daughter will be on the road, heavy sigh. Hubby is already on the look out for a Mustang for her, not the fox body and not a convertible, that is what she told us anyway. In the mean time hubby keeps looking at pick up trucks since he gave Z his Camero. Me? I just keep driving the Durango - LOL

What else . . . ? Well we had our taxes done on the first day the Gov. allowed, so hoping to be getting a washing machine in the next few weeks! I never thought I would make it six months with a hand wring system. Don't want to do that again soon! Speaking of taxes, we are also passing on almost all our camping/vacation trips this year, including our annual trip to South Carolina, in an attempt to finish paying up the medical bills from our oldest son. We almost lost him two years ago, and the bills are bad. We just want them gone and we are going to use our tax money to try and get most of them paid off. Each time he had an MRI it was $8000, wow and he had 3. But we are grateful we have him still with us and hubby had a job with insurance and a way to pay our bills, eventually : )

Lets see, as of today I am 3 weeks soda pop free and am now on decaf ice tea. Still doing the half calf w/ coffee however. Did the $GM thing again today, another $5 off coupon. I had two, so made hubby get a cart and we split it. It was a good day for shopping as the snow and cold seem to have dissipated and the sun was out. Ran into an 'ol timer, he has lived here for 91 years and said this was the worst winter ever. Great, we moved here to get away from that - LOL

Still have the knitting bug and I am doing great if I do say so myself! I currently have 5 items started on the sticks and two are for me! LOL I taught B, and she is left handed, and she is now doing good. I wish I could talk her into helping me with commission type items. She still has trouble with knitting in the round and on double point needles though. Practice should take care of that.

The twins are learning to read in school, we are working on the difference between short and long vowel sounds. It is so neat to see your kids learn. I turned in Z's grades for last semester and discovered he already had 33 credits! He needed 21 to graduate, but he still needs his Gov/Ec. credit, so no dice yet. But he will be ready in May. I can't believe it, 4 months and he is done, wow. B is in the middle of her first year of high school and seems to be doing well, slightly better than previous years. Wonder if that is because she and Z are separated and he isn't distracting her? Hmmmmmmm, not saying he's a drama king . . . Anyway, trying to start a local co-op so as not to have to drive to far, with a couple of church friends. Looks promising and we will have a President Day party and presentation. Looking forward to the fellowship and lots of yummy food!

Blessings, Beth Ann

The kitten formerly know as "Nala"

2011-01-18T10:58:00.000-06:00

Just wanted to share some random pet pic's with you today and thought I would update our rescue kitten Nala. We found her last fall, half dead under the Camero. She was about six weeks old and we took her to the vet and got her all fixed up. Well about a month or so ago our ds Z is poking at her (it's what he does) and exclaims, "hey, he's a boy". Z claims it's easy to make this mistake with kittens since sometimes their . . . stuff hasn't fully dropped. What ever. Anyway, he declares we have to rename this cat. No one else felt that way, but Z is very melodramatic to say the least. So we just let him do it, it's not that big a deal. Now Nala is Chester! Z loves that name and found it in a series of books he read 4 years ago. I can't remember the name of the series, but the first book was called 'Bunnicula'. Now Chester is starting to do unmentionable things to B's stuffed animal's and he is going to get fixed in two weeks, before the spraying starts. Looks like Z was right, a boy cat.

Here is Chester curled up on B's pillow while she is sleeping.

Back when he was still Nala, sleeping on the laundry basket.

Here is Chester helping K read the bible, while twin dd sneaks in a pet.

What ever his name is or isn't , he is turning out to be a good cat and the only one who could catch a mouse when we had them in our pantry. What more can you ask for?

Blessings, Beth Ann

Menu's, Monday and More

2011-01-17T15:06:00.000-06:00

Hey all, trying to get in the grove here after a major blow=out party yesterday celebrating hubby and son's b-day's. We were blessed with a sunny semi-warm day and were able to sit out on the deck sipping wine while hubby grilled and even deep fried some onion blossoms' for us. The party lasted into the night and I was left feeling amazed at our blessings of friends. Moving on - LOL

Speaking of the party, most of the food came from a separate budget and not my reg. grocery budget. K did a couple car jobs and we used that money. So my total for week three spending in Jan. 2011 on grocery type items was$121. So right on track. Hubby and I had decided on enveloping $125 a week for food/paper/pet and house hold items. I did spend an additional $60 in pet items but was reimbursed by son when he was paid. That money was put into the gas tank and tithing plate. I think I mentioned before that our Dollar General Market does a 1cent item each week, with a $10 purchase. This past week was their brand t.p. Not the best quality but for 1cent . . . So I made a couple different trips during the week (yes I added them to my total) and scored 3-six packs of cheap quality t.p. This should get us through to Friday, which is a pay day this week.

I haven't posted a menu in a while, but if your my FB friend you still get to hear about what we're eating! LOL Here is a look at this week:
Monday ~ Ground turkey Shepard's pie w/ fauxtato topping
Tuesday ~ Beef & Broccoli stir-fry w/pecan rice
Wednesday ~ Cheesy Chipotle Soup (taken to church pot-luck)
Thursday ~Chicken risotto w/broccoli
Friday ~ Turkey loaf w/baked pot and mixed veg.
Saturday~ Crock pot Jambalaya
Sunday ~ Cream of Cauliflower soup and salad

Breakfast usually are eggs cooked in a variety of ways, our favorite is eggs in a hole, oatmeal, and some home made spelt muffins.

Lunch this week looks like this; left overs from party, sandwiches, hot and sour soup, chicken salad and a meatza.

Most of these meals are lo-carb and high protein as we try to get back on track from all our holiday and post holiday/b-day celebrating. Remember, no white bread, white sugar and mostly dark green veggies. Oh, we are day 9 with no soda and half/calf coffee. Well everyone except Z. He asked everyone he knew for Mt. Dew for his b-day. Kids.

Blessings, Beth Ann

Snow day pic's

2011-01-10T14:55:00.000-06:00

It was another snow day here in middle TN. and you know what that means . . . snow pictures! LOL Yep, we got about 2" here and it was the good packy snow, so in between school work we took a snow break : )

All four kids worked together and came up with these 'snow aliens'. B felt the classic snowman had been done to death I guess. The twins were thrilled as we had just finished reading a book called 'What snowmen do at night' a couple nights ago. Love that book, it was an old RIF book of B's

This is the baby alien with E's scarf.

Here is the adult alien with B's scarf. Both feature carrot noses (don't tell the rabbit) and leftover holiday hard shell nuts for eyes and buttons. I believe pecan eyes and almond buttons.

Isn't it beautiful? Snow makes even the mundane look elegant.

Our road early this morning, looking towards Davenport's.

We were also visited by snow angles. We are so blessed.

Everyone was chilly, so I served hot tea with pineapple corn muffins for a snack. Please ignore the large sleeping white cat that should not be on my table runner. Grrrrr.

So there you have it, a snow day here in the 'bury.

Blessings, Beth Ann

Saturday Shopping

2011-01-08T16:11:00.000-06:00

I prefer to do my shopping on Friday mornings, it's the best time for mark down food at the local market (and I did get some), but today was the only day for the $5 coupon at the $GM. On top of that the store was packed as there was mention of possible snow flurries tonight (oh my). So braved the hordes and loaded up a cart for me and a cart for hubby (don't tell). We were able to use two of the $5 coupons and I also had two 1cent egg coupons to redeem : ) I prefer farm eggs but these are good for making hard boiled eggs (farm eggs are not).

First week total for Jan. ended up being $78 as of last Thursday the 6th. Second weeks total started Friday the 7th and is currently at $145. I would like to do better than this, but it does include pet food. I am also proud to say that all food choices and purchases were with high protein/low carb in mind and was successful. I almost caved yesterday as I had been battling a flu bug and didn't feel like cooking but decided the cost of prepared food/frozen for all of us was not much cheaper than a nice piece of corn beef I found and plopped into my slow cooker with a bunch of veggies. Much more satisfying and tasted delish! Today sees a nice roast with low starch veggies in my crock pot and a wonderful smell in my kitchen. I also whipped up a batch of bread machine hot dog buns made with spelt flour (have you seen what is in the commercial pack).

I do have a couple of recipes to share but want to point out that sometimes there are other benefits besides financial. I will share a recipe for toothpaste and deodorant. Besides being cost effective they are extremely earth and health friendly. There is no fluoride, and you don't need it, in the toothpaste and no aluminum (why do they put it in there) in the deodorant. Just trying to be the best me I can be. If you would like the book info on where I get my information just drop me a line.

Toothpaste:
1/4 cup baking soda
1 teaspoon salt.

Mix and store in an air tight container. You may also add a couple drops of any natural oil you prefer for taste.

Deodorant:
1/4 cup baking soda
1/4 cup cornstarch

Mix it up. Store in air tight container. Use powder puff to apply.

Whats next for us? Well I am officially giving up soda. Eventually coffee too I hope, but baby steps for now. I will drink ice tea and half/calf Folgers. When my tea bags run out I will then switch to decaf. green tea. I am also only buying brown sugar and using local honey to sweeten. Eventually only the honey . Just some small steps for us to look forward to : ) Will keep you posted as the month progresses and so does our money spent on groceries.

Blessings, Beth Ann

Ferret Fun

2011-01-04T11:43:00.000-06:00

Decided today was a good day for a quick ferret update. We adopted 3 ferrets about a month ago now. None are siblings but all are neutered and de-sented. We are there second rescue home, first one could no longer afford them as she had other animals and was attending school. Ferrets require a huge amount of time and unfortunately money. Seems like Z's entire paycheck goes to vet bills and animal food, that's with us chipping in too. Anyway, they all had mange, flea's and ear mites. Actually the worse case of mites the vet had ever seen. One, the oldest - Bob, had a tumor on the tip of his tail the size of a nickle. We had that removed about two weeks ago and since then he keeps breaking the stitches. Good thing son has the patients of Job with animals (funny enough not with people however).

Here is Z holding up Bob. Isn't his tail bandage cute? : )

Here is the other male, Hobb, he is a cinnamon. Z dressed him up in an elf outfit for Christmas. Gotta love kids - LOL

The last ferret is a small white female named Squish, for obvious reasons when you see them all sleep. I am happy to announce that all the mange is on the mend, and Squish has grown most of her hair back. The flea's are on the run, but the mites . . . well we are still battling those. Oh, and they have all gained a bit of weight as well. So all is well that ends well, just look at Bob's tail if you don't believe me!

Blessings, Beth Ann

Sock it up

2011-01-03T15:41:00.000-06:00

I did it! I finished my first sock ~ ever! This was my third attempt at it too. First attempt, dog at it and my needle too. Second attempt, small child pulled out all the needles (used 4, knitting in the round). Soooo, you can see why I am so excited. It even looked better than the other attempts as well : ) Now I am just praying I have enough yarn left for second sock (wouldn't that be irony). It has been so long since I started this and with losing some yard to . . . lets just say acts of nature, well I don't have the saved yarn wrapper to tell me how much was in my skein so that I can compare it to the pattern. I am just moving forward with the assumption I do, and yes I know what they say about assuming.

This was a tub sock knitted in a spiral round, funky huh?

Oh ye of little faith, it does fit and doesn't look to bad either : )

Sigh, just waiting for a mate, but sooo comfy. They say once you wear a hand knitted sock there is no going back. You will never want to wear a store sock again. Oh and as I was trying this on, Z walks over and wants to know when he can get a pair. I swear he will not make it to his birthday in 11 days! Just something for me . . . once . . .

Blessings, Beth Ann

Getting Started

2011-01-01T15:28:00.000-06:00

Today is the first day of a new year and a whole bunch of new possibility's! I usually do my grocery shopping on Friday, but with the holiday decided to hold off a day. Another motive was my $5 off coupon at $GM and starting with a clean shopping/budgeting slate for the new year. Starting with today's trip, I will keep all grocery receipts for the year, in order to get a better grip on our spending habits, in hopes of it helping our budget bottom line. I was real worried as hubby had just shared with me that food cost in 2011 would go up 3% and gas 6% (his pay only went up 2% - that's a major corp. for you). Anyway, my goal was higher protein, low carb and more veggies (a-la-Leptin diet). This being a tight after holiday week (real budget will start with first pay day in Jan., which is next week). So with $40 (cash - always use cash) and my coupon to pay for tax, I went to the $GM. I was so happy when I left and felt goals had been met! I ended up spending$37.64

Here is what I found:

2 bags Romaine- marked half off - $1.50

2 bags 1lb. carrots-$.85 each (we share these and the romaine with bunny)

2lb. bag popcorn kernels - 1.85 (great snack in our air popper)

1lb. Mexican chorizo sausage- $2.25

2c. shred. cheese - $1.85

pkg. sliced provolone cheese - $2.00

4-1lb. ground turkey chubs- $5

green onions - $1

creamy peanut butter - $1

celery - $1

head of cauliflower - $2

3lb. bag sweet potato - $2.25

cinnamon broom marked half price - $2 (total splurge)

pantyliner - $1

pretzel sticks - $1

wheat bread - $1.05

15oz. tomato sauce - $.55

season salt - $1.65

4% cottage cheese/16oz. - $2

3lb. bag frozen chix tenders - $4

2 - pint size bottle 2% milk, marked half off - $.75 (will be used in morning coffee)

2 dozen eggs - $3

The chicken tenders were only $1 more than hot dogs for lunch and wayyyyyyyy more protein! They will be great cooked on our table top grill with a little season salt. Great price on those. I probably should have skipped the broom, but I do enjoy the smell. I try to get one every year and hang it on our pantry door. Besides, it's right across from the ferret cage if you get my drift . . . LOL Unfortunately I will have to pick up a few more items during the week, such as rabbit and dog food and maybe t.p. for us. I will keep those receipts too. Not sure how I will sub categorize them at the end of the year i.e. pets, paper products, food, ect. But I feel this is a step in the right direction in reclaiming our pocket books and getting a handle on being a good steward of the blessings God brings us.

Here is twin dd E. She went out with me today and wanted to spend some of her Christmas money. She did well also, she got these two fairy dolls for only $2 each!

Not sure why I am tossing in this pic, but here is where a ton of our money goes! Tina, the narcoleptic cat. She has junk in her trunk, as the kids say : ) Here she is passed out next to our coffee cups on the hutch in the dinning room, on a pile of Christmas stockings awaiting to be put away. Can we say precarious?

So here's to you and yours and hoping we all have a healthy and happy new year!

Blessings, Beth Ann

Inbetween booty

2010-12-29T14:26:00.000-06:00

I popped out today to do some in between shopping, you know, after one holiday and before the next. Just enough to get through. These week-end holidays have my nice little routine all discombobulated! The bonus is that the Dollar General Market is having another $5 off coupon this Saturday, Jan. 1st. They seem to do this every other week, for one day only, always a Sat. and never before a holiday. That $5 off takes care of sale tax on $50 worth of food! Anyway . . . I just wanted to brag on a major mark-down find I found today at the Bi-Rite. I snagged their last three bags of fresh cranberries at less than half price! I don't know about where you are, but here they reached $2.50 a bag - I know! So we only had one bag for Thanksgiving and one for Christmas. These I will freeze for next year (they are good in the freezer for up to a year) when they might just be $3 a bag, geesh. I got a couple of other good finds as well. I just want to remind everyone in these tight times to always look for reduced items. Most major stores mark perishables and discontinued items to half price and keep them in a special location. There are even stores that cater to discontinued items, down here they are called grocery outlet stores or united grocery outlets (u-go's). You can often times even find organic items at these stores. I do the bulk of my shopping with reduced food and at our Dollar General Market. I save on gas as out local Wal-marts and other chains are over 20 miles away. I haven't grocery shopped at a Wal-mart in over a year, except to pick up some extras while camping. However I will go to our 'uptown' Kroger to get hard to find specialty items such as aluminum -free baking powder and egg replacement powder.

While we are on the subject of being frugal, I want to pass along a little tibbet of wisdom I gleaned and have made my mantra: Never buy anything new if you don't have too. That has sure helped us live on one income so I can be a SAHM whom homeschools and raised godly children. I mean if you bed sheet rips . . . sew it. Paying $15 for a large bag of clothing (works out to about $.80 for 20 pieces) is much better for growing kids than $10 an item at the chain store. You get the picture. Take back your lives and your cash and stop being lemmings with a heard mentality for the consumer company's who make cheap items so that you will have to keep purchasing new every 4-6 months! And above all else, let God take care of you. Pray to Him, give all glory to Him and put all your faith in Him. He needs your help far less often than you suppose. Look to Matthew 6:19-34.

Ok, enough, off my soap box (recycled don't ya know) now. LOL Blessings, Beth Ann

Comish

2010-12-28T11:32:00.000-06:00

I am proud to say that I finished my first commissioned knitting piece on time : ) Although it gave me kittens quite a few times, but I tend to be a perfectionist. It was worth it by the look of the finished piece however. I took the order right before Thanksgiving and started it a couple days after. I finished it two days before Christmas and put the finishing touches and fringe on it Christmas eve, about one hour before delivering it! I was very happy with this piece and myself for setting a goal and finishing it. I might have been able to do it faster if I hadn't also been teaching school, cooking, decorating for the holidays, attending parties, gift shopping/wrapping and cleaning! Whew! Many people saw me working on this and now they want one too! I said no more scarves until next year! I would actually like to do something for myself for a change, but we will see. I am still working on a pair of socks and I still have that specialty yarn for the knitted cargo pants I want to make. Sigh. While I was helping B with her knitting last night (see, nothing for me), Z walked up and asked if I could make him a matching beanie for his scarf. Double sigh. I still have B's scarf to finish and none of these people pay! LOL

Here is the finished scarf, in Griffindor House colors.

The small narrow strips indicate a year 3/4 scarf

Here are the two Harry Potter scarves side by side. Larger stripes are year 1/2 and this one is Z's in Raven claws house colors. Other differences are that year 1/2 is knitted in long tube and tied off with tassels. Scarf 3/4 is a single ribbed knit with fringe ends. Both are pretty good looking and a nice pattern to knit.

Let me know if you want one and I can also make matching hats, mittens, socks, and bookmarks : )

Blessings, Beth Ann

All done

2010-12-27T16:30:00.000-06:00

Am I the only one who feels a post holiday let down? I almost hate to see the actual holiday arrive. The anticipation is the best part, that and seeing the smiles when someone opens a gift they adore! But here are a few of those smiles as we close out the holiday memories of 2010.

Here E is rocking out to here new 'electric' guitar. It came with a psychedelic mic stand too. If you know E, then you know how much fun she is having with this!

We make sure all the kids get plenty of art/craft items. Here is Z with some 'blow' art pens and stencils. He also received two boxes of origami (which he is great at), and it is almost empty!

Another million dollar smile shot of B - LOL The smile is for more 'Twilight' stuff, sigh.

And here is twin son E, busy building with the new marble run set, sent from Vegas. It has kept all the kids and even K pretty busy, also a cat as well : )

One last look at the tree for another year.

Blessings, Beth Ann

Lights of the season

2010-12-23T15:38:00.000-06:00

I finely found the time to pop outside to take some pic's of the lights in our yard. It is an on-going project of my oldest son's. He works on it and adds to it daily. He is already plotting what he wants to add next year (think frosty from Christmas with the Kranks). We have taken to calling him Clark, as in Clark Griswold from National Lampoons Christmas Vacation - LOL The only thing holding him in check is money or lack of it. On the other hand, last week we came home from church and there was a huge box of holiday lights and extras on our front porch. Pre-loved, but still . . . The word has gotten out, and I couldn't be prouder : ) There are worse things for a kid to be into, right? Let me share a few glimpse with you:

This is our side yard, next to the main drive way. I received the deer last year as a gift, which Z promptly put together and put outside!

Here is our mail box. It is hard to tell, but Z affixed a star to the top post. The snowman flag hangs from a solar lamp post and changes with the season. This pic is of the other side yard, next to the RV drive way and fence.

This is an angled view of the front and does include some of the side yard and driveway. We bought this little snowman to make sure we had one each year since snow is a scarce commodity here. Notice the small inflatable toy soldier in front of the porch pillar, there is a matching one on the other side and ditto with the spiral tree too. If you look in the window you can see our Christmas tree.

Here is a view inside looking out . . .

And this pic is just for Grandma S and has nothing to do with Christmas except that we miss you and Grandpa D and wish we were together this time of year. Just wanted you to know Pumpkin is still kicking and missing you. Remember the holiday you were so busy feeding her turkey you didn't realize baby Eli was putting stuffing in your pockets? LOL Love you and the rest of our family too. I hope sharing these pic's helps to make us feel closer as we can't be with ya all. Hugs and kisses.

Blessings, Beth Ann

Others

2010-12-21T13:45:00.000-06:00

Last Sunday in church we learned about doing for others and how even Jesus washed the feet of His disciples. I received the chance today to do something for 'others', and it felt soooooooo good! I wanted to thank the people who gave me the opportunity to spread a little Christmas spirit to a family who needed some help. It was awesome and I can't wait to do it again! I love my church family and am thankful everyday that God led us here!

Speaking of Christmas cheer, aren't these two, too cute? They are getting so big, can't believe they will be 7 in the spring ~ wow!

I know it's hard to tell, but there is more than one ferret in this picture : ) The big one on top is a cinnamon male named Hobb, and he is very social.

These two aren't half bad either - LOL Zach will be 18 in three weeks! WOW and double wow! When did that happen? Bre is turning into such a beauty. Notice the wonderful brace - free smile, she is such a sweetie : )

Well enough bragging on my blessings, Beth Ann

"Let us come before His presence with thanksgiving" Psalm 95:2a

Holiday happenings

2010-12-16T10:08:00.000-06:00

I know it's been a few days since I blogged, but blessedly there really hasn't been much going on here. I have been cooking, cleaning and knitting on a commission piece. Hubby has been doing the Zone thing and some car jobs, praise the LORD! Those extra jobs ALWAYS come just when we need them most, the way God planned I imagine : ) The kids have been, well kids - LOL The twins are pretty wound up about the holidays and even the older kids have been spotted shaking a few packages. The weather has been the big scene stealer. We had an Indian summer, right through Thanksgiving. It was wonderful to enjoy our holiday on the deck in bright sunny weather. Then bang! Next thing you know the furnace is on! We even had three snow days for our public school system here. There is only one plow in our county and that doesn't help with the ice in the hallows. Don't fear though, we still had school here! LOL Other big news is that as of yesterday, two weeks until the end of the year, we met the deductible on our pharmacy insurance and I got my pills for free! Yea baby, that's what I'm talking about - LOL Better late than never I guess : )

This one of our most cherished ornaments. We picked it up on Edisto Island, South Carolina.

We went Christmas caroling with our church last night. Good times were had by all. It was very icy and I almost fell, but son and hubby saved me. I have great guys and am very blessed. A friend took this family pic of us after at the coffee & cocoa portion of the evening. I wonder if I can get these into cards in time for Christmas?

This is another favorite ornament. I made it the center of a wreath I made for our front door. Sh .......

Blessings, Beth Ann

Excursion

2010-12-04T09:13:00.000-06:00

Last night was soooo much fun that I thought I would blog about it this morning, while enjoying my raspberry-chocolate friendship coffee : )
We did something we don't usually do very often . . . went out as a family and had dinner! All six of us, plus B's friend and Z's girl friend = zoo! We picked Z up from work and let him drive (always fun) into the 'boro. Just want to say right here, praise the Lord for our Durango and it's 8 seat belts : )   Our first stop was Animal City (guess which one of us wanted to go there . . . ). Love that place, they always have fun and exotic animals as well as the mundane, at good prices. They are not a chain, but good christian family owned business that puts the welfare of the animals first. Believe me, take a look and you will notice that not one animal looks like it has missed a meal in quite a while - LOL Yesterday they had a pen of 'Beannies' or what we call 'Deagles', a Beagle/dachshund mix, puppies. They were a brown dapple, and sooooooooooooo cute! I am such a sucker for a doxin, sigh.
Next stop was dinner at Ci-Ci's pizza. It is a buffet place w/video games. In other words, a kids haven and total chaos reigns. Yes, the kids loved it, especially the twins. The last time we were there the twins were two. With the Christmas carols playing on the radio and all the decorations lite up in town, and all the kids chattering away; it was such a festive atmosphere, sigh- happiness. After dinner we strolled down to the Goodwill which was in the same mall and poked around. Clark, I mean, Z (we call him Clark, for Clark Griswold in the Christmas vacation movie) scored several boxes of un-opened Christmas lights. He was litterly floating in estcasy on the way home. We let him drive back home and after we dropped off his girlfriend, well it was 10:30 before we got the twins in bed. Z decided he had to put all the lights up last night, so there he was at 11 p.m. and some how he coerced his sister into helping him! We went to bed!
Now it is the next day and the twins still got up early : ( They have been battling colds for a week and now they are weepy. It is also raining outside and I find myself wondering if I should take them to the Christmas Parade at noon or not . . .    Anyway, it's worth it. Last night was soooo wonderful. As the children get older it seems to get more complicated time wise and money wise too, to travel as a family and do things outside our home. I feel last night was a special gift from God.

For the past couple days I was in a funk, thinking and praying on some farm land, still : ( We have been praying on this for about 3 years now. The answer is always, not now. Sometimes I just get sooooo impatient. Especially when we are having issues with the managiery we already have. I know we need more room and I don't ever want to be a problem to our neighbors. So I spent two days on the computer looking at property everywhere from Maine to Montana. Yesterday I was so frustrated that I layed down and did some heavy duty praying. I told God I would go anywhere He wanted me to, just let me know what His will was. Nothing. When I hear from God it is usually pretty quick. I think I haven't been still or quiet enough lately. After a while, when I was very quiet and still, I got it. The answer was that I could go anywhere I wanted, as long as I stayed in Cannon Co.   LOL I always knew God had a sense of humor. But I was also reminded of all that He moved to get us here. We were not headed here when we started out. The answer floored me and gave me reason to sit and think and remember some more. I went upstairs feeling sad and sorry for myself. I came down feeling restored and remembered by my father, savior and God! I am sooo grateful that He is never to busy to let me know that He knows my wants, but not to always give it to me if it's not whats best. Just like any good father would! Amen. I hope this makes sense. I have had to stop typing several times, as I have to keep putting out fires with weepy children and answering questions for a husband who apparently knows where nothing is in this house we have lived in for almost ten years now - LOL Man I love this house, this family, life and God! AMEN

Blessings, Beth Ann

Time passing . . .

2010-12-01T15:36:00.000-06:00

Thought I should check in, it's been a week or so since I last blogged. There has been some ups and downs. The ups are; Thanksgiving was sooooooo wonderful! At one point there were almost two dozen people here! Only half that stayed to eat, the others came and went for coffee, fellowship and dessert. The weather was perfect and so was the food. Hubby deep fried a 20 lb. for us and a 9 lb. for some friends to take home. We also had some blooming onions ~ delish!!!! There were 3 different coffee's, 4 different pies and more finger foods than the kids could eat in one sitting (and they tried). Another up was black Friday. We didn't do the actual black Friday thing, but that was hubbies pay day, and there was some overtime on there. So we did the bulk of our holiday shopping before 8 a.m. and I am proud to say we stayed in the 'bury. Between that and the computer, we now have 95% of our Christmas shopping done. After that I headed into the city or the 'boro with a friend, and we went to a huge sale at a resale place. I scored some flannel sheets for $3, yea me! I had been pricing out a second pair of them for our queen size bed, so was a major find. Now for the down side . . . The night before Thanksgiving our cat Bubbles passed away. It was sudden and it was sad. She was our paralyzed cat, and her bladder collapsed. That is common we are told, in animals that have to be expressed manually. We only had her two years, but she was special. Our oldest son took it extremely hard as it followed on the heals of him loosing his much beloved guinea pig (whom he can't sleep without). So our house has been full of sudden angry outbursts and much misdirected anger. He is such a sensitive soul and we can only pray and encourage him that this is a lesson on which path his future may rest.

Here is Bubbles in her 'pack n' play' that we borrowed from the twins

Here is Bubbles at a birthday party for another one of our cats, Tina, back in Sept.

Bubbles liked to be put on the back of the sofa to sun her buns, like all other cats

Bubbles was brought to the animal clinic after being attacked by about 6 pit pulls and we aren't sure how old she was, some where between 1 and 2. RIP Bubbles 2006-2010

Blessings, Beth Ann

Pumpkins, pumpkins; we like pumpkins . . .

2010-11-24T15:46:00.000-06:00

Tomorrow is the big day, Turkey day that is and with that, the coming of the holiday season. So pumpkins are done, and time to be cooked down and froze for a future yummy recipe this winter. The kids were sad to see their Halloween pumpkin patch finds "killed" as they so eloquently put it, but will rejoice in the delish food to follow.

To start: smuggle in before mentioned p's without drawing attention to yourself, put on some good Christmas music and stab the buggers - LOL Seriously, cut them in half, gut them and scrap clean. Save seeds for roasting latter if your into that. We are, but no pic to show since they got gobbled up (pun intended) ASAP! Just remember to soak your seeds in salt water overnight (I used pickling salt) before roasting.

There are two ways to cook/steam your squash. You can put them on a jelly roll pan with 1/4 cup water, cover with foil and bake at 400 for 1 1/2 hrs. Much like cooking a spaghetti squash.

I prefer the crock pot method. Chop up your cleaned pumpkin and toss in your largest crock

with 1/4 cup water. Cover and cook on low 5 hours.

Either way you choose to cook it, make sure to let it cool completely before scraping cooked flesh from shell.

I package my cooked pumpkin up in 15 - 16 oz. size freezer bag, even though canned pumpkin is sold in either 15 oz. or 29 oz. cans.

I turned mine into home made pumpkin pie for Thanksgiving. I made spelt pie crust for these beauties.

Perfect! Bake at 425 for 15 minutes, then turn down to 350 for 50 minutes, works every time. Now I just have to fend the kids, husband and animals off until tomorrow : )

Blessings, Beth Ann

Unload the camera

2010-11-24T09:57:00.000-06:00

Today is the day before Thanksgiving, 30 days to Christmas (ssh, you didn't hear that from me) and I need to get all the pic's off my camera, to make room for the new holiday ones! I picked some of my fave to share with you here and I will do a cooked pumpkin blog as well. I know, I can't wait either !

This first pic is of the tree in Z's room. He cleaned his room real good a week or so ago (after taking down all his guinea pig stuff) and had his girl friend and the twins help him put the tree up.

It's a white tree that he asked for and received as a gift. I picked up some vintage blue and silver ornaments last year at the flea market and he put blue lights on it. Even the silver snowflake on top was a flea market find. For a guy, my son has always had style!

This is the second Harry Potter scarf I am knitting. This one is for B. It is a Huffle Puff year 3/4 scarf and is going quit well. I have four more that I would like to make as gifts and another that is an order from a church friend. I fear I will never get my socks or camo cargo pants knitted for myself!

Here is twin son E with Santa last Saturday. Twin dd was timid and then I just didn't get a good pic of her - poo : ( Notice the sunshine and the short sleeves on a mid November morning. I love living in the south!

This is B's room. Notice the paper chain on the ceiling, it goes all around her room, almost twice. I have no idea why, but her and two friends spent most of the week-end working on this. And yes, that is yet another Christmas tree in her room (bottom left hand corner)

Another look at the amazing paper chain : )

Blessings, Beth Ann

Syrup and stuff

2010-11-16T13:52:00.000-06:00

Greetings all, today sees high winds and rain here in middle TN. I am missing our Indian summer : (
Yesterday I was as busy as a tick on a trampoline (I don't know what that means either, but it sounds good right?)! Many of the things I worked on were in the kitchen, as usual. I thought I would share a couple of good home made recipes and ideas with ya.

First, I made my own pancake syrup. I have done this before with a recipe that calls for brown sugar and cornstarch. I tried a couple of different times and was unhappy with the results each time. I just hate buying syrup, corn syrup, water and chemicals - yuck! Well I stumbled on this one and just love it:

MAPLE SYRUP

Boil 1/3 cup water, than stir in 1 cup honey and 1/2 tsp. maple flavor extract. Let cool and store in refrigerator.

makes 1 1/3 cups syrup

* You can also add a stick of butter to simmering water for 'honey butter syrup'.

I like this much better and as we buy our honey local, it's good for the allergies!
Speaking of allergies, syrup and honey: I also stumbled on a remedy for home made cough syrup. It got rave reviews and testimonies on the website. Again, it is made with honey. Go local and you can't go wrong.

Cough Syrup

Mix 1 part whiskey (about 1/2 pint) with 1 part honey (about 1 cup) in a mason jar or other glass container. Crush 3 hard peppermint candies and add to jar. Screw tight and shake vigorously until candy dissolves. Take by the teaspoon as needed for cough. No need to refrigerate.

I am thinking this is a good thing, again no chemicals and most likely give it a go with cold season soon upon us. I know what your thinking, with those ingredients, who cares if it works! LOL

One last thing to share with you, how to use up left over cooked grains; such as oatmeal, millet and amaranth. One thing I like to do is pour the left over into my glass bread dish and refrigerate over night. It takes on a nice molded shape that is easy to slice and fry. Everything taste better fried in real butter right! Oatmeal is great this way and served with either the syrup or honey. However the millet and amaranth don't hold together well in the heat. My husband has taken to making them into 'hashbrowns'. Just smash them down and fry in butter like you would shredded hash browns. Delish! A great way to use up food and not waste in this economy, not to mention the health benefits of 'real' food and grains vs. packaged and processed.

OK, that's enough for now. I think I have to go track down my lawn furniture that blew off my front porch. I want to crack some joke here about Dorothy and Oz, but seeing as how that is the play my son has been working in for the past two weeks (one more to go), I believe I skip the irony.

Blessings, Beth Ann

Random chit-chat

2010-11-11T13:26:00.000-06:00

As my mom would say, 'not much happening here'. That's a good thing right? LOL Just thought I would pop in and let ya all know I am still thinking about you all : ) I guess my mom has been on my mind recently. I talked to her last week , she called to let me know she was a great - grandma again (nine now). She let it slip that she had a concussion. Yeah, she's that kind of mom. She did that once after her strokes as well. Maybe she doesn't want to tell me because she knows she will get 'a talk'in to'. Maybe she doesn't know how much I care or worry. When did our rolls get reversed? I wish we lived closer to her and my sis and daughter, even though I know I am right where God wants me and I have to be faithful to God. He has been on my mind as well. I knew last week that we had a tough or 'tight' week ahead of us, and spent extra time in prayer over this and as always, the farm property issue. I must confess that I am blessed enough to have 'heard' God answer on a few occasions. I relish His small still voice. Some folks aren't so lucky or they aren't quiet enough to hear Him. I will say I was amazed at how fast he answered me this time. I hadn't even really finished praying yet! LOL One of the items I was praying on was working outside the home. I have prayed on this a number of times, not really getting an answer and not really been blessed by any venture either. This time however, He explained to me that it would not be to His glory or a testament to Him if I worked. We best show our faith by letting him take care of us and sharing this with others. Every time we have a 'tight' week and make it to the end with out missing a meal, or hubby getting a car job, we are showing that our faith is strong and that we believe in Him. Every time we have the money from 'somewhere' to pay for school books, tuition or even a pair of shoes, we are testifying that God has provided for us as we follow His will for me to be a SAHM and to home school. If I turn to outside the home for a counted on weekly check, I am saying I need a safety net or a 'back-up' plan, just in case this whole God thing isn't real. I was awed by this information that was bestowed upon me and couldn't wait to share it with my husband. God doesn't have to share his plan with us, and rarely does, talk about an answer to a prayer! I have walked around the rest of the week with my head held higher and my smile bigger. And are we ever blessed! Hubby came home the other night with news of yet another person he knows, who is losing their home. We wonder quiet often why others seem to have 'more' than us, but then we hear news like this and know that they might have 'stuff', but they weren't blessed. Everyday I am thankful for my humble home, my amazing husband, my extraordinary children, my church support system, friends that just don't stop helping me and others, and the chance to pay those blessings forward to others. I am even thankful for the 'tight' times and the animal ministry that seems so overwhelming at times. For without these challenges, we will never grow and get the chance to let God be our rock, light and savior.

Blessings, Beth Ann
p.s. still no answer on the property thing- poo : (

Kudos to Facebook

2010-11-06T13:11:00.000-05:00

I know that there are as many different opinions on the website Facebook as there is stars in the sky, but I am here to tell you mine is an appreciative one. Initially I only join because my sister, who lives 800 miles away, asked me to. It seemed like a good way to keep in touch, and it has been. Then I started reconnecting with classmates from high school, again a good thing. I have never had a bad experience with FB. I have also come to appreciate that I keep local friends updated as well, sometimes it is quicker and easier than email or phone! But the main reason I am blogging about FB today is that it helped my brother find me and my family on=line. My brother is ten years older than I, and I hadn't seen him in over ten years. I didn't even know if he was alive. I am not going to get into the details of this or pass any judgment. I was just so unbelievably joyful to hear from him. He found my sister first, not knowing I had remarried and had a different last name, and then me. When he called me, well it was the answer to many prayers! We may not have many things to say in the day to day course of our lives, but through FB I see his activity and have a satisfaction of knowing he is well and still out there being my brother. Sorry if this sounds mushy, but wait, it gets worse - LOL Yesterday my brother posted the first recent photo of himself that I have seen in over ten years, on FB. Wow! He still looks the same (all his hair for a guy over 5o - LOL) and it made me cry to see him. I showed it to my husband, the first time he had seen the guy and the first thing he said was, "he looks just like Z in the face" (my oldest son). My friend came over to have coffee and I made her look at it too, and she made almost the same comment. Such a good feeling for someone who comes from such a small family, to have this validation of our DNA (for lack of a better term). Just want to share this with ya'll and if you don't know me from my previous life, here is my big brother:

J or as his friends in school called him, Murph. Happy early b-day big bro!

And here is yet another random pet pic to keep you entertained:

Daughter B with the new rescue kitten (Nala), waiting to be awakened for school : )

Blessings, Beth Ann

Pet odds and ends

2010-11-05T14:38:00.000-05:00

We had a sad passing here in our home, last night. Luna the rescue guinea pig . Which brought to mind that I should blog again on our animal ministry, or I should say our son's ministry. My oldest son has aspired to be a veterinarian since he was age four. When my mini doxin became disabled, it led to him volunteering at the local animal clinic and now he works there and is a senior in school. We home school, so he has a more flexible schedule than most; a God thing for sure. Our close relationship with the people at the animal clinic lead them to know our hearts and us into the animal rescue world. When Z first started asking to bring home animals, my husband and I prayed on it long and hard. Our answer was found in the book of Genesis, where we are commanded to take charge of the animals. Not everyone ministry looks the same, which is good, and everyone is called to one. Ours is animals. We have been doing this almost four years, and not once have we not been able to help provide. Luna was our first, she was left in Doc's drive way (he lives by us) while he was at the clinic, and she had a bad case of mange. Doc and Z nursed her back to good health and for the past 3 years she was a fat and sassy pig! Here are a few more, but certainly not all our rescue animals.

This is Angle, a pit bull mix. You may remember that Z rescued 9 puppies last summer, she is the mother. Z and another lady from our church who does animal rescue, went back and rescues the mom the next day. She still has sores from where she was so emaciated that her bones rubbed the ground when she lay down. I call this a real rags to riches story. Angle went from a starving dog to a pageant winner at the local pet parade!

Sorry this pic is so blurry. This is Zoey, a boxer/terrier mix, sleeping on our laundry basket. She is 100% Z's dog, she loves that boy. He brought her home when her previous owner abandoned her at the clinic with a pro=lapsing rectum (her poo-shoot kept falling out). She was stitched up and hasn't had a rectum issue since, plenty of other issues though! LOL

This is Tina, the only surviving kitten from a box of three left on our front walk. There were 3 white, 4 week old kittens, all with parasites. My middle dd, Bre, hand feed her every two hours for the first few weeks we had her. It's a shame people do that, how selfish. As you can see, she is now a very large and happy cat.

OK, this isn't a rescue cat, actually she came with us from MI when we moved. I just think it's interesting that yet another pet likes to sleep on our dirty laundry, and we have a ton of that since our washer has been broken for 9 months now and we do all our laundry by hand (which is a bummer since we have handicapped animals that require daily bedding changes, twice a day).

This is Nala, our latest acquisition. God brought her to our house. We found her under hubby's car, almost dead. Some of our neighbors said they saw her a couple days earlier, two blocks over from our house. Doc said she would have died in a few hours if we hadn't brought her in when we did. She is now one of the most pleasant cats we have, and yet again you can see that all the animals tend to conjugate to certain areas of the house (like the back of the living room sofa).

Like I said, this is by no means all our animals but just a few pleasant happy endings. Each one has their own story and happy ending. While we will miss Luna, we know she had a good quality of life and really, that's what it's all about. My son is taking this passing hard and is learning many life lessons, such as how blessed he is to have such an incredible support system with his friends, family and co=workers. If your out and about today, hug your local animal care giver.

Blessings, Beth Ann