Here's the sitch

It has been brought to my attention that while I have loudly proclaimed my return to the cyber world, I have sorely lacked details on my vacation - thanks Grandpa D for pointing that out in a late night phone call, remember there is a time difference and some of us are whipped after a long day of . . . well, just plain KIDS! LOL - JK, love you guys!

So here are the highlights: I am proud to announce the replacement of my coffee cup - see photo. This will make my third in three years. Three times is the charm right? DH also picked up a new cup, it has the Piggly Wiggly pig on it. Lets face it, we're 'big on the pig'. Photos will follow after a trip to Rite-aide : ) Other highlights include: about 1 zillion crab sightings and captures (then release), including a horseshoe crab (those things are UGLY). Not a good year for shells, only about 100 of those brought home this year, opposed to the usual 500. Twin dd found the largest, a whelk, bummed out middle dd since it bumped her title. Celebrated another birthday with great local seafood. Visited the islands fall festival, with lots of arts and crafts. Twins learned to climb a tree, giant living oak - of course. DH set the canopy on fire while cooking on our picnic table, now it has a sunroof, if he would have done it just once again on the other side we would now have T-tops on our camping canopy! LOL Um . . . and logged to many hours to count relaxing on the ocean shore.

On a more serious note I want to share a blessing of faith here about our trip, please humor me. We had been praying heavily for well over two weeks prior to this event as we were not sure we would be able to make it. Yes we had already paid for our reservations, but now we needed gas money. That is no small thing when you are living on such a small budget as ours. We were hoping for some extra spending cash from my child support, but once again that source dried up and I only found out by accident from oldest dd. However that didn't leave us enough time to re budget for this setback. Anyway, we prayed right up until the day we were to leave and nothing showed up. We even tried to find someone else to gift the reservations to so that the money wouldn't have been wasted, no dice. Literaly minutes to no return we had a couple of unexpected sources come forward to help us out. Hallelujah! It was hard for us to let others help us, but we are learning to follow God's directive on this. Well with much rush and rejoicing we departed. About 40 miles from our destination our RV conked out. DH freaked out. I started praying, hard, on my knees. DH (who is certified mechanic) could find nothing wrong with RV - period. Then we prayed together as a family. Ten minutes later DH cranked it over and it started right up and we never had a lick of trouble with it again, either there or on the way home. DH who has a harder time with blind faith than me was shaken up and firmly convinced in God's presence with us there and in blessing the trip and we refused to take even one day there for granted. The minute we arrived we rushed to the beach and stood in the ocean and thanked God mightily as a family. Since our trip home DH has had a dream where God gave him a message and he knows this is a time of change for our family. I can see such a renewed sense of faith in my husband who has been so beaten down the past two years over our financial situation and as provider for our family. God is so good for showing all of us and reminding DH HE loves us.

On an ending note I just want to mention that our house sitter did a great job and our house was in one piece when we returned. However DH had swapped vehicles with his friend, we borrowed his truck for camping and he got to drive the Camero. Someone tried to break into the car and steal tools that were in the hatch. Shaking head here and just saying, figures. But if I had to rate this vacation . . . 5 STARS!!! Glad you asked ?

Blessings, Beth Ann

Crock Pot Recipe

I made this yummy recipe for dinner tonight with left over chicken I had from camping. I just cut the meat off the leg quarters and tossed it in : )

Hot cheesy crock pot chicken sandwiches

6 cups cooked chicken, cubed

1 1/2 cups mayo

1 lb. Velveeta

1 cup celery, cut up

1/2 onion, diced

salt & pepper to taste

Combine all ingredients in crock pot and cook on low 3-4 hours. Serve on bread, bun, or over rice.

Serves 6

Cost break down: chicken - free

mayo - .65 cents

Velveeta- $1.50 (half a 2 lb.brick that was on sale for $2.99)

celery - .20 cents

onion - .22 cents

salt & pepper - .10 cents

buns - free (from church)

Total meal cost = $2.67

Not bad, add a veg. for .79 cents and total for dinner is $3.46! Take that $5 dinner mom - LOL

Blessings, Beth Ann

Grocery Round Up

OK, here is how I did yesterday and I only had $64 instead of my usual $75. Sorry no pic's, camera down, but food is food and I am sure you can visualize it : )

Piggly Wiggly: Cesar salad mix $2.50, 3 cans of veggies $2.37, pumpkin pie spice .99 cents, veg. oil $1.50 =Total with tax $7.89

Bi-Rite: Frozen blueberries $3.79, oatmeal $1.79, dried cranberries $1.99, ground sausage roll $1.19, spaghetti .79 cents, pasta sauce $1.25, pan spray $1, butter .99 cents, ketchup .79 cents, bologna .79 cents = Total with tax $17.12

Dollar General Market (not reg. store): 2 box mac & cheese .80 cents, hand soap jug refill $2.50, package tape $1.25, 2 pk. lip balm $1, T.P. $1, fish sticks $4, 2lb. carrots $1, 2 dozen eggs $2, bunch bananas $1.10, head of cabbage $1.50, 4 cans of chicken meat $4, 4lb. bag sugar $1.85, peanut butter $1.50, 3 cans tomato paste $1, 2.2lb. bag cat food $1, garbage bags $1, dish soap $1, Dixie cups $1.25, soy milk 1.85, Louisiana hot sauce .60 cents, 10lb. bird seed (sale) $3 = Total with tax $36.88

Total spent for week $61.89 Not bad, $2 left, which is good since I just realized I forgot onions - LOL For more grocery round up visit www.grocerycartchallenge.blogspot.com

Blessings, Beth Ann

MPM - Back from camping

We're back from our week on the island and the cupboards are bare! We are also back on track for eating our four day rotation diet and $75 a week budget. This is for a family of 6 and their pets, we run an animal ministry for handicapped animals. The $75 must cover food, paper products and pet food. I know! But God always provides and we have never missed a meal yet : )

Breakfast: pancakes, amaranth porridge, blueberry banana muffins, eggs and toast, oatmeal, sweet potato muffins

Lunch: Noodles, fish sticks, mac & cheese, peanut butter and jelly, turkey dogs, tuna fish, chicken nuggets

Dinner: Spaghetti w/cucumber slices, Crock pot cheesy turkey sandwiches w/salad, Church (dinner and bible study), Crock pot cabbage rolls w/cornbread, Baked chicken w/green beans and rutabaga, Fish stir-fry over brown rice, B.B.Q lentils over mashed potatoes w/veggie sticks

Will try to be more diligent with recipe posting and check back to see how my shopping goes today. For more menu plan Monday check out http://www.orgjunkie.com

Blessings, Beth Ann

See Ya ~

See ya in about two weeks! Keep us in your prayers and we will send warm island wishes your way! Blessings, Beth Ann
Sunrise on Edisto Island

My flip flop on Edisto Island

The twins on Edisto Island

"The Pier" on Edisto Island

Full moon rising over the Atlantic Ocean, Edisto Island - South Carolina : )

Pumpkins, pumpkins, who likes pumpkins . . .

I DO! LOL There right up there with coffee : ) I found a great pumpkin pie spice home made coffee creamer recipe to share, and it's economical too! Now I have heard a nasty rumor flying around about a canned pumpkin shortage this year, due to flooding and such. Not sure how true this is as finding canned pumpkin in my rural little town is always dicey. I have noticed though that when I do find it that the price is high. Pumpkins are in season now and the prices should be lower or on sale. So . . . if your out and about and see canned pumpkin, you might want to pick up a couple of cans. I'm just saying . . . After all, what are the holidays without pumpkin in someway, shape or another?

Pumpkin Pie Coffee Creamer

1c. half n' half

1/3 c. sugar

3 Tbs. canned pumpkin (leftover freezes great)

1/2 tsp. vanilla

1 tsp. pumpkin pie spice

Combine all ingredients in a sauce pan. Heat until sugar is dissolved and ingredients are well blended. Cool. Store in refrigerator. Shake well before each

use.

Compare this to the price of the expensive stuff in the dairy dept. the next time your at the local store!

Blessings, Beth Ann

P.S. Notice the S.C. cup? That is the second one I have had in two years. They keep getting broke! Only 3 more days until I can buy a new one at the local Pig on Edisto Island!

Doggie drugs

OK, so still busy running around getting ready to leave for vacation on Friday. So fare it has been an incredibly full day. Woke up late, got a bad hair cut, checked on books at the library on loan, put dog on Prozac, pissed off my teenage son and taught K to the twins : ) All before 2 p.m. How is your day going?

How many others out there have had to put their beloved furry four legged friends on drugs? I feel worse than when I put oldest dd on Ritalin for her A.D.D. ! This is the item bugging afore mentioned teenage son. It is his dog (don't remember giving it to him and I am pretty sure DH still thinks it's his) and he works at the animal clinic, so he was there for the "deed". Let me plead my case for a moment. For the past six month or so Hershey (the dog) has been having what can only be called anxiety attacks. He acts nervous. whines and will do ANYTHING to be with our son. If he sees Z leave the house . . . well, watch out and hope he doesn't break another screen or a window. If he sees someone wrestling/rough housing with son, then he nips at them! It's getting to the point we can't trust him or leave him unsupervised. He even broke the skin on DH last week, and he buys the kibble! So what other option do we have for a happy future with this dog, who is about 6 years old and a blue tick heeler mix? We have way to many kids in and out of our house and frankly I don't trust him with our house sitter when we leave. My son thinks we are over reacting and the dog is fine. Sigh ~ wish I were a teenager again and lived in the land of denial where parents foot the literal and emotional tab. Hershey will start with a 30mg. dose, and I will have to portion that out of a 40mg. capsule. The doc said to pitch the rest, but I don't see why we can't save it and after 3 days there would be another dosage, right? Either that or I give it to Howard, our mini doxin, who barks all the time. Heck, I'll take it! Someone will get it, I won't waste it, after all I am a home school mom! LOL

So just one more thing to worry about before we leave. Drugging the dog and taking him with us, or paying a million dollars to kennel him ~ sigh.

Blessings, Beth Ann

What a week-end!

OK, so life got busy as soon as I said nothing new was happening here - LOL Friday was middle dd 13Th b-day. It was also a pay day, what a happy coincidence! Spent the morning going into the "city" to pick up last minute items and do my twice a year Hobby Lobby run. Well all the birthday run managed to do was remind me why I do the bulk of my gift buying online! Let's just say frustrating!!!! Hobby Lobby was a bit disappointing as well. I keep a running list of items I need, and they were out of half of them. Ended up driving over to Michael's (which I don't like as well) to get the rest of my fall/winter craft items. The only really cool thing I saw there were knitting and crocheting needles that lite up from within, for night knitting! I am thinking I NEED these = LOL They would be perfect for camping. Can't you just picture me sitting around the campfire, knitting in the dark with my light up needles? I also got a good deal on some eyelash yarn at HL. I got it on sale for 72 cents, reg. price $9.99. I KNOW. They had marked it down like four times and I guess now just wanted to get rid of it. I picked up a couple of skeins in two different colors. I started a cool blue/grey tweed eyelash scarf for myself (the horrors) this week-end. Maybe I will have it done when I come back from vacation at the end of the month, we leave in four days (still lots to do to get ready). Friday ended with hubby finely getting the plates on his Camero, and us once again being a two car house hold - hallelujah! To be fair it's a cool car, a '72 with T-tops.

Saturday was a circus! We had company the night before that stayed late, by my standards - LOL and seemed we were all dragging tail. DD was still celebrating her b-day, she had two girls spend Friday and Saturday night, so extra kids to entertain on top of my crew. I needed to grocery shop or we were all going to starve to death, and we all know there is nothing worse than cranky teenagers who are hungry! On the upside, we were blessed with a totally gorgeous day for our excursion. We took off for the pumpkin patch after lunch and made it in time for the two o'clock hayride and pumpkin picking wagon. After a very bumpy and allergy inducing ride, and after much contemplation, we all picked our pumpkins. In remembrance of Grandma S and Grandpa D, we made sure to grab a small extra pumpkin and blame it on Howard since Henry was with them ; )

Back at the pumpkin ranch, the kids played in the hay maze, corn maze, petting zoo, hay rolls, corn crib and fed the fish. Three hours later we headed home. While I showered off the 'nature", hubby went and got a bunch of pizza's. Company came over and we polished of a long, loud and hopefully for the birthday girl, happy birthday mega fest. It must have been to much week-end though, since one of the girls got up around 5 a.m. sick. I went to bed with a migraine and was soooooo not ready to get up at 5, but I did. I crawled back into bed around 6, after the girls dad picked her up, and hubby didn't get me up for church. I am not sure to be disappointed or happy that he is so thoughtful. He made me coffee, so I guess I will go with happy : )

I now have dinner in the crock pot, and most of my migraine is gone. I do however still have a houseful of kids, I know one left but another one showed up after lunch! I have been teaching myself how to pick up dropped stitches on the eyelash scarf I am knitting, with my new crochet needles. And . . . I just got my feed set up so that you can now follow this blog on Face Book. Not sure how I did that, but I did! So check out Beth Ann's blessings on FB, and don't miss a moment of the pandemonium we call life~

Blessings, Beth Ann

Knit and run

Ok, so how did you spend your week-end? I taught myself to knit! I have been thinking about this for about a year, and really contemplating it for the past 3-4 months. I kept flapping my mouth at church and telling the ladies, "wouldn't it be nice if we had a knitting group an made items to donate?". Yea, sounds like me doesn't it - LOL Finely someone took me up on it and then they made the time for it and the next thing I knew people were looking at me for guidance! Yikes. So Thursday I headed over to the trusty neighborhood library to beg someone there to help. I found not only a lady who said she could help, if we managed to coordinate our schedules, but a great learners book as well. Then on Friday a friend stopped by and was able to get me started, who knew she had this hidden talent and why did she not tell me like, oh I don't know, 3-4 months ago! LOL So anyway, yesterday I learned to cast on and knit. Today I perfected the knitting thing and figured out the purl thing as well. Now I am working on the knit one, purl two thing. I want to have a nice piece to show on Wed. night to the church ladies when we get this puppy rolling. Good thing I figured it out too, one of the ladies cornered me in the Dollar General Market this morning and grilled me on if I knew what I was doing or not and if I would be able to help her. Seems she picked up some nice yarn while she was in Mexico last year, in Christmas colors, and wants me to help her transform it into a great gift. Whew! Glad I can help : ) On top of this, all week-end each one of the kids has come up to me, independently, to tell me what they would now like me to knit for them - ha! Shaking my head here, gotta love them.

Blessings, Beth Ann

It's Friday

Well it's the last Friday of the month and I am here to tell you that not much is going on. Been a blessedly quiet week. I have spent my time with home school, visiting the handicapped puppy at Tate's, trying to hustle knitters for church and working with another church lady on revamping our church nursery. Huh, when I put it in writing, maybe not so slow? LOL

Well I cut up the ham I bought last week and I am proud to say I got four dinners and a lunch out of it. That worked out to about $1.85 a meal. Tonight I have some of it in my crock pot. We are having cheesy scalloped potatoes with ham in the slow cooker and home made cornbread for dinner. Smells pretty good in here right now. Or it could be the fresh pot of coffee I just made?

Two weeks from today we are leaving for our yearly trip to the ocean. We are so broke we almost don't have the money to go. This happens every year. In one way it's a blessing that we make and pay for our reservations back in February out of tax return money, but a real bear to come up with gas money nine months later. YOu never know what the current gas price will be, about $2.33 here right now. We qualify it as birthday/Christmas and anniversery gift for hubby and me each year, and as an investment in our family with the wonderful memories and bonding we share. Please keep us in your prayers and thoughts.
Blessings, Beth Ann

Menu plan Monday

It's been awhile since I posted a menu, so I thought today would be the day! LOL Right now I am mostly shopping the adds and trying to slowly stock up on "camping extras", like charcoal . We have less than 3 weeks until or annul trip to Edisto Island, South Carolina. I try to soften the financial crunch by picking up a few things at a time instead of all at once. I mean I don't usually buy stuff for smore's or paper plates and stuff. There is no sewer on the island so we try to do as little "washing" (dishes :p ) as possible. Here is a look at our menu this week:

Monday: Slow cooker cubed steaks in gravy w/ mashed potatoes and pea's

Tuesday: Ham (on sale at Bi-rite) w/garden green beans and corn bread

Wednesday: Church dinner and bible study (rumor that it's going to be stroganoff)

Thursday: Crock pot split pea soup (with sale ham bone and rest of meat reserved for other recipes) and bread machine dinner rolls

Friday: Slow cooker scalloped potatoes and ham w/glazed carrots

Saturday: Crock pot tater-tot casserole w/ green beans

Sunday: Spaghetti and home made garlic bread / salad

Whats for dinner at your place? For more menu plan Monday visit www.orgjunkie.com

Blessings, Beth Ann

Another SAturday

I have been trying to download or is it upload? Anyway, pictures of last week-ends rafting trip. No dice. More than likely it is my piece of junk computer. So, sorry. I will keep trying, maybe the library? Hmmmmmm. Anyway, it was a huge success! Everyone involved had fun. Hubby went as a chaperon and a driver, since we have a ginormous gas guzzling SUV and that is exactly what the church needed - LOL He waited until he was home to tell me he almost drowned. I heard many kids fell out of the raft and even one of the guides, but only my hubby got stuck under the raft! I could tell he was a little shaken up, but it wasn't until church the next day that one of the ladies who went, told me all the dramatic details. Made my stomach hurt. I guess the kids were freaked out a bit, remember only the older two went as this was a youth group activity. I was home comely watching Cinderella 52 times after wrenching the Backyardagains away from twin son (can only take so much of those backyardholagins). Anyway, I guess that is what makes life exciting, those little adventures. Hubby had been white water rafting before up in Michigan, but said the Ocoee in East Tennessee was much rougher. Next year the church youth group is going to do something a little safer, skydiving! : )

Not much else new and exciting. Only 21 more days until we head to South Carolina. Our British church friend with the yurt will be coming down off his mountain to house sit (not sure why since all the good stuff got stolen last year) in exchange for electricity and water, two commodities he does not posses up in his yurt. Sounds like a fair exchange right? To hear more up to date boring things about us, visit us at face book.

Blessings, Beth Ann

Catching up

I know I have been pretty hit and miss about blogging recently. Teaching high school in the morning and Kindergarten in the afternoon, is a bit time consuming : )

Just wanted to give an update on my miniature daschund, Howard. Last Sunday after church, we returned to find him dragging his legs - again. Three years ago he ruptured 3 of his disks in his back, leaving him semi-paralyzed and with no deep pain feeling in his hind section. Since then he has managed to over come this by figuring out a way to prop himself up on his legs, and do s funny hop-run around the house and yard (sometimes). He still needs to be crated sometimes (bed rest) to allow the swelling to go down. Occasionally he puts his back out (still can't feel anything) and this was the case Sunday. Nothing to do for it except get him some good drugs (anti-inflammatory) and bed rest. As of yesterday he was trying to stand again and the swelling seems to be going down as his hind legs were spasming most the afternoon. All I can say is good thing he can't feel that, I have been there, done that - ouch! Also when this happens we have to go back to expressing his bladder for him, as he can't empty it all on his own. Which leads me to the next issue. We also now have a cat with a broken back and she too needs to be expressed. The vet asked us to take her since no one wanted her or had experience expressing (lucky us, lucky Bubbles). Well, when I took Howard in for drugs, Doc mentioned that they now have a puppy in the same condition -hint, hint. Do I have sucker printed on my forehead? He is a five week old American bull dog puppy that was accidentally thrown down a flight of stairs. The owners brought him in to be put down, but apparently Doc is a bigger sucker than I am! His assistant told me that we were the first people they thought of for the little guy since he will hard to find a home for. Ok, my house is already full of a ton of kids (mostly mine) and a bunch of animals (unfortunately all mine) and now two pack and plays with semi and fully paralyzed animals in them. What am I to do about this news? Help! Well I have time to think about it anyway, they aren't ready to release him yet.

On more adventurous news, hubby took the kids over to East Tennessee bright and early this morning for a white water rafting trip with our church youth group. So just the twins and I knocking around here today. Hubby is worried he isn't as young as he used to be, and will be feeling "it" tomorrow at work - LOL Pastor already said no one is allowed to miss church due to much "week-end". Funny thing though, pastor didn't go! LOL Guess I will make some soup and get the heating pads ready for their return tonight.

Blessings, Beth Ann

Crock Pot Chicken Curry

Had the best dinner tonight ever!

Crock Pot Chicken Curry

3lb. chicken thighs
1/2 an onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup coconut milk
11/2 TBS curry powder, the good stuff
2 tsp. chicken bullion concentrate

Place thighs in crock pot and cover with onion and garlic. Mix coconut milk, curry and bullion concentrate together and pour over chicken. Cover and heat on low for 6 hours. That's it!

Serves 6

I served this with rice pilaf and steamed broccoli.

Enjoy, Blessings - Beth Ann

Back

Well we are back! I do have to say it was the best trip ever! I just love that campground and the kids were thrilled as well. We went with another family from church, so they had other kids to play with and we camped right across from the ginormous playground. The swimming hole was about 50 yards from us and it was still warm enough to swim. Only downer was that oldest son got bit up by chiggers when he went down the road and into an old graveyard looking for firewood. Boys, what are ya gonna do? Good thing we travel with cortisone cream. : )

Well spent the morning revamping our monthly budget to try and make a dent in the medical bills from oldest son. Good news, if I lower my grocery money even more, we can most likely have them paid off in three years! LOL Then I spent the afternoon trying to work up a menu and shopping list for this coming week on said lower money allotment. Now my head hurts. Sigh.

Fall is truly in the air. We have a Labor day party to attend tomorrow and then it seems like every week-end after that through the new year is booked. How can this be? When did we get so busy? Or that popular for that matter! But I love fall, it's my most favorite time of the year. Only 4 weeks until middle dd 13Th b-day and our annual trip to the Ceaderwood Farms Pumpkin Patch. Then a week after that we leave for our two week vacation to South Carolina. We do the pumpkin thing first so that we can take the pumpkins and my mums with us. The kids love to carve their Jack O'lantrens while we're camping and I enjoy decorating our site. One year we even brought our scarecrow with us! When we get back we have like 2 days until our church harvest party and since Halloween falls on a Saturday this year, a friend has invited us to her Halloween block party. Wow, that is just the month of October and leaving out about six more birthdays. We are thinking of going to Alabama for Thanksgiving, some friends invited us. It will be our first year without Grandma S and Grandpa D, dear husband is still undecided. He does a few vacation days to us up yet before the new year, but he is about convinced we will be heading out to Vegas this spring - heads up D & S LOL But that is another story.

Not much else happening here. Oh, my friend from church brought her adoptive son from Haiti home last week! Let's all give praise to the LORD! Amen.

Blessings, Beth Ann

mini - vacation

Sorry it has been so hit and miss with the blogging, and now we are taking off on a mini-vacation. Husband has to work on Labor Day, so we are celebrating a week early. Don't tell the kids though, they might not notice that it's early since they have already been back to school for two weeks now : )

We are headed back up to Defeated Creek, my new local favorite spot. It's north of Nashville, up by the Kentucky boarder. Once we get back, end of next week, only about a month until we leave for South Carolina - and a new coffee cup! Woo-Hoo!!!

So, the handicapped animals (there's alot of them) and the world's oldest living Guinea Pig are already at the kennel. The kids cleaned the RV. The fauxtato salad is made. Why do I feel like I am forgetting something . . .

Keep us in your prayers, and see you next week - end.

Blessings, Beth Ann

Monday

Well . . . here we go. It's another week, another Monday. Had a pretty quiet week-end. Husband was sick, and I had to go solo with the kids to church. There was some awesome news at church yesterday though, one of the ladies who has been waiting over four years to bring home a child she adopted in Haiti, got the go ahead. Baring any unforeseen circumstances, they will be in church this coming Sunday! You can read her story on the link at the right, on her blog - This,that, and life's joys.

Well we are heading out to camp this coming week-end. I am finely taking the family to Defeated Creek. Husband had a few extra vacation days to use. We will be leaving in about six weeks for our Annual South Carolina trip, he will use the rest then : ) We will be camping this week-end with some friends from church as well, and another home school family. That is one of the perks, vacations on my schedule, not the public school systems schedule! LOL Thankfully it is still warm enough down here to swim and sit out at night with out freezing your tukus off.

As far as Mondays go, this one today was pretty mild. I have had a scratch soar throat, but I made a huge crock pot of home made cream of mushroom soup. I didn't realize that dh didn't like canned mushroom soup until he asked about dinner. He said he hated canned, but mine made with fresh 'shrooms was amazing. It was a lo=carb recipe I found and it even looked elegant. Oldest son made some rolls to go with dinner, and I swear that is all I could smell or concentrate on! Is there no hope for me? Husband was much more noble. I might be more noble when PMS is over!

Blessings, Beth Ann

zip

OK, I've got noth'in. Nope, nada. Zip, zipola.

Isn't that the saddest thing you have ever heard? I guess I should be happy that we seem to be settled down right now, I'm sure it won't last, not with the holidays right around the corner. Mostly dh goes to work and the kids and I do school work. The twins just finished up a unit in the seven days of creation and the older two are currently working on an ancient America timeline. For current events middle dd has picked hurricane Bill and has been giving us twice daily updates on it's status, that might be construed as excitement around here : )

Well week one of the lo-carb/sugar-free thing is over and both dh and I are down 8lbs. Not to shabby, just hope it's not a fluke and we can loss some more. The major difference I have noticed for myself is that I no longer seem to be craving my coffee. I know! What's with that? I drink about half a cup in the morning and only allow myself 1 teaspoon of creamer, well I guess that equals 1/2 a tsp. : )

Only other big news is that I am only ten swagbucks away from a $5 Amazon gift card. Guess I will get that sound track from Hoot after all, or maybe that steel drum Christmas c.d. I have been wanting.

Blessings, Beth Ann

Let's talk tomato

We have just picked about 18 -24 lbs. of tomatoes from our garden. Well, not really our garden . . . we ran out of room and planted them in our front yard by the porch : ) So today I made 6 lbs. of salsa. Tomorrow I will make about 12 lbs. of pasta sauce and the rest will go into home made tomato soup and home made vegetable juice. That is on top of the 6 lbs. of salsa I made a couple weeks ago and all the 'mato's I have gifted people with : ) Middle dd was heard saying today, "maybe next year we should only plant two tomato plants". LOL This is sooo funny since dh does not like to eat tomatoes. When questioned he did admit that he gets a kick out of growing them though!

Not much else new and exciting here. I know I haven't mentioned the weight watcher thing in a while. Well I lost 15 lbs. and that was it. It was to expensive to keep messing with it. About two weeks dh asked me about lo-carb eating. He had tried it a while ago and had good success with it, then the twins came and all our eating habits went out the window. Well I am always saying I need more protein and I don't count chicken our pork, just my thing - no white meat. Anyway, I agreed to try it for two weeks as soon as I got back from camping. Today is day five of the two week induction and both dh and I are down 6 lbs. Not to bad. I kept feeling tired though and I remembered reading that if you are on blood pressure medicine you might need to either stop it or change it because your blood sugar level will lower so much that your blood pressure will too. So I monitored my BP for two days and yes it was running low. So yesterday and today I only took half a pill and my BP is back to normal and I am day two without a nap : ) We are limiting ourselves to 20 grams of carbs a day during our two weeks and I am amazed at how easy that is and how not hungry I feel. I will wait to the end of the two weeks to make my final decision. I still add other food items in for the kids, like they got fries today with their turkey dogs, so everyone is happy.

This was the first week of school for the twins and they L-O-V-E-D it! Next Monday I start with the older two, hope they at least show up - LOL

Blessings, Beth Ann

Back

Well I am back. I'm tired, sunburned and retaining water from all the junk food I ate! LOL Sounds great doesn't it? Wish I could tell you more, but we had to take a pledge - what happens in Defeated Creek, stays in Defeated Creek. There were other rules as well, such as - there are NO calories in Defeated Creek - LOL What I can tell you is that it is the best campground I have ever stayed at! It has the best swimming hole of all times! My heart will always be at Edisto, S.C., but that is at the ocean and a whole different category all together. If you are ever in middle Tennessee to camp, you need to check out Defeated Creek. We have decided to make this an annual Women of Faith event. I want to get back there A.S.A.P. and take the family before summer and swimming is over for the year. Thinking around Labor day or so. Hope to see you there!

Blessings, Beth Ann

Happy Feet

See this flip flop? It's a happy flip flop! Guess where it's going . . . (Jeopardy music playing . . . ) one hint, these are camping flip flops . . . That's right! Those flop flops are going camping tomorrow! (so is the foot in it - well, the rest of me too) I know, I feel silly too. I spent the day buying the food, loading the food and all my luggage and accouterments of home. Tomorrow we're off! The church ladies (about half of our group) and myself are heading north to Defeated Creek and the weather is rumored to be in the 90's with only a 10% chance of rain. So, food, wine, fine weather, good friends, a lake and no men or children; what else could one ask for?

Blessings, Beth Ann

P.S. Please pray we all come back still friends : )

hot

I just spent the past hour scalding, peeling, coring, and chopping six pounds of fresh tomatoes from my garden to make salsa. I had never done that before. It was very tedious. Yummy, but tedious. Now I need six more pounds to put pasta sauce up.

Blessings, Beth Ann

P.S. My home made dill pickles turned out wicked, and were far less tedious : ) B.A.D.

cat

There is still nothing really exciting going here - Praise the Lord! The rest of our school curriculum arrived yesterday, for the older two kids. That's always a little like Christmas, opening all those boxes. Since they are only full of books, well I guess it depends on your view of books and excitement. Except for a few standard school supplies, we are all set to start what is promising to be a very full, busy and fun year! Although our twin daughter is vexed that the ant farm did not come with the ants! LOL

My middle dd has determined that I don't blog enough about her cat, Tina - the narcoleptic (someone who falls asleep suddenly and spontaneously). So here is a small look into her evening yesterday and how quick she tires out.

Here is Tina chasing a bug around our lamp.


The twins have a toy barn next to that same lamp and dd thought it would be fun if Tina played in it.

Tina is starting to look a little bothered here.

Right in the middle of playing she just passed out in the barn (like that hasn't happened to all of us) - like she always does.

I really should do a whole blog of how she just falls a sleep everywhere, walking, eating, stretching, ect. She truly is a narcoleptic, I didn't know that could affect cats?

Blessings, Beth Ann

Another sunny summer day

Today was a pretty good day, considering I spent yesterday in bed with the 24 hour (give and take) flu. Unfortunately though the day started with yet another trip to the vet's, for yet another animal. I had noticed Saturday evening that bubbles wasn't herself. By this morning I was really worried, she wasn't eating or drinking. They still aren't sure what's wrong with her, high fever and an infection. They sent her home after a shot with some antibiotics and a thermometer. The thermometer is for older son! LOL He is the one who gets to monitor that situation. If her fever doesn't break by morning, son is to bring cat into work with him tomorrow. Cross your fingers while your praying.


Bubbles is our cat with the broken back, she has totally taken over Howard's play pen; he is our mini dachshund that blew three disks in his back. Yea, we're a pet rehab center.


Even when she is sleeping, you can see how her back legs just hang there useless.


These are sponge balls the kids made today. They were all hanging around complaining of being board Luckily I had all the stuff to make this craft. The picture doesn't do them justice on how cute they turned out.

Here the younger three, plus a friend, are running around with a garden hose and a bucket to wet their sponge balls and throw them at each other. Oh, the summer memories . . .

Here twin son shows off his fun new craft!

Those were the highlights of my Monday. How was yours?

Blessings, Beth Ann

Week-end wrap up

Well here it is, the end of another week. Man! They just seem to fly by and are just crazy insane. Did my weekly Krogering yesterday and besides the mark down meat, the only screaming deals were the school supplies. I watched in awe as my total rang up to $87 and then she swiped my card and watched it drop down, down, down to $57! Yea! Even the cashier was impressed (hard to do since they have seen it all). Kroger's school supplies were cheaper than our local Wal-marts. The portfolio folders went for 11 cents each and the 1 subject notebooks 3/$1. Not a whole lot more than that we need for home school. Today I am working on filling out the new student enrollment forms for the twins and ordering their curriculum. I keep putting it off, but it needs to be done by Aug.1 to qualify for a multiple student discount. I can only guess I just don't want to think of my babies being school age, sigh.

Last night also saw me and hubby home alone. Well alone with only the twins, closest we'll ever get in this century! LOL So after putting them down for the night we decided to do a date night. Hubby went for take out Mexican and our very first ever Red Box rental. How out dated are we? It was nice and fun. The movie was, "He's just not that into you". And speaking of being out dated, after that movie we felt ancient. I am not going to rehash the movie, but it was about dating and all the games that go with. When it ended hubby turned to me and said, "I am sooo glad we don't have to go through that any more". I know it was supposed to be a comedy but it scared the crap out of me and made me feel more sorry for the characters than anything else. I knew I was a fuddy duddy when I said, "Well if they were Christians those things wouldn't happen". I expected to dry up and blow away any second, zoinks! Wasn't I just in high school yesterday?

Well here are some new pet pic's to share with y'all.

Here is hubby's cat, Joe, on our front bench with some of this years garden over flow gourds.

Here is Bubbles, are diva (with the broken back). Twin dd adores her and here has used her own quilt to tuck her in for a nap.

I don't think Miz Thing minds one bit, do you?

Have a blessed week-end, Beth Ann

Still here

We are still here and kicking, other than that not much new. VBS is over and the twins are still singing the songs, that's a good thing right?

Mostly been working in the garden and trying to process what is harvested. I have been freezing, blanching and pickling many things. I feel so blessed to still have enough to share with many friends and even some who probably didn't even want any! LOL Our tomato plants are just insane this year! They are so huge and full of fruit that we are tying them to the front pillars of our porch!

DH has been putting in many hours at his job and at our church to try and raise enough money for the kids school books and tuition. Every little bit helps since it has been four months since we received child support on these same children. He is also doing many odd car jobs around the county. God is truly good to be blessing us like this. The medical bills for our oldest son is another problem, where will that money come from? Everyone keep praying for us, please.

In about two weeks I will be taking off on a ladies church trip, camping. I am so excited. I missed the last trip because of lack of funds. There is just something so reaffirming about being with women who share the same faith and values, as well as the daily struggles of being a wife,mother and just a women. I know I will come back totally refreshed and ready for another year of home school. Also starting to get itchy for our annual trip to the low country, South Carolina. In 11 short weeks I will be sitting on an island in the Atlantic Ocean, crabbing, shell hunting and camping for 10 wonderful days. Can you tell I'm excited? This year how ever I believe we will have our British friend D house sit for us. It is unlikely we will have a repeat of last years events, seeing as how the perp is under surveillance for auto theft currently, but better safe than sorry. Enough of my summer mussing.

Blessings, Beth Ann

More pictures

I found a few more pictures of my oldest daughter and grandson to share with y'all. You know me, I will keep posting them as the dribble in : )


Here is K with our cat Bubbles, she has a broken back. They really bonded and were inseparable while K was here.

Here is my grand son relaxing, chilling and maxxing out on our couch.

Another shot of K at the Discovery center.

Here is grandson J with my son E (his uncle - LOL)

Not much else to report on. VBS has taken up almost all our time, as myself and the older kids are teaching classes. So lots of prep and stuff. Still down to one vehicle so lots of carpooling as well. DH has been working his job full time, church part-time and still trying to squeeze in 2-3 car jobs a week. Whew! Oh, and he is trying to find time to fix his own ride. Sigh, we are like the plumber who has leaky pipes at his own house. smile.

Blessings, Beth Ann

Menu Plan Monday

Not much to say, tomatoes are red, VBS starts tonight and still have stuff to get ready . . . Oh, and crock pots rock! Now should we eat before or after . . . No time either way! Grrrrrrrrrrr . . .

Monday B~ Eggs and Toast

L ~ Peanut butter and Jelly

D ~ Crock pot lasagna (didn't make it last night) w/salad

Tuesday B ~ Biscuits withe country gravy

L ~ Mac and cheese

D ~ Crock pot beef vegetable casserole w/corn on the cob

Wednesday B ~ Oatmeal

L ~ cucumber sandwiches w/pumpkin bars

D ~ Nachos and cheese

Thursday B ~ Buckwheat pancakes

L ~ Tortellini w/ broccoli

D ~ Tuna casserole w/potato wedges

Friday B ~ Rice cereal

L ~ Chicken nuggets w/ chips

D ~ Crock pot chicken dinner w/green beans

Saturday B ~ Fried cornmeal mush

L ~ Hamburger and fries

D ~ Red beans and rice

Sunday B ~ Amaranth porridge

L~ Sandwiches and melon

D ~ Home made pizza w/ salad

For more menu plan Monday visit www.orgjunkie.com

Whats for dinner at your house this week?

Blessings, Beth Ann

Picture Palooza Saturday!

Another busy week here in middle Tennessee has come to an end. Spent the tail end of it working on VBS materials. Tomorrow we decorate the church and Monday we all board the "BOOMERANG EXPRESS"! I don't know who is more excited, Pastor or I! I kinda got roped into this but am now amped. I just know the kids are going to love this and it will be a nice break from the end of summer blues. Well not the end, end, but public school starts down here Aug. 11th! At my house it will be closer to the end of Aug. I might even be a rebel and wait to after Labor day! LOL That too however will be total mayhem with one high school, an 8th grader and the twins starting K. Well, I wouldn't know I was home if it were any other way : )

Well here are a few more pictures to share from my oldest daughter's visit. And thank you for all the prayers and well wishes for her husband, he is home and doing well.


Here is K with her little man, my grandson - sigh - love this pic.

Here is K and grandson at our pool, he loved it! Twin daughter is swimming over to meet them.

Here is middle daughter pushing her nephew in the pool.

Here oldest daughter is hamming it up in the pool ; )



L-O-V-E this pic! This is what happens when your 2 years old, played all day in the pool, are over tired and no one will listen to you, you fall asleep in your pack n' play! LOL

In other breaking news, garden has grown out of it's confines and middle daughter got her braces off last Tuesday. Hope to have pic's of both to post soon.

Blessings, Beth Ann

Menu Plan Monday

I haven't posted any menu's recently. Does this mean I haven't had to cook? LOL !!!!! I wish : ) Just been busy I guess. I am trying to renew my quest for obedience, financially as well as spiritually. I feel that we haven't been good stewards of our money when it comes to grocery shopping. So we are back to the $75 a week budget (got lost when oldest son was sick) and trying to cook more and add some more budget friendly items back into our menu. We have had great success with food rotation and elimination, so I am feeling more confident as to what son can and can't eat. He still makes some poor choices when with others and that serves as affirmation to both of us. With that said, here is a look at our menu this week:

Monday: B~ Pineapple corn muffins

L~ Mac & cheese w/watermelon

D~ Beef chop suey w/rice and corn

Tuesday: B~ Oatmeal

L~ Have no idea, don't know when we will get home from orthodontist, middle dd is getting her braces off!

D~ Crock pot chicken soft taco's on homemade rice tortilla's and spinach salad

Wednesday: B~ Sweet potato muffins

L~ Turkey meatball sandwich w/veggie sticks

D~ church bible study/lasagna at church

Thursday: B~ Zucchini bread

L~ skillet tuna potato casserole

D~ Crock pot camping chili made with ground chicken and baked potato wedges

Friday: B~ Quick drop biscuits and country gravy

L~ Hamburgers and chips

D~ Pizza and rice casserole w/Brussels sprouts

Saturday: B~ Pumpkin bars

L~ noodles and veggie sticks

D~ Crock pot beef fajitas on home make rice tortillas with garden greens

Sunday: B~ Buckwheat pancakes

L~ Turkey dogs and sweet potato fries

D~ Crock pot lasagna w/garden green beans

For more menu plan Monday idea's visit www.orgjunkie.com

What's for dinner at your house this week?

Blessings, Beth Ann

Holiday ramblings

Wow, what a busy week, aren't they all? Spent about the past three days gardening, mine and a friends. Picked enough beans and cucumbers to feed half this county, and I think we have. Gave away a ton and am busy preserving the rest. Made a HUGE batch of cucumber relish today, first time making it, and not to bad if I do say so myself ~ smile. I even made a few batches of berry preserves and shelled my first soybeans ever! We have more gourds and pumpkins getting close as well as our first red tomatoes and the peppers are ready too. Gardening is so gratifying and the kids get a ton of learning out of it.

Spent the afternoon working on end of semester grades. I have been putting it off with dread as I felt we fell apart at the end, with son being in the hospital and all. But when all was said and done the kids had like 22 extra days than required put in, (a whole extra month of school - don't tell them) and both had better grades then expected. Oldest son just finished his sophomore year with more than half the credits he needs to graduate . He got so many in last year it gave him a cushion for this year and he is only a little behind in math and chem. He will finish up his chem in the first marking period of the fall and math by the end of the first semester if not sooner, so feel like we are back on track with a plan. Being a home school family I don't have much of a gage except what I see here at home, kind of like not realizing your kids got taller since you see them every day. So when I add the grades up, I am always surprised - I thought they were dilly-dallying - LOL The kids follow the state standardized testing schedule as, to help me keep track of their week areas and to make sure they are on grade level. I am always pleasantly surprised : ) So now it is about a months more break then onto 11th grade, 8th grade and the twins will start Kindergarten! Wow. I won't panic about buying curriculum, I won't panic about buying curriculum, I won't panic about buying curriculum . . .

Hope everyone is having an awesome 4th of July. We are heading to the drive-in movies tonight. Hope to see you there.

Blessings, Beth Ann

HO - HUM Hump day

Here it is, the middle of another week and a brand new month. Not much going on here, thank goodness! I really am the type of person who wants to sit home, do nothing and see no one. Yes, I am a curmudgeon : ) But it seems like there is ALWAYS something! Sigh. Life just keeps forcing me to participate, or is it God? Don't you ever just want to stop the world and get off? Even for a day? Maybe just long enough to let out a good scream?

Here are some more pictures of the kids to share.

My oldest daughter and her son on a airplane at the Discovery Center last week.

Twin daughter playing in the grocery store display area at the Discovery Center.

Oldest son on his new set of wheels (broke his go-kart) at the Discovery Center.

Last but not least, it wouldn't be a grandma brag blog with out a cute picture of my grandson J : )

Blessings, Beth Ann (Granny B to some)