Sad Day / whats for dinner this week

Yesterday was a sad, sad day in our house. A dear friend whom we had come to depend upon more and more over the past 18 months expired. I fear it was my pushing her to work, "just one more time". On the other hand, we had shared many hours of work together and after only one , five minute potty break with my DH, broke for good. A coincidence you say? Either way, I am out a bread machine! Her impact is already being felt in our daily routine. My ds is mourning the loss of fresh bagels and cinnamon rolls. I am personally concerned about pizza day and bread baking day, and my DH is wailing about replacements. My bff (lol) is lending me hers while I take applications and do back ground checks. On this sad note, we will ask: What are you having for dinner this week? Big sigh.

At our homestead ~

Sat: Pizza w/ salad

Sun: Oven baked Salisbury steaks w/mashed pot & gravy

Mon: Spaghetti w/ salad (mom in mourning, to tired to cook)

Tue: Mexican chicken casserole with home made salsa and tortilla chips

Wed: Church/moms night off

Thur: Wisconsin Beer soup w/bratwurst and raw veggies

Fri: Crock pot sausage and potatoes w/salad

Other cooking this week includes; Banana Bread, cherry bisscotti, home made whole wheat tortillas, ranch dressing, oil & vinegar dressing, salsa, cinnamon rolls and cream cheese frosting, croutons and anything else we run out of!

Blessings, Beth Ann

Potty Power!!!

The other title I had picked out for this entry was, "How to go quietly insane in the middle of a store... go underwear shopping for six people, of 5 different age groups! So that is what I did yesterday ~ LOL Glad to see I am laughing today, wasn't yesterday. Was like something out of a sitcom. I am trying to buy underwear for myself. I have one of the twins in a cart with me, yanking skivvies off hangers. I have dd trying to convince me she needs a bigger bra size. I have ds trying to get me to buy him new scrubs, asking "does this look girlie to you". And I have dh with other twin behind me asking me about the fiber content on a couple of shirts he wants to buy. Alas, I am use to this. For what ever reason, where ever I go people ask me anything and everything. I must look like I know something. I get asked about the health benefits of dried prunes at Kroger's. I get asked about the quality of hand cream at the F$M. I even got asked how to spell Patricia at the post office yesterday. The list could go on and on... I am just resigned to being in the know ~ LOL At least it is better than when I lived in this little town in northern MI, everyone there wanted to touch my hair. Long story.

Anyway, main reason of trip was to get the twins some undies and pull ups. I decided they were going to be potty trained if it killed me or not! Now wondering if I can make it to church tomorrow with two drippy, only half potty trained kids? It has been going pretty hit and miss, but still a little better the hoped for. I guess the best is the older kids have been helping, otherwise I would feel overwhelmed. I have b/g twins and girl twin picked princess undies. She was so excited that she slept with the unopened package last night! Then this morning she just held her pee so that her underwear wouldn't get dirty ~ LOL Then she switched over to going every 10 minutes to make sure :) My boy twin didn't quiet grasp the concept, but when he saw how much attention his twin got, he started to catch on. Now if only he could improve his timing...

Blessings, Beth Ann

Michigan Poem

It's winter in Michigan
And the gentle breezes blow
Forty miles an hour
At twenty-five below.

Oh, how I love Michigan
When the snow's up to your butt
You take a breath of winter
And your nose gets frozen shut.

Yes, the weather here is wonderful
So I guess I'll hang around
I could never leave Michigan...

'Cause I'm frozen to the ground!!!

I recived this email from my cousin-in-law today, hope she doesn't mind me sharing it. Unfourtuantly she still lives there! We got out after 35 years of that stuff ~ LOL

Blessings, Beth Ann

Whats for dinner this week/ Meat loaf recipe

It has been brought to my attention that I have neglected to post my menu this week. Sorry, see Crabby II entry for a valid reason as to why ~~ LOL



I have also had a request for the Crockpot Meatloaf recipe from last week. It is a popular meal around here. Matter of fact, my middle dd saw me getting the slow cooker out this morning and asked with an anticapery gleam in her eye, "crockpot meatloaf tonight?" It broke my heart to dash her hopes but she rebounded fine when I told her it was crockpot lasagna. First I will share the recipe, then the menu. Once again, sorry it is late.



Crockpot Meatloaf



2 lbs. ground beef

2/3 cup cream or milk

2 eggs

1/4 cup chopped onion

1 cup whole wheat bread cubes

1 tsp. salt

pepper to taste



Mix all the above ingredients well, shape into a loaf and set in vrockpot. Cook on low for 6 hours. Serve with baked potatoes and a big salad!



Menu for this week: 2/16 to 2/22



Sat: Pizza w/salad



Sun: Oven baked: "Ritzy" chicken with brown rice and steamed mixed veggies.



Mon: Mexican chili potato burritos w/salad



Tue: Crockpot lasagna w/ garlic bread and steamed veggies.



Wed: Church/Mom's night off



Thur: Soup of the week/Wisconsin Beer Soup w/Brats and garlic cheese biscuts



Fri: Crab Alfredo Pasta W/broccoli



Other cooking this week ~ Home made tortilla shells, home made bread and home made ranch dressing. My oldest ds made no bake oatmeal peanutbutter cookies for a snack Sunday night ~ Yum!



Blessings, Beth Ann

Sunny Days

Here are a few more pictures from South Carolina. I chose to post these pics of the twins because of their big smiles! Just looking at these pictures brighten my day! Seems like we were just there and I can't wait to go this year! Only 7 1/2 months to go~ LOL

Quick health update: DH and I have been doing a quick walk before work every morning. With the hills on these streets, we any incline on any treadmill beat! Ofcourse I feel like I am going to expire when I reach the top, and my knee joints hurt going back down; but hey - we're being healthy, right? Also been staying in my calorie/points everyday as well as not eating after dinner, which is excuriating. Have you seen the TV advertisments at night? It is almost 98% fast food, other 2% is car commercials. Grrrrrrrrrr. On the pluse side, I have been making better progress on my stitching. I am currently working on a rose pattern my oldest dd picked out when she visited last summer. I had put it on hold for awhile, as I was working on a table runner with the natvity scene on it for Christmas. I think I will get some pictures together of my work and post them one of these days. Up in MI you can enter them in the county fair, I did and won many ribbons. Down here they don't do counted cross stitching, or not enough for it to be in the fair. Our county fair is mostly cooking, painting and photography. (Big Shrug)

Blessings, Beth Ann

crabby...part II

I would like a show of hands please, how many of you out there have kids that make you crabby? ... (humming theam from Jeapordy...) Praise the LORD!!! I was sure I was the only one (mow weeping quietly). Okay, I actualy feel better for just getting that out there.

We have been fighting the yuckies here over the week-end. It hit all three of my guys. Do you know how guys get when they are sick? Thats right, thats why only women have babies. Now picture three of them ranging in age from 3-15-40, acting that way. Getting a better picture here? Now picture another 3 yr. old and an 11 year old totaly taking advantage of this with mom. Finely, picture poor old mom trying to keep it all together, and not succeding. I really hate myself when I lose it. I try real hard to hold it together, but when I blow... whatch out below!!! Then they all walk around with a look on their faces like, "where did that come from?". Grrrrrrrrrrr

Okay, so by now you have figured out that we are talking the other kind of crabby. LOL Someone please tell me I am not alone in this and that I have a right to feel... grrrrrrrrrrrrrr. Big sigh. Thanks for letting me vent, needed to unload on someone who cared ~ LOL And if it isn't you, I ment the other person who read my blog today.

Blessings, Beth Ann

How to make the government mad...

... stay healthy and don't give them your money buy caving in to the scare tacktics employed by health care insurance companies!

We don't really do new year resalutions around here, but back before the holidays we realized we needed to make some changes; in so many ways. So we decided that the new year would be our springing board to try to implament them. We are doing so slowly, which I guess is the best way over all. First change was our food budget,and the quality of the food we eat. Many times over the past several years I have tried to maintain a healthy diet, mostly to be derailed by escalating food prices. Then after the twins were born, convience food became more of a staple than I am willing to admit to. So after much research into what is best and fits our life style, coupled with much encouragement from my friends, we are now mainly eating whole foods, and NO processed food, NO corn syrup, NO artifical sweetners and NO MSG. Occasionaly there is a slip, but we do our best. I've mentioned before that it is more labor intensive making everything from scratch, but the quality of the food is unsurpassed! I have also noticed that it sticks with you and fills you up.

Our next change is health insurance. When my dh changed jobs last year we lost our health coverage. That was so scary for me. Especialy after you consider what we had to pay for having the twins, with insurance at the time! But with God's help we made it through the year with out nary a doc visit. The few things we needed we paid for out of our own pocket, only God knows how. So with my dh year anniverary he now may enroll in the company plan. He called me in the middle of a minor corinary infarction when he learned the monthly price of this privledge. If we are only treading water now, how can we shell out that much each month? Well I started hyperventalating myself when he shared the good news. Our house was not a good place to be that day. As always, the next morning we were calmed down enough to come up with a game plan. Step one, google and research comprable coverage. Okay, so they aren't guaging us. Step two, how much do we really need? This is the part where they really try to con you. After much studying what it boils down to is that all the plans cost the same in the end with about the same amount of coverage, only difference is how fast you want to give them your money. My dh keeps yelling, "Canada". We have almost resigned ourselves to the enevitable, how much are you willing to gamble on you or your families health. Which brings me to step three and how it now conviently ties into step two. The best way to stick it to the health companies and to keep YOUR money in YOUR pocket, is to stay as healthy as possiable!

About ten years ago I was on a similar campagine with my health. I did great! Best shape of my life. Then the twins came. In my mind, right or wrong, many things are labled B.T. (before twins) and A.T. (after twins). It was a hard and high risk pregnancy. My body went to heck in a hand basket in many ways, one being gaining back all the weight I had lost before, plus some. My dh is a sympathetic eater and munched right along with me. You know how some people are blaming places like "McDonalds" for making them fat? I am blaming "Sonic". We don't have that chain up north, and I have never tasted such delicious fried food in my life! Not to mention their "Sonic Blast", so much better than a DQ Flurry. I am soooo in love with thier Extream Tots, tater tots covered in chili cheese, onions, ranch and jalapeno's! Anyway... We have known for almost 4 years we need to make changes, and have tried several things half heartedly. It was hard for me since I have always suffered from low selfesteam, and then I had two years of post partum depression with the twins. I had felt like space aliens had taken me over when I was pregnant, and continued to feel that way afterwords. But with two years of my dh unyielding love and support and my growing dependence and faith in God, we made it through. Now we are ready to take action!

We are going back to what works. Watching what we eat, counting points if you will (like wieght watchers) and a slow increase in daily activity. Just having a plan makes me feel impowered and less like a victem feeling sorry for herself. Thanks for listening to my ramblings.

Blessings, Beth Ann

Crabby

I know this seems out of sync here, but I am a little slow with the pictures on my camera (my camera phone is different). It seems to take me forever to use all the film up! ~ LOL I have just now got all my pics of South Carolina back. I will break them up over a couple of blogs to share with friends and family. I figure I will get them all posted in time to go again this year! :)

Every year we go, my ds looks forword to the crabs. Now I make the best crab soup I have ever tasted. Does my son catch enough for dinner? No! He is totaly into the catch and release deal. He can't stand to see any animal hurt or injured. The mens bible study group at our church were doing a unit using hunt as a way to reach some men. My son went twice, but just couldn't stand the whole idea of it all. Guess that will make him an excellent Vet in a few years. Anyway, here is my oldest ds hunting the elusive blue crab and a pic of my dh taking a camera phone pic to send home. There are a couple dozen varieties of crab along the coast. My son has also gotten some horse shoe crab and ghost crab. But it is the fiddler crab you have to look out for. They are the size of a half dollar piece and will come out of the salt marsh (behind my son in pic) and get into your shoes if you leave them outside and your wood pile. We found this out the hard way, and it only took once for us to learn to shake our shoes ~ LOL

Blessings, Beth Ann

"Baby it's cold outside"

Well, I didn't think we would see enough snow today to make this big a snow ball, but my middle dd worked all day at it ~ LOL We also have to cups in my freezer full of snow, I guess for a sunny day?

Right now I am taking a quick coffee break before we get ready for church. I make my own peppermint mocha coffee creamer (cheaper, healthier and yummier than the store brand), and stirring it with a chocolate coffee spoon I recived at the kids home school co-op Valentine party yesterday. It is soooooo wonderful, best thing I have had today. I just might make it to bed time for the twins yet!

Peppermint Mocha Coffee Creamer

2 cups half -n-half (I use skim milk)

1/3 cup baking cocoa

1 cup sugar (or what ever sweetner you prefer)

peppermint extract

In a small sauce pan combine milk, cocoa and sugar. Heat on medium, stirring with a wire whisk until everything has blended well and the sugar has dissolved well. Remove from heat and add a few drops of peppermint extract)add as much or as little as desired).

Blessings, Beth Ann

Awesome Applesauce

Snowy greetings from Cannon County! Not much, just enough to make my car spin on the way home from dropping Zach off at the animal clinic for work. Just for a moment I thought I was in MI again! LOL



Well what better way to spend a snowy morning than by making home made applesauce. The hardest part is peeling, coring and slicing the apples. But even that was made pleasent by looking out at the snow as it draped my birdfeeder and bringht red cardinals and black caped chickadees paraded around in their winter finest as I did the chore.



This is a recipe that I came upon about twenty years ago when my oldest was only 4. Back in that day it was still safe to go door to door trick or treating. But even I sucumbed to the dreaded "razor blade in the apple" frenzy that engulfed a whole nation. So I decided the best way to be sure and to not wast food was to make... You guessed it, applesauce! Since then we have moved almost a thousand miles away from where we spent Halloween in snowsuits, and now attend Fall Harvest parties in just a flanel shirt :) But we still make the applesauce, and every time one of the children will say, "mom it smells like Christmas in here".



Awesome Applesauce



6-8 apples, pared, cored and chopped

2/3 cup sugar

1 tsp. cinnamon

1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

1/4 tsp. nutmeg

1 cup water



Combine all ingredients in cooker. Cook on low 8 hours. This will leave it chunky and yummy on pancakes. If you want it smoother, let sauce cool and place in food processor with "s" blade and puree.



Makes 6-8 half cup servings

"I'm gonna be a star!"

This is my mini doxin, Howard. He has big news. Really big news. Ginormous news, for a mini doxin! He is going to be on TV! Well at least at Joe's Place here in Cannon Co. I guess they run local advertisments on a loop there. Dr. Tate, whom treated Howie when he hurt himself, and who my oldest ds now works for, asked if Howard and his wheels could be in thier TV ad. I am still sketchy on the details, but my ds might also be on the comercial as well. Impressive.

Howard is a celebrity already at the animal clinic. They even ask my ds to bring him down occasionaly for "playdates". When ever we board him, he spends more time in laps than in the kennel. It's like the old TV show Cheers, when they all yelled, "Hey Norm", when that charecter walked in. They are all impressed that he has over come so many odds that many mini doxies never do after hurting their backs. I could go on and on about the little guy. He was my baby before I had the twins, when I thought I was done having babies. I guess he is a true testament to what you can achieve when you don't realize you aren't supposed to!

Blessings, Beth Ann

Whats for dinner this week?

I was trying to do a funny parody of the Capitol One TV commercials, "whats in your wallet", with my title. Think I feel short. Oh well.

Sat: Pizza w/salad

Sun: Oven baked chicken w/ garlic & rosemarry roasted potatoes and brocolli

Mon: Mexican nachos with all the trimmings

Tue: Crockpot meatloaf with mashed potatoes and carrots

Wed: Church/Moms night off

Thur: (Valentines day) Soup of the week ~ white chicken chili w/ home made garlic and cheese biscuts. Also a heart shaped cake w/cream cheese frosting.

Fri: Pasta for the kiddies, spagehtti. Mom and Dad are going out on a late V-day dinner date :)

Other cooking for the week includes, but not limited too... Sugar cookies for the home school co-op V-day party and also for the Teen Library meeting; both my oldest ds and middle dd are members of that. So two V-day parties in two days for them! Who said home school kids are deprived?

Also on the agenda tonight as we are out is my home made granola, and some banana bread for breakfast befor church tomorrow. I always freeze the leftover banana the twins don't eat, and it makes wonderful bread. Something about the freezing makes it much easier to mash the naners. Speaking of freezing, I had a friend tell me to try flash freezing orange sections, as a healthy replacment for juice/popcycles. They are wonderful!!! I will never go back. From now on we will only have frozen oranges to suck on, no corn syrup fortified consumer chemicals on a stick for us!

Also more apple sauce this week as well. I find it works out well to buy a 3lb. bag of red and green apples every two weeks when I shop(my kids are split down the middle, 2 enjoy red and 2 enjoy green). That gives us plenty to snack on during the next 11 days. Day 12 the remainder and yes I also save uneated apples from the twins that were cored and sliced,gets made into the best apple sauce on the face of the planet. Day 13 sees the slowe cooked applesauce served with pancakes for a wonderful lunch. On day 14 we start all over again.

So, whats on your menu?

Blessings, Beth Ann

"You dirty rat!"

Happy New Years, one and all! Chines that is ~ LOL It is the year of the rat. No, I don't know what that means. I know they run their animals in 12 year cycles, so it won't be the year of the rat again for another 12 years. I also know I was born in the year of the monkey. No, I don't know what that means either ~ LOL I really don't follow any kind of astrology one way or the other. All I DO know is that we LOVE Chines food at our house. A couple months ago my middle dd had an assignment for history while studying Chine, make an authentic eggroll. Well let me tell you something buddy... It was sooooo good we were excited to see this holiday on the calander and use it as an excuse to trot out the deep fryer. Okay, we almost never eat deep fried food , which I am sure is why these tasted so good! We also don't own a deep fryer, but I do have a great electric fondu pot of all things, which you can fry in! So Happy New Years to all, and a Yummy night!

Blessings, Beth Ann

Tax time

A windy greeting from middle Tn. this fine Wendsday. We survived Super Tuesday and Super Twister Tuesday, as the media is calling it. We are so blessed to live here in Cannon Co. Due to the geography of the land, most "bad" weather tends to skirt us. Last night there were over 70 funnels reported through the south, with almost 40 in the northwest of this state. Yet all we saw at our home stead was a brief, sevier T-storm. Today the high winds continue with advisories in affect, but letour thoughts and prayers be with the families of those who suffered loss last night.

Mostly the weather has been wonderful here, unseasonably warm. Yesterday during lunch, a friend turned to me and said,"today would be a wonderful day to go camping". She is another caming nut like me, and she was right - if you overlooked the tornado warnings. It was 70, and our thoughts were definatly not on school or the kids we were supervising. Now with all that said, camping takes gas for our RV - YIKES!!! Our last big trip was the 1st of Nov. 2007, our annual South Carolina vacation. Then the holidays were upon us, then some cooler weather. Due to gas prices, we again will only take one big trip this year. You guessed it! Edisto Island, South Carolina. We are soooo crazy about that place. And I swear I will find a use for the ten thousand sea shells we bring back each year, along with random horseshow crabs, ghost crabs, and other sea life! We will take smaller ones during the year, like Chattanooga yet this month, but we will watch the gas needle. Which brings me to todays topic, wondered when I would get there huh, taxes and what to do with the returns. We are filing ours tomorrow, and will be able to plan what we can accomplish. We tend to get a good size one every year, due to being poor and having to many kids. So we have a good basic idea what we are working with. First thing - Filling Minnie Winnie up, $200 (probably last time before trip in Oct.). Next, making reservations for our Edisto Island trip. Third, fencing in the cat walk around our pool and installing a new gate to keep kids and animals safe. We have a beautiful above ground pool, that is completly decked in and atatched to our screened in sun porch. Now it the time to add the fencing, for safty, and add privicy from our new....neighbors. After all that I am afraid it all goes to bills. Actually could use all of it on bills, but somethings have to be done. We bought our house almost six years ago, and are in the last stages of remodoling it. Our next big thing will be to knock down our exsisting, freestanding, garage and replace it with a new two car garage with an 950 sq. ft. apartment above it. That way we can stop using our RV for our guest house, and my oldest ds will have his own place when he goes off to colleg in four years.

So, what are your plans with your tax money?

Blessings, Beth Ann

Whats for dinner this week

Saturday ~PIZZA NIGHT Pizza (Buffalo Style Chicken, recipe in last post)and tossed salad

Sunday ~ OVEN BAKED MEAL NIGHT Parmesan chicken wingettes with mashed potatoes and steamed carrots.

Monday ~ MEXICAN NIGHT Beef Enchilada Casserole with salad

Tuesday ~ CROCKPOT NIGHT French Dip Sandwiches with colesalw (home made ranch dressing on slaw, recipe to follow)

Wednesday ~ LEFTOVER NIGHT Church/Mom's night off

Thursday ~ SOUP NIGHT Ham and bean soup with veg. eggrolls... to celebrate the Chines New Year!

Friday ~ PASTA NIGHT Seafood Alfredo with pineapple corn muffins and brocolli

Non-dairy ranch dressing (from Hallelujah Acres)

1 cup Vegenaise or Nayonnaise (I use Smart Balance)
1 tsp. garlic powder
1 Tbl.minced, dried onion
2 tsp. lemon juice
1/2 tsp. sea salt
1/4 cup water

Whisk all ingredients together and chill until serving. Also good for dipping veggies into!


Other cooking this week includes but is not limited to: Dehydrated crutons, homemade graham crackers, susage and gravy, bagels and granola.

My son is quit the budding culinary genius. I told him if Veternary school didn't work out he should consider culinary school. Last week he made lemon square cookies. He liked them so much he wanted to make them again this week. He decided on two batches, one for home and one to take into the animal clinic to share with the workers. He also decided he wanted to try one batch with real lemon and the second with the jar stuff. He declared after the first batch, "nothing is better than cooking with fresh ingredients mom". LOL I am very proud of him, despite the fact that I know the only reason he learned to cook and bake was self preservation. After the twins were born I was to busy to do much cooking in the first two years. Now it is a matter of taste buds. He pretty much knows that if he wants something sweet, he will have to make it himself! Staying on this topic, I have one closing story to share with you... While checking my email today I heard my 3yr. dd ask big brother for a snack. He asked her what she would like. With out missing a beat she responded, "sugar". Grrrrrrrrrrrr Who did she get that from?

Blessings, Beth Ann

Pizza~bilities!

we are having this for dinner tonight. I always make two jelly roll pans of pizza every Saturday. One for the kids, half cheese and half pepperoni. One for just DH and myself. We are more adventurus than the children and enjoy spices way more as well (ds doesn't like anything spicier than ketchup). So I have been craving buffalo wings, this being super bowl week=end and all. Let we know what you think.

Buffalo Style Chicken Pizza

2 boneless, skinless chicken breast - cooked and shredded
2 oz. of your favorit bottled wing sauce
16 oz. blue cheese salad dressing (I make my own and recipe follows)
8 oz. mozzarella cheese, shredded
pizza crust (this makes enough for two round or 1 jelly roll/cookie sheet pan)

Pre heat oven to 350 degrees. In a medium bowl combine the chicken and hot sauce. Mix well. Spread blue cheese dressing over crust, then top with chicken mixture and sprinkle with shredded cheese. Bake in preheated oven for about 20 minutes, untile cheese is bubbly and crust golden brown. Let stand at least 5 minutes before slicing and serving.


Beth's Blue Cheese Dressing

1 cup crumbled blue cheese
1 cup mayo (I use Smart Balance)
1 cup sour cream
2 tsp. lemon juice
1 tsp. hot pepper sauce
2 tsp. worchestershire sauce
2 Tbl. fresh chopped parsley
1 1/2 tsp. sugar
1 tsp. fresh ground pepper
1 tsp. sea salt

In a large bowl, whisk together all the ingredients. Chill until ready to serve.

Makes 16 oz.

End of the week mummblings

Welcome to the first day of February. Will the ground hog see his shadow tomorrow? Don't be silly, he lives in PA. What do you think? LOL Either way, still 329 days before Christmas and 24 pay checks if you get paid every two weeks! Again, either way; good news ~ right? LOL

Well yesterday I had this really nice blog typed, with many of my famous recipes and apropriate antidotes to go with. About 30 seconds before I was ready to push the post botton, the weather knocked me of-line. Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr. I know, my bad. I shouldn't have been on-line durning questionable weather to begin with. Sometimes I like to live "la vie la loca". Nothing usualy hits us here in our "holler". Most bad weather goes up Short Mt. and back down it, into Warren Co. Oh well, "Sa la vie".

Not feeling the love today, so will pare down my recipes and antidotes. I think I should try to share one a day or so, instead of waiting to the end of the week and posting everything. On thing I wanted to share for sure was my recipe for Date-Coconut Logs. It comes form my Hallelujah Acres cookbook, "Recipes for Life... From God's Garden" by Rhonda J. Malkmus. If your not familiar with the HA lifestyle, it is mostly eating raw. I personaly try to follow the 85/15% they recomend (usually do poorly at it), which is eating 85% raw food and 15% cooked food. This means the equivalant of 1 cooked meal a day, usualy dinner here. Sometimes the kids get squrrely, so I throw some whole wheat pasta at them or something. Mostly they are good sports and have grown to enjoy mom's home made/fresh salsa, guacamole, refried beans and ranch salad dressing. All excellent for veggie dipping. Not to mention my out of this world hummus and blue cheese dressing. But I digress...

Date ~ Coconut logs

2 cups dates
1 cup unsweetened, shredded coconut

In a food processor using the "S" blade,grind dates until a dough like consistancy is reached. Wet your hands, shape into logs; and roll in coconut to cover.

This makes abut 1 doz. 2-inch logs

YUMMY!

I made these yesterday, and they are half way gone. I don't have a digital camera, or I would add pictures now. I just picked up a disposable camera today so will add after I get them developed on to CD-ROM. One day it is my dream to have enough free time to buy a nice digital camera, and learn to use it the right way. I once looked at one, but when I saw that the user manual was almost half the size of my bible ( I have a large print ~ for almost blind people ~ Life applacation study bible) combined with the price , I quickly lost intrest!

Well I need to get going on dinner and diapers. I have my bi-weekly shopping to do tomorrow, but plan to drop by long enough to share my weekly cooking schedual and the awsome recipe for buffalo style chicked pizza I found. Tomorrow is Saturday after all, and that means home made pizza here at our home stead.

Blessings, Beth Ann

Middle of the week baking

Greetings all. Hope everyone is enjoying the last week of January. Can you believe it? Only 330 days to Christmas! That is only 24 pay days for my DH. Now I'm scared !!!



Today I made my awsome Coconut-dat logs. It is a recipe from my Hallellujah Acres cook book called, "Recipes for life...from God's Garden" by Rhonda J. Malkmus. If your not familuar with this lifestyle, it is basicly a 85/15 percentage eating style of mostly raw food. You eat 85% whole, natural, uncooked foods and 15% cooked whole grain and vegetarian foods a day. That breaks down to only eating one cooked meal a day. I don't follow this all the time, but they have great recipes and ideas. So with that in mind this is one delicous and healty snack for the family.



Coconut-Date Logs



2 cups organic dates

1 cup unsweetened, shredded coconut



In a food processor using "S" blade, grind dates until a dough like consistency is reached. Wet your hands, shape into logs, and roll in coconut to cover.



Makes about 1 dozen, 2-inch logs







Yesterday I made my world famous crockpot applesauce. I originated this recipe many moons ago, when my oldest dd (who is now 23 and has a child of her own) would go trick or treating on Halloween and returned home with apples. Being the uptight, controling, nervous nilly I am; I wouldn't let her eat the apples for fear of the dreaded "razor blade" in the apple urban folk lore. So, also being a frugal tight wade (Isn't it great to be multifacited or is that multiple personalites?) I didn't want to waste the apples. So peeling, coring, slicing them and cooking them down was the perfect solution! No way any forgin objects were going to get past my eyes ~ LOL We have long since relocated to a different state and now frequant cake walk friendly Fall Harvest Parties, but the "wickedly amazing"(to quote my ds) recipe lives on for any apples going to turn bad. Getting a visual here of apples wearing bandanas over their faces, holding up banks. Get it, apples gone bad ~ LOL Am I the only one laughing?



Beth's crockpot applesauce



8 apples, cored, peeled and chopped

1/2 cup sugar

1 tsp. cinnamon

1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

1/4 tsp. nutmeg

1 cup water



Combine all ingredients in cooker. Cook on low about 8 hours.



Leave as is for awsome pancake topping or put through food processor "S" blade to desired consistancy after it has cooled.



makes about 2 cups or 4 half cup servings









We don't do the digital camera thing yet or I would include photos for you. But I am picking up a new camera this week end (have them developed onto disk) and as I make things I will take photos and add them to this blog. Better late than never ? Last Saturday I made bagels for the first time and was quit pleased with my results. They were just as yummy as any store bought, maybe even better according to my DH :) Again, a little time consuming but I found a bread machine recipe so the bulk of it was waiting for the dough in the machine. I will deffinetly be making these again. My son is just in love with them and is my best kitchen helper. He always encourages my cooking endevours, best way for mom to make more stuff to eat as he grazes all day every day, totaling about 9 meals a day. Here is the orginal bagel recipe .

God's Smuggler

Another mild overcast day here in middle TN., currently 55 degrees. I am always impressed, delighted and feeling blessed about the weather here.

Well even though it is a new year, we still seem to have our same old struggles and vices. With a family our size money always seems to be an issue. Today I was talking with DH and re-evaluating our budget. He struggles so much with pride and being able to take care of his family. When there is "more month at the end of the money" to quote an old country song, he feels helpless. I can also see how it affects his faith a bit. I seem to be the faith cheerleader in our relationship, which is odd since my religious upbringing was pretty hit and miss; while he is a PK (pastor's kid). Today he made the comment that he just didn't make enough money to meet our needs. That really irked me since we were just finishing a discussion on if we were the best stewards of our own money. I thought we had decided we could do better. So it took me another 15 minutes or so to get him to see that just praying to God for "more money" wasn't going to work as long as we weren't taking care of the money we already had. I tried to make the illustration of a kid not taking care of his bike but asking his father for a car. Think he started to get it then. So we talked about how we always manged. We talked about examples of when "blessings" showed up just in time to keep the lights on or get some gas to make it to work the next day. We even talked about the correlation of tithing and the blessings coming. He finely got it, but it is so hard sometimes to have that faith.

I brought up a book we are almost finished reading with the children for school called "God's Smuggler", written by Brother Andrew with John & Elizabeth Sherrill. In a nut shell it is about a man who smuggled bibles behind the Iron Curtain after the war into communist Europe. It is such a wonderful book on missionary work and most importantly about total faith and dependence on God. Paragraph after paragraph is example oh how God provided everything for this man, from the money for his schooling,finding a wife and the funds for his work. At one point they needed money so bad to print bibles that that they decided that they would sell there own house, even though they and their 3 children had nowhere to go. As soon as they made the decision to make that sacrifice for God's work, the money/blessing came and they kept their house. I could go on and on about this book, but I digress. I reminded my DH that at one point in the book that Brother Andrew while praying for a wife decided to keep a prayer journal. He would recorded the date of his prayer, what he prayed for and any answer he received. I suggested that maybe DH might consider doing the same. It might help him see the trees through the forest so to speak.

An interesting final conclusion here. Minutes after coming downstairs from our talk, we checked the mail and there was a "blessing" in it. Two hours later DH got a call on a car job also for this week, insuring that the gas bill would be paid in time and that we would have gas money and enough for milk and diapers as well! God is so amazing!!!!

Blessings, Beth Ann

Cooking for the upcoming week

Here it is Friday already - no wonder I am tired :) I always have started my new week on Saturday, and it runs through Friday. Picked up the habit when I worked for 12 years in a major retail chain in northern MI., that is how our work schedules ran. So tomorrow is a brand new week for me. Here is my dinner menu line up......

Sat.: Home made pizza w/tossed salad

Sun.: Beef stroganoff on whole wheat noodles and green beans.

Mon.:(Mexican) Chicken burritos w/salad

Tue.:(Crock pot) Pork chops and home made baked beans w/veggie sticks

Wed.: Church (aka/mom's night off) we're Baptist, so we eat at church every week - LOL

Thur.:(Soup) Sirloin stew w/ home made bread

Fri.: (Pasta) Seafood Alfredo w/broccoli over whole wheat noodles

Other baking for the week will include but is not limited to: Home made ranch salad dressing, peppermint mocha coffee creamer , home made granola, whole wheat bagels, coconut date logs and other misc. items that pop up as we need them.

Yes, making just about everything from scratch is very time consuming and some days overwhelming. But my family is worth it and I gain a sense of gratification from knowing that I am cooking closer to how God would want me to, and not lining the pockets of the government by spending our hard earned money on chemically enhanced food that will increase our chances of illness; necessitating a doctor/medican, once again lining the governments pockets with our money. Now with that said, I am not above appreciating some modern convinces, such as my dish washer - Amen! LOL

Another modern connivance I adore is my bread machine. Here is a great pizza dough recipe for almost any bread machine:

Bread machine pizza dough

1 1/2 cups warm water
2 TB. olive oil
2 tsp. salt
4 1/4 cups flour (I use half unbleached white/half whole wheat)
2 tsp. sugar
2 tsp. yeast or one pack

Add ingredients to machine in order given and set on the "dough" cycle. When done, remove to a floured board if using immediately. Or, place in a bowl greased with olive oil, turn dough over to coat it, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until ready to use.

This will make two pounds, enough for a large cookie/jelly roll pan, or two round pizza's.

I simply just roll my dough out in the pan. Spread tomato sauce on top. Add any toppings we desire and bake 20 minutes in a 350 oven that was pre heated while rolling the dough.

Voila'
We do this every Saturday, pizza and board games. The kids love it, and will let us know if we try to incorporate something else. LOL

I truly know and believe that all children and most adults thrive on schedules. In this busy chaotic world, we all crave stability. The bigger picture is God, and that is what I am striving to teach as a parent. Since He can't be with us physically all the time, He created parents. So in my stewardship I build up my children's trust, one pizza Sat. at a time. Even my DH finds certain comfort in knowing that if it is Sat. it must be pizza night on the old home stead. Even the nights he isn't home for dinner, he can picture us in our routine and derive comfort from that. And I too claim comfort in knowing that no matter how my day/week is going, I have at least one meal nailed! LOL

Blessings, Beth Ann

Middle of the month meditations

Well we all knew that winter would come sooner or later. It has been a cool week in middle TN. Currently it is 30 and sunny, but earlier this week we saw freezing rain. Still better than MI, northern MI. I talked to my oldest dd last night and it was 2 in our home town, with ten new inches of snow. I really need to work on her mother in-law, if she moves down here; so will my dd.

It has been a very busy month for birthdays in our family. First, my grandson had his 1st. birthday! Then my oldest ds turned 15, and started looking at cars to fix up with his dad. Then my DH turned the big 40! It was a quiet affair, as was his request; even though his big sister thought we should have black balloons - LOL There were several other extended family b-days as well. You may all draw your own conclusions as to why there is a huge Jan. birthday phenomenon.

I have mostly been busy just cooking and searching out local food co-ops for the best deals. I bit the bullet and decided to pay exuberant amount of money for dried cherries. They have been much anticipated by all in the family. I use them in place of raisins in my granola, oatmeal cereal bars and biscotti to name a few. But found out that they didn't come in on the truck! My son is going to be soooo disappointed. But my big 25lb. bag of oatmeal came - LOL We shop shop every two weeks, last week and next week. I found many great marked down meat deals last week. I never pay full price for meat anymore. I was able to get five pounds of marked down burger at the pig, which my son made into jerky for my DH (a birthday request). It was so yummy! The key is to get to the store pretty early in the a.m. for the meat. I feel it is one of the few things I can do as all other grocery prices just keep going up. The shredded cheese I buy went up 30 cents last week and the veg. oil went up 51 cents! Guess what, my DH wages stayed the same! Where will it end?

"My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me and to finish His work" - John 4:34

Blessings, Beth Ann

New and old things

Greetings all, another awsome day in Cannon County, TN. Yesterday is was 71 here! That sounds wonderful, but if it is in the seventies the first week of January, what will it be in June? Hmmmmmmmm

Well my trip to Costco and Wild Oats wasn't very productive, except for the fellowship of my best friend sans kids. I found that even most food at Wild Oats had either MSG or one of it's first cousins. Then at Costco I found there was nothing there I couldn't get at Wal-mart, to justify the cost of the trip up to Nashville. So I will just try to pick a few things here and there at the local organic food co-op. I got some organic vegetable broth last time and made my own "Roman Noodles" for the kids. I bought whole wheat spagehti noodles and packaged in 3oz. servings with a tablespoon of broth. My dd who was hooked on "Roman" thought they were just as good! Cost wise it did cost me about 5 cents more a package than "Roman", but more than worth it to ditch the MSG and get the healthy whole grains. Score one for the mom team!!!!

Something else I decided to implement is cloth napkins. I figured I spent about $120 - $150 a year on paper plates, napkins, plastic silverwear, ect. So I am doing away with them. I will just use regular plates and silverwear (unless camping - even mom deserves a break), and will make my own cloth napkins with leftover fabric I already had. This exercise has had a two fold benifit. First the cost issue, and second the kids got involved. As soon as I hauled out my sewing machine and set up shop, both my 11 and 15 year old wanted to make some too. Now it is a home ec. project for school! LOL Can't tell you how many folks are impressed that my 15 year old son can cook, clean, work on cars, fix stuff around the house, change diapers and sew! Since I am braging... He is also quiet the scholar and budding thealogin as well as working at the local animal clinic in his chosen field. I know many men and women who are three times his age and can't meet half these claims! Once the sewing machine was out, my 11 dd decided to design and make her own cell phone case. The first one turned out so well she has made several more for friends and to give as gifts. Another school lesson in this craft. And all this from items I already had. What a blessing. Sometimes the best ideas and family memories come from simple problem solving around the house.

Blessings from Beth Ann

New Year

Happy New Year to all! We had a quiet holiday season here in middle TN. First time in over five years, and boy was it nice! But with the coming of a new year we all want to "do better" at many things. First on my list is our family budget. The bane of my existence is the grocery/catch all shopping. This seems to be the only place to cut back despite it also being the place where every expense that is not a "bill/utility" comes from. So I have been diligently working at finding cheaper ways to eat, while still mostly eating healthy. For us this means trying to avoid corn syrup and msg. The first is easier than the second. Matter fact, the more I find out about msg, the more I am convinced there is no way to avoid it 100% with out moving to a self supporting farm and eating only things that I have grown - cattle and veggies! Anyway, I digress. I just wanted to share with you this new menu planning technique I came up with. I wrote down seven lunches, and that is what we have every week. Example, every Monday we have grilled cheese sandwiches with tomato soup. Every Tuesday we have pancakes with applesauce, ect... Then I wrote down 30 different dinners and broke them up into catagories such as : soup, crockpot, pasta, mexican, ect... Then I made up a menu that looks like this, every Monday - Pasta, every Tuesday - Soup, every Wendesday - Crockpot, ect......... I could not believe how fast this made menu planning and how easy it was to add and subtract any special meals (birthdays) or items in house that need to be used up. I compared this to other meal planning ideas I have used and felt this had even saved me money, as after each dinner I add to my list, I then totaled the cost of each meal. Example: Chicken alfredo with brocolli and garlic bread - $5
Crockpot french dip sandwiches with salad - $7
Creamed Tuna on rice with steamed veg. - $2

Hope this isn't to confusing and gives you some of your own ideas to help beat the stress of meal planning and helps you keep better tract of what your family is eating. Let me know if you have any questions. Tomorrow I am going shopping with my friend to Wild Oats then to Costco, in the eternal seach for healthy and cheap food. I will keep you posted on any great finds I make. Until then........
Blessings from Beth Ann

New year prep

Good rainy day to all . Here in middle TN. we continue with our unseasonably warm weather, which by the way started back last March. Today is 60 with rain. Once again I am reminded why I moved here! LOL

Yesterday Zachary and Breanna cleaned the basement! I will count that as a Christmas gift to me. Not only did they clean the basement, but they did so with out fussing and working together!! A true Christmas miracle indeed! I was suffering from sinus headaches and that really made my day. Just seeing the basement clean made me feel better. I truly believe that a clean house can affect your out look on so many things. I am truly blessed by my family.

I have been busy making homemade croutons, ranch dressing, granola and bread. Cooking from scratch and with whole, good foods is certainly more time consuming, but it feels good to find uses for everything and waste nothing. I will have to keep you posted on the economical side of things. So far it seems to be a tad less expensive. But whole chickens here aren't any cheaper than buying flash frozen boneless skinless chicken breast in a bag , so probably won't do that again. The flavor of your own roasted bird is certainly better, but more time consuming in the cooking area. So six to one, half a dozen of the other. Guess it will be determined in the end by the current price when purchased. I pickled some garlic the other day as well. I tried some when we were in S.C. and loved it, but couldn't afford it at almost $8 a jar. So found a recipe on-line for about $3 a jar! It called for it to sit for three weeks before eating, so it will be ready on Knute's b-day - I can't wait! Tomorrow Bre and I are going to make Kimche, speaking of pickled food - LOL It is part of her unit study on Korea. Part of me wanted to opt out and buy some, I found it pre-made for about the same price as making my own. But the teacher side of me had a conference with the mom side and explained about how if she did it herself it would stick with her better that just tasting a jar made version. Once again, this will have to sit about two weeks before we eat it. Man our house is going to smell... I mean be aromatic.

Well as fate would have it, if we believed in fate, Knute and I were discussing our plans for a garden in 2008 , when in the mail our Burpee catalog arrived! We are hoping to get one put in on the cheap side and reap some fresh veggies all summer/fall. This year Bre planted some turnips and had good luck. I would love to plant some turnips, parsnips, rutabagas and sweet potatoes. I love boiling them and mashing them up in place of typical mashed potatoes. It is much healthier for you, and so yummy too! Also thinking of putting in some cucumbers, green beans and garlic. The kids always like to plant radishes in a container as well. We have tried this with carrots in the past with poor success, but more that likely will try again. So until we start prepping our garden area in late March we will content our selves with curling up with our catalog and making a wish list and checking it twice - LOL

Blessings, Beth Ann

School pictures

Here are just a few pictures from our school year so far. We use Sonlight as our home schooling curriculum and you can check them out at www.sonlight.com

End of the year ramblings

Well here we are, another year over. I know it has been quit some time since I posted. I had some trouble accesing this dashboard, but trouble seems to be over now. I could go into a long sentimental account of m;y year in reviwe, but I won't! LOL Just doesn't seem there is much worth mentioning. It has been a very longggggggggg year for us, strarting with our car accident in Jan. and my dh changing jobs in Feb. But things are starting to look up now, now that the year is over - LOL Seriously, Knute finealy started his own auto service in conjuction with his managment position at the Zone. He talked about it for almost two years. So about six months ago he went for it. It has really started picking up this past fall. We had struggled with one of us getting a second job and prayed profusly and unceasingly over it. Always with the same result, no. We feel that his business picking up is our answer. If he gets 3-4 large jobs, or 6-7 small ones it is the same as a second part time job or me getting a job outside the home. The benifits are enormus.
With the new year just around the corner I am finding myself making all kinds of promises to myself, after promising myself not to do that again! LOL Call them resalutions if you will, but I call them doing what I ought to have been all along. The top ones on my list are: Tithing, no excusses. Bible reading. Eating, cooking and preparing healthy whole foods. I will stop worrying about points, if it is vegan or to much sugar. I will only buy, fix and eat food to the best of my budget allowence that is as healthy as posiable. Means more work in the kitchen for me, but I am the best cook I know anyway. The health benifits will be enormuse since beans, rice and whole grains are better for you than prepared cemical inhanced sauces, cereals and aspertaim injected beverages and dairy products. I found a wonderful website, wwwthefamilyhomestead.com It has given me many culunary and basic baking ideas that make me want to smack my head and say duh! LOL If you check it out. please drop me a line to let me know what you think.
Well that about wraps things up. Check back often as I will post more, including new pics of our annual Edisto Island , S.C. vacation; now that this site is working better.

Blessings for a very Happy 2008, Beth Ann

How was your summer?

Greetings one and all! It has been a long, HOT summer. Here are some statistics from the news last night............... Yesterday was the 12th day in a row at 100+, day 20 at 95+, day 28th at 90+. The current record is in 1954 with 31 days at 90+ temperatures. They said we will have no trouble breaking that since there is no relife in sight for the rest of this month! Whew! Yet when my oldest dd calls from northern MI it is only in the low 60's there. Makes me miss it...... a little, especialy the early fall like Sept.



Speaking of my oldest dd, she came to visit the end of June and brought her entrerouge - LOL It was her, my grandson who was 6 months at the time, her monther in-law to be, her step-daughter to be and her step-daughters half sister. Got that all straight? LOL we had trouble too. I t was a WONDERFUL visit, but went by way to fast. We ate to much, cooked out, played in the pool, had all our friends over and looked at her baby pictures! We all went to the Chattanooga Aquarium and saw the penguins, then came home and had to watch "Happy Feet". I think one of my favorit memories (not my dd to be sure) is when she took my other two oldest to visit their dad in East TN. (Morrison) and got lost on the way back. Late at night during an electic storm we get a tearful call, "Mom I'm at the Virgina welcom center!" OOPS! LOL



Well summer has went by wayyyyyyyyyyyyy to fast, but we are gearing up for a really great fall. Which we need since the year started so bad with our car accident and all. Then continued in a down trend with my dh being out of work, braces, bills, pastor moving to South Korea and lets not forget last week......... lice, opposum bit my doxin's tail off, underwire bra puncturing me and my family trying to make up by pretending nothing is wrong with their behavior. Big Sigh, and those are just the highlights.



But looking ahead we are once again feeling renewed in our faith. We have a great intream Pastor from Franklin leading our church family and helping us grow stronger as we sellect a new Pastor. My oldest son went on a mission trip that was a huge success and he has been asked to join our adult team as they go on one of thier yearly mission trips to Hati. An honor indeed, no other youth was asked. Same said son is starting high school this year, with a learning I.Q. already higher then mine when I graduated. My middle dd is starting 6th grade and entering puberty, interesting combo. And the twins are busy wrestling each other, learning to share and not only working on colors as well as numbers; but have developed quit an affinity for classical music. I believe Beehtovan is Elijah's favorit while Elysha prefers Wagner and a little Vivaldi. Isn't home schooling great? Speaking of home school, my son was asked to join our local library board as they prepare an expansion project. I can only assume it is because he is of a dying breed, teenagers who actualy read books. And we started our home school co-op yesterday. The kids really loved it and the twins are now at an age to fully enjoy it as well. Once a week we go over to Tullahoma and join with other home schoolers and share our skills and teach new things. My dh is teaching guitar this year and I am teaching a kid bible study with arts and crafts. The best part is my ds can take his biology lab over there as well as his college prep writing.

Happy Memorial Day!

Just wanted to take a quick minute to wish you all a safe and happy holiday week-end. No matter how you feel about our current status in Iraq, please remember all prayers are welcome and NEEDED!

This week-end will always be special to me since my twins were born on the 28th of May, 2004. So every 3 years their b-day falls on Memorial day. Almost seems like it would have been more apropriate if it had been Labor day - LOL! Can't believe they are 3 today! We opened our pool and had a grand old time. Took lots of photo's I hope to post here soon.

Speaking of photo's, here are some more of my grandson Jack from about a month ago. Him and his mama, my oldest dd, will be here in 4 weeks to visit!! I am so excited!!! I could almost spit! LOL Can't wait to take them to church and show them off.

My oldest ds is leaving in a week for MS, on a mission trip to help Katrina victims rebuild. He is very excited and hoping to get much from it. He fears most of the teens will view this as yet another "social" event. He told me he wants more from church then his friends do, and sometimes they don't understand him. He shared with a few that his new history hero is Leanardo Di Vinci, most of them thought that was the guy in the movie Titanic - big sigh for my son. All I can say is that I am proud of him and am glad to see the fruit of our home schooling.

Well the kids want me to get in the pool with them, and I need the exercise. I have been doing the Weigh Down Diet, and am very succesful. I have also been faithful to Curves and have seen results there too. Since I have ceased making calories, charts, points, low-fat and other diet paraphanailia my idol, God has done amazing things in me! Amen

Long time no see

Greetings fine friends and family.

Sorry it has been so long since I last updated. If truth be told, I have had some problems logging on here to update. Still not sure what I did differently this time!

Not much new and exciting around here. We are just trying to settle into a new routine with DH new job, and only being paid every two weeks. He did eventualy get the managment job at AutoZone, but at a slightly less amount of pay. And we are really noticing the difference! So we are all trying to adjust our belts and redo the budget. Not much room for extra's. I wish there was more I could do. With the twins only being 2 and our home schooling, I don't feel like I have time for much more. Still we can't complain. Our church and our friends helped us through the roughest part. God has always provided, and will continue to do so. We have never missed a meal, had the utilites turned off or been late on the house note. What more can we ask for? Still wish I could pare things down a bit more to give us some breathing room though. The house is MY "job", and sometimes I feel like I am doing it poorly when ends don't meet. But I have been here more times then not - LOL So am not too worried.

I went to the Doc yesterday, after a 6 month sabatical. Lets just say he was not to impressed with my b/p or my weight. He made me promise to not go off my b/p meds again and to work on my weight. He really wasn't even buying my plea of poverty as an acceptable excusse for my gain. So with a big sigh (pardon the pun) I am revisiting my weight watchers roots again. I talked to DH and he said he would try to do it with me. I know this will be a huge deal to him, so I truly value his support of his DW. He is more a low carb man, but I keep trying to tell him we can't even afford meat anymore! LOL So I will keep you posted. I go back to the Doc in 3 months.

We are all just getting over the spring time crud here, and my teenage son had shingles! So things can only get better :)

On a sadder note: My pastor has accepted a new post in Korea, he and his family are leaving in 2 weeks! We were close to them. Our children we close in age and we enjoyed camping with them. They were one of my staples of home school support. We can't even imagin what church will be like with them gone. My oldest DS is a little upset since he already lost his best friend two years ago when they moved back to Mexico. He is starting to feel a tad jinxed I do believe. But like most things in life, something new will enter when something old leaves. I pray for him and his faith. He is not your typical teenager, and in this I take more comfort then you can imagin. I know God has something special in store for him and the people he touch.

Blessings for now, Beth Ann