Getting Back into the Swing of Things

I cannot believe how long it has been since I have posted. What a great summer we had. Now that it is coming to an end I intend on getting back into the swing of things with my blogging.

Our summer officially came to an end last week when we got home from our last camping trip of the year. It may of been the last trip of the year, but it was by far the best. We camped on top of the highest point in Missouri - Taum Sauk Mtn. When I first told Dakota and Bethany my plans of this trip they were doubtful of the fun it would bring (mainly when I told them there would be no shower house or flushable toilets). When we arrived on top of the mountain and began looking for the perfect spot to set up camp I began to have a few doubts myself. We would basically be camping in the woods with no one around. I repeated several times "this is okay" I was more trying to convince myself. The first night was a sleepless one for me. I admit now that I was scared, but of course I would never admit it to the kids then. The one time I fell into a deep sleep I was awakened by Bethany shaking me in fear. A deer had walked right up to the tent and snorted. After Dakota informed us of what it was I managed to get a couple hours of sleep. The next night was also filled with critter fun. As we were playing games in the tent we decided it was time for a snack. We had pulled our cooler up to the door of the tent. I reached in and got our goodies. As we were snacking we decided we needed another soda, I turned around and what to my wondering eyes, was a raccoon standing there opening our cooler. I am sure that my screams are still echoing thru the mountains. The kids also learned that just because there is no "bathroom" hygiene was still an important part of our daily tasks. We had a make shift bathroom and each day we warmed our water, washed our hair and did our other grooming tasks.

We hiked to Mina Sauk falls. It was an amazing hike, looking out over the rolling hills makes me wonder how anyone could ever doubt in God our Creator. Due to the lack of rain the fall was not flowing so we intend to go back during the rainy season. We rock climbed to the bottom of the falls and I do believe climbing back up is where I messed my knee up. There was a few times that I had to stop and pray for strength. lol We also climbed a lookout tower on top of the mountain. It was during this climb that I realized Dakota's fear of heights. Or as we say around here - not so much a fear of heights as a fear of falling and not so much of falling as hitting the ground at enormous rate of speed. It was very windy and he climbed down in half the time as Bethany and I. He claimed that he could just see the possibility of disaster. We took our Bible to the highest point that was marked by a surveyor and we sat in that place and had devotion and prayer. Elephant Rock State Park was another enjoyable spot of our trip. The kids had never been there and we found it very enjoyable. The whole trip was a homeschooling mom's delight! So many educational moments. Dakota and Bethany both have told me that it was the best camping trip ever! We will definitely be going back next year. After a few lessons learned, next time may even be better.

A Country Update

I can't believe it has been so long since I have posted. Summertime is a busy time. Alot has been going on and I need to update on my "country living".

I couldn't hold out.....I've been picking the green tomatoes. But, OOOH they are so yummy fried up and smothered with melted velveeta. However, I did wait until I picked my first red tomato. I figured that was my "go". We've been getting a steady supply of ripe ones and by next week I should have plenty to share with family and friends. The cucumbers are in nice supply also, and the zucchini, well any of you that has ever grown zucchini know that you are not in want of it when it starts producing. Our beans came on nicely and are about done producing. This year I canned with a pressure cooker for the first time! My mom was there to walk me through it and it was a cinch! All these years I have been terrifed of pressure cookers. I thought they were a time bomb getting ready to explode. Mom always made us kids leave the room when she canned. It was alot easier than what I expected and I am now hooked. We are already planning on planting more beans for next year! My corn is looking great. Another couple weeks and I expect we will be having corn out of our ears! (pun intended)

The chickens are getting big. Not quite full grown yet but getting close. One thing that has me concerned is the fact that we have TWO roosters. One of our hens was not a hen after all. I talked to a friend that raises chickens and she said it may not matter, to just wait and see. As long as they get along and a pecking order is established it might be okay. But truth be told, I am concerned. I wanted 1 rooster and 4 hens, not 2 roosters and 3 hens. The two roosters are constantly challenging each other and I just want peace in my chicken yard. lol But, for now we will wait....

My duck news is the saddest of all. We lost are female. A raccoon got her. It was so upsetting. I felt like a horrible crime had been committed. I was not prepared for the site we saw the morning we found her. The kids gave her a nice funeral and then we began our pursuit for justice. It took 3 days but we finally caught the little rascal. The first and second night he stole all the food and didn't even throw the trap, the third night we set 3 traps and ran a security camera out there so we could see where we were going wrong. We watched the little booger steal all the food from one trap, but finally we had sweet victory, he was caught. Since then I have put a radio in the chicken house, which is right next to the ducks. I have also learned that raccoons hate dogs and if you put dog hair around they will stay away. Well, we have 2 poodles and when I groom them it is like sheering sheep. So the hair now goes around the duck and chicken house! So far no more signs of racoons.

I have to talk a little bit about Fred our only remaing duck. When we first got the ducks they were not very tame. They would not let us get close despite all of our efforts. Since Ethel died Fred is a new duck. I have spent alot of time with him. Just sitting and singing. When I go to feed or water I sing, when I let him out to free range I sing. I wanted him to get used to my voice. For my voice to be comforting to him. My kids think this is crazy, but it has worked. He now follows me around like a puppy dog. When he backs off I just start singing and he picks up his speed until he is right by my side. He comes up to the garden with me everyday. I even moved his swimming pool up there so he has something to do while I work in the garden. As silly as it sounds, I have fallen in love with this duck. He has stolen my heart.

Before the female duck died we were saving some eggs to incubate. We had nine all together but only 7 of them were fertile. My son wanted an incubator for his birthday so it has been his project, but one that we have all enjoyed. They are set to hatch next weekend and we can't wait. I'm sure there will be a blog post devoted especially for them!!

Little Bit Country

There is something about country living that has always appealed to me. When I was a little girl we would go to the country to visit my grandparents. The food tasted better, the people were friendlier and the scenery was gorgeous. To me there is nothing prettier than to look out across a field and see the big round bales of hay scattered across it. When I was 19 I moved to the country. My first house, as we called it, was a shack in the woods. I had no neighbors, just woods, fields, and cows. As a young new mother I was alone and terrified. It was quite an adjustment. After 2 years we moved into the city limits. Our town had a population of less than 600 people. Everybody knew everybody, you didn't have to worry about locking your doors, and you had to dodge pot holes instead of cars. I am no longer living in that small country town, but that does not mean that I am no longer country. I feel more country now than I did then. Yes, I lock the doors when I leave, I don't know everyone, and I am back to dodging cars, but I am now enjoying some country pleasures that I have always dreamed of.

I have always dreamed of owning chickens. Sounds crazy, I know. I have this vision (maybe it is from watching too many episodes of Little House on the Prairie) of going to feed my chickens in a long calico dress, apron and hat and scattering the feed out and the chickens pecking around me. That dream is coming true for me. I don't have a calico dress but I have the chickens. Yesterday as the kids were swimming I sat down to take some pictures of my beloved flock. As I was sitting there they all flocked around and I thought to myself...life is good.


I had never dreamt of owning ducks, but they have also become part of our country living. They are so much fun to watch. Especially when the female starts "talking" to the male. It looks as if she is "chewing" him out everytime. However, if you listen carefully he is quietly quacking over and over something that sounds like "nag, nag, nag". In the past month we have learned a lot about ducks. We gather an egg a day which brings a joy in itself and we are looking forward to incubating the eggs later this month.



Now you can't be country without having a garden. I will leave the details of my garden out since I have already blogged about it once. But I will add that it is coming along beautifully and I can almost see it grow overnight! I can almost taste that first ripe tomato (if I can leave them on the vine long enough to get ripe). One of my favorite things is fried green tomatoes, topped with melted velveeta cheese! There are already a few green ones on the vine, but I will leave them alone.... for now.

Chocolate Lovers

I am a self professed choco-aholic and not afraid to admit it. In my daily quest for chocolate I have run across the Mars Real Chocolate Relief Act. They have FREE chocolate bar Friday!! Every Friday from now till the end of September you can request a coupon for a free cholclate bar. They give away 250,000 coupons each Friday and it is first come first serve. You can choose between Milky Way, Snickers, 3 Musketeers, Twix, Dove and M & M's. There is no catch to this, no hidden strings attached, just FREE chocolate. Now who can pass that up!!! Here's the link https://secure.realchocolate.com/ Go for it! You know you want to!!!

25 Random Things About Me

1. Having a child when I was 19 forever changed the course of my life for the better.

2. I cannot stand a dirty streaky mirror. I have to clean it.

3. I have a deformity. I was born with a hammer toe.

4. I homeschool my children and love it.

5. I am addicted to coffee shakes and coffee ice cream.

6. I love to sing and I do it badly!

7. When it comes to talking I have attention deficit disorder. I jump from one topic to the next without warning.

8. When I was pregnant with Bethany I ate fried green tomatoes every day for lunch.

9. I love spending time with my children. They are the joy of my life.

10. I have a bad habit of laughing uncontrollably at the wrong times. Usually at really serious moments.

11. I love to research things that I am interested in.

12. Material possessions are not important to me.

13. I am a master packer. I can fit more things into a small space than most people would think possible.

14. My kids make me laugh and smile every day of my life.

15. I am deathly allergic to wasps.

16. I believe in fairy tales.

17. I was raised in a christian home and taught about Jesus. That is how I want to raise my children.

18. I wish I could play the guitar.

19. I am terrified of snakes and spiders.

20. When my children are grown I would love to go back to school to be a neonatal nurse.

21. For 14 years I lived in a small country town with a population of less than 600 people.

22. I talk to my dog Daisy like she is a human.

23. I am a night owl. I am rarely in bed before 2:00 a.m. Therefore I am NOT a morning person.

24. I was hit by a car when I was 2.

25. If it was not for the grace of God I would not be where I am today and I never want to go a day without thanking him for that.

10 Lessons I have Learned

10. Don't sweat the little things.

9. Walk like a duck, talk like a duck, does not make it a duck.

8. Never pray for patience : )

7. God's timing is better than mine.

6. God still does miracles.

5. Be careful what you say because you may end up eating your words.

4. The things that are truly important in life are not the same things that I once thought.

3. God's will is always best.

2. God can take a bad thing and turn it into a blessing.

1. God is always in control, but you have to let Him.

Memorial Day - a day with double meaning

Memorial day for me marks the beginning of summer. It is a day for families, barbeques, camping, opening your pools and relaxation. But it is so much more than a day of celebration and outings. It is a day set aside to remember the men and woman who lost their lives serving our country.

Memorial Day was originally called Decoration Day and it was established in 1868 by Union General John A. Logan to commemorate the dead from the Civil War. It became a federal holiday in 1971.

Whether this day brings a day of refreshment and celebration or a day to mourn and remember, we should all take time to pause and remember the men and women who have died to give us our freedom in this great country!

Summer Vacation!!!

It's finally here! We are officially on summer vacation! We finished the last of our school up on Friday. So what does summer vacation mean for me? Planning the next school year! I have spent my evening going through old curriculum, trying to decide what to sell and what to save, then what to use next year and what I still need to get! I love planning out our school year and going through books. I find it funny that as soon as summer vacation comes, I immediately start planning!!! I am counting down the days to the used curriculum fair, it is my favorite sale of the year. This year we pretty much have everything we need already so I will get to shop at a more leisurely pace! Let's hope I don't impulse buy. I am very bad about that. As I go through my book shelves I see several items that I have bought with good intentions but ended up changing my plan. This year I am determining in my mind not to impulse buy.....but then again there's always that one item that I don't think I can live without!

How does your Garden Grow?

I am so glad that I got my garden tilled and planted before all this rain came. This year I am going bigger than last. I planted corn, beans, tomatoes, cucumbers, squash, eggplant, watermelon, cantelope, lettuce and onions. I am also going to plant some pumpkins a little later in the year. This is the first time I have ever planted eggplant. I have never even tried eggplant, but I want to, so I thought I might as well grow my own. This is also the first year I have ever planted green beans myself. I cannot wait for harvest time! Nothing beats homegrown veggies. There is a certain satisfaction that comes with it. I am watching very carefully for new sprouts. I started some tomatoe plants by seeds this year (indoors). I have not yet planted these in the garden. I am trying a new kind. I had to order the seeds off the internet because they are hard to come by. It is a white tomatoe and they are soposed to have hardly any acid in them. This will be great for me since acid affects my bladder condition. I hope they taste good. If they don't I have planted plenty of the regular kind! If they all make it I will have more tomatoes than I know what to do with, but part of the joy of having a garden is sharing the harvest with friends and family!!! Now if we can just get a little sunshine!!

My favorite places to find free blog backgrounds

One thing I love about having a blog is being able to change the background. I am a lady of change and I love to change my blog look frequently. I have spent hours searching the web for the perfect background. I thought I would share with my followers and fellow bloggers some of my favorites.



1. http://simplyblogitbackgrounds.blogspot.com/ This one is my absolute favorite. They have the cutest backgrounds I have found yet. They also have cute headers to match each background. If you don't find what you are looking for on her site she has a list of links on the side that will take you to other great free background sites!

2. http://www.thecutestblogontheblock.com/ This is the very first place I found when setting up my blog. They have great backgrounds and are constantly adding more. They also have matching headers and widgets! Highly recommended!!
3. http://delightfuldots.blogspot.com/ I am a big fan of polka dots and daisies and this site has the perfect backgrounds for me!
4. http://hotbliggityblog.com/ More great backgrounds here.
One of the other things I love about all these sites is that they give you step by step instructions on how to put it on your page. Plus it is very simple!!