Gosh!

Boy a lot has happened since I last wrote!
We lost a chicken, husband thinks it was an owl. We found her headless body in the yard and the other little red hens were hiding under the coop. Now they are freaked out and won't come out of the coop to free range. I'm a little worried about them. I would like to push them out and lock the door, but then my white ones can't come in to lay eggs.
We got a new little Labrador puppy! She's soooooo cute and smart! Although she's not smart in the potty training department. But she's already learned "sit", "touch", and "leave it!" Her name is Bailey.
I am so lucky! I was hired at a nearby school to be a paraprofessional! I will be working in the first grade with an autistic student. I just know this is going to be a wonderful opportunity and experience!
Jacob is doing well on his mission, he's already worn through two pairs of shoes! YIKES! So grandpa helped us out by getting him set up with some new shoes from a place that gives them a 2 year wear guarantee. They worked with a shoe manufacturer to make a shoe that should stand up to the rigors of a two year mission. If they wear out, we send them a picture and he gets a new pair that week! I love that idea! If anyone is interested in them, they came from missionarymall.com.
This is the last week of summer break! Joel is taking two of the kids backpacking on his annual trip to the Superior Trail. Jaeden is excited for her first hike! She's been waiting for two years for this! She's been wearing around her hiking shoes, breaking them in. I hope the bear spray is still loaded and good to go! *chews on nails nervously* I was hoping hubby would have his conceal/carry permit by now so he could bring his 9mm, but this year's finances have not had that in the cards. So let's just hope the bears stay away and they have a beautiful, fun filled hike!
Today we are going to be close to 100 degrees and it's very humid. Just oppressing!  They say we are in a drought, so I need to pay special attention to our vegetable garden and my herbs on the porch. It's going to be in the 90s all week. Nothing like a good heat wave to end a chilly summer! :)

Yesterday was moving day!

Last night we moved the red chickens out of the garage and into the coop with the Amber Links. There was some squawking and in the morning the red hens were all huddled in the corner on a stack of straw bales. Today we let them all out to free range.
I am so impressed!!!I have smart chickens! All but one of the red chickens made it back to the new coop tonight all on their own! DeAnna, the chicken, was found at the garage, not very happy about the new little chickens in "her coop" and being locked out. I'm sure she will have it all figured out tomorrow night.
Egg #5 was given today! A very small odd egg with a flat side, lots of speckles, a wrinkled end and a light cream colored swirl at the other end. :) I love my chickens!

Kids Skating Routine :)

If it doesn't play for you, try this link.... https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10151769749549643&l=3841993937607829196

Chick Chick Chick... I'm a Chick Chick...Chick

I have not taken much time to update my blog lately, and I have felt bad about that. I know how much you'd like to see what's going on in our house. So...
Mittens came out of the woods about 5 days after she went missing. We were very worried about her because we had a few strong storms while she was away, and also there was a coyote hanging out on the edge of the property. I think she finally got hungry enough that she decided to wander out from her hiding spot to check things out. After she was home for a couple of days she slipped out through an open door and was gone for two days before I found her at the back door pawing and mewing.
Naughty kitty.
The doors are still fascinating to her and she sometimes acts unusual and I can tell she's wanting out again. But we will try our best to keep her in and safe.

Our white chickens have been correctly identified as Amber Links, not White Rocks. One of their parents is a White Rock roo, and the mom is some sort of red. They have developed markings in their feathers in the last month of molting and getting their adult feathers. This is how we made this discovery, because up until they changed, they have been very white.... Today only one is all white (Snowflake), one nearly all white (except for the one dot on her right shoulder, Snowball), one has speckles on her wings (see Speckles below), two are yellowish with markings on their wings (Amber and Link), and then we have one with many darker brown spots on her (Brownie, far left).

We have the coop finished, however there is a bunch of trimming that I need to paint still, and I'm waiting for the humidity to go away before I tackle that.
Here Brownie and Snowflake examine the lovely nesting boxes Joel built for them. I have to say that I am so super impressed with his building skills. I am convinced there is nothing he can't do!

We added six two month old Rhode Island Reds. We have them in the garage coop until they are old enough to fend for themselves.

At least they are good at hiding themselves. Hee hee.

 

Moon

Last weekend we added four little Easter Eggers to the list of chickens we have. These will lay blue/green eggs. I am super excited about them. They all look different from each other. Because they are mutts they will all look different when they are fully grown as well, but in my opinion they are some of the most beautiful chickens out there!

Munk

 

 

Chip

 

Cindy (Cinderella, named by the girls)

 

 

It will be very interesting to see how they all turn out!

I love my chickens!!

 







Mittens

I've never really BEEN a cat person. When I was a kid I wanted a cat. But later I became allergic to them and then I had a series of bad experiences with them, and decided that I was indeed NOT a cat person.
Then last fall someone dropped a six week little starved and scabbed up kitten on our doorstep. The children all begged for us to keep her, most especially Joy begged the most. As I thought about all the mice in our garage and sheds, and knowing I had a young adult in the basement that often took food down there, I relented and gave in after a vet check. We adopted Mittens and gave her a good home. After we brought her home from the vet and released her into the house with the dogs, she strutted very bravely into the room as the two dogs clamored away, and did whatever they could to get as far away from her as possible. They'd been sprayed by a skunk recently and probably did not know what to expect from this little fur ball that walked right up to them like she owned the place.

She's been a wonderful cat, very patient with the hugging, kissing, funny poses, pulling and squishing that Joy has put her through.  Every morning she greeted Joel at the door and talked to him, rubbing on his leg until he gave her food. Then when I'd wake up she'd repeat the ceremony until I gave her a couple of chicken flavored treats.

Yesterday she went missing. We called for her all day, put food and water out for her, and waited. We had to leave the house for several hours in the evening, and when we came home Jaeden went up the back steps to the porch and saw a cat that she thought was Mittens. But this cat ran away from her and into the woods. Never coming back. We haven't seen her since. Last night we had a terrible storm with winds and pouring rain and hail. I have been sick with worry about her. She doesn't have front claws to defend herself. I really thought she'd be back home by now. :( I'm worried we won't be seeing her again, and I will be going back to not being a cat person. </3

Wishy-washy Wafflers

Yup, we are wafflers.  My little apples don't fall far from the tree. I am the biggest waffler sometimes.

Our plans have changed, and they might change before the summer is done, again. *sigh*
At this point, now, I am planning on applying to some local schools as a Paraeducator. Hopefully I can get some work this coming school year.  If I get hired, the kids will go to the local school. If I don't, the girls will be schooled at home, and the boy will go to the local school. He's very attached to his music and it is important to him that he stay where he can keep playing his saxaphone.

The Horns of a Delema

Oh man, I can't believe I am going to let this leave my fingertipss, but here it is.....

I am rethinking my choice of schools, which also affects my choice of careers!

Ahhhh!

This was not supposed to happen!

I have so many interests, it was extremely difficult to pin down the one choice I had made and stick to it. Now that I have done that, I am finding that maybe the school I have chosen maybe not the right school for me. I can't even tell my best friends this in person. (I don't ever want to come off to anyone as seeming wishy-washy. I have image issues with that).

 I don't, however, have that particular image issue with my husband. I had spent some time this afternoon searching the internet to see what it said I should do when I say, "How do I find out what I want to be when I grow up?!" Their advice was to ask other people that know me well what they think I would be good at. So I asked Hubby what he thought I would be good at. Hubby couldn't name anything off hand. In a little way that hurts. (I do have issues with thinking that he doesn't think very highly of me or my intelligence or skills. This was one time that makes me feel that my concerns might not be invalid.) He left for work telling me that if teaching SPED is what I want to do, then I should keep going with it. I told him, I do want to be a SPED teacher, but I am having some serious doubts about the school I've chosen.

There are quite a few reasons why I am doubting this school, two of the biggest reasons are:

1) I have taken quite a few online classes before, and have come through them pretty unscathed. I didn't have a problem understanding the directions or what was expected of me. Those were college classes. Now that I've taken two classes from the University, I have had quite the different experience both times! Both classes had teachers that were difficult to understand. These two teachers were completely confusing, didn't stick to the original syllabus very well, wrote very confusing directions for assignments, and were not easy to get ahold of.

2) The one person, the key bearer to all those who wish to be endowed with a teaching licence in SPED from this University, is a woman named Sue. Sue was the teacher for the class I took this semester. She is also the woman I have had to meet with a few times and she has confused me in those meetings too! She talks about things to people who are new to this like we know everything and I felt really dumb asking her to break it all down because there is so much I wasn't getting. I did try to ask questions that would get me the answers I needed, but she also dumped a ton of information on me all at once. While she talked she also typed things on her computer screen (apparently it was a chart she was sending to me) but I coulnd't see what she was looking at because she had a crappy screen. So she would talk about this one class, point at it, highlight it, and I would have to strain to try to see it and make sense of what she was telling me. Sue is also extremely busy and very hard to get to agree for in-person meetings. In my last class at the college there were several students complaining about her lack of response and availability to students needing meetings with her to plan their course schedule.

I'm feeling really discouraged and nervous about staying with this choice. So today I visited the Department of Education and found where they have a link to all of the Universities that have teaching licensure programs. I don't have many options.

I don't have many options.

I'm still just trying to let that sink in....

That means, if I choose another school, I probably have to choose another career.

I don't know what that would be!

What's that sound?

Oh yes! It's little peeps that are alive! Yes, it's spring here in Minnesota and I couldn't resist getting a head start on the bug control by raising my very own little ecologically friendly bug management system.
This is the first day we brought them home... The ducks were almost the same size as the chicks.

This is one week after we brought them home. The chicks are getting lots of wing feathers and have started to get tail feathers. The ducks are growing at an enormous rate!

 

 Especially one of them! The bigger one is almost twice the weight as the other one. Their personalities are much different as well.  The smaller one is more quiet and docile and the bigger one is more outgoing, curious and extroverted.  The bigger one eats from my hand, where the smaller one doesn't want to so much.

No names yet, we are waiting to see what sex they are. Suggestions?

Joshua Playing the Viola

 

The Can-Can and Indian Lament

Josh wanted me to mention that my phone makes it sound crappy and that his viola sounds much more pretty than on this video :) He's right.

Joshua Playing the Sax

It came!!

And it's waiting on the fridge for Jake to come home from work, grandma to come up, and the family to gather around for the grand opening! Eeeek! I can hardly stand the suspense!

Worlds Worst Waiter

That's me.

I HATE waiting for things. I'm so bad at it. I start getting knots in my tummy and anxiety attacks.
We are still waiting for Jacob's mission call to come. Wish I had read earlier that the calls don't get mailed until Tuesday. I've been checking the mail since Tuesday, and getting farther and father into the anxiety hole. I could have saved myself a lot of stress. I think Joel is feeling it too. Last night he dreamed that Jake was called to Texas. That would make me happy♥♥♥!

I have started the kids in 4H. We are not sure what all they will be doing. It's a bit different from when I was in it. I have signed them up for Robotics (but then found out the club's schedule won't work for me), vegetable gardening (I am hoping this years garden is so much better than last!), and shooting sports and wildlife. Joy is just signed up for Cloverbuds.

Tonight we saw deer in the woods behind our house. Two little young ones that Joel said were from last year.  I have seen them wandering around with a larger doe. Then when Joel left for work he saw seven deer in the swampy area on our property. COOL! I love love love living here!!!

This last weekend we went to a baptism for a boy who is the son of one of my childhood friends. That was so cool. Almost as cool as it was when his mom spoke at Joy's baptism. I find it fun sometimes how life goes around in circles like this. I'm so thankful to be a strong member in church again, as well as she is, and having our families be friends with each other. Her kids and my kids play so awesomely together.

After the baptism we took the kids to see a play based on the books byDoreen Cronin and Hary Bliss called Diary of a Worm, a spider and a fly. It was awesome! The kids and us adults loved it. Super fun. Afterward Joy took her playbill and had the actors sign it. What was so fun is that they signed it as their character, for example "Fly Girl", "Worm", etc.  That was awesome.

Hoping we get a big envelope in the mail sometime soon!

Thankful heart

Sometimes it amazes me how one day I can feel so incomplete and separated from God and then the next day I can be given revelation about something I really needed an answer for. Sometimes, like this time, I didn't know I was needing that information until I got it.

Something has been bothering me about something someone did to me. For a long time, I've looked forward to a day when I can be free of the chain of pain I have felt wrapped in. But yesterday as I waited for my kids to get out of school I read an article, I Can Decide in February's Ensign magazine that put new light on what I was experiencing. I realized that I was waiting for a day when I could indulge myself in the bitterness I feel as I tried to remove that chain of pain.

 Indulge myself.

That struck me strongly. What a selfish thing I've been wanting!

I then realized that even if that day would come, the anticipated satisfaction would not be satisfying at all. And then I read this line... "I decided I would not become bitter. My heart was broken. But I would not allow this to damage my spirit." .... if this woman could do that, why can't I?

As I read her words that said,"I thought seriously of the covenants I had made and kept, and I felt a sweet spirit of comfort.... I received assurances that the Lord is aware of my life, my responsibilities, and my pain..."  I felt a sweet assurance that the same things applied to me. For a moment I felt light in my sorrow and complete and wished I could feel like that all day every day.  I felt closer to Him.

I am thankful that I have gained a stronger testimony that I can choose to not let these types of chains weigh me down and that I was able to feel the weight of them lift from me for that moment. It's going to take a conscious effort on my behalf to shrug them off until they stay off completely, but it is my choice to invite the Lord to heal me.

Happenings and a Recipe

My new semester started last Monday. I am taking the last class I needed for my associates, which is Math for Elementary Teachers, and also a class for my Bachelors which is Strategies for Teaching Learners with Special Needs. I'm hoping that I won't be spending hours every day studying, but also that this leaves me more time to really absorb these classes and learn from them in a way I will be able to retain the information. I have felt like in the past that my classes have been so crammed that I remember what I need for my tests, but then it's all gone the next day to be remembered no more.
These classes are more meaningful to my career and contain valuable information that I need to be a great teacher.

On Saturday we took Duke to see if he might fit in at Monique's home. I am kind of feeling sad about it, which I didn't really expect, because he wasn't fitting in very well here. I feel bad for him because he's such a sweet submissive thing, and it apparently has been a hard couple of days for him. I was hoping that he would be playful with their dog Molly and be a good companion for her. He loves to be outside, and our Buddy is nearly naked and hates being out in the cold. So every day Duke is whining to go outside, and Buddy looks at me like I'm certifiable thinking he would go out in that cold. It's sad to make Duke go out alone, or force Buddy out into the cold unprotected, and annoying trying to ignore the whining to go out (I will never get a Husky).  He's also been marking territory in the house since the cat came, and I wasn't attached to him enough to spend the money on having him neutered before trying to find another home for him. If he doesn't work out at their home I will take him back and see if neutering will stop the marking, and I will also put him through boot camp again for not marking in the house. I'm just going to have to make the time for it, before I give up on him.  I don't want to give up on him because he really is a good dog, even if he's not fitting in with our home and "family members" (aka. other dog and cat).

We are experiencing major cold weather this week! Yesterday our outside weather station said the high was -5 degrees, the kids went out to play at that time (windchill was -14 degrees) and they stayed out for over 30 minutes! Crazy kids. Last night our wind chills were near -40 degrees. YIKES! I am trying to stay out of it and in the warm.

Yesterday I taught Joshua how to make homemade bread. I used this video to learn to make it, and then I taught him. He did an excellent job! This picture is washed out, his bread ended up being a golden brown. It's almost all gone this morning!

 

 

I love teaching my kids things, and am so excited to have more time/energy to do this!

 

A couple of weeks ago my doctor put me on some muscle relaxers to take before bed time. I had been having headaches every morning and was having pain in my neck. For some reason I felt like the two were connected. So my last visit I told my doctor this, thinking she was going to think I was crazy, but she listened to me and prescribed me some meds and also referred me for physical therapy. Ever since I started taking the meds I have woken up in the morning with a clear head and feeling alert and rested. It's been so AMAZING! I haven't felt this way in YEARS!!! I'm sure my clenching teeth and stressing while sleeping has been keeping me from getting the rest I need. I wish she'd let me take these meds forever, because I don't think that the exercises I am learning in physical therapy is going to help my sleeping situation. 

 

Jacob is almost ready to submit his papers for his mission. He just needs to scan his driver's license and upload it to the church website. I am nervous and so excited for him. It's scary thinking about sending such a great kid out into the world, possibly to another country (and hoping it's not a country that hates Americans) and trusting that he will be okay. This is possibly the most faith testing experience that I have ever had in my entire life.  I really have to put everything into the hands of the Lord and trust that He will take care of my child and that no matter what happens, it really all will be okay in the very end. And I have to trust that my testimony is strong enough to sacrifice my child for the blessing of other's lives.  This feels so BIG to me.

 

If you are looking for a good recipe to try, we tried these, this week, and everyone loved them! Click on them to be directed to the recipes.

 

Chicken Cordon Bleu - I used chicken tenderloins, so the layer of chicken was thin, and we liked it that way.

 

and for the side...

 

Twice Baked Potato Casserole  - For this one, I lightly coated the potatoes with butter before baking. I think next time I will add the sour cream and the chopped green onions after baking because the sour cream kind of curdled up in the oven and it tasted okay, but didn't look appealing.

I made a hat!

And the girls are fighting over it, so I have to go make another one...

 

SKOL VIKINGS!!!!

Making some progress!

I'm already making some progress on my new year goals! Through Craigslist I found an awesome craft/cutting table, with a cutting mat that fit it, for an awesome price. I also scored an awesome drop leaf table for my sewing machine. I'm super uber excited! I do need some new lighting for my sewing area, and Joel suggested I buy floor lamps because I will be moving the sewing area after we get Jake out on his mission. I plan to take over his corner of the basement near the bathroom. Both areas, the one I'm in now, and Jake's area, are sorely lacking in adequate lighting after the sun goes down. During the day the basement is mostly all very sunny and bright.

I've also made a list of all the herbs I use in alphabetical order, but I am still trying to decide on a system to use for storing them. I'm leaning towards canning jars, especially for the ones I buy in large bulk or grow and dry myself.

Joel and I took a drive down by the Temple yesterday because our local LDS bookstore is closing up shop and is selling everything. We picked up two VERY nice and sturdy bookshelves for a great price. That is also where my sewing table came from. We are very sad that nobody bought the store and that it is closing. It has been such a blessing to be able to browse the LDS selections of music, jewelery, art, books, lesson manuals, etc. in person. It's not the same as buying online.

I don't know if I mentioned earlier but I earned one A (Astronomy) and two Bs (SPED 415, Abnormal Psychology) last semester. I am okay with those grades. I would have liked all As, but it was a really hard semester and I started out the semester with a new prescription that made my mind mushy, which made it really hard to study, learn, and even make an intelligent sentence. I thought my SPED grade was going to be a C, so I am ecstatic that it ended up as a B.... seriously thankful.

Tonight is home made chicken noodle soup, with homemade noodles :) yummy!

A New Desk, and then some...

Today I had planned to drive down to Andover to pick up a large craft desk with fabric cutting mat that I found for a great price on Craigslist, but ran out of time, so I will do it tomorrow morning. But while I was in Cambridge I scored a major thing on my "Want List"! While I was leaving the bank I got a little tickle in my brain that told me to stop at the thrift store and when I went in I wasn't sure what I was looking for, so I started wandering around... looked at all the display cases that weren't for sale, and hating the owners for not letting me buy that really cool armoir that I would have snatched up in a heartbeat. I wandered around a little bit picking things up and putting them back down in random other spots.... I tell myself, "it creates job security for someone".

I turned a corner and .... "aaaaahhhhhhhhhh!" Angels started singing and a light shone down before me onto a very simple, yet very wanted, drafters table! And best yet, it was only $10!!! And if that wasn't enough for my speed-racing heart, I also had a coupon in my purse for $10 off my next purchase, SCORE!  I brought home this little beauty for only 67 cents. *happy dance!*

 

The kids were excited to try it out for me by doing their homework on it.  (I'm not sure why Jaeden has taken up wearing her hat all day long... might be because I keep the house at 65 degrees.)

I spent some time, tonight, tackling one of the things that has been driving me nuts... all of the cords in the junk drawer.  First I threw out the ones we don't use anymore. Then I bound the remaining ones up with rubber bands.

I love this little pot that I keep my rubber bands in. Jacob made it when he was little.I'm a sucker for pottery, and a sucker for organizing containers, and throw in my own kids work and I am happy as a clam!

Back to the cords... Ok, so the last dishwasher that died had a utensil basket that came apart into two pieces. Somehow it didn't get thrown out with the dishwasher and I ran into it the other day. I thought up a way to hang the baskets inside of my cupboard doors and ....

 Voila! 

Cords are out of the drawer, and organized so they don't tangle and best of all, they are out of the way!

Then I sat back and celebrated my brilliant mind with one of the peanut butter cookies that were left over from yesterday.  Yummy!

Happy New Year!!!

I am starting out the new year right! I'm having a pajama day! Woo hoo!  Well... until I have to take the kids to church tonight, then I have to shower and get dressed. But in the meantime I am in my pajamas and baking peanut butter cookies.  I feel like a queen.

Now that school is on break for me, my mind is going overload. It is so used to reading mass amounts of things and becoming tired from all the work it's been doing, but with nothing to focus on, it's been hard to contain. One night I stayed up until 3am watching sewing, baking, and gardening videos. My mind is racing with all the things I have been wanting to do for the last year of living here, and I've done a few of them, but have so many more in mind!

Here are some of them:
1. Organize my spice shelves to be more uniform and easier to find what I need.
2. Set up a sewing area.
3. Set up a craft/art area.
4. Eye exam and new contacts.
5. Sew drapes.
6. Become more knowledgeable about gardening and grow a better garden this year.
7. Do more canning and herb drying.

What I have done in the last week....
1. Bought frames for several art pieces-
two of Joy's water paints, Jacob's fourth grade rendition of Grant Wood's American Gothic, and a charcoal he did of a Mexican pouring water that I named "Pedro".
Organized the Christmas decorations and got them all put back where they belong, and the rest into garbage or donation boxes.
Organized my kitchen with some shelving to get the water jugs off the floor.
Emptied two 25lb. bags of flour, and one 50lb. bag of sugar into gallon Ziploc bags.
Folded tons of laundry I was behind in.
Made homemade bread.
Cleaned and organized my laundry room.
Got my dresser and night stand organized and cleaned off, and got Joel to do his dresser and the top of the fridge, and also to settle on a filing system for his stuff.
I made three water colors I did with J O and Y for some pink frames I bought last year to decorate her room with.
Emptied my memory card from my camera to my laptop and played and displayed some pictures from that.
Got the cat spayed and her claws snipped so she can't use them.
Transplanted my Aloe plant to a new container hoping the leaves will make roots... we shall see!


Here's some pictures from last year! You can click on them to see  it in a larger version.