Our Homesteading Quest

Happy 1st Birthday!

Happy 1st Birthday!!! My sweet, beautiful baby! Oh where does the time go?

It seems like yesterday we were anxiously anticipating your birth. Now here we are celebrating your 1st birthday!

We had a small party for her on Saturday. It was mostly just family and she seemed to have a good time. I made two cakes. One was a regular sized cake and the other was identical, but in a miniature version just for her.  I made a vanilla supreme cake, deluxe cream cheese frosting, and a lemony-orange filling.  The kids usually request a very specific kind of cake (Maddy-strawberry, Mark-cookie, Stacey-ice cream, etc), but since Marina can't tell me yet what kind she prefers, I used this opportunity to experiment a bit. I thought it turned out pretty good. However, it wasn't as sweet as you'd expect a birthday cake to be. The recipe is a keeper... just not for birthdays.

 

It's In Her Blood

We've been doing a lot of fishing lately. Well...can't really afford to do much else, lol. This has been great though because I had forgotten how much I've always enjoyed fishing. I have so many wonderful memories of going fishing with my dad and grandfather. It seemed like every weekend I was fishing with one or the other. On rare occasions, with both. I always loved it. My grandparents lived in a community that surrounded a lake so we would fish for the day, and into the night, and then head back home. My dad however, liked to rough it. He'd take us back to some of the craziest places, build a fire, and call it home for the night. Many times I remember cuddling up on the cold ground just as close to the fire as I could get. There were no sleeping bags, pillows, or even blankets. You know what... I loved it!

I can look back now and understand why he did this (no tents or sleeping bags). You see, he had five kids as well and now I can relate. By the time you pack up, load up, unload, set up enough equipment for that many kids you might as well not go. Besides for the fact that with that many kids, you never know when you'll have to leave in a hurry, for whatever reason, and not have the time to pack it all up. Then, there's also the issue of where do you fit it all in the vehicle and still have room for all the kids?

I guess he just figured he'd take us all and if we got to stay and fish all night, great, we could rough it. If not, then he didn't have to worry with too much stuff. Which would allow him to get the most fishing time out of our trip. (OK, so I guess it could have also been the fact that he was probably intoxicated, in one way or another. Sobbing hysterically...Are you happy NOW?...(LOL)..) No matter what his reason, no matter what his motive, I'm just glad he cared enough (ok, or was _______ enough) to take us with him.

My grandfather and father instilled in me a deep love for fishing. The patient, from the bank, sort of fishing. The kind that forces you to be still and notice the things around you. Proudly, I have passed that on. So what if it's only to ONE of my children, and so what if that child just happens to be a GIRL! At least I've passed it on. I mean, I am, afterall, a girl myself.

  

Banana Doughnuts

I made doughnuts for breakfast Saturday morning. I baked some vanilla ones. They were good, but not a "please make this again tomorrow" recipe. Then, I fried some banana doughnuts and made a glaze to pour over them. I liked these much better. They tasted just like banana bread.

Even though I'm posting the link to the recipe, do NOT try it! It was VERY messy. The recipe which was from recipegoldmine.com had no ratings to go by. I think what probably happened was that they took a recipe for banana bread and just said roll it and fry it. If you've ever made banana bread then you can imagine what that would be like. Yes, a sticky, yucky mess. I adjusted the recipe by adding another two cups of flour (maybe more) and then more to get it to somewhat roll out and cut into a doughnut shape. As you can imagine, the two pictured above were the best looking of the bunch. The next time I want this flavor of doughnut I'll just skip all of the extra work and make banana bread. I recommend you do the same.

Indianapolis Zoo

I know that there hasn't been a post since the 5th, but I've been busy as usual. Not to mention we were actually out of state for a few days. We went to Indianapolis to visit my ailing grandmother and the rest of my family. While we were there we decided to go to the Indianapolis Zoo, among other places. It was the 7 of us along with my mother, brother Donald, his girlfriend, their new baby, my sister Ginger, her boyfriend, her son, and my dad. We had a great time! Although I don't want to move back to Indiana, I do miss spending time with my family.

This is my sister Ginger.

My mom, Mark, and Maddy waiting patiently for the dolphin show to start.

 

My dad and my kids in the underwater part of the dolphin tank. 

Here's Mark and the kids waiting in line for the 3-D Spongebob ride. 

Michelle and my new niece, Chloe.   

Miles, Little Mark, Little Eloy (my sister's son), and Stacey. 

No explanation needed for this ham. 

We got to see Miles' favorite animal! 

We also saw Little Mark's favorite animal. You can't really tell from this picture, but this turtle was HUGE!   

A lazy polar bear.    

We also got to pet these sharks which was really cool. That is until the zookeepers started feeding them. Then the sharks started coming up out of the water like this. 

Last, but not least, these little guys. My favorite animal, the meerkat. I can't help it. I don't know what it is, but I just love these little meerkats.

Meerkat Manor on the Animal Planet was one of the few, if not the only, show I liked to watch. And yes, I cried when Flower died.... It still makes me sad. I know, I know. I'm weird.

Tomorrow I'll post about our trip to Great Times!

He's Back!

Do you remember my post on the Stinging Rose Caterpillar? Go back and read it if you haven't, or if you don't remember. Go ahead, I'll wait....

He's NOT dead!  Yes, you heard that right. A couple of days after the original post, we got the container down. We were going to pry him off the wall of the container, throw him out, and then clean out the container. Guess what? He MOVED! So...what does a home schooling mom of five do? Naturally, get a jar. We put some fresh leaves in there and we are hopefully going to get to see the life cycle of the moth/Caterpillar. How cool is that?!

Of course, if and when he makes it to a moth, I don't think I'll be setting him free in my neighborhood. Maybe I should ship him to New York. After all, they are worried about the little guy. Right?

I'll be sure to keep you updated.

Grand Opening

Before the kids left for the fair last Sunday, we had the grand opening of our Chore Store.  Wow! The kids were so excited. We had free samples (gummies) which we offered to those waiting in line. Our limited time specials (for the whole month of September) are: Fishing trip $5.00, trip to the science center $10.00, shopping trip for one outfit (and trust me, I've taught my kids well...or passed on my "cheap" gene...whatever) or equivalent $20.00. Everything else in the Chore Store, and ONLY for the grand opening was only $1.00! They had to come in the store one at a time to pick only one item each turn while the others got to enjoy the free samples. I think I enjoyed it just as much as the kids. Shhh!

Burning question, I know. So, has it lasted? Absolutely! The kids get up, make their beds, brush their teeth, and run to the fridge to see their chore chart. Even the three year old is vacuuming, wiping counters, feeding the animals, etc. In fact, the other night Maddy got to pick what we had for dinner and help cook it. Who ever helps cook also has to help with the dishes. Maddy was at the sink washing dishes and I heard Miles (the three year old) ask if he could help her!

How cool is that! I'm going to have to continue to keep the Chore Store well stocked, but it's so worth it.

Confession Time

Lots of people ask me how I do it. I'm a wife, mother of five kids, I home school them, take care of the house, garden, can our food, and run a business. I'm sure I've left something out, but you get the idea. Truth of the matter is...I don't take care of myself. Sure I'm in great shape, but it's because I never sit down. I don't watch tv or movies. In fact, the most I ever sit down is when I sit here to type up a new post or to surf the web looking for educational material or homesteading information.

Last night, I was searching home schooling sites and came across Heart of The Matter which is a great online home schooling magazine. I was enjoying the read and came across two articles of special interest. One was titled Hypocrite Proofing the Home and the other was a section in 12 Essential Back-To-School Ideas For Mom about Picking Your Uniform.That's when it finally hit me. The kids are doing chores and helping wonderfully around the house and now there's less for me to do. I felt lost yesterday. Is that stupid or what? However, it did allow me time to think about what really needs to be tended to next. You see, our Bible scripture (Look for more on this in an upcoming post on KONOS.) for the week is 1 Corinthians 14:40 Let everything be done decently and in order. This ties in beautifully to the Choreganizer and to the previously mentioned magazine articles as well.

As I looked around everything was/is being done decently and in order. The house looks great, the kids look great, all is well. Or is it? I took a good look in the mirror yesterday and thought...wow, what a mess! Let EVERYTHING be done decently and in order....My ah ha moment. I'm supposed to be a leader. I'm supposed to be setting a good example in EVERYTHING I do. Kinda hard to do when you look so frumpy. Jean shorts, tank tops or t-shirts, and flip flops are my wardrobe with my hair pulled up into a double (?) ponytail.  My excuses: but it's what's comfortable, I'll be working in the garden, taking care of the chickens, or chasing after five kids, what's the point? Right? Well, that is the point. You can't play the part when you don't feel the part. How you act directly corresponds with how you feel. I know that. Always have. For some reason, it just hit home with me last night. Lead by example. Look and act the part that you want your children to play. Show them that it's important enough to take the time to take care of your relationship with GOD, your family, and yourself more than your stuff.

This morning I got up, took a shower, shaved my legs (TMI? LOL), brushed my teeth, put on mascara, and made a much needed hair appointment. Not necessarily all in that order. I've felt great all day. I will now add this to MY chore chart. My reward...feeling great and knowing that I'm honoring GOD and doing everything (to the best of my ability) decently and in order.

Dinner Time

This past Sunday was the last day of our county fair. Mark took the four oldest kids to the fair and Marina and I stayed home. They all had a blast! There were very few people at the fair (Of course, had I known this I would have went as well.) so they got to ride all the rides they wanted, as many times as they wanted, without waiting in the usual long lines.

While they were gone, I decided that we should have some fun here at home too. I plopped Marina in her high chair, opened a jar of baby food, and grabbed my camera. She's such a hoot and a big ole camera ham to boot (Ha ha that rhymes! Forgive me, I do have five children you know?) Anyhow, enjoy the pictures! Be thankful you weren't here for tub time.

Just in case you're wondering...yes, she still sucks her thumb!