My handsome hunk of a husband fixed my shower! He first replaced the stems and washers in my shower faucet handles, and the shower head, to stop the dripping leak. He did that on Tuesday night. Then we attempted to snake out the clogged shower drain Tuesday night, without success. We decided that we needed to cut off the cast iron S-trap drain so we could reach the clog. Then we'd replace the S-trap with a PVC S-trap.
So last night we started that job at 9:30 pm. Not the best time to start, but Steve has other commitments this weekend and really needed to finish this last night. The sawing was hard work, because he was working above his head and needed to put heavy pressure on the reciprocating saw to keep it cutting through the pipe.
Thick dark water sprayed out as he worked, and spilled out when the S-trap came off. Yuck! Then we started snaking out the remaining cast iron pipe. Messy, nasty, wet job. And it took so long to break up all the rust clogging the pipe. We had kids start getting ready for bed while we were working, shortly after 10 pm. At midnight, we finally had good water flow through the pipe, and had removed rust, a giant hairball, and some plastic labels from liquid soap bottles. Our drain cover is not secured in place, and I guess kids let labels go down the drain when it was uncovered, at some point.
We took a break to tuck the kids into bed and went back down to rinse the pipe out some more, and then begin gluing our PVC S-trap together and securing it to the cast iron pipes. It was 1 am when we finally came upstairs and were able to get showers. But it works perfectly now! At last!! We put a hair catching filter under the drain cover, and will be securing it in place to prevent hair and labels from going down again.
And my amateur-plumbing husband has the supplies to fix my running toilet tonight, too. So, by tonight, I should have my bathroom working properly again!
I believe this is the most blog entries I've ever made in one day. A new record! But not necessarily a goal to aim for again. I should likely feel ashamed or embarrassed, but ... oh well.
I wanted to get the word out about Brandi's contest at Mountain Morning Homeschool early in the week this time, instead of waiting until the very end of the week. She's having her second blog giveaway ever, and is being very generous. She is giving one winner the book, Martha's Family Cookery by Martha Greene of http://www.marmeedear.com, and a vintage apron. And if 30 blogs link back to her contest, she'll give away a second apron to a second winner.
Brandi says that Martha's Family Cookery is full of delicious recipes for the family that are free of white sugar, bleached flours, preservatives, artificial colors and nitrites. And Brandi asked us to share our favorite healthy recipe.
I really want to share a recipe for "Easy Whole Grain Applesauce Cake" which my entire family just loves, but it was one that I found several years ago on an email list: Real Food Living Digest by Vickilynn Haycraft. I'd share the recipe, except I believe it is one she intends to include in the book she's trying to publish: Real Foods for the Real Family. So I don't feel I can share the recipe. But I can highly recommend her email list to anyone interested in healthy recipes that are "free" of white sugar, bleached flour, preservatives, artificial colors, and nitrites.
So, I guess I'll have to share a different healthy recipe. I guess I'll share the recipe I'm cooking today, although I confess my version is not as "stuff-free" as Martha's recipes. It could be if you used organic canned salsa, and beans ... or if you make your own salsa and cook your beans from scratch. Um, I just used regular salsa and canned beans, though.
Crockpot Chicken Taco Filling
Place 3-6 skinless boneless chicken breasts in the crockpot.
Pour 1.5 cups of your favorite natural healthy salsa over the chicken.
Let cook on high for 5 hours, then shred the chicken and stir the salsa into the chicken.
Add 1 - 2 cups frozen or home-canned corn.
Add 1 - 2 cups of cooked great northern beans.
Stir well.
Season to taste with chili powder, pepper, cumin, and onion powder.
Continue to cook on low for 1-2 hours.
Serve in taco shells or flour tortillas with shredded cheddar cheese.
I have been enjoying digitally flipping through the summer issue of The Old Schoolhouse Magazine this week. It's very simple to use, and I love the feature that lets you email an article to as many as 5 friends. What a wonderful way to share encouragement with other homeschooling friends who may not receive the magazine!!
I confess that I do love being able to carry an actual print magazine with me to Dr. appointments, or in the car ... but then you're also left with the clutter of magazines you just don't want to part with, and the magazine can get pretty tattered before you've finished reading it. I can't take this with me to the Dr's office, unless I print pages, but it also isn't adding to the paper clutter in my home. And I know that there are families who would find that to be a BIG benefit of the digital version.
I don't have high-speed DSL internet, (although I also don't have dial-up internet), and have been able to read the magazine easily, without slow page loads. We have a medium-speed satellite internet. Even with my non-dsl internet, I was easily able to download the magazine to my hard drive as a zip file, to save it long-term ... without overloading my magazine rack or file cabinet.
Another benefit to reading a digital magazine vs. a print magazine will become very real to me in a few months. You know how it is when you're trying to read while nursing or holding a baby, and the baby just wants to slap or kick the book or magazine you're reading? You try to hold it further away, but then you can't read it very well, and the one-handed hold doesn't work as well with a magazine as it does a hardcover book. Well, with the digital version, you just have to scoot a little further back from the computer desk, and keep reading.
If you have trouble with your vision, but don't like wearing your reading glasses ... just increase the print size of your monitor, or magnify the page as you're viewing it, for easier reading. I don't have this problem, but I have friends who do. So put away that magnifying glass, and just read the digital version instead.
There are two more advantages to the digital magazine: you don't have to wait for it to arrive in your mail box, and it costs less than the print version. If you've wanted to subscribe to The Old Schoolhouse Magazine, but couldn't quite afford the subscription rate, then perhaps the digital version will suit your budget better, with a subscription rate of $16.95/year instead of $25.00/year. Or, if you wanted to gift it to someone else, this is a more affordable way to do that, as well.
And finally, with the digital version of the magazine, I won't have to figure out where my daughters took my magazine, or if they lost my place. It seems I'm always chasing down my print-version, since my daughters enjoy reading it, as well.
Yes, I know I have that in the wrong order. But that's the order I'm going to share in.
The bad ...
my only shower in my only bathroom isn't draining right ... after trying 3 different products this weekend, we're still standing in a pool of water after a fast shower ... Steve is going to have to take pipes apart to find the clog
that same shower also is leaking ... it dribbles (worse than a drip) constantly, just months after Steve repaired the last leak
the only toilet in that only bathroom will run endlessly after it's flushed, so we are always listening for it and trying to jiggle it before it wastes too much water
my new dog chewed up 3 flip flops, took a bite out of one pair of sandals, and bit the nose off our Winnie the Pooh rocking toy when we were away on Saturday even though we picked up the whole house before we left ... so now she must spend her time in a kennel outside whenever we go anywhere
this baby is due in 36 days and it seems fairly certain we will not be able to go anywhere as a family (in one vehicle) after he arrives ... still haven't replaced the front seats with a bench in our Suburban or found a van
we never managed to get a garden planted this year, and only 3 of our tomato plants have survived in their containers ... cherry tomatoes, which are just starting to bloom in August
Steve's current job situation gets messy at times with power struggles between different departments
I still haven't asked anyone (or decided who to ask) to watch the kids when we go to the hospital to have this baby
The ugly ...
Steve's commuter car has been at the shop for over a month, it needs a new transmission most likely ... our second transmission replacement this year (not same car) and we are making payments on it while it sits ... and trying to get together the money to replace the transmission
Steve's Dad is in the hospital, in another state, facing amputation of his foot due to diabetes, and appears to be getting worse instead of better ... he's been there a week
Steve's mother has alzheimers and needs as much or more care than she can give to his Dad
the situation with Steve's parents is so big that it feels like it deserves more than two bullet points
I haven't been able to bring myself to blog about it for the past week, but it has consumed most of our thoughts and energy and our conversations
The good ...
God is faithful to fulfill all our needs and give us strength for anything He allows in our lives
we are blessed in so many ways: home, family, freedom, Steve's job
we are healthy
I have a wonderful hard-working, faithful and loving husband who was teaching our kids to play softball/baseball last night ... yes I played, too. (someone had to show them how to bat since Steve pitches better than I do ... not that I bat very well, either)
Steve's older commuter car is running and able to get him to and from work, even if it uses more gas
our Suburban is running well and hasn't given us any problems in months
we have wonderful maternity coverage on our insurance this pregnancy
so far, this has been my easiest and healthiest pregnancy ... despite the fact that it is my 7th baby and I'm now 35 ... what does that tell you about those two "high risk category" myths?
I have everything I need to start school next week, and continue to find curriculum and books we need on Paperbackswap.com
I am able to stay home with our children and home educate them
the weather has been in the 70s and lower 80s for a week of beautiful weather now, and is projected to remain there for the next 10 days ... we survived the worst part of summer without air conditioning
we are not citizens of this earth, but our citizenship is in heaven, and we have the hope of heaven to look forward to
we have indoor plumbing, even if it isn't currently working well
my children did their chores quickly this morning, supper is in the crockpot, our pantry is full, and I am about to use my washing machine to wash clothes
Yes, I have things I could whine about, and I have some serious concerns at the moment ... but life is still good. God has blessed us, and I believe He will continue to bless us. Not that our life will always be easy, but that there are blessings in the midst of the hardships. Not all blessings are tangible blessings, but they are still blessings. Sometimes the intangible blessings are more valuable than the tangible blessings.
I spent time this weekend filling out my yearly goals for the older five children, the course of study for the year, and my educational objectives for them in each subject. I've never done that before, and at first it seemed overwhelming, so I started with the easy form ... the course of study, since I already know what curriculum we're using for each subject. But I'm so glad I did it. I pinpointed weak areas for each child, and was able to put that down as an area to develop this year. It helps to have it on paper, and be able to return to those goals throughout the year to assess how we're doing in our schooling. Are we making progress, are we still struggling, or are we letting this area slide? Then we can decide if we need to try a new approach, work harder, or just continue on as we are.
I then used the calendars to plan out when we'd begin school, take breaks, end school, and what weeks of Tapestry of Grace we'd study each week. After filling in the calendar, I realized that with the baby break and holiday breaks, we'd be schooling right through June if we started August 25. That didn't even account for any time off if we had another bad case of influenza or a family emergency. So, Steve and I decided to start August 18 instead. That gives us a little more flexibility, and hopefully we won't have to school into July again.
I also was able to schedule Tapestry of Grace weeks so we complete Year 3 this year, without starting into Year 4. When we began Tapestry of Grace, we started it at the end of one school year, so we have always begun each new school year on week 6 or so of the year plan. And we end the school year, 5 or 6 weeks into the next year plan. I attempted to correct that this past year by extending some of the weeks over 2 weeks. But we're still going to start this school year on week 4 of year 3. Next year, we will be buying the redesigned Tapestry of Grace, as they're publishing it, so we can't be several weeks into the year already. We'll have to study it on their printing schedule.
I still need to create a weekly schedule for the subjects, especially the subjects where we are using more than one curriculum. This is always an area I struggle with, and we often end up not using the more fun or creative curriculum choices ... just sticking with the easy "next page in the workbook" approach. I want to avoid that this year. And some of my educational objectives for the kids require that we do employ some of those other methods and curriculum options.
I haven't started filling in household organizational forms. I'm looking forward to using some of their chore charts ... although my children are hoping I don't. We have been too disorganized in that area for a long time. We have opted for the "do it when Mom notices it needs it and assigns it to us" method. But that method means that sometimes things get bad all at once and we have to spend a day doing nothing but cleaning to recover from the neglect. A more organized approach would prevent that. I just never have managed to figure out the best way to organize it. I admit I mostly get hung up on what chores to assign to which children to get the best results with the least amount of grumbling. I probably should just get over the "least amount of grumbling" bit.
I like that The Schoolhouse Planner has several different chore charts, so you can decide what style will work best for your family. There are picture chore charts for young children, and chore charts to fill in for each child, or charts to complete for the whole family. There are even daily schedule forms to fill out for children, or Mom, to help them know when to study, work, and play. We've been more relaxed with our day in the past, but I am finding that the children are taking advantage of that too often, and we need to add more structure and time slots for our work and play. The older children, especially, need to learn to schedule their days, as they will need that skill if they choose to attend college, and when they take on jobs outside the home.
I was looking at the recipes again, and am looking forward to trying several of them. I noticed that there are a wide variety of recipes included. Some are very healthy and start with foods in their more natural form, and others are "can opener recipes" as I call them ... those fast recipes where you open a can of this and a can of that to mix up a meal. I'm glad they included both types of recipes, so there are options for days when you're planning ahead, and days when you're scrambling to fix supper at the last minute!
I know that I will be using The Schoolhouse Planner often. Other than the dated calendars at the beginning, this planner is totally re-usable and will be helpful for years to come. Even if a person only bought it once, they'd benefit from the great forms they can use year after year. I don't know what The Old Schoolhouse Magazine and The Old Schoolhouse Store have planned for future years -- if they'll republish a completely new planner, or sell calendar updates to this one -- but it is definitely a resource worth buying! I highly recommend it!
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