Saunders Family

It's Been Awhile

Hi!  I know it's been awhile since I've been on here.  It's been kind of busy around here.  Our daughter only has a few more weeks left of school until summer break.  I have not had the 2 little ones except for 2 days a week, because their mom is through with this semester of nursing school until August.  She is working though, but not alot during the week, mostly on weekends, so I have been getting a little bit of a break.

 We planted our garden, so hopefully it will do good this year.  We planted 3 rows of beans this year.  We also planted tomatoes and squash and trying cucumbers this time to see how they do.  Hopefully the critters don't get in the garden this year and munch on the plants.  I also bought 2 geraniums this year, the kind that keeps the mosquitos away. 

 We had a yardsale a few weeks ago, but did not make much at all.  I had cleaned out my kitchen cabinets to get rid of some stuff.  I never do well at yardsales.  My 14 year old daughter made more than me.  I have some more cleaning cabinets and closets to do.

 Last friday I woke up and did not have much water and then about an hour later we had none.  we had to call someone out to check our pump and they said that was fine, but they had to replace the tank. Our water pressure is alot better now.  They had to put chlorine in the water so no bacteria would grow in there, so we had to buy bottled water for the dog and for us for a few days. We can still smell a little bit of the chlorine, but the water is much better now.  Before that happened we had no internet for 5 days, but we got it fixed.   It seems like everything happens at once.

  I hope everyone has a good week ahead.       Karen

Snow Day

Well we finally got the snow we wanted. I did not see much of it fall, because it snowed during the night.  I measured it this morning and we got 4 inches.  My daughter has already been sledding. She has our dog outside now and he is enjoying it.  It looked so beautiful this morning when the sun was coming up and glistening.  I am now ready for spring since we got our snow.  I know it will stick around a few days.

  Have a great week.   Karen S.

Learning To Write

I just had to tell you that the 2 little girls I keep are 3 and 4 and the 4 year old is learning to write.  Yesterday she wanted to write some words, so I sat at the table and we went over words that rhyme.  I would tell her how to spell them and she would write each letter down as I said it.  She already knows how to spell  DOG and her name.  She did really well writing.  She just turned 4 the first part of Janurary.

  Does anyone have any ideas what else I can do with her, because I know alot of you homeschool, so I just want some other ideas.  There are still a few letters she does not know how to write, so I would write it for her, then she would write that letter.  She's a smart little girl.

  Karen S.

Back On Schedule

Well today was getting back on schedule, the kids had to go back to school today from the Christmas holidays.  Well almost on schedule.  The 2 little girls I keep did not come today, because the youngest one was sick, so it was quiet today.  I did get a few things done today. I did some more laundry, swept the floor, take the trash out.  I did go to the store with my mom and picked up a few things I needed.

  For supper tonight we are having a cheap meal, which is alweays good.  I had bought some stew beef on sale a couple of weeks ago that had been reduced, and putting it in the crockpot with a can of cream of mushroom and a can of cream of onion soup.  I will have mash potatoes and greenbeans with that.

  YUM YUM

  Karen S.

Honey-Glazed Snack Mix

This is the snack mix I make every year for Christmas gifts.

  Honey-Glazed Snack Mix

 4 Cups Rice or Corn chex cereal

 1-1/2 Cups miniature pretzels

 1 Cup pecan halves

 1/3 Cup butter or margarine

 1/4 Cup honey

    In a large mixing bowl, combine cereal, pretzels and pecans; set aside.  Melt butter in a small saucepan; stir in honey and blend well.  Pour over cereal mixture and stir to coat evenly.  Spread in a jelly roll pan.  Bake at 350 degrees for 12-15 minutes or until mixture is lightly glazed, stirring occasionally.  Remove from oven and cool slightly.  Spread on waxed paper to cool completely.

 Yield ; about 6-1/2 cups.

  Karen S.

Chicken Pizza

I fixed chicken pizza for supper tonight.  I used BBQ sauce on the pizza crust instead of pizza sauce.  Then I put my chicken on, then little bits of bacon and topped with cheese.  I cooked it by the directions that was on the pizza crust.  It was so good. There was not any leftovers.  My husband and daughter really liked it.  I will have to make it again.

  Karen S.

Road Signs

Last night we were coming home from the mall, because we went there to buy our tickets for the admission into the state fair.   On our way home my husband was testing our daughter with the road signs to see if she knew what they were.  She did really good, she is only 14.  She will be 15 next year and old enough for drivers training.  We are not looking forward to this.  I do not drive, so my husband will be the one who has to drive with her.

He decided to try her on the lawnmower yesterday after school and he said she did good, but she hit the inside of the building when she put it back in, but it was not hard.  I wish I had film in the camera, that would have made a good picture.  They grow too fast.

 Have a great day.  Karen

What A Windy Day

It has been so windy today, and also cold.  It started raining this afternoon.  It is suppose to be windy and rainy tomorrow too.  My daughter is in the 8th grade band and they are suppose to play tomorrow night at the highschool football game.  I hope it's not raining tomorrow night, so they can play.  She had to stay after school today and practice.  My daughter plays the flute.

Have a good night          Karen

My Grandparents

First of all I want to say Happy Grandparents Day to all the Grandparents out there.

Even though my grandparents are gone now, I have fond memories of them. My moms Father died when I was 8 years old, so I don't remember alot about him. I did stay with my moms Mother some during the summer when my parents worked, and what great memories with her.  She lived down a long dirt road and I remember taking walks going to the mailbox and picking blackberries here and there, and also looking for honeysuckles to suck on too.  She did not have alot of modern things. She had a big wood cookstove, and she still had a ringer washer. She did have a bathroom with a clawfoot tub. She also had a cellar outside of the house where it always stayed cool, filled with things she had canned. There were times when I would spend the night with her and it was so dark, I could not even see my hand. I can even see in my head how the house was layed out, and where everything was.  Everytime she cooked or cleaned house she would either sing or hum the old hymns.  I loved when she cooked, because I would lick the batter from a cake she was making or biscuit, or cornbread batter. You can't do that anymore, because of the raw egg in what you bake.  I really miss all that. OK I am getting teary eyed here.

 My dads parents lived beside of us when we was growing up.  We had a dog when we were growing up, and when we all left in the morning to go to school and my parents went to work, the dog would take this path to my grandparents and stayed with them them, and when we all got home in the afternoon, here came our dog on the path. My grandparents spoiled that dog, because they would let her come in the house and my grandfather would feed her from the table sometimes. My dads parents always liked to fish.  We did some things with my dads parents too. There was a little creek down from our house that we always like to go there and fish. My grandfather sometimes hooked up the little trailer on the back of the lawnmower and let us ride in it.  I always think of my grandparents when I here the song Precious Memories

 Well I hope everyone had a great day.       Karen

Those Pesky Ants

We have always had an ant problem, but now they seem like they want to stick around.  They are around my sink in the kitchen and counter.  We did have them kind of bad a few months ago, but we finally got rid of them and they were gone for awhile.  They just came back last week when we had alot of rain. I think the rain stirred them up again.  It's those little tiny ants.  I woke up this morning and found a bunch of them in my sink.  My husband had a bowl of cereal before work and only left a little bit in the bowl, and put it in the sink.  That's what they were after too.  I guess I will have to get my husband to get some ant spray and spray outside, so they will not come back in, but they will find another way in.  I guess they love our house.  At least they are not the big ones though.

  Have a great week.    Karen

Where Has The Time Gone

My baby turned 14 today. My goodness, where has the time gone. She will be going into the 8th grade next week.  Her school had open house tonight, so we got to meet all her teachers. After we left school tonight we took her out to eat. She got to pick where she wanted to eat.  She had a good birthday today.

 Karen S.

Blueberry Muffins

I just made some blueberry muffins, and they smell so good.  I will have one in the morning. I hope they taste ok, because I did not have any vanilla extract.  I will have to buy some more.

 Karen

The Past Few Days

We have had a good week.   Our dog is still limping a little bit from his hurt paw. I am still giving him his pain medicine. 

 On wednesday was my birthday and my daughter bought me some slippers and flipflops, they were a set.  My husband gave me a giftcard, and also received money from my mom and mother-in-law. Wednesday night I had to get a ride home from church with a lady who lives out our way, because my husband and daughter had choir practice.  The lady stopped by the grocery store to pick up some blueberries, because they had them on sale. When she came back to the car, she gave me one of the containers of blueberries and said Happy Birthday. Now I just got to make something with them.

 Thursday my daughter and I went with my neighbor to the zoo. We had a great time. We got to see some of the animals get there meal.  Two of the workers was in the black bear area hiding their food, and when they let them out, it was fun watching them finding their food.  We also got to see the puffins being fed too. My favorite thing is watching the sealions sunbathing. They were so funny the way they were laying. Two of them were snuggled up together. It was nice weather yesterday to be at the zoo.

 Today my daughter and I went with my mom shopping, so I used my birthday money to buy some things I needed.  With the money I had left over, I bought an amish cookbook.  I love to collect cookbooks. I did a couple of chores when I got home, and then when my husband got home we had to go grocery shopping.

 We saw mama deer and her babies again this evening. The babies are getting bigger, but you can still see the spots on them though.  Well it's getting late.  I hope everyone has a great weekend.

  Karen S.

What A Day

This morning I had to call the vet to see if they could see our dog. Saturday evening our dog got something in his paw, so we tried to take it out and he would not let us mess with it. The vet saw him at 9:00 this morning and they could not find anything, but there had been something in there and it was swollen, and he was also limping too. They gave him a antibiotic shot and gave us some pain pills to give him. The vet told us that they saw alot of dogs last week with bee stings. They told us not to let him go outside except to go to the bathroom. He has to have alot of rest right now.

 We also had to go out and get some school supplies for my daughter, before she goes back to school. We still did not get everything. She will be in 8th grade this year and she has to have a certain type of calculator.  She does go to public school, because my husband won't allow me to homeschool her. It seems like we have to get more stuff every year.

 I did a few chores today and my husband went outside to saw a tree down. The tree was already leaning half way down, so he decided to saw it all the way down.  I was inside at the time and told my daughter I was going out since he was sawing the tree down to make sure he's alright.  I went out where he was, but was standing back a little ways, and he sawed the tree in the middle and when he did the tree came down and he fell back and the chainsaw landed right on his lap.  I just thank the lord that the chainsaw did not cut him, but he got a scratch on his leg.  I told him he scared a few years off my life. LOL!  After that I told him to please stop for the day, but he kept on sawing.

 I fixed soup for supper tonight.  After that I washed dishes and then read some.  Later on I had to vaccum.  I also need to do some laundry too.  That's all for now.

  Karen

Vegetable Casserole

This is the vegetable casserole I made tonight for supper.

1package(16ounces) frozen broccoli,carrots and cauliflower

1 can (10-3/4 ounces) condensed cream of mushroom soup, undiluted

1 carton (8 ounces) spreadable garden vegetable cream cheese

1/2 to 1 cup seasoned croutons

  Prepare vegetables according to package directions; drain and place in a largebowl. Stir in soup and cream cheese. Transfer to a greased 1 qt. baking dish. Sprinkle with croutons.  Bake, uncovered, at 375 degrees for 25 minutes or until bubbly.

   My husband really likes this recipe.

  Karen

A Nice Visit

My mom, my aunt and my daughter and I went to visit one of my other aunts today. She actually use to be my aunt by marriage, before her and my uncle got a divorce years ago, but we still keep in touch with her. I use to stay with them one week out of the summer when I was growing up. It was always fun at her house.  She fixed us BBQ sandwiches today with chips.  She also made some squash slaw which I never heard of, but it was really good. She had made this pan of brownies which had pecans in it, and also had crushed up twix candy bars in it too, and then she put a chocolate sauce over it. It was soooooooo good.  She was always a good cook and still is.  We had a very nice visit with her. It's always good to see her.

 I went to the store to pick up a few things this afternoon, which this was not my regular shopping trip. I also called my neighbor today, because it was her birthday. Had to leave at 6:00 to go to church and had to get a ride home with another lady tonight, because my husband and daughter had to stay after church for choir practice.   It's been a good day.  That's all for now.

Tuesday Night

Hi Everyone!  Another hot day here today. It got close to 97 today, and tomorrow suppose to be 95.  My 2 little ones was here today.  Their mom has some time off, so only have them once this week and will have them one day next week.  When school starts back, It will be back to the regular schedule.  They keep me busy.  We played outside with sidewalk chalk, but could not stay out long because of the heat.  I do have a little pool they can get in, but have not put water in it for awhile now, because we are going through a draught. We have had a little rain, but not enough  to help. I think that's why our garden did not do to well. 

 Wednesday is usually my grocery shopping day, but will not be able to go tomorrow. Hopefully I will get it done on Thursday.  The prices keep going up in the grocery store.  I can't beleive milk is about $4.00.  I just can't afford to buy milk every week.  I told my husband that I need to buy the dry milk powder and make it.   Well I will go for now.   Take care everyone.

  Karen

Natures Entertainment

It's Monday night and humid.  It has been in the 90's today.  Sometimes nature has the best entertainment.  My husband and I have noticed that there are two birds that are eating from our hummingbird feeder and they are not hummingbirds.  We can't understand why they are eating from that feeder.  We have suet feeders too.  I love to watch the birds in our backyard anyway.  Also we have a big butterfly bush and sometimes there are about 7 to 10 butterflies on it at one time.  There are also the deer in our yard, because my husband puts out deer corn out for them.  We saw a mama deer and her 2 babies the other night, so we just stood there an watched as they ate.  The funniest entertainment is when our dog starts chasing after the squirrels, and we have to laugh. He will chase them until they decide to climb up the tree and then they squawk at our dog.  I like to sit outside in the mornings when I get a chance too.

 Thank you for the welcome.  I really like it here.

A New Family Here

Hello!  My name is Karen and I am very new to this blogging thing.  We are a family of 3 . It's my husband David and myself and our 13 year old daughter.  We have a dog name snoopy and a guineapig name zee.  I keep 2 little children in my home, but have some time off right now which is nice, so I can get some cleaning done.   We do plant a garden every year.  I also hang my clothes outside when I can.  I just want to get back to a simpler life.   I hope everyone has a great day.