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September is our city's library sign up month. I got a call from our librarian a couple of weeks ago asking if the kids and I would pose with the mayor for a presentation. Hannah, however, wasn't able to be with us. Luke was very impressed with getting to meet the mayor, especially since the mayor made him feel very important by giving him a business card, lol. The librarian submitted the picture to the Dallas Morning News and our picture and the story is now on the website. Check it out! http://www.neighborsgo.com/stories/20602 Blessings, Carol |
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It rained on and off all day today, and is supposed to rain again in the morning. I love rainy days - especially when the weather cools down from the usual 105+ degrees to the low 90's. Right now, it is 75 and feels so good. After dinner tonight, Luke and I took Dixie for a walk and it felt so much like fall. Fall is my favorite season. I love watching leaves change colors and fall from the trees, and the cooler temperature. I know the temperature won't last, but it is such a nice respite from the heat. The Lord is so good! Blessings, |
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Trying to catch up with laundry today. I've got a few loads washed, dried, and put away and have another in the washing machine. It's the worst time of day to use the dryer because it is just so hot, but I don't have a clothesline right now. I miss hanging them out on the line; such a homey, comfortable feeling seeing laundry on the line, lol. I need to buy a new clothesline and ask Keith to put another one up for me. Since we don't have an "official" clothesline, he has just rigged one up for me between the fence and the swingset. Time (and children) have pretty much torn the old one up, so it's time for a new one. I'm keeping my niece, Jenna, and her stepbrother and sister today for a couple of hours. They have been playing really well together. I let them change into some old clothes and play outside with the hose. Now they are down the street at the school playground, where my older daughters cheerfully offered to take them. I don't think they'll stay too long since it's so hot, but the quiet house sure is nice! They even took the puppy. Dixie sure is growing, and can be quite mischevious at times. Take a look at Luke's blog for a naughty picture of her. She loves tearing up toilet paper! :P I'm giving away two bags of clothes to Jenna's stepsister. Why I kept them so long I don't know, but they're perfect for Madison right now, so I guess everything happens for a reason! I'm working on decluttering, which has always been very hard for me. It feels good to be getting rid of some things, though! I'm supposed to start tutoring my niece and her stepbrother and sister before they start back to school. Madison is pretty well on target in reading, but my niece and Parker aren't. The new Christian school they will be going to uses Abeka, which I hear is pretty advanced, so I'm afraid they may have a bit of a problem at first. They are both really smart, though, and I think they'll catch up pretty quickly. :) Well, they are back now. They lasted longer than I thought! It's actually much cooler today at 90 degrees; it has been 105 or so for the past week. Still, they are hot, thirsty, and tired. Dixie went straight to the cool tile in the bathroom to cool off and rest, and the kids are putting on a movie to watch. It's time for me to get off and get some more work done. Thanks for stopping by. Have a great day! Blessings, Carol
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Today was a really busy day, and it's not over yet. I got up this morning, took the puppy for a short walk, went to the Post Office, drove out to hubby's work and picked up his check, brought it back and deposited it in the bank, drove out to the dairy and picked up 6 gallons of fresh raw Jersey milk (yum!) and 2 dozen eggs, drove a little further on to an orchard and picked up some peaches, strawberries, blueberries, zucchini, black eyed peas, cucumbers, okra and tomatoes. Came home and ate a fresh peach with some yogurt, nutmeg and pecans sprinkled with agave nectar for lunch. (Okay, I was still hungry so I had some chips and hot sauce afterwards!) I put the peas on to boil, and I think we'll have some fried okra, cornbread and fresh tomatoes and cucumbers for supper tonight. Then we may have some strawberries and blueberries with a little whipped cream for dessert. Yum! I sure miss having a garden this year. I'm thinking about starting a fall container garden and planting some greens and maybe carrots. I've never had a fall garden so I'm not even sure yet what I can plant. But anything we can grow will sure help the grocery bill, especially now that we have four rabbits. The kids have wanted to have a rabbitry for the past few years and we finally got them some. They have two English Lops and two Mini Rexes. They are so cute! Hannah just brought them in to relieve them of this Texas heat. Dixie (the pup) wants to play with them so bad, but for some reason they really don't want to, lol. We got something interesting in the mail today from an organization called People to People. Our daughter Shera is invited to travel and study in England and France next summer. I've never heard of this organization, but it was founded by President Eisenhower so apparently it's been around a while. Has anyone heard of it or had any experience with it? It sounds like a great opportunity, but there's no way we could ever come up with the money for something like that, much less be comfortable with letting her go off with people we don't even know. I'm off now to read a few blogs and get started on supper. Have a wonderful evening! Blessings, Carol
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Yes, we have a new addition to our family!!! One for whom I have been waiting for years . . . . . .
I finally got my collie! We named her Dixie. This picture just doesn't do her justice - she is absolutely gorgeous! And the next best thing is, my mom bought one of her littermates, whom she named Belle. We are so excited to finally have a puppy again! |
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Last night, dh and I went on a "date" for the first time in quite a while. We took the kids to my mom's to spend the night and then went to an Italian restaurant for dinner. Keith had a stromboli while I had cheese lasagna. Yummy! Then we went home and watched "On a Clear Day" netflix movie. It was okay; I think we will have to see it again and use the subtitles the next time so maybe we could understand it a bit better. The girls have been wanting to see it because Billy Boyd (Pippin in Lord of the Rings) is in it. Because it is rated PG-13, I wanted us to preview it first. Then we bowled a few games and played a few rounds of golf 2008 style - via the Wii, that is! We don't get to be alone together very much, and we really need to work on that. We are blessed to live so close to my mom so that we can do that occasionally. When the kids were younger, they spent at least one night a week there, but as they got older we just got out of the habit. Hopefully we'll start doing this more! Have a great day! Carol
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We finally broke down and got one after we got our income tax rebate. It was my first time to play it and it is really fun! 
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I am now officially HOME! After much prayer, I felt it was time for me to quit my job at the daycare, and I have been home now for a couple of weeks. It feels so good to be home with my kids! This will be a short post because it is now time to run to piano lessons, but I did want to mention that the herbal treatment for lice works great!!!! Have a blessed day,
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I will be subbing from time to time, so I can bring in a bit of money here and there. I really do need to get into a good routine because I end up wasting so much time and not even realizing it. But I am HOME!!!
CarolPosted in A Day in My Life
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It's hard to believe that a whole year has gone by since I first started blogging here at Homesteadblogger! It's also hard to believe that my oldest daughter, Shera, turned 15 today. Where has the time gone? Today she wanted to spend some time with just her daddy and me, so we went to her choice of restaurant - Steak and Ale - for lunch, and then dropped Keith off at home while she and I went shopping. We went first to Kohl's where she bought two tops and then to Target for a couple of t-shirts. We will be having her birthday party next week with my family. She is saving up for a laptop so all she wants is money. Here's a picture of the two of us on her birthday.
You can see how much she has matured by comparing our pic from last year. Speaking of laptops, my daughter Hannah has saved for quite a while to get one - and she accomplished her goal this year. In fact, she got it today. It is a refurbished one that we were able to buy from my nephew's company. They sell them at a discounted price, plus he got another discount, so she was able to get an IBM Thinkpad for only $270. She saved so much that she was able to buy herself a digital camera and still have some left over! Luke would like one, too, but we'll have to wait and see about that.
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It has been quite a while since I posted last, and so much has happened that I really don't know where to start. I'm at home today nursing a cold and not feeling very well at all. Two weeks ago I had a stomach virus. One of the perks of working in a day care, I guess! We have temporarily moved in (for the most part) with my mom, so I don't get access to the computer very much. We usually come back home for the weekends, but the kids usually beat me to the computer! A month ago, my dh had surgery for an umbilical hernia, and needed a recliner to sleep in while he healed. We don't have one, but Mom does, so we stayed with her. A few days before the surgery, Mom fell at home in the bathroom in the middle of the night and gashed her head. She had to have 3 staples. What is scary is that she is on a blood thinner, so had she blacked out, she could've bled to death. She's very tough, though, got up, got the bleeding stopped, and then called me to take her to the hospital. While my kids had happened to be there spending the night, they slept through it all. It concerns me now to leave her alone, though she doesn't know that. She is 79 years old, doesn't usually fall, but got up to use the bathroom in the dark so it wouldn't disturb the kids. The darkness and being half asleep was not a good combination. Anyway, we have continued to stay with her during the week. This helps me out as well because I don't have to worry about cooking supper when I get home at night. I am also working on decluttering my own home, so it helps to be able to come over in the mornings and work a while with one of my daughters without having everything undone so quickly! I'm still working at our church's day care, and while I love my job, I am SO ready to be back at home full time. I miss being with my kids - it's homeschool, eat, leave for work, come home, eat, and go to bed. I haven't been able to spend very much time with them, and then I'm so stressed trying to get "school" done that I'm not always very nice in the time that we do have. Another prayer request I have is for one of the mothers whose babies I have in my class. She is a foster mom, and had just started the process of adopting one of the babies, Alex, when he contracted pneumonia and died. He was 7 months old, but had been about 3 months premature. His little organs couldn't take the stress of pneumonia. She is, of course, deeply grieving right now. The other foster baby was taken away for a while during the investigation since he died unexpectedly at home, but is back with her now. She desperately wants to adopt this precious little girl as well. It is so good to be back here - even if it was while I was sick! I have so missed reading everyone's blogs. Hopefully it won't be so long before I can post again. Blessings, |
But dh's work has not picked up, and it looks like I'll be there for a while longer. Please be praying that by the first of the year they will get more work so I can come home!Posted in A Day in My Life
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The kids and I have taken the week off from the computer, aside from some research. We are still trying to settle into some kind of routine for school in the mornings to be finished before I leave for work in the afternoons. We finally started doing some school in the evenings before bed and that seems to help. I know it will take some time but we'll get there! I really love my job ( I'm working in the infant room at our church's Child Development Center) but I really miss being here with my kids in the afternoons. Hopefully we can get some bills taken care of soon and I can come back home. Meanwhile, it has been a good experience for the kids. They may not realize it, but they are learning responsibility, independence, and how to take care of conflict (among themselves!) while Mama's not here. I honestly never wanted to go back to work while I had kids at home, but I guess there's a season for everything. It was a great surprise to log in tonight and see that Maa is back! Yay! I so love their posts and have really missed them! We still have not got a new car yet. We're hoping maybe tomorrow we'll be able to go looking. In the meantime, we have been checking out cars at cars.com. That's a great place to look without having to leave your house until you find something. But some good news - Keith's truck was found and our baby bed was still in it! Almost all of his tools were taken, as was Hannah's Game Boy, but the baby bed was still in it, unharmed. Praise the Lord! Thanks for stopping by. Have a great weekend! Blessings,
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Now we have two teenagers in the house - yikes! Well, gotta go get these guys off to bed. We're starting school (finally!) tomorrow and I need them to get off to an early start. It's going to be quite different this year with me working part-time. My goal is to be completely finished each day before I leave except for any independent work they may need to do. We'll see how it goes! Blessings,
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Thanks to everyone who prayed for me this week. I have been diagnosed with kidney stones in both kidneys. This didn't really surprise me because I am so BAD about drinking water, or anything really. I have to consciously make the effort to drink throughout the day because I just don't think about it. In another way it was a surprise because I really should have been in much more pain than I was. My dh and brother have had kidney stones and are in tremendous pain with them. My back never hurt at all like Keith's does; however, my brother's never hurt him. Except for the soreness in my side and the big huge pain that I had on Monday morning that caused me to nearly faint, I really haven't been in that much pain. Praise the Lord! Needless to say, I have been drinking A LOT. I have done some research and this is what I am doing to try to dissolve and/or pass them: 1.) I am taking two Hydrangea Root capsules and Marshmallow Root capsules twice a day. I may up the Marshmallow Root to three times a day. Hydrangea Root is known to dissolve stones and Marshmallow Root is mucilaginous and soothes and softens tissues, helping with inflammation and easing the stones out. 2.) I am doing a three day apple juice/steam distilled water fast. You can drink up to one gallon of organic unsweetened apple juice a day and up to a gallon of steam distilled water. However, my little body could never take that much and I am not going to push it to! So, I have been drinking two quarts of apple juice and two quarts of distilled water throughout the day. Believe me, this is not easy! I do well on a good day to drink one quart of anything! Yesterday was my second day of the fast and I felt that I just had to have something to eat, so I have been eating watermelon throughout the day. Watermelon, as you know, has a high concentration of water in it, so it is a natural diuretic. 3.) Tonight will be the hardest thing to do, I think. When it is time for bed, I am going to drink 1/2 cup of olive oil and 1/4 cup of fresh squeezed lemon juice. Gag! As you can see, I have done a lot of research. I believe strongly that everyone should be in charge of his/her own health. I'm obviously not perfect, otherwise I wouldn't be having kidney stone problems, but it is very important to me that I try natural remedies. I believe with all my heart that our amazing God has provided us the answers to all our problems through nature. It's just a matter of learning (and lots of prayer!) what we need to do to take charge of what ails us. I still plan on making an appointment with an urologist sometime to make sure I am on the right track and that my body is making the right responses. Please don't get me wrong; doctors are wonderful, but they are not God! If you are having any kind of health related issues, pray for direction and research your problem. That is one reason I absolutely love the internet - there is so much information right at your fingertips. I honestly believe that there is a reason for every health issue out there, and it is up to us to find out what we need to do to correct it. God bless!
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The truck was never found, so we got the insurance money for it. The problem is that the truck was good; what we really need was a new van for me to drive. Ours is 12 years old and about had it. So, Keith is thinking we will probably go ahead and get me a used vehicle and he will use the van for his work truck for a while or until it dies completely on us, lol. We are thinking about either an Expedition or a Freestar van. Any Last Friday I started working part time at our church's CDC. I have worked there on and off through the years, but it has been a LONG time since I've done any kind of work, so it'll be an adjustment. I wanted to be able to still homeschool in the mornings and work some in the afternoons so I can help Keith pay off some bills. However, now it looks like I'll be adding TO those bills. Saturday morning I started having some pain in my lower right abdomen and has continued through today. It's not a constant pain, but hurts when I take a deep breath or change positions. It's sore to the touch, too. This morning I had an extreme pain that went from my right side and spread to the middle. It made me feel sick to my stomach and I thought I was going to pass out. I went to the doctor this afternoon and they think it is either an ovarian cyst (which I've had before but never had any pain with it) or appendicitis. So I go tomorrow for a CT scan and we'll see from there. I have no insurance so they called around to get the cheapest place for me to go to, but it still will cost $412. All this just as I was starting a new job! Oh, well. "And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose." (Romans 8:28), right? Blessings,
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about either of these? Posted in A Day in My Life
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Psalm 136:1 "O give thanks unto the LORD; for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever." Early this morning, we were victims of theft. I couldn't sleep, so I got up and sat at the computer for a while. Somewhere around 12:00 or so (I'm not really sure because I wasn't looking at the clock) I heard a truck start up - and thought it could be my hubby's. I got up and went to our sliding glass doors to listen, but couldn't tell if it was coming from our back driveway or from the alley. Our neighbor across the alley also has a diesel pickup truck. I noticed the light over the garage was on, and thought surely no one would be stealing the truck if the light was on. I went back to the computer, shaking, not sure of what to do. I didn't want to wake Keith up for nothing since he had to get up earlier than usual at 4:45, but I sure didn't want to go outside and check it out for myself! So I waited a while. About an hour later I decided to turn in, but thought I had better check on the truck. As I looked out the back door, I noticed the garage light was out. That's when it hit me - that light is a motion detector light and not usually on. I went out into the garage and opened the door about a foot to look out - and sure enough, the truck was gone. I woke Keith up, he called the police and made a report, and we tried, in vain, to go back to sleep. Keith uses his truck for work, so he had several hundred dollars worth of tools and equipment. Not only that, he was going to his mom's house today to work; that's why he was getting up earlier. The plan was to be there by 7:00 a.m., and it takes an hour to get there. Our mom had been using our baby bed for my little great-niece that she takes care of, but no longer needed the bed so Keith had wrapped it up and put it in the truck to store at his mom's. It was an expensive, heirloom-quality, beautiful sleigh crib (at least in our own opinion) that my parents had bought us when we were expecting Shera nearly 15 years ago. We had planned on keeping it to pass down to our children to use for their children. Gone. Another thing was that yesterday I had found Hannah's gameboy that she had misplaced several months ago. The kids are at my mil's this week, so we charged it up for her and Keith put it in the truck to take to her today as a surprise. And the last, probably worst thing, was that Keith had a couple of paycheck stubs in his truck, so the thief could actually commit identity theft as well as auto theft. I was feeling pretty bad last night, or I guess I should say this morning. I was kicking myself for not waking Keith up, or calling 911 to make sure everything was okay, or whatever. So I began praying. 1 Thessalonians 5:18 popped into my head, "In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you." So I thanked God for whatever reason He allowed this to happen, asking that it would bring glory to Him. I even prayed for the salvation of the thief. In doing this, my burden began getting lighter. Soon, another verse came to mind, "And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose," Romans 8:28. Another reason to give thanks! My self-incrimination soon gave way to joy and peace, in spite of a stolen truck. I just wanted to encourage each one of you that stops by today to choose joy. No matter what your circumstances - sickness, death, debilitating disease, a rebellious child, financial problems, a stolen truck - God is there for you. He loves you, more than you could possibly ever know. And remember, dear brothers and sisters in Christ: we are not of this world! Worldly treasures mean absolutely nothing in the scheme of eternity. Make God your treasure - not your life, health, children, spouse, possessions. "Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also." Matthew 6:19 - 21. Thanks for stopping by. May your day be truly blessed! Carol |
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I haven't posted in a while - we've been busy cleaning and decluttering, and it actually is starting to look like we've accomplished something, lol. We did finally have Luke's birthday party. He is really big into Pirates of the Caribbean right now and wanted a POTC cake, but this is the best we could do:
Here's the dread pirate himself:
The slip and slide was set up, water guns loaded, and the kids all had a great time. Here's a great pic of Luke in action:
We seriously need to set the date on my camera! Anyway, he finally got his party and had a wonderful time! I also wanted to share our great "find." Luke has been wanting a "real" bed for some time - all he had was a hand-me-down that was just the mattress and box springs on a frame. Big Lots was having a 20% off sale a few weeks ago and we went and took a look. Luke found a bed he liked, and it was only $199! I checked out prices on the internet and found the same bed for $599 and up. Here he is chillin' with his Game Boy:
Of course, we had to buy the futon mattress separately, and my mom bought him a new mattress for the top, but all in all we got a pretty good deal, I think! Thanks for stopping by. Have a great day! Blessings, |
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Thanks to everyone that responded with stress bustin' ideas! Blessings, |
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I took hubby in today for a screening colonoscopy - he turned 50 this year so it was just one of those things. But his stomach is always hurting, and he was afraid there just might be something wrong. Well, praise the Lord, the doctor said he was one healthy man and had a very clean colon! He won't have to have another one for 10 years. Hubby thinks his stomach must be hurting due to stress, so we're going to have to work on something for him to relieve stress. I'll be searching the 'net to find some herbs that might help him. When he's on an antidepressant, it helps a lot, but he doesn't like being on so much meds (he also takes something for cholesterol and blood pressure), so he's not been on one since January. If anyone would be willing to share what you do to relieve stress, I would love to hear what works for you! Blessings, Carol
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We said goodbye to Toto last night. Our friend Courtney found a great home for her. This young couple are dog lovers, and the wife has had blue heelers before. They live on 4 acres, I think they said, and have other dogs and cats as well. She'll have plenty of room to run around and lots of other dogs to keep her company. On top of that, the couple works out of their home building cabinets, so she's going to be in great hands. They really loved her and welcomed the kids to come out and see her anytime! It was a little sad, but all three of the kids did really well. I'm so thankful she was able to go to a good home! |
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We had almost forgotten what it was like to have the sun shining. The only problem now is that it actually feels like summer in Texas with the heat and the mosquitoes. We took a little walk yesterday evening and Luke said he was hot and ready for it to rain again, lol! Maybe now it'll dry up and we can actually have his party! Posted in A Day in My Life
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Hope everyone has a happy and safe 4th!
Blessings, Carol |
