The Crafty Homemaker

Shayna and Jeffie

Dora and her family from church came by last night for me to worm and give their dogs a set of shots.   It is so funny how people see things .   Dora was watching Jeffie how he was with Michelle (she stopped by for a bit) and she also watched how Jeffie is with Shayna. 

Dora told me with tears in her eyes " Shayna is his mom"  I gave a sad smile and said I know.   She remembers them from church events and other home schooling events.  Dora knows Shayna is his aunt (tea as he calls her) and that Shayna has raised him for a lot of his life.

We are blessed that Shayna at 15 years old took on the roll.  They have such a strong bond.  He cries every time he has to go.

Here are some of Shayna's senior pictures taken last year at this time.  Shayna was 17 and Jeffie was 2.5.  We bought the hole cd so we have the funny ones too:

Jeffie will be 4 in January.

God Bless, mj

Dear Anonymous Poster in Hicksville, New York

Yes, I can track you down.  LOL  I know where you live, and who your host server is.  You see my hubby is a computer internet techie.  He knows how to track people online.  It is part of his job. 

Your cable internet provider is Optimum Online, also known as cablevision Systems.  They are located at 111 New South Road in Hicksville, NY 11801.  The phone number is 1-516-803-300 and I can email them at hostmaster@cv.net.  I have decided to omit yoru personal information in this email, but I have found you!!!

Optimum Online will be sent an email about your actions that you are making on the net.  So many think that what they do and say online is not trackable and not punishable, but with the right tracking system it can be.  They can track the pron on your computer that you have downloaded and the nasty emails and comments you leave on people's blogs too. 

Hubby just told me about an instance where the Police in KC called him to track down a customer who lives in town and their illiegal actions of downloaing children's pornography!!  Think we can't track you down??? You are wrong.

And if you are using mommy and daddy's computer, we will still find you!!!  LOL 

Thanks so much for leaving me a comment!!!!  You just made my day being able to catch one of the many misfits that make trouble here at HSB!!!

Menu Planner (A Day Late) : UPDATED with lots of talk about the inlaws!

We did end up having soup last night after all.  It got rainy and chilly and by the time hubby was home, he was in the mood for soup and grilled cheese.  Here is our menu for this week, including last night:

Monday: tomato soup, grilled cheese

Tuesday: chicken enchiladas, spanish rice

Wednesday: nachos

Thursday: meatball sandwiches and veggies

Friday: PIZZA!!!!!!  brownies and icecream for dessert

Saturday: pork loin, vegetables (in the crockpot), hot rolls and apple butter

Sunday: planned leftovers (buffet, pick what you want, eat what you want)

On Saturday afternoon, we are planning on having Matthew's parents over for dinner.  I told Matthew last night I don't mind visiting with them.  I just hate having to do it in their house, eat dinner before we go or after we return, etc.  So this time, they are coming to see Noah play in his own environment.  LOL  Since his mother IS NOT a cook, I thought I would fix a nice Sunday dinner type of meal.  His father will love it!!!  For some reason, when I cook, she seems to get real quiet and jealous.  I can't help it that I am a good cook and Matthew prefers my cooking over hers.  LOL  We don't like her cooking (hamburger helper, corn dogs, sandwiches, etc.), and I don't trust her cooking because of her cleaning habits, so we do not eat there under any circumstance.  (Unless it is prepackaged food, or I have taken the dish myself, which is what I do on the holidays!!!)

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I thought I would add a little update for those of you who don't know the situation with hubby's family.  (And since Anonymous in Hicksville, New York decided to leave a rude comment!!!  LOL)

My hubby's family is some of the nicest people you will ever meet.  They would take the shirts off their backs for you, but cooking and cleaning is not their choice of pass times.  It is not only my opinion, it is the truth, and they would tell you so themselves!!!!   As for my hubby, he knows the problems with their cleanliness and we both decided (not just me) to never eat there, not because she doesn't fix food that is gourmet, but because her kitchen and the rest of the house is AWFUL!!!  Hot dogs, fine, I don't care....we are not fancy people.  But I would check the expiration date on the package and check the cleanliness on all pots and pans before she cooked them, or I would go hungry.

In response to what he thought of my parents (they are in heaven now), he adored them, and was able to find out how parents who love their children act and talk.  His parents were abusive in too many different ways.  He adored my parents and they loved him!!!  He had just as hard a time when they died as I did, and he only knew them about 1.5 years before they died.  We love his parents, but we won't forsake our own family's safety by eating there!!  it is as simple as that.

I have had a few people send me a message saying your post makes me feel so blessed for my inlaws.  Good for you!!!!  I am so glad not all inlaws are like mine!  LOL  I think alot of it has to do with the fact that I married the middle child, only son, and he was a momma's boy for a long time.  He moved out at the age of 17, and she was as sweet as pie with me, even after we got married until we had a child.  I am not sure exactly what it is about this that changed her, but I have since talked to several other girls that say their mother in law did the same!!  She is a sweet lady, but she seems to cling to my hubby because she doesn't have a close intimate relationship with her own husband.  (They live in the same house, different bedrooms, roomies only, no real relationship)   She has repled to Matthew several times about how was happy to see us being so close, but she was jealous because she never had that for herself.  Sad isn't it???  It makes me even more thankful to God for my hubby dearest.

Have any of you had problems with your mother in law like this, after getting pregnant and having a baby??? (No he is not the only grandchild, but he is the only boy, and the only one to carry on the bloodline.)  If so, how did you handle it?????

Ray Stevens Does it Again!!!!

I just got this link in an email, and I had to share with you!!!

If you have ever heard a Ray Stevens song, and laughed, you have to listen to this one!!!  Turn up your speakers and enjoy!!!

http://home.comcast.net/~singingman7777/SOY.htm

I need some help!!! Can you help???

On my path to homemade Christmas, I have decided to make my 4 year old neice (she will be 5 in November) a baby doll.  I have seen several online, but I am not one who can just whip one out without a paper pattern.  So I am looking for patterns to a simple little girl doll with yarn hair.

Here is a link that will show you what I am looking for: (I just hate to pay $15 for the pattern if I could find one for free)

http://weewonderfuls.typepad.com/wee_wonderfuls/store/

It's Already Monday Again! *sigh*

I usually don't mind Mondays.  Sometimes getting back into our normal weekly schedule is a good thing.  Weekeneds are usually busy and hurried around here for some reason, and Matthew usually works most Saturdays, so Sundays are full of daddy time and by Monday, well, Mommy is ready for daddy to go to work, and get Noah back on his schedule.  (Have you noticed kids work better with a good schedule??? LOL  At least mine does!)

This weekend was so nice and laid pack though, and we enjoyed having daddy home for the whole weekend with us.  Saturday we lounge around in jammies most of the day, and spent lots of time listening to Noah giggle and have so much fun with daddy.  He is definately a daddy's boy in the evenings and on weekends when Matthew is home.  I don't mind it at all.  Of course I am included in most of their things, but sometimes I find it a good time to get away for a nice bubble bath, or some other excuse for a little alone time and refreshment!!! 

Matthew was a joy to be around this weekend.  He was able to leave the stress and uneasiness from work behind him this weekend, (sometimes easier said than done), and we talked and prayed alot about his new job position, money matters with the refinancing on the house (our house appraised low, so to get us locked into a lower interest rate, we need to come up with $4300.00!!!) and we are waiting on God for an answer right now.  I must admit, at dinner on Saturday I went into panic mode, and Matthew had to bring me back to reality and the fact that God is taking care of this!!!

But last night, sitting here alone together after Noah was put to bed, Matthew's face went from fun daddy to stressed responsible money maker.  I could see his whole body fade a little.  I asked him if he still had a headache.  He said no.  I said are you nervous about going to work tomorrow??  He said yeah I think I am.  We talked about it a little.  We prayed about it, and I hope he is feeling better about everything today.  It is alot of pressure, alot of politics and backstabbing going on in the office, and he is feeling the stress.  He was able to relax this weekend and have fun, but as of last night, he was dreading going to work today.  He even asked me if he could call in dead.  I said, no and don't even joke about such a thing!!!!!

On a good note though, I know God is taking care of everything!!!!  Matthew has unofficially been tol the position (of his former Supervisor) is his.  The company will be hiring another person part time to help, but Matthew thinks the new person will most likely answer to the president, Jim, and not himself.  OH well, he gets paid the same, either way since it is a salary job. 

Antoher good note is that I opened my mail today, and received a check from our gas district.  We are on monthly billing.  Instread of paying very little in the summer (because we only use gas for our water heater then), and large bills in the winter (for our hot water, and heating), they average it out and we pay that amount for each month.  They adjusted our monthly amount last year (only about $10 more a month), and now realize we overpaid for the year.  So we received a refun check of $ 248.65!!!!  YIPEEEEE!!!  How wonderful.   Of course, this will immediately be put into our emergency fund (for emergnecies, and possibly for the refinancing if needed) as soon as I can get to the bank this week.

We also canceled several extras in the last few months, like caller ID, etc. on our home phone, and they have been crediting our account.  So this month's phone bill was lower that usual, and our cell phone was only $9.74 after getting a refund from calling them and telling them I had charges on my cell phone bill for games that I had not received and a voicemail package that I had not signed up for. 

God is good, and I know he will provide for our needs and right now, our need is to find out how long we have ot get the $4300.00 for the refinancing.  It sounds like alot of money, and to this one income family IT IS!  But in the long run, it will save us ALOT of money if we can get the much much MUCH lower interest rate!! 

Ok, that's enough for now.  I am signing off to get some dusting, windexing and vacuuming done.  I had on my menu planner soup for tonight, but once again, I am changing it.  LOL  I rarely ever go a whole week having exactly what is on the menu planner.  It is warm out today, about 80 degrees, so I am thinking hot soup is not a good idea.  I will have to look through my monthly dinner planner and pick out something else from another evening.

God Bless you!!

Monday, Monday...

Monday....one of my favorite days of the week. So much promise for the week ahead...

Today is filled with our normal Monday routine...laundry and school work. Plus anything else that comes up. Today, I am determined to not use the dryer at all. I normally do one load in the dryer....socks, undies, washclothes and napkins.....all those little things that are time consuming to hang out. After realizing that our last month's electric bill did not include the rate increase, we are conserving even more. Our bill was a bit higher than I expected, though lower than years past for August usage. But, the weather was cooler and we didn't run the a/c as much as normal. And I was diligent about hanging out the laundry (except for that one load each laundry day). Then I read that the rate increase took effect Oct 1st. Oh! Now, I'm not looking forward to this bill at all!

When Honey left this morning, we heard deer in the front pasture snorting. It spooked me a bit when I first heard it, but Honey told me what it was and calmed me. What a sweetie. I sure didn't want to give him back to Home Depot this morning..but that's what Monday entails. Bummer...I'd so LOVE for him to work at home. I just love being with him. He's my favorite person in all the world.

I had posted some clothes for sale on our local swap and shop...I sold the 6 bags of clothes on Saturday...but also had separate listings for sleepers and such. A woman called last night and wants to buy ALL of them!! She also asked if we had any other clothes or toys to sell. I'm meeting her in town tomorrow, before MNO, to sell her this stuff. Natalie and Mary have been cleaning their room and I know they have toys that they no longer want or play with. The lady buying this stuff is helping out a family that lost their home to a fire. I plan to give her plenty of stuff to give to this family too. I know I have a bag of sheets that I'll wash up and give her...and I'll be looking around today for other things. She told me they have little children and another on the way. How awful to lose everything......

I'm hoping to sell enough "stuff" to be able to buy new tires for the Burb before our trip to Nashville later this month. The back tires are worn...and when the Burb gets to about 55mph, the back end vibrates alot. It would be so nice to have new tires and not deal with that on I-65 that day. I plan to call the tire store to get a price once Honey tells me what kind of tires he wants to replace them with. He'd like to get truck tires instead of the passenger car tires that are on it now. They don't seem to last as long as the truck tires do.

I just heard the washer stop for the second time this morning. I have one load already sorted in the basket and it's time for the second to join the first. The sun is slowing rising, though it will still be awhile before it starts shining down here in the "holler"....

Guess I'll go tend to that laundry...

Have a blessed day!

Sunday evening

Wow...two posts in two days....yeah me!

If you think of it, please say a prayer for my Aunt Nina today...it would have been her and my Uncle Wayne's 45th wedding anniversary today.

After breakfast this morning, Rebecca looked through the Martha Stewart Baking Handbook (from the library yesterday) and decided to make a very decadent chocolate cake with chocolate icing.... that's my girl!

I spent the day getting little things taken care of. I'm working on a chore schedule to go along with the chore packs from Teri Maxwell's Managers of their Chores book. I didn't read the entire book since I'd just seen her speak on this...but I'm looking forward to starting this chore pack system.

I'm loving this new printer!!! I just ordered more ink as the cartridges are only supposed to print about 200 pages...I ordered the XL cartridges this time. I found the cheapest place to order them was from HP directly. They are offering free shipping...of any sort...next day (if it's available in your area..it's not in my area), 2 day and regular 5-7 days. I also found a coupon on Retail Me Not for $10 off! Love that! Once the new ink cartridges arrive, I have some major printing to do.

First, I have been blessed with the Old School House planner!!! I'm so excited about this!! Second, I have also been blessed to be able to review a new e-book from The Old School House. I plan to print it and read it as intended, in book form.  What a treat!!! Next, I have some materials for Keepers/Contenders to be printed before our meeting on Friday. Yep, that will be one busy printer this week!

'Tis time to get everyone ready for bed....will be back in the morning...Monday comes soon....so does 3:30 am!

Saturday....

It's been a busy, but fruitful day today!

We were up bright and early...and hit the road at 8:15. The girls went with me to get our monthly grocery shopping completed. We were to meet a lady at Piggly Wiggly to sell her some clothes. We got there early, so decided to go ahead and start shopping. I had given the lady my cell phone number, so I knew she would call when she arrived.

We did find some great deals...I'm sad that PW is closing...not because I shopped there alot, but because it was another choice. Now, I'm back to Wal Mart only as a choice...

Anywho, they had 40% off the entire store. We bought over $200 worth of groceries for $99! I had several coupons to use as well.

While we were shopping, the lady called...and Rebecca went out to meet the her and sell the clothes. I was so proud of her! She doesn't like doing such things, but she did it right away and without complaint!  That's my girl!!

We left there and went to Walgreen's. Another great trip there! We bought $72 worth of stuff for $1. Yep, $1. I used many coupons and my rebate card from last month...and spent exactly $1 out of pocket! And...I have almost $15 worth of register rewards to use next time.

Then it was off to the library. I found a few cookbooks to read. It's turning cooler here...that means the baking and cooking bug is hitting my home. Both Rebecca and I love to bake...it shows in my waistline...but I do love it!

We then went to the second hand shop...I'm so not impressed with that store now. It used to be such a bargain to shop there. But, they've made some management changes...and it's no longer a bargain. I found a pair of jeans for Natalie...they were priced at $8! $8 for used jeans??! I don't think so!

Then it was off to Wal Mart to finish our shopping. This time, we spent $280. Combined with our $99 at Piggly Wiggly, that's not a bad total for the entire month's groceries. I did forget a couple of things...that will cost about $10...and will need to add produce and fruit....but for feeding a family of 6, that's not too bad!

After we unloaded and put away all the groceries, Rebecca and I decided to rearrange some cupboards. We had loaded up on the energy and granola bars she likes as well as dried fruit. We put that into the cabinet where the cookbooks were kept. Out they came....which led to us rearranging three more large cupboards, labeling everything and making it look oh so much nicer! We still have a few cupboards to rearrange, but that will get done soon. I love opening the cupboards and seeing it all neat and tidy!

Then, it was time to start supper. Chili and cornbread was on the menu. I started frying the hamburger for it and then decided to fry up the hamburger that was needed for this month's meals. So, the pot was filled with hamburger for chili, hamburger potato soup and tacos. The rest of the hamburger went into a freezer bag to be made into Swedish meatballs. While that cooked, I sliced up the round steak into Philly cheesesteak slices, and had enough for two meals' worth! Same with the beef stew meat. Two meals' worth...and both meals are on the menu only once this month, which means it will be there for next months' meals. Once the meat was finished frying, I drained it and ran water over the remaining meat to cool it off. Into freezer bags it went.

Now, when it's time for those meals, all I have to do is pull out the freezer bag and get started. What a time saver!

I'm ready for some relaxing time...think I'll go get Penny (one of our dachshunds) and snuggle up with her. Honey is enjoying our free preview month of DIY this month. Saturday nights are now filled with This Old House, New Yankee Workshop and Wood Works. Reminds me of our early years of marriage...oh how we enjoyed sitting in our bedroom watching that little tv...watching those same shows (minus the Wood Works..but including HomeTime, and other home improvement shows)...then we'd move onto other PBS shows like Julia Child, Frugal Gourmet and others. We both learned so very much watching those shows!

Have a blessed evening!

A Lazy Saturday Afternoon

Hubby didn't have to work today, so we have been spending a nice lazy Saturday together.  In fact, at lunch time with the post lady, Martha, knocked on our door, because I received a package that needed signed for, Matthew and I were still in our jammies.  LOL  She is a family friend, so she giggled at us, and said if she didn't have to work on Saturday to deliver the mail, she would be home in her jammies too.  LMSO  We don't do this very often.  Most of the time, there are things to do,and places to go, etc.  But today, has been a lazy day and we have all enjoyed it so much.

This morning, Matthew and I awoke to a whining little 2 year old in his room.  So Matthew went and got him, brought him into the bedroom where I was awake, but still snuggled in, and he plops him in the bed and crawls in himself.  The next half hour or more were spent in the bed tickling and wrestling with Noah and listening to that little giggle that we absolutely love.   One thing that Matthew and I have said to each other since he was born was, "Can we keep him?".  LOL   And the answer is always YES!!! he is ours.  We have the paperwork on him, and we can keep him!!!

We have been watching one our favorite collections of TV shows on DVD snuggling and playing with Noah, lounging in pajamas, and snacking on leftovers (no cooking for me......yipeeee!!!)  Matthew did put on clothes a little bit ago to fix the lawnmower.  He is hoping it will hold together long enough to finish out this year with mowning, and then we will most likely have to buy a new one next year.  We knew it wasn't going to last forever, but please Lord, keep it together until this season of mowing is over!!!  We bought it for $100.00 at Wal-Mart 3 years ago, so it has been well worth the money so far.  Maybe next year we will have the money to indulge in a more expensive better built model!

On the agenda for tonight is more leftovers, or possible we can talk daddy into making his famous peanut butter and chocolate chip pancakes!!!!  YUMMO!!!!  I plan on going and getting a rental movie (since we have a few coupons from the mail for free ones!), and working on some Christmas presents tonight. 

OH, and I found something to put on my WISH list.  LOL  Matthew came home with a little laptop this weekend to fix for a guy from work.  I am in love with it.  LMSO  Matthew has one of the biggest laptops you can get right now.  He likes the large screen.  I love it as well, but when I set this little one on my lap and it weighs like 2 pounds maybe I decided I needed a little one.  Of course, money is tight, we may have to cut back even more than we had before to be able to come up with the money for the closing and such on the refi, so it is possible right now AT ALL!!!  But I told Matthew, that is on my wish list for my bday in April of next year. LMSO  Right now the Dell one I am drooling over is runnign $400 plus another $100 for the warranty!!  But maybe, someday!!!