Our middle daughter is debating over a job offer and college or just straight college.   For all our girls we offer them a full ride to college , books , all cost, a car, gas, medical & car insurance , spending money , we do it all like we do now.  The only difference is they have to live at home while they go to school, or board at a far school.  They car work part time where dad and I agree they can for mad money, but they are just to focus on school.   Well, Shayna has a great job offer starting off at $10 -$12 an hour with insurance, 401k, retirement and more.  She will still live at home and we will support her still, minus medical insurance ( she has to be in school for 12 units for ours to cover her) and she can go to college at night.

Shayna wants to open a cafe.  So she would be going to school for that and her art as well as her veterinary.  So now she has a choice to make this job where she could just keep advancing year after year and school or just straight school and open her cafe and sell her art there.  The veterinary is just because she is good at it and loves it(she already has college classes in this from high school) , and well it is good to fall back on if she ever needed to.

We tell her what ever she decides is fine, we will support her 100%.

We are praying over this to see what God has to say.

P.s. the joke on dad went good I will tell you all about Mr. Grump Gills (the fish's name)and dad later , also about his wife they are trying to talk us into buying!!!  Some times I wonder if they are Moses, every needs a mate!     LOL.  Help me!!!

God Bless all, mj

Ah, another beautiful, breezy day today. Mid-70’s with none of that horrid heat of the past week that kept our ancient window a/c chugga- gugging.
Ahhh, I sit with the breeze ruffling the ends of my hair and contemplate the blissful energy-savings of not running the contraption.
We have so enjoyed this cooler weather. Mr. Steady had a church softball game Tuesday evening and we quite enjoyed watching and visiting with our church family.
On Wednesday, Mr. Steady and I both took the day off for a special family day at our local nature center.  We explored their special exhibit as well as their gardens, butterfly house and a couple of great hiking trails.
Tomorrow is suppose to be another day like today.
And there was a picnic lunch.
Created by yours truly in a fit of inspiration.
l didn’t want to do the same ol’ same old but wanted my family to know they were special. And how better to tell your family how special they are than with food?
I mean really!
First, I decided no paper products! Its not because I want to go green- although that’s a good 3^nd best reason- but because I wanted my family to feel special (and paper plates doesn’t exactly say “You’re special”) and because my momma gave me the most wonderful little picnic basket filled with cups and silverware and enamelware plates and red checkered cloth napkins.
Now we still had good ol’ sandwiches and the kidlets chose bologna- but Mr. Steady and I had yummy thick slices of ham (from the freezer) with garden fresh lettuce and tomato.
There was chunk cheese.
And of course, chips.
Grapes.
Homemade bacon ranch macaroni salad (something I whip together that Mr. Steady and Maiden just LOVE).
Raspberry Lemonade.
And the bestest little pies ever.
The kids named them Baby Berry Pies.
Aren’t they sweet?

Little graham cracker crusts with a generous dollop of Bavarian cream and topped with farm fresh black raspberries.
Delish.
Only thing that would have made it better (or gilded the lily) would have been a dollop of fresh whip cream on top.
I’ve noted that for next time.
We were so full from such a delicious lunch that we ended up scrapping my meal plan for supper and had a small batch of nachos instead.
While hiking we spotted two wild turkeys plus various birds, a chipmunk and Maiden swears she almost stepped on a snake.
We didn’t see the snake but Mr. Conductor and I found four snake skins nearby.
Very cool.

Photos: Kiddos and I after our last hike. Enjoying a Baby Berry Pie.

You may have noticed that I've locked a couple of posts.
My brother stopped by this little bloggy home and advised me that I should be more careful with what I say.
And I agree.
I like to think I maintain a bit of anonimity here with code names and not naming specific nearby places and such but one never knows.
You just never know.
I keep this blog for myself, the joy of writing, sharing that writing and hearing back from others. It's a grand thing.
I've never gone out of my way to share this blog with my family and friends- its not a way to stay in touch with far-flung kin--- its just me being a bit more me than I can be at times and at the same time a bit more anonymous than I can be at times.
I remember my surprise when I found that a friend had found my little blog here and had been reading it anonymously for quite some time. It was a bit unnerving and for awhile I found myself changing my writing style because of it.
Just my long winded way of saying I must "proceed with caution".
Oh and go here to check out my brother's business blog.
Hi Roo!

Since the oven AND kitchen were already flaming hot with supper baking, I decided to whip up tomorrow’s breakfast tonight rather than heat the oven up again tomorrow morning.
I love the following recipe but hardly ever make it due to the fact that I don’t keep maraschino cherries on hand. Also due to the fact that those cherries aren’t cheap. But I was doing a pantry inventory and found these shoved way back on a shelf with a price tag of 99 cents. Wha-hoo!

Cherry Chip Muffins
1.5 cup flour
½ cup sugar
2 tsp. baking powder
½ tsp salt
1 egg
½ cup milk
¼ cup vegetable oil
1 jar maraschino cherries (reserve juice- chop cherries)
¾ cup chocolate chips
1 cup powdered sugar
Combine flour, sugar, baking powder and salt; set aside. In another bowl, whisk egg, milk and oil. Add dry and wet ingredients together. Drain cherries, reserve 2 Tbsp juice for glaze. Chop cherries and fold into batter with chocolate chips. Drop into muffin cups. Bake at 375 degrees for 13 minutes.
Glaze: combine powdered sugar and cherry juice to make glaze and drizzle over top of muffins.
Cost breakdown: 12 cents for flour, 8 cents for sugar, figuring 3 cents for baking powder and salt, 8 cents for egg, 9 cents for milk, 5 cents for oil, 99 cents for cherries (reg. $2.19), 37 cents for chocolate chips and I bought the powdered sugar so long ago I don’t have a clue- lets say 5 cents.
Total Cost: $1.86 for 1.5 dozen muffins [that's 10 cents/muffin]
Now- these would cost $3.06 purchasing the cherries for regular price. [I like to keep breakfast cost under $2.]
Also I probably could squeeze 2 doz. muffins out of this recipe if I didn’t fill the muffin cups up so high.
Perhaps I should try making these as mini muffins. Course, I don’t own a mini muffin tin . . . . . best to stick with what I’ve been doing.

The girls are playing a joke on dad, the poor guy.  They just left to go to the fresh food market to go see about getting a catfish or a carp to put into our natural swimming pool.   Last night dad said he wants to go fishing , so our smart butt daughters are make sure he can go fishing.  

They plan on giving him a fishing pole when he gets home and tell him to go fishing , then they will take him to the back yard and show him the pool.

The only thing is the fish is going to be a pet, No Dinner!!!

I will let you know if they do it and how it goes if they do.  They can only do it if the fish will live in our natural pool.

God Bless all , mj

The Simple Woman’s Daybook

FOR TODAY~ July 21^st  

Outside my Window... I see Mr. Steady working on repairing the garage roof, the kids “frolicking” in the yard and my oldest sitting in a patio chair with her nose buried in a book.

I am thinking... that I wish there was another way to earn money for the family and stay home at the same time.

I am thankful for... my job and the income it provides our family.

From the kitchen... French toast w/blueberries and powdered sugar for breakfast, chicken nuggets and cheese crackers for the kiddos’ lunch, leftover BBQ chicken and half a potato for me. Supper is Ballard Biscuits and we got some special flavored ice cream (on sale) for dessert.

I am creating... inserts for the church bulletin using photo shop.

I am going... to get a lot of youth ministry related paperwork done today, plus a load of laundry and squeeze in a trip to the library and post office.

I am wearing... A royal blue shirt with a fish with a big cheesy grin and the words “God is good” and drab olive capris. My feet are bare and my toes are caramel ice (according to the nail polish bottle).

I am reading... A Return to Sunday Dinner by Russell Cronkhite and the latest Midwest Living magazine.

I am hoping... to let go of the strain of the last few weeks and be at peace about my job.

I am hearing... a bird chirping, Mr. Steady hammering and the kiddos chattering.

Around the house... Mr. Conductor left a stream of Legos along the floor, I need to clean off the dining room table and tidy up my desk.

One of my favorite things... walking barefoot on a carpet of thick cool grass.

A Few Plans For The Rest Of The Week... some work for our upcoming VBS, helping set up for the family reunion, a ball game, taking my youth group bowling, 15% discount day at the local teacher store and the end of summer reading at the library- means turning in books and “cashing in” points.

Here is a picture thought I am sharing with you... I call this Mr. Steady’s hillbilly watering system. Thank goodness he doesn’t continually leave this buckets sitting on my patio! 14 Buckets full of free water (remember we’re townies and pay, pay, pay for that stuff!). BTW- Mr. Steady dumped 3 inches of water out of the rain gauge on Sunday.

Notes: From the Garden: we’ve got lettuce. More raspberries fresh picked from my parent’s farm. A few cucumbers from my brother (ours aren’t doing much of anything!).

My son is turning 18 next monday. He has just graduated high school and in august will be going to test to become a state patrol dispatcher. He can't be a patrolman till he is 21 so he is going to be a dispatcher for the three years till he can go to the academy to become an officer.

We have decided that his big b-day theme party will be S.W.A.T. In honor of his wanting to be in law enforcement(someday he wants to make it to S.W.A.T).  His friends are all gonna come to the farm, bring thier airsoft guns(plastic bb type guns) and have a good time tracking each other down. They will have the barn, a shop, the woods and the pastures to use. They will be at it for hours I am sure. LOL

While they are playing I will be cooking up a birthday dinner.  I am thinking a bbq'd briskit, new potatoes, and some other sides(I am still planning), and of course cake for dessert, and maybe a black forrest triffel(sp). I just saw a recipe for that in a mag. I bought. Sounds good!

I hope they will have fun, and that the dinner turns out good.

Should be a great day of fun.

Nancy

I am debating if I should move our kitchen table or just take it down.  We have the grand-babies here so much I want to make a play room for them.  Our dinning room is half a family room.  We put the computer in there for the girls.  I have a large kitchen and I am thinking of putting the table in there.  But we do not eat at the kitchen table, we eat at our coffee table, so should I just take it down??

So I am thinking of putting in the tv and it's entertainment unit in the dinning room and adding the babies toy box and a couch in there.  What do you guys think ? 

God bless you all and thank you for your prayers for Michelle and the grand-babies.   Mj

Michelle came over this morning to talk to dad and I.  She told us that she is 3 weeks pregnant.  We are not shocked, but then again we are.  Michelle has been dating Gill for 4 and 1/2 weeks now.  They live with his parents.  Michelle told us that she and Gill will get married soon, but her divorce needs to be done 1st.   She also told us she is going to keep looking for a job and try to go to school too.   We will see.  Michelle has not worked a day since she has moved back down here months ago.  Everyone has been supporting her and the babies.  We will love and welcome any grandchild, we just wish she was on her feet taking care of the babies she has now before adding more.     Michelle's sisters are upset and disappointed in her because they have raised Jeffie and Maddie as much as Michelle has.   We need to keep this in prayer and Gods hands where they belong. 

God Bless, mj