Fall Begins

It has been creeping up on us.. the cool nights giving way to fog in the morning, the afternoon storms as the pushy north winds try to overtake the warm leftovers from the ninety-plus degree days, a few leaves giving in and littering the yard, and the emergence of bees (seriously).  Though the calendar may not officially say it, our home does.

It’s the first fire of the year…and it’s divine.  Just the other day we enjoyed a meal of fish tacos, our last toast to summer…

And today it was chicken and noodles…

And for a snack as I prepared for another quiz tonight, Sir MMH Hubby used his culinary skills to make me a chipotle cheese quesadilla…

*smile*

What is your favorite thing about fall?  I hope to get out and grab pics of all the reasons I feel abundant and blessed living in our little town during this season, and I will share soon!

Coming Up For Air

It  has been nearly a week since my last post, oh my.  We have been adjusting to our ever changing and challenging schedule.

School, well it has been adjusted.  As much as I long for a set schedule, after the first week that hope went out the window.  The boys do really well working through their lessons knowing that the day is theirs when they finish.  However, with the twin tots it is just unrealistic.  The new plan, which has been written down nowhere, is to complete Calendar Time, Bible, and one other group activity in the morning.  When we finish with those, it’s free time for the boys and interactive play with the Misses.  Preschool is completed during naptime, and Sir Wallace begins his boxes then as well.  One on one time with Sir Wallace often occurs around 8pm because the rest of the troops are in bed (Sir Lionheart may be reading with Dada.) and he is our night owl.

Here are a few things that we have been doing…

Bugs…and more bugs.  After the caterpillars from our bike ride, we spent the week outside enjoying the wonderful weather ushering in fall.  The bugs were very literally finding us, and the kids loved it.

Our very late garden is finally bearing fruit.  Along with the Aunt Ruby’s (my favorite this year), our Pac Man Broccoli has been abundant and tasty (and a bit smelly!).

Sir Lionheart had a run in with the wheel of his wagon and the concrete as Dada was pulling it.  He now understands that our warnings to not drag his hand on the ground are warranted.

We have continued to enjoy popsicle time after naps, though I’m devising snack plan B as the weather cools.

Due to the Twin Tots, homeschooling has moved upstairs a few days per week.  It will most likely remain this way until we can adapt the other areas in the basement more for them.

I am thankful and blessed for this season in my life, and though the best laid plans change rapidly I know God is in control. 

Technorati Tags: Our Adventure,Our Home,Homeschool

 

I Can Hear It...

Summer is flying by. The homeschool room is finished; now it is time to put it together. I have been printing and laminating and reading our books for this year as they arrive in the mail. I missed wordless Wednesday and have not daybooked in a while, so I wanted to share a few pics of some of our fun times we have been having as the summer will soon wind down.

We actually have baby cucumbers finally growing on the vines. The crabgrass is abundant, and my desire to weed is not as abundant. So, our garden is under control, but nowhere near as weeded as some others.

I picked up bug houses at the Dollar Store for the boys. Thus, we have had many new overnight friends...
The boys have enjoyed "campfires" and campouts in the back yard. This is Sir Lionheart roasting a cheesy poof.

They have also turned their beautiful sisters into fellow "Super Gorillas." Here is Miss Bear in her monkey costume and cape.
And finally, as Sir MMH Hubby and I have finished our own "Renovation Reality," here is the homeschool room. I will be hopefully picking up some desks this weekend and working on the actual "school" part of it now that my mudding and sanding days are over. Praise God!

The Land of Squish and Grocery Sucking Machines

The other day I made a reference to living in the Land of Squish and Grocery Sucking Machines. When I awoke this morning to Miss Bug holding Miss Bear's dirty diaper and the words, "Mama, stinky diaper!" it ran through my head again...and this post was born.

The Land of Squish...

Yesterday I was handed multiple half-eaten bananas at various times during the day, including during a fit of temper from Sir Wallace. With those bananas came the feeling of squished banana on my feet as I walked across the kitchen floor. Add to that some shredded cheese and pinto beans from some homemade nachos, a bit of cantaloupe, and oatmeal, and I was scrubbing the floor during naptime.

Sir Lionheart is an avid bug lover and collector. One of his favorite pastimes, catching creepy crawlies and slimy toads ,collided with my world yesterday adding to the squish factor.

Miss Bear has been "potty trained " for almost a week, until yesterday. Four changes of clothes and I pulled out a pull up. Fortunately she returned to forewarning us about needing to potty by bedtime. Unfortunately she got out of bed, took off her diaper, and fell asleep at her door before telling us.

The Land of Grocery Sucking Machines...

I am pretty sure that all of our kids are going through major growth spurts right now. The doctor informed us that Sir Lionheart has shot up 2 inches in the past 6 months if that gives you any idea. With these growth spurts, our grocery carts have been filled more in an attempt to keep up with them. I have also looked for new ways to cut costs, but I will save that for another post.

On average our family...
eats about half a pound of cheese in one meal. (It's on sale for $2/lb at Kroger this week!)
has gone from eating 2 lbs of meat to 3 for one meal of spaghetti.
considers one package of hot dogs sufficient for kids only when grilling.
drinks one gallon of milk in one day.
eats a half gallon of yogurt in two days.
does 3 loads of laundry in one day (grocery=detergent)
eats 3 cups (uncooked) of oatmeal for breakfast
eats 1.5 dozen eggs for breakfast
polishes off 2 lbs of apples and/or bananas per day
eats 3 lbs of meatloaf or pot roast for dinner
can get through a double batch of pancakes with nary a leftover
finds two heads of broccoli a snack
will finish 3 big garden cucumbers easily with dinner
and graham crackers never stand a chance in our house.

This is only some of the recent notices I have had. Because of them: I eagerly await picking up our part of a cow from the butcher this morning. I am also trying not to overpressure our cucumbers or tomatoes, but the sooner they get big enough and turn red/green enough, the better. Although it has been the source of humor among me and my friends, I am very thankful we bought 50lbs of oatmeal from Whole Foods. Our bread machine is working overtime. I will be buying my own very large pot to continue yogurt making and return the one we have to our neighbors. I am thankful to those neighbors for the constant deliveries from the produce auction. And finally, I am in prayer for the day our boys are teenagers and the list above seems like a drop in the pan.

Not Enough Time For Beans

I really enjoy living where we do. I am pretty sure I have mentioned that before... It is especially nice when fresh produce is easily available at the auction or from our garden. Yesterday our lovely neighbor brought home two pecks of green beans, green beans that I have dreamed of canning since summer started. However, as is the case in our crazy home, making time to can beans is like trying to read an adult fiction novel while sitting in Dada's chair in the daytime. It just doesn't happen...yet. Someday, when the kids are older and more independent I will can beans when they are ready. I will probably stand over the canner dreaming of the days when those same kids were running around crazy wishing them back again. For now, as I embrace my days of planning homeschool, feeding tummies that never fill, fighting Mt. Washmore, removing Star Wars toys from mouths, and picking cheerios and yogurt out of my laptop...I resort to freezing beans.

Here is where I found the idea.

One hour, and they were done. AND I felt rather the capable survivor as I transformed an old ballpoint pen into a straw to facilitate old fashioned vacuum sealing.

Can You See It? *Smile*

My first Wordless Wednesday post, dedicated to the almost finished homeschool room.

Yum Yum Yogurt

On average, our family can put away over a quart of yogurt on any given day. It was one of the first solids that we introduced to all of our kids (after the customary veggies, fruits, and the like), and they all enjoy it. What I don't enjoy is the cost and the additives, or the additional cost for natural/organic. I had heard that making your own yogurt was not that difficult, but I was a bit skeptical because I have struggled with things like sourdough starter in the past (although I am going to attempt it again thanks to Granola Mom 4 God). However, with the chance to increase our grocery budget by $15-20 per week, I was willing to take the chance.

Step One...Find someone else who knows how to do it. Quite conveniently the first website that popped up on my search was one of the best. It had easy to follow instructions and pictures; it also included hints on what you should think about doing while completing the step at hand. You can find it here.

Step Two...Follow this wise person's instructions. Essentially to make my own yogurt I took milk, equal to the amount of yogurt I desired, heated it, cooled it, added yogurt cultures (Brand X All Natural Organic Plain Yogurt), and let it rest for seven hours. Here are the tools:





That really is a heating pad, and it is an ingenious use for it! Essentially you use two large pots to create a warm water bath/double boiler type cooking device. Heat the milk, stick it in an ice bath to cool it quickly, add the yogurt cultures and let it hibernate...











Of course it is wise to check the time _before_ you begin the hibernating process, so you don't end up staying up until 1:38 am. *grin* Hopefully, if all goes well, you will refrigerate your yogurt and find it creamy and delicious in 8 or so hours. It will be a bit runnier because it lacks pectin and the like, but it is really tasty. With such luxuries as fresh berries and honey, it can be quite a treat!
I figure if I will keep plugging away at one half gallon batch per week to start and build it up from there. I am thankful for a chance to feed my family another healthy homemade food sans additives. I very thankful that all of them find it tasty too. Bye Bye store bought yogurt!

Summer Fun

I have been busy for the past week keeping kids entertained while the homeschool room is finished. I have also, much to my own humor, have been trying to break in my new laminator and workboxes. Bit by bit it is all being worked on, though I am pretty sure it will take the remainder of the summer to get it finished.

After running out of insulation and easy laminating projects today, we took a family break. Some may know that Sir MMH Hubby is a personal trainer as well as a teacher (and carpenter), and he has been enjoying working with many adults and high school athletes this summer. Today, though, he had no sessions except his own, so we took the entire family outside and exercised. The boys had a modified obstacle course (sorry Coach, I know it was more, but this gives the rest of us a good image), and he did his own workout after they finished. I wanted to share some pictures. Hopefully you can hear the giggles and screams of laughter through the faces!

He did have all four on the sled at once, and at one point our neighbor thought it would help point out the obvious..."Hey, there's no snow!"

Our Garden

It's our first day of summer vacation here. With everyone home, we finally had all hands in the garden. (I have been nursing tomato plants under grow lights in the high school Biology room, and they really needed to get their roots into the earth.) I am always eager to get the garden going, but around here you listen to the farmers, the Amish, and your neighbors. The general consensus is not to plant until after "Decoration Day." With a selection of heirloom seeds and some beautiful heirloom tomatoes at stake, I listened.

Then, it rained.
And rained.
And a few tornadoes blew through.
And it rained again.

Until today. We had Bug and Bear, Sir Lionheart, and my mighty hubby out there evening out the dirt, laying line, and finally planting. It was fantastic. The girls helped with the beans, and from then on everything was a "bean Mama?" Bear was introduced to grubs, which we kept to the side for the boys water spider they were given this weekend. Though not all was planted, we did get all of the started plants in and six more rows of seed. So far, we have broccoli and cauliflower (new additions this year), carrots, green peppers, beans, cucumbers, tomatoes, and corn. We prayed over the garden and headed inside. Wouldn't you know? God sent a nice calm shower this evening to get everything going. Hopefully in a couple of days I will head back out and finish up with the boys and their cantaloupe and pumpkins. When it is complete, I will post a couple of pictures. Who knows, maybe the corn will be "knee high by the Fourth of July?"

Chicken Black Bean Burgers (aka Chicken Cookies)

I have one Rachel Ray cookbook, and I have not had it out in a few months. I grabbed it yesterday in hopes of inspiration for my chicken burgers. We love chicken burgers, and we pack them full of various beans and spices depending on our mood...or pantry. Last night I made a spin on her Turkey Bacon Burger recipe, and the result is this:
1 Tbsp EVOO Bacon, enough to top your burgers
1/4 cup lime juice
1 1/2 tsp paprika
1 Tbsp chipotle seasoning
1/2 tsp chili powder
2 lbs ground chicken
1 16 oz can black beans, drained and rinsed
Cheese, enough to top your burgers, we used sharp cheddar

Heat your oil in the skillet (love cast iron!). Cook your bacon until desired crispness. While bacon cooks, mix lime juice, paprika, chipotle seasoning, and chili powder. Add chicken and blend well (used my clean hands). Add black beans and mix again. Form into patties. In a skillet, brown burgers until cooked through. Adventurous? Use the bacon skillet, yum! We had no buns per se, so we piled the burgers, bacon, cheese, and some mayo on homemade bread. Steamed some broccoli as a side (or in the case of Sirs Wallace and Lionheart, a garnish), and presto!

Dinner in less than 30 minutes...all interruptions included. Cost? Under $10 for six people. And because the girls ate mostly broccoli after discovering they were chicken burgers with black beans and not chocolate chip cookies, we actually managed lunch out of them today after church.