Chunky Potato Soup

This is a favorite soup especially on a cold wet day like today! We are not use to having highs in the 30's in NOVEMBER in Texas! Add to that two days of rain and you've got me wanting to stay bundled up with the boys watching movies and eating soups, stews, and chilli.... Which is exactly what we're doing!

5lbs red potatoes, diced

1/4c + 2 T flour

2 cloves garlic, minced

3 T dried parsley

2 tsp dried chives

1 tsp dried dill

1tsp onion powder

1 1/4 tsp season salt

1 tsp black pepper

Toss all ingredients together in your pot. 

Pour in 6 cups of chicken stock or broth. Add half a stick of butter. 

Cool until potatoes are tender. This can be done by simmering on the stovetop or by using your crockpot. If crockpot,  cook on low for 8 hours of high for 4 hours.

In the mean time, fry up a lb of bacon and crumble it.

Once potatoes are done remove from heat and mash a little. Not to much because you want it to be nice chunky soup!  Now stir in 2 cups of half and half. Heat again just to make sure it is warm throughout.

Serve with green onions, shredded cheeses, and the crumbled bacon  that you cooked earlier if no one snuck in and ate it! 

**will add pics when I get to computer. I can't get google+ to work on my phone! 

Vacation is OVER!

We had a fantastic road trip!  We saw so many great sites, visited with great friends, and had lots of quality family time.  I was so worried about being cooped up in a car and tiny cabins together for so long but it was not bad at all.  It was actually quite nice.  Besides our visit in southern California with friends, my favorite place... I think all of our favorite place was our Colorado stop.  The weather was perfect.  The scenery that God created was awe inspiring.  Southern Utah was pretty high on the list, too.  And the Grand Canyon is SO not "just" a hole in the ground.  It was truly awesome!  I really miss the road trip.  I am already planning (in my head) our next one.  And longer visits to our stops places... two to three days just wasn't enough to soak it all in.  And a winter trip so we can see snow.  I tried to talk James into quitting his job and selling the farm (HAHAHA!) and us just becoming homeschooling gypsies but he said no.  <insert sad face here>  Oh well.  I will have to just talk him in to traveling every year. 

Phew... we are back to school in HIGH gear folks!  We took an extra week off when we got back because Momma couldn't get her butt in gear.  Then I looked at the calendar and realized I had miscounted *gasp* our school weeks when marking off our school year.  That makes us another week behind if we want to keep our end date the same... which I do.  So starting yesterday we are packing in as much as the kids can stand.  We normally only have sit down school work from 10-2 with a break for lunch.  We are packing in an 8-3 schedule this week and probably next week along with doing read alouds at our normal time and at bedtime.  If we get too bogged down before this two week period is up I'll reevaluate the calendar and maybe shave some time off our some of our school holidays or just do a long day once a week til we get caught up.  Or just extend our end date.  Or .. I don't know.   :) 

Henry has started back up in soccer. He loves is and is quite good at it.  We are playing in a different league this time and so far it's okay.  I do like our previous league better but it's not in Daddy's district so he wouldn't be able to watch the games when he is on duty.  This league he can.  It's also a little bit closer to home so that is nice.  Nelson isn't getting to play any sports right now.  The one baseball league we could have played in is just too far in the opposite direction of soccer and I couldn't stretch myself that much.  He waited until after sign ups were over to tell me he decided to do soccer so he is just taking a break from athletics.  I personally am looking forward to basketball season starting.  It's in doors.  And if even if it wasn't, it's just cooler weather so it's nice.  I gave Jack the opportunity to play soccer too but he chose not to.  He has been really bashful lately and I think playing with a big group of kids he doesn't know just didn't set well with him.  Maybe next year!  Now, if they had a team for 2 year olds, Kash would have been all over that!  He looooves to play soccer in the yard and he is not shy at all. 

James isn't playing soccer either.  But he is back to work in full swing.  We are also working at the land on his days off.  We have a garden going... sort of.  I'll explain that in another post.  We are still living in the same place and still hoping to sell and build and all that fun stuff.  Some changes will hopefully take place soon.  We had a realtor before we left on our road trip.  She didn't  work out so now we are hunting for another one.  Blah blah blah.  I am trying to be patient and not complaining which is hard to do sometimes!  I know this is all going according to God's plan and in His time...  I just have to remind myself sometimes. 

That's all for now!

Floor Plans, Floor Plans, and More Floor Plans

James and I have been looking and looking and looking at floor plans and have narrowed it down to two.  It's really  hard when there is not a model of the home to look at.  The numbers mean nothing to me.  I can't picture how spacious a room is going to be with furniture in it.  Well, I THOUGHT I could until yesterday.  We had the opportunity to tour a home that was built from one of the floor plans we had narrowed it down to.  It was nicely built and furnished but the space was not at all what we expected.  I have a 1905 home that is NOT an open floor plan.  But I like it.  It feels comfortable and not at all boxed in.  Based on the floor plan of this house we looked at, I thought it was more open and bigger rooms.  But the living room felt so much smaller than ours now.  The kitchen and master bedroom where what I was expecting, the master closet, too.  But the master bathroom... I am sure that was a miniature "garden" tub.  The dining area looked much smaller than I expected it to, also.  The kids bedrooms were okay.  Anyway, we were disappointed that we didn't love it as much as we thought we would.  The other house that we have narrowed it down to is not available to look at right now.  We did drive by it and I have absolutely fallen in love with the outside.  As soon as possible, we hope to look inside.  I will for sure cry a river if it is not what I think it is.  After seeing the inside of the other one, we have compared the room measurements and layout and we're pretty sure it is much better.  I guess we will be starting the floor plan search over if it's not better! 

How do people build homes without having ever seen a model of it?  I would have been SO disappointed if we had just gone with the first floor plan without looking at this family's home first. 

4,261 Minutes

This is what 4,261minutes of driving look like....

 if you don't count all the 2 year olds potty breaks. Even still, we CAN NOT WAIT!!!!!

School, Facebook, and the House

We started school full time this week and it's going surprisingly well. I was worried since we aren't sharing curriculum (last year they shared core D) like we did before.  Nelson is in Sonlight Core F and Henry is doing B+C.  So far they are both very excited about the history and science they are learning.  Nelson is enjoying math, too.  He likes that is challenging. 

We have plans to get a saxophone for Nelson to start music.  We are also considering fall baseball for him.  Henry is registered for fall soccer already.  I wish we could get both sports in the same town so I could easily let them do both. 

I have been off Facebook for a week and... I am so disconnected.  I knew that it was too heavily relied on to keep in touch with others but I had no idea how bad it had gotten.

We are still working on house stuff and James is working way too much overtime so it's been stressful around here.  Like, make me emotional, keep me up at night stressful.  James has vacation coming up in a month so it will soon be better!! 

I guess that's it.  I will update again soon.  Happy Friday to You!

Consistently Inconsistent

That is what I would use to describe my blogging!  And my menu planning.  Things have gotten out of hand, friends!  I have not planned a menu since... well, the last one I posted here.  I don't even think I followed that one.  I really am going to get back to doing that and hopefully stick with it since it really does help!  I will get back to it as soon as baseball season is over and life slows down. 

Nothing new and exciting has happened lately.  We are just doing our usual, playing, reading, visiting friends, playing baseball, practicing baseball, reading, and playing.  Did I mention baseball?  And playing?  Oh, and laundry! 

We are also decluttering the house in preparation for putting it on the market.  It's taking a lot more effort than I expected.  I don't know where all this stuff came from.  Or why we still have it hidden in closets and under beds.  Wow.  We have only lived here for about 5 years and already we are busting out of the seams!  That is coming to an end now!  We have gotten rid of old toys, I have boxed up old clothes that no one is wearing... I can't decide if I should jsut give them away or keep holding on to them until Jack is old enough to wear them.  There is a five year gap between he and Henry.  Maybe I should just buy for Jack so I'm not hoarding clothes for 4 years just waiting... Anyway, we have lots of books too.  And it's the same deal as the clothes... I am holding on to books so Jack and Kash can read them even though Nelson and Henry have outgrown them. I think that is okay though.  I do want a library in my new house.  Not that it will happen but at least one wall of bookshelves in an office or schoolroom.  We're also deep cleaning which is embarrassing me.  I don't know how I let the house get this grimey.  The good news is, I have had one of the four be particularly naughty lately so he has been working off his bad attitude while getting to know the baseboards.  I have never been more excited for one of my kids to misbehave! Haha! 

I had planned on getting started on our summer session soon but we are just going to play it by ear.  We are keeping busy and no one has dared to utter the b-word (bored) yet so we'll just keep going like we're going. We DO have to get started by mid summer though since we are off most of September. 

Soooo.. that's my rambling update for now!  I hope you all are having a wonderful summer so far!  I'd love to hear what you're up to! 

School Calendar!

The boys are taking it easy today and the two little ones are playing nicely so I am getting our school calendar planned out.  I can really only do now through the end of 2013 since we won't know until January what the husband's vacation will be.  As of now, our OFFICIAL school year will start July 29th and end May 30th.  That includes 3 weeks off in September, 2 weeks off at Thanksgiving, 3 weeks off for Christmas, and an undecided week off for spring break.  I've also looked up all the one day student holidays our local school district has and written them off our calendar as well so if the opportunity arises, they can spend some time with their friends.  If not, we'll work those days, too.  I anticipate that we'll do some school time in June and earlier in July, too, when the boys get bored or complain about it being too hot.  I would like for us to be year round but I really want to be flexible during the summer months.  Any weeks we do before the official start day will get taken off later in the school year whenever James gets time off.  We just need to be flexible for his vacation time and still get a minimum of 36 weeks of school time in. 

I am really enjoying the Debra Bell Ultimate Homeschool Planner!  It is really making it easy to see the year at once and get everything planned out. 

3rd/6th Grade Plans

We are wrapping this school year up next week!  Our first year of homeschool down!  Woo-hoo!  I've already got most of their 3rd and 6th grade curricula ordered and some of it has already arrived.  We are making one big change so far.  This year, the boys shared one core from Sonlight (Core D: American History, Part 1).  This was mostly done out of fear... I feared I would not be able to do two completely different lesson plans while managing a preschooler and a 1 year old.  Also, it saved us money.  The change?  We are splitting them up.  I don't regret putting them together but I do feel like Nelson would benefit from being more challenged which would be too challenging for Henry. 

Henry is going to go back one to Core B+C.  This will give him an introduction to world history.  He is moving up to 3rd grade readers and language arts (also through Sonlight) and Singapore Primary Mathematics 3.  He started the math this week and will likely work on it through the summer.  He went ahead and started his next level of Handwriting Without Tears (cursive), too. 
Nelson is skipping Core E and moving up to Core F.  This includes language arts and readers as well as history of the eastern hemisphere.  He is moving up to Singapore Primary Mathematics 6 which we also started this week.  It has pre-algebra which I love! 

I am still undecided on science.  I think they will be sharing science again.  If so, we'll start Exploring Creation with Botany from Apologia and move on to Zoology.  If I seperate them, I'll have Nelson do Sonlight's Core F Science which is human anatomy.  You can get it customized for boys or girls.  He is getting to the age where I think anatomy would be good for him... you know, with puberty coming up and all.  Pardon this interruption but... Oh my!  I really cannot believe my husband and I have to start thinking about puberty and all the talks that come with that.  Where has time gone? James has had a few small talks with Nelson but not ALL the specifics yet.  Back to curriculum.  For P.E., they play sports when they are in season (baseball and basketball and sometimes football).  Outside of that, we get lots of outdoor playtime, bike riding, nature walks, and when the weather or heat don't allow for it, we do an excercise video together.  The one we like the most is the Advocare Workout Series - Can You 24?  What I like about it is, each routine is only 24 minutes but we all FEEL it, you can watch the instructions on how to do each move before you start the workout which is GREAT for kids and clumsy adults like me, there are different levels and many different routines, and you can do one routine or do an hour of them or anything in between.  (shameless plug - I'm a distributor so that link will take you to my order page.  I wouldn't recommend it if I didn't believe in it!) 

We are still on the fence with electives.  Music lessons?  Foreign language?  I don't know.  They will definitely do things like that in later years but right now they do so many life skills with their dad on his days off and they will be learning farm life as an "elective" now that we have our land.  That may be it for this school year. 

The boys are both interested in doing school work throughout the summer but we are undecided on official year round school or traditional school calendar.  We may just do school work when they feel like it during the summer... you know, when it's blistering hot outside and we're bored is being said... and just get a little ahead.  Or we may plan out an actual year round schedule.  I don't know yet.  We are definitely taking the month of September off so we will at least be starting the official school year early. 

Soooo..... there you have it.  Our plan for 3rd and 6th grades! 

Oh!  I almost forgot!  I bought everything through Sonlight and Apologia last year.  This year I shopped around and found great prices on our math curriculum at Love to Learn.  They have great shipping prices and I received the order quickly.  I will also be ordering Henry's next handwriting book from there.  I found Nelson's complete Core F used and it worked out really well!  I saved money and everything was in great shape when it arrived.. like new!  The previous owner made copies so I recieved all the original consumables too.  Check out Homeschool Classifieds to see if you can find what you need!  Just be sure to communicate with the seller and ask questions to make sure you'll be getting what you need.  Amazon is an authorized seller of Apologia and you can get free shipping through amazon so that is where I bought our Botany books. 

I would love to hear what your plans are for the next school year and where you do your school shopping!  So leave a comment below! :)  Happy Homeschooling!

It's 12:30a.m. and I'm....

It's 12:30a.m. and I'm up looking at the Farm & Garden section of craigslist and googling milking machines. Ha!  I can honestly say I never expected stuff like this to be on my mind in the middle of the night!  James and I are SO anxious to get our farm going.  Our goal in farming?  Well, to sustain our family - provide enough milk, eggs and produce for us and if we have extra we can sell it.  Maybe beef, pork, and chicken too.  I don't know how I feel about eating animals that I personally took care of... I'm afraid I'll have the "it's my pet" mindset but maybe not.  Oh, and bees!  We might get brave enough to get a beehive.  That would probably be James's baby though. I'm terrified of getting stung.  We have so much work to do to get things going.  It feels like it is taking FOREVER.  Partly because it took so long to find land and partly because we're excited and wanting to do everything N-O-W. We have some secondary dreams, too.  A petting zoo.  And a baseball field. Yep.  A baseball field.  In our yard... er... pasture.  We have 24 acres to work with.  Half of it is already cleared and has a garden on it.  The other half is heavily wooded and COVERED in poison ivy and poison oak.  I don't know what poison sumac looks like but it's probably there, too.  We also have dewberry vines, ant hills, and what I think is coastal hay.  Well, I am going to try and force myself to sleep now.  G'night!

Ballpark Nachos... yum.

Kash has been on again off again when it comes to sleeping in his own bed all night long.  The last few days he has stayed up and wow... what a great night of sleep I've gotten!  I hope it sticks with it.  Another exciting Kash thing... he has told me TWICE this week that he needed to go #2 BEFORE he went in his diaper... we actually made it to the toilet! Yay!!!  Wiping a baby butt that has used the toilet is way less messy than one that has used a diaper.  I cannot wait for this to be consistent.  He has been using the toilet for #1 a lot lately but only when prompted.  He hasn't told me yet that he needs to.  I am ready to be out of the diaper stage ONCE AND FOR ALL! 

Jack has had so much personality coming out.  I love this age.  Except for the part where he thinks he's bigger than he is... he hasn't quite finished the transition from baby boy to little boy and he gets really upset when we put him in the "little boy" category.  He wants to do everything Nelson and Henry does and has meltdowns when he can't.  BUT.... he is getting so funny, so full of personality... He jokes and teases us. He is also becoming protective and helpful with Kash.  It's really fun to see them interact. 

Henry is going through some change that I can't quite put a finger on yet.  He's.... spirited.  :)  He's been testing me with his attitude lately and is really hard on himself when he doesn't or can't do something just right.  He's a pretty loving kid, though.  I still gets lots of hugs and kisses from him! He also likes to joke and make us laugh. 

Nelson is definitely entering that preteen phase.  He's kind of moody sometimes and trying to be grown up but is definitely still a kid.  He is loving that it's baseball season and is trying so hard to be a great pitcher!  He is really turning into a responsible young man..  He is so helpful to his little brothers and to me, too.  He is very talkative and loves to share what all he has been reading. 

James is in the middle of a bathroom remodel in addition to his paying job. :)  It's been a good learning process.... he's good at it and could definitely do a lot to build our future home but he's learned that he does not want to. We'll definitely be having someone else do the work for us when the time comes.  We are both super excited about our land... the kids too... and spend a lot of time dreaming about what we want to do with it.  We have lots of ideas.  We can't do much until we get this house finished (the bathroom remodel and some touch up painting throughout) and we put it on the market. 

I have been learning alot about doing things (in the kitchen) the homemade and traditional way.  I really enjoy the process of grinding flour and making bread... and learning about fermenting.  So far the carrots are the only thing I've fermented (besides the wildly unsuccessful garlic) and I LOVE them.  I'm still trying to perfect making bread from fresh ground whole wheat flour.  Everything except one batch of biscuits has been edible but could stand to be improved.  My kids don't always enjoy the learning process but we are all eating healthier so it's good.  I will admit though.... sometimes it's a lot of work and I'd rather go buy a loaf of bread or, like we did this week, eat two meals out at the concession stand during baseball practice.  Wow.  I do enjoy the taste of and benefits of healthy eating but I don't think I'll ever stop enjoying my ball park nachos!  Everything, even junk food, in moderation... right?

First Ever Giveaway!

Okay, I just bought this amazing planner called The Ultimate Homeschool Planner by Debra Bell (and sold by Apologia).  I have not started using it because I'm saving it for planning our 3rd/6th grade school year (coming up).  I have looked all through it and can tell it is going to be great!  It has tips for planning the year out, teaching tips, places to record field trip info, weekly praises and milestones and anything else you want to remember, goals for each student (up to 6 students), yearly planning page, monthly calendar, and weekly calendar pages.  Everything you need!!  Because I am so excited about it, I am going to do a giveaway!*  Not sure if you are interested in this planner?  Check out this site for description http://art.apologia.com/landingpages/DBPlanner/ AND this site for sample pages http://debrabell.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/Ultimate-Planner-Sample.pdf 

This giveaway is not sponsored by Debra Bell or Apologia.  It's just because I like it! :)  I do recommend checking out their websites though for more awesome products. 



To enter*......  a Rafflecopter giveaway

*Open to US residents only at this time.

It's been an eventful few days...

Boston Marathon bombing.  West, TX fertilizer plant explosion.  Tragic.  Heart breaking.  Too close to home (the explosion).  This makes me weepy and emotional and I don't like that.  It also makes me thankful and reminds me to count my blessings and hug my hero (firefighter/medic husband) and my kids close. 

There have been some exciting events this week, too.  We have been praying and looking for land for a long time.  We finally found some a couple of months ago... again.  We made an offer... again.  We weren't rejected this time like we were on every other piece of land we found.  We closed on the land yesterday!  One of the many blessings I'm counting!

Grinding Flour, Raw Milk, and Fermenting. Oh My!

Thanks to my aunts, I have been learning a lot about different eating & cooking habits.  I've bought wheat berries from Azure Standard (along with a lot of spices from Oregon Spice!) and successfully ground my own flour and made whole wheat biscuits and bread.  Soooo delicious! 

I sought out and found a local dairy farm to get raw milk from.  It cost less than what I was paying for organic milk at the grocery store, it's richer, creamier, and more nutritious, too.  Another plus?  The farmers gave my family a tour so we had a nice homeschool field trip! 

I did my first ferment this week and today was tasting day.  I was a little scared but oh boy was it good!  I used the "Crunchy" Carrot Sticks recipe from the Cooking God's Way Lacto-Fermenting book.  I also used their air-lock system.  It was very easy!  The carrots are still crisp and have a nice garlicky tang to them.  They will definitely help satisfy my crunchy cravings and will be a better choice than all those tortilla chips I'm use to snacking on!  If you like pickles or green olives... anything pickled.... you'll like these! I may try their green bean recipe next.  I am not a fan of... as in I HATE... green beans... but, maybe raw fermented green beans would be good?  We'll see! 

Where'd I come from?

At supper the night before last Jack (age 3) asked where he came from.  His brothers quickly responded that he came from me, Momma. That started the rounds of where'd YOU come from's for everyone at the table.  Each person of course came from Momma.  Until we got to Daddy.  The big boys said he came from Mimi (his mother) and Jack insisted that no, he came from Momma, too.  Then he asked where Momma came from.  The big boys answered Me-Ma (my Momma) and Jack said "No she didn't!  She came from Heaven!"  Aww...... what a compliment!  Three is such a sweet age! 

Are we going somewhere?

Mom, will you .... (insert long list of tasks here)?

Nelson, I'm making breakfast then taking a shower.

Oh.  Why? Are we going somewhere?

What?

Why are you taking a shower? Are we going somewhere?

Nelson! I take a shower every morning!  Or at least I'd like to! 

Oh, I thought you just did in the afternoons. 

Not sure how I feel about that conversation!  I do like to shower every morning and no it doesn't always happen because a lot of mornings little people wake up before my alarm and then life happens and I wind up showering during nap time or bed time.... and occasionally the NEXT morning.  Yes, it's true.  I go without a shower once in a while.  I guess I was just suprised that a 10 year old boy noticed and thought I only shower if we're going somewhere.  Ha! 

You a good doctor, Momma.

Me:  How are you feeling, Jack?

Jack:  I don't know.

Me:  Well how does your head feel? 

Jack: (poking his head with his finger) Hard.

Me: Oh, okay.  How do your eyes feel?

Jack: (poking one of his eyes with his finger) It's soft.

Me: (laughing) Well what about your ear?

Jack: (pokes his finger in his ear) It still hurts, Momma. 

Me: Awe, I'm sorry.  Let's get some ear drops.

Jack: (after putting in the drops) You a good doctor, Momma. I don't need go to doctor office.

Poor little guy isn't feeling well today and has complained about head ache, ear ache, and his eyes are all puffy and watery.  I was checking on him a little while after medication and the above is how the conversation went.  Sweet little thing! 

February Menu

I didn't follow last months menu perfectly but stayed pretty close.  Whatever I skipped got moved to February.  Anything that says pinterest by it can be found on one of my boards... just click HERE.  I haven't tried any of them (except the pork chops and potatoes on week 3) so hopefully they'll be good! :) I hope you find some ideas here! 

Catch up

This is a post just to catch up on everything from the last couple of weeks so get ready for some randomness! :) 

My dear husband brought me flowers last week.  He was trying to think of something nice to do for me like send me on a pedicure but I told him hinted to him that I wanted flowers.  Awe. Aren't they pretty? 

One of our favorite meals from this months menu so far has been the pork loin roast.  I just love love love pork with cranberry sauce (thank you Pioneer Woman).  I didn't follow her recipe exactly this time.  I just cooked a preseasoned roast in the dutch oven then simmered a can of cranberry sauce (with whole cranberries) with a little garlic, onion, and rosemary and used that to top our roast.  Throw on a side of rosemary roasted potatoes and carrots and we're good.  The plate pictured is mine so the carrots are raw.  The kids like there's sliced and simmered with a little water, honey, and butter. 

I saw a neat idea on pinterest and now my two youngest think I am so cool.  All I did was cut the netting out of the long sides of the pack-n-play and put a fitted sheet over the top and now they have a book nook that can be put away when not in use . I have big plans to sew receiving blankets together to make a top for it and sides that can hang down or be tied up.  But.... for now it's just a cut up pack-n-play with a sheet.  But they love it. 

Another favorite meal.... chicken pot pie.  This was my first time to not use canned chicken, canned soup, and canned broth.  I actually boiled a chicken, simmered the bones for 18 hours to make stock, and used a little bit of the stock to make the filling for the pie.  I did buy the pillsbury refrigerated pie crust (the two pack of rolled up crusts).... it's just so easy and it tastes great.  And I've never made pie crust.  Yet.  I made it in a giant cast iron skillet and it was perfect! 

The crust cooked perfectly... yum. 

Just enough left for Daddy to take for lunch the next day.  :)

While I was making the above chicken pot pie, the boys pretended to be in time out.  Silly boys.

Henry has a new favorite place to do his math. 

On top of the shelf under his window. Whatever works! 

Oh!  You know it's our first time to have a winter garden so while it's technically not unusual to harvest broccoli while there is ice hanging from the trees, it was a first for me.  How cool to go outside in 32 degree weather and pick broccoli?!  I also got a little bit of cauliflower.

And look at the brussels sprouts!  Our chickens peck at the garden every chance they get so the leaves aren't pretty, but thankfully they haven't eaten any of the vegetables yet. 

We also have a couple of nice heads of cabbage going. 

Last but not least, my handsome 10 year old begged me to let him try out his new basketball shoes that are suppose to be for inside the gym only .....