It's Here!!!!

DH called to tell me about what time it should be to town. I managed to get to the store before the bus arrived. I entertained myself taking pictures.

Doesn't he look happy? He was my first subject. Guess that is what he gets for riding in the front seat.

Next victim er um subject.....

Then I aimed for the far back seat. Got D10.

Found a bird to take pictures of. Bird seemed happier than kids about pictures.

Then again, maybe not!

After a very short time of entertaining myself it showed up.

I released the pet 'coons to check it out.

Dad and the driver looking it over.

'Coons checking out the inside.

D8 seeing how his seat works.

Dad checking out how to flip the back seats up.

Dad ready to take it for a spin.

I did get to drive it all over town. I didn't get to take it home. DH said he needs mud grip tires and the inspection sticker. :( Oh well maybe by tomorrow or the next day it will get to come home.

I do like the way it drives. I was afraid I would be sitting low. LOL boy I don't need to worry about that. I sit higher than even the boy toy excursion! I am glad there are steps to get in the side. I would like to have a back step but we can load stuff from the side. It is higher than I thought it would be.

Mmmm Peaches and Cottage Cheese

This was a rare treat growing up. My mom usually had canned peaches, (home canned), but cottage cheese was not bought often. We were poor and cottage cheese was an expensive treat. Yesterday I made 4 gallons of milk worth of cottage cheese. All this milk yielded about 2 quarts of dry cottage cheese. To make it like what you buy in the store you need to add cream, which I did.

I was so impressed I am making 4 more gallons worth today. Can you tell I have WAY to much milk? Since my number 1 user now is milking their own cow. I don't think they are getting enough milk, but it cuts into how much I have leaving my frig. I really don't want to make hard cheese. Way to much trouble. Cottage cheese is enough trouble. It isn't that it is hard. Just do something, wait an hour, do something that takes 5 minutes, wait an hour, do 5 more minutes of stuff then wait 10 do more...... you get the idea. It takes about 3 hours of this do and wait to have it done.

Today I hope to get some more of my flower bed weeded, or I should say de-grassed. It is full of grass. I got about 1/2 of it done the other day. Then we had a nice rain. That should make it easier to pull the weeds/grass still left.

Tomorrow is the last day of inventory. YEA!!! I get my DH back! He will work late tonight, and then all day tomorrow but our life should return to dryer sitting (normal) on Sunday. Then we have a trip to Lubbock for the 6th. Our church group is planning on going camping the first part of May. Kids are excited. We are going back to Camp Eagle. They have fun stuff like a HUGE zip line, repelling, swimming in ICE cold spring fed water volley ball courts, horseshoe ..... LOTS of fun stuff. The staff is amazingly wonderful! They are joyful and helpful and Christian. I really was impressed when we went last year. You can look them up on the web.

Ok off to accomplish something here. All be blessed!

Pictures 5 Years Later

I wanted these all on the same post but didn't work. I loaded the Gotch weekend pictures from Shutterfly. Here or some sorta new ones of the kids. MJ is like catching lightneing pictures to get him. He just doesn't like his picture taken. I can't say as I blame him.

Yesterday was 5 years since we brought them home. In some ways it seems like they have been ours forever, others wow how time flies.

Our "Littles" Plus FIVE Years

Click here to view these pictures larger

Rain, Thunder, Lightening..... Blessings!

We did get our thunderstorm. There was a little thunder and a little lighting, but it seemed to really dump on us. I had been watching the radar so if it looked bad DIL and kids could come. MN and I agreed that it looked like it was going to slide by us with at most a sprinkle. Guess that is why we don't get the big bucks from the weather service. It decided to RAIN. Even had a tiny bit of tiny hail.

This all happened just before it was time for grand son to go home. I called his mom and suggested I meet her at the hwy. I was surprised at how muddy and wet it was. Water was running down the sides of the road. I don't think we got near as much at the hwy as we did here at the house. My DIL said she got into none all the way here. Looking at radar I would have bet she would have gotten wet.

It should be a slippery ride to the hwy in the morning. My evening probably DIL can come to the house to pick him up. It is amazing how fast it can dry out.

I did figure out one reason our road in front of DIL's house is so swampy. DH, (or me) needs to put a bucket of calche where the water is going back into the road instead of down the ditch. That will help some. I just might get the bobcat stuck if I played today! I know I would tear the road up even worse.... if that is possible.

Bus update is that we should be getting it on Monday. It is ready and could be here on Friday, but DH is inventorying that day so not a good day. Monday will work. Most kids are busy getting school done for that day so they can go in to town.

Hope everyone has a blessed evening!

Potato Salad????

We found out grand son LOVES potato salad. So today they were feeding him some. He had fun!

It doesn't show up great, but if you look close you can see it all in his hair as he enjoyed. Of course the fact the kids were laughing and ewwwwwwing didn't help him stay clean. The more they made sounds..... well we all know how that works. So then they wanted to take pictures of him.

New Mixer and other ramblings.....

Fed-EX pulled through! They delivered! YEA!!!! Third time since we have been out here! (We have only been here 14 years.) We couldn't wait to take it all out of the box and start making. First we ground wheat. I do like my grain mill, but it will take some getting use to. As that ground we read how to use the mixer and washed all the parts.

As soon as wheat was ground we were ready. French bread from the recipe book. I was amazed at dumping 11 cups of flour, milk, yeast and oil in the mixer and turning it on worked! It mixed it amazingly. We came out with three HUGE loaves, They rose beautifully. Once they were finished cooking, or I thought they were we sampled. It was great! Down side was they fell as they cooled the rising sunk, instead of a mountain, we had an ocean way way below sea level. I haven't tried any of the other two loaves that sunk before we sampled. I really don't know if they weren't quite done or what.

Next thing I tried was biscuits for breakfast this morning. I had enough wheat ground already for that. I dumped my shortening and my flour in and mixed. It didn't mix as well as my kitchen aid. I think I need to use a different mixing attachment. It did mix the biscuit dough great though. They were a huge hit. I added a bit to much salt but I think I am the only one that noticed it.

I may do tortillas for supper. Haven't decided. I have roast and pinto beans cooking. Tortillas would be good with it. I wonder if any children would like to roll them out for me and cook?

Today I have a child tomato staked to me. He isn't doing school. I really feel we need to address respect, obedient and anger issues more than "school". It is hard to learn when you are so filled with anger and disobedience. He is practicing saying, "Yes ma'm" instead of "WHY!" or other such things when ask to do something.

D10 had a tough time today with his Language Arts. He had to re-do it several times. He got upset, but never "lost it". He was then very proud and everyone cheered when he passed it. He beamed! He is now happily doing his chores and playing with grand son. He is learning to play with toddlers and babies. He is so excited when he gets a smile or laugh out of them. :) It is neat to watch him learn how to interact with babies. He still doesn't tote to well. He will get it. For now we watch close and correct his carry ability. He is getting better.

Other news I made some more healing salve. I made a larger recipe. I didn't have enough Tea Tree oil, but it is just "different" because of that. I really think I like the healing of it better than the first. I have two small about 1/2 cup jars of it.

I finally managed to get my "junk" sold today. Dh took them for me. He backed the trailer in last night. MN and I penned them before dark. I loaded them at about 5:15 this morning. I was a little, ( OK a LOT) hacked at children who didn't bother to get up and come help. I am praying they brought a good price. It was junk. My good stuff is still on feed. I wish I had put them on feed a couple of weeks before but, such is life. I will feed another week or two then try to get them loaded. I may try to sell to my son and just have him come get them.

Tomorrow we have a chance of thunder storms. I love them as long as they are below severe levels. I pray we get a nice one. We should be blessed here in W. Central TX with lots of wild flowers this spring. It has been several years since we had a bright spring. I hope to have the new car to go look at wild flowers in. I haven't heard if the seats are in or not. If they are in then they need to be installed, the bus detailed and driven here. I did point out I could detail it. One trip down our county road after a rain and it will be totally detailed! I can't always get mud on the roof but some times :)

Monday!

As a friend said, "Back to the grindstone." Not sure what all I have this week. It "looks" to be a quite week. Looks usually are deceiving around here.

Weather should be nice. I am hoping to work on my flower beds and go through my drip irrigation stuff and see what I need to order to get it set up in all my flower beds for this year. I am thinking of taking all of what I have down and starting over. I have added and plugged holes and changed things up so many times it is sorta a mess. I have been using the same hose for 3 years now I think. I have a much better understanding of what I am doing now than when I started this. I think I can design a better system where things get watered better with less hose.

Garden bug has bit a couple of my kids. They are working on cleaning garden beds in their spare time. It hasn't bitten me. I may do a couple of pepper plants and tomato plants. I may do some herbs in my flower bed. Beyond that. I'm really not interested. I just don't want to battle the weeds.

The cow broke my fountain a week or so ago so we are needing to replace it. It is our dog water. I like having a fountain as the running moving water keeps the mosquito larvae at bay. It looks cleaner and fresher. I also like the calming sound of running water. I think we are going to move it from where it is under a tree out into the corner of the yard. I don't know if dh is going to design a new fountain or we will go with a store bought one. Once this next weekend is done Dh will have time to think and come up with ideas. For now he is focused on inventory.

Last week my mixer died. It was a kitchen aid. After much research I decided to replace it with a Bosch. It "should" be here today. I say should since it is coming by fed ex which is much like carrier pigeons. No, I think the birds are more dependable! I doubt they will be willing to drive down my road. They seem to have an aversion to it even in good condition. It is very passable but ROUGH. We will see. I hope it comes soon as we are down to less than one loaf of bread.

We have had a week of not getting chores done. Mom has reached her limit. If they don't get school and chores done then they can get up the next day at 5. No nap! I am sure most if not all of them will test it at least once. Maybe if chores for the day are all done before school they will find a way to work it in on their schedule better.

D10 is thrilled he is off his dairy fast. He is really proud he manage it but says he will be helping at the barn much better. He even figured out without me telling him that next time it will be much longer. This is a child that LOVES dairy! Milk is something he drinks 3 meals a day and he will use cheese three meals a day also. I hope I made the point that if you don't work you don't get the benefits of that work. Time will tell.

Well D8 is going to have a long day. He has decided to throw fits about petty stuff today. Such is most Monday's. He just has a hard time getting back in the swing of school. It IS getting better, this is the first Monday in a couple of weeks that started with a battle. I am working hard to not allow him to see frustration. :) That drives them nuts!

Guess I should spell check and hit post on this. Just another boring day around here. Hope everyone is having a blessed Monday.

Thursday again....

Where does time go? It seems the weeks are flying by. This week has been fast and slow at the same time. Days seem to be long but then poof they are gone and the week is about gone.

Today is town day. I will pick my grand kids up on the way to town. Then we will do Walmart and Lowes. I don't have a long list for a change. After that we will be spending time at the park. I think I have two kids that will be sitting. Both have school from yesterday not done. Neither is up working on it. Oh well so sad their choice.

We have been blessed with more rain this week. It is so muddy!!!!! I slipped and slid to get kids from hwy and deliver them back most of the week. Dh was saying last night it has dried out every where but right here at the house We have a mud pit for parking and driving. I won't complain until I get stuck in it. I really thought I was going to get stuck a couple of times this week going to the hwy. If you get out of the ruts it is a wild ride. For some reason I kept getting tossed out. By the grace of God I managed to keep moving and not get stuck.

I think we are finally getting the bus. It has been a long wait. We are in hopes of getting it next week. It isn't as big as the one we first thought we were getting. It will only be 14 passengers, about the size of a 16 passenger van. The difference is comfort and stability. It has a dually wheel base and captain type seats for everyone. 3 rows of 2 behind the driver and 2 rows of 1 behind the co-pilot. Then the very back will have 4 seats that can be made flat and will fold up against the wall to allow space for cargo when we don't need the seating. It will also have above seating luggage area. I have already labeled seat on behind the co-pilot seat as belonging to 8yo Dd. He is the one everyone gets frustrated with so this way I should be able to keep a better eye on him and also him not bug the others.

We had planned on going to the flea market this weekend, but temps for Sat. are only about 50-55. Think I will stay home and keep the fire built up. I want to start working on my flower beds and such, but when I have time the weather isn't good and when I don't have time or energy then the weather is beautiful. I know the cool wet won't last as long as we would like so I plan on enjoying it as long as it last.

Kids are all stirring. D10 is busy on his school. He is trying to tell me he "only" lacks a little. Problem is it is yesterday's school. He had the option of getting up early. MN was up at 5, not for school, but because she wouldn't get up to her alarm so now has to get up for a week at 5 as a consequence. It is nice with her getting up at 5. She is a much nicer child when she gets up early. Her school is done for the week and her attitude is better.

Our chickens are laying well so we have lots of eggs. I had MN boil eggs to take to the park for lunch. Not sure what else we will be taking. D10 is on a dairy free fast until Sunday. No milk or egg products. Why? Helping with chores isn't fun. OK, not a problem! If you can't help, you can't reap the benefits of the products that are produced. He is not a happy camper. First he had it for 3 days but he decided instead of doing it right he would cheat. He got busted and earned a whole week of no dairy/egg.

Time to start rocking and rolling around here. All be blessed!

Life is never dull!

DIL is sick today. So as I went and picked up grand son from hwy I stopped by her house and gather her and her kids up. She is hiding out in my bed while kids are all playing in the living room. If anyone is counting that is 8 kids 13-4 months.

I will leave 2 older kids in while the other three go and "help" me. I think that will work well. I may do a quick milk and miss milking a few.

I am glad I don't have town planned today.

I did break out the other cage (play pen) so that grand daughter would have a "safe" floor place. She is just about to sit alone. She is starting to like down time in short spurts.

Pray DIL gets better fast, she really felt yuck. We will manage fine.

Afternoon Fun

What boys should be doing.............

DD was first shocked, then thrilled when I told him he could play in the pond. Since T and DL were both sitting (bad choices), MN didn't want to and MJ was finishing up school he played with the dogs. It was a totally new experience to be allowed to splash and stomp in the mud.


I said I would get grand baby out in the dirt. :) He is still not feeling great so would play then sit in a lap then play.

Glamor Queen here! MN "posing" for DIL. Who was NOT taking her picture, which is why she was doing it. She didn't notice until to late mom was!!!

"MOM!!!!!!"

"NOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!"


"Tell me you didn't???"

Guess she figured out I did :)

Gotta love girls!

Anyone want to leave a commit on how beautiful beauty queen she is?

"Granola take MY picture!

Not a problem child!

A REAL smile from DD!!!!

MJ power!!!!

Oldest Grand daughter. Isn't she pretty, and growing up way to fast!

Least and last!