Who would have thunk it !!!

Finally we have a snow day, and who would have ever "THUNK" that I would be able to get more done with 8 kids out of school than when I have the grands (2  1yr old kids) The kids are not out because of the snow though. The high for today is 0...yes big fat 0 !! The wind chill is hovering at 25 below zero and they say tomorrow will be even colder...so maybe there will be 2 days off.

I have so far been able to hang a shelf, make 2 loaves of homemade bread, couple loads laundry and have some soap in the pot brewing.

So as promised before the recipe for bread

1 cup water

3 tablespoons sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

3 tablespoons cooking oil

3 cups all purpose flour

2 1/4 teaspoons yeast

I make the dough in my bread machine and sometimes add a little honey for sweetness or split my flour half and half with wheat flour. Today I am baking it in my NEW cast iron bread pan...so far it looks super scrumptious in the oven.

On a side note:
 I have been really afraid to jinx myself by talking about my work with kids. But, today I actually got postive feedback so as soon as I am able to spill the beans and worry about jinxing it I will. I will tell you all that I have been praying HARD for this to work out.
Also, I found a storefront here in town to rent !!! We are so excited about it...and it should be April first at the latest that we are able to open up our little gift shop.

Getting back on the blogging horse

After doing a web search for a pattern I came across someones blog that inspired me to get back into the swing of things.
I have been a horrible blogger and an even worse blog follower....I apologize and have absolutely no excuse for my absence.
So I am making a deal with myself that I will do my very best to blog at least once a week about what kind of excitement I find during my week. So far this week I have made several batches of candles, 8 loaves of bread, mixed up my own instant oatmeal for those quick breakfasts. I have managed to make 2 blankets, 2 hats, 1 scarf and 2 kitchen rugs in the past 2 weeks. ( Wow I feel pretty good about what I have gotten done now that I read it.) I have also survived my annual home inspection for foster care. So I suppose that I have had a really productive past few weeks.
In the next few days/weeks I will make sure I put up my recipes and patterns for all of these things in hopes that someone else finds it interesting

Homemade Yogurt

I have wanted to try making yogurt at home for sometime now. I have always thought it to be a seriously intense project....I was WRONG!!
For me the hardest part of this was to make sure the temp stayed up long enough for the cultures to grow.
And best of all the kids LOVED IT!!!
So guess what? I will be making yogurt often it was super easy and cheap...did I mention cheap. I like cheap, that means I can add those dollars to my mortgage and get out of debt faster.

So this is the recipe I went by and of course I made a few changes
Makes 1/2 gallon


1/2 gallon milk (I use fat free) I used whole milk
2 cups instant dry milk powder
1 cup sugar or your choice of sweetener.....2/3 cup of sugar and maybe 1/4 cup of honey
1 Tablespoon good vanilla (I use Mexican) didn't have the good stuff...just used the plain ol grocery store     vanilla
1 6-8 oz. container yogurt with active cultures (first batch after that save some of your own) I used Greek yogurt
Thermometer....candy thermo
Large, heavy, pot
Electric stove with light or gas stove with non-auto pilot light. Can also use a heating pad/towel/and box to cover) This is where I went off the course...I warmed a small cooler with hot water and put my jars in wrapped in a towel. I had a pitcher that I added hot water to and put in the cooler to keep the temp up

Place milk in pot and add dry milk powder. Stir well.
Heat milk to 180 degrees, stirring now and then so bottom doesn't burn I used a double boiler method to make sure the milk heated evenly....I added sugar and honey just as I took it off the stove
Fill sink with ice cold water and place pot insde sink, Add sugar and stir well. Cool down to 110-115 degrees. Add vanilla.
Fill containers of your choice and seal. ( I use jelly canning jars) Place on cookie sheet or heat proof tray.
Heat oven to 110-115 and turn off. Turn on oven light. This is where my cooler came into play. I left it in the cooler for about 7 hours and then tucked it deep in my fridge
Place yogurt in oven on upper rack and check oven periodically to make sure it stays between 110-115.
Yogurt will be "done" in 4-6 hours but you can let it incubate for up to 12 depending on how tart you like it and how much beneficial bacteria you wish it to have.
Serve plain or with any kind of fruit. Suggestions: Top with sliced bananas, peach or cherry pie filling, or stir in plain vanilla

Lawless Tuesday in Connecticut

It is illegal for any beautician to hum, whistle, or sing while working on a customer.

It is illegal for fire trucks to exceed 25mph, even when going to a fire.

You aren’t allowed to cross a street while walking on your hands.

You may not educate dogs. 

It is illegal for a man to kiss his wife on Sunday.

It is unlawful to walk backwards after sunset.

Getting back to life

Ok I am back to the real world...such as it is.
This past week has been really stressful and crazy...1st of all I want to thank you all for your comments and prayers about my sister. It means so much to me that you all have been so kind with your words. THANK YOU!!
Saturday I got a call from the agency I work through for foster care and was asked to do respite...(babysit for another foster parent) just until Monday morning. Now I should know better....these things rarely are as simple as they sound in the beginning. I had 7 month old twins from Saturday afternoon until Wednesday morning. They were the most delightful little boys...but holy cow I was tired!!! For me it was bitter-sweet giving the boys back. During their stay with us there was some talk of them being placed here on a permenant basis. I think God knew what he was doing when he made the choice for me, and I had to give the kids back. I would have loved to have them but I would have spent my time in the shower and on the potty taking power naps just so I could keep up....lol
To add to our list of wackiness was my husbands shoulder surgery on Tuesday morning...which went well and he is on the mend very quickly, but he does have 30 days convalescent leave and I am pretty certain that by the end of that time I will be ready to strangle the man. I guess that is what marriage is all about though right?...LOL I had to arrange help with ALL of the kids. Thank goodness for my oldest....she was here to get all the brothers and sister off to school for me and my BFF Cindy took the twins Monday night. I could not have handled any of the last week without my family. The family that God has given me!!! I LOVE THEM ALL!
Now as I reassess life...I have decided that I need to get back to the simple things that make me smile. Like baking a loaf of bread and the kids drooling over the smell. Making fresh banana muffins for breakfast. Spending time playing kickball with the kids or taking them fishing. So I am going to do my very best to get back to basics and make everyday a day that the kids will remember fondly. I want the kids that come into my home to become adults with happy stories to tell their kids and I am the person that can make that happen. So from now on more pictures, more laughter and more simple pleasures.

Teresa McManus Valentine

Tessa my older sister died on her birthday April 7, 2010. She will be missed by all that knew her.

This woman was the kindest gentlest person you could ever kow....I am not sure how the other 4 of us are siblings to her, we are all out spoken and kinda mean. She spent the last 20 years in great pain and living a life that wasn't really anything the rest of us would have called a life, but she never complained. She never said anything about her chronic pain and always had a kind word for anyone else's suffering.
I do however remember a time when she was just a nasty ol' big sister...I had to share a room with her for a short time and she would do things like tell me I had to ask daddy to let her take me somewhere I didn't want to go just so she could get her hands on the car. OR walk me to the corner store and ont he way there leave me in the graveyard after telling me HORROR stories of how the dead people would stick their hands up and drag me down in the grave with them.
WHAT A FABULOUS SISTER!!! I say that with no sarcasm either....she was truely great!!!

Lawless Tuesday in Alaska

While it is legal to shoot bears, waking a sleeping

 bear for the purpose of taking

a photograph is prohibited.

Owners of flamingos may not let their pet into barber shops.

Moose may not be viewed from an airplane.

It is considered an offense to push a live moose out of a moving airplane.

FairbanksIt is considered an offense to feed alcoholic beverages to a moose.

Who know there was such a problem with the wildlife in Alaska?

Monday...UGH

As much as I look forward to Monday I dread it too. The good part is that all the kids go to school, but the bad part is that I have to do all the housework that has not been done since Thursday. The kids are out of school Friday, Saturday and Sunday so I play a tad more catch up than most. In reality I don't mind the catch up.....
but today the HUSBAND was home too. Keeping him busy is a challenge to say the least. He likes to wonder around the house and annoy me, just cause he can. Gotta love the man.
I did get a good bit done today though. I made 2 batches of soap one was just plain old fashioned lye soap to use as a stain stick on the kids clothes and the other was a teset batch to see if I like a new scent...Lemon Verbina. I have been watching Little House on the Prairie with the kids lately and was inspired to make an Ode to Miss Beadle soap. It smells great!!!! I also made my first test batch of lotion bars....added raspberry scent the kids are loving the smell, I hope they turn out well. I have a friend that wants something like this for her sons dry skin.
The kids are wired today they are all floating around the house from one thing to another like a bumble bee on crack. I do believe they may drive me to drink or worse yet go to bed wishing I had the energy to drink..
The grand has yelled at me all day....this teething thing is a booger for sure. I will be glad to see bath time and nightie night for the sweet Peanut.

No Spend Week is OVER

OK So I survived the no spend week.....but have to admit it was tough. On Wednesdays the BFF and I usually do random shopping for things like laundry detergent and goofy junk....we will have breakfast or lunch out and just spend the day free without kids. And this week I spent my Wednesday working in the yard....I missed my BFF time terribly.
Although, we have spent every afternoon this week together.......in the warmer months we combine our dinners and swap off which house we eat at and the kids play outside till dark. The "community dinner" as we call it is a fantastic way for neither of us to do much cooking or cleaning. Tuesday we grilled at her house, Wednesday was a trip to China here, and Thursday was Southern at her house. Not real sure what today will be but I do know it will be at my house.
Now back to what I learned this week.....that not going to the store prompted me to get some projects worked on that have been waiting in the wings. We got trees trimmed, bulbs planted, yard raked, alley cleaned, worked on painting cabinets, even started working ont he pool. This has turned out to be a very productive week for me and I hope it continues. I have also made a zillion lists of things I still want to get done around here.....need to put sealer on the wooden bench, work on getting the house painted, and work on the koi pond are at the top of the list.
I think for me I am going to continue the no spending in smaller doses like 4 day spells until school gets out. So for me I plan on not spending from Sunday to Wednesday.....let's see what happens....wish me luck

I got an award

Wow....I feel so special I was given an Award and in the spirit of this I have created a playlist of some music from way back in the 80's that I rocked out to.
And in the spirit of giving I am going to pass this along to......
1-- Liz at Hiding in Plain Sight....who is as real as it gets for a WAHM
2-- Tania over at OutBack....she is trying to live a simple life in the Australian outback.
3--Jenny over at Jenny Matlock......who does what she can to live her life to the fullest.


  





 
 







1. Get really excited that you got the coolest award EVER.

2. Choose ONE of the following options for accepting the OMB! award:
(a) Get really drunk and blog for 15 minutes straight, or for as long as you can focus.
(b) Write about your most embarrassing moment.
(c) Write a "Soundtrack of your childhood" blog.( Like I sort of did)

(d) Make your next blog a "vlog", or video blog. Basically, you talking to the camera about whatever.

 (e)Make a picture of yourself first thing in the morning, before you do anything else (makeup, brush hair, pee, etc.) and post it.

3. Pass the award on to at least three, but preferably more, awesome bloggers like yourself. Don't forget to tell them (duh).

And it's THAT easy!

Carbon Neutral

 



As I have tried to be disciplined and get caught up on my blog reading and maybe even blogging myself....I read Think Tank Momas blog post and thought I have to get in on this. Her friend Darla clued her in on how us blogging leaves a carbon footprint. The average blog receiving 15,000 hits a month, has emissions of EIGHT (8) POUNDS of carbon dioxide a year.
Now I am nowhere near that many hits in 6 months let alone 1 month...but I still think that giving back to our environment is terribly important....and I do spend an awful lot of time on Facebook so maybe I could off-set that just a bit and here is how.............
Plant a tree. You don't have to plant it yourself or even in your own yard...in case you live in an apartment and don't have a yard you can still do this.
All I had to do was post this "My blog is carbon neutral" blog., add a button to my blog to raise awareness. And then a tree is planted for my blog. EASY as 1-2-3.
You can too! Just go here  to find a button you like grab it and add it to your blog.










So what to do? Quit blogging? Certainly not! That isn't going to happen. BUT, there is something we can do. Plant a tree. And we don't have to plant it ourselves. Nope. I post this "My blog is carbon neutral" blog. I add a button to my blog to raise awareness. And then a tree is planted for my blog. EASY as 1-2-3.

ABC's of Me

It's early Sunday morning and I figured why not might be fun so here goes......thanks to Vicki at Frugal Mom

A. AGE: 39 the only reason I know this is I just had a birthday

B. BED SIZE: Queen

C. CHORE YOU HATE: Vacuuming....I have a special relationship with the vacuum

D. DOG'S NAME: Hutch the Husky

E. ESSENTIAL "START THE DAY!" ITEM: A few minutes of quiet before all the kids get up

F. FAVORITE COLOR: Green

G. GOLD OR SILVER: Silver.

H. HEIGHT: 5'4"

I. INSTRUMENTS YOU PLAY: I play the radio like a pro

J. JOB TITLE: Professional mom and all that is included

K. KIDS:  8...yes 8....2 mine, 2 his, and 4 foster...it's like a bag of skittles in our house

L. LIVING ARRANGEMENTS: cramped with 8 kids what more could you expect

M. MOM'S NAME: Stella

N. NICKNAME: Foster kids call me Ya-Ya, BFF's hubs calls me Red, everyone else just calls me CRAZY

O. OVERNIGHT HOSPITAL STAY: 2 c-sections

P. PET PEEVE: Poor speaking, you know like "I gots 3 toys"...Oh geez just typing that hurt

Q. QUOTE FROM A MOVIE: It's my island

R. RIGHTY OR LEFTY?: Righty

S. SIBLINGS: 2 older brothers and 2 older sisters

T. TIME YOU WAKE UP: Around 6ish

U. UNDERWEAR: nothing intersting thats for sure

V. VEGGIE YOU DISLIKE: Lima beans

W. WAYS (REASONS) YOU ARE LATE: When I have appts and caseworkers show up just as I am walking out the door

X. XRAYS YOU'VE HAD: Most recently my head

Y. YUMMY FOOD YOU MAKE: Egg Rolls...I think that might be on todays dinner menu...YUMMM

Z. ZOO ANIMALS YOU LIKE: The turtles

Day 1
So as I told you all before I have decided to try this 7 day no spend thingie.
 I have planned a menu for the next week and I have to admit that doing so was tough for me....I am not really sure why. When I owned my daycare I had all meals planned for a month at a time....(the state said I had to do this). But 7 years of not making menus has me feeling like I did when I had to make my first menus. WOW this is making me feel old and even more unorganized than I already knew I was.

So 12 hours in and I am realizing that, for me, going 7 days without spending reinforces that for me to succeed at being even a tiny bit organized I need to make lists....many many lists. I have also accepted that I make a gazillion runs to the store for whatever the mood strikes me. So this no spending thing is going to be a good thing for me in more than the wallet.

I want to say thank you to consumption-rebellion for this idea. I think I may come back to a more organized and frugal system....at least I am praying for that....:)

No Spend Week

I was inspried by Eilleen, over at
Consumption Rebellion to try this out and see how I do.

I have decided that starting March 26th for 7 days I will not shop for anything. This does mean that I have to get my act together and plan a menu for that week and get to the grocery store, but what the heck how bad can it be to not eat out or shop for 7 days.
Now this does not include what the Old Man will spend getting to and from work, his commute is about 100 miles one way so refilling the tank happens often. It will also not include medical stuff and the usual bills.
How many of you can try the same thing? If not for 7 days how about just the weekend? Maybe we could all make an impact on our own lives this way.

Whats for Dinner Tonight

Easy Bake Chicken Pot Pie

1 cup cooked chicken, cut into bite sized pieces

1 2/3 cups frozen vegetables, thawed

1 (10 ounce) can cream of chicken soup (I use low sodium)

1 cup Bisquick reduced-fat baking mix (regular Bisquick will work too)

1/2 cup nonfat milk or milk

1 egg



Directions

Preheat oven to 400°F.

Mix chicken, veggies and cream of chicken soup together and spread into bottom of non greased 9-inch round glass pie pan.

Mix remaining ingredients (Bisquick, milk and egg) and pour on top of chicken mixture.

Bake in oven for 30 minutes or until top turns golden brown.

And as you all know I add or substitute things as I see fit for that meal......so

I added more veggies than called for and added 1 can cream of mushroom soup, a can of mushroom pieces and stems. And doubled the bisquick topping.

Lawless Tuesday in Nebraska

If a child burps during church, his parent may be arrested.
--thank Gawd that was not a law in GA when my kids were little...they were gas factories

It is Illegal to go whale fishing.
--where would one go whale fishing in Nebraska?

It is illegal for bar owners to sell beer unless they are simultaneously brewing a kettle of soup.
--Can they serve the soup or just brew it?

It is illegal for a mother to give her daughter a perm without a state license.
--Such as a Drivers License or a Teaching License....who determines what type of License is needed?

Now I have done more reading on this hydroponic vegetable garden than I did on having a baby when I was pregnant, and I feel like the only way to make sure I understand what I have read is to just build it and see what happens. Up to this point I think I understand the building process.

Just need a tote such as this.....

cut some holes in the top of it for a little plant baskets, fill the basket with clay stones,

and plant with no soil on the roots

get a fish tank air pump and a sand stone.....fill the tote with water to the bottom of the basket and voila you have a garden. The pump keeps oxygen in the water...now you just have to add some sort of nutrient supplement to the tank.

Now according to all of the reading this should give a larger than usual yeild to a crop. So, we will be seeing as soon as our overnight temps are steady enough to get this going I will try to take a stab at it.

If anyone knows anything about this PLEASE let me know what you know.  Maybe sharing info can help us all.

OH and I am going to the farm store next week to see about the chicks...YAY ME!!!!

I discover earlier this week that not only is Spring Break starting for us on Friday...but they are letting the kids out of school early on Thursday...(today) And when I asked the question, that once I did I knew I really did not want the answer....
"why are you getting out early?"        "cuz the basketball team is playing state in Pueblo"  was the reply I got
Now I have to admit that I like us only having a 4 day school week and there are times that I am happy to have the kids home early.....but really they are closing school for a basketball game!!
SO the message to the kids is that it is ok to be stupid as long as you are good at sports.
GREAT!!!
I am just not sure that this is the proper message to be sending our youngsters. I am ok with the high school kids going to the game to support the team. I am just saying let's keep the elementary kids in school and teach them that academics should come 1st.

With the tad bit of warmer weather we have had this past week comes the desire for me to start planning on where to make a garden and to find out if I can house a few laying hens and a group of boilers.

I have done TONS of reading on the care of these chickens I am so wanting to have.....and I think I can make it happen. I only need maybe 5 laying hens to produce enough eggs for us. The Cornish Cross are what I want to get for my meat. These mature in 90 days or less so this could be a perfect fit for me. With the exception of the process to harvest the meat. I am thinking that I will just have to break down and pay the meat locker to dress my chickens.

Yes I am a big baby for sure!!!

Now for the garden....I met a fella once that had his garden growing in water with no soil. It was possibly the most interesting gardening set-up I have seen. It has been about 10yrs since I last talked to this person and I so want to mimic his garden. So raise a glass and wish me luck to my version of a hydro-ponic garden. As I plan and begin building I will be posting pics and let you all know how it is going.

Dinner tonight

Was a pretty good recipe. The kids LOVED it. The only changes I made were to add bacon, more eggs, milk and a bit more cheese. And, it only soaked for about 4 hours.

I think this may be a keeper


Original Recipe Yield 8 servings
Ingredients
1 pound bulk pork sausage
6 eggs
2 cups milk
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground mustard
6 slices white bread, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese
Directions
1.In a skillet, brown and crumble sausage; drain and set aside. In a large bowl, beat eggs; add milk, salt and mustard. Stir in bread cubes, cheese and sausage. Pour into a greased 11-in. x 7-in. x 2-in. baking dish. Cover and refrigerate for 8 hours or overnight. Remove from the refrigerator 30 minutes before baking. Bake, uncovered, at 350 degrees F for 40 minutes or until a knife inserted near the center comes out clean.