the week in pictures

 

On Tuesday Miss Ava came for a visit  (along with her mom and dad, and her grandma who happens to be my sister)  My sister now lives in Arizona.  She is so sweet to bring us this favorite treat on her visits to Iowa... Medjool dates, often topped with cream cheese and pecans.  ....y.u.m....

  

Wednesday morning, I amazed myself by serving this breakfast to my kiddos... scrambled eggs with sausage and cheese, yummmmy roasted potatoes, more of Marcia's dates, oranges, and banana muffins!

  

Tuesday was complicated with a wintry Iowa breeze... the driveway kept drifting in.  Ava's chaperones said the interstate also had some icy spots coming up from DesMoines.  I helped the boys shovel and asked Tim to clear the driveway.  But we forgot about the pasture.  So Wednesday Freddy decided to make his escape over the water tank drift.  Ugh.  Oh, it was .c.o.l.d. out there with the wind blowing.  He jumped back in, but they never go the easy way of the snowdrift.  The Cattleman had a lot of work to get that shoveled down again.   Here's Freddy back where he belongs along with Smokey the cat visiting their water tank.

[edit: Sorry, the pic of Freddy was not pretty enough to publish so I removed it.  It's a bit chilly for giving him a bath...]

  

Can you see the buried water tank?

  

Here comes Freddy... it's pretty much a single lane to the water tank with not much of a turn-around space.

 

Thursday I already rehearsed for you here.

Friday the kids left at home opted to play with play-do and clay for their afternoon fun...

  

Note the baseball/farm caps... they are back in uniform.  Today they are the Super Super Clay Crafters.  :-)

  

As usual they adopted TV personality names... the Cattleman said he was Chris from America's Test Kitchen.  The Popper wondered who we were talking about... Who's Julia?  Yikes, she needs a culture lesson, don't ya think?  Her big sisters cut their play-do cooking teeth watching Julia, Jacques, Lydia, Father Dominic, and others on IPTV.  

Which reminds me of a lesson I learned while watching with them:   Don't start a batch of eclair dessert with the water and butter on the stove to boil and then go see what the kids are watching on IPTV... or you too might have a blackened ceiling above the stove and a smoke filled house and a ruined saucepan and no eclair dessert to feed your husband!

So I spent my time hanging out in blogdom while they enjoyed the play-do and clay... and set the timer for the clay critters in the oven  ;-)    ahem.

  

The Cowgirl said this (below) was scrambled eggs and muffins, I believe.  She also cooked some real scrambled eggs for us on Friday morning, by the way.  And I indulged us all in apple fritters from the grocery store.  My head could ache from just the memory of eating an entire sugar-glazed fritter.

  

And then they got down to business with the clay critter magnets... the Popper made a teddy bear for Miss Artist; the Cattleman made a polar bear for me; the Cowgirl made a mouse for Miss Music Box and a solid cow for her daddy... of course.

  

I need to make a trip to the house to get some more photos of the latest progress. Tim said it was a convention of workman there yesterday - the well guy, plumbers, carpenters - and how many more on the phone to sell us their ducting or insulating products?  But today my agenda consists of laundry, breakfast, laundry, put clean sheets on beds, laundry, discuss the kitchen soffit and porch roof, laundry - remember my girls are home from their week away, laundry, lunchtime?, laundry, make chili for Sunday dinner, laundry, make lasagna for Sunday supper, laundry, I'd better find time to make the calzones for tonight's supper!  Tim or I will fetch the Computer Geek home again and possibly buy shingles, showers for kids, early supper - ha!, laundry done yet?! then find a clean bed for all ~ and to all a Good Night! 

Have a Blessed Lord's Day!

a DAY I'd say

Yesterday was a full day.

• delivered the Computer Geek to church to go with youth group to the Creation Museum near Cincinnati
• (I should note that the temp on the Suburban said -4 F at 9am)
• drove slowly to my next stop on roads still bothered with a bit of snow/ice... and a sheriff's car behind me... slowly seemed like a good choice although I possibly annoyed him  ;-)
• that stop was for our buying club co-op delivery -- sorry to those who endured the cold to unload the truck while I was still with the Geek -- they were working hard on splits when I got there.  When they made it to the organic sugar, this was in the form of two 25-pound solid sugar cubes.  A determined Pat G. hammered and chipped and crumbled her way through one bag to give each person one half her order.  They decided to return the other bag.  Smart.  And you can imagine the mess in dear Wendy's kitchen.
• an hour later I was on the road to Ames... dropped books at the library, then went to Fareway to finish my menu plan in the parking lot before entering to buy groceries.  I enjoy this parking lot method b/c I get to listen to Jan Mickelson on WHO Radio while I try to think of what's not on my grocery list...
• hmmm, extra time so I decided to stop in at JoAnn Fabrics to look for khaki twill for my daughters' desired skirts.  Yay! for a 40% coupon when you only need one cut of cloth... like the remainder of the bolt, almost 8 yards.  Should be enough?
• I think I still have enough time to make my stop at Lowe's.  I actually know what I need.  I call the Boss to make sure, and he opts to have the smaller shower heads.  Done.  We now have tub/shower faucets for every shower in the new house... in a variety of finishes and manufacturers, thanks to clearance shelves.  And thanks to Moen, who sent a missing part overnight for free.  I'll be shopping for more Moen methinks.  They at least have my consumer satisfaction so far.
• On to my leisurely 1pm lunch date at Hickory Park with my good friend Jill.  Yummy food.  And good company, too.
• Directly to my chiropractor for a much-needed adjustment and a quick visit with my friend Vickie  =)
• Getting closer to the end of my list, I dropped off part of my co-op order at another friend's house, where I was also entertained by her sweet boyish boys.
• (It's now 4pm and the temp says 20 F. - a balmy, sunny day indeed)
• As I was leaving I had a phone call, so instead of going directly home, I went to a quick meeting
• And finally ~5pm I was home again -- thankful for a good, productive day, but also thankful that I don't usually leave my home for 8+ hours/day.

 Meanwhile at home, 3 children had been busy doing something all day long.  When I arrived, two were running around cleaning and the other was working at making an apple crisp.  They all had baseball caps on as part of their team/company uniform (the Super Super Cleaning Company).  I worked at getting groceries, etc. into the house and put away, wishing for an icepack on my neck (or at least time to lay down).  The Cowgirl found the recipe for supper (turkey packets).  She mixed up the filling, and then the Cattleman and the Popper helped finish those, along with setting the table, cooking green beans, and washing up some raw broccoli.  Oh, and the Popper also made the cheese sauce for the packets.  They count all this as fun (mostly), by the way.  Joy for me.  I did wash the leftover dishes after supper, but my cooking ambitions were pretty much limited to frozen pizza...

I had told them to get their schoolwork finished, do their housecleaning, then they could make dessert or play games, etc.  And we could have Friday for something special.  Hmmm, I'm still working on finding the right 'special' thing to do with them... today.

{intermission}
Well, now that they've fixed our lunch... they've decided to play with clay.  =)

edit:  broccoli.  I need a spelling list for the mom.  

think on these things

What am I filling my mind with?

Is it helpful?  Is it true?  Is it praiseworthy?

Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things. 

Philippians 4:8

I'll admit it was fun to indulge in reading Jane Austen lately.  Watching was even more enjoyable than reading chapter after chapter after chapter...


But I concluded that reading something like this was much more in line with Philippians 4:8.  What a challenge to read about someone like Eric Liddell... always smiling... living to glorify God even when dying of a brain tumor in a Japanese prison camp.

So I allowed myself to watch the last Masterpiece Theater Jane Austen Sunday night (Persuasion), then Monday morning I found another YWAM biography to help turn my focus to following Christ again...

We watched the movie The Hiding Place a few months ago, so the kids are already very familiar with Corrie's story.  But it is worth remembering again.  And, like I said, I'm really reading this for me.

daybook week 2 for me

FOR TODAY

February 22, 2010

Outside my window...

it is still white (of course)

The boys have begun some afternoon shoveling

The girls are headed outside too

I am thinking...

I should be eliminating this messy pile in front of me, but it's difficult to type at the same time  ;-)

about next year's curriculum choices (sounds like something to pray about)

I am thankful for...

my husband ~ he is so good to me and to our children <3

yesterday's predicted snowstorm went south of us (Sorry, Missouri!)

From the learning rooms...

It is quiet this week without my two oldest here.   The others finished most of their work this morning -- the Computer Geek is starting Algebra 2 and opted to take a couple chapter tests today instead of wading through so many lessons of review.  I still wonder if this particular curriculum is challenging enough for him? (but he likes it...)  We spent a fair amount of time watching video samples this afternoon, wondering if that is a good change for more than one child ~ something to pray about

From the kitchen...

I didn't like my original menu plan, so Saturday I had the available kids help rewrite it with their favorites.

Turkey barley soup is cooking on the stove for supper tonight

Tues -- pizza; Wed -- pepper steak and rice; Thurs -- turkey packets; Fri -- chili; Sat-- calzones

I need to make a pan of lasagna at some point for Sunday evening's YAC (young adult/college) fellowship, and determine what we are eating here for Sunday dinner (?) Hopefully not a repeat of yesterday's o.v.e.r.c.o.o.k.e.d. sweet potatoes.  So sad.  We ate what we could.

I am wearing...

the usual, denim skirt, sweatshirt and polo, socks and my beat-up danskos 

(um, those would be my only danskos)

I am creating...

Oooh, should we say should be creating?  our tax returns

Blech, Tim says that's why I'm fighting a migraine  ;-)

I am going...

to the chiropractor, but not until Thursday -- hoping I can still be productive in the meantime

I am reading...

Philippians still -- enjoying the repeated reading for absorption 

I would also like to finish the Hoover book since it's just one chapter left

I started a new YWAM today for read-aloud ~
Corrie Ten Boom

(mostly for my own benefit, trying to cleanse my palette after plenty of Jane Austen)

I am hoping...

I think I've mentioned plenty already ~ 

to accomplish something with this week of fewer children to supervise/parent/etc., which would include taxes and sewing projects

 to have a good visit with Marcia, Marissa & Ava tomorrow afternoon  :-)

I am hearing...

the dryer just beeped

the stovetop clicking

the girls are back inside and doot-dooing a song,
and getting ready to play upstairs

Around the house...

Pretty much covered this one too, didn't I?  ;-)

In a word, cluttered.

With school book catalogs, schoolwork to check, bills to pay and receipts to file, lists of ideas for school and menu, guide for the outdoor woodstove as Tim figures out completing the hookup.  
I need to find the top of this desk again!

Piano humidifier needs water, laundry needs switching,
What should we have with our soup besides bread and salad?

One of my favorite things...

preparing tax returns (joking! big time joking.)

A few plans for the rest of the week:

the Computer Geek leaves with youth group to see the Creation Museum later this week plus

Coop buying club delivery and groceries and chiropractor all on the same day -- 

hoping to fit lunch with a friend in there too and call it a DAY.

Here is picture for thought I am sharing...

Pardon the broken clothesline ~ photo is really of the young cattle enjoying their snow hill.

Read more daybooks by clicking this link to the Simple Woman's Daybook.  McLinky is now available on Tuesday mornings to help us not mess up our Mondays  =)

Edit:  Hopefully the link works now!  ;-)

swagbucks

I put the widget on my blog, but don't think I got around to saying anything about it, did I?  (see my glazed eyes in front of the foggy brain?)

At any rate, Conny says it's a MEGA SWAGBUCKS day, so if you're inclined to sign up for FREE stuff, today would be a good day to do it!  ;-)

And if you hit my widget in the right sidebar to do it, I'll get some referral credit swagbucks  ~ with my Mega Thanks to you!  =)  Then start surfing for furniture stores or something legitimate and fun, and see if you don't get some swagbucks for yourself, too!

Reality is this is more likely ONE little swagbuck at a time, but hey... why not?  This isn't the lottery, is it?  :o

meanwhile, back at the ranch

... the guys were able to work on the roof again this week!  These photos were taken Thursday (hmm, that was just yesterday for my sleep-deprived foggy brain)

 

It was still half a roof plus some tarp... but they have been working hard inside and out to get it all ready...

  

And this is the wall that Jack Tim built on Saturday (with help from Marty I believe)... the window is in the future laundry room.

  

If you can see the difference in the trusses, this is for a 'tray ceiling' in the great room.

  

Even though it has been too windy for roofing, Dan & Jason have accomplished a LOT in the past few weeks inside.  This week they put in some stairs -- yAy!  Yes, they look a bit odd because these are 'construction' stair steps... you put the real tread plates on after you're through beating these up...  Gotta like that idea.  I think the landing's plywood stays, so it's supposed to get a covering to protect it for a while.

  

Tim was pleased to get sheeting on the garage roof.  And today, they put sheeting on the remainder of the open/tarped roof.   Hurrah!  (Thanks for helping, Chris!)   I'm not sure how far they got with underlayment (or whatever paper) before it started snowing this afternoon.  But at least there shouldn't be much need for shoveling snow out of the house now.  :-)   Whew.

(Sorry, this clear-sky picture is from Thursday... no outdoor photo shoots of the completed roof today, folks.)

  

As a postscript, here's part of last Saturday's Long Day stories... 

Tim needed to buy more hay for the heifers and was waiting for its delivery when the calf escaped here at home - thus he couldn't come to our rescue (but yes, we farmin' women managed all right, and lived to ache about it).  The semi finally arrived about 4:30pm.  But the semi driver was unfamiliar with our snowy driveway and road, so put his back wheels into a snow pile while trying to back out the driveway ... Tim called to say they would be a little late for supper while the driver put some chains on.  (It was already getting pretty dark outside.)  Then a loooong while later Tim and the boys came home to say that after getting the back wheels out of the snow, the driver had put a front wheel into a ditch... Oh boy.  More chains... and praying... and pushing... and he was finally on his way home.  We think we made a memorable first impression on that driver.  And how much fun can we have all in one day?!  These hay bales look harmless, don't they?

  

a prisoner's song

Last night's late night project... was to make a card to go with this sweet little ceramic dish.

 

Miss MusicBox and Miss Artist  have a 19yo friend (Kate S.) who is really struggling with chronic lyme disease.  They stay with Kate's family when they visit for Bible conferences at a church near Milwaukee, Wisc.  Next week is the Holiness Conference, and Aunt Colleen planned to take the girls to visit Kate... now they are actually planning to stay with them because the S. family insisted, in spite of the difficulties they are going through with Kate's health.  Sooo, anyway we found the cute little dish, and then my girls remembered this poem/hymn from a literature book and thought it might encourage Kate, who also likes to sing.

1. A little bird I am,
     Shut from the fields of air,
   And in my cage I sit and sing
     To Him who placed me there;
   Well pleased a prisoner to be,
   Because, my God, it pleaseth Thee.
2. Nought have I else to do,
     I sing the whole day long;
   And He whom most I love to please
     Doth listen to my song;
   He caught and bound my wandering wing;
   But still He bends to hear me sing.
3. Thou hast an ear to hear
     A heart to love and bless;
   And though my notes were e'er so rude,
     Thou wouldst not hear the less;
   Because Thou knowest as they fall,
   That love, sweet love, inspires them all.
4. My cage confines me round;
     Abroad I cannot fly;
   But though my wing is closely bound,
     My heart's at liberty;
   For prison walls cannot control
   The flight, the freedom of the soul.
5. O it is good to soar
     These bolts and bars above!
   To Him whose purpose I adore,
     Whose providence I love;
   And in Thy mighty will to find
   The joy, the freedom of the mind.

~Madame Guyon (1648-1717)

  

The card needed to be big enough to include the entire poem, and Miss MB wanted it nice (elaborate) enough  to hang in Kate's room if she likes it as well. (Since we didn't find a matching photo frame to just put the poem in...)

  

  

  

  

will it ever go away?

 

now.  Every one of us got behind the shovels today.  Tim has the boys on heavy-duty shoveling in the pasture to keep the path to the water tank near ground level instead of up to the top of the fence.  Today I needed to get eggs, so I backed the Suburban out of the garage, but got stuck before I got out of the driveway.  So we all shoveled some more.  They got me out!  =)  I went to town for gas, not eggs (that's another few miles, including gravel road... so Tim agreed to get them for me.  Ya know, better that than having to come shovel me out of the gravel road  ;-))  Tim came later with the big loader thing and cleared the driveway properly.  Oh my, the Cattleman was e.x.c.i.t.e.d.  Look at the snow pile now!

Yes, you can see that I have not been busy at the sewing machine today... While checking out some of the other Simple Woman Daybooks, I saw too many cute blog formats and thought I should see if they happened to be free.  Oh boy, there are more than a few choices out there!  I'm not sure how I like this one with the soybeans, but I'll have to leave it alone for a while anyway... other things to do, ya know.  {ahem}

The fancy "S" is from Daily Drop Cap by Jessica Hische
I found her linked at smitten.blog.designs

this wanna-be-simple woman's daybook

FOR TODAY

...February 15, 2010...

(Earlier this morning)

Outside my window... it's still white

I am thankful for
... schooling at home -- another 2-hour delay for the public school today
... my loving God who gives grace sufficient for all, even this long, hard winter
... safety traveling to church yesterday to hear Pastor's good preaching and teaching
... Saturday's bag sale at the local consignment shop which yielded a good supply of sweatshirts for my boys
... my daughters who love their daddy and his cattle enough to help me return the calf to the pasture who wandered out over the fence via the huge snowdrift on Saturday (lots more to that story!)

I am praying
... for Mrs. McCrum, a missionary wife in S.Africa who was seriously injured in a car accident
... for Tim who is out in the weather doing cattle chores and driving on icky roads
... for Kate Stoll (and her family) as she battles chronic lyme disease

From the kitchen
... leftover pancakes for breakfast for the kids (and oranges, bananas, eggs)
... beef fajitas for supper with meat cooked off of soup bones

I am wearing... warmth!  a turtleneck and sweatshirt, denim skirt, socks & shoes

I am hearing
... floors creaking as children are waking and moving about upstairs
... the wind roaring outside

I am going... nowhere today, thank you!

I am reading... Philippians chapter 2

Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory;

but in lowliness of mind 

let each esteem other better than themselves.  

Phil. 2:3

(this afternoon)

I am thinking... I should make an order from Amazon books since the kids want to get me the Handel CD for my birthday and the Computer Geek wants another Python programming book

From the learning rooms... our beloved Mrs. Howe is instructing Miss Artist via DVD about algebraic equations


Around the house...the youngers are romping since they have long ago finished their schoolwork for the day; now they are snacking on apples; they all should have gone outside

I am creating... stiffer sore muscles by sitting at the computer, but should/could be at the sewing machine stitching a new skirt for Miss A before she and Miss MusicBox leave on Friday

I am hoping
... that Dan & Jason are building a nice set of stairs at the new house today
... that we will have good weather for putting up the remainder of the roof soon
... that Wood Harbor will improve their promotion before we order our kitchen cabinets this month

One of my favorite things... Caller ID

A few plans for the rest of the week:  Getting "a round tuit" in so many things!

• Getting ready for Tim's brother & family to come through Friday morning to pick up Miss A and Miss MB on their way to visit Grandma F and attend the Holiness Conference in Wisconsin.
• Completing the application process with Christian Care Medi-Share
• Sewing projects: skirts, culottes, more baby blankets...
• Devoting a  few more hours on tax preparation (grrrr, which will likely include consumption of dark chocolate)

Here is a picture for thought I am sharing...
(not what our kitchen will look like, but I do have the verse to put up on a wall somewhere...)

This meme is from The Simple Woman.

more projects

 

A friend has recently made some really cool cards... Want to see?  You can actually 'purchase' them from her (for a donation to their outfit-and-passage-to-Germany fund).  Mine does not compare, but it filled the need for a wedding reception giftcard last night  ;-)

Walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us...

And this is one of my very favorite blankets.  You have to feel the fabric - it's quilter's flannel if you know what that means (double the soft thickness, double the price, but oh so gorgeous and designed to coordinate)...  Don't know if the intended wee one is a girl, but I hope so!  Meanwhile I'd better study my 'boy' fabrics again, just in case, because he or she will be here next month!

 

leap frog

I can't resist showing someone!  (Sshhh, SarahE!)

This afternoon I ironed and trimmed fabric for 7 blankets, pinned the 3 that are needed soonest, and stitched this one.   Weather permitting, we will deliver it tomorrow -- and hopefully the little babe come out to enjoy it soon  :-)

slowly but surely

...we will have a lid on our house soon, I pray!

Here are some photos from the last couple weeks of progress...

While the weather outside was frightful, Dan & Jason framed walls in the basement.  Miss Artist is checking out her future bedroom.

These will be my huge closets in the study/sewing room  :-)  The room behind the closets will house a sump pump, etc,. along with freezers and pantry items.

The picture below looks a lot like the photo from this post, but if you look again, there are a few more trusses in this shot!  They did put up the first trusses on Monday, Jan. 18.  Must have been the end of the week when they were able to do some more.

This week they continued with the smaller trusses -- check out the garage!  I took this on Tuesday (yesterday)

And today VOILA!  They were able to have the crane come and help FINISH the job!  WooHoo!  The Lord gave them sunshine and a pretty calm breeze to work with today  :-)  The crane had just finished as we arrived, but better done than filmed in action!

Hope to put up some sheeting tomorrow... before the next weather system moves in!  The blue sky looks pretty now, but don't you think a solid roof would be better?  :-)