words

Ephesians 4:29

Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths,

but only what is helpful for building others up

according to their needs,

that it may benefit those who listen

~

I've been working with the kids lately

on using words

that

build each other up

As usual

I need more work than anyone.

Lily just told me,

"I'm getting frus-ter-a-ted with you."

Sadly,

she didn't just

'learn it up'

all by herself.

~

Matthew 12:35-36

(emphasis mine)
The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in him,

and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in him.

But I tell you that

men will have to give account on the day of judgment

for every careless word they have spoken.

~

ouch!

~

Create in me a pure heart, O God

more bounty

from the dairy

this time

~
Lana kept the middle kids

(thanks!!)

while Tony and Lexi went with me to Claremore.

Let's just say that we were all 3 glad

that the girls didn't go with when the guys went to Florida...

I'm also glad that Tyler is usually the one to drive.

I'm pretty good with directions

and

I'm great with a map

but I'm not always so hot

with printed out google directions.

But

my little mishap

that added 30 minutes onto our trip

turned up a treasure;

a Fabric Mill Outlet.

and I just drove right on by...

I had some precious cargo to get home

I am so thankful to have a fridge full of goodness!

' course

sometimes not-so-good-for-you goodies

occasionally find their way in the fridge, too.
~

Thank-you, Lord

for the abundance in my kitchen right now

garden bounty

21.75 lbs of cukes and yellow squash

today

!!

Sadly, our squash plants are mostly dead

I don't know what it is about us and squash...

But our cukes?

look fabulous!!

hundreds of blossoms still.

I am so excited;

we will,

for the first time ever,

be able to share
food

from our garden

~

We have one cantaloupe vine;

I was bummed, because that was all I could get.

One measly plant.

But the thing is massive;

it covers at least an 8x10 ft area

and there are probably

30 - 40 cantaloupes in varying stages out there

~

all we needed was a bit a poo

and God's blessing

missin' Papa

and her big bubs

"hi"

It was unmistakable.

The first time,

when she said it to Brandon a few days ago,

I wasn't 100% positive;

last night

there was no doubt.

TJ stopped by the house for a bit

and when Lexi saw him

she smiled expectantly, her arms all twitchy

like Tabby's tail,

waiting for him to acknowledge her.

And then she said it.

"Hiii!"

unbelievably light whole wheat cake

Sunday

using this recipe as a starting point

I made a cake

so fluffy

that had I not run the grain through the grinder myself

I would not have believed it was a whole wheat cake.

I used Tammy's method

but made her fairly healthy cake

downright good for ya

~

4 eggs, separated

1/4 c. xylitol*

1 c. + 2 Tbs whole wheat flour

1/4 c. olive oil

1/4 c. water

1/4 c. honey

1/2 tsp vanilla

.

Using an electric mixer on high speed

beat the eggs whites till frothy.

Continue mixing on high

and add 1/2 the xylitol.

Add the rest of the xylitol

still beating those egg whites.

Continue mixing till egg whites stand in stiff peaks

(or you think, "Surely I have mixed this long enough.")

.

In another bowl,

use the mixer to quickly combine the remaining ingredients.

.

Using a rubber spatula

gently fold the flour mixture

into the beaten egg whites until completely blended

.

Pour into a greased and sugared (or xylitoled) 8x8 pan

and bake at 325 for about 40 minutes.

.

cool

(cake will sink slightly)

top with berries and lightly sweetened whipped cream

~

yum!

* may use sugar instead of Xylitol

dinner

You're finally going to let me try it??




lemme help

well

I'm working on it

oh yeah, baby!!

~

that brings the total of summer-squash lovers in our family

to

10!

perhaps I am the only one amazed by this...

She's barely two

~

Daddy says we need to get more beads

and set her up with a business!

Wonder how many people would want to buy jewelry

made by a toddler??

the downside of a loving family

One gets sick;

all get sick.

thievin' varmit

This

was stealing my chicken eggs

I don't think so!

Tony got him with a 22
(I'm all for gun safety; but I think we're being a little too safe.
it took about 3 minutes
for Tony to get out to the barn with gun & ammo)

I was going to chop him up and feed him to the chickens
- you know -
as a warning to all other snakes
with dreams of eggs for breakfast
but there wasn't much meat on him
so I had Tony
throw his body to the buzzards

packing away

baby clothes
for the last time.

makes me sad.

(sweet Lily, always observant, just ceased her chanting of

"can you get me a vitamin C and an acidophilus?"

and came and hugged my arm.

We are so blessed to have this girl!!)

we love our Papa

(Lily's present to Papa, made all by herself)
~
Thank you, Lord
for Tyler!
Please
strengthen him and give him courage
as he leads our family in following You.

some favorites

from
Lana and Algie's first photo shoot
23 wks
(after which, Mimi was rewarded with a high five!)

and so it begins again II

We've been here before;

at the beginning stages of fulfilling a dream.

This time

it isn't our dream, but our children's.

How thankful I am that we can be a part

of making their dreams

reality

~

The guys will be putting in 12 long very hot hours

of demolition work today.

Undoing

before the real 'doing'

can begin.

~

Luke & Lana bought paint several weeks ago

in anticipation of this day.

well, yesterday, actually.

The day work on the house would begin.

Only

at that time

we didn't know we'd have to re-do

all

of the electrical

and

we'd have a tree downed by a storm

hours

before the purchase became final

leaving us with many hours

(and dollars!!)

of extra work needing to be done

before we can even begin to think about painting.

Of course

I say 'we' loosely.

Once again

I am at home with little ones

while everyone else gets to do the real work.

At least this time around

some of the little ones

are now big enough

to be helpers

at home

and so it begins again

I'm not going to cry. I'm not going to cry. I am not going to cry.

storms

Way back

several years before we began homeschooling

TJ wrote a paper

on who he thought would make a great teacher.

He choose me.

"because she has great storms,"

he said.

This threw me a bit.

I read 'storms' as 'stories'

and thought

I don't do stories - Tyler tells the stories.

hmm

So I asked him about it.

Storms.

Brainstorms.

Ahh

now I get it......

~

today's brainstorm

(I still get 'em)

was

Tony and Brandon could make strawberry jam

the cooked kind - it's more like 'real jellies'

all by themselves!

It'd be great fun

they'd learn a new skill

they'd create wonderful memories

and be so proud of themselves!

So far

the jam boiled over

(and I mean boiled over!)

and covered the burner

setting off the smoke alarm.

They've both managed to burn themselves,

they don't like making jams and jellies

one bit,

and I've got at least an hour's work

in cleaning that burner

~

In their defense

I hadn't provided them with a big enough pot

and the same mess would have happened to me

but then

they wouldn't have this fabulous memory

~

some storms

are better

observed

from a distance

chicken berry salad

Jeremiah took one look at the salad I'd served for dinner

and announced he wouldn't be eating his salad this evening.

So I told him,

"Goodnight ~ 'cause that salad is dinner."

He ate it

and lived.

I ate and enjoyed.

Lily enjoyed it, too.

I'm not sure about anyone else...

~

First

I made the blueberry poppyseed dressing

by mixing in the food processor:

1 c. blueberries

1/2 c. olive oil

1/2 c. water

1/3 c. vinegar (half apple cider, half white)

1 TBS honey

1 TBS poppy seeds

1/2 TBS mustard

salt & pepper

::

then

I fixed the salads:

lots of leafy greens

thinly sliced chicken* (cooled slightly)

strawberry rounds

pecans

slivered onions

~

delicious

and just perfect for a summer meal

*
I didn't do my usual 'smother it in Cavendars'

for the chicken;

the flavor would have been all wrong.

Instead, I soaked a few breasts in a brine

made of warm water, salt, brown sugar, honey and pepper

before cooking in a hot skillet with a lid for 9 minutes

~

for more ideas and recipes

using summer bounty

see here

~

speaking of cooking chicken in 9 minutes

(which is actually 2 minutes longer than usual, since I hadn't butterflied it)

I bought Lily a couple of frozen dinners for while the guys were gone.

I was worried she'd be hungry

and I wouldn't be able to fix her anything....

She liked the mac & cheese

but really

a dollar

for a tiny serving of mac & cheese

that took 5 1/2 minutes

??

Then there was the little chicken nuggets

with smiley face potatoes.

I pulled them out to put them in the microwave

and the package says it's best cooked in a conventional oven!

15 minutes to heat the oven & another 15 to cook

where

is the appeal??

One could cook real chicken

and microwave a baked potato

in less time than that

and

make extras for other meals.

I went with the less desirable microwaving.

Lily ate them just fine

'Til I sat down with a plate of guacamole and chips

and she said, "Guacamole! I love guacamole!"

and fed those smiley taters

to the dog.

a boost to my ego

NOT!

~

"So, what do they call you?"

he asked

as Lexi and I sat in his office.

I looked at him

blankly.

"Nana? Granny? Mimi?"

he offers.

I suddenly,

decrepit old thing that I am,

realized what he was saying.

"Momma."

I said with a smile as I smooched my daughter.

Then

to add insult to injury

he says,

"Really??"

twice.

Lexi and her old momma after a long hot day

I actually kinda like 'Mimi' though

Papa & Mimi ~ whatdya think?

how's that??

Thanks to Kung Fu Panda

and a tiny misunderstanding

Jeremiah and Josiah have taken to referring to their

er - privates

as 'tenders'

The other day

one of them asked what was for dinner.

I answered,

"____________ (I forget what it was) and chicken tenders."

Then we heard Josiah,

"You know. Chicken p*nises"

more on good tools

Tony came in the room with a big grin

bouncing up and down on his toes

like he does when he's excited.

"Can I cut the grass?"

~

a little note to any sewing friends:

save up $10 and go buy a rolled hem foot.

Really!

It is that helpful!

~

I wasn't even sure there was such a thing;

I know of serged 'rolled hems', but not sewn ones.

We'd actually gone to the sewing center yesterday

to buy an invisible zipper foot;

I can't seem to find 'my' (Briggs) capris anywhere,

and I really need another pair or two

so I've decided to take apart a pair and make some myself.

While there,

I figured, what the hey, I'll ask.

They do make a metallic primer, after all...

So I asked.

"Is there a foot that sort of folds the fabric for you

so you can do a narrow hem ?"

Not only is there one - there are several!

I only bought one.

But

she ended up giving me the wrong size,

so I'll need to go back and get the one I originally wanted.

oh

darn.

learn something new every day

Tyler took me to the sewing machine shop today.

"I'll just be a few minutes,"

I told him.

I really did intend to be just a few minutes....

But

the people in there are so helpful

and I have so much to learn

that I usually end up taking longer than I think I will.

Today

I learned that when you are working with a thin / soft fabric

if you spray it with starch and run the iron over it

you'll be able to handle it more easily.

That'll come in handy when I'm using my new

rolled hem foot

(thanks, Love!)

~

I also learned that they have a really nifty tool /toy

for the bargain price of $3,300

and I'd best start saving my pennies

just for fun

The girls and I were
more than a bit
crabby.
As much as I prefer to be home
I thought a change of scenery might do us some good.
I needed a few things for bow-making
and I was hoping a little shopping trip
would work as a 'reset' button for the girls.
It worked.
sort of.
They were good while we were gone.
It didn't hurt any
that they were so darn cute
the ladies were especially friendly to them.

(those greens are the same color in real life. hmm )

Anyways
since we were heading to town
I thought it'd be a perfect opportunity to finally go to the
Just For Fun fabric store.
Oh
my!
Such lovely fabrics!
They actually didn't have a ton
that called out to me to bring them home
(I didn't even buy anything
'course that's probably more

because everything was $8.50 - $10.00 per yard)
but the quality of the fabrics...
I just kept walking around feeling them.
And Lily was walking around
looking at the store - not the fabric.
Silly Lily.
She wandered back to an area where they do classes.
"Oh,"
her little eyes were squinty from her smile
and she leaned to one side like she does,
"Look at the iron. That is a nice iron."
"Oooh, look, scissors."
"Oh! Look at the beautiful ceiling"
It was ceiling tiles.
To each her own, I guess...
~
While we were there
a lady was in buying fabric for a quilt back.
It was a big quilt;
she needed 7 1/2 yards.
The lady at the store, Kim,
double checked the math for her
to see if she could get by with less.
She couldn't.
Can you imagine?
She spent at least $63.75
for the back of her quilt
~
I hope I don't become a fabric snob.....
I think I'm safe, though;
I bought some fun
but not nearly so soft
fabric at Hancock's
to make Lily & I matching summer purses.
Never mind that I don't carry a purse
and she just got one.

I so enjoy

making diapers!

I don't know why I often put it off

as if it's a dreaded chore;

I suppose it's because

the creating of diapers

creates

quite a bit of mess.

~

Poor Lexi has already worn more paper diapers

than Lily's worn in her whole life,

so my goal this week

besides keeping girls and animals fed and happy

was getting Lexi back in cloth.

I redid the elastic on Lily's old dypes

so

that

along with 6 new ones

ought to do it for awhile.

Next

I need to make Lily some pull-ups....

can't get enough

of these cheeks!!

I'm watchin' you, Wazowski

always

watching

you

my little sunburnt sweetie

Josiah

you make me smile a lot

~

Oh, I miss them!!

Is it really still only Monday?!?

~

you do realize what this means?

I

all by myself

without any help from my kids

figured out

how to get a picture

from my e-mail

onto

my blog

!

thanks, Papa for the picture

on the bookshelf

I thought I might like to look back sometime and see
what I was reading
had just read
and/or
was going to read soon
in early summer 2009

Umm
that wasn't very helpful.

Maybe I ought to straighten things a bit
on my shelf
next to my nursing chair

much better.

~

This selection is a pretty good picture
(oh, I am so punny)
of who I am right now
I think

~

my Bible, of course
a thinline NIV
although
I think I would really enjoy an ESV
~
there's an Above Rubies magazine
although, this particular issue didn't really speak to me...
~
my Beeyoutiful catalog
I want way too many things I can not afford to use regularly;
they make everything seem so necessary...
(but, I suppose, that is exactly the point of a catalog)
~
a couple of books on natural remedies
oh
so much to learn...
~
some books on nutrition
this one would have been much better
with fewer photos.
Ordinarily
I'd pass on a book with this cover
and I'm not into diets - but rather healthy living
(which really is what the book is about, in spite of its name)
but
it was only $1.36 with free shipping.
'nuff said.

I am really enjoying the Mother Food book
and highly recommend it.
~
besides
Foxe's Book of Martyrs
the rest are parenting / education books
I have several other early education books on a nearby shelf
that I will be re-reading soon
~

oh
there's also
There's a Sheep in my Bathtub.
Tyler rarely buys me books
(which, now that I think of it
is odd
because I love books
but, then
I already buy as many as we can safely afford...)
anyways
he bought me this one.
I think it was because of the Mongolian humor.
He has decided I must be part Mongolian.
He said the book was guaranteed to make me laugh
and cry
or he'd get his money back
so he figured - either way it'd be worth it.
I did both.
(but not 'til the second half...)

~

and last but not least

there's a piece of paper with verses

that I use when disciplining the children
~
so
there you have it
I'm a
God-loving
home-educating
Mongolian mission-minded
healthnut
without a sewing / quilting book

woohoo

Pre-pregnant weight!!

From Lexi

silly

not my original pre-pregnant weight;

I'll never see that again.....

Seeing as how I generally gain weight while breastfeeding

I'm pretty pleased.

Hungry

but pleased

:-)

(I gotta figure out how to put a smiley here! kids??)

busy beavers we are

When Lexi went down for her late morning nap

Lily and I got busy

nine pints

(plus a tiny bit for tasting)

of

scrumptious

strawberry jam

delicious!

~
total cost (tax included)
45 minutes of pleasant 'work' with my girl
and
$9.40

144 oz of our regular jelly
costs $34.13

there goes my everything

or

most of 'em anyways.

My guys are on their way to the family reunion

in Destin

(not exactly where I'd prefer my gentlemen to be in the summer....)

Too long of a trip for a nursing 4 month old

so the girls stayed home.

Lily

is not going to be happy

when she wakes up!

~

love you, my men

'specially you, my man

I hope you all have a wonderful time!

tools and toys

I was telling Tyler just the other day

that a good tool

also doubles

as

a toy

or was it

a good toy doubles as a tool?

I forget

I feel like I should give him my phone....

I needed a new phone;
mine up and died.
Tyler really didn't want to get me this one;
It's what I needed, but he didn't think it was girly enough for me.
For some reason
it doesn't come in pink...
It's a military phone.
I'm like
- hello -
it's basically indestructable
what could be more suitable for my job?!

plumb tuckered out

blueberries for breakfast

"Is it stupid to try

or

should I go?"

both!

It's blueberry season

and we try to go picking at least once a week

till they're gone.

doesn't always happen

~

Trying to get this gang ready for vacation is a huge chore

I'm so glad I'm not having to get ready to go, too!

Lexi

my angel-baby

hasn't been such an angel this week.

To add in a 2-3 hour early morning blueberry-picking trip

might be just the thing to put us all over the edge.

But

the only way to have berries in January

is

to pick them in June.

Josiah

was the Picker of the Week.

We actually had to remind him

to eat some blueberries!

Never had to do that before;

usually it's

"one in the bucket, then one in your mouth"

over and over

and

over.

~

Thanks, guys for all your diligent work

and

Thank-you, God

for giving us such delicious nutritious food

smoothie in a bag

The boy is just like his Papa!

"You know, Mom,

it'd be a lot easier to make smoothies

if we just froze everything together."

duh

why didn't I think of that?

so

Brandon

here ya go

smoothies in a bag.

Just add milk or yogurt

and

of course

fresh spinach

~

strawberries are $ .88 at Aldi this week

bananas $ .45/lb

it's a bargain

a real bargain

whew

6 sketchbooks

4 shirts

3 camis

and

1 dress

~

Tyler has grounded me from my sewing machine

until they leave

and

I don't even mind.

'reading the pattern'

takes on a whole new meaning

when you make your patterns

out of newspaper