Traveling

Pacific Air
School's out and we're off bright and early in the morning to see Greg and Peter! They are stationed at the same base so we get to see them both. I still haven't finished packing and I'm so excited I can hardly focus on anything. Picture me hopping around, flapping my hands, and squealing "I can't believe we'll see them tomorrow!!!" Not exactly dignified, but I can't help myself. :)

I'll be back in a few days! Have a lovely weekend!

Summer Fashion

I just love skirts in the summertime. They are so cool and comfy. Here are a couple of my favorite summer outfits. I wore the white skirt to the grocery store the other day and got several nice compliments. I've had it for several years and look forward to wearing it every summer. I wish I could find another just like it for back up. :) I got the plaid skirt on clearance for $3.99 at Target last year.


Sorry about the quality of the pictures. I'm not too good at "self portraits". Hopefully I don't look this dumpy in real life. ;)

Memorial Day

“I am well aware of the toil and blood and treasure that it will cost to maintain this Declaration, and support and defend these States. Yet through all the gloom I can see the rays of ravishing light and glory. I can see that the end is worth more than all the means...” —John Adams

Pleasant and Cheerful!

Summer Landscape
To my mind, a picture should be something pleasant, cheerful, and pretty, yes pretty! There are too many unpleasant things in life as it is without creating still more of them.
~Pierre-Auguste Renoir

Frugal Photographers

Clever Photographer
As a frugal mom, I almost never buy school pictures. They usually aren't that great and they are outrageously expensive. Why would I pay $20 for 8 wallet photos? When you have more than one child in school (and even if you don't), that's WAY too much. The elementary school takes pictures both fall and spring and I'm sure Cindy's softball team will want us to buy team pictures.

I was thinking of just taking my kids to a cheap photography studio, but retrohousewife had a great idea. She suggested talking to someone who is just getting into photography and is interested in building a portfolio. Now why didn't I think of that?

Her niece is just such a person. She will take pictures of my kids in several poses, in a location of my choosing and put them on a CD for me so that I can print the ones I want. I'm going to see if we can get some pictures at a nearby park that has a waterfall. I can't wait!

A Day in My Life

Once again I'm joining Little Jenny Wren for A Day in My Life. She says:

It may seem daunting but you can write as much or as little as you choose.
We are not trying to see who is the busiest or most organised.
It is simply ordinary people recording their ordinary days.
After 12 months I think we will have a wonderful record of how our lives are lived.

See her blog to read about other participants' days.

I woke up a little late this morning. About 6:30. Mike had to go to work extra early so he was already gone. Bobby leaves for school with the carpool at 7:05 on Wednesday mornings so he can get to FCA on time which is before school. I went around opening windows while the girls were getting dressed because it was so nice and cool outside. Within minutes though I had to shut them because it started raining. It didn't last long and was over by the time we piled in the van for the drive to school.

After I got the girls dropped off, I had my morning phone calls with my best friend and my mom while I did the breakfast dishes, made beds, started laundry and checked email/blogged. After the phone calls I got some vacuuming done and hung a load of laundry on the clothesline. It was windy and cool, so it took all morning to dry.


I also did my daily morning look around the yard to see what's blooming. These pink flowers are so pretty, but I didn't plant them. They "volunteered" and I'm not even sure what kind of flower they are.


Then I got the giveaway box of clothes packed up for Terri (she was the runner up so she's now the winner). I'll get it in the mail to her tomorrow.

Mike came home for lunch and we had a nice talk. He was able to rest a few minutes too before he had to go back to work. Oh, I also had him take the What Color Are You quiz (don't you know he was just thrilled?) and he is green. Matches his eyes. :)

By the time Mike left I only had about an hour until I had to pick up the kids. I finished vacuuming, folded and put away the finally dry clothes, and dusted.

Marcia had chess club after school and Cindy went home with a friend, so after I dropped off the car pool kids, Bobby and I went to Wal-Mart. It's our turn to take drinks and snacks to Cindy's softball game tomorrow night and I wanted to go ahead and get them.

While we were shopping, we heard a storm hit. We could hear the rain and hail pounding the roof in Wal-Mart. It was scary! People were standing inside the doors and wondering whether to make a run for their cars or just wait it out. Thankfully, we were able to take advantage of a slow down in the rain and run. We made it to the van without getting too wet. Then it was on to pick up the girls. We got this picture of some hail from our back yard after we got back home.
We normally have AWANAS on Wednesday, but church is about 20 minutes away and I was still a little concerned about the weather when it was time to head out. We were under a thunderstorm watch.

After all the excitement, the sun finally started to peek out and everything started to dry up. I made jambalaya (a favorite of Mike's) and cornbread for supper.



I did the supper dishes and then we went to CVS. It was the first time I've been to CVS in a few weeks because the deals haven't been all that great. We really needed milk too and CVS had it for $3.49 which is pretty cheap for around here. I got everything in the picture for $10.02 and I have about $23 in ECBs for next time.


The girls are now getting ready for bed and Mike and Bobby are watching TV while I blog. I'll do my Bible study, brush my teeth and wash my face and then I'll be out for the night.

Why I Love Summer!

Summer Front Porch
The weather has been just gorgeous today and it really makes me look forward to summer. Why do I love summer?

1) I love that the days are getting longer. It's so much easier to get up early when you aren't getting up in the dark and the kids love to stay outside and play until bedtime. Sometimes we even eat supper outside.

2) Drying the clothes on the line. I like to dry my clothes on the line when the weather is nice, but it's been a necessity the last few weeks. My dryer quit working. I was thrilled though when we got our latest electric bill. It was about $30 less than last month!

3) Flip-flops: Yes, I admit it, I love flip-flops. I wear them all summer long. Some are fancy with sparkles and a slight heel, some are the plain rubber kind, some have beads. I love them all.

4) No school. I so enjoy having the kids home and being able to spend lazy days with them.

5) Working in the yard. Our grass is green and the yard looks so pretty. I love looking outside every morning to see what's blooming and growing.

6) Summer produce. I could live on fruits and vegetables in the summer. Being a Southern girl, one of my most favorite summertime meals is black-eyed peas and cornbread, with some fresh sliced tomatoes and onions. Of course it has to include a watermelon and homemade ice cream too! Oh and maybe some fried okra...I'm making myself hungry! :)

7) Lying on a blanket in the park on the 4th of July and watching the fireworks.

8) Taking a cool shower in the evening after swimming and playing outside all day.

9) Sitting on the porch with a big ol' glass of sun tea, visiting with friends and neighbors while the ice cream maker churns away.

10) Swinging in the shade of the willow tree in the front yard while reading a book.

Well, I could go on and on, but I'll stop with 10. What do you like best about summertime?

Connie Are You Out There?

Connie, you won the Clear Out the Clutter Drawing. I've emailed you a couple of times and haven't heard from you. If I don't hear from you by the time I check email Wednesday morning I will go ahead and notify the runner up that she has won the giveaway so I can send the clothes to her.

Thanks!

Do You Ride Rollercoasters?

Rollercoaster

I'm still catching up from being gone ALL day yesterday. It wound up being almost 1:00 in the morning before we got home and the coffee had long since worn off. :) Several hours each way in a school bus was not exactly comfortable, but it was worth it. I really enjoyed having that time with Bobby and his friends. It's fun to listen to them and helps me get to know them better.

The band played so well and were judged as outstanding! After the contest was over we went to an amusement park for the evening. The kids had a ball. Most of the parents sat around and chatted in the shade, but one of the other moms and I decided that if we were at an amusement park we might as well have a good time. We rode all the rollercoasters, even the one with the double loop (some with our kids and some just us). We only drew the line at rides that would get us wet. We knew we wouldn't want to be riding home with wet undies.

We even held our arms up on the scary drops and screamed like a couple of kids. I'm sure we were quite a site. It's not often that you see a couple of not-so-young moms riding rollercoasters. Of course we also were carrying hand sanitizer and sunscreen (and Tylenol and Band Aids) in our purses and were squirting all the band kids, even the ones we didn't know. Didn't want anyone to get sunburned or have germy hands while eating that hotdog or cotton candy. :)

Most of the time we were the only adults on the rides. Do you like rollercoasters? Are we the only ones? Would you rather sit in the shade and enjoy the conversation?

Quite a Week!

It has really been a crazy week! We have had some serious weather with thunderstorms and hail and a lot of rain. The above picture was taken from my back porch and no my house isn't as big as that one. :) The first softball game of the week was rained out, but the girls had to play tonight in the mud. They didn't seem to mind too much.

I won't be able to post tomorrow. At 7:45am I will be on a school bus with a bunch of band students heading for contest and we won't get home until 11:30pm! Believe it or not, Bobby LOVES when I ride the bus and chaperon (so I'm thrilled to do it). That's pretty unusual for a teenage boy. I'll be taking a big travel mug full of coffee for the ride. :)

I'll be catching up with my bloggy friends this weekend. Have a great Friday!

Little Miss Perfect

Housework Rules
Retrohousewife (my best friend) and I were talking about the blog the other day and she thinks I come across as a little "too good to be true" here (she's always keeping me in line). I think it's because I'm trying to be encouraging and I'm usually a glass half full type of person. But I'm not perfect, my husband isn't perfect, my kids aren't perfect and my house isn't perfect. I'm just your average, everyday mom.

Yes, my house is usually clean, but remember that I don't have little ones around any more. My youngest is 9 and the oldest two have left home. I've also come a LONG way in my housekeeping and organizing skills since they were small. If a friend wanted to visit back then, I needed at least 24 hours notice so I could get everything straightened.

My husband leaves his socks in the floor and the kids slam doors and track mud in the house just like everyone else's kids. They are normal. Yes, there are days when I'm frustrated and want to do nothing but soak in a tub and eat chocolate all afternoon. I'm not one of those moms who gets up at 4:30am, has an hour long Bible study, knits a sweater, makes a gourmet breakfast and scrubs the floors all before 9:00am. I'm lucky if my brain is fully functioning before 9:00am so my sweet husband has taken to bringing me coffee in bed in the mornings to help me wake up. :) I usually have to do my Bible study later in the morning or at night or I'll read the same sentence over and over and have no idea what I just read.

I don't want you to think that I'm one of those annoying people who never have a bad day and always have everything under control. When I'm showing you the great bread I made, I probably didn't get the bathrooms cleaned that day, or if I got lots of organizing or gardening done, we probably ate Hamburger Helper for dinner. I pray that you can be encouraged here without feeling like you have to "measure up".

Coming up Roses

My Queen Elizabeth rose is blooming and looks SO pretty in my front flower bed. It was covered up with aphids, so I made some insecticidal soap by combining about a half Tablespoon of Dawn with a pint of water in a spray bottle. I didn't spray it on the buds that were already open. It burned a few of the leaves a little (I think you can see it in the picture), but it got rid of the aphids! If I need to spray again, I'll do it early in the morning or late in the evening when the rose isn't in the sun. I read that it is less likely to burn that way.

I'm tempted to cut some and bring them in the house, but they look so pretty in the front yard I don't know if I will.

Challah

I normally don't post recipes two days in a row, but I just couldn't help myself. :) This recipe is for challah, a traditional Jewish bread. It calls for margarine or vegetable shortening to keep it kosher, but you could use butter. It is customary in Jewish homes to begin the three meals eaten during Shabbat with blessings over two loaves of challah. It is a very pretty bread and so much fun to make. This recipe makes one loaf.



1. Stir together 2 cups of flour and 1 Tablespoon yeast in a mixing bowl (or in my case, the bowl of my Kitchenaid) and set aside. In a medium saucepan, heat and stir together 1 1/4 cups of water, 3 tablespoons of sugar, 3 Tablespoons of margarine, and 1/2 teaspoon of salt just until warm (120 to 130 degrees) and margarine almost melts.


2. Add water mixture and two beaten eggs to dry mixture.

Beat on low to medium speed for 30 seconds, then on high for 2 to 3 minutes.

3. Stir in an additional 2 3/4 to 3 1/4 cups of flour and knead using dough hook. You can, of course, also turn the bread out onto a floured surface and knead by hand until the dough is smooth and elastic. Shape into a ball and place in a lightly greased bowl, turning once to grease surface. Cover and let rise in a warm place until double in size (about an hour).


4. Punch dough down. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface. Divide dough into thirds. Cover and let rest for 10 minutes.


5. Shape each third into an 18 inch long rope. Braid ropes and place on lightly greased baking sheet. Cover and let rise in a warm place until nearly doubled (about 30 minutes). Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Brush top of braided loaf with a beaten egg white.


6. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until bread sounds hollow when tap it. If necessary cover loosely with foil for the last 10 minutes of baking to prevent over browning. Immediately remove bread from baking sheet. Cool on a wire rack.

Bundt Cake

This cake is a special favorite of Peter's. He's even requested it as a birthday cake. He likes it plain, but it's an easy cake to change. You can make a glaze for it, make a streusel topping, put whipped cream on it... the possibilities are endless. It's so easy to make.

First set out 5 eggs and 1 cup of margarine to come to room temperature. Then grease a bundt pan really well (even the non-stick types).


When the margarine is softened and the eggs are at room temp, dump them in your mixing bowl along with:
2 cups granulated sugar
2 cups flour
1 Tablespoon combined flavorings (vanilla, almond, or lemon)
Beat until smooth (about 5 minutes).


Pour into your prepared pan and bake for one hour at 325 degrees.


I had to charge batteries for the camera and forgot to take a picture of the cake last night. This was all that was left today. :)

Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed

We almost never go to movies, but we saw this movie last weekend. I highly recommend that everyone see it. Don't expect a movie about creationism, but do expect to have your eyes opened about how entrenched Darwinism is in our society. In the movie, one of the Darwinist scientists said that ideally (in his opinion) people would become more and more educated about science (his view of science) and that religion would shift to being something that people do on weekends that has no bearing on the way they live the rest of the week. He said people's faith should be "the side dish rather than the entree". Unfortunately this already seems to be happening.