Crazy busy day

Oh what a day,,, and its not over yet. :)    This morning I got up as usual knowing I had lots of work to do....you see,,, I'm a bit of a procrastinator and still hadn't packed for our trip that were leaving for tomorrow morning.  Sometimes I think I work better under pressure, plus I knew that its really not that big of a deal to pack,, especially since this vacation is only gonna be for 4 days and our last one was for 14,,,easy peasy.  Anyhow,,, got up, made the coffee, let babysitting kids come in, took a shower, woke up my kids,, all the normal stuff.  When I woke up Gary(the 10 yr old) he got dressed then came out and said he had a rash,,, he lifted his shirt and from his neck to his waist line was covered in a rash,,,so much that his sides were completely red and covered in the bumps and hes chest and back were all dotted up....  OK I said to myself,, my kids seem to get rashes all the time, no biggy,,,but this one did seem pretty bad.  I called my mom at work to see what she thought and to see if she thought I should send him to school, (yes even though I'm 30 years old and have been a mother for 12 years I still call my mommy and ask for advice quiet often,,,usually she's right on, she works in a hospital and had 3 kids of her own).  Anyways I told her he had a rash and what it looked like and she started freaking out,, said do not take him to school and get him to the doc right away!  I guess measles have been going around and what I described to her sounded a lot like those same symptoms.  He's been vaccinated for all that stuff but she said to take him in anyways....  that was the point I started getting really worried.  Our trip we are supposed to go on is non refundable and already paid for and we can not be taking  a kid with the measles through 3 states!!!    Luckily Bennie had decided to stay up and not sleep today so he would be able to sleep tonight and drive tomorrow so he took him in to the doc for me.   My stomach was in knots awaiting the phone call,,,,,,,,   finally he called and said it was not measles and was probably just a allergic reaction to something.  Whew!!!!  They put him on prednizone and told us to give him Zerteck until the rash goes away and he was fine to go back to school and to Tennessee!!! Boy was that good news.  
So the rest of the day I've been packing and cleaning and getting all our readies together.  Going pretty smooth so far.  WE have a soccer game tonight then when we get home will load up the car and we'll be taking off bright and early in the morning.   So I'll be back on Tuesday hopefully with lots of fun pictures.  Have a great Memorial Day weekend. 

Backyard fun

It's a beautiful day outside today, the sun is shining, its 72 degrees outside right now.  We had to get outside.  Here is a pciture of my lovely new fence and garden.

 I can not wait to see what comes of it this year.  I have high hopes,, we have over 20 pepper plants, 4 cabbage, 4 broccoli, cucumbers and green beans to grow up the fence you see in the middle there.  Also green onions, kohlrabi, radishes, carrots, lettuce, garlic, tomatoes, basil, cilantro, and chives!  I'm hoping we get a good harvest!

The girls have been having a fun time this morning.  They found a toad!  They've been playing with it and making a temporary home for it,, here you see them all huddled around the bucket with the toad in it.

 I found another use for our gazebo we put up,,, it makes a lovely clothesline. LOL

 and here is my real clothes line. 

I just love sitting in my backyard!  It can feel so peaceful,,(as long as the neighbors poodles arnt out barking at us and driving me crazy!)

Karaoke and cookout

Another fabulous weekend under our belts!  Saturday morning the kids had a soccer game and both did awesome!  Then later in the day we all went to my youngest sister's house and had a cookout!  Her husband made some yummy rotisserie chicken on the grill and we had mashed potatoes and green beans!  They're neighbor has a basket ball court in their backyard and the kids got to play on that which they really enjoyed.  Then we sang karaoke and had a little campfire,,the kids wanted smores but they're was no graham crackers so they had chocolate marshmallow and chocolate. LOL  a sugary dream. :)  It was really fun to just hang out and visit with them.  We came home with lots of mosquito bites though,,Emma looks like she took a bath in them, her poor little face is covered in bites.
Sunday we were pretty tired so we just hung out at the house.  I ran to my moms real fast to pick up a couple of suitcases since we will be leaving on Friday for Tennessee!!!  I'm so excited to hang out at the cabin and relax.  Gary is really hoping to see a bear since we'll be up in the mountains.   I've got lots to do this week to get ready.  Still need to get that camera card,, I really want to post some pics of my garden.

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Procrastinating

Do you ever feel like you are being torn in a million different directions?  I've been feeling like that lately.  There is so much I need to be doing right now,,, but here I sit blogging. LOL   I think sometimes people thing that when you don't work outside the home life is so much easier.... It's not!  Especially when you run a business in your home,, and double when that business involves little kids that love to run around and make messes. :)   I love my job and I love the kids that are here, I wouldn't trade it for anything but it comes with lots of work and cleaning because I believe in letting the kids play and not constantly nagging them about not making messes.  What we need to work on is teaching them how to clean up their messes. :)   
I've said before that laundry is my favorite household chore......well its not anymore.  Even though Im constantly doing it it never seems to get done!  Especially when I have a little girl that seems to have accidents every single day during nap time and kids that change their clothes 50 times a day.  OH and the latest thing around here is the little girls have been playing "Florida resort".  Over Christmas break we went to Florida, Emma has not forgotten about it and now every single day she plays Florida and finds a bag and "packs", Packing includes taking all the clothes out of her drawer and shoving them in the bag then toting it around the house getting in the pretend car and driving to Florida.  It is actually very cute and I love seeing them use their imaginations but the dragging the clothes out every single day is getting quite old.  When I try to put the clothes away she screams and tells me thats her Florida clothes. 
We are actually leaving for Tennessee next Friday for a little vacation so I have a feeling Florida resort will turn into Tennessee cabin after we get back. :)  I've got lots of work to do before we leave for TN,, I haven't even started thinking about packing yet and then theres getting the house all sparkly before we leave,, I like to come back to a clean house after time away. When we get back the kids will only have one week of school left then they will be on summer break!  Yay for them!   Let the craziness begin. :)  
The other thing I've been struggling with is this food journey I'm on.  I've mentioned before that we are trying to eat healthier and real foods,, not the processed stuff.  We still had some snacky type stuff and the kids have been eating that but now we are pretty much out of it all.  So its up to me to make everything homemade.  That takes a lot more work,, I feel like I spend so much more time now in the kitchen cooking and then cleaning up.  But I guess its worth it for our health.  

Whew,,,, I hope you all don't think this was a big whiny complaining post.   I can honestly say I've been so happy with my life lately.  I feel so blessed with my kids and husband.  He and I have been getting along beautifully lately!  I just feel like there are not enough hours in the day. :)  Now its off to work. 

quick post

Just a quick post to say life is good!  We had another good weekend.  Friday night we had my daughters and sisters b-day parties.  Saturday was soccer then Bennie helped put up a fence at moms house and we hung out over there.  Sunday it rained but my husband still went out and put up our new fence around the garden to keep the critters out.  I'm really happy with the way it looks!  It makes me smile and I cant wait to get the rest of it planted!  I'm hoping to get a new camera card soon so I can post some more pics on here!

Getting outside,,,finally!

I can not say enough how much I LOVE that we have been able to get outside every morning and afternoon this week!  Its been beautiful outside.  It makes the day seem to go by so much faster, when we get out in the morning the kids seem to go down for nap soooo much easier, and its just plain nice to get the fresh air! 

We went out this morning and I worked some in my side flower bed.  It still needs more work but the  5 year old day care kid kept complaining about being hot!  Hopefully I can get back out there later and finish the job.... I've got a few thing planted in the garden and today I noticed radishes coming up and a couple of green onions popping through! Sooo exciting for me!  We need to get some dirt so I can plant the new addition to the garden we have added this year so I can get some more things planted.   I love the thought of growing our own food. Its so much fun and I know exactly where its coming from.  

Yesterday was my oldest birthday. She turned 12!  We took her out to Pizza Hut for dinner(her request) and I mentioned to the waitress that it was her birthday.  Well as we were finishing up our meal the whole pizza hut crew came over and sang to her and brang her a little cake.. She was so embarrassed, it was funny.  And super nice I thought cause we didnt ask them to sing and they didnt charge us for the cake.   I think she had a good birthday.  She set up her own facebook account, which she has been waiting for 2 years for. LOL,,, of course I have her password and we are friends on there so I can monitor what she is doing.. You just can't be to careful now a days.          I need to go make lunch for the hungry kiddos now, have a great day everyone.

A great mother's day

Another lovely weekend was had here!  Saturday morning the 2 oldest kids had soccer games.  They both did amazing.  I'm really proud of of those 2.  They have both improved so much over the years and they both enjoy playing soccer a lot!  I also went to the farmers market Saturday morning and got some fresh eggs, meat, jalapeno mustard(which is very yummy!), some more rhubarb, and a dish scrubby thing. :)   After the soccer games we picked up Jessie's friend so she could have her birthday sleepover.  She will be 12 tomorrow!  I can not believe I will be the mother of a 12 year old that is going into the 7th grade next year!  It's so hard for me to wrap my head around.  I still feel pretty young at heart and to think that I've been a mom for 12 years is crazy~  The girls had fun,, they made and decorated some cupcakes all by themselves

Arn't they cute!   Then after that we took them bowling which was pretty fun.  Jess is a pretty good bowler, she beat me the first game!  She must take off after her daddy. 

Sunday was Mother's Day.  Hubby had asked me what I wanted to do on mothers day and I said I didnt want to cook or clean.  Well for the first time in 12 years he really tried hard to make it a good mother's day for me!  He let me sleep in!  And when I woke up he had cleaned the kitchen and living room and was in the process of cleaning the bathroom!!!!!!!  Then he made us all omelets.  We went to a local lake/park and met up with my mom, grandparents, and sisters and we hung out and let the kids play and got pizza and had a picnic.  The sun was shining and it was a beautiful day outside.   I was happy that hubby was able to fish while we were there because he had worked so hard here at home, he deserved to get to do something he likes to do to.  We came home and he then cleaned the bedroom!!!!    I can not explain how wonderful this all was for me and how amazed I am that he did all this. .Anyone that really knows my husband knows that this is very not normal!  I am so proud of him and love him soooo much!    The kids had made a few things at school for me and gotten me a few seed packets of flowers.  So I planed them in a few pots out in the front yard.   We also got some seeds planted out in the garden.  I can't wait til they start popping up and we can have fresh veggies we grew ouselves!   

So I can defiantly say this was my best mother's day ever!  It's so nice to feel appreciated every once in a while and he said that thats why he did it, so I know that even though he doesnt show it he really does love and appreciate everything that I do!!

HOMEMADE TORTILLAS

Have you ever looked at the list of ingredients on a package of tortillas in the store?  Its a long list of words I can't pronounce.  I decided very spur of the moment yesterday try out making some on my own.  After a bit of research I found one I liked that used only 4 ingredients(and I could pronounce all of them). 

white whole wheat flour
salt
butter
water

Can't get much simpler than that!  Here's what I did:

1. Mix together 2 cups flour and 1t.salt

2.Cut in 1/4 cup of slightly softened butter (you do not need a fancy pastry cutter for this.  I took 2 butter knifes and held them together and cut the butter in) til it starts to look crumbly

3.Then add you add 1/2 cup water.  Mix and toss with a fork, then kneed for a couple of minutes.  Then u take it and put it in the fridge for at least 4 hrs. 

4. Take dough out of the fridge and let it come to room temperature.  Make around 8-10 balls depending on how big you want them.  Flour a surface and roll the balls out until they are as flat as you can get them.  I rolled out then flipped over and rolled some more.  Heat a ungreased griddle to 400degrees and place tortillas on it for about 20 seconds until they start to brown and bubble on that side then flip them over until the other side it browned.  

It's that easy!  Eat right away or store in fridge or freezer!   I only made this one batch yesterday, but next time I think I'll double or triple the batch.  My family LOVED them.  I also figure them to be a lot cheaper than the good whole wheat ones you would buy in the store.

Here is the stack I made,, mine were not perfectly round,, but really,, who cares?

And here's one with some goodies in it.

My three year old helped me roll out the little balls and had a great time. She said it was like playing with play dough.  I made these with the intention of making enchiladas but Emma and I just had to taste one before we rolled them all up and covered them with sauce.   Yummy!

Rhubarb Crisp

Yesterday afternoon I made my first trip to the farmers market!  There wasn't a whole lot of booths due to it being a weekday but they said Saturday morning there will be lots more.  I bought some fresh rhubarb and came home and made rhubarb crisp for the first time. It was very yummy and my family gobbled up every last bite!  Here is the recipe that I got it from, I used the second one down called Crumbly Topped Rhubarb and I made just a few substitutions.

Ingredients:


3 c Young Rhubarb; Unpeeled And Diced

1 T Unbleached White Whole Wheat Flour

1/2 c Organic Sugar

1 t Cinnamon

1/8 t Sea Salt

1 T ;Water

6 T Butter
6 T Unbleached White Whole Wheat Flour

1/2 c Organic Brown Sugar; Firmly Packed

1/2 c Rolled Oats;
Preheat the oven to 350 Degrees F. In a 9x13 baking dish, combine the first 6 ingredients (this made a very thin desert, next time I might try a 9x9 pan). Cream the butter with the flour and brown sugar, then stir in the oats. Sprinkle over the rhubarb. Bake in  oven, 350 Degrees F., for 40 minutes or until the rhubarb is tender and the top is brown.


Like I said, it was great!  I might play around with it next time and try and replace the sugar with honey or maple syrup for a more natural sweetener.  

I'm going back Saturday and hoping to buy some free range farm fresh eggs and some local meat.  The people that were there last night were quite expensive and I know of another lady that is supposed to have her meat a little cheaper. I'm hoping she will be there Saturday.  I also bought a bar of homemade natural soap which is delightful!  

Weekend recap and more

I had the most amazing weekend!  Last Wednesday at about 9pm my husband called me and said he was asked to bowl a state tournament in Richmond (which is about 3 hrs away).  The guy that was supposed to bowl ended up getting sick and hospitalized so he needed a replacement.  It was already paid for so he would just have to pay for a hotel room cause he would need to bowl Saturday morning at 10 and Sunday morning at 8:30am.  He said he really wanted to go and he wanted me to go with him.  At first I was very hesitant because I only had 2 days to find a babysitter for all 3 kids, plus the two older would have a soccer game Sat. morning,, and little Emma has only stayed away over night about 3 times total in her whole 3 in a half years.  He told me not to worry about it and just call my mom cause he really wanted me to go with him.  So the next morning I gave her a call and she said yes!  I booked us a room and told the kids(who were actually very excited). 
We left super early Saturday morning so we could drop the kids off and be there by 9am for check in to the bowling tournament.  The tournament went well and after that we couldnt check in to our hotel til 3 so we found a mall and walked around there for a little while.  Then we checked into our hotel and relaxed for a little while.  There was a Red Lobster right across the street so we ate there for dinner then went back to the hotel and just hung out, enjoyed a few drinks, and had a blast just being with each other alone without the kiddos.  It makes me so happy that after 13 years we can still have so much fun together.  When we are home we do tend to argue more than necessary.  I think its just the pressure of life, kids, work and all that other stuff cause when you get us away and alone we are like 2 kids just having fun.  The next morning we were up bright and early to be there by 8 and he bowled some more.   It totally reminded me of the first few years of our relationship when I used to go and watch him bowl.  It was just plain FUN!   After that ended it was time to head home and pick up the kiddos.  They had a great time at nana's house.  They made their own kites~   Then we had to go to Hacienda at 5:30 for my mom's birthday dinner.  That was a good time too. 

All that eating out did me in though cause somehow over the weekend I managed to gain 7 pounds!!  Makes me so mad, but it also goes to prove eating healthy and at home and not all that over processed junk is the right thing to do!  Hopefully most of the weight is from all the sodium cause I dont think I really gained that much...hope not anyways.    One thing about not eating so much processed stuff is it leaves little room for snacks.  So I'm on a quest to make my own.  Over the next week I have plans to make a homemade goldfish type cracker, granola bars, and mini chocolate chip muffins made from whole wheat flour.    I'm having issues finding a store bought bread that we actually like to, so right now I've got some dough working for me in the bread maker and am hoping this turns out to be a recipe we enjoy and that it can replace our store bought bread.   I'll keep you all informed on how these new recipes turn out!