Crochet purse/clutch

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I got this book from the library.  Don't click on it to look inside, that was on the picture I lifted from Amazon.  Found a pattern in it for a purse.

Used some scrap yarn to make this little clutch. 

Lined it with a left over piece from Dancer's skirt and sewed in a zipper. Now everyone is asking for me to make them one but I returned the book and don't have the pattern any more. Besides, if I make one for everyone else mine won't be an original.

Crochet afghan

This is the afghan I am putting in the fair.  I am unable to get a decent picture of it.  Where I can get a good picture of the color the camera doesn't want to focus and in the light it looks awful.  Maybe tomorrow I will take one in natural light and change the picture.

Otherwise, it is a pattern for a dish cloth that I liked so much that I made it large into afghan size.  The yarn is super soft and has rich dark colors.  Dancer picked out the yarn to do a project and then lost interest in it.  I loved the yarn and couldn't let it lay unused so I tore out what she had abandoned use it.  I did have to buy a few more skeins, she only had two and I think this used about seven.  It is all double crocheted and grew quite quickly.  I started it in April and by working on it a little here and a little there I have it done in less than four months.  Nikki likes it, every time I would sit down to work on it she would want to crawl underneath it and hunker down.  When it was a little about a foot and  half across she would come and just put her snout under it.  Spark thinks it could be a portal, where you would jump into the middle of it and come out somewhere else.  Either that or a spider web.  I didn't think it was going to have some many imaginative possibilities when I started it.

I have a job title!!!!

You know when you go to fill out an application for something, or at the doctors office for some reason, and it, or they, ask you what your job is?  I always say, "I don't work" and then I give them the smile that says "and I do feel sorry for you because you have to sit behind that desk 2,080 hours a year while I am free as a bird."  But that is all changed now because I am a femivore! 

I will tell you what a femivore is in case you are one too and you just didn't know it.  A femivore is a homemaker who takes care of her family, cooks with wholesome food, gardens, knits or crochets, sews, cans or freezes food, lives simply and frugally, trys to reduce their carbon footprint and may even raise animals or homeschool her children all while wasting her education.

I could also call myself a "Radical Homemaker."  Me, radical, who knew, but I am feeling feistier already.  I bet my grandmother and mother would have had a good laugh over this one since being a femivore was business as usual for them and they didn't even have air conditioning. 

How to fill the evening when the electricity goes out

Not to bad, the middles don't get real gooey like over a campfire, but good none the less.

Toast bagels, this takes patience but what else do you have to do in the dark.

It does kinda, sorta work.

Storms rumbled through yesterday afternoon and shook everything up.  Towards evening, after Dad had left for work and it had been a few hours since the last downpour, we went for a walk.  Went about 3/4 of a mile from home and decided, from looking at the quickly darkening sky, it would be a good idea to turn back home.  As we go by the neighbors we wave at them in their shed but don't stop because there is a few little drops falling.  We still have a half mile to go and don't want to get caught in the rain.  We get down the hill from them and the raindrops got bigger and heavier.  We are committed to getting home now though because it a long way back to the neighbors and just about as far to get home.  We pick up our pace and start to power walk.  The lightening starts flashing all over the sky and we start to super power walk. 

The air was really heavy and Spark was having a hard time catching his breath so we stopped under a tree, where the it was strangely still dry, for him to do some deep breathing. 

Standing under a tree in a lighting storm is not the smartest thing to do, so after about 20 breaths he recovered enough and we continued on.  At the main road we started running and the closer we get to home the harder the rain comes down.  We get in the house, change our clothes, dry off our hair and the sky just opens up.  Dancer said she could go out their and wash her hair it was coming down so hard.  We were right on the edge of the storm so it passes by and all is well.

Then the lights start to flicker.   "Let's get out and get the chores done," I tell the kids and I decided to milk by hand since I don't want to have the milker keep turning on and off.  By the time we get our barn shoes on the lights have completely gone off.  We got all water out of the hose and lines for the animals and gave them each at least a partial bucket of water.  When the electricity goes out we have no water because the pump can't pump it out of the ground.  We feed everyone, close up the barn and go in the house. 

It is about 9 p.m. and I assume that the lights will be on soon, but just in case let's get the candles out.  My candle obsession comes in handy once in a while.  I tell the kids for sure they will on by 10 p.m. 

Ten o'clock comes and goes and no lights.  Eleven o'clock no lights.  Let's go get a jug of water from the basement to brush our teeth, oral hygiene is important even in the dark.  Twelve o'clock comes and goes.  During this time, the electric truck has been by three times shining lights up and down the electric poles so I am loosing faith that they even know where the problem is.  The logical thing would have been to just go to bed since the lights were out, but the kids were a little tense and I imagined us laying there wide awake in the dark waiting for something to happen.  The kids did make a nest on the living room floor but at 12:30 we gave up and went to bed.  Good thing, from the time that was flashing on the clocks this morning, it was about 2:30 a.m. when the lights came back on.

Thankfully the rain cooled the temps down so we weren't sweating to death and it wasn't winter where the furnace would have been shut off.  It does seem though that these things only happen when Dad is at work.  I think we will count this as a camping trip for this year. 

Potato Chicken Roast

Another potato recipe for Dancer book's, this one was awesome.  The rosemary and lime really make this dish come alive.  If you don't like rosemary, or haven't cooked with it, I would suggest trying or trying it again.   Rosemary is easy to grow if you want your own fresh, all it needs is a little teeny tiny corner of the garden, some water and sunshine and it will grow like a weed.  Dry what you haven't used over the summer to enjoy it's goodness in the winter.    If you end up with a lot here is a link a post from last year that will use all the rosemary  you can grow.  What to do with rosemary

Potato Chicken Roast

1 bag of chicken thighs
6 large potatoes
2 onions cut into wedges
2 cloves of garlic sliced
4 carrots cut up
1 red bell pepper cut in strips
Salt and pepper to taste
1/3 cup olive oil or as needed
1  lime

Cut up all veggies.  Place chicken in greased roaster and load the veggies on top.  Add seasonings.  Drizzle with olive oil.  Place fresh rosemary on top, cover and roast for at 425 degrees for 45 minutes.  If you use frozen chicken increase the time to an hour and 15 minutes or until chicken is tender.  Serve with fresh lime slices.

Chocolate Crinkles or Chocolate Pixies

I have this recipe in two different books, one calls them Chocolate Crinkles and one calls them Chocolate Pixies.  Whatever you call them they are absolutely delicious!  They are like a brownie in a convenient cookie form.

Chocolate Crinkle Pixies - I will just combine the two names and call them this from now on.

1/4  cup butter
4 oz. (4 squares) unsweetened chocolate
2 cups flour
2 cups sugar
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
4 eggs
Powdered sugar

In large pan over low heat, melt butter and chocolate stirring constantly and until smooth.  Remove from heat and let cool slightly.  Add the rest of the ingredients and mix very well.  A hand beater works well and you want to mix it  until it resembles brownie batter, it takes a little while to get it to this point.  Cover and refrigerate for about an hour so it is easy to work with.  Shape dough into 1 inch balls.  Roll each ball in powdered sugar coating heavily.  Place on cookie sheet about two inches apart.  Bake at 300 degrees for about 13 to 18 minutes.

Old Fashioned Potato Candy

 The word that discribes this candy is sweet.  I know candy is suppose to be sweet but this is really sweet, it reminded us of  nugget.   It is good though as we had no problem eating a bunch of it.  To get the rest of it out of the house so we didn't overload on the sugar we sent it home with Grandma Shirley when they came to visit today.  I think it would be nice on a Christmas tray.

Old Fashioned Potato Candy

1/2 (or 1 small) boiled potato

1 tablespoon butter or margarine

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

About 2 cups powdered sugar

1/2 cup peanut butter

Mash potato, add butter, vanilla and enough powdered sugar to make a slightly stiff dough.

Roll out dough (on a surface dusted with powdered sugar) and spread on the peanut butter.

Roll dough up (as for jelly roll) to make a log.

Cut into pieces, let air dry for about an hour. Store in air tight container.

Makes about 2 dozen confections.

Hot Dog

It is official, it's hot out.  Nikki spends most of her time, when she isn't try to get us to throw her gorilla for her, laying in the sun or under an afghan on the couch even when the rest of us are sweating.  This was her pose today, sprawled out, hot and miserable. 

Tree Frog - Inside, outside, underneath

It's crunch time

It has turned into 4-H Central around here, the fair is in two weeks and the kids still have lots of projects to get completed.  You may be thinking that two weeks is plenty of time but I don't work well under pressure, I get crabby under pressure but that is about all.  We have been spending our time researching, typing and printing, pasting, painting, paper macheing, spray painting, crocheting and cooking it seems non stop for the last few days.  We haven't made any attempt yet at getting out the sewing machine for Dancer to make a skirt.  The fabric has been bought and washed but that is as far as it got.  Spark should have his all done in the next day or two and then I can breath half a sigh of relief.  I think for Dancer some will just have to go undone.  Grandma was here for supper last night and we told her that we would be eating at what use to be our dining room table but is now our work bench.  I hope it will come clean of paint, glue and paper mache paste after we are all done.  I told Dad if they worked this hard at school work they would be done with a grade in a couple of months.

Good news of the day was that we got our milker back.  We took it in to be fixed a couple of weeks ago and they were unable to figure out what was wrong with it.  We assumed it was toast, but a couple of days ago they called and said they got it working.  It sure was nice not to milk by hand tonight.  I don't enjoy cleaning the milker but I enjoy it more than milking by hand.  The girls are going to have to start eating faster though as they are done being milked long before their corn is gone.  I think they know to gauge their eating speed with the milking speed so they will be even with the milker in no time.

We had the first green beans out of the garden for dinner.  Hamburgers on the grill and fresher than fresh green beans.  That is a meal that is hard to beat.  There are a few banana peppers out there ready to pick as well.  It is so exciting when we start getting goodies from the garden.

Now we are taking a much needed breather and watching Phantom of the Opera.  Dancer wanted to do a literary study of it this next school year, but when I saw a couple of the sample pages I didn't think she would like it near as much as she thought she would and it would end up being a disappointment.   She ordered the movie from the library, that way she gets to see it but we will do a different study this year.  Win win on both for sides.

Awarded and Award!!

Thank you, thank you All American Family X 5 !  We are honored.

First things first, we are to tell seven things about ourselves.  This was hard, there isn't much that we haven't already told on our blog.  After brainstorming, we have come up with seven bits of useless, but untold before this post, information about ourselves.

1.  Dancer and I always have our toe nails painted.  We have done each others nails and over the years it has become a tradition.  The person getting their nails painted sits in the recliner with their feet up as the other person takes the old polish off and puts new on.  I always have nice looking toe nails now but when Dancer was little I had more like painted toes.  We do toenails because back in the day when I had painted toes, instead of nails, I could always wear socks and the whole world wouldn't know that my pedicurist was a four year old.  We also do toes because she picks the color.  Right now I have lime green toenails.  Again, if we are going somewhere I can wear socks, where as lime green fingernails on a 44 year old screams "dork" to the world.

2.  Before Dad was a nurse we owned a collection agency.  Dad sort of fell into collections part time after college which soon turned into full time and pretty soon ten years had gone by.  Actually he was a skip tracer for many years, then did international collections and finally had a successful company with a friend.  He started out in college with the plan to do something medical and over the years he kept feeling that God was pulling him back in that direction but he didn't heed the call.  Then one day in his office, I don't know if he hear a voice or what, got a stronger calling and told our co-owner that day he was selling out and came home and told me.  The company is still up and running.

3.  We have outdoor cats and an indoor dog.  Most folks we know have indoor cats and outside dogs.  Although most folks we know have hunting dogs and they really aren't conducive to laying on the couch.

4.  We only have five pieces of furniture we bought and the rest were free cast offs.  Way back in the early days of our marriage we bought a couch and chair set.  The chair we have had recovered but the couch is a sad, lumpy, saggy sight now.  We also bought a rocking chair when Spark was to be born because the one before that I wore out rocking Dancer.  A few years ago we bought a cheapy coffee table and I bought our kitchen table at a garage sale for $40.  Our other furniture is nice, it just seems that when people get tired of what they have and buy new they haul their old stuff to our house.   

5.  We have expanded satellite t.v. just to have classic cartoons.  We have over 250 channels and we rarely watch t.v.   It's just that the three or four channels we do like are on the top tier of the programing guide.

6.  Both Dad and I have grandfathers who immigrated here from Sweden.  Mine was my mom's dad and his was his dad's dad.

7.  Dad worked at Dairy Queen 25 years ago the summer they introduced the Blizzard.  The kids can not believe that he would have ever quit that job!  They can't image a better career than making Blizzards and argument of "making Blizzards doesn't pay the bills" has no effect on them.

Now to pass the torch onto other wonderful versatile bloggers.  Grab the award and tell us seven things about yourself.  

Elephants Rule

Grown with Groove

Life Gets Messy

Regan Family Farm

Home Spun Juggling

Moderate Means

Moo Said The Mama

Homeschooling On Hudson

There are many other fabulous blogs out there but I have run out of time to look up their address before I need to post this and get the kids going on something. So if your blog isn't listed please don't be offended, or think I don't think your blog is worthy, it is, just consider yourself awarded.

We don't need much a reason....

to head up the road to go shopping.  Dad needed new scrub pants and so we used that as an excuse to get out a bit and go to a Super Walmart.  There is a Walmart closer to us but it is dirty, busy, messy, over crowded, the prices are kinda high and it' s not a Super Walmart.  If we go the other direction from our house, there is one about 10 miles further than the closer one.  It is in much smaller community so it is not very crowded.  The store is a hundred times cleaner, the aisles don't have merchandise laying on floor, the workers are friendly, and the prices are much lower.  The only drawback is that even though it is a Super Walmart they don't have a lot of selection or departments.  We don't really go for the shopping though, we just go to take a ride and get out of the house.   When ever we go there in the summer we get sandwiches and go to the park for dinner.  

The park is beautiful and on a lake.  Here is Spark starting to walk out on the fishing pier.

In the lower left hand corner of this picture are two little ducks trying to stay afloat in the waves.  The mother is sleeping on the log, she is hard to see.  The dad was further down the log keeping watch, they must take turns sleeping.  Perhaps they should both stay awake though since they only had two ducklings left and they didn't look to be more than a few days old.  We just thought it was funny these little ducks barely hanging in there as the mom sleeps.  I am sure the dad was thinking, they'll be fine, where as the mom would have been telling them to be more careful.

Dancer got a new pair of sunglasses so we needed a picture of those.  She has been wanting a pair for a long time but just hasn't been able to find the right pair.  At $5.00 these were the right pair. 

There is a beautiful flower garden with a fountain right in the middle of it.

Of course the water beckoned to Spark and he just couldn't stay out of it.  I think this little water fountain sculpture is just the ugliest one I have ever seen in my life.  It is of two kids holding an umbrella.  Their faces aren't done very well and the girl has on bright red lipstick and fingernail polish.  I wonder if someone hasn't repainted it over the years and thought they would put a few personal touches on it. 

On the way home, Dad turned to see where a camp ground was and then we got tangled up between lakes and didn't have any idea where we were.  One county over is where we ended up when we finally came to a town.  That was okay though, it made a nice Sunday afternoon drive.  That makes us sound old  when I say "Sunday Drive."  We don't have a GPS system, it would be pretty hard to have adventures if you always know where you are.

Parade - Pie - Fireworks

A town near us had their yearly town festival.  The parade is the highlight of the day as their parade is the most fun one around the area.  No need to get there early, five minutes will do, there is ample room for everyone.   I hate those parade where you sit five deep and your lawn chair arms are touching someone elses lawn chair arm that you don't even know.   That is a little too close for comfort.

The people on the floats threw out huge handfuls of candy.  Spark also got a flyswatter, can cozies, freezees, beach ball, super ball, stickers, peanuts, popcorn and bottles of water.   A good deal for Spark is that most of the candy has food coloring and so Dancer can't have any of it.  You can see how full his bag is so we put the candy away and will ration it out to him, probably from now until Halloween. 

Spark entered a pie eating contest.  No picture as we thought there wouldn't be anything to take a picture of.  Dad ran to the car to get the camera but by the time he got back the contest was done.  Spark didn't win but the good thing about a pie eating contest is, even if you loose, you still get to eat pie!  Dancer didn't participate because they were pudding pies and some were vanilla pudding, which is loaded with food coloring.  It is amazing how an allergy can affect your life so much.

Every year there is a vendor that sells these homemade potato chips with ranch dressing.  They are soooo good and we look forward to them every summer.

Storms were brewing all around us and there were tornado warning about 40 miles up the road.  We didn't get anything here thankfully.  The sun was behind a huge wall cloud and so it only shown on the other side of the road and the tops of the trees.  It was weird and eerie. 

We got a rainbow and didn't have to have the rain ruin our evening as we were anticipating going to the fireworks.

 

It is just about dark and Spark is waiting for the first big boom!

This is our first time trying to take pictures of fireworks.  Dad the read camera book on how to do it while we were waiting for them to begin.  We need to work on our technique a little bit.  One thing that would have help would have been to be much closer.  We were about 3/4 of a mile away from where they were being shot off so they were quite small in the sky.  Normally we go into town to watch them but it was still threatening to rain.  We went to the top of a  high hill to watch where we could be right by the car and make a quick get away if the rain came.

The whole evening there was lighting all over the sky and we weren't able to catch a picture of it because it was so fast and we couldn't take the picture fast enough when it would flash.  Here though we got a picture of a fireworks going off at the same time lightening flashed.  The lightening was far enough away that we could see it on the horizon but not hear the thunder. 

kielbasa and Potatoes

Dad declared this Dancer's best potato recipe yet!

Kielbasa and Potatoes

8 slices thick sliced bacon, diced
2 large onions, chopped
6 large potatoes, boiled and chopped
1 Kielbasa sausage
2 bell peppers for garnish - these could also be cooked into the dish and sauteed with the onion
salt and pepper to taste

Fry bacon until crisp, remove from pan and dice.  In bacon pan add onion to drippings and saute until golden brown.  Add potatoes and stir over low heat for about 15 minutes.  At the same time boil the Kielbasa for about 15 minutes.  Cut Kielbasa into 1/2 inch slices.  Brown a few minutes in a skillet.  Add all ingredients together over low heat for about 10 minutes.  Plate and garnish with peppers.  Season with salt and pepper.

Book List for Grades 4th - 7th

Yesterday was Homeschool Play at the Park day, as I sat chatting with a mom she said she was  having a hard time finding books for her daughter, who reads well, but isn't ready for the subject matter in older books.  I told her it is a hard age when you want to be careful about the content but still have it be interesting and challenging.  We try very hard to keep books about black magic, darkness, violence, mature boy/girl relationships or other material we deem sinful out of her reading material.  Dancer and I went through the books she read at that age (her comlpete list of books can be found on her Goodreads link on the right), and picked out a few, the list quickly grew to 81 books, that she really enjoyed.  Her reading leans heavily on historial fiction, the era around Queen Elizabeth,  early America through WWII and animals.  Not all of her books are around those themes but they are some of her favorites.  Since we had them typed up, here they are.

Wenny has Wings - Janet Lee Carey


Caddie Woodlawn - Carol Brink

Matilda Bone - Karen Cushman

Redwall series - Brian Jacques

Ella Enchanted - Gail Levine

The Secret Garden - Frances Burnett

The Tale of Despereaux - Kate DiCamillo

Because of Winn Dixie - Kate DiCamillo

Harry the Poisonous Centipede series - Lynne Banks

Love, Ruby Lavender - Deborah Wiles

Eddie Dicken Trilogy series - Philip Ardagh

The Midwife's Apprentice - Karen Cushman

Exploring the Chicago's World Fair 1893 - Laurie Lawler

Ulysses Moore Series - Pierdomenico Baccalario

Fantastic Mr. Fox - Roald Dahl

Pictures of Hollis Woods - Patricia Giff

A Pebble and a Pen - Joan Donaldson

Rules - Cynthia Lord

Daughter of the Sea - Berlie Doherty

Water Street - Patricia - Giff

Weasel - Cynthia Deflice

The Amazing Story of Adolphus Tips - Micheal Morpurgo

Mary, Bloody Mary - Carolyn Meyer

The Counterfeit Princess - Jane Thomas

Brooklyn Doesn't Rhyme - Joan Blos

The Two Princesses of Bamarre - Gail Lenne

Catherine Called Birdy - Karen Cushman

The Royal Diaries series - Kristiana Gregory

Alex and the Ironic Gentleman - Adrienne Kress

The Doll People - Ann M. Marlin

The Cricket in Times Square - George Selden

Kathleen: The Celtic Knot - Siohban Parkinson

Sheep - Valerie Hobbs

A Long Way From Chicago - Richard Peck

The Runaway Princess - Kate Coombs

There's An Owl in the Shower - Jean Craighead George

Island on Bird Street - Uri Orlev - this movie is good too

Bridge to America - Linda Glaser

Everything on a Waffle - Polly Horvath

An Occassional Cow - Polly Horvath

The Vacation - Polly Horvath

Joey Pigza series - Jack Gantos

The Barn - Avi

Baby Island - Carol Brink

I, Freddy series - Dietlof Reiche

Summer of the Swans - Scott O'Dell

Lady Grace Mysteries series - Grace Cavendish

Girl in a Cage - Jane Yolen

Tuck Everlasting - Natalie Babbit

Peppermints in the Parlor - Barbara Wallace

The Perils of Peppermint - Barbara Wallace

Running Out of Time - Margaret Haddix

Petals in the Ashes - Mary Hooper

Summer of Monkeys - Wilson Rawls

The Mysterious Benedict Society series - Trenton Lee Stewart

Blueberries for the Queen - John Patterson

The Evolution of Culpurnia Tate - Jaqueline Kelly

Mine Eyes Have Seen - Ann Rinaldi

Edith Herself - Ellen Howard

Walk Two Moons - Sharon Creech

Puddlejumpers - Mark Jean

Amos Fortune Free Man - Elizabeth Yates

The House of a Million Pets - Ann Hodgman

Ozma of Oz - Frank L. Baum

Chasing Redbird - Sharon Creech

The Egypt Game - Zilpha Snyder

Penelope Bailey Takes the Stage - Susanna Reich

Beowulf: A New Telling - Robert Nye

Bella at Midnight - Diane Stanley

The Dragonfly Pool - Eva Ibbotson

The Witch of Black Bird Pond - Elizabeth Speare

Tales from Shakespeare - Tina Parker

Holes - Louis Sachar - this movie is good as well

Hattie on Her Way - Clara Clark

Hill Hawk Hattie - Clara Clark

Blue Heron - Avi

Our Only May Amelia - Jennifer Holm

I, Coriander - Sally Gardner

The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane - Kate DiCamillo

Indian Captive: The Story of Mary Jennison - Lois Lenski

4-H Banner

At the county fair each 4-H club can put in club projects.  Our club does a scrapbook highlighting our year, a community service project and a banner.  This year we are also adding a club planter.  Each project has an adult chairperson and then the kids sign up for whatever committee they want to be one.  One of the committees our kids are always interested in is the banner.  Tonight we had our third meeting so far and at least one more will be needed to complete the banner.  Along with our meeting we had a mini potluck.  The family who's garage we meet in grilled hot dogs, we brought watermelon and the other two families brought potato chips and cupcakes. 

Our banner this year is going to have a front and a back.  Normally they only have a front but after looking closer at the rules we saw that it can have a front and back so we are trying something new.  Here Dancer and her friend are showing the front and back of a sheep they made.  The second night they made the front and there was so much laughing we weren't sure what it was going to look like.  They wouldn't let us see it until it was done.  It turned out absolutely adorable, this picture doesn't even come close to showing how cute it is.  Tonight they made the back side.  The house were meet at has sheep so the girls kept running down the get a look at what the back of the sheep looked like but the sheep didn't want to turn around.  If they are anything like our goats they know that people mean food is on it's way.

Here are most of the kids who are working on the banner.  They all have their tongues sticking out because they are saying "baaaa."  They have truly been a joy to work with.  All the kids and families in our club are just wonderful and get along really well.

 

Potato Pie Crust

This was Dancer's first pie crust and it turned out nice and flaky.  She filled it with chocolate pudding and it was gone in no time!

Potato Pie Crust

1 cup sifted flour - yes, you really should sift it.

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. sugar

1/2 cup cold plain mashed potatoes - don't add milk or butter when mashing

2 tbsp. cold water

6 tbsp. shortening

Sift flour, salt and sugar.  Blend in potatoes until mealy.  Cut in shortening until mixture consists of small crumbs.  Sprinkle water and cut in one tablespoon a time.  Form into a ball and refrigerate for 1/2 hour. 

Roll out dough on lightly floured surface to 1/8 inch thickness.  Put in pie pan and crimp edges.  Prick pastry all over. 

Bake at 400 degrees for 10 to 12 minutes.  Allow crust to cool before filling.

Surprise! Yes!

Sometimes I find the best way to surprise the kids is to say yes to them.  Today we were in town shopping, going to the library and stopping by a friend's house to pick up our essential oil order.  We left home about 11:30 but had had a late breakfast so it was way too early for lunch before we left.  We went to the library, visited with our friends and then were shopping.  When we left the store it was about 2:30 and by now, at least I was, hungry.  On the way out to the car Spark says, "Should we stop somewhere for lunch?"  Now, normally I say no, we only live about half an hour from town and no one is going to starve to death in that amount of time.  This afternoon though, I nonchalantly say, "Sure, where do you want to go?"  His eyes get all big and says "really!"   We went to McDonald's, which ewww, what a colossal waste of calories, but sometimes it is worth it.  

18% Heart Attack

Dad read yesterday that for every hour of t.v. you watch, or computer time, per day on average your heart attack rate goes up 18%.  What a crappy statistic, we don't watch a lot of t.v. but we do spend a lot of time on the computer and playing video games.   We decided we need to make a few changes in our lifestyle.

First on the agenda was to get our cheerful little cherubs up this morning bright and early.  Well, early is a relative term so it was like 9:00 a.m., but that is early for us/them.   After a quick breakfast we were out in the barn cleaning out a goat stall.  Nothing gets your blood pumping like shoveling poo.  Or, if that doesn't sound convincing I throw out the "it builds character" line.  Next, we played a game of whiffle ball with these curved throwing things that have been in the shed but have only surfaced one other time.  Whiffle ball isn't really our strong suit but, with a little practice, we could perhaps start to look beginners.

After lunch it was off to the beach.  The kids swam and we sat in lawn chairs on the shore but, since we weren't watching t.v., I am almost certain that it didn't count as an 18% increase.  I am telling myself that anyway.  What could give me a heart attack is the people at the beach.  I can't believe more kids don't drown from misuse of their floating toys.  There was one boy there with a huge butterfly strapped on his back with his legs in two other holes, if he got out over his head and flipped over he would have been toast.  He made me so tense I could hardly watch.  Another family had a baby who could stand but not walk yet.  They had a harness on him with a really long tether, the ones people use so their kids don't run off at the mall, and most of the time he was screaming because he was scared.  When my kids were that age, I had two hands on them at all times if they were in the water, even the bathtub.  A man who looked he might perhaps be his grandpa, did finally put a life jacket on him but then he wanted him to lay in the water on his back while he sat in a lawn chair.  It was all I could do to stay in my seat.  There was police officer down there today because it was a holiday and he didn't say anything.  I guess he only gives tickets for breaking the beach rules not for being stupid and careless with your kids.

We got home and Spark wanted to play the whiffle ball thing again and Dancer rode bike.  Now I am sending them off to bed so we can get up early again tomorrow morning and shave another 18% off our heart attack rate.

Big fish and bottle rockets

We thought this was a cat fish when Dancer caught this, but as we got a closer look on shore it isn't.  We aren't sure what it is.  Vidallia got her tail in the picture, she hates to be left out.

Waiting for Dad to start shooting off the bottle rocks.  That was the only festive things we had, usually we are better prepared and have a little show to watch, but not this year.