Well, I sure am not consistant with this blogging thing....I had an interesting day though...

We have been on summer vacation for all of 2 days(YAY!)  I was outside hanging up laundry, just enjoying the beautiful day.  The boys came out and guess what happened...the youngest locked us out.  So, my car is locked, which is where the extra key is..I have no cell phone, and no one is home around me.

Think, think.....what to do.  So ya know what I end up doing? breaking one of the screens and pushing the window open(luckily it was unlocked)  and sending the 4 year old through the window.  What an interesting day...hope the rest of the summer is a little better....sigh....

My eldest and I went outside to shovel out our driveway so we could go to the store tomorrow (hopefully).

We were obviously cold when we came in, so we warmed up with a

MILK SHAKE-ok, so it's not exactly warming up, but they were good anyway.

First we blended them up in the blender.

MMMMMM

ENJOY!

IT was a cold morning this morning...we got a lot of snow yesterday.  I would say it was close to 12-14 inches...YIKES!  And of course, my beloved is on the road in Georgia...truck drivin'.  So this morning instead of our usual cold cereal we tried some BAKED OATMEAL.   We didn't have cranberries, so I added apple instead.  

 What a wonderful aroma it made in the air...and it was yummy too!

I despise how wimpy young men are today.  Can't go out in the cold to help out their poor mothers for anything.  Well, this scene warmed my heart.  Remember, he is only eight.

Oh, how proud he makes me.

We have been working on doing things without 'murmuring and disputing.'

I was so blessed for him to shovel the entire driveway and then come to me and say, Mama, I need to take care of you.

(PS. I did pay him afterwards for doing an extra special good job, although he didn't know I was going to pay him)

We have been greeted with the following sight all day -

So, the children and I decided to go to this site and view this recipe.

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Yep, snow pudding.  We're going all 'Little House on the Prairie' now...lol

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So, here is what we did.

We mixed 1/2 c. powdered sugar, 1 tsp. vanilla, and 1 c. milk in a bowl.

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Then we gathered snow...

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Gently mixed the snow in with the milk mixture.  The recipe said 6 cups, but we used more because the snow was VERY light.

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And here is the finished product....

It was yummy...

I also have a recipe for Soda Pop Snow....that is the next one we will try!

My 8 year old son and I had some fun with our camera this morning...I thought I would share.

Aren't they cute?  They really are best friends.

It's Elvis dog!

What are you lookin' at?

And my most favorite...

Hehe...aren't pets fun?   Oh, btw, my cat is named Stevie and my doggie is Dusty.

Question in my 8 year old son's reading book:

What happens to sailors if their ship sinks at sea?

What I am looking for in an answer:

The sailors use lifeboats, try and call for help, etc.

What my son answers:

The sailors become fish food.

Ah, the mind of a child...

As our oldest son gets older, he is noticing his church friends getting involved in different sports and things. 

Now, mind you, there isnothing wrong with sports, but it does present a problem when there are practices/games on Sunday and Thursday(church days for us). 

 We have always said that we would never allow anything, especially sports,  interfere with church.  So, that leaves us with a problem.   Our schedules are so crazy with my husband working(as a truck driver no less-mucho mucho hours!), homeschooling, and ministry (hubby is the youth pastor at our small, growing church-also our Pastor has a chronic illness, so hubby fills in a lot there).  Its hard to fit in any kind of sport.

Thus enter THIS SITE.  A christian karate course for homeschoolers!  How cool is that!  I believe I even saw this available through TOS as well.  If anyone has ever used this, or has any suggestions, I would love to know!  

Lol, between karate and guitar, I wonder if my son will have time for anything?

Oh, btw, here is a pic of my oldest son.  He's such a sweetheart!

My oldest son has been wanting guitar lessons for quite a while...a few years, actually.  Ever since DH got a guitar for Christmas a few years back, he has been wanting to play.  So we looked into lessons, and although we could probably swing the price, the only feasable place(within driving distance) seems to be more liberal than we would like.  We are quite picky on who influences our children.  And not knowing anyone who really plays, we are back to the drawing board on this one.

Until I stumbled across this site.   It is made by a christian woman who specifically wanted a course for people who couldn't find a Christian  teacher...like me!  My husband and I are discussing it, but this seems like what we will go for.

And it is a bit cheaper than actual lessons-and there is no driving time AND we can do it at our leisure, which is wonderful in the homeschool/ministry life!

Now we just have to find a guitar.......

Frugality...now, THAT is my cup of tea.  I love 'all things frugal.' 
Saving money is my hobby-which my husband is pretty happy about.  If I need(or want) something I find it on sale, or at a yard sale, or at the thrift shop.

Like the time I really wanted one of those under the counter coffee makers.     Ours was still working, but working towards 'retirement'.

  And our kitchen has limited counter space, so an under counter model would just be grand...

This has not been a good day in my kitchen.  I rarely have kitchen mishaps, but today was just FULL of them.  Minor ones, mind you-no exploding toasters or anything,- but mishaps nonetheless.

First was breakfast.  We had cereal.  Can't mess that up, right?  But we had no milk. (My family drinks the dry milk stuff- I know, I know...ewww....But at $1.29 a gallon, they have learned to like it)
Anyway, I forgot to make some last night.  No prob, I thought.  I will just whip some up and put it in the freezer.  Do some chores, take a shower, and it will be done.  NOPE!  I forgot to move the waffles out of the way, so the cold air didn't really even get to it...argh.

Next was lunch-HOT DOGS!  Just heat and eat, basically.  No problems-except when you forget that they are on the stove....I didn't know hot dogs could explode to that big of a size!  Oh, well...they tasted fine.

And so we are now looking at dinner.  I started some french bread in my bread maker this morning....the house smells delicious.  But then I noticed a problem....see if you can spot it.

In a previous post  I mentioned about HTML for Dummies....not really thinking they actually HAD a book like that.   Hmmm....perhaps the library may have a copy?  I may actually get into this blogging thing after all...

Mrs. Wilt at http://thesparrowsnest.typepad.com/the_sparrows_nest/ is having an anti-procrastination week.  I was going to enter what I did yesterday, but guess what...I PROCRASTINATED!  Terrible, huh?  So, here is what I did. 

Yesterday I finally got around to getting rid of the few potatoes left at the bottom of the bag that were beginning to sprout 'eyes'.  I told the children I would make our 'McDonald-like' fries from them....( I know, not very healthy, but its a rare treat!) 

Here is what I did.   First peel and cut the potatoes into thin fry slices...like fast food fries.

Then, mix about a cup of SUGAR..(yes, I said sugar) in a deep bowl with warm water.  Dissolve the sugar and add the fries.  Let soak for 20-30 minutes.

After they have soaked, drain them and pat them dry.  You can use a paper towel.  I used a clean kitchen towel.  This is important, as you don't want the frying oil splattering on you when you fry them!

Here they are in the fry basket, just waiting to be fried!

Fry in oil that is 375 degrees.  After 1 minute,remove fries and let the oil regain its temperature.  This will cook the fries on the outside, but not the inside yet.  This method makes them crispy on the outside and soft on the inside-like fast food fries!

Partially cooked fries.

Well, Hello! and welcome to my blog.  I did have one a while ago, but abandoned it out of lack of interest (on my part).  But now I have a digital camera to make my blog more interesting and fun!  What will I blog about?  Who knows!!  Maybe homeschooling, ministry, frugal finds...the list is endless.  And maybe one day I will even learn how to customize my blog.    Anyone know of any good books to teach me basic HTML, or whatever it is that I need to know to customize this thing?  Perhaps there is an HTML for Dummies book....

Well, until then, I guess I will have to stick to the generic one....lol.  It works.