Saturday, December 31, 2011

New Year's Eve





I hope everyone has a great time tonight ringing in the New Year! I always worry tonight about all the drunk drivers out there who think they are okay to drive.... We aren't doing anything tonight just like every other year, I doubt I will even stay up till 12:00 o'clock.


I have been so melancholy today it has put me in a bit of a funk. Sometimes you see something happening and you want to scream out stop but you know it's really not your place. I'm speaking about my daughter-in-law now being a stay at home gal. My son has said he is fine with her not working and staying home. I have been a stay at home mom for most of my married life and to tell you the truth I think that is one of the things I would change if I were to be able to go back in time. Now I'm not saying it's a good thing or a bad thing I'm just saying my thoughts on the topic. I feel it has really lowered my self esteem in many ways... Like today for example I went food shopping (I seldom get the chance to get away from the house since my husband always has the car but he isn't working this week), when I got home my husband wanted to know how much I spent and to give him all the remaining money that was leftover. I said I liked having some cash in my pocket and he said, He does all of the food shopping and he pay all the bills, and picks up the horse feed ect. so I don't need any money. I told him I wrote down everything I spent and posted it on the frig to keep track of our spending, he said he didn't need to keep track of the spending. I said but I like to know where the money is going, he said it was his money and as long as I have everything I need I shouldn't worry about it! How about those apples!! I felt so low, my husband has always said he didn't want me working but when money problems arise it is always my fault for not working and bring in money. It has always given him the upper hand in our marriage because he knew not being out in the working field I would make very little and never be able to live on my own. It might be just my husband but I don't think it is, I see this alot with gals who spend years being the "stay at home mom". Sooooo when I see my daugher-in-law following my path I just want to grab her by the shoulders and tell her what possibly lies ahead for her and does she want that.... but I will sit back and hope I can send hints here and there to make her find a job she is happy with and lets her always be an equal in her mariage.

Like I said getting all the negative thoughts out there so I can start fresh tomorrow....


Until Next time - God Bless!!

Friday, December 30, 2011

Getting All This Out Of The Way....

Well I had some more bad news this morning.... I spoke with the lawyer who is handling the will situation for me up in PA. and it looks like we will NOT be getting the $10,000 from the first will like we had hoped : ( It really is so hard to understand that a women who had a trust of over $470,000.00 can not pay out a $10,000.00 gift mentioned in her will.... It just doesn't seem right but it all comes down to her not having assests it was all in a trust and it went stright to her sister. The lawyer does not know why the will was written like that but he can only go by what it says. To tell you the truth, I am just glad it is my husband & I who are losing out on the money and that it wasn't someone else listed.... It's just another kick in the gut but God must have a plan I just wish he would make it more clear for me.

I am just glad we are getting all this bad news out of the way while we are still in 2011! I am really praying 2012 is a better year for us : )

Until Next time - God Bless!!

Thursday, December 29, 2011

Mixing Two Blogs into One : )

As you can see from my header I am combining my two blogs into one, I find it hard to find time to post on both.

I forgot to post about the sad thing that happened yesterday.... When I went out to feed the horses in the morning, Chance Kelly's horse back kicked one of my "baby" chickens and killed it : ( I was so heart broken! If I had just been a bit faster getting over to the issue I saw starting to happen between the two I may have been able to stop it. He killed the dark brown one, she was a real beauty too. I just hate when a healthy animals dies it just seems so senseless.

I started reading "Money Secrets of the Amish" by Lorilee Craker, Not loving it but I'll let you know as I get into it a bit further...

We had a fantastic dinner tonight and it was so healthy too : ) We had fresh broccoli, a lettuce/tomato/cucumber salad & a Bosca chicken patty. It was soooo good. I just LOVE fresh veg. (my local produce stand just picked the broccoli yesterday). I'm gearing us up for a more healthy new year...

Until Next Time - God Bless!!

P.S. - I just got a call from my son, My daughter-in-law just lost her job! Things are really tough around here so finding another will be really hard. He says they will be okay with just his job but they pay $700.00 a month in rent so I am worried for them. Life sure has it's ups and downs : (

Wednesday, December 28, 2011

An Amish Christmas



I just picked up "An Amish Christmas" by Cynthia Keller today at the library and could NOT put it down, LOVED IT!! I read it all day just taking time out to cook and eat dinner it was that good. I hope you get a chance to read it : )

I got a few other goodies from the library I'll let you know if they are worth reading or not.

I took our tree down yesterday, my husband didn't even notice it was gone : ( and packed away all the Christmas stuff something I never usually do until after we ring in the New Year but felt putting it away early might hopefully change things up for us. I have been spending most of our off time from school work reading books that I am interested in and am enjoying myself : )

Hope everyone is having a wonderful holiday season!!

Until Next Time - God Bless

Sunday, December 25, 2011

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas to you all! I hope you had a wonderful day with your family & friends, and you found wonderful treasures under the tree for you!!


It was mighty hot here today in my part of Florida, so it really made it seem even less like Christmas then usual. I cooked a turkey and all the treamings for those in my family that eat meat. No one was very hungry and everyone just picked so it was kinda a shame I should have just served pizza. My husband is sick so needless to say he was a crank butt and my son was not feeling well either so together they both were trying their best to ruin the holiday for the rest of us : ( I just tried to ignore it even tho parts of the day I felt like crying, but the best part of the day is that it is over for us! My son & daughter-in-law have moved on to visit with her family, my husband went to bed and Kelly is playing her new video games which she seems to like so all is good : )


Best Wishes & God Bless You!!







Saturday, December 24, 2011

Christmas Eve 2011





Well here we are at Christmas Eve, One more day and this holiday will be over!
Can you tell I have not had a good couple of days... It's not from trying. My son & daughter-in-law invited me down to their house for dinner and to spend the night, I jumped at the chance to get away and see their Christmas tree. When looking at their tree I see a ton a presents for my husband & I, now most people would be happy to see this but not me, it made me depressed knowing we have like one card each for them. They also bought Kelly a number of presents which I am happy about since we were only able to get her four items this will give her something to look forward to.
Then my husband's boss told him they will not be working at all next week... this was very unexpected since he had said they were busy and would work thru the holiday - When you live week to week like we do this is a gut buster and to top it off his boss said no Christmas bonus this year as he didn't make enough.. My husband told him he was just happy to have a job and that was bonus enough which is true bu man we could of used that bonus : (
So needless to say I am counting the minutes until this holiday season is OVER!!

Sunday, December 18, 2011

Through My Eyes



I recently got another good book from the library: "Through My Eyes" by Tim Tebow. I am really enjoying the book! He talks about being homeschooled and all its perks and of course football. He gives alot of credit to his Mom& Dad which is so rare these days where kids rip their parents up one end and down another. He speaks of how little he watched tv, I really belive as a whole if we all didn't have tvs, computers, video games ect we would all be better off - We would have to talk to each other and think of things to do instead of always being stimulated by things.... He also goes into detail of his daily workouts - Holy Cow! He started at a very early age, his commitment to getting into the best shape possible is unbelivable. If the world only had more Tim Tebows in it, It sure would be a better place.

Friday, December 16, 2011

Christmas Shopping

Started Christmas shopping tonight!
My husband and I started our night off at Game Stop,
It was very successful - They had all three of the x-box 360 games Kelly had on her list (we bought 1 used and 2 new = $97.00 "OUCH"!). We shot over to Target and got Kelly pjs and could not think of a thing to get my son & daughter-in-law! I was getting flabergasted standing in the store and not getting anything accomplished so we packed it in for the night. I just hate that we will be
giving Kelly only 3 games and a pair of pajamas for Christmas :( but those darn games cost sooo much! I guess we will go with gift cards for the other two... Gift cards are sooo boring and not much fun to open but you really can't go wrong with them. A few more days and this holiday season will be over with, Bah! Humbug!
Until Next Time - God Bless!!


Wednesday, December 14, 2011

Having One Of "Those" Days Today : (

I am having one of those days were you want to go outside and scream at the top of your lungs kinda day : (
Nothing life shattering just little things that you sit there and shake your head about... We have rural postal delivery so in the past the mailman would carry stamps if you needed to buy some, Well today I left money & a note out in the box for 6 stamps. The postman took down the note and left it in the box and took the money but left no stamps. If he didn't have any with him don't you think he would have written on the note saying he would bring them tomorrow? Not sure if we will ever see the stamps or the $2.64 again, they may be history. Then in the mail he did drop off I got a letter about our food stamps, they said I need to send copies of my husbands last 4 weeks of paychecks.... I had done that on Dec. 5th. it shows they downloaded it on their site but yet this letter dated the 12th is asking for the info. again. They are sticklers, if you don't get the correct paperwork in on time they close your account no questions asked so I guess I will have to send the same stuff in again and hope for the best. Then I e-mailed the "new" lawyer to see what is going on about the wills, I have been getting the feel since I signed the paper stating that I am employing him that things have come to a stand still AGAIN! He e-mailed me back stating the same mumbo jumbo as the last e-mail he sent me a number of weeks ago....That's the kinda day I have been having, everything I have done needs to be done again.... I just hate that!

I posted a picture of Kelly & her "man" Chance that I took, I thought it came out really nice & I also posted a picture my daughter-in-law took of my son & daughter (I took the same shot but hers came out better). I tell you, you would never guess those two were brother & sister! They both look so different from each other... my daughter has said more then once that she thought she was adopted since none of us look like her (and because we have so few pictures of her - Bad Mom Award Goes To Me!). They are so different in so many ways but I wouldn't trade either one of them for any other kid in the whole wide world!! : )

Tuesday, December 13, 2011

My Baby Girls Are Growing Up!

Here are the before and after pictures of my baby chicks! We got them on June 12th. (they are now 6 months old), You can see they have grown into 4 beautiful little ladies : ) They are not laying yet, but we sure look forward to the day when they will supply us with fresh eggs : )














Sunday, December 11, 2011

Trimming Of The Tree Party









We had our trimming of the tree party tonight and it went very well! We got a fire going in the fireplace even tho as you can see my son was wearing shorts.... but I thought it added a little something to the evening. I threw in some frozen pizzas so I wouldn't have to cook, this allowed me time to enjoy my company instead of running around the kitchen like I usually do. I also made chocolate chip muffins and had ice cream but nobody wanted any : ( We bought all white lights for the tree this year and gold garland which made the tree look a bit different from other years. I didn't bring out any of the many other different Christmas decorations that we have just trying to keep it simple this year. I placed a white shower curtain that I got from the dollar store aound the bottom of the tree, I thought it would look like snow but it kinda looks cheezy, Oh well I'll have to try something else next year. It was a fun evening and even tho I have no holiday spirit at all, I am so glad we did it! Happy Holidays!!
















Saturday, December 10, 2011

One Year Anniversary of Our Fire!

Can you belive it has been a whole year since that fire which almost took our home! It seems like only a few short months ago... Here are the before and after pics. (We didn't get many of the fire when it was happening because we had left the camera in the house and couldn't get it until they felt it was safe for us to go back into our home). I just went outside and took the "after" shots, you can see how nature mends itself and wants to restore things to the way they were. Almost all of our 2 acres where burnt, but you can see that the palmetto bushes have all grown back already. Most of the trees that got burnt are dead. The woodpeckers are loving it tho, you can see in some of the pictures how they are stripping the bark right off the dead trees.


Sure was a scarry day, and I "Thank God" for saving the house!! It really was only by the act of God that the fire which was racing right towards the house slightly moved to the left and missed our goat house by inches.... My husband & I talked about that the other day and he said "Somebody sure was watching out for us that day"!

AMEN!!




























Thursday, December 8, 2011

MOH Lesson 15 Joseph

We watched "The Bible Collection: Joseph" dvd. It took us a few days to finish it since it was over 3 hours long.... It was very good BUT there was a few uncomfortable "mating" scenes since alot of the topic is "be fruitful and multiply" ect. (nothing to hot and heavy). I know the dvd stuck with Kelly because when we walked the dogs, she spoke of Joseph and all he had to go thru and that's the most I can ask from a dvd : )

One of the activities for this lesson mentioned in MOH is to make multi colored cookies, but I was thinking of maybe making those rainbow cupcakes I need to find the directions for that again. As we move along with our MOH lessons I really wish we would have made a time line to go with our learning, it is getting really hard to remember who is who and what time frame each one is in... I didn't want to start one with all our "property tax issues".

Heard from my son and he and my daughter-in-law want to take Kelly ice skating this weekend, so she will be leaving Friday afternoon after my son get's out of work. It will be exciting for her she has never skated before....

I thought since it is getting closer and closer to the holiday I need to do something... So I suggested to my son that when he and my daughter-in-law bring back Kelly on Sunday night we will have a trimming of the tree party at our house. I figured that will make me have to get my butt in gear and get the tree out and up. I also want to get a few of those logs that when they burn they change colors and use them in our fireplace for the party, giving it a bit more of a Christmas feel to the evening. We haven't gotten any presents yet, not sure when we will get those.... but my heart was happy when Kelly said "Mom how the heck did we get from Christmas being about the birth of Jesus to it being all about a santa and buying gifts"? Honestly, I don't know why we all have gotten so far away from celebrating the true holiday : (

Until Next time - God Bless!!

Tuesday, December 6, 2011

Simply Charlotte Mason - Your Business Math Series




Whooo Hooo!

Kelly & I were able to get a hold of an e-book version of the "Simply Charlotte Mason - Your Business Math Series (Pet Store)" I couldn't wait to get started with it! I plugged in my printer and got out enough paper to start to print out the student book, which is 179 pages and wouldn't you know it it has blue ink in areas : ( I was so disappointed. I only have black ink, so I looked up on the Target webpage and the price for a black/color pack of 21/22 combo ink is $31.99 YIKES! It's bad enough I was trying to put the $13.99 aside for another black ink, but now I need both... I guess I will have to wait till after the holidays to print, hopefully by then I can get the color ink.

Kelly said to me "Mom, Have you noticed that we can never get the correct stuff together to make our homeschooling day roll". It is so true! I just can never get the right books when we need them, either I am waiting on an inter-library loan book which I never know how long those will take sometimes a week someimes 3 weeks or the library doesn't have the correct book and I try and see if we can buy the books which takes for ever in this house or we have to wait on Netflix to send the next dvd we requested (sometimes they inform me that the "dvd will be sent at a later date"), or like now we have the correct curriculum but can't print it out! Yikes! Ahhhh but life is good and we will get it all together eventually - I hope : )

Like they say "Don't sweat the small stuff"!!!!

Have a great day & God Bless!

Monday, December 5, 2011

Life Skills: Disaster Preparedness

We started working on another one of Kelly's Life Skills: Disaster Preparedness. We are using "Handbook To Practical Disaster Preparedness For The Family" by Arthur T. Bradley, Ph.D. Kelly was very interested in jumping right in with this book, she didn't want us to spend to much time reading over the first few intro. chapters. I thought that this was going to be a bad sign for this book, but she settled right in when we got to the actual "what to do" sections. We covered tornadoes today, We worry about those alot since hurricanes here in Florida tend to spawn a number of tornadoes. Thank God we have never seen one or had to deal with one so far. Just the thought that we live in a doublewide mobile home always makes me worried, We have no area that is safe to go to if a tornado does come our way. The book says to go outside and find a ditch to jump into and cover your head with your arms... We will go outside tomorrow and scout some ditches, but not sure how much time we would really have to be able to make it over to the ditch. We would have looked today, but the dam goats got out of their pen today. Kelly & I spent a good part of the early evening tonight getting the fence fixed and getting them back in. I hate when I have to wait for my husband to come home to fix something. I want to be able to do it myself, but this time I could not hammer down the stakes into the dirt far enough : ( I would really love to get rid of the goats, but with the way things are here in our area the people who would be interested in taking them would be using them for meat and I could not live with myself if that were to happen to them!
We also watched "Greatest Heroes and Legends of the Bible: Sodom and Gomorrah", It was animated which I wasn't sure what Kelly would think of that but she seemed to have liked it (It did have some really corny singing in it which I thought we could have done without). In one part it showed Lotts people stabbing Abraham in the arm/hand, Kelly looked at me and said there was no mention of that in the other dvd we watched about Abraham. That made me really happy to know she really is watching and taking in the info. and remembering it too!! Whooo Hooo!
We read one of the book I had gotten out from the library on "The Human Body". We are getting going on our Biology course which includes the body. We have been really slacking on science since we are so enjoying history lately. We need to get the ball rolling on it....
Until Next Time - God Bless!!

Saturday, December 3, 2011

A Year by the Sea

WOW! What a book!!!!
If you all get some free time during this hectic season to read, I would like to suggest: A Year by the Sea by Joan Anderson. So seldom do I find a WOW book these days but this one is it. It's one of those you can't put it down books. It really opened my eyes and I hope you get a chance to read it. There sure is nothing better then a good book!!!!! Well maybe a few other things, but you know what I mean ; )

22 More Days till Christmas....

Can you belive we have only 22 more days till Christmas! I'm one of those people who can't wait for the holidays to be over.... I LOVE Jan 1st. with all it's new possibilities, Of course if you are a beliver in the Myans prediction that we only have till December 21, 2012 until life as we know it ends then it's not such a good thing - Yikes!! Anyway, We haven't gotten the tree out yet - I'm pretty sure that will be the only thing we put up this year. My son came over a few days after Thanksgiving to put up the outside lights but my husband said no. I might be getting a "new to us" sofa from one of the guys my husband works with (it's a sleeper sofa & heavy as heck), So I am going to wait to pull out the tree it might be in the way when we try and haul in that big sofa - I sure hope I get it tho!

Hope everyone has a wonderful day today!! : )

Friday, December 2, 2011

Star Gazing

We got down to 42 degress on Wed. night, Getting a bit nippy here in Florida...

I have been having to wait outside after I feed my horses in the morning because we have been giving my horse special food and Kelly's horse keeps coming over to eat it. I'm out there at 5:30am, It has been crisp, cold & magnificently beautiful out!! The stars are AMAZING at that time of the morning (still dark out but the sun is trying to rise in the east). Our entire area has very little outside lighting so you can really see the stars in all their glory. I just marvel at how beautiful and breath taking it is to really just look at the stars. Okay, I know your asking yourself did she add alittle something to her morning beverage.... but I so seldom take the time to REALLY stop and look at how beautiful it is to be surrounded by these sparkling balls of beauty. I also saw a shooting star yesterday & this morning in almost the same spot which was an added bonus : )