To do list for this weekend...

Well my list isn't very long but there is much to be done. The cold weather has come if I like it or not. I have been putting off getting the house ready for winter long enough so now is the time. My fear is if I don't get it done the snow will be flying before I get done.

• Get plastic up to windows
• Haul in fire wood
• Clean all winter blankets and quilts
• Clean winter jackets
• Find the kids some winter boots (Bug a Boo needs jacket too! Oh when do they stop growing?)
• Put flower beds to rest for the winter
• Last mow for the year
• Tune up for both vehicles
• Put away kids pool
• Put away lawn chairs
• All summer outdoor toys put up

Well that is all I can think of for now. I'm sure there is more (LOTS MORE!) My brain just don't seem to be working right now. I got little sleep last night and was up early with DH. He had to be to work at a really ridiculous hour this morning.

Hope you all have a wonderful and warm weekend!

Wednesday Rambles...

This week is going by so fast! Probably because I had Monday off work. What a blessing that was. I got a lot done around the house. This has been bothering me lately so I was well pleased that I could get so much done. A few weeks ago I bought a 1/2 bushell of Cortland apples to make 2 apple pies for a funeral dinner at church. It was cheaper to buy them that way. Anyway, I had enough apples left to make Dh an apple pie for his birthday as well as 2 apple crisps and 5 pints of spiced applesauce. We also ate some apples here and there. So Monday I baked one apple crisp and made and canned the 5 pints of applesauce. I also baked and froze some Butternut squash that was given to us. I cleaned the kitchen and canning supplies. Rearranged my cabinets a bit. Bug a Boo helped by doing laundy and helped to fold it. Dh wanted his hunting gear cleaned for Saturday (the first day of bow season starts here). I'm hoping we can get a few deer this year. I would love to can some as well as make some good jerky.

We have been making some headway in school this week as well. I went to Staples yesterday and bought some workbooks to ready Bug a boo for here state test this year. She is doing better than I thought. Praise the Lord! Little Buck read his first sentence last night! It was great! I pray he loves to read someday. Bug a boo would rather not read if she didn't have too. She is making good headway though, For which I am truly thankful. We just finished our mini unit study on Christopher Columbus yesterday and will have a test today. We have started a study about the United States. Currently studying the flag and the 13 original colonies. I am having a lot of fun with this considering I hated History in school.

We finally found someone in our area selling firewood. We are getting 3 cord this week and then another 3 to 4 cord next week. I am so thankful to get it at the price of $50 a cord. It isn't extremely cheap but it is cheaper than some places. I have seen it as high as $75 a cord. God is good!

The weather is turning much colder this week. We were in the 70's Monday but are only hitting low to mid 60's today. Tomorrow it is suppose to rain and be in the 50's. There is snow forcasted for next week. I am praying it holds off a bit longer. We still need to get the plastic up to the old windows in the house. I still need to prep my flower bed for the winter as well. I'm chilled to the bone just thinking about it.

It's that time of year again!

For colds and coughs that is. Yesterday, I had to take time off work because Little Buck was sick. He was running a low grade fever and had a runny nose. I stayed home so I could make sure he took his medicine and drank lots of water. Today he woke up with a horrible cough. I felt so bad. I wanted to take today off too but was unable. I sent him off to Papa's house with some tea bags and honey. Bug-a-boo has strict instructions to make sure he drinks some hot tea with honey today plus lots of water. Medicine at noon! When we got to Papa's house he had to show him how his cough sounded. Poor little guy! I gave him extra kisses and hugs to last the day with instructions to call if need be.

Although, I stayed home to watch after Little Buck yesterday I did get much need work done. The break away from my normal schedule was great! I loved being home and getting stuff done. While Little Buck rested and watched movies, Bug-a-boo and I cleaned the living and dining rooms. I also wanted to get to the kitchen as well but didn't get that far. It needs a good ole scrub down. I'm planning on Saturday for that if nothing comes up. That will make a full day of hard work scheduled but it all needs done. With all the cleaning yesterday that we got done I still have a long list of things that need done before winter. I just need to see who can help do what. Without planting a garden this year, we are relying on the farmers market. I have to make sure I plan that into my schedule for Saturday. I need to buy some apples and butternut squash to can or freeze for the winter.

Next Tuesday is Hubby's 38th birthday! I started making his card yesterday. It's a first for me. I have never made cards or any of that sort of thing before although I love crafts. This is something new for me. Now I just need to finish that up and find that special gift for him. I think instead of a cake I may bake him a deep dish apple pie. I'll need to add Vanilla Ice cream to the shopping list this week.

Praises for today...

• Little Buck didn't have a high fever this morning
• The living and dining room are clean
• Bug-a-boo's willingness to help
• A boss that understands when I need time off for sick kids

Prayer for today...

• Little Buck to get better
• The rest of the family to stay healthy
• Scheduling to work out
• Hubby back to get better soon
• Cold weather to hold off a few more weeks

Hope you all have a blessed day!

Heavy Heart...wasted time

I have such a heavy heart this morning. I have many prayer requests that I have lifted up to My Father. I never thought being a daughter, sister, wife, mother, aunt, cousin, sister in law, daughter in law, friend, receptionist, school teacher, co worker and homemaker (and the list goes on) could be so hard. I have been really struggling in the past few months with what I am suppose to be doing. Life is so very hard. It is so hard to know what you want to do but knowing that is not what God wants for you. So here is where I'm at right now. I'm married to the love of my life, we have 2 beautiful children. I work full time (35-40 hours a week) for a Christian Landscape Company 20 miles from home. Hubby works there too! I home school both kids. Our daughter is in forth grade and our son is in K5. Life is great, Right?? Not so fast Junior. Here is the problem...my schedule... I have hardly enough time to get the housework done and spend time with the kids other than school time.

My Schedule

6 am...get up and shower

6:20... wake DD

6:25...Dress for work

6:30...wake hubby and DS

6:40...help DS get dressed

6:45...breakfast for all (cereal)

6:55... make lunches for hubby and I

7:05...get school stuff around for kids

7:15... on the road to drop kids off at my parents and drive to work

7:55... Devotions at work with co workers

8:10...start my day at work

12:15... Lunch

12:45...back to work

4:30...pick kids up

(4:45...run around in town if needed)

5:00...Home- look at mail

5:10...Start dinner

5:45...Sit down to dinner and talk with family

6:45...clean up dinner dishes (soak in sink)

7:00...school with kids (what they didn't get done at Grandma and papa's)

7:45...dishes

8:00...Read to kids

8:20...Ready kids for bed

8:30...kids in bed

8:45...ready myself for bed

9:00...watch TV with Hubby

9:30...Reading (devotions and prayer)

10:00...BED

To look at my schedule it don't look to bad. I really just want more time in a day. I know there is some open time here and there. In those cases I am either helping the kids do work or picking up the house. DD does all the laundry for us and that is a BIG help. I still fold it and we both put it away. At work I have a lot of "wasted time". I think this is what is waying so heavy on my heart lately. I feel like I could be more productive than I am. I do use this time to pray and read. I do a lot of research on the Internet for school and this is also time I use to check my email and read blogs.

My husband use to be an over the road truck driver. After much prayer God blessed him with this job working at the same company with me. This is great! We have worked here together for about a year. God is good! DH said he is "getting the itch" to drive again. UGH! God has been working on him I believe in this area. He told me yesterday he was having "flash backs" of him sitting in a rest area and truck stops in the mid west and west coast talking on the phone with me. I don't think it's Gods will for him to be back in the truck again. I pray for clarity there.

Boy just writing my feeling down has made me feel a bit better. Thanks for reading my feeling for today!

Praying for...

• clarity for DH
• Peace, wisdom and clarity for me
• Understanding
• wood for the winter
• school to go smoothly
• patience
• our pastor and his wife
• our deacons and their wives
• Life Adventure club (starts on the 25th)
• work to be done on time

Praises...

• wonderful neighbors willing to give of their garden
• Parents giving from their garden
• pay raise (unexpected)
• parent's who are willing to watch our children
• Wonderful church family
• safety in our travels everyday

Hope you all have a Blessed day!

Jolene

It's been a while!

Sorry for the long vacation. I have been so busy. I didn't mean to be gone so long. Sometime life just happens. When I started this blog I didn't know just what I wanted to achive here ( I'm still not sure.) For now I'm just going to share life with you all. There has been many things on my mind as of late that I want to share. Now I just need to find the time to get them written. I will be sharing how God has blessed my family and continues to bless us each day. I want to share the many recipes I have and the deals that keep coming my way. How God has blessed my family this year with fresh produce even though we didn't plant a garden of our own.

Until next time~ Jolene

Makeover...are you kidding me???

Well DH and I have been talking about me getting my hair done. Something both of us would love to see happen. After all, I have wore my hair the same way for 9 years. Yes that's right...9 LONG years. I have had it cut here and there but never was it something I liked enough to keep. Do I like my hair the way it is now? No, not exactly. I love that I can "do" my hair in 3 minutes but I don't like the way it looks. It's too Blah looking for me. It's long (middle of my back) and wavy.

I'm wanting to get it cut above my shoulders and have a perm put in. So...I called around to price having that done because well it's been 9 years since I have had my hair done. I about fell out of my chair when I heard:

Lady: Our prices for a cut and perm start at $70

Me: Did I hear you right $70.

Lady: Yes, Start at $70.

Me: Oh start at $70. Somehow I didn't hear the start at $70. What do you mean start at?

Lady: Depends on how long your hair is.

Me: Oh well after the cut it will be above my shoulders. So how much would that cost?

Lady: I'm not sure. All I can tell ya is we start pricing at $70 then go up by 10's.

Me: Well that explains everything.

So now do I want to spend $70 + dollars to have my hair cut and a perm put in? NO way!!!
Well really I want it but not for $70 + dollars. I'm thinking I can get my hair cut for $15 then just by a home perm and have my mom put it in. It will still cost $30 or so but a lot cheaper than $70+. Do they even still make home perms???

DH says just to go do it. My thinking is...I can feed my family for a week or more for $70. How does one justify spending that kind of money on hair?

The best soup I ever made.

I love soup! I'll eat just about any kind of it. Sorry I won't touch pea soup. I'm not sure why but I just simply don't like it. YUCK! Anyway...I made the best soup the other day. I had a bunch of leftovers in the fridge that needed eaten up. It was cold outside, so it was a perfect soup day. YUMMY! To my big stock pot I added a little bit of this and a touch of that...

• cauliflower
• summer squash
• broccoli
• chicken
• ham
• potatoes
• tomatoes
• some mixed veggies (carrots, corn, peas, and green beans)
• maccaroni

I then added the chicken broth and some water. A dash of pepper and a pinch of salt. I love the way it turned out. I think from now on I will add what bit of veggies left over to a ziploc baggie and freeze for future soup days. What a way to save money and use up those lasts bits of food left on the table.