Making It On The Homestead - Monday

As many of you may have read on Facebook... I'm offering all my crosses this month (May) and leaning on the strength of the Blessed Mother... Praying for the intersession Our Lady of Guadalupe, St. Anne, St. Monica, St. Gianna, my Guardian Angel, St. Micheal the Archangel, and Blessed Kateri to assist me in accomplishing many things as a wife, mother and keeper of my home... Things have improved... I've been focusing on the homestead and not on the world... There are bumps in the road as is expected... Still much room for improvement... Thank you to all of you who prayed for me while I was away... I appreciate that... We are in full swing as far as remodeling 'season' goes... I sanded our banister and it is ready for us to start staining it... The children and I made a fun game of spread the grass seed today to try and recover our snow mashed and flood drowned lawn back to it's former glory... All the dishes were washed and put away... I spent a good part of the day vacuuming and wiping down all surfaces of the 'dust' provided by our sanding job... Several loads of laundry were done and I made a delicious new 'chicken n' biscuits' recipe which I will share on Tasty Tuesday... It's simple and quick! I browsed through the June issue of Martha Steward living... She has a wonderful section on grillin'... The children and I had a wonderful drive singing the Divine Mercy Chaplet and checking out the latest construction projects at the Hour of Mercy (3 PM) this afternoon... I'm instructing yet another FMCHE member in the wonderful art of SFG... I look forward to sharing her 'creation' and mine once I find the key to my garden... ::smirk:: I'm off to continue in my homestead...

Many Things To Share - Monday

My oldest had ESY again... I dropped off my mileage reimbursement sheet at the district office... This 22.5 miles 4 days a week is killing us with the gas costs... I usually wait till all 6 weeks of ESY are done but couldn't this year... Just costing too much to transport to and from... I went an exchanged an outfit... It was a 9 month summer outfit... Linebacker will be 9 months in February... It won't be any where near warm that time of year here... It will be frozen tundra in these parts... I exchanged it for a 3 month summer outfit he will be able to wear later this summer... I also picked up Peanut's Diego Cake Pan and Icing Coloring Set... I'm all ready to make her the Diego Cake for her 3rd Birthday next month... I didn't make it over to pick up her birthday gift yet... I'm hoping to do that some time this week... I want to have it... I made a few phone calls and worked in my gardens... I debated calling today's post Mosquito Monday... They are AWFUL!!! I can't wear spray unless I wash it off immediately after coming in because Linebacker is too little for spray... I never know when he might need me to pick him up... I can't if I'm coated in spray... I've been lucky and only bit a couple of times... I hope when the city sprays it helps... Rumors are they are spraying this week... It's hard to enjoy your garden when you are being munched on! One last exciting thing... I've almost finished knitting my scarf... Woo hoo!!! I'll share a PIC when I finish... It is really awesome... I can't wait till it's done... I guess that is all for now... Linebacker is sounding his alarm saying it's feeding time again... ::grin::

Snapshot Saturday

I took lots of great photos today...
Here are my three 'new' nursing dresses:

I could be a triplet... ::smirk::

Here are my little blessings:

This is the first photo of all 4 of them together... I think it turned out great! My husband and Monkey ran out to the PO and Library while I did some things around the house... We then headed out to Library for me to pick up some things... I hadn't been to the library for a while... My husband and just been taking the children and himself regularly... I have stayed home with which ever child(ren) were currently not feeling well... I signed the three oldest up for the Summer Reading Program... Which started June 9th... I'm usually there at the Grand Kick Off Party... Just didn't make it this year... So, everyone is all registered... I picked up Potty Learning Books for Peanut, Dinosaurs for Monkey, and Geography (US States) for my oldest... No books being checked out for Linebacker yet... He just has the ones around the house right now... I need to sign him up for the Imagination Library... Keep forgetting about that... After the library we went to the 'wood chip/dirt' place... Filled up our containers for woodchips... Next it was to Walmart for some more needed things... Picked up a few more T-Shirts for the older boys, Sharpie for me, and food... We snacked on Chicken Strips and Tarter Wedges on the way home... Yummy... We hadn't bought these in a while... I snuggled with Linebacker and became very sleepy... So, I took a nap... My husband with the older three put the woodchips on the garden path and did a bit of weeding... The mosquitos are awful so they didn't stay out any longer then they had too... They had leftover Noodle Casserole for dinner and pizza... I woke up from my much needed nap... I was stuffed with chicken and tarters from Walmart so I didn't eat anything else... Just drank a ton of water... All the children were in bed but Linebacker who was snugglin' and nursin'... We cleaned up the house... It was super cluttered... With all that had been happening the house had really fallen apart... The house wasn't 'dirty' just extremely messy! It looks aweseome now!!! I'm off to snuggle more with Linebacker... So, I will be back when I have TWO free hands again... ::grin:: Have a great rest of the weekend... See you all on Monday...

Sewing Station Saturday

While I didn't do any actual sewing yet I did clean up what had become my catch all sewing station... It has become a delicate balancing act to pile new stuff on without the current stuff from an avalanche... LOL!!! Here are some photos of the clean up process that took about an hour (probably only 20 minutes of actual cleaning but with interruption it took about an hour from start photo to finish photo)...
This is what it looked like before I started... Yikes!

This was about 3/4 of the way through....This is the after... The 'calendar' on the right was a giveaway from a friend... She also gave me a couple laminated items... She gave me a world map but I want to laminate it first... It will then can be put up in my oldest room along with two other laminated items.. I decided to use it for all the things that happen every week like therapy, clubs/support groups, etc... I will save my 'date' calendar for those things that happen more randomly like doctor, dentist, meetings, field trips, etc...
I worked a bit in the garden picking out the 'trees'... Otherwise I relaxed because I'm still feeling a little icky... Mostly just tried from feeling icky... I have updated from the 7th till today... ::yawn:: Nap time...

Friday

Today was feeling much better... I still had a few lingering symptoms that made me nervous about going out and about but still went out any way... Monkey and Peanut had ST this morning... I then went by the organization that maybe working with my oldest to sign some release of information... They need to talk to people who work them him before they meet and decide if they are going to work with him... I'm praying all goes well... He really needs this place to help him... More remodeling was done today... I hang out during the afternoon with a friend... We went and bought more remodeling materials... We had cheese burgers and hot dogs on the grill... We even worked on the garden a bit... So, I have 2 boxes completed, 3 in the inbetween stages and 1 that I haven't done a thing to... Hopefully I can do more tomorrow if my ills continue to improve...

SFG Update

April 2008... Showing my old fence...

May 2008... Up close... You can see the damage done to the fence... Children have had a field day in the boxes digging... ::cringe:: My oldest was being helpful and put all the grid in the way he thought it should be... He was pretty close to how they needed to be put... A few days later he then proceeded to remove them all again and throw them around the yard... ::sigh::
Mid of May 2008 (finished day before Linebacker was born {16th})... I had a professional fence installed... Awesome huh? On Monday (12th) the set the posts in concrete... Thursday (15th) they finished by hanging up the fencing and gate...

This is what happens when you don't prepare (remove all the dead plant life and cover them) your boxes for winter because you have terrible morning sickness in the fall... Then you don't plant when you are supposed to in the spring because you are about to give birth at any minute and had to wait for the fence company to install your fence to keep your 'helpers' from destroying all your hard work... LOL!!!

This is the 'tomato' box... Those little white 'circles' are courtesy of our Siberian Elm... Those are all tiny seeds to grow new Siberian Elms... So, every where there is a white 'circle' a tree will sprout... So, I have to pick all those out of my boxes... Sound like fun? Want to come help? ::wink:: This box will also have one squash plant, onions and lettuce growing in it... It has 4 varieties of tomatoes... Tiny cherry/grape, red romas, yellow romas and big ole sandwich slicing...This is my 'Hot Pepper' Box... It will also have Watermelon, Collards, Onions and Carrots...

Weekend - Friday, Saturday, Sunday

Friday:
Peanut had ST today... We talked about all that is going on here... I scheduled some appointments for next week... Linebacker had his 2 week check up... He is up to 7 lbs and 6 ozs... So, he is gaining nicely... His next appointment is at 2 months... I planted a lot of things today... I have Collards, Lettuce, Carrots, Onions and Squash in the ground... I visited my oldest... He is doing well...
Saturday:
Today we went to the Detroit Lakes Street Fair... I found an awesome dress...

The only other thing we bought besides 'eats' was some Salsa from husband/wife that traveled here from Colorado... My husband heard him on the radio... It was really good... A huge nasty storm blew up just before we left... It ripped one of the 'tents' up and threw it... Luckily we were in another block but it sure did scare us... We decided that was our cue it was time to head home... The wind really picked up... Street Fair goers and Vendors a like scrambled for cover and protect their wares... Otherwise it was a great time had by all... I went and visited my oldest... He told me he needed more underwear... He has issues with cleaniliness after using the restroom so it is better to just throw out his clothing then try to wash them... He knows what is proper and we aren't sure why sometimes he does it correctly but other times he disregards the proper way all together...
Sunday:
Today my husband visited and took our oldest new underwear and a shirt... I visited later and took some extra socks... It is my husband's last day off... We did a lot of shopping and worked on the house... It is coming along nicely here in the living room... I took a much needed nap... We grilled out... Meals from our friends start tomorrow... So, I won't be 'cooking' for a bit... I'm excited to see what delicious dishes our friends bring... I caught up on the laundry...

Tuesday

Today we went to the Children's Museum with our friends from FMCHE... That was lots of friend... One mom helped me better position Linebacker in the sling... I've only ever hipped carried the children in a sling... Eventually I had him down and even nursed him without taking him out of the sling... How awesome is that? I know a lot of people who wear slings but very few could ever figure out how to nurse while baby wearing... My husband joined us later for the picnic lunch... The children had a great time exploring the exhibits... They painted some beautiful pictures in the 'art' area... Monkey and Peanut rode the train and all of us rode the Carseousel... Linebacker slept most of the time... I finished that 2nd gardening box... I planted tomatoes... I visited my oldest and he seemed a bit distracted... His meds have been changed a bit so it might be a side effect... Of course he could have just been tired... I called a ton of people to give them the details of the events that took place on Sunday and cancel any appointments my oldest won't be able to attend... We have our first meeting about what happen with our oldest on Thursday... We went to his school and talked with the staff there... I picked up all his things... They all miss him and hope to visit him too... We talked about his ESY and what might be needed for that...

Memorial Day Weekend

Saturday:
We are heading into the last full week my husband has off with us... Today we worked on the garden... I planted the Hot Peppers... I have one box finished and ready for more planting and a second box that will be ready after a bit more work... My oldest is becoming increasingly aggressive... It's a holiday weekend so that has me concerned... We went to Lowe's and picked up some more trim for the living room...It is really starting to come together... Here is a picture of the North wall of the living room finished... Doesn't it look nice? ::insert photo::
I had to take Linebacker into the walk-in-clinic... It is a first come first serve doctor for non-emergency care when you can't see your regular doctor... He was bleeding near his circumcision... Everything was alright and I just need to keep it clean and put a little OTC antibiotic ointment to prevent infection and it sticking to his diaper... So, a lot of worry for nothing... Glad I had him checked any way... We have two HUGE storms headed this way that have already produced at least one tornado... So, I will have to go now...
Sunday: Today we went to Mass at the Cathedral... Our usual church cut back on their times they have Mass... It was also the first time Linebacker had been to Mass... It was great showing him off to all our friends who hadn't see him in person yet... After Mass we had the Corpus Christi Procession... It was very spiritually moving... I'm glad we stayed to participate... We went to a Potluck with our FMCHE friends... I made sloppy joes and took buns... Many more of our friends who hadn't seen Linebacker in person met him there... He was snuggled by many of the moms... Everything was going wonderful when our oldest had an incident with another child... At that point we promptly left... We had a very long and stressful night to follow... I won't be sharing any details since this is a public blog...
Monday:
I was up and gathered things for my oldest... I dropped them off and visited him... He is doing somewhat better today then he was last night... Today we went for a drive and a picnic... The children fell asleep in the van and it was freezing! My husband and I had a romantic picnic together and shivered while the children slept in the warm van... We drove home and worked more on the house... Progress is slowly moving around the room to the East and West walls...

Thirty-Eight Weeks Thursday

Here I am today:

I've had so many you look great pregnant compliments lately... Everyone says I'm 'glowing'... I do feel great! I'm savoring every last moment of this wonderful blessed experience God has given to me and my family... I had an OB check up today... My GBS Test came back NEGATIVE!!!! TBTG!!! Woooo hooo... I am now a good solid 3 cm and 50%... He is has fully dropped and is well engaged into the pelvic area... So, he will definitely be coming out head first... I went to the full serve gas station after my appointment... I ran to the PO to mail an eBay book... I stopped at the $1 store to pick up some sweet snacks since we are out of cookies at the moment... I'm just not up to that right now... The more I do the more contractions I have... We want to keep this guy in here just a little bit longer before he makes his appearance... I need to run to the bank to deposit a check but keep leaving the house without it... Duh! The fence company came and finished the fence today... Cool huh? I will share a PIC later... So, now I can turned my sad, abandon SFG into something beautiful again! I received an email saying my tomatoes and hot peppers are on their way... I can't wait to start working in there... When I was expecting Peanut I teased DH my water would break while I was working out in my garden... I actually went into labor while organizing baby clothes trying to figure what we could use... My water didn't break till minutes before she was born... Maybe that joke will be true with this one... ::smirk:: I really want to catch up with my planting schedule... My husband on his next day off is going to help me add compost to my garden now that the fence is finished... I had my last 'doula' meeting before the birth... We went over my wants and things I don't want... We made sure everyone had the each other's numbers... I found out one of my doulas is expecting #4... How exciting... What a blessing for her and her family... She is about 8 weeks along and in the middle of the lovely 'morning' sickness phase... Look at our new resident who moved into our garage:

Isn't that neat?

Why Wednesday?

I have yet another ill... I have a head cold... ::sigh:: Hopefully it will go away quickly... Peanut also has it and I caught it from her who orginally caught it from Monkey but he managed to escape with just a drippy nose for a few days... So, we are just passin it around... I'm trying not to take anything but may have to tonight if I'm going to sleep... I just tossed and turned during nap time... Luckily it was my quiet day this week... I dropped off my oldest... Stopped at the grocery store for the rest of today's meal I was making before my husband woke up for work... I made Chicken Roll Ups (recipe to follow soon)... I had all the ingredients prepared and was about to fix my husband a plate and opened the drawer to discover that we were out of foil... Something that never happens... My husband is always right on top of that and makes sure all our wraps are in ample supply... He said we ran out on Sunday when we used foil for our cookout... I'm like what? I would have thought he would have picked it up... He did go to the store Monday and last night... So, I ran back out for foil... I made our meal and it was as delicious as ever... I tried to rest and then picked up our oldest... He had OT... He did so so today... At times he was wonderful and other times he fell apart so it was an up and down roller coaster session... He did behave for the most part and his reward was some time outside even though I felt awful and wanted to lay down ASAP when the OT left... He did an amazing thing... I will try to take a PIC tomorrow in between the rain drops (predicted to rain ALL day)... He put the little dividers back in my garden that he had ripped out and threw around the yard the last few months since the thickest of the snow melted... He also put back all the plant markers which he pulled up in the boxes like they are labeling what is planted there... This brought a smile to my face and warmed my heart... I told him what a good job he did and how happy I was... I gave him a big hug... Through all the bad times he does so many amazing things that make me love him more and more... They are just a tiny peek into what he could really do... I just wish I knew how to 'unlock' they say in the Autism world so he could be that way all the time... He has so much potential but something is holding him back... We haven't figured out what that is or how to remove that obstacle... I can't imagine life without him... He is truly special!

Went On A Search Wednesday

I was up and drop my oldest off... I then baked some homemade bread for husband to have with his lunch today... The littles ones and I ate eggs, ham and cheese for breakfast... I made mine into a Breakfast Burrito... Yummy!!! We then headed over to my friend's, Krisanna, house so we could do some 'gardening' errands together... While I was out dropping my oldest off the phone had rang and it was the car seat people who I was meeting with tomorrow... Seems now that the car seat I had planned on buying new at a discount isn't going to happen so I went on a search to find one so my mom can send money to help pay for it... 43 days to go (or less) and all of a sudden I'm going to be car seat less! So, I ran into Kmart and they didn't have a car seat but they did have jackets for the two little children... That was awesome... We then headed to the garden center and picked up our Onion Sets... Next it was head to MN to check out the new Walmart... My friend hadn't been there yet... They sell seeds from the company I use... I stopped in Target on the way to check on car seats and walked right by the perfect coat for my oldest... So, spring jacket shopping is DONE!!! Woo hooo!!! Next we went to Walmart... I showed her the seat I don't like that is all 'funny'... ::smirk:: We had to stop at the potty a 2nd time for Monkey... Next we headed to the Garden Center or since this is a 'green' walmart the Outdoors something another they call it... Like changing the color of the Walmart and what it says on the outside changes the store... @@ Like at the 'blue' Walmart it is simply Food Center... At the 'green' Walmart it's Market... They both sell food... Whatever... So, we had a great time looking at the seed display and she picked up what she will need... We looked at hoses, gloves and hand held gardening tools... We found an adorable little set that is a trowel, rake and poker (great for poking holes in soil to plant)... We each bought a set...

She mentioned Baby Depot has an excellent selection of seats and that is where they bought theirs... So, after Walmart we headed there... They had the exact seat I wanted... So, here is the seat we will have in the next week or so... They didn't have any in stock and I have to wait for the rest of money to arrive any way... So, I'm on the waiting list and will have one on hold when they come in... Peanut had ST and my oldest had OT this afternoon... I chatted with a few friends on the phone but otherwise a quiet night...

Many Things To Do Monday

Yesterday was a busy day... Tried to have a quiet morning but the children were all crazy running around then Mass... We tried Domino's new 'Brooklyn' Pizza... It was ok... We also had Taco Shop to supplement the tiny pizza (we did order the large) we spit among the 5.5 of us for lunch... Next it was ready everyone to run errands... We tried to rearrage the seats in the van and discovered one of them is broken... It is safe to ride in but you can't remove it and we need to make more room... So, we will be taking it in to fix that before #4 arrives... We need the space that seat is taking and no one is going to sit in it so it doesn't need to be a 'seat' at this point in the van's life... I was also able to convince my husband the garage door opener is indeed 100% broke so I need to sumbit a request for service with the home warranty people about that so they can send someone out... We went to JCPenney where my husband exchanged shampoo... He bought one for blondes and requires gloves to use... LOL!!! He also ran in Sears to pick up more Primer... It is almost remodel season... We have done a tiny bit but not really into full swing yet because of the roller coaster weather... Next we stopped at the gas station before we were stranded... Off to the library we headed... We all went in there and found lots of great books and DVDs for the week... It was through town to the 'new' Walmart... We had hoped to use the boys' birthday money to pick them up some spring jackets and then use the rest for summer clothes but Walmart doesn't have jackets yet... Picked up some much needed items like grass seed, light bulbs (soft) for Monkey's night light, Diapers, Laundry Soap (starting to catch up after being so sick), and misc Food/Household items... We headed home and I made some homemade Chinese dishes... My husband took the boys recycling... I ran out and picked up Milk, Cheese and Juice... For Chinese we used our new WOK we bought at Christmas... It is a fancy one you season and don't scrub with soap... We seasoned it and I made Chicken Lo Mein with mushrooms, broccoli, peas, onions, and carrots... I also made General Tso's Chicken... Both were very delicious! We had planned on watching Baby 101 together but I fell asleep on the couch while he took out the trash and did some pre-kitchen clean up...
Peanut had a session this morning with her EI lady... We had leftover Chinese before my husband left for work... The fence guy came... Looks like a little over $500 for the fence job around the garden... I was hoping for more like $2-4 hundred but I think I can swing this... It's 50% due at signing and 50% due when they are done... It will take them about 5-7 days to do the job... They will be cementing the posts which I was impressed with... I figured they just dig a hole and drop the pole in... ::smirk:: I did some searching for spring jackets... I found some on sale at Walmart.com and will probably go that way... I'm still searching for peanut and not having much luck... So, that's kind of frustrating... My oldest had a fantastic day at his program and even more wonderful ST session... So, things are looking up... ::smile::

Forgotten Thursday

I had a very long and busy day with no nap... Now I'm exhausted and had forgotten to blog... The children seem to be on a new schedule where they wake up 1-2 hours earlier then we used to... That is really making me tired before the day even begins... We went to Play Group and I had Peanut's 2-7 meeting... That is the meeting you have when your child is 2 Years and 7 Months to start the transition from Early Intervention into Public Preschool... Next month we will have the 2-9 meeting... Peanut is actually 2 years 8-1/2 months... So the 2-7 is a bit late and the 2-9 will be right on time... We also talked about Monkey... He will finish his testing and it will be decided based on scores if he should attend public preschool or go to K in the fall... I made crock pot pork today... I took a huge pork shoulder... Place it in the crock pot with cream of mushroom soup, dry onion soup mix, medium onion quarters and separated, baby carrots, potatoes and misc seasoning my family loves... Add about 2-4 C. of water and cook on low 8-10 hours or on high 4-6 hours until pork is done and veggies are tender... Pork should shred easily... Serve over egg noodles... I met with my doula I had with Peanut... I've decided at this birth I'm going to have two doulas and a friend... Each wonderful woman has something special to bring to this birth... I can't imagine one of them not being there... It was good to catch up with her... She had moved out of the area but moved back... We talked about my upcoming birth, SFG, Homesteading, and she set up so I could watch Business of Being Born before she left... I highly recommend this for EVERY woman whether she is in the child rearing years, passed them or has not yet entered them... It is a MUST SEE for ALL women! She also left me the DVD Baby 101 from House of Babies... My doula with Peanut and her husband are in the DVD as a couple particpating in the class... It is set up so you think you are sitting right there interacting with Shari Daniel's in person... Both were totally awesome and I so glad I had the opportunity to view them... I had wanted to purchase these informative resources but the funding wasn't available... So, I'm blessed to have such a good friend to share these with me... I helped my friend, Krisanna, design her SFG for 2008... She started late last year... So, we added some new crops... She is also adding a 2nd box to her garden this year... We are going shopping for the few supplies she needs next week... She is growing 12 different veggies and herb/spices... She will also have room for several flowers... 32 Square Feet is all her garden is taking up... SFG method is really awesome!

Girl Friend Time and Gardening

First off you are probably thinking who in the world is doing any gardening now? Especially given my climate how could I even be thinking about it... Well, I am... I just put in my order for next years garden... I saved a ton of money... It would have cost well over $50 but it was less then $40 because of the 'pre holiday' sale... So, I took advantage of the sale because we are going to need the stuff whether I order it now or order it in February... I'm sooo excited!!! I didn't need as much as I had predicted while setting up last year... So, that was nice and I was order to extra some special extras... So, I'm enjoying my snow but looking forward to gardening again... My favorite times of the year... Gardening and playing/watching the snow... Once we move to our homestead PA I will have he best of both worlds once our greenhouse is built...
Now to the other part... My girlfriend Kristin (mom to 6) and I did some running around today together... Do to kinks in both our schedule we didn't make it to the Asian Markets like we wanted to check out... We both have never been in one and wanted to see what kind of things they sold... Our husbands aren't to into that... However, we did have lots of good chatting and was able to run quite a few errands in the little time we did have... It was nice not to have to snap and unsnap the children at each place... It is so much fun running errands especially the boring ones where you are just dropping off paper work with a friend... We are hoping to do it again real soon... We both had a great time...