Friday, August 29, 2008

Next Best Thing Since Sliced Bread

On a recent shopping trip with the bestest neighbor ever, Michelle I was encouraged to make a purchase that I will forever and ever be thankful about. Michelle encouraged me to get this salad spinner. I love it!

My only complaint I have would be that I did not think to get one of these earlier this summer. We grew loose leaf lettuce in our garden and, in case you were unaware, it does not come out of the garden clean. Each and every little leaf needs to be washed by hand. This, then, leads to the next problem, drying the lettuce leaves. I figured wringing the leaves out like a washcloth would not be a good idea. I, therefore, layed out towels and proceeded to dry each and every little leaf by hand. Needless to say, we did not eat much of the lettuce.

Next year this shall not be the case. With this handy-dandy washer/spinner contraption. You dunk and rinse and spin and voila, clean and dry lettuce. Also, clean and dry lettuce can then be stored in the same little deal in the fridge. Amazing concept.

I can not tell you how excited I am about this. I am fully aware that I may be the last person in America that did not have a salad spinner. You may all think I'm crazy for even mentioning this, that's okay. I figure the longer I wait to get something the more I appreciate it in the end, right?

ps Michelle, you can come and borrow this little deal anytime. Not that that was your original intention or anything....

My Mom

I thought I'd share how my mom is doing with her Bell's Palsy. Thank you Jessica, for asking.

The doctor had said the nerves in her eye were pretty damaged. She, for awhile, was needing to tape her eye shut at night time. It wouldn't close on it's own. Mom needed to use drops as well so her cornea wouldn't dry out.

She's had a few appointments to check on the progress and her eye is doing just fine and the cornea itself is not harmed.

Mom is improving and we all can tell the nerves are getting better. It's a slow process but when I only see her once or twice a week I can tell the difference. She no longer needs tape at night and she can close her eye about halfway, her other eye is squinting really hard at the same time so I can tell she is really having to try to get that left eye shut. It's much better though, than it was in the beginning. Also, her mouth and speech are noticeably improved.

I've heard of people having Bells' for a week and some a year. I guess Nancy, from the PBS show Sewing with Nancy has Bell's. Apparently she had it as a child and the nerves never improved. I'm very thankful mom's is really improving. Mom's had her Bell's Palsy for about 5 weeks now. I'm hoping there's complete recovery and so far it's looking good.

For those that prayed and have been praying, thank you. We appreciate your prayers.

Wednesday, August 27, 2008

Tag

Addendum: I've been tagged again by Kelli so instead of reposting this I'll still play along and list some more bloggy friends to tag:

Amanda @ I am Mommy
Kris @ Adventures at Acorn Academy



Ok, so Cara tagged me on her blog so I will do my best. I've never done this before and I don't know if I'm understanding what to do...here goes.

TEN YEARS AGO
1998, I was engaged to Matthew and living in an old, old, old farmhouse. If memory serves correctly I was teaching 2-year olds at a daycare in River Falls. We had a dog, Jacob, and were raising some chickens in the old milkhouse. I think that about sums it up.

MY TO-DO LIST TODAY
1. feed dog, sheep, fish and chickens (children too but, that's not really ON the list)
2. bake banana bread, apple bread and chocolate zucchini bread
3. put laundry away and keep washing the dirty stuff
4. vacuum
5. clean bathrooms
6. wash up kitchen after all the baking
7. figure out what we're having for supper and make it

SNACK THAT I ENJOY
buttered popcorn popped on the stove in a pot (never microwaved)

THINGS I WOULD DO IF I WERE A MILLIONAIRE
1. give 1/2 to the feds; cause I'm generous like that
2. decide with Matthew a charity of our choice to donate to
3. pay off our debt and the company's debts
4. set the kids up for school and stuff
5. set us up for retirement
(I blew through all that real quick)

PLACES I'VE LIVED
(in order)
Sioux City, IA
Mounds View, MN
River Falls, WI
Hudson, WI
Menomonie, WI (school)
Baldwin, WI
Hudson, WI
Osceola, WI

TAG, YOU'RE IT!
Jessica (Adjusting to the World)
Birdie (Crooked Maple)
Laura (the Heart of Hospitality)
Kara Jo (P is not for Perfect)

Cara, thanks that was fun!

Morning Glory

Dear God,
Wow, that was beautiful.
And the rainbow? Amazing.
Magnificent, only You could create something like this.

Thank you!

Sunday, August 24, 2008

Saturday Night Fun


Yesterday I went out with my wonderful neighbor, Michelle. We both have birthdays in August and wanted to have a fun day together. We gallivanted all over Hudson and then headed over to Stillwater. It was lots of fun.


Matthew had a blast with Isaiah and Anna while I was gone. They did all sorts of fun things. Matthew took the kids to Fawn-doe-rosa up in Saint Croix Falls. It's a huge petting zoo with deer that roam freely throughout the facility and are tame. Apparently Anna gave a buck a huge hug around his neck and Matthew said he got a little concerned over her no-fear attitude when it came to animals with ANTLERS! They also were able to pick out a treat at their all-time favorite store, Horse Creek. Think modern day mercantile. Anything you could ever need way out in the country...


When I got home from the birthday adventure we all sat outside and talked about our day. Then we did chores and that lead into something I have never, ever, in a million years ever thought I would be doing on a Saturday night....for fun.


I don't know who came up with the idea but, somehow, the four us started hunting for grasshoppers and giving them to the chickens. Really it was fun. (I know, not for the grasshoppers but PETA members were probably offended by this blog a long time ago) We had a ball watching the chickens do their chicken thing.


About 20 minutes into the deal I looked at Matthew and said, "Wow, is this what folks do in the country for fun, on a Saturday night?"


He said, "Yep, pretty much."

Thursday, August 21, 2008

Anna's First Day

Anna started preschool today. I think it was a good day. She went back and forth over wanting to go, wanting to stay home, wanting to go and having me stay with her, etc.

She started her day just fine and I was able to leave without her being sad. She found a toy that interested her and busied herself drawing with the toy. I told her I'd be back and that I loved her.

I did not receive any calls from school during her day so I assumed she did okay.

Leaving, however, was a different story entirely. You see Anna needed to bring supplies to school in a little pink pencil box. She did not feel her box should stay at school. She wanted to bring her supplies home in the worst way. Such a hard thing to understand. Sadly, we left her poor, poor supplies in their spot at school. They will be there on her next day but, we miss them.

At supper tonight Anna was completely happy about her day when Matthew asked her about her first day. She did not mention her poor, pink pencil box at all. Either she has gotten over this fact of school or she forgot. Either way it's good.

She is officially a big girl now, just ask her.
















(she gets her very own locker)

Oldie

While the kids and I were playing on the swing set the other day I asked Isaiah if I should try to jump off the swing.

He said, "Sure.".

I started swinging and when I reached the designated height I flew off. Nothing broke. Nobody got hurt. It was fun.

Isaiah said, "Man... Mama, you still got it in ya."

Friday, August 8, 2008

Take a Worm Fishing

Anna is the type of girl that enjoys chasing and picking up critters. All kinds of critters. Yesterday evening we were outside and she asked to remove a rock from around the tree and dig. She was looking for worms. Anna loves to look for worms.

Later, while getting a bath Anna was sad about not finding any worms. I explained that maybe because it was so dry out that the worms were very deep in the ground. I told her when it rains again the worms will be easier to find. She then said the worms would be her friend and that they would just belong to her. I said that would be great. I then asked Anna if she'd take her worms fishing.

Anna said, "They not have poles."

I'm Ba-ack

I have needed to take a break from blogging for a bit. It's been a little crazy here after the fair festivities.

First, let me say that if you neglect your garden for 2 1/2 weeks in the middle of July the weeds WILL be taller than yourself. I'm not a tall person, but still. Also, this garden that we inherited from the previous owners is huge. It is not the typical sized garden, it's a biggun. I don't know the exact measurements but I'm thinking I don't really want to know the specifics either.

It is fun though to find an intended plant, not a weed, while you are out bushwhacking the jungle that is your garden. Our tomatoes, pole beans, carrots, zucchini, cucumbers and Yukon Golds are doing splendidly. So are the sunflowers actually.

Another project I've been tasked with is cooking. I don't mean the typical breakfast, lunch and dinner. Matthew will be in New Mexico for a couple weeks hunting Elk, Bear, Mule Deer and whatever else walks in front of him. Matthew, his dad, his brother and their friend Eric will all be out there and Matthew thought it would be good if he took a turn and providing the one big meal they have a day. In secret husband/wife code this means I will actually be the one cooking the meals. I don't mind at all though. It's fun. I make the meal and get to use the coolest little kitchen contraption ever. A Foodsaver. Don, Matthew's dad, has this food vacuum/bag sealer deal for when they butcher their venison. Well, I am getting to use it seal and freeze the New Mexico meals. It's so much fun. The down side to this is that while I've been making a 2-3 meals a day by the time supper rolls around I don't feel much like cooking yet again so we've been eating PB&Js and chicken nuggets.