a personal note

Dear Mom,
     I have been thinking about you a lot lately.  Raising two teenagers is very different then raising two toddlers.  While I got wore out from all of the needs of toddlers, teenagers wear on you in such a different way, at such a heart level.  I can't imagine doing this husbandless as you did.  I apologize for all of the complaining, the attitudes, the...you know, I gave you.  Raising teenagers sure brings motherhood to a different level.  While our kids a darn good kids, some days I just don't feel like I know what I am doing.  Every time our kids give an attitude or be unappreciative I think, "Man, I said much worse to my mom."  Every time I sacrifice for our kids, albeit little at times, I think of how much you gave up so we could have.  I think of the things our kids don't know we have given up or simply given and think, "How much more did you do for us."
     It is funny how we become like our moms and our kids like us.  I know that if you did it, I can do it.
     Mom, for me and for all of the other moms of teenagers, I am sorry for the times I gave you a hard time and made you doubt your ability to mother.  Thank you for the example you set and for your patience.

Love,
Your daughter, who finally gets it.

P.S.
Thank you for all of your prayers and your patience with me even now.

review 2

may-aug

1. crafting
2. granola making
3. greens and bugs
4. cherry picking
5. hubby cut himself bad.
6. new dog
7. 4th of july
8. daughters photo for county fair
9. weird tomatoes from our garden
10. kids entering theor art/pics in the fair.  DD won.
11. science
12. DD driving to AZ.

Year-end Review

Just reviewing 2011 blog posts.
Jan-April

1. Our bird friend who hung out at our light.  He has since moved to the front door light.  We like him but not the mess he leaves.
2. Jan. is birthday month here. 
3. I believe January kicked off our scone fest.
4. How my blog got it's name.
5. I wrote about my closest friends.
6. I also did a 30 day blog post in Feb.
7. Baked.
8. Went on a cleaning fest that didn't last in March.
9. Featured son's photos of his legos.
10. Kids and I went to Sante Fe on a field trip.
11. Daughter won two awards in the writing fair.
12. We started our garden and planted grass.

rainbow of books

so i am wrote this friday for monday.

friday we woke to a snow dusting, more snow coming.

the church is having a Christmas banquet in the mountians tonight, should be interesting with all of the snow.

I hope you had a wonderful Christmas!

onto monday's post.

i have seen this around blogs and pinterest.  wednesday i decided to do it.

rearrange our bookshelf into colors.  it was previously grouped in categories.

our yellow books are lacking in comparison to the rest.  the votes are still out as far as the family is concerned.  i like it, the kids no...hubby hasn't noticed or hasn't said anything. 

veggie food

back to the eating vegan/vegetarian...well, we are definitely more vegetarian than vegan.

we have eaten meat (boy did it taste good!).

hubby has been better ate not eating meat then me.

i actually think i was getting a bit sad.  i had heard you have to be careful about that.

so, i happily enjoyed a burger with the kids, etc.

 however, i still want to share with you the things we do eat that are vegetarian.

here's a pizza daughter and i made.

took a french bread loaf, cut it in half and topped it.

 

son made these all by himself!  he saw these in the vegan cookie cookbook and wanted to try them.  NY Black and White cookies.  i must admit i had never heard of them, but after doing some researching discovered theta they are quite popular.  they are huge and super sweet, too sweet in fact.  it helps if you fold them in half so they chocolate helps cut the sugary taste of the white side. 

my own creation.  i have found that adapting our own food to vegetarian is much easier and tastier.  here's your basic broccoli and cheese baked potato with black beans.  it was really good.  the cheese was hubby's idea and a good one at that.

Merry Christmas to all of my readers!

who's is it??...talking tree and more

this year the kids are getting too old for presents.

well, not like that sounds.

they can almost figure out what is in the gift without opening it.

I wrapped them in bigger boxes, different shaped bags and still they are guessing right.

i resorted to leaving the names off.

they swear i will forget which belongs to whom.

my dad would.  with three of us he'd give us each a symbol/shape.

we wouldn't know which one was our appointed one of course.

he'd sometimes forget.  so, we'd open one and switch if needed.

next year i may just keep all of the gifts hidden until Christmas.

drive them really crazy!

we have a talking tree.  well, every time you turn on the lights "it" says "the force is with you young skywalker, but you are not a jedi yet, breathe..."  son's darth vader ornament is a highlight of our three every year.  we love to turn on the lights all of the time.

yummy gift.  hubby and i were in the kitchen, when we hear "UPS!".  then see the UPS guy smile a bit embarrassingly as he realized we were right there.  anyway, this, plus jams, etc. came all the way from Maine!  YUM!  gotta be thankful for family on the east coast.  though i will have to get creative with that mixer since we don't drink. 

to get you in the spirit

While I was looking for videos I came across these.  Not exactly what I went to You Tube for, but pleasantly surprised.

For kicks...I am always amazed when people can do things like this.

I could NOT resist.  You all know I hold a special place in my heart for the military, especially Marines.

Touching.

The real reason of Christmas.

I could listen to this ALL day!

around the house

Just wanted to share some of our Christmas decor with you.
1. Pretty ornament...I LOVE these type of ornaments.
2. One of the kid's ornaments.  In our family our dad's parents and our parents would always get/make us an ornament each year.  when we moved out we had a treeful.  My dad's parents and my mom (and sometimes we) have kept it up.  I rarely put any of mine on. 
3. One of our former tree's stumps.
4. One year our son, maybe more then one year, loved nutcrackers.  He still puts them up on the mantel every year.  He usually decorates the mantel.
5. Stockings, oh the stockings.  My mom's mom made ALL of her grandchildren stockings.  I am the second oldest and got the same pattern as a couple of my aunts.  My name is actually too long so she shortened it.  My mom has made her grandkids stockings.
6. Just another pretty ornament, these are hanging from our fan/light.

And just because, here's a free recipe for you.



Guamanian BBQ Sauce
2 cups soy sauce
1 cup white vinegar
1 lg onion, squeeze juice in
2 lemons quarted, squeeze juice in
1 cup ketchup
1/2-1 cup water (cuts saltiness)
meat, any kind (large enough to grill) *awesome for game*

mix wet ingredients. if you'd like cut up extra onion for onion rings. marinade, then grill.

blessing of praying friends

I am going to make this short, cut out some of the details, so I hope this makes sense. 

This is also written from a Christian perspective, with "Christian" language so I realize it may not jive with your beliefs or it may not make sense.  I do hope this ministers to you though.

Tuesday evening/Wednesday morning I was feeling pretty bad.  I was under spiritual/physical attack.

When I woke up Wednesday, I knew I needed help, I couldn't fight this on my own.

So, I texted (is that even a word?) some of the ladies in church and asked them to pray for me.

As I sat in the office praying, fighting it through, their texts started coming back.  "Praying right now" and other words of encouragement.  Their words, their taking the time to stand in the gap for me brought me to tears.  While they were praying I could rest, even for five minutes.  I felt a breakthrough.  It felt good knowing that my sisters have by back and are willing to fight with me.

I am so blessed to have ladies who may not even be my closest of friends stop and pray for me just when I needed it.  Thursday I felt really good, and I still do.  The devil is a punk and God is so good and so are His people.

baby you can drive my car

yesterday, our daughter passed her driving test with 100%!

we went up to the mountains, quicker and we know the man who works there.

i only took a couple of photos...it was cold and i didn't want to distract her.

she backed up without the ice affecting her!

she is so happy.

and so darn cute i had to add another photo.

we are actually going to be stricter than the state.  "her rope is a short one" (to quote dad).
never the less, we are proud and nervous at the same time.
oh, many folks are telling me how nice it will be to have her to go this and that...well, hubby drives the car to work.  i have the truck, which is a hard one to drive.  so no errand runner for me until night time.

one boy and one girl

"Oh, one boy and one girl, that's perfect."  is a common comment spoken by others upon finding out we have one of each.

while i don't think about it too much it is nice having one of each. 

i do sometimes wish we could've had a sister for our daughter and a brother for our son.

while he can't rough house with her and she can't play make-up and girly stuff with him; i have to admit that God knew just what He was doing.  Our daughter is perfect for a brother and our son is good for her.

he gets to learn to be a gentleman, have patience while waiting to use the bathroom, and to listen.
she gets to learn to be a lady (let him open her door, etc.), that boys can play dress up, just a bit differently, and that you can't be their mom.

while they are completely different and often get on each other's nerves, watch out if someone else should be mean to them.  i love that they stick up for each other and that when a boy "looks" at C. he wants to beat them up.  i love that she knows he's got her back and she his.

yeap, God knew what he was doing when He blessed us with one boy and one girl.  while the dynamics are different, two girls or two boys just don't seem "us" to us.

just a few deals

Social Spark has a few offers for you.

This one looks fun.


What a nice Christmas gift.


For all you bloggers using WordPress...


And a why not one.


Thanks for looking.

our tree tradition

Every year for the past, oh, I don't know, for a good while we have been going to the mountains and cutting our Christmas tree.  I really do look forward to it.

Just us driving through the mountains, sometimes snow, searching for the perfect tree.  I have been known to tag a tree or two (put some toilet paper on it so we can come back to it if there's nothing better).

This year was a bit different, the kids stayed home.  Daughter wasn't feeling great and son stayed home with her.  There was a good deal of snow in most of our normal areas.

 We opted to get one on the side of the road instead of driving through/on ice and snow.

It's not the prettiest one we have had, but it comes with a bit of a story and you should smell the smell.  Seriously, it is so nice.  At first it was almost too strong.

random

beef stew done in the crock pot.

teeth clean at dentist today.  love my hygienist.

raining, all day.

our tree makes me happy. (seriously need new batteries for camera-pic taken with laptop)

made peanut butter oat bran cookies.
the house is quiet...love it!
did i mention i need batteries for our camera?  double A rechargeable would be lovely.
found someone to haul off our eight bags of leaves for free!
i am seeing break through in some long term problem areas!  Glory to God!
i only have two more gifts to get, then i am done with Christmas!

Typical Monday (week) in Homeschool

So, I am looking for my camera, the one with the almost dead batteries so, I can take some photos of our homeschooling day for ya.  Frustrating!

Here's how our Monday's usually go.  (most days actually)
Son gets up at around 7:00-7:30 eats, and starts school.  (I am still in my robe at this point, not ready to do school yet.)***Added note...as of 12-12-11 son is actually starting school at 8 am.  for some reason he changed it up after i wrote this post.***
I am ready for school around 8:00
Daughter...ummmm let's call it 9-ish.  Seriously that is how different they are.

(this is all i could get from kids...them getting out of the way of the camera.)
Son does his handwriting, grammar and science by himself.  We do spelling together.
He has to show me what he does and we go over the good bad and ugly of it all.

Mondays I usually watch their math videos so I can teach them their new lessons for the week.
Then I teach each one as they are ready.

Daughter does her science, grammar and spelling by herself.
I usually don't have to check her work.  She is good at telling me what she's done and if we need to go over something we do.

By 10:00 their independent work is almost always done, if not they stop so we can do history and reading together.
Monday-Wednesday I read their history book while they listen for the answers on their worksheets.  This really helps them learn to listen and learn to learn.
Thurs. the reading is usually done and they go through the book on their own to find the answers they may have missed while listening.

After history, I read a book out loud to them.  We love it even though they are older it is still a great time.
If they are goofing off while I read they have to read some of the history/book.  That usually does the trick.

11:00-ish we are done.  Time for lunch.

If they have any work that needs to be done they finish after lunch.  I am done after lunch.  Unless I am reading up on curriculum or teaching methods, etc.

Fridays is art day or finish what needs to be finished day.
They still do science, math, grammar, spelling, handwriting.
Just art replaces history.

Our schedule usually changes from year to year.
Also, our schedule is flexible.

We do take field trips, can arrange the schedule around hunting, etc. 
There you have it.

New-Skin

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of New-Skin for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.

Now I don't believe in fate or whatever you want to call it, but this is funny. 

I received this offer to write about New-Skin products for my blog.  I read about it and thought it sounded useful.  Then this morning (TMI alert) I cut myself shaving.  The cut itself wasn't bad, but it wouldn't stop bleeding.  After quickly going through 5-7 bandages (no joke), I couldn't help thinking I need that New-Skin product I just read about.  I told hubby about my cut and how it wouldn't stop bleeding.  He (having NO idea about the New-Skin) told me I needed some thing like that.  It has stopped bleeding.  However, let me tell you about this New-Skin product I keep mentioning.

New-Skin is a liquid bandage that is perfect for the outdoorsy, hardworking, hard playing type, or the to close shaving type like me. They have a Scar Fade and a Poison Ivy Treatment  too.  The liquid bandage come in a spray as well.  I may try the Scar Fade on our daughters elbow.  (Too bad it didn't help all of my typos!)  Now I know some of my readers have kids (lots of boys out there), DIY-ers and leg shavers (I hope).  So, I am sure this product could come in handy. 

 

Now New-Skin is having a big sweepstakes, a chance to win the 4-day adventure of your choice!  All you need to do is complete the entry form on the New-Skin® Share the Outdoors sweepstakes link and have your friends and family visit your sweepstakes page to earn up to five votes per day – every vote increases your chances of winning the adventure of your choice!

  Now who wouldn't want to get away after the holidays?  Tell me why you'd want to win, where you'd want to go and leave me your sweepstakes page so I can vote for you.  Maybe you can take me with you if you win!  heehee

 

Here are all of the links you need:

New-Skin sweepstakes

a little bit more

we got more snow last night.

it always amazes me how fast the leaves fall some years.

1 inch of it

as seen from bedroom...

from kitchen #1...

from kitchen #2...

trying to make some $$

i am sure you've noticed some of my post are for Social Spark.
i am trying to earn a few extra bucks.
i accept some offers and they post whenever they like, so i may have a boatload (not really that many) of posts coming from Social Spark.  sorry.
also, the more readers i have the more i qualify for, SO if you like this blog could you please follow and tell your friends about it...THANKS!

just because you took the time to read...Charlie our dog who lets son dress him up.

are you serious?

can someone tell me, where did this year go?

i haven't meant to not write for so long, but b.u.s.y. is what i've been.

so, here's goes a random catch up for you.

thanksgiving was great!  the weather so nice we ate outside.  (first time ever.)

unfortunately this is the only photo i was able to take.  we were just setting up.

we had so much leftovers that i actually had to throw some out.

onto our venture into vegetarianism.  we are much more vegetarian then vegan.

i want to show you a couple of recipes i have made this week.

this one i'll call veggie stack.  (taste better then it looks.)

sliced eggplant, sauteed in olive oil, garlic, chopped onions and balsamic vinegar.

sliced blanched tomatoes

sliced zuchs, sauteed like the eggplant

layered with feta

topped with salt and pepper

warmed in oven

served with wild rice with browned pinon nuts

YUM!

This one is from Two Peas and Their Pods.   LONG name which basically tells you everything that's in it.

canneli (sp?) beans

spinach and fresh basil torn

artichoke hearts, drained and cut

sourdough flute bread (everything tastes better with sourdough bread)

feta, 1 tbls lemon juice, salt and pepper

cut and brush with olive oil the bread (i sprinkled them w/garlic powder), toast for ten minutes

mix the rest of ingredients in bowl and serve over warm bread.

i loved this one.  wasn't sure about the fresh basil, but loved it.  hubby liked this one too.

Master the Meal

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of GravyMaster for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.

I have to be honest with you here, when Social Spark sent me an offer to write about Master the Grill Gravy Master, I thought my hubby makes the best gravy around.  However, I read more about it and thought "Hmmm, maybe I will write about it."

So here it goes.  First off, you know that hubby and I are trying to eat vegetarian/vegan.  (That is a whole other post.)   And most gravies (especially hubby's) is NOT vegan at all.  Therefore, I was pleasantly surprised when I read: "Gravymaster is both vegetarian and vegan, it contains NO meat."  That's good.  Second, we try to eat products that don't have a lot of junk, you know all of those additives and stuff.  So, another plus for GravyMaster is: "Gravymaster contains a carefully concentrated blend of celery, onion, parsley, garlic, caramel, hydrolyzed vegetable protein, apple vinegar, salt and pure cane sugar.  NO chemical preservatives, artificial color, flavors or additives are ever used."  What a great way to yummy up your Christmas dishes.  It is wonderful for caramelizing veggies too.

There is more information here: http://gravy.com/t-GravyMasterProductInfo.aspx

I would love to make this:   only try it as a bean burger.  Or the first thing that came to mind was slow cooking our beans in it.  I tried that with BBQ sauce and they were delish!  What would you make?

Find more information here:

GravyMaster

Master the meal

catching up

We went here for our 20th...

This is happening today...

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

the blog boards are by lauren reid designs and the lilypad.

good morning monday before thanksgiving.
got a good night's sleep.
will start on my thanksgiving to-do list today.

i have been planning (sort of ) a post about homeschooling, our school day, etc. 
do you have any questions you'd like answered?

off to shower...you didn't really want to know that did you.

20 years

(photos are unedited as is our marriage.)
20 years ago I married someone who would become my best friend.
We only knew each other 8 months before we got married.
We knew that we were going to marry...so much so that hubby just assumed we'd get married.  I had to ask him to ask me to marry him.  Funny, now.
We didn't really know what we were doing in the beginning, but golly, we made it work and made it fun.

I could go on and on about our marriage, but instead I will give you a list of 20 things I have learned in 20 years of marriage. (in no particular order.)
1. I am one selfish person.
2. I really need my hubby in my life.
3. Just how deep I can love.
4. How fun it is to have someone in my life.
5. Some things are better left unsaid...
6. ...unless they are kind.
7. It is such a stabling feeling knowing the same person is there with you all the way.
8. How to laugh...hubby is a character.
9. How to forgive.
10. How to press on in hard times.
11. How to get close to God in those hard times.
12. It is really nice to have someone who knows me inside and out and still loves me.
13. That two really do become one.  (I realized that when hubby went overseas in the Marines.)
14. Having a hubby makes me want to be a better person.
15. Sometimes holding hands says so much, so very much.
16. How to appreciate picking up after someone.
17. How to rest in the good times.
18. I have learned just how strong and vulnerable I am.
19. (19 already...) How to live out the vows we said..."for richer, for poorer, in sickness and health..."
20. I would do it all again.