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Monday, November 30, 2009

A good few days :)

It has been a wonderful few days around here while I have been mia in blogworld. Thursday was just absolutely wonderful. Even though I didnt ask him too Hubby (who loves to cook) helped me in the Kitchen all morning cutting veggies and getting things ready It waas awesome to share that time with him. Then in the middle of the day my family arrived we enjoyed fun time with them and then a wonderful meal I was really tickled with the way everything turned out and my mom was really impressed with things...(that makes me happy) My dad who loves apple pie as does my hubby and grandpa all enjoyed thier treats so it was a most wonderful day and man did the house smell good. Friday I was so exhausted I stayed in my jammies half the day (ooohhh shame on me LOL) Saturday we went shopping with my mom I dont do black friday shopping in person but I did get some great curriculum from CurrClick on Friday! Yay, some great lapbooks and other unit studies all for free it was great. Saturday night we went to chinese food with my parents..yum and no cooking yay! Then yesterday we had a food festival (we dont call them potlucks lol) at church and we had some wonderful fellowship time after service. Hubby Joined us at church yesterday! YAY!!! and may actually go again this coming weekend! some friends of ours are thinking of attending next weekend and encouraged him to be there plus the kids had already asked daddy to come again next weekend! I love it when God works through others and not me and my wants! Its awesome to watch where things are going in regards to Hubby and the Lord... I am just watching and praising... and feel so happy it is unreal!
anyway right now little Prince is working on Mathletics we went ahead an purchased Mathletics after the American Math challenge and I love that he wakes up and wants to Play MATH! Its awesome and you can assign certain curriculm for them to work through before they compete/play online in the challenges so we are actually using that for math right now he picked things up so quickly like area and perimeter that we had been struggling with in the books! Little princess of course now wants her computer play time too so I have some preschool things for her to do when brother is done.
Today is laundry day and overall cleaning day as I take weekends off usually sometimes I do saturday cleaning while hubby is at work but I tend to try and keep up with things during the week so off I go to clean the kitchen and then My room needs some attention and reorganizing we moved some things in that had been floating around the garage and now I need to reorganize and put some things away finding homes for others. Have a blessed day everyone and "see ya" soon!

Tuesday, November 24, 2009

Thanksgiving Preparations

Hi all, I have got to get better about posting so sorry:)
So my Thanksgiving preparations are underway as well as I am sure many of yours are. A friend at church needed someone to care for her 2 boys this week as well so I am squeezing in preparations to my afternoons as they get here at 4:45am and stay till 2:30-3 today I am going to make either my bread rolls or my pies maybe both. The boys are good kids however I need to closely supervise the interactions to maintain age appropriateness and appropriateness for my house so some of my time I would normally work into cleaning and baking during our mornings is taken by supervision. I think I probably shelter my kiddos but I am ok with that! Im the mom they are mine and I CAN~! LOL.... ya know what I mean!
Also we were fully going to do school Mon-Wed however we are going to just do a thanksgiving craft and study the origin of thanksgiving and Pilgrims today and tomorrow :)

My menu for the big day is:
Roast Turkey (got a 24 lb turkey yesterday hope its defrosted by thursday morn)
Stuffing maybe with apples in it havent decided yet
Sweet Potatoes with brown sugar and a splash of oj on them before baking
Mashed Potatoes and Gravy
Homemade Cranberry sauce
Homemade rolls( I hope) I do have some storebought backups if I run low on time
Pumpking Pie with homemade whip cream
Apple pie with the same
Strawberry jello with banana's in it (this is abnormal for my menu but my fathers favorite and since my mother father and grandfather are joining us I will ablige my dad:)

Going to make appetizer plate that consists of homemade feta cheese balls with sundried tomatoes and greek seasoning with Cracker variations
Celery with spray cheese(i know its not good for ya but I love it and so do my parents lol)
Crackers
Carrot sticks
Artichoke Dip bread bowl with baquette slices

Well thats my Menu plan and today I start some of the prepping as well as on todays to do list is :
all laundry fold put away
Kitchen cleanup
Make bread
Sweep and mop
Vacuum living room and dining area
Dust

Tomorrow's to do list:
Kids room Straighten up, Dust, change sheets, Vacuum (all together make pretty for grandparents:)
Pick up my room and vacuum
Wipe up bathrooms ( I do a cleaning on these every couple days so they dont take long at all)
Make the appetizer plates up and make cheese balls do whatever baking I dont get to today I may make the potatoes and put in microwaveable dishes to reheat on thursday thinking I may not have the oven to work with since it will be full of turkey


Thursday:
Get up early get Turkey Prepped Make stuffing get in oven
final cleanups wipedowns before parents arrive set out appetizers and enjoy the day with all the family:)

Have a blessed day and I will take pics of my pies and such as I make them and try to post them online:)

Wednesday, November 18, 2009

What day is it?!!

Ahh..been behind on my blogging as I was babysitting a friends 18 month old for the last 6 days...Whew...I am exhausted I dont know how you all do it with larger families! But I think having them as your own children makes a difference as you dont just jump into an 18 month old busy phase (unless adopting of course) you are able to acclimate to the business of them being everywhere!~ It was a lot of fun and I am missing the little one a bit but The kids and I went to a play today and did some grocery shopping yesterday so we are getting back to normal schedules. We saw the Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe today preformed by a local art/theatre company and it was a lot of fun even little Princess enjoyed it. We had front row seats I felt like roalty LOL... We attended with the local group ofhomeschoolers then afterward I went to a pizza/play place locally with one of the moms and her 2 kiddos what fun we had. Nice lunch and I stuck to a salad! My new resolve to lose weight stick with me on that we shall see how it goes ever since my back surgery I gained a bunch of weight as exercising was hard with the pain however now I am better pain wise so its time to get moving and watch what I eat more. Tonight will be chicken and salad:) More on this later gotta run and get the kids to Awana Usually I would be teaching as I am also an Awana leader however tonight I stay home. I have been fighting a sore throat and with all the sick little ones at Awana I am going to steer clear of there in hopes of warding off any furthering of the sickies....we shall see Take care and "see" you all soon

Friday, November 13, 2009

A tour of my humble abode....

Welcome to the New home:) This was updated with the new house on 2/17/2010 Enjoy


Wednesday, November 11, 2009

Wisk Away Wednesday

LOL...I always like to come up with fun titles and that one stuck this morning, I am wisking away clutter and messes around the house today. Tonight starts a 5 night/day run of babysitting for some friends. I am excited as I will get to see how my house would really run if I had 3...I keep praying that we may adopt some time in the distant or near future. Hubby is not on board with this Idea so I am just praying that God speak to his heart if this is meant to be or speak to my heart to change the yearning for more if it is not his will. Either way I would be fine if in the end I know Gods will is where we are You know what I mean? I cannot physically care any more than my 2 perfect blessings as after my back surgery they said no more but I really feel a tug on my heart to give a youngster that needs a loving christian home a safe place to be. Hubby and I have had long talks on this and for now I am content to babysit and wait on the Lord to answer this one....but I just thought I would share...hehe
So today I will go around and make changes that will help keep little man safe for the next few days as having an almost 5 year old and a 10 yr old is way different than having a 2 yr old around daily:)
Little Princess is still not feeling 100% so please pray for her and for protection for 2 yr old to not get what she and little Prince Had. I think we are on the last legs of the cold and that is all it is as she and little prince did not run a fever much past the first day and that was low grade even still so no high fevers and not severe symptoms just coldish symptoms. She is down to just having sniffles and sneezes and congested head. She wants to feel better it was so sweet when she said "mommy when am I going to feel better" aahhh my heart broke for her and I prayed with her that she would feel better very soon. Well I am off to get things going I am going to try and post my home tour later today if I get time but right now gotta run...
By the way Little Prince is loving the Mathletics challenge ....for elementary aged kids this has been so fun see top of my right sidebar for the link:)

Tuesday, November 10, 2009

Where have I been?

I have been not on the bloggy sphere as my computer was just running so slowly that we couldnt do anything! In a big surprise hubby had been going to give me a new one for Christmas so he gave it to me early. I had a hint of it when he really didnt want me to get a new one as he had said we may get a new one this year but then was really adamant about me not going and buying one on my own lol. This all started last week when I was trying to post my videos of my bread and it wouldnt upload the last videos as my hard drive was full...for those out there with computer knowledge ( I dont have much but a little lol) I had a 2006 that only had 80GB of total hard drive space between the two drives the new one is a Gateway with 500GB hard drive and a Duo processor. I have plenty of space for all my photos, videos and my bible study stuff which I discovered was hogging 19GB of space lol..i really need to watch the videos and study what I have downloaded so I can decide to keep or discard lol.. need more hours in my day So for today's post I have posted the bread I made last week and now it is time to make more bread today lol.
Here is my recipe for my whole wheat yeast bread with oatmeal the original recipe is for 6 loaves which my mixer just cant do all at once so if I cut it in half and that actually makes 2 of my big loaves since I have bigger than usual bread pans so this recipe makes 2 big loaves in 10X4 pans or 3 of a regular loaf pans
1/4 cup warm water
1.5 packs of yeast that are .25 of an ounce or if you have a jar of yeast like I do then i go a bit over a .25 oz on my measuring spoon
1/8 cup wheat flour
1/2 Tablespoon white sugar
1 cup oatmeal quick or regular (I use regular)
1 cup whole wheat flour
2 1/4 cups warm water
3/4 tablespoon salt ( I use sea salt)
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup unsalted sweet cream butter (very soft)
5 cups white flour
2 tablespoons or a bit more Flaxseed Meal (Optional)
1-2 Tablespoons of Pure Maple Syrup (optional)

In your mixing bowlstir together the first 4 ingredients let grow for about 5 min
while growing I measure out my other ingredients and chop my oatmeal to a finer consistency Does not need to be perfectly fine just chopped to your liking
Add oatmeal, Water, whole wheat flour, salt, brown sugar, softened butter to mixer/ or mixing bowl stir together well
begin adding white flour 1 cup at a time and completely mixing in dough will be slightly sticky when finished if using a Kitchen aid mixer set timer for 2 min and let it kneed this mixture together for 2 min
Place dough into oiled bowl (I use butter on my bowl and my bread pans) turn to coat cover with clean cloth place in warm spot
let rise 1 hour
Punch down, kneed for a min or 2 by hand divide into 2-3 balls kneed by hand a couple min then form ball place into bread pan punch down into pan then flip to coat other side and leave ugly side down Let rise in warm place again for 1 hour covered with clean cloth
When fully Risen bake at 350 degrees F ( 175C) for about 35 min until tops are golden brown let cool for 10 min in pans then turn out onto wire cooling rack Let cool completely before slicing.
I place these loaves in large 2 gal ziploc bags with a paper towel in the bag to absorb the small amount of sweating they produce the first night when they are fresh,.
Enjoy:)

UPDATE: YOU MAY NEED TO LET IT RISE LONGER DEPENDING ON THE TEMP OF YOUR HOUSE MY HOUSE WAS COOL YESTERDAY AND I HAD TO LET IT RISE ON THE SECOND RISE FOR ALMOST 2 HOURS I PUT IT ON TOP OF THE OVEN IN THE PANS WITH A TOWEL UNDER THE PANS SO THE BOTTOM DOESNT GET TOO HOT AND I COVER LIGHTLY AND HAVE THE OVEN ON TO KEEP THE AREA AND AIR AROUND THE BREAD WARM WHEN YOU CAN PUSH YOUR FINGER IN AND IT DOESNT SPRING BACK OR FILL IN THE SPOT IT IS RISEN...

Whole Wheat Yeast Bread 11/4/09 at OneTrueMedia.com

Wednesday, November 4, 2009

Math Challenge link

I am posting the Link to the Math Challenge here as well as on my sidebar to the right:) American Math Challenge

Sickies Sickies Everywhere

Well, Little Prince is feeling better today still stuffed up but feeling better overall praise the Lord! However little princess is just beginning as of yesterday so I expect a few more days of mellow/house quarantine for us. Wonderful hubby is not doing so well either please pray for him, he is experiencing severe stomach pain when he eats I think it is an ulcer and so does he. We are treating him with prilosec right now and he is modifying his diet to help. He has gone through this before and since we dont have insurance right now he is adamant about not going to the doctor. For his health I would spare no expense I keep telling him however if he won't go I will just keep a close eye on his health and try to cook to help his stomach. He is lactose intolerant and this really makes it more so so I am working on cooking without irritants. However even his plain ham sandwiches upset it so this is proving difficult. Anyway off I go to get rolling for the day both kids are up now and it is time for breakfast and then hopefully today I get to baking, and get my pictures taken for a home tour too. Will update you all later on the sickies:) Thanks for praying for them. God Bless

Tuesday, November 3, 2009

Update on today

Well after this morning's post Little Prince is starting to feel a bit better we relaxed and got things done today and just let him recuperate I actually got a project completed I deep cleaned my bedroom vacuumed the edges and under the bed, fully dusted and got a big pile of stuff...yes I have stuff in piles here and there...oh my! I never claimed to be a really great housekeeper LOL...hence themessymommy.blogspot name lol... I am getting immensely better however with prayer, encouragement from all of you through your blogs and since getting off all the pain killers after my spine surgery I am doing so much better:) Yay! I am working to get each room re-organized and then my goal is to keep up with it through actually using my HMB...I put it together a year ago however whats the old saying..things only work if you use them LOL.. I am kind of bad at that however I have really been talking with God about giving me the right attitude about housework, and it has improved so much. Isn't God amazing I prayed hard for a couple of days for him to re-ignite my soul in some areas and to help me have more energy to go about my days and he provided Praise the Lord.

One prayer request as the day went on a sore throat and fever came for Little princess Please pray for protection as with little prince that this is just a standard cold and not anything more severe. thank you for your prayers and your friendship all those who I communicate with on here and any new visitors:) God bless and I will update all in the morning.

I didn't bake bread today with all the project work and little princess really not feeling well today put this off till tomorrow since I will not be going out of the house as planned. That is one of the things I love about homeschool, sick days dont bring near the stress they did when you know they are falling behind at school and you can just catch up when they feel better, also they can learn when not feeling well with reading and playing educational games on the computer and such. I signed little prince up for the Mathletics challenge this week is practice and next week is the challenge He actually asked to do this today even though it was the dreaded MATH and had fun:) Here is a link American Math Challenge you register on here then when you go back to the main page after registration click on the mathletics link I had to search forever to figure out how to get into the practice session so if you have questions let me know it is aimed for middle elementary grades and up:)

Do you have a scheduled week?

Yesterday I accomplished much of what I set out to do! It was awesome. Homeschool actually got put mostly on hold however as Little Prince had been sick since last thursday it started out mild then hit hard over the weekend Sunday and Yesterday being the worst he was feeling better last night so hopefully we can get back on track today with schooling. I have our homeschool block time planned out and chores worked into the schedule so hopefully we can have another productive day around here. Today I have much to do in the kitchen it is Bread making day and I may post a video. I have to sit down and do a schedule for Wednesdays and Thursdays as these 2 days I leave the house for scheduled things so I need to revamp the schedule to fit these days. So nothing much exciting here when I get my schedules actually running smoothly for more than one day in a row lol, I will share them with you all as I know I love to see other mom's schedules...why is that?? I think we all enjoy seeing other moms days to glean ideas maybe I know thats why I enjoy it I like to see how others plan out their days and sometimes I have gleaned the best ideas from others. Thats what Titus 2 is all about right teaching other women from our examples:) I am far from being a mentor type I have a long way to go but I do hope that I can encourage other moms/wives along my journey to be the women God planned for them. Well I am off Have a blessed day and I will post my bread hopefully later today along with photos of the lapbooks I talked about last week:)

Do you have a schedule already in place? Post a link to your schedule page so I can share on here if you like:) God Bless


UPDATE: Little Prince just woke up and he is feeling just awful this morning still so we will have to see how today goes Thank the Lord he is not running a fever just all congested and feeling crummy. Light day again today for schooling probably he just cant focus on retention if he feels crummy. Please pray he will fully recover soon And the rest of us will not get what he has had.

Monday, November 2, 2009

Monday Time to get organized

Well over the last 4 days I have re-organized both my pantry and my laundry room storage areas and yesterday wonderful hubby, little prince and I reorganized and decluttered little prince's entire room I am going to work through the other areas of the house this week and plan on finally doing a tour of my house by the end of the week. This morning I worked on my home management binder schedule section and planned out the timing for homeschool today so I need to get rolling I am already behind a bit lol... Over this week I will be adding to and adjusting my schedule and really trying to get it rolling and organized. Catching up on housework isn't a ton of fun or very exciting but when it is all done doesn't it feel good! Ok all off I go I will post more later about my schedule and hopefully update that I have gotten everything I dream of doing today done LOL...tata..