Does anyone have a copy of….

I’ve been looking at books tonight, oh how I love books. Oh I know you can get most of what you want to do on-line but sometimes to have and hold a book is just plain wonderful. Anyways, I found this neat book called: Craftcycle: 100+ Earth-Friendly Projects and Ideas for Everyday Living.

Does anyone have a copy of this book that they aren’t reading? I would be interested in buying it. I found it on half.com  and Amazon but both want $12-15.00 plus shipping for it and was wondering if possible to get it a bit cheaper.

I figured it’s worth a try this way before giving up.

Tomorrow is a shopping day with my mama. Just the usual stuff and maybe a stop by the Goodwill. When I get home it’s time to start working on the daycare’s Christmas gifts. I’m going to be making traveling pockets filled with goodies. First, a homemade chalk board, then a homemade workbook. I picked up coloring pencils, chalk, a few other goodies to add to it but first I have to make the pockets. I’ll show you when I get the pattern made and what it looks like as I’m working on them.

It’s late so time to hit the hay. I’ll chat again. Take care and God Bless.

Black Frost

Burr is it cold this morning. It was 19* when I got up at 4:30. I guess that means we’ve had our black frost in this area. Last night we started up the wood heat and I got to wake up to a warm 70* this morning instead of 59* like yesterday. I just did lots of baking first thing in the morning to heat the house up but it’s hard to get everyone going at those temps. I have a couple of pictures to share with you (of course I do, it’s what I do). Fall is really here.

 See the frost on the roof? You can also see I never did get the second building painted this year. We still have warm weather coming up, will I get it done then? Maybe……See the temperature?

I started Jim blazer early today so he wouldn’t have to scrap off the windows, but I bet I will be doing that on my sub when we go to the library today.

When I opened my window to take a frosty pictures all my chickens ran to the window to see if I was throwing them out a goody. They are so soiled.

And last but not least, the frost on the grass. I am sure going to miss this green outside. That is one reason so many pine trees in our yard, they are always green plus their other benefits like windbreaks, shade, a place to have picnics and play.

So it’s to work I go. Justin just got up and is watching TV, Jon is on the bus and almost at school, Jim and Mike are off to work and then school and I hear Hannah stirring so I know it’s time for bacon and eggs for breakfast (that’s what Justin asked for). It’s library day today along with a few errands and a visit at Kim’s.

So have a great day my dear friends. Take care and God Bless!!

Just so you know....

I was warned last night that some of the pictures I take and post are beautiful and may be able to win a photo contest or two. So am I going to do what I was asked to do and post on my blog that the pictures that are posted here are owned by me and may not be used for anything unless you ask permission for. I don't know how to go back to them and copywrite them or anything but will just ask that if you like them and do want to use them for something to please just ask me. Thank you for your honesty.

Have a good night and God Bless.

Good night….

My most favorite pictures in the whole wide world are sunsets. Mike took one for me tonight that I just had to share with you. Isn’t this wonderful?

 How about this one….

On Friday the kids and I went to Brenda’s for a visit. Justin has been wanting to drive my cart for a long time so we’ve been practicing in the field behind daddy’s barn. While on the way back I let him drive. He was so intend on doing a good job he didn’t even know I was taking his picture.

Here’s is my pumpkin pile for sale. Not to big a pumpkins this year but just the right size for the kids to decorate. There are at least 2 dozen more to pick next week.

Today was my craft  show at the Hallett in Crosby. It was a Women’s Expo and they had some pretty interesting programs and some really unique vendors. Terri of Cedarhaven Creations shared my spot with me and we helped each other sell our stuff.

So now my day is done and I’m heading to bed. Good night my dear friends, may God Bless you all!

This week….

 

Good morning. It’s been a busy week with more canning and freezing and lots of fun time with the kids. I do have a few pictures to share with you and a bit of explanation to some of them. I want to say that this weeks weather has been so good for the garden and for play time outside. I am sure going to miss it when winter gets here. I am not a fan of winter but living in Minnesota there isn’t much of a choice. It doesn’t keep me inside even at 40 below but I do prefer the sunshine and warmth. Tomorrow is the Women’s Expo in Crosby so that means a craft show. I have been working getting the jewelry ready and making a few new pieces to add. A while ago I made a mood bracelet for myself but wasn’t thrilled the way it fit but Abby loved it so she bought it with her own birthday money and began showing it off. Well at our last craft show I had a few request for some to buy so that’s what I did. I also made me a new one that fits much better but still not sure if I’ll keep it or sell it and just make another one another time. I’m not a fan of the stretch bracelets but for mood beads they need the contact close to the warm of your skin so it’s the best to use. Anyways, here’s a few pictures of this week and ones I just have to share with you.

When Mike found out about Henry, He came home and just wanted to be alone, well Hannah knew best and came and cuddle with Mike and both feel asleep. Good for them both but mostly Mike I think.

Hannah’s most favorite toy right now. Mike got this back when he was about Hannah age. The guy dances and sings and Hannah carries him everywhere and dances with him. Pretty special picture.

This is just a small portion of what I’ve put up this past month. I have spaghetti sauce, stewed tomatoes, salsa, apples sauce, jams. I was doing corn last night at 9:00 but wanted to get that finished up. Kim came over and we picked more tomatoes and corn for her plus I then picked squash and corn to share with the grandparents. For my not so large garden it sure does a great job making sure everyone gets enough. Thank you Lord.

Hannah loves her Wilbur and he loves her. They are so cute together. He babysits her while she’s outside, making she she’s not going where she’s not suppose to go and to sit or lay down so she can play with him. It’s a precious relationship between those two.

Okay, I have got to get to work. I need to load the suburban so we can set up for the show tomorrow. I promised Brenda we’d come down for a visit this morning, then there’s nap time when I need to make some new business cards and signs for our jewelry and then snack, after school kids and hopefully by 5:30 I can be on my way to set up for the show.

Oh one more pictures. Two nights ago daddy and I took his tractor to the 3rd 40 and took apples to the deer. I took some pretty shots and had to share the beginning of fall with you. Also the beaver dam.  So take, have a great weekend and the most important, God Bless you all. Now enjoy the great scenery our wonderful Lord has given us.

Something new….

 

I don’t know how to do this yet but I am trying to use Windows Live Writer to write on my blog so please bare with me. Kim turned me onto this and said it’s so much easier and you can do a few more things with the photos and different typing and so on. So I’ll see what I can do here.

I wanted to share this picture with you, my sunflowers are just about finished being pretty and ready for the birds but I love this photo and thought you might too.

So this is cool, I like the ease it is to share a picture. I’ll have to see what else this is I can do but for now this is all I have tonight.

I’ve been canning up a storm. I’ve put up at least 25 quarts of tomatoes, 15 pints of salsa plus frozen quart containers of each, 15 quarts of apples sauce and 10 pints plus frozen ones too. I’ve made spaghetti sauce, goulash mixture, stewed tomatoes and chili. Mike and I picked pumpkins last night, I’m going to try and sell some and the rest will have for the kids and families. They aren’t very big, about a humans head size but think the perfect size for the kids to decorate. I think for the first time I’ll also figure out how to make fresh pumpkin pie from scratch instead of the can. Squash is next to start picking and doing plus a little bit more corn but now for soups instead of just eating kind.

Okay my friends, good night….sleep tight and may God Bless you all!!!

Not this week....

I don't think this is the week to be blogging so excuse the absents of anything. I have been so busy canning/freezing everything that by time I'm able to get on my computer it's almost 9:00 at night and I barely can write my mama a note.

Also,

My husband's uncle passed away on Sunday so it's been a stressful week dealing with all the emotions. Henry was a great man and a huge influence on Mike when it came to scouting and becoming an Eagle Scout. We have been very lucky in our lives, we haven't lost a single loved one in over 20 years so Mike has never had to see us or learn to grieve. It's a part of life but a not so great part. Friday is the funeral and our final farewell.

I'll be back next week. Take care everyone and God Bless!!

Today....

Today I took my two guys golfing. I won 2 gift certificates at our Ladies Night Out a few months back and finally got the day off with Mike and my nephew Scott to go golfing. We had to be there at 8:00 this morning for our Tee Time and boy was it a foggy, misty morning. We were wet before we walked 5 feet, thank goodness our gift certificates came with golf carts. The boys are great golfers, at least they can get their balls from the tee part way down the fairway, me...for ever one hit of theirs it took two or three of mine. We didn't bother to keep score since in the first 3 holes we were at least 5 above par but we weren't there to do that we were there to have fun. It was great, really great!!! I got to take a few pictures of the boys playing and to share them with you. Take a peak...

I have another pictures I want you to see, I love it and I took it on 9/11 as a remembrance for all that our great nation stands for. God Bless you all and God Bless America!!!

Home again....

Let me tell you this, if you are a camping family and you are able to get away for just a couple of days you have got to head to Itasca State Forest and go to Bass Lake campground. It's about 10 miles out of Effie. It is the most beautiful campground we've been in a long time and we've been to tons of great campgrounds and all are beautiful but this one tops it. It's not an expensive campground either, just $10.00 a day. Oh guys, camping is just plain the most wonderful way to spend a weekend away with your family. Mike and I went hiking and swimming, we all went fishing and Jim did all the grilling/cooking and since we're camping that means all dishes are throw aways so not much for dishes. I got to read about 1/2 of a really good book, I got to wake up to the birds singing, the squirrels arguing, the loons talking.....I wouldn't trade this weekend for anything. Here are some pictures to just show you how great the weekend was. Oh I did take a few grad pictures but I'm not as thrilled with them as well as the BWCA ones but I think when fall comes and I take the last of them I'll do a poll and see what you all have to say. So on to the pictures. I hope you enjoy them. I hope that you had a great weekend also. Take care and God Bless!

"End of Summer" party....

Well we did it, we had our end of summer party and boy did the kids have fun. Mike was home to help me set up last night and this morning and then played with the kids all morning long. It was so much fun and Rachel said it was the best party we've had yet. Here are a few pictures of before, during and after. Check out our ginger bread house, I first made it from cardboard, hot glued on Graham crackers and then the kids decorated it. Our game was a kid version of Candy Land with our lollipop stand, molasses swamps, grandma nut who gave out circus peanuts and snow cone island. We don't do the winner/loser stuff, all are winners which works out the best for all. The pinata was a big hit and the ending, playing with Mike with the fire hose.

So that was our party and our day. I will so miss these kids when they had off to school. Mine graduates this coming June. It is amazing how fast life goes when you are part of a child's life.

I have a couple more pictures to share with you, remember the walk in the woods on Thursday? Well here's two of my most favorite pictures. My little ones and one of "grandpa" helping them become lumberjacks by pushing over some dead standing timber. They love their walks in the woods and love the time with "grandpa".

Have a great night sleep and remember to tell the Lord just how grateful you are for what he's giving you. I know that I sure will be again and again. God Bless you all!!!

Free Ice-Cream....From Bluebunny

Remember I told you all about the coupon clipping I've been doing and the money saving ideas? Well here's a good one for you, go to:

http://www.bluebunny.com/Content/Rebates/2009_Labor_Day_Email_Offer.pdf

You get to try it and they pay for it. Sounds like a good deal to me, only we'll be camping and not near a grocery store for the coupon dates but hey, one of you may be able to use it.

Now go to www.eversave.com and sign up for all kinds of freebies. The best ones are the Wal-mart ones because I have always recieved their freebies but the more you sign up for the more you get. Like my free M&M's coupon, that one came from the Mars Company.

Now also, if you haven't gone to www.coupons.com you really have too. Just about every single time I go shopping I save anywhere from $9.00-$20.00 just by taking the time to use coupons. Oh it's not an easy task, printing, clipping, reading, organizing, finding and using them but it's worth it. I am also able to help mama save some money too because we never use the same coupons so whatever is available for her I clip too. We use the coupons from the Sunday papers, the ones that come in the news flyers and any thing else possible. I even have a DC mama that brings me coupons and my mother-in-law sends them too. With school starting and DC going to be a much smaller number then usual it helps saving money and still being able to have a cupboard full and freezer full.

Now one more thing, if you live in Minnesota (I don't know if these program are available in any other state but I bet you could check it out) you gotta check into Angel Food Ministries and Fare For All, both are church ran programs that get a large group of people together so that they can buy food in bulk and distribute it the last Saturday of each month. If you want the websites go too: http://www.angelfoodministries.com/ and that will explain what they are all about and how it helps lots of people and how the people help them. http://www.emergencyfoodshelf.org/OurFamilyOfPrograms/FareForAll/OverviewAndAccomplishments.aspx
It is worth the time and effort for these also and the more people they have participating the more things they can get at a lesser price the more they can distribute. They encourage everyone to use these services and ask that you give back to the community anyway that you can by volunteering with them or anywhere.

I just thought I'd share this with you all because I know that life can be difficult, can be getting difficult or already is and we need to be able to feed our families, take of them and help others at the same time. It's a big circle of love that helps.

Okay, it's onward and upwards to my 5 today. Today is our last full day together before school starts so that means a visit to the grandparents, great grandparents and a picnic in the woods. Tomorrow is our "End of Summer" party and Mike has taken the day off to be with the kids and help with the party. It's a Candy Land theme with a the candy land game (in life size), gingerbread house decorating, a pinata and swimming. We'll have a picnic and end the day with cake and ice-cream. I'm betting it'll be a great day.

I have pictures to share later on with our walk in the wood with grandpa yesterday but with the way life is right now I thought this was something much more important to share.

Take care and God Bless!!! This is the day the Lord hath made, let us rejoice and be glad in it!!

Past weekend...

The Minnesota Science Museum is the most wonderful Museum. The Titanic Exhibit was wonderful, so informative and so put together. It was such a wonderful thing to learn so much about. The only regret I had about the whole things was we couldn't take any pictures of any of the whole experience but we have our minds eye pictures. If you live in the area I would encourage you to one day take the time to go and enjoy. Now I do have a few pictures to share with you, they are of Mike and Scott and my mama and I. We also took a few really good pictures of Minneapolis/St. Paul area I'll share. More tomorrow about my little ones and the terrific walk in the woods today. Good night, sleep tight, may God Bless you all!!