Randomness

I was SICK, SICK this weekend! I stayed in bed all weekend. It is so wonderful to have a husband who can totally take everything over and keep everything & everyone on track! I so appreciate him. He is so awesome, even if he has an odd, random sense of humor.

He has a bit of a pet peeve for churches who value their facilities higher than lost people, so he got a big kick out of this church sign! Not exactly welcoming. Some churches put out signs that encourage people and even homeless to find hope and love in their building. I love the "You are now entering the mission field" sign at CCC and FBC Leland. I'm sure there is a story behind this sign! I guess he owes them $500 for trespassing.

Products I Love for my Home

I'm not reviewing anything here - just making a grocery list & thinkin' 'bout the things I buy. Ever really think about why you buy a product over and over? I love to buy generic brand products, but there are some things I have to have the real deal. You can't skimp on mustard, got to be French's, but we think Walmart's Ritz crackers are just as good as the real thing. I like Walmart's Great Value brand better than most generic brands, but I don't like their bread or fabric softener just to name a few.

1. Air Wick -Apple Cinnamon scent. Now I rarely have what you would call a dirty house. If you came over you would probably say it was clean. But I don't actually clean that much. There is a difference in orderly and picked up and clean. I'm orderly and picked up, but generally I should do more scrubbin'. You know what I am saying? The frig could use a good scrubbing inside and out and WHATEVER you do, don't look under the sofa cushions. SO I feel good about things, or I feel like things are REALLY clean if things smell good. I guess it kind of surprised me that most of the things on my list have to do with SMELL in one way or another.


2. Toilet Bowl stick things - Clorox citrus scent. I tried these things as a free sample some time ago and I really loved them. I have this son who sleep-pees and misses the bowl. GRRR! I have to be pretty vigilant to keep the kid's bathroom clean, but these things make it smell nice no matter what state it is in.



3. Yankee Candles - anything cinnamony. I like me some cinnamon. They had a new cinnamon one out just for Christmas a few years ago and it is my new favorite. A Yankee Christmas candle gets lighted with the Christmas tree every year and burns all through the season.



4. Lysol Kitchen cleaner. I don't know, I just got to have a good all-purpose cleaner and this one...yes, smells clean.



5. Crest Outlast. Wow. Do I have smell issues or what? This list is making me think maybe I do. I love this toothpaste because it really freshens your breath. The kids keep carrying it off to their bathroom. It's so much more expensive than other toothpastes, too, but there have been several coupons out for it.



6. Gain. Once again the smell. I DO have smell issues!



A few of the Food Products I always buy...

7. Fruit Chillers - I like these things in part because they are made with real fruit and also the $1 off coupon are so readily available making them about .70 cents or less at my Walmart. The kids & their daddy love them.

8. Large tubs of Yoplait Peach. A great easy side for lunch or breakfast.

9. Lender's Whole Wheat Bagels. This is my go-to for a kid who is hungry after a practice or late at night. Wholesome, and a great, quick tummy filler.

10. Scribblers Popsicles. With 24 in the pack these become the daily snack for my kids. I know! If I was a real frugal homemaker I would take the 10cent Kool-Aid packet and make a ton of them! Who has room in their freezer for all those stinkin' Popsicle molds, they are always spilling, & my kids are always losing the Popsicle mold tops!

Review: Wiersbe Bible Study Series

I have reviewed different versions of these Wiersbe Bible Studies before, so I already knew

they would be great.

Byron has collected many from this series and always loves it when I can get them to review. He especially likes the Wiersbe commentaries. I chose to review these 2 books together, but it is hard to say which one is my favorite. The 1st book is from the series called The Wiersbe Bible Study Series and it is a great one for a small group. It contains excellent questions for discussion and direction. My favorite part are the little sections titled From the Commentary. These sections are exerpts taken from Wiersbe's various commentaries. One of the most interesting things I learned from these little sections; did you realize that each Israelite family in the old testament times had to sacrafice 2 lambs a day PLUS all the lambs for personal sacrafices & special sacrafices like passover? That's a lotta lambs!

Byron always likes studies that focus on one book of the Bible, so he really liked this one. It covers the entire book in 12 lessons so it moves pretty quickly. I felt this one was designed for discussion more than personal devotion, but it could be used for both. This book, which focuses on the book of John, has 12 lessons plus a bonus lesson and sells for $8.99. You can purchase it here.

The Wiersbe study books that have big chapters from his commentaries are my favorite, I think. These are more commentary, more personal. I like this kind of thing for my personal devotion time. I can take this commentary and read it along with my Bible and really feel that I am getting deep into the truths of the Word. I love to have Wiersbe alongside me; unpacking the cultural meaning or translating from the original language to really open up my eyes to the meaning. There are even questions at the end of each chapter for group discussion or personal reflection, so it could be used for a small group study.


I loved both of these books - great source for a way to grow in God's Word. There are tons of others available on the David C. Cook website. This particular version covers Luke 1-13 and just came out this summer. You can purchase it here for $12.99. I noticed on Amazon Both of these books are available on Kindle too!


Disclaimer: These books were provided by David C. Cook for the purposes of review only.

Grocery Shopping Lunch

This is my go - to lunch when I am coming in from grocery shopping. Generally, when I am grocery shopping that means there is no other readily available food in the house, so we pull this out of the bag and make it quickly for the starving children in the house. Every Friday my Walmart discounts lots of GREAT french bread. I buy one of these super fat French loaves for around 50 cents! While 2 kids and I are unloading and putting away groceries, another kid can easily prepare this super -easy French bread pizza! We just cut the loaf and pile on sauce & cheese.

What a great, filing lunch with grapes and carrots. The whole meal around a $1! All 3 of my kids can easily make it, so that is a plus as well! Actually last week I thought, why in the world haven't I bought several of these cheap french loaves to stick in the freezer? This could be a great go-to meal anytime!

Busy, busy!

I haven't posted much lately! We've been busy with school - and between pulling lots of teeth...chasing toads...

finishing up the basketball season... and watching TONS of softball...

...actually it seems most of our time has been spent watching softball, that's Ally stealing to 3rd. I accidentally took tons of pictures -that were not pictures but video - and these weren't exactly video moments so I'll spare you the upload. So, not much to show for some VERY long weekends of 104+ degree heat and dirt and softball.

We allowed Ally to try a select travel team for the first time this season. We have been reluctant to do this in the past because of the traveling, and most of all missing church. This team fortunately only plays locally, so that is a plus. It has been very educational. It has been a good experience for her; lots of playing time and instruction. But, man it is hard on the family -not something we'd do if her siblings were younger! They play 3-4 games a day, it hasn't exactly been a frugal venture, and although this was the 1st tournament that went into Sunday morning -we really hate missing church on Sunday mornings. This weekend we borrowed my parent's camper and it made the weekend a bit more fun and relaxing. At least we had somewhere to go to get out of the heat and grab some snacks. With an hour between games; you can't really leave the ballfield.
My mother's camper is a thing of beauty! Every nook and cranny organized with little containers and baskets of every possible thing you might need, fully stocked with the makings for 2-3 meals, fully stocked with supplies should you decide to go fishing, deep sea diving, or spend an afternoon playing boardgames. Amazing. I feel really bad about returning it to her dirty. My husband decided to take off and I didn't even sweep out the ball dirt! Sorry mom! I'll make it up to you!

I was certain everyone was terribly sunburnt, but come to find out layers of sweat and dirt mixed with bug spray make excellent sunblock. After a good shower I found that everyone was actually not too bad off under all that dirt.

1ST DAY OF SCHOOL

The school room is all ready & waiting.

Cutsies all set up and binders & supplies all organized and ready to go... 7 up for the 7th graders. Yes, that is plural. I am homeschooling Ally's best friend as well this year - which will be a ton of fun.

Daniel can't wait for school to start! He's excited about all the adventures of this year! Harder math, fun classes, flag football.

Gracie's ready too, although I think she is dreading some parts. We have such great co-op classes this year all the kids can't wait for those! Gracie will take sewing, writing, a class all about the presidents and lots more. She is going to play Upwards basketball, volleyball, and run track in the spring. Co-op classes won't start till September, so we'll take Friday's off for a month. These 4 day weeks make for a nice, slow start to the year.

Ally has so many neat things going on this year, especially being part of the youth group. She will do softball, volleyball, track, lots of co-op classes like Theater, debate, p.e., just to name a few. I'm letting her start at 9 because she wants to do her quiet time and 1 1/2 hours of pitching and batting every morning. She'll still have to get up pretty early to get all that done.

We are off to a great start, and thankfully Daddy won't be traveling quite so far to work everyday and he can come home for lunch sometimes. We had Oreo Klondike bars for a special treat after lunch. It seems a bit more hectic as everyone remembers how things work, and remembers to have a little more patience as we work out one-on-one time with mom (interruptions are always a challenge).

Self Portraits

We created some fun Stylized Self Portraits this week just for fun. We started out with a piece of cardboard and glued layers of tissue paper on to make the face. The colors mix well for skin tone, but we didn't have a big selection of tissue paper so some of us made our faces out of regular paper. We wet and waded the tissue paper for a thick, fun look for the hair. We went over all the details with a Sharpie. Notice I am up there, too! Daniel pulled yet another tooth this week, which leaves him with 2 missing on top AND bottom!

Sweat, Blood, and Tears Review

Becoming a Man: Sweat, Blood, and Tears Required by Xan Hood is one of those books that revolutionizes the way you look at men and boys. For me it brought a lot of realizations and refreshed in me lots of attitudes about raising my son (and understanding my husband) that are so important.

The book brought a lot of the understanding that I had in reading the book Wild at Heart by John Elderidge, but this book really brought the need of men to be challenged to a whole new level. I read Wild at Heart when my son was 1 year old and realized right then that boys need to test and challenge themselves constantly, and we have to allow them to do it.

Before our son was even walking, he hoisted himself up on top of our coffee table, got to a standing position and looked around as if he had just conquered a mountain. I came in and caught him just as he launched himself off into a head first dive. Now, mind you, he was not even 1 yet! But, in that flicker of a moment I could see in his eyes a special glimmer, a twinkle of challenge, something I had never ever seen in his rational, logical thinking two older sisters. It was then that I called my husband in horror thinking I am going to have to keep a leash on this boy! And in his usual way, Byron calmly shared with me what has become kind of a motto for us in dealing with our boy, "Sometimes you just have to jump off the coffee table." Meaning of course, boys are going to test themselves physically and test ME in every other way - even from age one.

My husband and I both LOVED this book! It is a total must read for anyone with a boy of any age! Byron loved it because it is written for men - way short chapters, neat stories, and lots of action. It is Xan's own vulnerable story and just contains some incredible insight as to why so many men who are now in their 20's are struggling to make the transition into adulthood. It is packed with great spiritual insight and wisdom, but it is so fun to read, not all philosophical and wordy.

I would love to send my son when he is 18 to Xan's Training Ground discipleship program in Colorado! Go HERE to see what I am talking about. That link has a great short video that really helps you understand what Xan's book is about. Go HERE to order this book for $14.99. If you have a boy or a man in your life, this is a wonderful book to help you understand what it takes for God to get their attention. I also think this would be a great book to help Christian parents understand a son who you might say is a "prodigal." Put this book on your MUST READ list!

Disclosure: David C. Cook provided Sweat, Blood and Tears for the purposes of review only.

Hot Peppers! and Cooking Plans

I didn't mean to plant so many pepper plants. I found six packs of peppers on sale and I had to plant them all! We have peppers everywhere! Banana peppers, jalapeno peppers - we have stuffed them and made salsa with them. They were piling up and I debated about what to do. I kind of wanted to pickle a bunch, but I don't really foresee any of my family eating them that way. They will most go to use in salsas and sauces. So, I decided to chop them up and freeze them.

I've seen the little warning on a hot pepper recipe, wear gloves when chopping peppers, but that is just for sissys, right? Mercy, I will never again chop hot peppers like that without a haz-mat suit on! Seriously, I will from now on wear gloves, goggles, and a breathing mask. You couldn't walk into the kitchen last night without coughing just from inhaling them. I wore a breathing mask, but my hands are still burning the next day! I had to put ice packs on them last night. Ouch! The burn is such a slow burn - 15-20 minutes after contact, that you often don't realize what you've done. Gloves are not just for sissys!

So, we are quickly approaching our school year beginning Monday and I have so much to do! I think we will have an annual tradition of a Back to School cleaning week. I'd like to have everything in good shape before we get back to the grind!

Monday: Cooking, Laundry & Floors. Cooking Baked Goods - I continue my obsession with frozen muffins. We like them straight out of the freezer, is that strange?

Tuesday: Bathrooms and Dust

Wednesday: Clean a Nasty Thing Day. Each kid will take a on a neglected thing to clean- refrigerator cleanout, windows, and a nasty large 4-legged furry thing.

Thursday: Cooking and Bedrooms

Friday: Shopping & Prepare Meat for 2 Weeks

I really like to freezer cook, but I also like to spread it out and cook the meat one day, baked goods one day, and put everything together another day. My minimum requirement is to get the meat pre-cooked and packaged in 1 lb. bags for quick use. So, that's the plan for a busy week! Hopefully I can spend some time this week completing some school organization as well!

Hairless!

My husband always cuts Daniel's hair. This time they decided to go with a burr! Daniel wasn't too sure about it, though. He normally cuts it short all over, leaving it longer on the top. But, Daniel says it is much cooler and that is good with some pretty intense heat in the forecast around here.

Toothless!

Aren't missing front teeth just the best?

Seeds!

Yesterday I had a much needed teacher workday to get ready for our upcoming school year. I convinced a sweet friend of mine to switch out taking each other's kids for a day. Our kids play so well together BOTH days were really nice for me.

I have most of my school year organized, but I have about 4 areas I wanted to create my own teaching materials. Why do I do that to myself when there is so much great stuff out there? I know. I know.

So, these are the BIGS on my back to school to-do list:
1. Compiling a Texas History gameplan
2. Lining up plans for grammar
3. Write 3 exciting, continuing 45 minute scavenger hunts that incorporate art elements and art history for my co-op classes - ambitious?
4. And finally, it just so happens on today's do list - plan for Bible Memory!

#4 DONE! My friend Sharon at the blog http://www.goodtrueandbeautiful.com/ posted just this morning about THE MOST INCREDIBLE WEBSITE! WOW! It is called Seeds Family Worship. There is a whole CD here free to listen to online with pure scripture songs that are AWESOME! I can see the whole family really enjoying this a lot. ALSO -Click on the KIDS tab for printable memory cards and checklists!

I have several kids scripture CDs -but I tell you the little squeaky high pitched voices make all of us want to do anything but listen! My kids have been raised on a lot of cool Christian adult music and they can't stand the dorky little kid stuff.
Daniel asked me, "Mom, can we listen to this every morning over breakfast?"
"Yes son, I'm thinking I don't mind that."

I have got to order some of these CD's for the car! LOVE IT!

Great Picnic Wrap-Ups

Sorry! I don't know what is going on with my fuzzy pictures!This is the most awesome idea for a picnic! Around this time of year, 103 degree heat makes picnics not so fun around here, but my kids were so excited about these -they'll even make a boring inside lunch fun! I saw it in Martha Stewart's magazine, but I reminds me of how my mom used to pack us up a hobo lunch with a bandana and a stick and send us off to the backyard for adventures.

You divide the food up into the 2 sides of the bandana and roll it up. We had what we call a "goody lunch" with crackers, cheese, carrots, grapes, applesauce, and Cheez-its. Naturally, Martha Stewart did a bit fancier version with a sub sandwhich and bottled water. Hers probably rolled up a lot easier too.

Just roll it up and tie the ends together.

It makes natural little pockets on the sides for silverware or straws.

I shoved a Capri Sun into the middle. Doing that, it would've been more secure if I tied a ribbon around it so the drink wouldn't fall out. Wouldn't these be great for a kid party or sleepover with cute little name tags tied to the top? I think we are gonna make these a regular lunch item in the Ayers house!
Perfect for some treehouse eating! The bandana even works as a placemat.

New Dog Tricks

Our dog has a new trick. During batting practice she sits and waits. Then, when a ball is hit, she fetches it...

...and she drops it back in the ball bucket. She's a whole outfield. Such a smart dog.